I often wonder if the little unique touches offered by some hotels - a particular theme, a movie quiz hidden in wallpaper, a secret garden or two - are ever really appreciated by guests who are just passing through, but I certainly made the most out ...
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Travel destinations (99 posts found)
Travel reviews of hotels, holidays, food and drink and epic adventure holidays featured on luxury leisure reviews website ALadyofLeisure.com written by travel journalist Sarah Bridge
One unexpected bonus of lockdowns was the rise in popularity and quality of restaurant meal kits to finish off at home, and these have continued long after lockdowns have (hopefully) become a thing of the past. I've already reviewed several home rest...
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Staying in a small, boutique hotel rather than one with dozens of rooms turns a hotel into more of a home-from-home experience and so it turned out with my stay at Burleigh Court hotel in Stroud, in the western end of the Cotswolds area of outstandin...
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Exploring the Cotswolds on a sunny day is one of most delightful things you can do but when the rain clouds gather overhead, the best thing to do is to find a cosy pub with an open fire and stay put for the afternoon. That's exactly what I did one co...
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Exploring Europe one city break at a time is a lovely way to introduce children to the delights of foreign travel. Now that travel is possible again, there are many things to do in Bruges in Belgium which makes it a great family-friendly ...
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The sense of excitement is as tangible as the ever-present smell of frangipani and hibiscus flowers. Mauritius is finally open once again.
From airport staff to taxi drivers, stall holders and restaurant staff, hotel owners, fishermen, massage the...
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The best hotels for New Years Eve 2021
Spending New Years Eve at a luxury hotel is a perfect way to begin the New Year. With many of Britain's best hotels pulling the stops out for New Years Eve - think fine dining and wine-pairings, cocktails and c...
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The stunning Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius is definitely a place to put at the top of your wish list now that we can start exploring the world again. Thanks to its location, an early lockdown and strict quarantine measures, Mauritius had ex...
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Christmas hotel breaks are special. If you think of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas you can picture the festive scene: comfy sofas, roaring fires, beautiful decorations and acres of grounds for the Boxing Day walk.
While many ho...
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Hotels with swimming pools are much more than just a lovely place to stay for a night or two; it turns a short break into a real holiday. Staying in a hotel is a treat at any time, but sometimes a hotel stay comes with the feeling you should be visit...
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Choosing to spend my first week of freedom away from my full-time writing job by booking a week-long writing course might seem a strange idea, but a week at the Arvon Foundation's writers' retreat in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire seemed just the thin...
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Guest post from author and journalist Rachel Bridge
It’s a been a truly horrible year for everyone but a few precious things have just about kept me on the right side of cheerfulness - here are my top seven lockdown treats.
My pool
I normall...
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A Mauritius holiday is probably what many of us are dreaming of right now - winter sun, sandy beaches, rum cocktails and luxury hotels being the perfect antidote to lockdowns, Brexit and freezing temperatures. While travel out of the UK is restricted...
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Travelling to the USA – how to apply for an ESTA
Planning on going on holiday to the USA soon? If your trip is for less than 90 days then instead of applying for a full US visa you can, under the Visa Waiver Programme, travel with an Electronic Sy...
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UK hotels after lockdown will look rather different to before the pandemic so what can you expect from your stay?
After the first four months of lockdown in 2020, to say that I was excited about getting back to hotel reviewing for ALadyofLeisu...
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Some of us can't wait to stay in a luxury hotel after lockdown, while others are more cautious - and like me, you're probably a bit of both (check out my article on what to expect from a hotel stay during Covid here). However as UK luxury hotels - es...
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While everyone's idea of a romantic hotel is different, I think it's fair to assume there are some things which you have to expect: gorgeous bedrooms, a top restaurant serving great food, spectacular gardens for a romantic pre-dinner stroll and a cos...
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There are many reasons to spend Christmas at a luxury hotel rather than at home, but you still want it to be special, personal and memorable. Thankfully for us (my mother and me), our festive stay at Ockenden Manor hotel in the village of Cuckfield, ...
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Exploring Herceg Novi and indeed moving to Montenegro for five weeks was done on a whim. I wanted to live somewhere in mainland Europe for November as a) I hadn't got much planned either home or away for the month and b) I love Christmas but want to ...
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Exploring Le Mans in 24 hours: a whistlestop tour of the city
The historic city of Le Mans is famous for its Le Mans 24 race and so it seemed appropriate that I was also doing a 24 hour race around Le Mans, the historic city in the heart of French r...
