Sent by Florence Fulton
Saintfield 12/09/2018
Based in Ballynahinch
Hi, my name is Stephanie and welcome to taking your first step of having your own personal Travel Counsellor.
I live in Ballynahinch Co. Down, I live with my two boys, Joel and Alex
I have been in travel for over 30 years and travel is my passion, I love the buzz and excitement of going on holiday. Throughout my career I have worked for two of the top agencies in Northern Ireland, I have decided to join Travel Counsellors because I have the knowledge and experience to be able to provide you with a high level of customer service.
I have travelled extensively throughout Europe, America and Canada, the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and the Far East on family holidays. I have been fortunate enough to ski in Europe and the US, play golf in Mauritius and Spain and even a flotilla holiday in Turkey, and recently I have cruised with my family on two of our holidays which have been amazing.
If you want to relax by the pool or if you prefer the beach, if you want an adventure holiday to a sporty holiday like scuba diving, skiing, golfing or sailing. I can help you plan your Round the World trip or if you want to cruise, I have the knowledge, experience and ideas to send you on your dream holiday every time.
In the introduction above I am telling you about myself, but the travel consultancy service I provide is all about ‘YOU’ and your holiday requirements.
Don’t spend hours and hours on the internet, I can provide you with competitive prices and a high level of customer service that you won’t receive booking online… call me at a time that is convenient for you, even outside of normal office hours.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Steph
Whatever your holiday needs I'm here to help you, so simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact details on and I can get things started for you:
I absolutely live and breathe travel and I love to write about my experiences! Please take a look through my posts - you might find your own holiday inspiration.
17 June 2014
Wow. I have been to a few places around the world, but I have never been to one from my bucket list before! Since I started in travel a few too many years ago, I came across a picture in a brochure with two mountains and a gorgeous beach. At that point I said to myself "I am going to go there someday!" Well, I have just returned, and I sat in awe the whole time. That place is St Lucia and the mountains are called "Pitons". In St Lucia, there was definitely a Caribbean vibe, which I loved. I was on a flying visit for five nights, and had the privilege of staying in three wonderful hotels when I was there. The BodyHoliday Le Sport is situated directly on Cariblue’s Crescent Beach and is surrounded by 42 acres of lush tropical gardens. Being a short, not so slim, 42 year old lady, I was a bit worried about the whole BodyHoliday Le Sport and what those words and the whole concept would mean. However I didn't feel out of place at all, you could be as active and healthy as you wanted or you could just chill out and enjoy the beach and the spa facilities. I joined in with a few activities, my firsts were Tai Chi and paddle boarding; both were immensely enjoyable. Dining in this hotel is a joy. We tried three different restaurants whilst here, and the food was varied and extremely high quality in all three. We then moved down the coast a bit, to Rendezvous. It is a four star all inclusive hotel situated in seven acres of lush tropical gardens on a two-mile stretch of Malabar Beach. This hotel lends itself to a boutique style hotel as it is a smaller more intimate, couple’s hotel. This hotel is also owned by the Barnard family and was originally the Barnard family home and grew to be a lovely four star hotel. I liked the intimate feel of the hotel. It has a small lazy river and main swimming pool and cabanas dotted around the resort in private areas. There are two restaurants in this hotel, but you can also eat at the BodyHoliday Resort, you just have to pay for your taxi between the hotels. St Lucia is a very green island that has a dormant volcano. You can visit the volcano and see the bubbling sulphur pools. It’s very interesting but it was a bit smelly the day we visited! We went Zip lining through the rainforest, a brilliant experience but maybe not for the feint hearted. If you do have members of your party that don't want to do it, there is a cable car ride up the mountain and over the canopy of the rainforest. Great fun! After all the adventure, we headed for our last night at the 5* Viceroy Sugar Beach Resort. Sugar Beach is situated between the Pitons and I have never experienced a hotel like this. I stayed in a Grand Deluxe Villa with my own butler and you got taken around the resort in Tuc-Tuc's or golf buggies. If you enjoy having spa treatments, this hotel has a wooden style spa, integrating itself to the rainforest around it. The views and standard of service are some of the best I have ever experienced. I would recommend St Lucia for families, couples or honeymooners. If you would like more information on St Lucia, please don't hesitate to get in contact me. Thank you, Steph.
