The stunning Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius is definitely a place to put at the top of your wish list for when 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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A fortnight in Mauritius 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 restr...
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Things were pretty quiet during my recent trip to the capital (for obvious reasons) but one place which was still lively was The Stafford hotel in central London.
Having stayed at a charming but extremely quiet hotel in Westminster the previous ni...
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You never forget your first Pig, as the old saying doesn't go, and with such fond memories of my stay at The Pig near Bath (check out my review 'A heavenly, foodie, country retreat') I was very excited to discover on a recent trip to Kent that I woul...
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There are some hotel rooms which you could happily live in and my bedroom at Lainston House hotel near Winchester was one of those.
Tucked up under the eaves of this excellent country house hotel, this room was vast, with high ceilings and enough ...
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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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Luxury hotel Christmas packages are getting booked early this year and with good reason. With the coronavirus pandemic far from over, it is uncertain what kind of restrictions there will be come Christmas Day but now more than ever, people want somet...
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After months of lockdown, exploring the Cotswolds near Stroud with a stay at the Bear of Rodborough hotel near Stroud, Gloucestershire was just the things to blow away the cobwebs. This 17th-century Cotswolds coaching inn, part of the excellent Fulle...
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Hotels in the Cotswolds are always a pleasure to discover and having stayed in a few places owned by Cotswold Inns pubs and hotels before - the Bay Tree and Lamb in Burford, the Manor House at Moreton-in-Marsh and most recently the Bear of Rodborough...
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It is impossible to walk around the grounds at Middlethorpe Hall York and not take dozens of photos. While the front of the hotel is surprisingly close to the road, a quiet country lane just next to York racecourse, the rear of the hotel looks out ov...
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I had been told that the Sunday roast at Feversham Arms hotel and spa in Yorkshire was not to be missed and my informant had been bang on the money. It was pronounced: 'A ten out of ten, the best I've ever eaten' by my dining companion, who isn't giv...
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After months of lockdown my first hotel was, reassuringly, at Hand Picked Hotel's flagship hotel Fawsley Hall hotel and spa in Northamptonshire near Daventry. This grand country house hotel and spa - we're talking at least 600 years old here - has wi...
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UK hotels after lockdown might look different to before the pandemic so what can you expect from your stay? After four months of lockdown, to say that I was excited about getting back to hotel reviewing for ALadyofLeisure.com would be an understateme...
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When I first arrived at Gravetye Manor, the Michelin-starred country house hotel with award-winning gardens, I soon decided that this was one of the best hotels in West Sussex and when I was fortunate to revisit recently, there was nothing to make me...
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Now that hotels are able to open after lockdown, the Headland hotel in Cornwall might just be the place to blow away the hibernation cobwebs. Perched right at the end of the glorious Fistral Beach in Newquay and surrounded by, well, nothing but coast...
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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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Staying at a luxury country house hotel when the weather is terrible might seem like a bit of a waste – you can forget cocktails on the terrace, long country walks, or stunning photos to make your friends envious - so our trip to West Sussex spa hote...
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What is it like to stay at New Hall hotel and spa?
There are probably many historic hotels in Birmingham with a spa and swimming pool but I can't imagine that many of them come with a moat. In fact, I was trying to think of any hotels with a moat wh...
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While everyone's idea of a romantic getaway weekend 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 strol...
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There are many reasons to spend Christmas at a luxury country house 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 ...
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If you're looking for luxury hotels in the Cotswolds The Lygon Arms will be high on your wish-list, and in fact it was on mine for ages. This historic hotel has been a main fixture in the beautiful Cotswolds village of Broadway since its days as a ...
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Read on for my utterly epic round-up of 60 of the best British luxury hotels to stay in for New Year...
Knowing what to do for New Year's Eve is always a tough decision. There's an overwhelming choice out there but sometimes just the thought of gett...
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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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It was only when I heard the receptionist answer the phone at Stapleford Park hotel in Leicestershire that I realised I'd been saying its name all wrong and it was actually pronounced Stappleford, rather than Stapleford - but the friendly staff at th...
