The Best Western Boltons Hotel is located in a nice location in the heart of Earls court. Under 3 minutes from the tube station and 5 minutes from the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Checkin was available from 2pm and was dealt with very efficiently and I was allocated a Lower Ground floor room.

The room itself was a single room, warm with good air conditioning (which made a little noise at times when it started up but not so much that it was disturbing). A TV, iPod docking am station, water and tea/coffee making facilities were also available in room – probably the best fitted single room I have seen.

The single room was quite decent in size and also had a very nice bathroom with nice products and good shower.

The only negative was that I was staying in Room 7 on the lower ground floor and there was a little noise from an access door which was used by staff (I presume) to access the rear of the hotel. This door was used quite a bit and took a small bit of getting used to.

It is a very nice hotel with very  clean rooms with friendly helpful staff and I would certainly return to the Best Western Boltons Hotel again.

Best Western Boltons Hotel Location:
19-21 Penywern Rd, London SW5 9TT, United Kingdom

I visit the Carraig Hotel every 2 weeks as part of a photography group and I often end up having food, drinks and have also attended functions in this location. The Carraig Hotel is a modern hotel which has been recently renovated. It has great food, a very bright and lively bar with extra touches like free WiFi and Sky Sports & piped music through-out the bar area. There is always a good buzz, some lively chat or nice music.

I have eaten here a good few times now and every time it it is very good quality. Over the past few months I have tried everything from a mini-grill, curry or chicken maryland to traditional cod & chips, burgers and wraps. My favourite is the duck spring rolls – delicious. The food is very good value too.

The Carraig is also great as a venue for functions, with plenty of room for all.

Great food at the Carraig Hotel

Carraig Hotel : Location

The Villa located in Puerto Banus in Marbella, Spain, is ideal as a family holiday villa or great as a  Golf Villa in Marbella with many great golf courses in Marbella.

This Marbella Villa Comfortably accommodates 8 people with 4 bedrooms, 3 bath rooms, a private pool, great sea views, located in a quiet area, in Puerto Banus.

If you are looking for a bright modern villa in Puerto Banus, Villa Banus should suit your holiday needs. Extra features include airconditioning, WiFi and is wheelchair friendly.

To Book this Villa visit www.marbellavillarental.net

The Sheraton on the Falls

The Sheraton at Niagara falls is a brand of hotels everyone knows and this Sheraton at Niagara falls has a clean and fresh appeal about it.

The Sheraton on the Falls Hotel has 669 first class rooms, varying from traditional guest-rooms to the beautiful Falls View suites. These falls-view suits feature floor-to ceiling windows providing guests with the best hotel view of Niagara Falls. All guestrooms are non-smoking which is ideal as I don’t smoke and I can smell if rooms have been smoked in.

The Rooms at The Sheraton

After a courteous and detailed check-in, you get a chance to see the view for yourself from the room. I would recommend getting a superior room (or better) on the higher floors, which will afford you a better view of the falls. The noise of the falls when you open your balconette door (not really a balcony but you can open a door protected by a guard rail), is amazing. You can hear the roar of the falls if you leave that door open.

The recommended room to stay in is the Fallsview King Jacuzzi Room. This room offers a King size Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed, floor to ceiling windows, and a fireplace with sitting area, and a 37″ LCD Television.
Also included are phone, desk, in room tea/coffee, wireless internet access (charged), and pay per view movies.

Anyway, the rooms in the Sheraton on the Falls are very nice, well laid out, clean and bright. Good size bathrooms, ideal for a luxury break away.
A sound nights sleep is guaranteed at the Sheraton on the Falls.

The Food

Options for food are plentiful. There are restaurants nearby and in the hotel. The best place for casual and fun dining is the Hard Rock Café within the same complex.

Buffet Breakfast is available in The Sheraton on the Falls and this is a very large buffet with everything from pancakes, cereals and fried foods to fruit, yoghurts and omlettes / eggs cooked to order. You won’t be hungry!

Conclusion

I was very happy with the Sheraton on the Falls, a great base for exploring the area as it is within walking distance of all the main attractions.

I would certainly return to this hotel and have no problem in recommending it.

Sheraton on the Falls Location

The Intercontinental Yorkville has an excellent location and on arrival enjoyed a very warm and personalised welcome and with an efficient and excellent check-in. On the very warm July day it was also nice to enjoy refreshing lemon water and fresh apples freely available in the lobby. The hotel is in a very nice location close to the Royal Ontario Museum and within walking distance of Queens Park (under 8 minutes walk), ChinaTown (about 25 minutes walk) and The Dundas Centre (about 35 minutes walk).

