Mini Travel Guides

Below are five of my favourite hotels in Europe from stays in 2011 (in random order).

Ardanaiseig Hotel , near Oban, Scotland

We stayed for two nights in the Boat Shed at the Ardanaiseig Hotel in September 2011. This is the perfect romantic getaway on the shores of Loch Awe.

View over Loch Awe from the Boat Shed terrace

Check availability at the Ardanaiseig Hotel

Capital Coast Resort Paphos, Cyprus

Our apartment at the Capital Coast Resort in Paphos on the island of Cyprus was excellent value for money costing £70 a night for two guests on half board in March 2011 for a one bedroom, two bathroom, very well equipped apartment with a sea view.

Check availability at the Capital Coast Resort

Hotel Missoni Edinburgh, Scotland

You can see the influence of Italian fashion design at the Hotel Missoni Edinburgh. The rooms are fab and if you go for the all inclusive rate you get breakfast, wifi, minibar, movies and two items of laundry at no additional charge.

Check availability at the Hotel Missoni Edinburgh

St Martins Therme & Lodge, Burgenland, Austria

I stayed at the St Martins Therme & Lodge in Burgenland in eastern Austria for two nights in April 2011. I enjoyed swimming in the outdoor pool. The breakfast was fantastic and featured so much local produce (and breakfast was served until 11am everyday).

View over lake and spa from my room at St Martins Therme & Lodge

Check availability at St Martins Therme & Lodge

Lopesan Baobab Resort, Gran Canaria, Spain

I liked the Lopesan Baobab in Maspalomas on the island of Gran Canaria as it revolved around an African theme. We stayed here in February 2011 and enjoyed having breakfast on the sunny terrace, while spotting animals in the bush. There are eight swimming pools in the grounds.

The restaurant terrace at Lopesan Baobab

Check availability at the Lopesan Baobab Resort

My Favourite Hotels in Europe 2011

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I stayed for one night a the Hotel Missoni Edinburgh in December 2011 on a complimentary basis.  The hotel is located just off the Royal Mile, a five minute walk from Edinburgh Castle. I was looking forward to my stay. I’d been in the hotel twice previously, once for lunch and in April 2011 the hotel hosted an Edinburgh Travel Tweetup. So had anticipated that the rooms at the Missoni would be pretty funky.

Bar at Hotel Missoni Edinburgh

I loved my room, the mix of colours and patterns worked well and created a relaxed feel. I was relieved that the safe was at shoulder height so I didn’t have to grovel around on the floor to get my laptop in and out of the safe, as is the case at many hotels. I was also glad that the TV remote control was user friendly.

The bathroom had a large walk in shower, so no fiddling around with curtains, or leaks from cubicle doors. No boring white bathrobes here, they had the same design as some of the fabrics used in the room.

There were views over to Arthur’s Seat and St Giles Cathedral spire from my fourth floor room.

Looking toward Arthur’s Seat from my room at the Hotel Missoni Edinburgh

The all inclusive rate includes breakfast, WiFi, mini bar (with wine, beer, soft drinks, crisps, some fruit  and chocolate), movies and two items of laundry. I reckon you could pay well over £100 for these extras at some other four and five star hotels. There’s a coffee making machine and a kettle and even a small bottle of fresh milk in the fridge; much better than these long life milk tubes/pots that are virtually impossible to open.

My room at the Hotel Missioni Edinburgh

The bed was super comfortable with lovely pillows.

I did have some difficulty with the initial connection to the WiFi. You have to go onto the Missoni website and enter your surname and room number. I only suceeded in connecting my netbook using the Google Chrome browser after several attempts on my default Firefox browser. I prefer it when you don’t need to log in, you just connect and can start browsing immediately.

Breakfast is served between 6.30 and 10.00 on weekdays (7.00 to 11.00 at weekends). Personally I’d prefer to see breakfast extended to 11am on weekdays, to give me the option of a leisurely morning.