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I've always wanted to stay in a chateau in France and to my good fortune I had the chance to while visiting Pays de la Loire this summer. Hotels in France are as varied as anywhere in the world but a stay in a French chateau promises something specia...
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When asked to review APH Parking Gatwick I didn't think twice. Arranging a hotel and parking at Gatwick airport - or indeed any London airport - is always a major headache. This could be to do with the fact I usually leave it to the very last minute,...
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Guest post from the best-selling Good Hotel Guide - their top 10 luxury hotels with pools for the summer
Summer’s here and with any luck we’ve all got summer holidays booked in. Come rain or shine, no holiday would be complete without a little swimm...
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The brochure for The Montagu Arms in the New Forest encourages guests to 'take your cue from the ponies: graze, wander and enjoy the quiet.' I did all three during my stay at this 200-year old hotel and emerged feeling as relaxed and content as the b...
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A definite perk of reviewing luxury hotels is that 'wow!' feeling when you walk into a hotel bedroom for the first time and find something completely unexpected. Unlocking the door to my Terrace Suite at The Marylebone in central London was one of th...
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After being trapped in Bank Holiday roadworks, the five-star hotel Rockliffe Hall hotel in Darlington, County Durham was a more than welcome sight. Set in 375 acres of parkland, the original building dates from the 1800s, but over the years the 61-ro...
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When it's hot in the city, your first instinct might be to head for the coast but just a short walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station, The Bloomsbury hotel London is a great spot in which to cool down.
Outdoor terrace at The Bloomsbury ...
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While some hotels try and emulate the look and feel of a historic country house, The Gore hotel London, which opened in Kensington in 1892, can't help but feel seeped in history. Many of its paintings and furniture date back to the 19th or early 20th...
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Calling a hotel 'family-friendly' often means that those travelling without children run a mile in the opposite direction, but the luxury Foxhills spa and golf hotel is so vast that all ages and groups can thoroughly enjoy themselves without crashing...
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With the wildly inconsistent British summer, I was extremely fortunate to have timed my stay at the Alexandra hotel Lyme Regis for one of the hottest days of the year. While the hotel would be a perfectly nice place to stay in during all sorts of wea...
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Last week, at home, I had some of the best bread I'd ever eaten. It was a soft, brown loaf and tasted marvellous. Was it the ingredients, I wondered - organic wholemeal stoneground flour. Or was it the fact that I'd made the whole thing myself, under...
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This is probably one of those things that Americans are much better at than the Brits (they certainly have more practice at it), but valet parking always sends me into a panic.
On the face of it, arriving at a hotel and having someone offe...
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The man who described Bibury as 'the most beautiful village in England' surely never went to Lower Slaughter. It might have a slightly alarming name but Lower Slaughter, all lush green fields, yellow Cotswold stone houses and a babbling brook running...
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One massive advantage that non-London hotels have over their capital city rivals is space, and our suite at Brooklands Hotel Surrey near Weybridge, was certainly one of the largest I've stayed in.
Bedrooms at Brooklands Hotel
The vast c...
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It was the most British of days. The Patron's Lunch last Sunday had the Royal Family, it had cucumber sandwiches, it had queues and Pimms and cups of tea. And an awful lot of rain. It was as if someone had tried to work out what would make the day as...
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ALadyofLeisure.com is the hotel, restaurant and spa reviews website from national newspaper journalist Sarah Bridge, read by thousands of industry professionals and travel enthusiasts every month. [Note: this round-up of luxury hotels reviewed by ALa...
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Are baths in hotel bedrooms a great hotel treat or just a ghastly design nonsense?
I only ask because almost every hotel I've stayed in recently has at least one room where the bath is in the bedroom - at the foot of the bed, sometimes, or in prid...
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Spas in luxury hotels are big business and over the last few years owners have been making multi-million pound investments in providing the latest in pampering experiences.
But like hotel bedrooms, hotel spas come in all shapes and sizes and if yo...
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If your idea of a perfect country break is to have breakfast in the sun on a terrace overlooking a spectacular view, followed by a day lounging in a luxury spa, then Danesfield House hotel and spa in Buckinghamshire is just the place for you.
...
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At Sopwell House hotel near St Albans, Hertfordshire, our bedroom's location was really quite special.
