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I have wonderful memories of skiing at Jasna and the wonderful hot chocolates they made.
We stayed in a beautiful wooden spacious chalet, and we were spoilt with underfloor heating, woodburner and 38" Flat screen TV, it was 5* luxury and a great surprise! A river rushed by about 10 yards from the chalet and birds chirped in the mornings. Bliss.
We found our chalet by surfing www.slovaklodge.com
If you want to immerse yourself within the busy environment that Japan offers, then your best bet would be to stay at The Tokyo Hostel, in Ryusen Taito-Ku. The hostel is often home to a number of backpackers from all over the globe and makes for a fun and social accommodation option. Offering a superb selection of room options, from dorms to private rooms and at a great price too, this is an ideal place to stay when visiting the Japanese capital.
The no curfew rule means that you have access to the hostel 24 hours a day, meaning no restrictions to your evening’s plans. All in all this is an ideal hostel in Tokyo, as it offers great amenities and central location.
www.hostelbookers.com/booking/index.cfm?hostel=5465&nights=2&fuseaction=hosteldetails
The villa is placed on a very quiet and beautiful beach on Alonissos island, and offers high standards of accommodation facilities and support.
Alonissos, Sporades, Greece,
Alonissos main port of Patitiri,
Skiathos airport
www.ikion.biz
info@ikion.biz
Florida or New York: the US Holiday dilemma - well how about both?
My husband and I are often torn about what type of vacation we want. He shouts for a beachy “do nothing” holiday and I champion the cultural/shopping holiday, and usually at least one of us ends up dissatisfied. When this last year we decided that our extended family would be all joining on holiday together… well we just thought it would be a disaster in the making. Four hotel rooms for a week in New York were expensive, as was the resort in Florida. But neither would suit because some wanted beach, some city and things were looking dim.
But amazingly last summer we somehow managed to sort out a holiday that suited all tastes. White sand beaches and blazing sun that’s one hour from Philadelphia and two hours from New York - the “Jersey shore”. And no we don’t mean channel island Jersey, but rather “Jersey” as it’s known in New Jersey. For those of you who are “Sopranos” fans like me may not have believed it, but in the Southern part of New Jersey, near the state of Maryland there are a series of islands off the coast with gorgeous white sand beaches and lots to do.
Our family rented a beachfront five bedroom home to accommodate all of us. We had a wide sandy beach, swimming, fishing, jet skis and all of the normal water sport fun, but also were able to do two glittery nights of gambling and shows in Atlantic City, a day of bargain high-end “outlet shopping” (both 20 minutes from our rental home), a day trip to New York, and one more to Philadelphia. Rather than pay for hotel rooms with no views and no options but dining out, we had an entire spacious home with kitchen and three private sun decks overlooking the ocean. As far as location you cannot do much better really. We were in easy distance of New York, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Washington D.C. with the option of just doing nothing and sitting on the beach/decks all day. And with parking for three cars, we had options. Some went shopping, some to the city, some to water ski, and some just stayed on the beach.
We are going again this summer and feel convinced that we still have plenty more to do/see and plenty more to not do/see while lounging on the beach. Ideal!
The beach house we have rented:
njshorehouserental.com
Sea Isle City, NJ
Brasov is a good base for accomodation, offering more than 200 places for budget level, a good nightlife special on weekends and good restaurants with affordable prices. A beer is 1 pound, a meal is less than 10 pounds, accomodation 10 pounds a night a person, a ski day 20 pounds, including equipment rental and lift passes.
Brasov, Romania
The Golden Sun Hotel represents an excellent mid-range choice in a quieter part of the Old Quarter, close to some excellent little eateries and Japanese-inspired boutique shops and a five minutes walk from Hoan Kiem Lake. We stayed in the 'family room' which offers superb views of the lake. The breakfast room on the same floor offers the same views as you tuck into a tasty and varied breakfast menu (included in price).
Views from the room aside, the outstanding feature of the hotel is the service. Ha and Thao on reception were incredibly helpful, friendly and professional. They arranged train and air travel throughout the rest of Vietnam for us and telephoned our next hotel in Hue to confirm our arrival and pick up arrangement the next day.
A great place to stay in Hanoi.
23 Hang Hanh Street, Hanoi
www.goldensun-hotel.com/
It's reasonably priced, in a great location, you get automatic membership to the NSW club which is attached. Rooms are great space with microwave, fridge, sink, decent bathroom. It's a great all round hotel for those on a budget but still don't want to be too far from anything (it's just round the corner from Martin Place and five mins walk from Darling harbour).
