London’s nearest glamping site offers something for everyone. London’s sprawl doesn’t end abruptly at a point where townscape suddenly becomes landscape, it has fringes where city bleeds into country. And near one of those fringes lies Home Farm Glamping, London’s nearest glamping site. Although only a few minutes’ drive from the end of the Jubilee […]
Agatha Christie in Devon – The English Riviera
Exploring Devon and Agatha Christie. Who would you put on a list of English Literary Heroes? There are some obvious contenders – Shakespeare, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth for instance. How about more recent figures like J K Rowling or Julian Barnes? For whatever reason, despite being the best-selling novelist of […]
Burgh Island Hotel – Devon Art Deco and Decadence
The Great White Palace – Burgh Island Hotel – channel your inner Agatha. What better setting for a murder mystery than an island. Perhaps that was why Burgh Island inspired not one but two of Agatha Christie’s novels (‘Evil Under the Sun’ and ‘ And Then There Were None’). Or was it just because she […]
The Perfect Holiday Retreat – Wild Oak Barn, East Devon
The Devon Spotted Pig and Wild Oak Barn. The Story of The Devon Spotted Pig. Once upon a time in Devon, a holiday home nestled among the rolling hills… Carolyn and Paul Bellinger planted some seeds and took off for a well-earned summer break in Corfu. They returned a few weeks later, to a […]
Hotel Indigo, Stratford upon Avon
A new place opens alongside Shakespeare’s New Place! Themed destination hotels have come a long way. On a business trip, I once refused to spend the night in a Wild West-themed bedroom complete with covered wagon, only to find myself upgraded to “Ali Baba’s Cave” and sleeping in Scheherazade’s bower! At the newly opened Hotel […]
The Scarlet Hotel – Mawgan Porth – Review
The Scarlet, a modern eco-hotel in Cornwall The Scarlet, a modern, eco, adults-only, hotel is set in a beautiful location on the North Cornish coast overlooking Mawgan Porth. Having read a lot of positive press about the hotel I was intrigued and very keen to visit for an overnight stay. I had been informed that […]
The Old Quay House Hotel – boutique hotel in Fowey Cornwall
Old Quay House Hotel – review Fowey is one of my favourite places in Cornwall, a beautiful estuary town set on the River Fowey. It’s somewhere I visited as a child growing up in Cornwall and have taken my children when on family holidays in North Cornwall. An overnight stay at The Old Quay House […]
The Five Arrows Hotel – A portal to the world of the Rothschilds
A Food Lover’s Paradise in Aylesbury – The Five Arrows Hotel I can’t imagine that anyone has missed out on hearing about the Rothschilds’ wealth (and wine), but what you may not know is that in the 1880s Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild set about building himself an impressive home in Aylesbury. Waddesdon Manor was built […]
The Talbot Ripley
An Historic Coaching Inn in Surrey Would you brave the ghost for a stay at The Talbot, an historic coaching inn situated in the pretty village of Ripley, Surrey? I couldn’t resist an invitation to find out more. With 500 years of history, lovely period features and a smart refurbishment, the Talbot combines traditional hostelry […]
The Headland Hotel Newquay – Review
The Headland Hotel – luxury accommodation in a stunning coastal setting The Headland, built in Victorian times, is perched on the peninsula overlooking Newquay’s famous Fistral Beach. Ideally placed for surfers, walkers or for a relaxing holiday, the hotel is dog-friendly and welcomes families. In addition to rooms within the hotel, there are luxury self-catering […]