18 June 2019

My husband and I were lucky to get a week away, staying in the Iberostar Fuerteventura Palace in Jandia. The resort itself was very quiet with not much around the hotel to see or do. The hotel itself was very nice; the food was lovely and there was a lot of different food to choose from so there was something there for everyone. The staff were very pleasant. The rooms are very spacious, and each room had a mini bar in it that you could put your own things in. We had tea and coffee making facilities and a large TV, the bathroom was a nice size also. We did find that there were not many umbrellas around the pool area for everyone so if you wanted to sit out of the sun then you would need to sit indoors. They had entertainment on every night and there were a couple of bars where you could have a lovely drink and you could sit inside or outside.

09 June 2019

I have not long returned from Halkidiki in Greece. We stayed in a place called Kalives which had a lovely beach but nothing close to the hotel, you needed to get a taxi into any of the towns nearby. The beach was lovely, and you could hire a Cabana on the beach for the whole day for €25 with waiter service so they would come and bring you drinks whenever you needed one. There are all kinds of water sports on the beach. The hotel we stayed in was the Blue Lagoon Princes a 5* hotel. They only do all-inclusive at this hotel. We had three swim up rooms but because no one else was in our block (8 Suites to a block, 4 swim up suites and 4 suites above them) we had the whole pool to ourselves. The hotel was very clean, staff were lovely and the whole resort was lovely. I would recommend this hotel it always has some kind of entertainment on day and night, it's great for families and couples but, like I said, nothing to do nearby.

22 January 2016

Every year I go away with my friends and we try and find different places to go, but Spain has to be one of our favourites (not a long flights and quite cheap). We always go for an early flight out and a midday one coming home. So this time we stayed in Menorca at a resort called Son Bou which was lovely, the sea was clear blue water, plenty of restaurants and bar's and the beach was amazing. There were a couple of bars on the beach which was lovely to sit and relax watching the sea and having a lovely cold drink sitting in the sun. We stayed at a place called HG Jardin de Menorca in Son Bou, we had 2 one bedroom suites with a small kitchen and lounge area which were lovely and a nice size balcony too, there were 3 pools which were cleaned every day. Breakfast was also included which was a buffet style plenty to chose from. There was a pool bar, also just outside the hotel was a supermarket where you could buy almost anything and bring back to your suite and put in your full size fridge which was very handy. We would definitely go back here.

28 June 2013

WOW what can I say, I have just come back from escorting a group of my customers to Cyprus for their wedding. The whole holiday/wedding was stress free for my customers so they had nothing to worry about. I had the guys playing a round of golf on the morning of the wedding while the ladies got their last few rays of sunshine by the pool. I arranged a champagne welcome reception for my guests when they arrived at the hotel from their flight so I could get them checked - in without any stress. I also made sure they had small gifts in their rooms to get their stay at the Athena Beach Hotel off to the perfect start. As I know the area very well I showed them the best restaurants to eat in and took the younger guests to the more lively bars and nightclubs. After just one night at the hotel they had all arranged to do a reunion next year as they just loved everything about the hotel. Different members of the groups stayed for differing number of nights. It doesn't matter how long customers want to stay for as I can always tailor-make your dream wedding for you. Please have a look at some of the photo's I have of the wedding and you can make your own mind up. If this is what you are looking for then please give me a call and we can arrange a meeting and put some ideas together for your dream wedding. I’m there to help every step of the way, and my experience is not limited to Cyprus!