Phillip Street
Google map: tinyurl.com/powuua
Florida or New York: the US Holiday dilemma… well how about both!
My husband and I are often torn about what type of vacation we want. He shouts for a beachy “do nothing” holiday and I champion the cultural/shopping holiday, and usually at least one of us ends up dissatisfied. When this last year we decided that our extended family would be all joining on holiday together… well we just thought it would be a disaster in the making. 4 hotel rooms for a week in New York were expensive, as was the resort in Florida. But neither would suit because some wanted beach, some city and things were looking dim…
But amazingly last summer we somehow managed to sort out a holiday that suited all tastes! White sand beaches and blazing sun that’s 1 hour from Philadelphia and 2 hours from New York… it’s the “Jersey shore”. And no we don’t mean channel island Jersey, but rather “Jersey” as it’s known in New Jersey. For those of you who are “Sopranos” fans like me may not have believed it, but in the Southern part of New Jersey, near the state of Maryland there are a series of islands off the coast with gorgeous white sand beaches and lots to do.
Our family rented a beachfront 5 bedroom home to accommodate all of us. We had a wide sandy beach, swimming, fishing, jet skis and all of the normal water sport fun, but also were able to do 2 glittery nights of gambling and shows in Atlantic City, a day of bargain high-end “outlet shopping” (both 20 minutes from our rental home), a day trip to New York, and one more to Philadelphia. Rather than pay for hotel rooms with no views and no options but dining out, we had an entire spacious home with kitchen and 3 private sun decks overlooking the ocean. As far as location you cannot do much better really. We were in easy distance of New York, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Washington D.C. with the option of just doing nothing and sitting on the beach/decks all day. And with parking for 3 cars, we had options. Some went shopping, some to the city, some to water ski, and some just stayed on the beach.
We are going again this summer and feel convinced that we still have plenty more to do/see and plenty more to not do/see while lounging on the beach. Ideal!
The we've rented: njshorehouserental.com/
Sea Isle City, NJ
For such an urban country, Japan's many mountain ranges remain unspoilt and relatively unknown other than to numerous enthusiastic and fit Japanese walkers of all ages. The North Alps are as good as the European ones and once away from the busy valley entrance lodges, exhilaratingly empty, and stunningly scenic. A network of dozens of simple traditional mountain huts provide ridge-top overnight accommodation in dormitories which are decidedly cosy for taller people and a welcome evening meal of meat, fresh vegetables, rice, and mizo soup. Enormous bento box lunches see you through the days. With snow on the peaks much of the year, the summer season is quite short but the ridges are covered with alpine flowers, miniature love lies bleeding, stunted birch, pine and rhodedendron woods, and marmots. Autumn colours come early. Numerous trails are signed and there are plenty of routes for a few days to a couple of weeks. The Kamikochi Valley is a good place to start with afew hours walk up to many peaks at around 3000m. Booking accomodation which in summer is necessary will be easier if you speak Japanese or have a friend who does. Water is scarce high up, so treat yourself in a hotel with onsen baths when you descend.
Central North Honshu, a half days drive north of Kanazawa.
www.kamikochi.or.jp/english/
Unassumingly tucked behind its traditional street wall, this beautiful historic ryokan in the heart of Kyoto offers calm and seclusion with exquisite personal service. A younger and much cheaper relative of the famous Hiiragiya frequented by Charlie Chaplin and Elizabeth Taylor, the Bekkan welcomes you to airy wooden rooms with floor to ceiling sliding glazed screens and bamboo shutters overlooking the small ornate gardens. Green tea and red bean pastries are ceremoniously taken on arrival, followed by donning yukata for an appointment in the private onsen baths before a 12 course dinner is served on tatami mats in your room. Finally your futon bed is unrolled and the staff glide backwards out of the room for a peaceful night in this vibrant city of opposites. In the morning breakfast arrives and the futons disappear while you are in the bathroom. Around 20000 yen with meals, and worth more.