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Not having had the luxury of a clifftop spa hotel on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall before, I didn't have much to compare Mullion Cove hotel with, but judging on my first visit I think it will be hard to beat.
The location of Mullion Cove ho...
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Reaching Thurlestone hotel in south Devon is like going down Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole. You plunge off the main road along one of those high-hedged, single-track lanes which Devon specialises in and can do nothing but blindly follow its windi...
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My recent trip to Sherborne to review The Eastbury hotel was an unexpected delight. I had been looking forward to a stay at this luxury hotel as I'd heard great things about it but I knew almost nothing about Sherborne itself. I knew there was a cast...
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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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In terms of location, The Resident Covent Garden in London is hard to beat. A hotel right on The Strand and possibly the closest hotel to Covent Garden, you’ll find several hundred restaurants and bars less than two minutes walk away. It’s one of tho...
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Luxury country house hotels get booked up early for Christmas and with good reason: luxury hotels could be made for Christmas. Think of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas and instantly you can picture the festive scene: comfy sofas, ...
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Driving full-pelt towards a solid-looking wall is both terrifying and exhilarating but that's exactly what you get from a day at the Mercedes driving experience at Brooklands in Surrey.
With my pedal to the floor I could see the speedometer sw...
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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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There are some hotels with spas and there are some hotels which ARE spas. Ragdale Hall health spa in Leicestershire most definitely falls into the latter camp, making a spa break at Ragdale Hall a must for any spa fans. The moment you arrive you are ...
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Fans of Germaine de Capuccini who are wondering where to get Germaine de Capuccini spa treatments in the UK, will be delighted to hear that award-winning hotel Park House hotel and spa in West Sussex is the latest hotel to offer the skin care special...
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Throughout my own stay at Cliveden House luxury hotel, there was one question which I found almost impossible to answer. Would Cliveden still be as fabulous if it wasn't, well, Cliveden? Would it seem as special if it were just a very nice luxury cou...
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Arranging a hotel and parking at Gatwick airport - or indeed Heathrow, Luton or Stansted as well, I travel frequently from all of them - is always a major headache. This could be to do with the fact I usually leave it to the very last minute, pretty...
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It's where James Bond beat Goldfinger in possibly the most famous golf match in cinema history, where Bridget Jones ditched singleton life for a weekend away with boss Daniel Cleaver and where Teri Hatcher and Pierce Brosnan (as another Bond) danced ...
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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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You don't often hear the cast of a West End musical warming up when going for a walk in the grounds of a country house, but that's what you're likely to get during a stay at Kilworth House hotel.
The unique outdoor theatre in the grounds of this L...
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The first thing that struck me about the five-star Corinthia Hotel in London when I stayed there was how utterly huge everything is. From the vast central lobby lounge with its soaring dome and chandelier made of 1,001 crystal baubles, to the high-ce...
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Returning to The Swan hotel at Lavenham in Suffolk several years after my original stay, I was relieved to find that it was just as lovely as I remembered it. This time it also had the added attraction of its new (to me) Weavers' House Spa which had ...
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It might possibly be the first hotel room I've stayed in which had a 'disco lighting' option but it was typical of this Point A hotel, which was full of quirky, thoughtful and useful touches.
While I usually review hotels at the more luxury en...
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The Suffolk village of Orford might be tiny but it packs in pretty much everything you'd expect from a classic English location. It's got a medieval church - the massive 14th century St Bartholomew's - a handful of shops (including an honesty box new...
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It does great food and excellent cocktails, it's got beautiful bedrooms, friendly staff and even has a brewery and distillery on site (it's owned by 147-year-old Suffolk brewer Adnams). Added to that, it's right in the heart of Southwold, one of Brit...
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In just four hours I ate curry, fish and chips, stilton cheese, salt beef bagels, bread and butter pudding, salted caramel cheesecake and a bacon sandwich. With ketchup. Why? You might well ask. It was because I had decided to be a tourist in London ...
