I’m a huge fan of city break holidays; two to three days to explore the city, see the sights, enjoy some great meals out and relax in a great hotel. I love boutique hotels with gorgeous rooms, great service and a central location that places us at the heart of our chosen city. Hotel Indigo ... Read more »
Tyddyn Llan describes itself as a restaurant with rooms, placing the focus firmly on their excellent food, rather than a typical hotel experience. Based in a beautiful Georgian country house dating from 1742, set in the beautiful Vale of Edeyrnion in Denighshire, North East Wales, Tyddyn Llan is perfectly placed to explore the local area ... Read more »
The Cotswolds is one of England’s most picturesque regions, thanks to its many well-preserved towns and villages built of beautiful yellow limestone, quarried locally. Narrow streets lined with elegant old buildings glow golden in the early morning and late afternoon sun, appealing to anyone interested in history and well-preserved architecture. One such small town is ... Read more »
There is little I can add to what’s already been written about Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Au Quat’Saisons and yet I feel compelled to share our experiences nonetheless. Having dreamed of visiting the two Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel for over two decades, our stay was every bit as wonderful as we hoped–it did not disappoint! ... Read more »
As it approaches my birthday (in a few weeks’ time), I realise I never shared our lovely one-night stay at The Manor House in Wiltshire for my birthday last year. Taking advantage of a late-booked midweek offer for dinner, bed and breakfast in one of the hotel’s Plush rooms, we spent our visit relaxing in ... Read more »
‘Ask any Portuguese and they’ll agree – Alentejo is the gastronomic soul of Portugal!‘ So said our guide Ruben as we set off on our taster tour of the region. But since he’s also the Communication Manager for the region’s tourism promotion agency, I took his words with a pinch of salt, categorising them as ... Read more »
Ottawa has a bit of a bad rap amongst Canadians. Visiting Toronto in Ontario and Montreal in Quebec, as soon as we mentioned that we were heading to the nation’s capital we were immediately asked why and told not to bother! Ottawa was dismissed as dull, boring and not worthy of our time by several ... Read more »
If any one nation excels at skilfully enhancing an area of natural beauty to make it even more beautiful, it must surely be Japan? Certainly, we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful setting than HOSHINOYA Karuizawa, located in an area known colloquially as the Japanese Alps. About Hoshinoya Karuizawa is not only one of the ... Read more »
Once upon a time, dating was what you did before you got married and once you were married, well you were married, weren’t you? It wasn’t that married couples no longer went out, just that it wasn’t referred to as dating, just married life, I guess. But over the last couple of decades, the term ... Read more »
If you were to write a wish list for the perfect, modern country house hotel, what might you include? For me I’d be looking for a beautiful rural setting with plenty of varied attractions in the vicinity, easy to get to but still with that feeling of getting away from it all, sumptuous and spacious ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]