Tuesday, 29 May 2012

9 Romantic Getaways Ideas For Couples


What things can you do to please your loved one? Buy a ring, dress or something which you know has value to her/him? Cook the most sumptuous meal in the world or maybe take him/her to a romantic place you’ve known?

One of the most romantic gifts is to bring your partner on a romantic holiday. This will really blow away your loved one especially knowing that you have made that well thought effort to express your love and appreciation.

You need to look for that perfect place which you know both of you like and can relate to.  Whether your purpose is to propose a wedding or celebrate an anniversary, you have to make sure that the place is romantic enough to be memorable for years to come. Below is a list of getaway ideas where you and your loved one can share a special romantic experience.   

Couples who prefer to commune with nature can visit Lisbon, Portugal. They have lovely parks with 18th century architectural designs, a perfect place for couples who seek a private getaway setting.

Nassau, Bahamas is another romantic location visited by a number of couples who want to spend a special time together. The place has the best beaches and sultry ocean breezes. Aside from that, couples can enjoy a never ending partying during the night.

Meanwhile, if you wish to spend quality time with your loved one in a place surrounded by art & architecture, with lots of mouth-watering dishes and tasty wines, Florence is definitely the choice. The city offers a great romantic atmosphere where you and your loved one can rekindle the flame.

If you prefer to be in a busy city, New York is the best place. The place has everything you need, from dining to shopping, adventures to nightlife, all you need is here. Couples can watch Broadway shows during the night and spend a lovely carriage ride at the Central Park.

Fiji is another place where couples can spend their romantic getaway. This place is for shopping fanatics and beach lovers. The beaches of Nadi are exquisite and a perfect way to enjoy the sun and the gifts of the sea.

For couples who want to getaway in a place with plenty of exotic beaches and historic monuments, Athens, Greece is the best choice. Romantic dining and lots of shopping can be done at luxurious places around Greece particularly in Plaka.

Great adventures and fun can be done at Bora Bora, French Polynesia. Couples who want a tropical getaway can book a flight to French Polynesia and spend a couple of days there. Both of you can enjoy the beaches, manta ray and shark feeding excursion and many underwater activities.

San Francisco, California can also be a perfect getaway for couples who want to travel and wander around this cosmopolitan city. The place offers shopping spots, great dining areas and sites where both of you can spend quality time together.

Of all the places mentioned above, Paris, France is considered to be the most romantic city by far. The city breathes romance. It offers great wines and fine cuisine. One of the most romantic parts of the city is on the hill of Monte-Martres especially at sunset where you can get a view of the city below including the iconic Eiffel tower. Strolling on the back alleys is a great way of soaking in the charming character of the place. A perfect take-away would be a charcoal sketch of both of you together done by one of the many talented street artists.  

For other ideas about fantastic great romantic destinations or cheap city breaks click here. 

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Divine Luxury at The Vine Designer Hotel in Madeira





Situated in Funchal, a large, stylish city facing the Atlantic on the Portuguese island of Madeira,  the five star Hotel the Vine is the ultimate if you’re hoping for your holiday to provide cool, sophisticated comfort, right in the middle of the city but overlooking the ocean.

The Hotel

Designed by world-famous Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill and award-winning interior designer Nini Andrade Silva, no detail has been omitted in the creation of this chic and modern city hotel.

Expect all modern comforts and luxuries - ambient lighting, impressive showers, slippers and bathrobe for your use and large, comfortable beds for a great night’s sleep. Free wi-fi is available in each of the individually designed rooms.



There is a roof-top infinity swimming pool with views out to the bay, the city, and the mountains behind the city. Here you can relax on enormous sun beds and plan your evening.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner is available in the Terra Lounge, a vineyard-inspired Gaudi-esque creation of a room, or dine on food cooked by 3-star Michelin star-winning chef Antoine Westermann in the UVA restaurant, while viewing the city and the sea through the ceiling to floor windows.

The spa features vinotherapy sessions for the face and body (in keeping with the vineyard theme of the hotel) as are clay wraps, hot stone massages and reflexology (and much besides). Then relax in the rooftop jacuzzi or watch the world go by with a cocktail in Bar 360°.

Outside the hotel

Funchal was settled five centuries ago by Portuguese explorers, in an area where fennel (funchal) grew in abundance. It has grown to be the largest city on an island nicknamed the ‘Floating Garden’ on account of it being full to bursting with plants and tropical flowers. Funchal itself houses the 80,000 square metre Madeira Botanical Gardens with its 2000+ types of plants.