The rooms are very good but some rooms have no bed side locker on one side – may not be a big point but I like to have space for an alarm clock etc. We stayed in the Intercontinental Yorkville on 2 occasions, once on arrival in Canada and again  2 weeks later (before leaving Canada) – the second room we got had lockers each side and a stunning view down Bloor street west.

The rooms at the Intercontinental have excellent air conditioning and are extremely comfortable. Kettle and Coffee making facilities in the room. It is a great hotel with wonderful staff who will help you wherever possible. We had a few requests which we needed to get sorted and they obliged hugely. There is WiFi connectivity available but at an extra charge and the connection did time out a few times when trying to use said WiFi to Skype on the iPhone 4S.

Gift shop in lobby is very good for things like newspapers, sweets, water and snacks and is very useful to have something so close.

View from the Intercontinental Yorkville Toronto

Hotel Location :
InterContinental Toronto Yorkville – Toronto, Ontario,
220 Bloor Street West Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1T8

Having retraced the steps in my head I can see now where the window of opportunity might exist for an opportune thief to strike and take your belongings from your security tray.

Here’s the scene, you are preparing to have your belongings scanned and you are preparing to walk through the X-Ray device. It can be a bit stressful, take off your belt, take off your shoes, empty your pockets, turn off your phone, take your laptop out of its bag, do you have any liquids or gels? … Therefore you are a bit on edge just waiting for this to be finished and you might not be fully alert to the possibilities.

So if you leave your tray and just want to get through the X-ray door / device, your tray is still on the entry side of the X-ray machine. Anyone can now take an item from your tray and place it in theirs. This is what I believe happened – I had walked through and my tray was unattended. An easy thing to do especially if you are simply wanting to get through security.

So the tip is, stay with your tray, once your tray starts to enter the X-Ray machine you can then walk through, knowing that by the time you get through your tray will be just about exiting from the X-Ray scanner. If you happen to get stopped by security, try to identify where your tray is and keep your eyes on it. The security personnel are normally very nice so if you think you are going to be delayed and your tray is unattended having been checked you might ask them to remove it from the conveyor belt while you are undergoing the final manual security checks.

We arrived in London in really bad traffic and ended up getting a tube to Lancaster Gate, and walking the 7 or 8 minutes to the Blakemore. The hotel is really nice in the great location on a quiet street.

Having arrived tired at the hotel, we found the check in to be very efficient and handled well by a very friendly receptionist.

The Rooms

We got rooms 311 and 312 as we were there as a group of 4. The rooms are very nice, bright, airy, clean (I personally preferred 311, street view) and had excellent air conditioning. The rooms are serviced daily and are done so to a great standard. One point to note – one of the main things we noticed was that the beds are so comfortable you will want to stay there.

The rooms have TV, internet points, a room safe, ironing facilities as well as tea and coffee making facilities.

The Bathrooms in the club rooms are very nice with great product in bathrooms.

Another great point about the Blakemore Hotel is the Free WiFi which is accessible in the rooms also – many hotels have Free WiFi but only in the public areas and not in the rooms.The free WiFi allowed us to plan our day without incuring hefty 3G roaming charges.

Food

We tried the food in the restaurant and it proved to be very good, from curries to burgers and Caesar salads. The service was excellent and done so with a smile. We then enjoyed the Euro 2012 playoffs in the lounge which is very nice and relaxing.

Review Conclusion

I was very impressed by the Blakemore Hotel, the rooms are a perfect size for those looking for a great city break

The location is very good, just opposite Hyde Park and within a 10 minute walk of Bayswater, Queensway and Lancaster Gate tube stations.

I will certainly consider it on my next trip to London and it will be a hotel I will revisit again in the future.

Blakemore Hyde Park Hotel Location

Shane’s Rating :

 ★★★★★★★★★☆ 

The Oxfordshire

The Oxfordshire Golf Hotel & Spa is situated in the heart of the Chilterns about a 1 hour drive from Luton airport. The Oxfordshire is a luxury 50 bedroom Hotel and Spa and also has a  Championship Golf Course if you are so inclined, and has hosted some high profile golf tournaments including the Benson & Hedges International, Andersen Consulting World Championship and Ladies English Open.

The Oxfordshire : Review

The approach to the hotel is very nice as you wind towards the hotel with the golf course on either side. Plenty of car parking and a handy drop off area should suit everyone. Checking in is very quick and done with a smile. We were offered spa and pool times as well as an option to book a time at the restaurant which we availed of. The food in the restaurant is superb, very well cooked and plenty to choose from, whether you are a steak lover or a lover of fruits-de-mer. The restaurant offers fantastic views over the golf course and is lovely at sunset. Service was friendly and efficient.

The rooms were comfortable, spacious and had very good air conditioning. They also had a nice terrace / veranda which was accessed via sliding doors. In room hair dryer and safe was good to have also.