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It shares its name with a famous motor racing circuit but guests at the Brandshatch Place hotel and spa will enjoy a relaxing stay away from the fast lane.
As befits a hotel named after a racing circuit, guests to the Brandshatch Place hotel and s...
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There is something gloriously untamed about the British seaside on a blustery day and when I arrived at The Brudenell Hotel in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, the hotel building was receiving a severe battering from the elements. Situated just a few steps from t...
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Brockencote Hall, set in several acres of lush green Worcestershire countryside, turned out to be an almost perfect stay, with the comforts and treats of a luxury country house hotel, from immaculate rooms, impeccable service and great food.
Brock...
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It isn't often I embrace a hotel gym so wholeheartedly but there was something about the brand spanking new spa Mallory Court luxury hotel Warwickshire which made it irresistible.
As we'd just come from feasting at sister hotel Brockencote Hall in...
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There was far more to Kesgrave Hall than I’d expected. Having just come from its sister hotel, Maison Talbooth, a luxurious, refined, relaxed country house with outdoor pool and 12 beautifully designed rooms, I wasn’t sure whether the 23-room Grade I...
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The key to a memorable hotel stay is a great welcome and such was my arrival at the excellent Maison Talbooth hotel on the Essex/Suffolk border was that within ten minutes I felt utterly at home.
The signs were good from the start, with a smoo...
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If it's ghouls, ghosts and goblins you're after, then you have to spend Halloween in Derry Northern Ireland and experience its epic Halloween festival for yourself. Derry was voted 'Best Halloween destination in the world' by American newspaper USA T...
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Luxury hotels could be made for Christmas. Think of the best luxury country house hotels for Christmas and instantly you can picture the festive scene: comfy sofas, roaring fires, beautiful decorations and acres of grounds for the Boxing Day walk (o...
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It had been a lifetime dream for me: to find out how to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. Now, for the last four days, I had been hiking through stunning Peruvian mountains to reach my destination, the famous UNESCO World Heritage site of ...
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Take dozens of single people, put them in a Club Mark Warner holiday beach resort for a week, add sun and alcohol, and it’s simply a matter of time before holiday romances start to flourish.
It was just a couple of days into my Mark Warner holid...
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'What did you do for your birthday?’ I was asked the other day.
‘Well,’ I said, trying to sound casual, ‘after a champagne breakfast in my luxury Caribbean condo, I went on a catamaran cruise along the coasts, snorkelled among tropical fish, trekked...
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The child in front of me hurled himself off the tree-top platform high off the forest floor and sped through the air. I couldn't back out now. While zip-lining had long been on my wish-list, dreaming about it and actually standing on the edge of a s...
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The timing couldn’t have been better, at least not for the Hippodrome. The moment I walked past the gaming area in the central London casino, one of the slot machines paid out the entire jackpot, handing the person playing on the machine a cool £12,5...
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It is rare that a holiday actually changes your life, but a week on Skyros, the original 'alternative' holiday destination, can do just that. From changing jobs or learning new skills, to getting married, ditching bad relationships and embarking on n...
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It goes without saying that anyone doing battle with the traffic on either the M25, A2 or A20 routes is probably in need of some serious relaxation, but they might be surprised to learn that there is an oasis of calm just moments away. Thankfully due...
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If you were to try and describe a classically British pub, then you’d probably come up with something like The Bull Inn, Sonning, in Berkshire. It’s got roaring fires and low beams, it is more than 600 years old, does great food and drink and is at t...
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'Clutter makes you reach for a biscuit,' says Anna, as she looks around my bedroom. I can think of no better way to convince me to embrace the popular decluttering trend which takes in everything from Marie Kondo to the tradition spring clean via new...
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'We just fell in love with the Isle of Wight,' said owner David Barrett as he showed me around Haven Hall, one of the newest B&Bs on the Isle of Wight. 'It's exactly like England was, 40 or 50 years ago.'
Now this could be a positive or a nega...
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It's the car marque of dreams (and Hollywood folklore): Aston Martin cars have been super-cool ever since James Bond fired up an Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger. While Britain's top spy has also driven an Aston Martin DBS, an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish...
