It feels like we are in the thick of a summer of sport… and yet the summer has only really just begun! For me, this is great news; I am a fan of many sports, so I am enjoying the beginning of Wimbledon and will be cheering on the British hopefuls, while I am counting down the days till the Ashes test matches start in a couple of weeks, having had a full dose of Twenty20 World Cup cricket in recent weeks. And with a sunny start to the week, these summer sports are made all the more attractive.
And, what with the onset of this summer period, holidays are surely just around the corner. Analysts tell us many British holiday-makers will be staying within the confines of the UK’s boundaries this year due to the inevitable economic worries. Certain hotels are even putting together family-friendly packages with visits to local attractions to entice guests through their doors. However, if statistics for the first three months of the year are anything to go by, it is thought fewer tourists will visit Britain from overseas. Sandie Dawe, chief executive of VisitBritain said this showed ongoing challenges for Britain. ‘The figures illustrate the continuing challenges of maintaining Britain’s popularity as a destination in the face of the global economic downturn and increasing competition from rival destinations.’ Time will indeed tell.
Some members of the e-travelguide staff will be heading to the Cumberland Hotel at the weekend as they venture to Wembley for two rather different gigs on Friday and Saturday. Sam (pictured)will be watching Take That on Friday and Alex and Nick will be at the same venue to see ACDC the following evening. I, too, will be visiting a hotel this weekend; I will be heading into Buckinghamshire to the Compleat Angler in Marlow for a friend’s wedding celebration. The hotel (pictured) is set next to the River Thames in an idyllic position and has recently opened its new Aubergine Restaurant.
The Maine Coon: one of the oldest breeds of cat in North America, native to the state of Maine in the USA, typically tabby, normally growing to the length of 40 inches… this is quite an extraordinary cat. And yes, I am talking about the latest addition to the family of animals at the e-travelguide house! Meet the cute little kitten, named Merlin by his owners, who tears around the office to find fun in anything and everything in sight. While currently fairly small, we have already seen him grow considerably and by the time this little fur-ball is three he may just about have reached his full size!
Recently some of the e-travelguide staff took their eyes off the new cat and ventured to the lovely town of Windsor to visit a couple of hotels there. Firstly, we toured the Beaumont House which is large to say the least and is set amid acres of wooded grounds – sounds idyllic and doesn’t disappoint. The visit to Beaumont House was followed by a trip down the road to the Oakley Court, a new Principal Hayley venue, which takes up a scenic position next to the River Thames.
Another hotel to mention is the Horwood House, a grand-looking establishment found just outside Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. Horwood House guests can make the most of 38 acres of grounds, convenient proximity to the likes of Silverstone and picturesque climber-clad buildings.
In other news, I was privileged to enjoy a tour around the houses of Parliament last week with a friend who now works there. As a Politics and International Relations student this was fascinating for me (hmm… sad I know!) But the symbolism and history is impressive to say the least, as is the House of Lords with its ornate gold, thrones and paintings. The House of Commons is a bit plainer and is surprisingly small, but there is definitely something special about being stood behind the dispatch box, imagining a rowdy Commons during Prime Ministers Question Time. If you are looking for hotel near to this top London attraction please head to our London Hotels page.
Readers of the e-travelguide blog may well have noticed by now that we like to give you a glimpse into the lives of the staff and their activities. Well, today is the turn of the lovely e-travelguide cleaners, who busily vacuum, dust and mop away throughout the week! In the office we often hear of the cleaners’ travels with their dogs in the local area around Reading; most notably the bluebell woods near to the office.
A little further afield, in the national capital is the Cumberland Hotel, a particularly popular choice here at e-travelguide. Staggeringly, it is home to more than 1,000 bedrooms, while one of its restaurants and bars is under the creative influence of international chef Gary Rhodes. It is also an extensive conference venue, with no fewer than 26 meeting facilities under the venue’s roof. So, if you are planning a trip to London or a conference in the great city, why not take a look at this top four-star hotel.
