Luxury Holiday Guide Blog

Destinations that are a cut above the rest

Archive for Luxury Holiday News

Manchester UK – Hotels, Restaurants, Bars and Football

Manchester is one of the most fashionable and vibrant cities in the UK. Not only is Manchester currently home to the best and richest football clubs on the planet, it has a distinct culture that gives it a quite different character to most UK cities. There are some exclusive restaurants and bars in Manchester that rankl among the best in Britain. Manchester Hotels are also cut from a similar trendy cloth.

Here are five of the best things about Manchester – we recommend that you sample it at some point.

Football - Manchester United and Manchester City are two of the biggest football clubs in the world, and they are both contained in one city!

Music - The Smiths, The Stone Roses, New Order and the Happy Mondays all hail from Manchester. Each has left a lasting impression on our culture.

Hotels in Manchester - if you’re looking for something that little bit special the The Lowry is the hotel fore you. Named after the famous painter from the city, this hotel is truly special. Even the slightly cheaper Manchester Hotels (such as the Ramada) are pretty cool

Restaurants - there is a wide range of restaurants available for you to select from in Manchester. It very hard to pick out a few, but our favourites are:

Bars - Again picking out a few select pubs in Manchester is a very difficult task – we wouldn’t miss Walrus in the northern quarter, it has a bright, cosmopolitan atmosphere and a great cocktail menu, as well as serving tasty Japanese food. Another great option is Lammars which has gone from a trendy word-of-mouth venue to one of the busiest pubs in the city.

These are just five short reasons to visit Manchester, if there is anything that you would like to add that you feel should be experienced in Manchester then please leave a comment!

Glasgow Links – The best hotels, food, drink and attractions!

Glasgow is a very much underestimated city. The city has a proud industrial past that it retains strong links to – however, the city is now emerging as a stylish and vibrant alternative to Edinburgh. The city is now second only to London in terms of retail, has a world renowned reputation for a vibrant and diverse nightlife and has a wide range of accomodation types to suit a wide variety of needs.

These are some of our favourite Glasgow links:

Hotels and Accomodation

  • If you’re looking for a quality hotel in Glasgow City Centre then the Ramada is a great option. Situated in the heart of the city, this elegant hotel is a great option for a short stay in Glasgow.
  • Those looking for a little luxury should seriously consider the Hotel du Vin in the stylish West End of the city. This multi-award winning hotel has been home to a wide range of A-List guests throughout the years.
  • Malmaison Glasgow

Food and Drink

  • Rogano, Glasgow – One of Glasgow’s most famous and oldest restaurants the Rogano has a worldwide reputation for excellent seafood.
  • The Scottish Food Guide has an excellent page devoted to some of the best eateries in Glasgow.
  • Glasgow Guide – Pubs – A wide and varied list of pubs in Glasgow.
  • Cafe Andaluz
The Rogano, Glasgow

The Rogano, Glasgow

Events and Attractions

These are just a few of our top links for Glasgow, if there are any that you fell should be added, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Travel and Leisure names top 10 Best New Hotels

Somehow, we managed to miss this interesting list from Travel and Leisure at the tail end of last year, where they have named their top 10 best new hotels of 2008. There are some extremely exciting looking locations on this list, has anyone managed to stay in any of these hotels yet? – let us know what you thought! The full list is as follows, click the link for the slideshow.

  1. Habita Monterrey, Mexico
  2. Mondrian, Miami
  3. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus, Turkey
  4. Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai
  5. Xudum Delta Lodge, Botswana
  6. St. Regis Bali Resort, Indonesia
  7. Mandarin Oriental, Boston
  8. Mama Shelter, Paris
  9. Valle Perdido Wine Resort, Argentina
  10. W, Hong Kong

Our personal choices would be the Mondrian in Miami and a trip to the Xudum lodge in Botswana – that would certainly be a unique experience.

UK Travellers face holiday habits scrutiny

UK Passports - Under the Spotlight

UK Passports - Under the Spotlight

Are you heading on the holiday of a lifetime this year, or are you going on a few smaller trips?, perhaps to visit friends or family? Where are you going? How much did it cost  and how did you pay for it?. If you think im being nosey, you better read on………………

An interesting travel story came to light this month, the importance of which seemed to get lost amongst news of the continuing economic problems.

Essentially, the UK government is compiling a massive database of all travel journeys taken from the UK. What this means is that each and every trip made from Britain by you and is going to be stored on computer records. That’s around 25 million flights, holidays, ferry and rail journeys over the next 10 years. The level of detail is where we got slightly worried – names, addresses, telephone numbers, seat reservations, itineraries and credit card details are all trackable elements. The UK government claim that this database is essential in order to effectively fight against illegal immigration, crime and terrorism. We would be slightly more confident if we we sure that this data is going to be completely secure and used for these noble purposes. We’ll be interested to see hope this story develops.

Classy Edinburgh

Hello and Welcome to Edinburgh, where the buzz of Scotland’s capital city sits in perfect contrast to the peaceful tranquility of the surrounding Lothians region.

Edinburgh has one if not the most beautiful cityscapes on the planet, making it the ideal city break destination. With Scotland’s most famous castle dominating the city skyline which is steeped in history, there is plenty to see and do with the perfect balance between all things traditional and contemporary.

The Night life is exceptional too with hundreds of classy restaurants, pubs and clubs. It might not be the largest city in the world by size but it certainly is with character.

Discover world-class museums and galleries, take a tour on an open-top bus or even visit the city’s own zoo. From the world famous Festivals to top-class restaurants and bars, not to mention fabulous shopping and Hotel Edinburgh accommodation you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Dubai Atlantis – $20m Opening Party

The official opening of the Atlantis The Palm Dubai hotel took place yesterday. To reflect these difficult financial times for the hotel sector, there wasn’t a great deal of fanfare to mark this event. Actually, thats a complete lie – the owners of the Atlantis have laughed in the face of the econmic crisis, with an incredible $20m opening extravaganza. Amongst the A-List celebs were in attendance were Kylie Minogue, Michael Jordan, Janet Jackson and Wesley Snipes. The 7-Star Dubai Hotel War (Atlantis V Burj Al Arab – Fight!!) is now well and truly joined!

Here is the fireworks display, which almost puts the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony in the shade – enjoy.

World’s Most Expensive Cities – Eastern Surpirse

Those dreaming of luxury city breaks may be interested in a post over at HotelClub detailing The Most Expensive Cities in the World. The Predictable entries of London, Paris, Tokyo, New York and Stockholm are offset by a newcomer in Moscow where: Read the rest of this entry »

Luxury Holiday Itenerary

Time these days is a prescious commodity. We are sure there are people reading this who have been in a desperate last minute rush to pack (why is it you always feel like youve forgotten something). When embarking on any holiday, even for a couple of weeks it is amazing how the suitcases begin to expand. Read the rest of this entry »