15 May 2013

Cyprus, especially Paphos, is one of my favourite destinations as there is so much there to offer every type of holiday maker. I have stayed here now a few times and I'm sure will go back many more times. I have stayed in the Paphos Athena Beach, Athena Royal and the Elysium hotels, which are all close to shops and restaurants. Paphos it's self has a lovely harbour with some lovely restaurants and bars and is also easy to walk to from the Athena Beach & Athena Royal, Asimena Suites and the Pioneer Hotels it's a lovely stroll along the sea front also you can go on a day cruise or sunset cruise. There is an area in Paphos called "Bar Street" which has many bars, restaurants and nightclubs and is a short walk from the harbour. There are many historical places to visit too like The Tomb of the Kings which is an archaeology site. Archaeologists report that the site of Paphos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. It was a centre of the cult of Aphrodite and of pre-Hellenic fertility deities. Aphrodite's mythical birthplace was on this island, where her temple was erected by the Myceneans in the 12th century BC. The remains of villas, palaces, theatres, fortresses and tombs of the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods mean that the site is of exceptional architectural and historic value. By the harbour stands Paphos Castle, originally a Byzantine fort built to protect the harbour. It was rebuilt by the Lusignans in the 13th century, dismantled in 1570 by the Venetians who were unable to defend it against the Ottomans, who in their turn restored and strengthened it after capturing the island. Saranta Kolones, Kato Paphos, near the harbour, is a castle built in the first years of Lusignan rule (beginning of the 12th century) maybe on the site of a previous Byzantine castle. It was destroyed in the earthquake of 1222. The legacy of the town's remarkable history adds up to nothing less than an open museum, so much so that UNESCO added the entire town to its World Cultural Heritage List. Among the treasures unearthed are the remarkable mosaics in the Houses of Dionysos, Theseus and Aion, beautifully preserved after 16 centuries under the soil. Then there are the mysterious vaults and caves, the Tombs of the Kings, the pillar to which Saint Paul was allegedly tied and whipped and the ancient Odeon Theatre. Other places of interest include the Byzantine Museum and the District Archaeological Museum, with its attractive collection of Cypriot antiquities from the Paphos area, dating from the Neolithic Age up to 1700 AD. Near the Odeon are the remains of the ancient city walls, the Roman Agora and a building dedicated to Asclepius, god of medicine. The mosaic floors of these elite villas dating from the 3rd to the 5th century are among the finest in the Eastern Mediterranean. They mainly depict scenes from Greek mythology.

15 May 2013

I was very lucky enough to be able to visit Dubai on two different occasions, this is such a lovely place to visit you can do a short weekend or stay longer there is so much to do there. I stayed in two different types of hotels - one was the Atlantis which is on the Palm and the other Hotel was the Park Regis Kris Kin in the city both hotels have so much to offer. The Atlantis is a huge hotel with plenty to see and do here, from swimming with dolphins to a water park to just relaxing on the beach or by the pool. In the Atlantis hotel they have The Lost Chambers which is a Giant fish tank that have amazing fish and an underwater experience without getting wet. There are so many restaurants to choose from in the Atlantis and a few bars to relax in too. The Park Regis Kis Kin hotel was in the city closer to all the shopping malls and airport, it has a rooftop pool with waiter service which was very nice. It also has a nice bar in the hotel that serves nice food and bar snacks throughout the day. Also while I was here I did a Desert Jeep Safari which was amazing and then we had a BBQ in the desert with belly dancing and birds of prey and camel rides too. I would recommend Dubai a place you should visit for a holiday and the shopping is fabulous too.

15 May 2013

I was very lucky to have the change to visit the Maldives. It’s definitely better than it shows you in the brochures with its crystal clear waters and pure white sand. The sea was just so clear and the fish were so beautiful. The islands are just amazing. I visited eleven islands in five days; including Maafushivaru, Thudufushi, Huvafen Fushi, Bodu Hithi and Centara Grand Island Resort. All of these islands were totally amazing and each hotel had something different to offer. You can get to most of the islands by either sea plane or speed boat. Some of the hotels are all-inclusive whereas others offer bed and breakfast or half board. The food was amazing. The flight is direct from London Heathrow with Sri Lanka Airlines and the flight is approximately ten and a half hours. There are over 1000 islands in total and only around 100 of the islands are just for visitors. The rest are either uninhabited or occupied by locals. The language of the Maldives is Divheli but English is widely spoken in all the resorts. If you would like to hear more about this wonderful place then please give me a call.

23 January 2013

I was invited to join some other Travel Counsellors on a trip to Gran Canaria. We had a lovely time and visited the following many hotels including Seaside Hotel Palm Beach, Sheraton Salobre, Cordial Mogan Playa Hotel, Gloria Palace Amadores and Gloria Palace Royal. This was my first time in Gran Canaria and I thought it was lovely and would definitely go back there. There are so many hotels that suit everyone from family holiday to single holidays and honeymoons. The food was lovely and there was so much to choose from. The beaches were lovely too with plenty of restaurants. You can also choose from plenty of water sports too! There is also a very good nightlife there. Gran Canaria is so easy to get to. There are lots of airlines that fly there direct and the flight time is approximately four hours. Give me a call if you would like to know more about Gran Canaria.