Lastly, we now know the finalists of the 2009 European Cup – Manchester United and Barcelona, the latter somewhat controversially defeating last years’ finalists Chelsea on away goals. The final will be held in the wonderful city of Rome on May 27 with Manchester United looking to retain the title for the first time. Among the places to stay is the Hotel Bernini Bristol, an establishment which boasts excellent views, an ideal location and a traditional environment in which to enjoy a night or two either side of the match.
Less than a year after its most recent overhaul, the e-travelguide website has undergone another make-over! As you will be able to see it is now predominantly blue, which I, for one, certainly prefer over the former red and black colours.
In addition, further guides to France and Greece are also being made available, while in the not too distant future there will be information on the likes of Norway, Austria and perhaps even Dubai in the Middle East and the sunny Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Watch this space…!
Over the Easter weekend I had the privilege of attending a fantastic wedding in Bristol on a day when the sun was beaming down on that part of the world. After the festivities and celebration of the ceremony we enjoyed the late-afternoon sun, the speeches and an excellent buffet at the Bodkin House Hotel in Badminton, just to the north of the city. It’s a hotel which is full of character, so if you are ever in that part of the world I thoroughly recommend you pop in for a drink or an overnight stay.
Finally, there are two fairly new European hotels which have opened in recent months which I should really make you aware of. They are La Mola which is near to Barcelona and the Chateau Saint Just which is located just outside Paris. Both venues are particularly suited to conferences and events thanks to their abundance of function rooms, although they are also suitable if you are looking to relax somewhere too.
It’s the end of another week here at e-travelguide. Apart from anxiously awaiting the impending influx of Easter eggs (which arrived today courtesy of Rebecca from Hilton, Hurray!) the main topic of conversation in the office this week has been about the number of big tours cropping up this summer. Obviously, Michael Jackson is practically moving in to the O2 Arena for the summer holidays, but the one we’ve all been talking about is U2’s 360° tour. Apart from the fact they appear to be playing at pretty much every big stadium in Europe and the UK, the musos in the office are really impressed with the 360 degree stage design, which means no-one is going to be stuck staring at the back of a speaker for 3hours.
Encompassing four months, the tour kicks off in Barcelona at the end of June, taking in some of Europe’s coolest cities including Milan, Nice and Amsterdam. Then the band will be spending part of July and August in Dublin, Glasgow, Sheffield and Cardiff, before skipping across the pond to the USA. I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
I have to admit, after my visit to Norwegian capital Oslo this weekend, snow has become a little less exciting than it was during the e-travelguide snow structure-making adventures. Ok, so it’s still a novelty for us Brits, it definitely looks pretty nice and there is certainly something fun about it, but for Norwegians it’s becoming a bit of a drag after three months of the knee and sometimes thigh deep white stuff.
It’s less of an issue in the compact city centre though, with most of the streets snow free and the people able to go about their daily business with ease. There are several fascinating buildings dotted around the city, some less attractive, but many well worth a look at and with much history. At one end of the main high street is the elegant palace, home to current monarch Harald V, while part way along are the likes of the Grand Hotel (which certainly lives up to its name), the modern-looking Parliament, the National Theatre, many shops, bars and restaurants and a section of the university.
Oslo is, of course, well-known for its Fjord which works its way out to the North Sea. You can see the Fjord in the distance behind me in the picture. Next to this high point is the strategically-placed Akershus Fortress which is still used for some military activities and training today. Other highlights include the Sognsvann Lake just to the north of the city and Frognerseteren which is said to boast some of the most impressive sights of Oslo from its vantage point, assuming the weather isn’t blizzard-like, of course!
So, I would definitely recommend Oslo as a holiday destination and if snowy, wintery conditions are not to your liking, then a summer visit should act as an excellent alternative.