Breakfast was varied, hot food was tasty and was actually hot (which some hotels can learn from). Fresh fruit, yoghurt, cereals and muesli were also on offer.

The hotel is an ideal base for visiting places like Oxford, the Oxfordshire countryside, punting on the Thames in Oxford, the Harry Potter Studios  in Watford, the village where the Vicar of Dibley was filmed (a small town called Turville) and many other great places, gardens and country houses to visit nearby.

The Oxfordshire Hotel : Accolades

The Oxfordshire has had some recent accolades including the top 50 places to Stay & Play voted by Golf Monthly magazine, Top Golf Course in the county voted by the Top 100 Golf Courses in England and awarded 4 Bubbles by The Good Spa Guide.

The Oxfordshire : Conclusion

I did not know what to expect on booking (via booking.com) but was more than happy in the first minute inside the doors. The Oxfordshire is a well serviced, clean and friendly hotel which I have bookmarked and will certainly return to in the future.

Contact Details & Map

Rycote Lane  Milton Common, Oxfordshire OX9 2PU, United Kingdom

Shane’s Rating :

 ★★★★★★★★★¼ 

Timaru Gardens

The first major stop on the way to Dunedin is Timaru, a great stopping off point. There are some nice cafés around the town, but if you find yourself there on a Sunday or a Bank Holiday try Stafford Street! One of the points mentioned in the Rough Guide to New Zealand was Timaru Gardens. The Timaru Botanical Gardens are splendidly maintained, with many walks around a scenic lake and tree lined walkways.  There are also some roses to be seen during the summer months and Timaru also has an annual rose festival.  Driving can take it out of your so if you need to stop, it’s worth stopping in Timaru for these gardens – great for stretching the legs en-route to Dunedin.

Moeraki Boulders

The Moeraki Boulders are located about 76km north of Dunedin. The huge spherical Moeraki stones are located on a stretch of Koekohe Beach near a place called Moeraki on New Zealand’s Otago coast.

These large boulders are what are known as septarian concretions (if you like your geology) exposed through shore-line erosion. They originally formed as ancient sea-floor sediments (during the early Paleocene era), over 60 million years ago. They are amazing to see and worth visiting – best though if the tide is out! Be careful as the tide can come into the cliff face and you might be cut off.

Accommodation in Dunedin: 315 Euro Hotel, Dunedin

Once you arrive in Dunedin, you may need accommodation. The 315 Euro Hotel is a nice hotel (located up an alley, so might be hard to find and don’t let that put you off). The check-in was handled very well and we checked into a studio room which was nice, bright and airy. The room included facilities such as convenient hairdryer, tea coffee facilities, and a small kitchen area if you wanted to cook for yourself. There was lots of space in room and it had Satellite and Sky TV. Other facilities in the 315 Euro complex included a sitting area just inside the main doors and a laundry (handy when traveling). The only negative is that the curtains in the room could be a bit thicker as I’m sure you could see into the room from the outside if all the lights in the room were on (no blackout curtains as far as I recall)

Hotel Link: http://www.eurodunedin.co.nz/

Monarch Wildlife Cruises – Peninsula Cruise

Having checked into your hotel, you may want to find out what is happening nearby and most hotels have a number of leaflets and flyers advertising local amenities and trips. Having found one for the Monarch Wildlife Cruises, Peninsula Cruise, apparently this is one of the best ways to see of the Otago Peninsula and it’s wildlife. The Otago Harbour Wildlife Cruise with Monarch Cruises starts at their HQ located on the wharf just behind the Chinese Gardens in Dunedin. The Monarch Wildlife Cruise includes the spectacular Taiaroa Head and a scenic Otago Peninsula bus tour. You should also pay the extra few NZ dollars for the guided tour of the award-winning Yellow Eyed Penguin Reserve, Penguin Place.
Well Worth Doing !

Monarch Wildlife Cruises Link : http://www.wildlife.co.nz/tour_two.html

Chinese Gardens Dunedin

The Chinese Gardens in Dunedin are of an authentic Chinese design and was built by the Dunedin Chinese Garden Trust has built the Garden and upon its completion, handed over to Dunedin City Council.  The Garden is an example of a late Ming, early Ching Dynasty Scholar’s Garden, surrounded by a four metre perimeter wall and features a lake with traditional walkways and stonework. The design of the Chinese Garden was laid out to use authentic Chinese materials and was built by a team of craftsmen from Shanghai. Hand-made wooden buildings, hand-made tiles, lattice-work and hand-finished granite paving stones adorn these authentic exquisite gardens. The Chinese Gardens are open from 10 am to 5 pm, 7 days per week and 7pm to 9pm on Wednesdays.

Chinese Gardens Dunedin Link : http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/dunedin-chinese-garden

Map of Locations : Christchurch and Dunedin