Cucina Restaurant at Hotel Missoni Edinburgh

Breakfast consists of a cold buffet, with far too many tempting cakes, but also some healthier options including fresh fruit salad, yoghurt and cereals. You can also order a hot dish from the menu; I had scrambled egg and smoked salmon which was very good.

All the staff are really friendly, helpful and proactive. I recognised quite a few members of the bar staff from my previous visits to the Missoni.

I enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Missoni Edinburgh so much I didn’t want to leave; I was in my room until a few minutes before the latest check-out at noon. Between the central location, the beautiful room, great ambience and staff and the excellent breakfast, it’s the best five star hotel in which I’ve stayed.

Tips for Things to Do in Edinburgh

We’ve lots of Edinburgh tips on Europe a la Carte.

Review of Hotel Missoni Edinburgh

Tips on the best places to visit in Europe. Copyrighted content published on Europe a la Carte.

I stayed for one night at the Travelodge Edinburgh Learmonth in early December 2011 on a complimentary basis. I’ve stayed at this hotel in the past and reviewed the hotel in June 2009. The Travelodge UK budget hotel chain have improved their service to guests by offering free WiFi in their Bar Cafes.  This is great news if, like me, you need to stay connected when you’re on the move.

The Bar Cafe at Travelodge Edinburgh Learmonth

I stayed in a family room at the back of the hotel on the second floor. It was a large room with a bed settee. The bathroom was a good size with a shower over the bath; some of the newer Travelodges have tiny bathrooms which only have showers. It was cold outside but the room was a very pleasant temperature, although the radiator wasn’t on.

Unfortunately there were a couple of very noticeable stains on the bed settee. I’ve observed this in a few Travelodges and it’s all the more obvious on the self coloured red fabric. I think it’s something that Travelodge should get on top of by regular checking and cleaning of the bed settees, as this can let down an otherwise good room.

Travelodges offer excellent value for money, especially if you book for off-peak stays during their £10 and £12 room promotions. However I have found Travelodge rooms in Edinburgh from around £30 a few days before my stay.

I’d stay at the Travelodge Edinburgh Learmonth again, due to the quiet yet fairly central location plus the free WiFi.

Travelodge Edinburgh Learmonth Offers Free Wifi in Bar Cafe

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Although I’ve stayed at many UK Travelodges I sampled their buffet breakfast for the first time during my stay at the Travelodge London Tower Bridge in November 2011. It costs £7.65 for the buffet breakfast but kids eat free with a paying adult.

Travelodge London Tower Bridge

There’s a fair selection including yoghurts, cereal, fruit juice, toast, croissants, muffins, a hot drinks machine and a hot buffet with scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, beans and tomato. I thought that the scrambled egg didn’t really taste of egg and the coffee wasn’t that good, but the bacon was OK. I didn’t try the sausages.  I’d have liked to see some fresh fruit on offer. However, I suppose by London standards, £7.65 for  a full breakfast is pretty good for value for money, especially for families with kids eating free.

Breakfast is served from 7am until 10am on weekdays and 8am – 11am at weekends, although breakfast until 11am on weekdays would be good if you’ve been out the night before. The staff are really friendly and attentive. There’s free wifi in the Travelodge Cafe Bar.

I stayed and ate at Travelodge London Tower Bridge on a complimentary basis.

Samping theTravelodge Buffet Breakfast

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I stayed at base2stay London Kensington for two nights in November 2011 on a complimentary basis. The accommodation is located close to Earls Court underground station with lots of shops, restaurants and cafes within a five minute walk. It took me around 20 minutes to walk to the Victoria & Albert Museum from the hotel.

Exterior of base2stay Kensington

I stayed in a single room, which was a reasonable size by London standards, at the back of the hotel. There was a mini kitchen behind double doors which had a microwave, fridge, sink, crockery and cutlery.  I wish there’d been some washing up liquid and a dish towel or drainer, as I felt I couldn’t wash my dishes properly in water alone and then I had to put wet dishes and cutlery back in the cupboard. The shower was good size with easy to use electronic controls. I liked the fact there was a heated towel rail in the bathroom. There was air conditioning in the room which I didn’t use as the room was an ideal temperature without any intervention.