Arriving at Sopwell House hotel
Just across from the hotel reception, a quick tap of our room card opened up a gate beyond which was a to...
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ALadyofLeisure.com is the hotel, restaurant and spa reviews website from national newspaper journalist Sarah Bridge, read by thousands of industry professionals and travel enthusiasts every month.
The Good Hotel Guide is the travel industry bi...
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Searching for luxury hotels among the beautiful rolling hills of the Cotswolds may sound like an easy task - there seems to be one round every corner. However with so many to chose from, it's easy to be overwhelmed. With most insisting on a two-night...
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So we're all agreed that free, fast wi-fi and power points in handy locations are a essential in a luxury hotel room - and we all like soft, fluffy bathrobes (even if we don't always use them). But what are the little extras you hope for when you che...
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The Kensington hotel in South Kensington is one of the closest hotels to the National History museum, V&A and Science Museum, but is far removed from the school trips of my past.
The hotel, part of the family-owned Doyle Collection, has 12...
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Things to do in Las Vegas come rain or shine...
It was my fourth visit to Las Vegas, but the first time I'd seen it raining on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Unsurprisingly, Vegas, being in the Mojave desert, isn't used to rain. Neither were the holida...
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Is it a right or a privilege to be able to make tea in your hotel bedroom with your very own hotel kettle?
I once spent the night at luxury country house hotel Cliveden and had a meeting with the chief executive of Travelodge the following day. The ...
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The view from the top of the five star luxury hotel ME London is a tourist's delight, taking in the essential sights of London, from the London Eye to Big Ben, St Paul's, Tower Bridge, The Shard and everything in between. Having evening cocktails on ...
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It might be just a few miles from the M42 and Birmingham Airport but Hampton Manor hotel in the Midlands feels a hundred years from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
Arriving at Hampton Manor
Within a couple of hours of arriving at the 19th...
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Some hotels just get it completely right - and luxury country house hotel Hambleton Hall Rutland is one of them.
From the traditional and immaculate bedroom, to the excellent food, lovely gardens, cosy bar and superb attention to detail, I can...
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It is just seconds from the shopping and traffic maelstrom which is Knightsbridge, but The Capital Townhouse hotel Knightsbridge boutique hotel in central London is the very essence of calm and tranquility. If you are looking for a place where the pa...
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Last year was a hectic one for ALadyofLeisure.com with 50 fabulous places reviewed, and with so many to choose from, it's hard to pick out the best. However some were so memorable that I wanted to single them out for special praise - and hopefully en...
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For horse-racing fans, the location of Ellenborough Park hotel and spa is hard to beat, being the closest hotel to Cheltenham Racecourse.
Just a few hundred metres from the front door of the grand 15th century Cotswolds building is the racecou...
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From Michelin-starred dining to London's most decadent pancake, grand country house hotels, brand new cruise ships, boutique hotels and celebrity hangouts (not to mention cocktail classes, private cinemas and hot tubs in the Cotswolds), it's been a l...
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For those who love the idea of staying in a luxury spa hotel in the Cotswolds (and who doesn't?) and are travelling with children in tow, Calcot Manor luxury hotel, just the other side of Circencester, is a great choice - a Cotwolds hotel and spa f...
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The Arch hotel is not a flashy hotel. For a luxury hotel near to Oxford Street and just across the road from Madonna's London home, the Arch is neat, calm, and quiet.
It doesn't have the grand entrance or huge lobby of its immediate neighbours, th...
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[no major spoilers but it is a Spectre film review all the same]
If this is Daniel Craig's final film as 007 then it's a great way to go.
Better than Quantum of Solace with its unfathomable plot; better even than Skyfall with its dodgy sexual polit...
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Its claim to fame is that it is the closest hotel to Harrods, and it's true that less than 30 seconds walk will take you right into the iconic department store. But thankfully The Capital hotel, just next to Harrods on a quiet Knightsbridge street, i...
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The wonderful thing about reviewing hotels for ALadyofLeisure.com is that I've discovered so many new places which I would never in a million years have come across otherwise, and the award-winning restaurant Ynyshir restaurant in Wales - which bills...
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If you're planning a stay at The Stafford hotel London then you have to ask for a tour of this luxury five-star hotel. All sorts of treasures will suddenly be revealed, from an epic wine cellar and a World War 2 exhibit to the penthouse suite, conver...
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There are some places that are so lovely you can't stop thinking about them after you leave, and Gravetye Manor West Sussex is most definitely one of those.