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Halfway through our meal at The Vineyard hotel and spa, Newbury, I was beginning to wonder if I knew as much about wine as I thought I did. Not only could I not guess what grape variety I was drinking or what country it came from, I couldn't even wor...
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Lewtrenchard Manor is one of those classic country house hotels which actually feels like someone's home (a rather impressive stately home, that's true) rather than a hotel. Tucked away in the Dartmoor hills between Tavistock and Okehampton, Lewtrenc...
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While I've explored all over the New Forest for ALadyofLeisure.com, visiting hotels such as Chewton Glen, Lime Wood, Montagu Arms, Burley Manor and The Bell Inn, I had yet to make it all the way through the National Park to Lymington, right at the so...
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I'll be honest and confess I wasn't entirely sure about reviewing a B&B for ALadyofLeisure.com - not out of reasons of snobbery but because I usually write about hotels with massive restaurants, spa, acres of land and all the paraphernalia that c...
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The first time I visited Burley Manor Hotel in the New Forest I had absolutely no expectations - not because I thought it was going to be terrible, but because it had never even crossed my radar before. It turned out there was a reason for this: whil...
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If you're going to spend the night in a castle, then it's appropriate to look the part, which is why it felt very fitting arriving at the luxury hotel Bovey Castle in the heart of Dartmoor in a £150,000 Aston Martin DB11.
A trio of valets clad...
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I've been lucky to stay in some of the best hotel rooms in the country but for sheer romance it's hard to beat a Beach Suite at the delightful Cary Arms and Spa on Babbacombe Bay, Devon - in the heart of the 'English Riviera'. With a private terrace ...
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Arriving at The Pig near Bath
It is always nice to be greeted on arriving at a hotel by someone saying enthusiastically: 'You're just in time for lunch!' and even better when you are promptly whisked off to sit in the sun with a large G&T while ...
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Japanese food can be some of the most intricate food in the world but can also be some of the most simple. I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Japan to learn all about Japanese food from top chefs and restaurants, from Tokyo to Osaka and the fishin...
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The joy of reviewing hotels and restaurants is that with every new visit there is often something which will surprise, delight or even shock you. The Montcalm at the Brewery hotel in Chiswell Street in central London and its adjoining gastro-pub, the...
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It isn't often you plan on spending the night at a rather grand country house hotel and find yourself sleeping in a treehouse on stilts in the middle of a forest. But the treehouses at Chewton Glen, the five-star hotel and spa located deep in the hea...
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Just one night at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst felt like a really long stay - but in a good way. I arrived there on Sunday afternoon, and by the time I left 24 hours later I'd had a 90 minute massage, swam, sauna'd, steamed and lounged in the spa,...
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Walking into a really gorgeous hotel room can be such a bittersweet moment. There is the initial reaction of 'Wow! This is really, really nice....!' and delight that this is actually all yours for the next 20 hours or so. Then there is the sudden rea...
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If the holiday season left you feeling in serious need of a relaxing break with country walks, a first-class spa and restaurant and cosy rooms to hide away in, then Bailiffscourt hotel and spa is the place for you.
Tucked away down a little countr...
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To arrive at Langshott Manor hotel is to jump back in time. One moment you are in urban Surrey, passing through towns like Redhill and Horley and driving though a modern housing estate, and then all of a sudden you arrive at a building unlike no othe...
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There's a warm glow which comes when reading a newspaper article called 'Cosiest pubs to stay in this winter' and realising you are heading off to stay in one of those featured that very day. This happened to me recently when about to head off to Th...
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Feeling my car's clutch cable snap while driving to the airport was not the greatest of starts to our Cape Verde holiday, but after a several hours on the hard shoulder of the M1, a succession of train journeys and an impromptu overnight hotel stay a...
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With every cloud there comes a silver lining and the missing of our flight to Cape Verde meant an unexpected overnight stay in Bristol and my first experience of Hotel du Vin.
I'd long been aware of the hotel chain founded by Gerard Basset and...
