We were hosted at the Amari Watergate for two nights.* We start our summer family trip to Thailand with two nights in Bangkok. We fly there from London overnight, and take a taxi from the airport to our hotel, the five-star Amari Watergate. It’s 30 degrees and I’m feeling somewhat jaded from the 12-hour flight […]
Vidamar Resort Hotel review
So, two very unexpected and exciting things happened in March. First, my husband discovered that he had a few days of holiday to use up before the end of the month. Then our 19 year-old kindly volunteered to look after her brother and our dog so that my husband and I could go on a […]
Luxury at the Culloden, Belfast
We begin our first ever trip to Northern Ireland in style, with a night at the luxurious Culloden Estate and Spa, a five-star hotel near Belfast. My seventeen year old daughter and I are spending a few days away while my son is on school summer camp. I’m feeling pretty stressed before we leave home, and am delighted to accept […]
Star Castle Hotel, Isles of Scilly
The Star Castle Hotel must be in one of the most captivating locations in the Isles of Scilly. The hotel is in a star-shaped former fortress, the centre of a garrison which was built on a hill above Hugh Town on the island of St. Mary’s in 1593. The site must have been chosen for […]
Cardiff Marriott hotel review
I turned in to the car park of the Marriott hotel feeling tired, confused and a little stressed. I was late. My journey from Surrey to central Cardiff had taken much longer than I’d expected (Severn Bridge – can I introduce you to Dartford Crossing, a river crossing which doesn’t make cars queue for flipping […]
Park Hotel San Jorge, Platja D’Aro
I spent a few days on the Costa Brava in Spain in October with my husband and kids (17 and 12 years old at the time). I’ve already written about our zip wire adventure, the cooking workshop, and the astonishing human towers which we saw in Girona. This post is about the hotel which we […]
Four Seasons Canary Wharf review
2018 update: This hotel is now the Canary Riverside Plaza, and I haven’t stayed there since this change. When you’re staying at a hotel do you like the staff to be friendly and chatty or do you prefer them to be more reserved? I much prefer the former because, to me, it feels welcoming. Four […]
Xandari Resort and Spa, Costa Rica
This is a guest post by Anglo-Italian journalist Lorenza Bacino. In August Lorenza, her husband and their two children travelled around Costa Rica in Central America with Hands Up Holidays. This is the last in a series of articles which Lorenza has written for Mums do travel about their experiences there. This post covers the final part of their trip. Xandari Resort ‘Xandari Resort […]
Croatia: James Villas luxury apartment
It’s 6.30am. Even on holiday my body clock seems to think that we need to get up for school. The rest of my family is still asleep in bed. I’m sitting at a glass-topped table in my pyjamas, my daughter’s favourite scarf around my shoulders. In front of me is a large window through which I […]
Room Report: Great John Street Hotel
I stayed at the luxurious Great John Street Hotel in Manchester for one night last week. The hotel is part of the Eclectic Hotels group which has two other hotels in the area. I was with my sixteen year-old daughter and nephew and we were reviewing the hotel while on a tour of some of […]