There was free wifi through base2stay which I found to have a very good signal.  However I’d have liked to have either a celing light above the desk or a table lamp, as I was casting a shadow over the laptop once the lights were on.

My room at base2stay Kensington

Housekeeping didn’t manage to clean my room during the time I was out. I put up the please don’t disturb sign on my return to the room in the middle of the afternoon.  A note was put under my door around 5pm saying if I required my room to be serviced I should call reception. I didn’t bother, as I was only staying for 2 nights.

View from my room at base2stay Kensington

In summary, base2stay London Kensington offers very comfortable, quality, clean accommodation with basic self catering facilites and free wifi. My minor niggles with lack of light at the desk and no washing up liquid, dish towel or drainer in the kitchen area could be cheaply and easily remedied.

Update – I’ve been informed by base2stay that there is a notice in the mini-kitchen (which I didn’t see) advising guests to contact reception if they require tea towels and washing up liquid.

London Tips

We’ve lots of travel tips for what to do in London on Europe a la Carte.

Review of base2stay London Kensington

Tips on what to see in Europe. Copyrighted content published on Europe a la Carte.

We stayed for one night at the Apex Waterloo Place Hotel in Edinburgh in September 2011, on a complimentary basis. The building dates from 1819 and was refurbished in 2009. It’s located very close to Waverley rail station and Princes Street.

Exterior of Apex Waterloo Place Hotel

The lobby/bar area is stylish, light and airy.

Lounge area at Apex Waterloo Place Hotel

We were allocated room 827, a superior room at the front of the hotel. Now it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, but the first thing that struck when I entered the room was the sun streaming in through the three large windows. It was the 29th of September (in Scotland), but I had to put on the air conditioning to cool down the room. Although the hotel is very centrally located it’s in a relatively quiet street. As the windows weren’t double glazed there was some traffic noise  but not enough to disturb our sleep.

Our room at Apex Waterloo Place Hotel

The Apex Waterloo Place hotel offers free wifi to guests but you need to get a password at reception when you check in. I found the signal to be excellent. I’ve previously had a lot of problems with hotel wifi (free and paid for) quality and when I went to reception they invariably (and erroneously) attributed the blame to my laptop. So it was such a relief to be able to get online at the first attempt and get straight down to some work.

The king size bed was so comfortable with divine pillows and had a sheet which was large enough to stay firmly tucked in and a huge duvet cover. The large walk-in shower was fantastic. I enjoyed my bath in the company of the Apex duck. I couldn’t find a bar of soap in our room, I’m not sure if this was an omission by housekeeping or the norm. I could have phoned reception to ask but as I had some soap in my toiletries bag, I didn’t bother. There was a small container of bath/shower gel but it was awkward to dispense for washing my hands.

I had a quick look at the gym, spa and pool area but didn’t have time (or in the case of the gym, the inclination) to use the facilities.

The pool at Apex Waterloo Place Hotel

In summary, I really enjoyed my stay at the Apex Waterloo Place Hotel in Edinburgh. It’s in a central location close to lots of shops, restaurants, pubs, cafes and transport links. Our room was a perfect mix of modernity and comfort with a great bed, lovely bathroom (apart from the lack of soap) and had excellent free wifi.

Click here to see all my Apex Waterloo Place Hotel photos on Flickr.

Review of Apex Waterloo Place Hotel, Edinburgh

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We stayed for two nights at the Ardanaiseig Hotel near Oban in the north west of Scotland in mid September 2011, on a complimentary basis. The hotel is reached by a ten mile drive down a single track road from the village of Taynault. I was excited about staying at the Ardanaiseig Hotel after seeing photos of our accommodation in the Boat Shed.

Exterior of main building at the Ardanaiseig Hotel

The Boat Shed is a few hundred metres from the main hotel with a parking area outside. This accommodation really does have the wow factor. As soon as you walk in you are transfixed by the views over Loch Awe.

