Essential Hotels Blog

Today is the day of Secret Santa and the Essential Hotels Christmas party!

But what has everyone received?! Not long to go and all will be revealed here in the Berkshire office…

The Palace Hotel is a landmark building in the centre of Manchester, on the corner of Oxford Street and Whitworth Street. Its Victorian terracotta exterior presents something of an austere appearance under which the 217-foot clock tower tells all around the current hour. The building has existed since 1890 but it was not until relatively recently that the property came under the ownership of the Principal Hayley hotels group.

The Palace Hotel

If you’re looking to stay in a bedroom at the Palace Hotel in the centre of Manchester or you’re looking for somewhere to hold a meeting large or small (up to 1,000 people) in the city please call the Essential Hotels reservations line and we will be happy to assist you with your enquiry. If the hotel is full we will endeavour to find you an alternative that will best suit your requirements. Please call us on 0118 971 4700.

There are just seven days to go until I’ll be able to open the first door on my Barcelo Hotels and Resorts advent calendar. I’m getting increasingly excited about this because it means the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus will soon be upon us! And here is an example of one of Barcelo’s, in my opinion, best hotels – the Lygon Arms which is situated in the village of Broadway in Worcestershire… beautiful!

Lygon Arms Hotel

Barcelo have just threatened to withdraw from the United Kingdom if their demands for rent reduction are not met. If this threat is carried out it would mean they would take their support away from the 21 hotels throughout the country that currently come under their name. Barcelo currently has a hand in some 185 properties across 17 countries, and in 2007 they signed a lease for 45 years on the UK’s 21 hotels.

Walton Hall Hotel

Another of their properties, that are found in Scotland, England and Wales, is the Walton Hall which is situated in the same grounds as the Walton Hotel near Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Other properties are found in the likes of Torquay, Stirling, Cardiff and Hinckley.

The striking Cedar Court Grand Hotel in York has been handed a five-star status courtesy of the AA… it’s official! The hotel’s restaurant has also been given two AA rosettes to compound the celebrations in what can now be called the best hotel in York. It opened in May 2010 and has already won several regional awards for its both its style and its substance.

Cedard Court Grand Hotel

The hotel has a total of 107 bedrooms while there is also a spa onsite, the aforementioned Grill Restaurant and a series of meeting rooms for all manner of activity. Set in the centre of the beautiful city of York the hotel is within close proximity of many of the most famous attractions and sights.

To book the Cedar Court Hotel in York or to find alternatives please call the Essential Hotels reservations hotline on 01189 714 700.

One week ago I successfully made a Christmas pudding for the first time alongside my wife (who, I must admit, is an excellent person to have alongside you in the kitchen). The pudding now has several weeks to mature in time for December 25 when it will no doubt be gobbled up with some brandy butter for accompaniment. I thought this was all quite normal; however, several people have been surprised on hearing the news that this pudding has entered the world so far in advance of Christmas Day. Little did they know that all the best Christmas puddings take a good few weeks to mature and so taste their best.

So, in conclusion, I conclude that the middle of November is not too early to make a Christmas pudding. However, if I were to put up a Christmas tree now I would consider it to be too early, even if various supermarkets and other shops believe this not to be the case.

November 18: too early

Further, if Essential Hotels’ supremo Nick Burrington were to re-position his special Christmas hat on his head and pull on his special Father Christmas jumper at this early stage he would be asked to remove and replace the jumper and simply to remove the hat.

Does he love Christmas too much?

Finally, if Father Christmas arrived at the bottom of my chimney this very night, then there would be no sherry and mince pie, and not even a carrot for the reindeer. We might even politely ask him to come back in six weeks!

Please come back in 6 weeks...

On November 18 we can safely say it is too early for Father Christmas, for Nick to put on his Christmas hat and jumper, too early, even, to put up the Christmas tree. But it is not too early to make the wonderful Christmas pudding…

There is an intriguing palace-like hotel that is situated not too far away from the Essential Hotels headquarters in Berkshire. It is the Stoke Park Hotel, set in the Buckinghamshire countryside, and it offers wonderful five-star accommodation and service to its guests. The hotel is home to a wealth of beautiful and luxurious facilities both inside and outside, all within the bountiful 350 acres of grounds that is possesses.