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It's been receiving guests for more than 60 years but Park House hotel and spa is only now making the transition from well-kept local secret to firm fixture on the British country house hotel scene. With a new general manager - Mark Yates, formerly o...
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There is always a worry when it comes to revisiting a hotel which you totally adored on the first visit - what if it's not going to be as good as you remembered it? I know people who won't go to the same place twice for that very reason, and others w...
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If you like visiting beautiful English stately homes but hate the queues, the drive, the parking and the general hassle which usually goes with such visits, then Bowood hotel, spa and golf in Wiltshire has the perfect solution: its own fleet of golf ...
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Some holidays are so jam-packed with things to do, places to visit and sights to tick off that you end up needing a holiday afterwards to recover. A island-hopping voyage around the Aegean with SCIC Sailing (it stands for Sailing Cruises in Comfort a...
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Being in the Land of the Midnight Sun can do strange things to you. A few days into my cruise along the Norwegian coast, I’d been chatting on deck after dinner with my fellow passengers. I went to bed thinking that it wasn’t a particularly late night...
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I hadn't meant to embark on an impromptu Champagne cocktail-tasting session just after breakfast, but in keeping with the overall spirit of relaxation and pampering at The Greenway hotel and spa Cheltenham it seemed the right thing to do.
It was m...
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Exactly 600 years ago, the Bel and The Dragon coaching inn was built in the pretty Berkshire town of Cookham and six centuries later, I took a friend with me to stay at the pub and see what it was actually like. Well, you don't want to rush these thi...
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If your idea of a perfect summer's day is afternoon tea (or a gin and tonic) on a beautiful lawn in the sunshine, The Manor House luxury hotel in the pretty Cotswolds village of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, is the place to be.
There you can immers...
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If the England rugby team need somewhere to recharge their batteries after a tough game then they needn't travel very far: their training ground at Pennyhill Park luxury hotel in Surrey is just a drop kick away from one of the finest spas in the coun...
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Back in January 2015 I wrote a blog post in defence of little yellow photobombing cars, as the car owned by Peter Maddox, 82-year old resident of Bibury village in the Cotswolds, had attracted the ire of tourists come to photograph Arlington Row, sup...
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There is something rather special about a rooftop bar in London. The views might not be spectacular - we're not taking Rio or Hong Kong harbour here - but to rise above the traffic and gaze down at the crowds from on high feels incredibly luxurious. ...
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It's been quite a year! It started with an amazing culinary tour of Japan - a week full of sushi, puffer fish and bullet trains - and ended with a trip to Antarctica (which felt at times like a trip to another planet). During the rest of the year I ...
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A trip to the Cotswolds is always a treat and if you're in need of some bracing countryside walks, a hearty pub meal and then a nightcap in front of a roaring fire, then The Old Swan and Minster Mill in the pretty Cotswolds village of Minster Lovell ...
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As skiing is such a sociable sport - there's the long lunches, the dancing-on-tables après-ski, the cosy chalet dinners and oh yes, the skiing itself (who wants to go on a ski lift on their own?) - going on a ski holiday by yourself with a tour opera...
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I was feeling rather Christmassy anyway after ambling through Covent Garden with a glass of mulled wine and admiring the Christmas lights, but even the most Bah Humbug of Scrooges would have felt full of festive cheer arriving at the five-star The Ro...
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Being named The Sunday Times' Hotel of the Year, which The Painswick was a few years ago, can be a double-edged sword. On the upside, the phone didn't stop ringing once the news came out, bookings went through the roof and for a newly-opened hotel, i...
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You have to be deeply relaxed to nod off during a massage, so falling completely asleep, not once, but twice, during my treatment at the Lime Wood hotel spa shows what an incredibly relaxing spa treatment it was.
This was quite an achievement con...
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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 suite at The Marylebone in central London was one of those mome...
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After being trapped in for hours in Bank Holiday roadworks hell, the five-star hotel Rockliffe Hall Darlington in in County Durham was a more than welcome sight. Set in 375 acres of parkland, the original building dates from the 1800s, but over the y...