[Note: this review of Gravetye Manor West Sussex was first published in 2015 and some of t...
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St James's Hotel in London is a true five-star luxury hotel but thankfully it has none of the formal starchiness you might expect from one of the most expensive hotels in central London.
A stay at St James's hotel London
The staff are so cheerf...
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'Don't worry, you won't get a hangover,' insisted Pleurat Shabani, the maker of Konik's Tail vodka and the host of our martini marathon. 'I've never had a hangover drinking martinis.'
[Note: this review of drinking martinis at the best hotel bars ...
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There was something about P&O Britannia cruise ship which reminded me of Las Vegas, and it wasn't just the casino. It was partly the vast amount of food on offer on board at its 13 restaurants onboard P&O Britannia - the stories about gaining...
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It might not be located in the most beautiful part of London, but Qbic Hotel London City in Aldgate, East London, scores highly on all the essentials for a budget hotel in London: price, location and cleanliness, not to mention a friendly and relaxed...
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As beautiful settings go, Ashdown Park hotel in East Sussex certainly has the 'wow' factor.
A stay at Ashdown Park hotel
Ashdown Park hotel is easily one of the best hotels in Sussex and is a hotel with stunning views. Walking through a stone a...
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You would have to start early and finish late to squeeze in the maximum amount of relaxation possible at Nirvana Spa day spa near Reading, the award-winning spa near London and one of the top day spas in the country.
A day at Nirvana Spa
I spen...
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You know you're in good hands when you arrive at a hotel spa and find Downton Abbey's head butler Carson (aka the terrific actor Jim Carter) lounging in the hot tub.
Arriving at Hartwell House, Aylesbury
While Hartwell House in Aylesbury is a l...
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It might surprise those people who associate Mark Warner holidays solely with families that around 40 per cent of the company's business comes from singles, groups of friends, and couples.
Mark Warner Greece holiday
And now the firm has expande...
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Note: my article about the Las Vegas food festival Vegas Uncork'd was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date
Mention Las Vegas and most people would immediately think gambling, casinos, showgirls, Mariah Carey, the...
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There was nothing to disturb the peace of my morning stroll around the 300 acres of Hertfordshire countryside which surround luxury hotel The Grove Watford; nothing, that is, until a helicopter suddenly swooped down and landed on the immaculate lawn ...
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One of the closest hotels to Charing Cross station in London, the Clermont Charing Cross is surprisingly quiet, particularly for a luxury hotel in central London. In fact it turned out to be generally much nicer than I'd expected when I turned up...
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Tucked away behind the grey anonymity of Park Lane's high-rise hotel district which includes the Dorchester, the Intercontinental and the Athenaeum, El Pirata's tapas bar is a welcome sight.
You might not think of tapas in Mayfair but in spite of ...
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Note: this article about the launch of P&O Britannia was written in 2015 - how time flies! If you want to read about what it's like to stay on P&O Britannia then click here
The day was bright and sunny for Her Majesty and Prince Philip as ...
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For frequent travellers to the capital who find hotels increasingly soulless - or just miss being able to cook dinner - there is another option: staying in a serviced apartment in London.
Rather than having to inhabit just one room and go out for ...
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It cost more than £520 million to build, weighs 141,000 tons and will carry more than 3,600 passengers. And this Friday the brand new cruise ship P&O Britannia will be making her way from the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste, Italy, to her new hom...
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First, the good points about Fifty Shades of Grey, the film which has been greeted with massive under-enthusiasm by the critics (but which hasn't stopped it breaking box-office records, unsurprisingly given the books' massive fanbase).
Dakota John...
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The Compleat Angler, Marlow is proof that some hotels don't need to have swimming pools, hot tubs and the very latest in beauty treatments - they just need to be in a great spot.
Location of Compleat Angler, Marlow
You could say that hotels in ...
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What's wrong with having a photobombing yellow car, you might ask? Poor Peter Maddox. The 82-year old has been accused of allowing his little yellow Vauxhall Corsa to 'photobomb' otherwise picturesque shots of Arlington Row in Bibury, acknowledged as...
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All hotel visits linger in the memory afterwards but some leave a physical presence too - and in the case of the Athenaeum Hotel, a boutique hotel in Piccadilly London, it was Arthur. The teddy bear guarding my room was so sweet he just had to be lib...