Close to City Hall and Teramachi shops. Within walking distance or a bus most of the hundreds of places to visit. www.hiiragiya.com/index-e.html
It is a company that has a number of apartments in Krakow. I have just come back from five days in Krakow with friends. The apartment we were in originally had some problems with the heating system so we were moved to a bigger and better apartment in the same building. The cost was very reasonable and the communication with staff was good (very fluent English and prompt replies to texts etc) and always friendly and helpful. The location of the apartments was convenient for centre, sights and station. The apartments themselves are well equipped and atractively decorated. (We were in Quebec and then the very lovely Vancouver)
It seems that with the credit crunch UK hotels are doing great deals. I just stayed at the Millennium a four star right in the centre of Glasgow. It was only £69 per night including breakfast and dinner ! The offer is still valid - how long can they do deals like this ?
This hotel is in Shatin. An ideal place to relax and collect your thoughts. It is a long bus journey from the airport but one that is both direct and I believe cheapest to reach, unless you can afford the Regal airport hotel. If you book online and in advance, the early bird promotion is a good deal. You can take a healthy stroll by the river or visit the wide array of shopping centres networked together just over the bridge.
Regal Riverside Hotel
Tai Chung Kiu Road
Shatin
Hong Kong (A41 bus from Airport)
Regalhotel.com
The Moorings is a B&B in a fantastic position in the pretty medieval seaside town of Looe. My first dread was that it would be chintzy and uncomfortable in a B&B, but I’m delighted to say I was dead wrong. The showers were powerful, the rooms were airy and relaxing, the view was beautiful and I spent hours watching the children crabbing while reading a book out on the balcony. Add to that that it is five minutes pleasant walk to the sea past a working fish harbour! It was a really relaxing, friendly and family orientated holiday.
There is a website www.themooringslooe.com, and Looe has a train station.
Homebridge House is a lovely B&B situated about two miles outside Wareham on the way to Dorchester. It is very close to Corfe Castle, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Dor, the Tank Museum and Monkey world.
Anita, the owner, is really lovely and helpful, the rooms are tastefully decorated - classic and modern - with comfy beds and mod cons, the breakfasts are made with local produce or are homemade (e.g. Jam, bread) or home grown (e.g. tomatoes) with proper coffee, and the views out the back are really lovely (fields, deer and woods).
Thoroughly recommended for a long or short stay, although you'd need a car to get there (plenty of parking).
www.holmebridgehouse.co.uk/
Contact Anita on 01929 550599 or 07790104007
Holmebridge House, Holmebridge, Wareham, Dorset BH20 6AF
e-mail: holmebridge@googlemail.com
We stayed in a yurt for a friend's birthday here and
had a wonderful time.
Quaint old fashioned town on the south coast.
It is a town with little through traffic and lots to see.
This is a fab lodge about four hours drive from Hanoi in a beautiful valley. Very few tourists, good four-star accommodation and great food. We went cycling around local villages, saw different hill tribes, went to a cave and visited a local market. There were so few tourists compared to Sapa.
The lodge is in Hoa Binh area but we booked through Buffalo Tours www.buffalotours.com as their rates were the cheapest we could find (they actually own the lodge)
We stayed in this pousada (guest house/B&B) for three nights in January 2009. It's a charming family run hotel very well located in Sao Paulo (Jardim, near av Paulista). There's a taxi stand right outside and there's shopping and restaurants in walking distance. The staff are friendly and speak English. The restaurant and lounge area are very well kept and they serve a very good breakfast (with homemade mango jam). Our room was clean and had AC. We had a room in the back (#11) which was very quiet. Our friends who were also staying in the pousada didn't have AC and they ended up in a room in the front of the pousada which was not that quiet. I would recommend asking to be in the back.
The pousada is one of the cheapest options in that area so you shouldn’t expect much. For me, what’s important was to have a clean room in a good location (therefore security). But for instance, there’s no shampoo, the shower doesn’t always have hot water and the bed was quite hard.
Alameda Franca, 1621/1633
Jardim Paulista
São Paulo
CEP 01422-001
Tel: + 55 (011) 3062-1444
www.zilah.com
After staying in a fabulous place in Florence (see our other tip about Il Ghiro) we thought it couldn't get any better. How wrong we were. The Beehive is extraordinary. A beautiful, warm, clean, friendly hostel with free internet and the most incredible vegetarian cafe downstairs (you can also eat at the cafe if you are not a guest). We can't believe our luck and we are wishing we could stay in a place like this everywhere we go. By far, the best hostel possible. The term "hostel" doesn't remotely do it justice. It's home, in Rome.
The Beehive
Via Marghera 8
www.the-beehive.com/
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