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When it's hot in the city, your first instinct might be to run for the hills (or the coast) but just steps from the sweltering heat of Tottenham Court Road tube station, The Bloomsbury hotel is a great spot in which to cool down.
Its hidden se...
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My bedroom at The Gore hotel in Kensington was definitely one with the 'wow' factor. There were oil-paintings and gilt-edged mirrors and the bed itself was so vast and so high it felt as if I needed a footstool to climb aboard.
The epic theme ...
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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 so far. While the hotel would be a perfectly nice place to stay in during all sorts...
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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. I've often driven past the road signposted to The Slaughters on my way through the Cotswolds but had never taken the turning.
It was only...
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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 in Weybridge, Surrey, was certainly one of the largest I've stayed in.
The vast central lounge in our 'super suite...
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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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My heart often sinks when I discover my room is in a separate building to the main hotel - this usually implies some modern, soulless extension - but at Sopwell House luxury hotel near St Albans, our room's outside location was really quite special.
...
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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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It is hard not to start off a review of Noble Rot restaurant - as practically every other reviewer has done - with a nostalgic look back at days gone by, spent in the various pubs and wine bars of Lamb's Conduit Street.
It seems that every journal...
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Just when you think you've stayed in the best hotels in the Cotswolds, along comes Whatley Manor luxury hotel and tops the lot. From the moment the gates opened to reveal a beautiful cobbled courtyard, the entrance garlanded by wisteria and lavender,...
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A night in Kensington luxury hotel in South Kensington
I'd earlier I'd been at the Kensington luxury hotel in central London to drink cocktails at the launch of its bar, the K Bar. Now I was back at the luxury hotel close to many of London's museums...
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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.
Within a couple of hours of arriving at the 19th century gothic building - bu...
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Turning up to lunch at Dinner restaurant in Knightsbridge - the restaurant from top chef Heston Blumenthal - with a copy of the menu from The Fat Duck at Bray (also by Heston Blumenthal, where my dining companion Simon had eaten just the week before)...
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Some hotels just get it completely right - and luxury country house hotel Hambleton Hall hotel 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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If you are one of those people who love nothing more than to sit in a country pub in front of a roaring fire, working your way through the weekend papers while you also work your way through the selection of well-kept ales at the bar, then a stay at ...
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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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Returning to Balans Soho Society restaurant Kensington High Street was like visiting an old friend who had had a complete image change in the intervening years. My colleagues and I used to come here for a post-work glass of wine of two, sitting squas...
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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 racecourse its...
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It isn't easy to stand out among such a competitive field - I'm talking about the 'best hotels in the Cotswolds' category, of which there are many - but the award-winning boutique hotel Dormy House more than meets the challenge. From the moment I wal...
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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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Within two minutes of arriving at Barnsley House hotel and spa in the Cotswolds I had completely fallen in love with it - and that's before I'd even tried out the private cinema, outdoor hot tub or delicious food. All these things were yet to come, b...
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Sexy Fish, the newly-opened £15 million restaurant from Richard Caring (The Ivy, Le Caprice, J Sheekey) doesn't actually look very sexy from the outside. It's rather plain and square and dull and looks not dissimilar from the NatWest bank it used to...
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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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Bodysgallen Hall hotel North Wales was the starting point for my week exploring Wales and it was a great place to begin. One of the top luxury hotels in Wales, its location just outside Llandudno on the north coast is right at the top of Wales and ye...
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The wonderful thing about writing the ALadyofLeisure.com blog 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 in Wales - which now bills itself as ...
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The part of London between Portland Place and Goodge Street near Goodge Street tube station has historically been a bit of a culinary no-man's land, with little to tempt you to eat in the estate-agent-christened 'Noho' unless you actually worked in ...
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One thing I've learnt from writing my ALadyofLeisure.com blog is that you never really know all about luxury hotels - and especially the one you're staying in - until you get someone to give you the Grand Tour. A typical hotel guest will see little m...
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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 in West Sussex is most definitely one of those.
