York is blessed with more attractions than you can shake a Yorkie bar at. There’s medieval Minster, the Vikings, the Shambles, the ancient city walls and York’s rich history of chocolate making.
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Europe and Middle East
Middlethorpe Hall
16/08/2018 .
Las Caldas Villa Termal
12/08/2018 .
Asturias is a rural part of Spain relatively unknown to Brits, yet its capital, Oviedo, is well worth a visit. Las Caldas, situated in beautiful countryside, just outside the city, first opened its doors way back in 1776. People having been coming for its healing waters ever since, attracted by the high standard of service and the peaceful surroundings.
Read the full story hereArmathwaite Hall Hotel & Spa
27/07/2018 .
Do you remember wedding 3, in Four Weddings and a Funeral? That’s the one where Carrie marries the ‘stiff in the skirt’. Wasn’t the location for the reception…. drop dead gorgeous? Armathwaite Hall, in the stunning Lake District, is similar in many ways.
Read the full story hereOasia Hotel
16/07/2018 .
When you’re visiting Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, you probably want to stay in a hotel that is pure Scandi-style: not a characterless chain peddling identical rooms from Abuja to Zagreb. Clearly, for the 65 room Oasia, “Less is more” is the design mantra.
Read the full story hereNew Hall Hotel
02/07/2018 .
History does not record whether Henry Vlll took a “plus one” to New Hall when he visited nearly five centuries ago. It is probably best not to speculate whether that “plus one” would have been a wife or a mistress. Henry’s personal life was, shall we say, fluid.
Read the full story hereCrathorne Hall Hotel
28/06/2018 .
Though it’s towering gates were patriotically donated to the 1940s war effort and never replaced – the discovery that you can’t manufacture bombers from iron came after melt-down – Crathorne Hall Hotel’s facade framed by two bell towers, still has a stately grandeur.
Read the full story hereVintage House Hotel
26/06/2018 .
It’s midday, the sun is shining and I’m eating lunch on a picnic table in the middle of the UNESCO protected vineyards of Quinta da Roeda, the grapes that make Croft Port wine. It’s a simple Portuguese meal but here, in the Alto Douro, among the centuries-old vines of Portugal’s oldest winemaker, it takes on much more significance. It’s living history.
Read the full story hereHotel Infante Sagres
26/06/2018 .
City centre hotels tend to come in two varieties; either bland international brands or faded dames from times gone by reinvigorated into trendy boutique properties. Fortunately, Hotel Infante Sagres in Porto’s centre is the latter. Not just reinvigorated but positively reincarnated into something even better than it was in its heyday.
Read the full story hereThe Yeatman Hotel
25/06/2018 .
Standing proudly above the Douro river on the Vila Nova de Gaia side of Porto, The 5 star Yeatman Hotel has become a Porto landmark in a very short space of time. Quite fitting when you consider it is owned by the Fladgate Partnership, the British family dynasty that has been producing Port wine since 1692 and arguably made Porto what it is today.
Read the full story hereHampton Manor
21/06/2018 .
There were two things that concerned me about Hampton Manor before I had even set foot in the place. One was why on earth should I be interested in a hotel in Solihull. The other was that by its own admission, it was a restaurant with rooms, not a hotel with a restaurant.
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