So Jo was right, we have been unable to get a camera near either her or Marjorie and they have failed to even grant permission to use any existing photographs of them. This means our readers will be unable to see what the remaining two members of the team look like… for now!
As Jo mentioned in her blog at the end of last week, Samantha is now on the other side of the world in sunny Perth, Western Australia. We here at the e-travelguide office are looking forward to hearing of Sam’s adventures on her return and I’m sure if we are lucky we may even be able to show the readers a couple of pictures of her snorkelling and doing other exciting Australian-type activities.
Tomorrow morning I will be catching a flight to Oslo for the weekend to visit an old friend and am very much looking forward to exploring what I’ve been told is a beautiful city. My friend tells me the snow is ‘only knee high’ in places now although more snowfall is expected over the next couple of days. Hmm… could lead to more snowpopes and other similar snow-based structures.
No doubt there will be pictures of the city finding their way onto the blog next week, offering something slightly different to the somewhat warmer southern hemisphere climate Sam finds herself in right now. There should even be some pictures of some of the Radisson SAS Hotels in the city. There are five in total, each of which is featured on our Oslo hotels page, including the 37-floor Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel which has no fewer than 673 bedrooms and is the largest hotel in the whole country.
Well, the plan was to start introducing our readers to the ladies of e-travelguide. Unfortunately, this has been hindered somewhat by the fact that most of them are currently refusing to have their photo taken, despite Tom’s best efforts with his digital camera. In fact, the only willing models were Molly the dog and Megafluff the cat, who are not strictly part of the e-travelguide team due to a lack of opposable thumbs, but who nevertheless spend most of their time lazing around the office.
However, we have prevailed via the wonders of Facebook to bring you this picture of some of our lovely reservationists, Libby, Samantha, and Wendy. We will be treasuring this photo over the next few weeks as Samantha is leaving us to go to Australia, abandoning us to wait valiantly for the beginning of the British springtime while she is off having an antipodean adventure. All will be forgiven if we get presents on her return (hint!)! Our readers should probably treasure this picture too, as at the moment it looks highly unlikely that Marge and Jo are going to allow anyone with a camera within fifteen feet of them….
With the many phone calls made to the e-travelguide office every day there must be some callers who wonder about the appearance of those they speak to. In recent days we have given you a glimpse into the workings of the company and in doing so into the physique and faces of the three younger males who work in the office. Today, however, it is time to introduce you to the face of the ‘father of e-travelguide’ - Nick Burrington.
No doubt in the picture Nick is making a phone call to one of his favourite hotels – probably somewhere like the George Hotel in Edinburgh or the Palace Hotel in Manchester. In between important phone calls he will inevitably be taking on board some coffee… black, one sugar, of course. Oh, and the image of Simon Cowell to the top right of the picture; some say Nick is among the X Factor guru’s lifelong fans, others say Nick once applied to audition on the popular Saturday night television show. Perhaps you could comment below to tell us which you think more likely.
I realise we have introduced you to all of the men working at e-travelguide, which must mean it will, in the coming days, be time to tell you about some of the ladies who spend their days here in the office in the Berkshire countryside.
It’s Monday again, and aside from a slightly wobbly weather forecast it looks as though the snow may finally be departing, sadly taking with it the Snow Pope and ‘Stewie’. However, the snowman legacy lives on in our caption competition, which now promises a great prize: the person who provides the best caption to the lovely photo of Alex, Sam and the snow midget will be the lucky recipient of a night’s stay at the beautiful four-star Royal York Hotel. It’s what the snowmen would’ve wanted.
The hopeful clearing of the weather also means that we can all start looking towards brighter things, in particular, the Six Nations. The first matches were played on the weekend, with England, Ireland and Wales taking early leads, and I for one will be very jealous of anyone lucky enough to have tickets for the Wales v England match at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff next week. Actually, if anyone is feeling particularly generous, an afternoon at the rugby and a night at the St. David’s Hotel in Cardiff Bay sounds like a perfect Valentine’s Day…
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