[Note: this review of Gravetye Manor in West Sussex was first published in 2015 and som...
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They've both received glowing reviews and are two of the hottest places on London's restaurant scene at the moment, but Kitty Fisher's and Ham Yard restaurant are rather different culinary experiences.
[Note: this review of top London restaurants ...
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St James's Hotel in London might be five-star luxury but thankfully it has none of the formal starchiness you might expect from a super-posh hotel. The staff are so cheerful and relaxed that I found myself having all sorts of random conversations wit...
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It is a bittersweet moment when you go to a new restaurant and discover that it has replaced an old favourite. However in the case of The Secret Garden, located just opposite Clapham North tube, London, where the highly-rated Four O Nine restaurant u...
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From basket case to billion pound business, Travelodge has undergone a remarkable turnaround in just three short years. The chain was on the brink of collapse with a debt mountain of £635 million in 2012. But last week its owners – led by Goldman Sac...
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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 East Sussex certainly has the 'wow' factor. It's easily one of the best hotels in East Sussex and a hotel with stunning views: walking through a stone arch to the garden terrace, the view suddenly opens ou...
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It isn't often you get to share a sink with Hugh Grant but the sign in our bedroom at the five-star Luton Hoo hotel and spa proclaimed it to be true: the rather quirky sink-in-a-cupboard in the corner was indeed the very same cupboard from Four Weddi...
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You would have to start pretty early and finish late to be able to squeeze in the maximum amount of relaxation possible at my Nirvana Spa day near Reading, the award-winning spa near London and one of the top day spas in the country.
I spent the w...
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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.
While Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire is a luxury hotel and spa in Buckinghamsh...
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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.
And now the firm has expanded its adult-friendly Club Mark...
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Note: my exclusive interview with Sir Rocco Forte in Browns Hotel London was first published in 2015
Sir Rocco Forte is not shy about revealing his political opinions. As the nation approaches its most closely fought General Election in living memo...
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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 around to disturb the peace of my morning stroll around the 300 acres of Hertfordshire countryside which surrounds The Grove hotel near Watford; nothing, that is, until a helicopter suddenly swooped down and landed on the immaculate...
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One of the closest hotels to Charing Cross station in London, the Amba Hotel 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 a...
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As a late arrival to the cult of the Pisco sour cocktail I certainly plan to make up for lost time. I started and finished my evening at London Peruvian restaurant Senor Ceviche with a perfect Pisco Sour, the drink which has become one of my favourit...
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Olivo, the Italian restaurant in Victoria London, used to be a lunchtime favourite of mine but for some reason I haven't been back there for about ten years. However when I finally returned I was delighted to find it hadn't changed a bit, which isn'...
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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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For a restaurant attached to an art gallery, the Saatchi Gallery restaurant doesn't seem to have a lot of actual art going on.
In fact, it was only when I went to find the Ladies at the end of the meal that I was able to see the rather impress...
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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 promises to deliver 'British wild food' and while London's Sloane Square isn't known for being especially wild (except maybe in the sales), Rabbit Restaurant Kings Road Chelsea in London fulfils its mission admirably.
Small on the outside but o...
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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 Botanist, Sloane Square was packed as the pre-theatre crowd were getting a few swift ones in before heading across the road to the King's Head Theatre.
Thankfully the restaurant itself was rather quieter as we were here on a very serious quest...
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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. Hotels in Marlow are blessed with a great location anyway as Marlow is...
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Staying at Huntsham Court, an exclusive use manor house in Devon, provokes a mixture of emotions.
Luxury wedding venue in Devon
Two recurring regrets of mine are a) that my family is neither posh nor wealthy enough to have a massive ancestral home ...
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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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[Note: this review of Four to Eight in Covent Garden was published in 2015 and the restaurant is now closed. I've let it up here though as my blog is like my diary!]
The ever-changing nature of London's restaurant and bar scene means that not infr...
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It is located in the no-man's land of offices and parkland between Exmouth Market and Clerkenwell Green, but Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings is well worth the detour.