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As befits the London hotel nearest the Lyceum Theatre, there was a lion right outside my hotel room at One Aldywch hotel. Well, to be more accurate, a Lion King.
The Lyceum theatre in Covent Garden, which has been home to the hugely successful Lio...
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Swimming near a school of dolphins, walking on a recently-erupted volcano and diving to a wreck of a World War 2 Japanese fighter plane might seem like once-in-a-lifetime holiday but if you are exploring Papua New Guinea, it is just an average mornin...
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It was when I was hiking along the North Devon coast in the rain that I started to question whether my plan to go on a boot camp to lose weight was worth its hefty price tag. Would I actually lose weight on a boot camp? I was halfway through a week a...
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To get my bearings on my first ever trip to this beautiful island in the Balearics, a helicopter ride seemed like the perfect way to exploring Majorca for the first time (Majorca is also known as Mallorca in Catalan).
An aerial view of Majorca
From...
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It was an interesting introduction to my holiday of a lifetime learning to dive in the Cayman Islands: ‘The thing about the Cayman Islands is that the best sights are underwater,’ said my taxi driver as he drove along the dusty road from the airport....
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I've been fortunate enough to stay in some lovely country house hotels recently - sadly, Tylney Hall was not one of them.
[Note: this review of Tylney Hall was first published in 2014 and so some of the details might now be out of date]
To clar...
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In spite of living and working just a mile away from South Kensington and passing through it most days, I never felt as if I really knew the area - and had never even heard of Barts Speakeasy South Kensington.
To me it was a vague ensemble of vari...
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[Editor's note: This review of the Swan at Lavenham was first published in 2014. For a more up to date review of this hotel click here or go to https://www.aladyofleisure.com/the-swan-at-lavenham-review/ ]
The Swan at Lavenham is located in one of...
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Vauxhall in London is known for many things - the Oval cricket ground, a permanently traffic-snarled gyratory system, a disused gas works - but a pleasant afternoon drinking gin and tonics is not usually the first thing that springs to mind.
Howev...
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You could never accuse Mark Warner ski of skimping on the apres-ski - or, for that matter, the pre-ski and the actual skiing.
A ski weekend in Tignes with Mark Warner Ski Holidays
A three-day trip to French Alpine ski resort Tignes to check out its...
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Center Parcs is practically immune from criticism. With occupancy (in normal times) running at a staggering 97.1 per cent all year round, the private-equity owned leisure company is the envy of its peers.
In spite of the complaints about high ...
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Berlin is the kind of city where even a seemingly mundane walk to the local supermarket can turn out to be an emotional experience.
It had been 27 years since I was last in Berlin and was here to attend the travel industry trade show ITB. I was st...
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It's amazing how quickly you can feel like a 'local' while staying somewhere completely new to you. For me it was when I came back from a trip to the supermarket with some eggs and milk and let myself in at my own front door with my own key.
It w...
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A stay at Cannizaro House Wimbledon
There is something rather delightful about packing to spend the weekend in a hotel just four miles from your home. It yields all the excitement and anticipation of a trip away without any of the angst and despai...
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After Dry January - what happened?
Well - I did it. After Dry January I could look back on an entire January's-worth of alcoholic abstinence.
And yes, it was a VERY long month.
But the surprising discovery for me is not only that I have far...
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My taxi driver was very excited when I said there would be loads of celebrities at the Costa Book Awards 2014.
'Like who?' he asked, as he turned off Piccadilly to head towards the event venue, Quaglino's restaurant.
'Like, erm, Ian Hislop,...
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You're never too old to visit Las Vegas - and here's the proof!
Just a few days in Sin City brought about a miraculous transformation in my 72-year old mother. For several weeks before our Las Vegas holiday, her main activity had been fretting...
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Being escorted off the mountain-side by a French hunk on a snowmobile was not the way I had imagined the end of my first ever day of skiing, but it was certainly exhilarating.
Learning to ski in France
I clung to him for dear life as we plunged...
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Visitors to Redemption, tucked away in the unfashionable corner of London between Westbourne Park and Ladbroke Grove, first have to walk past an array of Notting Hill's pubs and wine bars, packed with Bright Young Things knocking back the very la...
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Having just a few months ago seen the jaw-dropping, mind-boggling spectacle which is Cirque du Soleil's 'O' at the Bellagio, Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil's Quidam show at the Royal Albert Hall certainly had a lot to live up to.
Cirque du Soleil Q...
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