The living/dining area at the Boat Shed

The furniture is modern with several glass tables and ornamental pieces.  It’s very cosy in the Boat Shed as there are two huge radiators in the living area.

There’s a small kitchen area with 2 electric rings, a fridge and a combination oven. It’s adequate to prepare simple meals.

The Boat Shed kitchen area

The bedroom is reached by stairs and has a glass panel with a space above meaning you see the wonderful view when you sit up in bed.  The bed is large and really comfortable. There’s a white curtain you can pull along but it isn’t adequate to keep the light out in the morning. I’d prefer a shutter or black out curtains, as it was quite light in the bedroom by 7.30am, even on a dull September morning.

Looking down from the bedroom

Once you’re in the Boat Shed you don’t want to move from there. From first thing in the morning until dark the views are amazing.

Dusk from the Boat Shed Balcony

There’s free wifi in the public areas of the hotel which has a good signal. I’d have liked to have wifi in the Boat Shed, so I didn’t have to go to the main building to get online. The hotel lounge is furnished in a very grand style.

The restaurant looks out over the garden and Loch Awe.

View from the Ardanaiseig Hotel restaurant

Breakfast is a mixture of a buffet with cereals, fruit juices, fresh fruit, yoghurts, Scottish bakery products such as butteries and scones and an order for a cooked breakfast which includes smoked salmon, smoked haddock and a full Scottish breakfast.

Bacon & egg breakfast at the Ardanaiseig Hotel

We were delighted that our accommodation was cleaned when we were at breakfast. Often in hotels you can’t completely relax if you know that that housekeeping staff could arrive at any moment.

I absolutely loved staying at the Boat Shed and I didn’t want to leave. It’s a perfect place for a getaway and/or to celebrate a special occasion.

Click here to see all my Ardanaiseig Hotel photos on Flickr.

The Boat Shed at the Ardanaiseig Hotel, Scotland

Tips on what to see in Europe. Copyrighted content published on Europe a la Carte.

Travelodge now offer guests free wifi in the Bar Cafes of their UK hotels. I tried the free wifi at the Travelodge Edinburgh West End in September 2011 and the signal was excellent. The free access is restricted to 512kb download speeds and a 78mb download limit per 24 hours period. I didn’t find that a problem as I was checking email, doing some blog admin and using Twitter and Facebook. You can check if the hotel at which you are staying has a Bar Cafe on the hotel information page on the Travelodge website.

Travelodge will be hosting me at their London Tower Bridge hotel for 2 nights when I’m attending the World Travel Market in London in early November 2011, so I’ll be trying out the free wifi there too.

Free WiFi in Travelodge UK Bar Cafes

Tips on what to see in Europe. Copyrighted content published on Europe a la Carte.

There are £19 rooms on offer in Premier Inn Autumn 2011 Sale. The sale runs until Monday 26 September 2011 for stays between 23rd September 2011 – 29th February 2012 at selected hotels.  I managed to book a couple of £19 rooms in a previous Premier Inn promotion, at Premier Inn Edinburgh Leith and Premier Inn Glenrothes. £19 is a really good price as the rooms are generally good quality.

Premier Inn Edinburgh Leith on the Forth Estuary

Click here to check availability of the £19 rooms in the Premier Inn sale.

£19 Rooms in Premier Inn Autumn 2011 Sale

Tips on what to see in Europe. Copyrighted content published on Europe a la Carte.

LateRooms.com are currently running a free nights promotion in selected hotels and locations all over the world for bookings made during September 2011, for stays until the end of November 2011.

I checked out some of the UK hotels in the promotion and did find fair availability on the 3 nights for the price of 2 offer at several of the listed hotels. However some hotels exclude certain days of the week and dates. Being aware of promotions is one of Europe a la Carte’s money saving travel tips.

Click here to check out the LateRooms.com Free Nights promotion.

Free Nights Promotion on LateRooms.com during September 2011

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