Opened by the team which owned the subterranean Goodge Street drinking den ...
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London's South Bank is known for many things but a good steak was not historically one of them. However my visit to Gillray's Steakhouse and Bar was to change all that - for me at least.
Restaurants near Waterloo station
Long-time London dwellers s...
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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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It isn't every day I stay in a 17th century Palladian mansion but after just a few hours at Luckham Park luxury hotel near Bath I was walking around as if I had lived there for years.
Staying at Lucknam Park
I would grandly descend the staircase fr...
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'Location is everything' so the saying goes - but when it comes to the afternoon drinks and Italian nibbles at the Baglioni hotel in Kensington, it seems location can be a double-edged sword.
I was invited to come along and spend the evening in th...
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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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There are worse things to do on a Monday morning spending the day at Centurion Club St Albans out in the glorious sunshine being taught how to play golf by a rather charming golf pro.
Thankfully, said pro - Nick Ansell - who worked at this impress...
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It is always a good sign of a hotel restaurant if you could imagine going back there without being an overnight guest and Apero definitely fits that description.
Tucked beneath the Ampersand hotel and the South Kensington pavement - though designe...
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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.
To me it was a vague ensemble of various things - the museums, French people, a really good sheet mu...
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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://aladyofleisure.com/the-swan-at-lavenham-review/ ]
The Swan at Lavenham is located in one of tho...
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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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A ski weekend in Tignes with Mark Warner
You could never accuse Mark Warner of skimping on the apres-ski - or, for that matter, the pre-ski and the in-ski. A three-day trip to French Alpine ski resort Tignes to check out its newly refurbished chalet...
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Center Parcs is practically immune from criticism. With occupancy running at a staggering 97.2 per cent all year round, the private-equity owned leisure company is the envy of its peers.
In spite of the complaints about high prices during school h...
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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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The traffic-and-commuter-saturated High Holborn usually has little to recommend it, being full of gridlocked buses and office workers doing the twice-daily rat run to and from the tube. But an grand oasis of opulent charm and fine dining has just arr...
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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 despair caused by realising you have to d...
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It isn't often that you see a man wearing a hessian sack telling a room of beer-drinking women they would make better brewers than men.
But Monday's 'Give Boys the Chop - beer dinner for girls only' event organised by Rupert Ponsonby and his g...
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Equinox gym London could possibly be one of the most expensive gyms in Kensington or even one of the priciest gyms in whole of London. And as it's one of the most luxurious gyms in London, it is possibly one of the more expensive gyms in the country....
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Any business owner will tell you that it's vital to get the local residents on side right from the very beginning to ensure success.
And Gordon Ramsay did just that with the newest restaurant in his empire, London House in Battersea Square.
...
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Well - I did it. 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 greater reserves of willpower than anyone, including myself, suspected, ...
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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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The TGI Friday’s restaurant chain turned itself around, thanks to a fire that gutted one of its flagship sites, I'm told in my interview with Karen Forrester from TGI Fridays.
While most bosses would consider this an unmitigated disaster, Forr...
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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.
I clung to him for dear life as we plunged and soared across the sl...
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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, the Cirque's Quidam show at the Royal Albert Hall certainly had a lot to live up to.
But while the London s...
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There's nothing more than the fitness industry loves than the newest fad, the latest trend, the 'next big thing'.
It guarantees column inches in newspaper supplements and magazines as the new idea is relentlessly promoted in books and articles...
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What is a Mark Warner singles holiday like?
Take dozens of single people, put them in a beach resort for a week, add sun and alcohol, and it’s simply a matter of time before holiday romances start to flourish. It was just a couple of days into my Ma...
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My friends in the drinks industry won't thank me, but I've joined the growing ranks of those who have sworn off booze for January - hello Dry January!
Swearing seems to be the appropriate word too, as it's what I've felt like doing every one of t...
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Welcome to my leisure blog ALadyofLeisure.com! As a journalist covering the leisure sector for a national newspaper, I am lucky enough to spend a lot of my time having amazing experiences and meeting fascinating people. From visiting new restaura...
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