Stoke Park Hotel

Outside there is a golf course that covers a staggering 27 holes while there are also several leisure opportunities inside the hotel in the form of a spa, a swimming pool, a gym, tennis courts and a fitness studio. For meals the Stoke Park has a Dining Room with two AA rosettes, an Orangery and another place to eat known as San Marco’s which is an Italian brasserie.

Orangery

The family-friendly hotel features 49 lovely and comfortable bedrooms, 21 of which are in the striking Mansion (grade I listed) and 28 of which are positioned in the Pavilion. Guests staying in the bedroom receive complimentary access to many of the hotel’s leisure facilities.

If you’d like to find out more please take a look at our feature or call the Essential Hotels reservations hotline on 0118 971 4700.

The Hotel du Vin collection is currently on my mind. I’ve been researching several of the group’s hotels and I am very impressed at their stylish and sophisticated appeal, their modern funky styles and their interesting historic buildings. The hotels tend to be quite small and intimate with not many bedrooms, but there is a distinctive attention to the food in the bistro and the accompanying wine.

Hotel du Vin Bristol

One of the property’s I’ve been keeping an eye on is the Hotel du Vin Bristol which is situated at the heart of my home town. It is located on the site of a former sugar house, inside the six warehouses that were used since the 1700s in the refining of the sweet stuff. The picture above shows one of the hotel’s beautiful duplex suites… stunning indeed.

Hotel du Vin Cambridge

A couple of years ago I visited the wonderful city of Cambridge with some colleagues. Included in our trip was a stop-off at the Hotel du Vin Cambridge, and it fits the bill perfectly. Just as intimate and classy as its sister property in Bristol, the Cambridge version is set opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum on Trumpington Street, near to many university buildings. Uniquely, one of its suites has a covered well inside while another even has its own private cinema!

If you’d like to learn more about these two hotels and indeed the rest of the collection please see the features on our travel guide. If you’d like to check availability please call the Essential Hotels reservations hotline on 0118 971 4700.

**Win a three night stay at a four-star hotel in Europe for two people, including dinner, bed and breakfast**

The Essential Hotels competition rumbles on, with many entries having been submitted over the past month or so in answer to the question, ‘What is your favourite hotel in Europe?’ We are heading towards 1,200 likes on Facebook, at which point the competition will close and the winning name will be drawn from a hat. Thanks for all the entries so far! Let’s have another push in our attempt to reach this milestone…

Here is one of the competition entries: the wonderful Luton Hoo Hotel in Bedfordshire, a stunning five-star property.

Luton Hoo Hotel

So, let me encourage you… head on over to our Facebook page and submit your entry answering the question – What is your favourite hotel in Europe?

This morning we received a visitor from London, from the Doyle Collection in fact, a group of rather stylish and classy hotels in the capital, Bristol and beyond. Having stayed in and visited their three London properties earlier this year we have a clear idea of the contemporary luxury that has been developed since a period of refurbishment a few years ago. And I can confirm that it’s pretty special throughout the Bloomsbury Hotel, the Kensington Hotel and the Marylebone Hotel. Definitely worth investigating.

Bloomsbury Hotel

To celebrate we have unveiled two wonderful looking guides to the Bloomsbury and the Marylebone hotels to portray something of their history, character and style, as well as to help you discover what is behind those doors and windows.

Marylebone Hotel

Later on today we are expecting to welcome a friend from the My Hotels group, another funky brand with bright colours and interesting designs to shout about. They are, of course, involved in the Sleepsmart scheme that was mentioned on the blog a few days ago.

Great to have these visitors with us… you’re very welcome!

I fondly remember the days when the first half of the Autumn school term came to an end; the clocks would be about to be put back one hour, we had a week off school before the lead up to Christmas began, and it was time for the Christmas puddings to be made. Every year my Mum would make those scrumptious puddings well in advance of the big day to give them a chance to mature and taste as wonderful as possible when they were once again unveiled on December 25 and the days following.

Now, my Mum never put any holly and berries on the pudding (as far as I can remember); they were, however, served with cream or, better still, brandy butter! Tomorrow I will be venturing into the realm of Christmas pudding making for the first time in the hope that Christmas Day lunch will have this most welcome end in six-and-a-half weeks’ time. In typical fashion, I’m not as prompt as my Mum in making sure the Christmas puddings are made during half term, but if they taste even half as good I’ll be very pleased!