09 December 2008

WOW. what a place, we had a fantastic time here we did not stop the whole time it was brill. We left Gatwick Airport for Enontekio in Hetta Finland, and upon arrival we went straight to get our snow suits and boots... there was snow everywhere! The temperature was only -9 so it wasn't that bad - baring in mind it was -24 a few days before we got there! The hotel we stayed in was called the Hotel Hetan Majatalo - it was a family run hotel and it was lovely. The staff were so nice and the rooms were basic but comfortable. Our room slept 5 people with 2 twin beds downstairs and 3 beds upstairs. We had a nice size bathroom with a walk-in shower, towels were changed as often as you wanted them changed. The food was a buffet style lots to choose from. I took my 2 daughters with me (10 & 8 ) they had the best time ever, we did the husky rides, reindeer rides, snowmobiles, tobogan rides etc..... While we where the we also went and saw an Ice Castle which was very impressive. It had 4 bedrooms, dining room and toilet, a chapel and a reception area. It was very well sculpted! There are so many other things you could do there. It was a wonderful place to go. We also went and found Santa deep in the forest. This was a trip I always wanted to do and I'm so glad we went. It was magical!

04 August 2008

There we're 10 of us that travelled to Las Vegas to celebrate my brothers 50th birthday, and we had all been to Vegas many times before. We just love the place and this time we stayed in the Mirage Hotel which is a 5* - we all booked 'Strip View' rooms which were lovely and enabled us to look at all the lights from the strip at night. This hotel is right in the centre of the strip so it was a great base for us to explore the bright lights and sounds of Vegas! The Mirage was built by developer Steve Wynn and opened in November 1989. Steve Wynn has since had the fantastic Wynn hotel built - a great looking hotel that has a Lambogini and Masarati show room in the hotel. Only in Vegas! The Mirage was the most expensive hotel/casino in history, with a construction cost of $630 million. The hotel's distinctive gold windows get their colour from actual gold used in the tinting process. It was reported that the resort would have to bring in a million dollars a day to pay off a 7-year construction loan. But in fact The Mirage did so well, the loan was paid off in just 18 months. We chose this hotel has it also has a fantastic pool with waterfalls. At the back of the hotel there is a fabulous dolphin enclosure, where we were able to be a trainer for the day. In addition to this there was a hidden garden that had all types of rare animals including white tigers. This was unbelieveable and we thoroughly enjoyed this addition to our hotel. From 1990 through 2003, the Mirage was the venue for the Siegfried & Roy show. The two headliners combined magic and the use of wild animals. The closing of the popular attraction was in 2003, after Roy Horn was attacked by one of the white tigers used in the show, and this had a big impact on the Mirage for a while. Just up the road from the hotel there was a large shopping mall so if, like me, you like shopping this is the place to go. We also found there is also another mall a bit further out of town and we were able to book a bus trip to take us there. There are some fantastic restaurants in the area and a favourite for us was a great steak restaurant in the hotel Circus Circus (this hotel is more for families as there are more things for the kids to do - it has a fairground outside the hotel). There is so much to do in "The City Of Lights" and we enjoyed every moment of our holiday.

22 July 2008

This was the first time we had taken our daughters (aged 6 & 8) on a long haul flight so we wanted it to be special, so we decided that we would take them to Florida as it also combined with a conference my husband had to attend at the same time. We stayed in the "Walt Disney Dolphin & Swan Hotel" a 5 * hotel which provided easy access to the parks. We had a lovely room which had two large Queen sized beds and a seating area with an additional sofa bed. The hotel itself was lovely with friendly people and more importantly plenty for the girls to do. Outside it had 5 swimming pools (one of which had a water slide and waterfalls) and there was also a beautiful white sandy beach area with a lake where we hired swan pedalos. The parks were really easy to reach and we found we could get to Epcot & Disney-Hollywood Studios by either complimentary shuttle bus or by a shuttle boat. The other parks were also really accessible by the shuttle bus. This was perfect and economical with two young children who wanted to be in the centre of action all the time. The food at the hotel was nice and we especially enjoyed the Disney characters joining us every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our daughters loved this and it really made their time in Florida special. There is so much you can do in Orlando, you don't have to do just the parks, amazing as they are, there is also great shopping opportunities. A highlight for us was Manatee safari where we got up close and swam with them. This was just fantastic! Nothing compares to Florida and we really enjoyed every minute of our time here. I cannot recommend it enough.