08 July 2013
I had the privilege of visiting the island of Barbados in the Caribbean in June 2013. It’s hard to know where to start! The first thing that grabbed me was the friendliness of the local people as they were so helpful and lovely wherever I went. It is safe to go out and go for a walk. In particular, I went to Oistens Fish Market which is an absolute must on a Friday or Saturday night. Go along and have some local freshly caught fish with a beer, and dance (or if you don’t fancy dancing) just watch - it reminded me of a scene out of the film Dirty Dancing. I visited 14 hotels on my trip, and a few that stand out in my mind are Sandy Lane, Colony Club, Fairmont Royal Pavilion, and Ocean Two. For all-inclusive options Turtle Beach is great for families and Crystal Cove. There are others I would recommend depending on your budget, but I wouldn’t have enough space to write it all here so just call or email me if you are thinking of a visit! An important thing to note is that the east, south and west coast of the island are all very different. The east is windy and wild as it is on the Atlantic coast side, so windsurfers love it here. The south has gorgeous white sandy beaches and big waves, and the west coast has lots of hotels and small towns, as the sea is calm so safe for swimming. If you want to go out and about on the west coast there is a town called Holetown where you can have a wander. If you want to be nightlife then you should try to stay near St. Lawrence Gap on the south coast. We got to swim with turtles which was amazing. Our catamaran took us out to sea and we snorkelled with these lovely endangered species, but of course you are not allowed to touch or hold on to them. It was a truly wonderful experience and one I would certainly do again. It is very easy to drive on Barbados, and we hired a car. Whilst attempting to do a treasure hunt of the island we got lost so decided to try a chicken burger and chip from Chefette, (a restaurant chain on Barbados). An interesting fact we learnt - McDonalds opened a restaurant in Bridgetown and it closed its doors 6 months later because locals love their chicken. They eat more chicken per capita than any other country in the world – so we were told! I did enjoy my trip and definitely would recommend it. There are direct flights from London, which are about take about 8 and a half hours, with easy connections from Belfast or Dublin.
24 May 2011
Florida here we come in the cold month of February, the kids were off school for 8 days so 12 days of winter sunshine really appealed. We set off to Dublin airport with grandparents, parents, auntie and uncle and a 15 year old all in tow. We flew with Aer Lingus from Dublin and it was a long flight, but we found it to be very comfortable. There are lots of entertainment options on the personal TV monitors in the back of the seats, so you can make your own choices and not have toewatch what the kids want the whole way there….great start! On arrival at the Orlando International airport we picked up our hire car, we’d chosen a minivan! The whole process went very smoothly and we were soon out of the airport and on our way to our villa, which was going to be our home for the next 12 days. Our villa was ideal, big and luxurious! We had paid extra to get the pool heated, which I do recommend to do if you are travelling to Florida in the winter months. The whole family was looking forward to heading to Universal Islands of Adventure to visit Harry Potter World and it did not disappoint! It was extremely busy, so much so, at certain times when there are too many people in and you have to go and get a time ticket to return later at your allotted time. Lucky for us we did not have to do this. The queues for Hogwarts castle were quite long and so was the queue for Ollivanders Wand Shop. The ride and the experience of Hogwarts is one not to be missed for anyone Harry Potter fan or not, it is truly magical. You can also buy butterbeer and pumpkin juice, neither of which I particularly liked, but when your there you have to try these things! Before we left the UK, we had decided to go the Universal Parks, so the pass we purchased covered 5 parks in total; Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Aquatica. Islands of Adventure, has lots of other attractions that are worth seeing and doing, The Hulk, is a must for all roller coaster fans out there! Spiderman 3D was another firm favourite with our family! Universal Studios has great attractions like Shrek 4D, just be prepared for the smell! Some other surprises were Men in Black – which was great fun and The Simpsons simulator ride - which we all enjoyed. Seaworld is a lovely family day out, very relaxed and a great park for having a leisurely day in. The dolphin show was world class, but Shamu the killer whale show was a bit disappointing as they were working on producing a new show when we were there, so hopefully it will be as good as ever when you get the chance to go! There are also some big rollercoasters here to keep you entertained! The new rollercoaster here is called Manta….let’s just say I cried! Busch Gardens is another park we all enjoyed, the boys loved the big white tigers and were excited at the fact there is a glass dome, which you can put your head into – once inside you are in the middle of the tigers lair! There are loads of animals to see and a trip to Busch Gardens will not disappoint. Aquatica is a waterpark, I have never been to a waterpark before in Florida, but I will definitely do another one! Aquatica is simply brilliant; it is clean and very well looked after! The rides are thrilling but not really scary -another park that was a hit with the kids! We couldn't get Alex to come home! There is a beach beside the wave pool, so even grandparents who don't particularly like swimming can lie on a sunbeds beside the pool and read their books, maybe even going for a paddle every now and then! This is really just a small overview of our holiday in Orlando, if you would like more information of our time in Florida, give me a call, I'd be more than happy to tell you of my experience...
Saintfield 12/09/2018
Ballynahinch 12/09/2018
Ballynahinch 12/09/2018
Ballynahinch 12/09/2018
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Ballynahinch 26/10/2017
Saintfield 25/10/2017
Ballynahinch 25/10/2017
Banbridge 29/11/2016
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Spa 29/11/2016
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SHEFFIELD 15/09/2014
Comber 10/09/2013
Belfast 01/02/2013
Ballynahinch 03/01/2013
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Spa Ballynahinch 29/03/2012
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Ballynahinch 01/08/2011
Ballynahinch 30/07/2011
Creevytenant, Ballynahinch 29/07/2011