Enjoying the best of the sunshine on the island, the climate in Madeira is very agreeable. Do expect some rain - the greenery of the vegetation will tell you that it does get some, but the temperature averages 24° in summer, and drops only 4° in winter.

There’s a great choice of things to do in the vicinity. Go fishing or dolphin and whale watching, play golf, or take a levada walk on man-made tracks running alongside canals dating from the 16th century - made to carry water from the rainy north of the island to the sunnier south.

Eating outside the hotel will give you a great choice of restaurants serving Portuguese and Madeiran specialities - try the bacalhau (salt cod) or espada com banana, scabbard fish with banana. And of course you must try the famous local sweet wine.

Why stay at the Hotel the Vine?

For a relaxing stay in contemporary surrounds on a beautiful, green island, make Funchal on Madeira your choice, and the Hotel the Vine your base. With the famed Portuguese hospitality and good food you won’t be disappointed! 

If you need to book a last minute hotel deal in Madeira or other destinations  visit Spa Travel and get exclusive deals  on your holiday accommodation and flights.  

Friday, 11 May 2012

2 Must-Stay Luxury Hotels in Taormina Sicily




Taormina is a small and ancient town in the Mediterranean island of Sicily, roosting on the side of Monte Tauro and enjoying excellent views to the tallest active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna, and the coast beneath. Sicily is a fantastic place to visit all year round, not the least for the best food you can find in Southern Europe, warm sunny weather and fantastic countryside views.

Taormina is definitely the most beautiful and picturesque town amongst all the other wonderful places to visit on the island. If you want to stay in this gorgeous town with style, there are some great luxury hotels around. You might want to check out these two exclusive hotels:  






The luxurious Atlantis Bay is built to emulate an Italian village overlooking the stunning Bay of Sirene. Although a short way out from Taormina in a quiet location, a cable car passes nearby to take you into town. The choice of rooms ranges from singles and doubles all the the way up to the Presidential Suite. All rooms have a balcony or terrace overlooking the bay, with all the luxuries you would expect in a five star establishment, including high speed internet access, adjustable air conditioning and a flat screen television with satellite reception. 

The restaurant has extremely high standards and serves a choice of typical Sicilian cuisine or international cuisine. Breakfast comprises of fresh breads, juices, yoghurts, cereals, croissants and Sicilian breakfast items. Cocktails can be sipped overlooking the Mediterranean in the evening in the hotel bar.

Facilities include the ‘HYD’OR Wellcome Centre’ where hot stone massages, Ayurveda and Trilogies treatments can be experienced, amongst many others. More relaxation is to be had around the large pool overlooking beautiful Mermaid’s Bay. If you’re feeling slightly more energetic, there is a full fitness suite for your use.



Another five star beauty in Taormina and also part of the Grand Hotel chain is the Hotel Mazzarò Sea Palace which is situated right on the beach (and has its own private stretch of it).

You can enjoy breakfast in your luxuriously appointed room or eat out on the terrace overlooking beautiful Mazzarò Bay. And in the evening dine in the elegant dining room.

All rooms are comfortably and elegantly equipped, with marble baths and private terrace or balcony complete with lounge chair, table and chairs to enable you to take advantage of the gorgeous view.

The hotel is also equipped with a fitness centre, spa centre for the very best facial and body treatments and a salt water swimming pool.


Out and about in Taormina

Of course, you’ll not be spending all your time in the hotel. Visit the famous Greek amphitheatre, still used for staging plays and concerts. There’s also a 13th century cathedral to explore and lots of other old churches in the town. Find traces of Taormina’s ancient history all over the town, in the form of old buildings, fragments of city walls in the hills and aged pavements.

Go shopping for antiques in the town and of course take a trip up Mount Etna, then visit one of the many bars and restaurants for a relaxed evening afterwards.

Sicily has a fantastic reputation for food, things to see and do and beautiful weather (mild even in the winter months). Why not book into a luxury hotel in Taormina to experience this amazing island and all it has to offer?

Thursday, 3 May 2012

How to get Cheap Air Fares & Best Travel Discounts




I have worked in the airline business for a good number of years and when I used to tell people what I do, I mostly used to get the standard question “Oh gosh…why are airline fares so expensive?”.
At the beginning I used to try to satisfy my interlocutor’s perplexity by describing in brief the economics of air fare structures & sales but I quickly realized that it wasn’t the answer my friends were looking for. Their real question was “How can I get cheaper air fares?”
I perfectly understood their concern. Air fares tend to be the biggest slice in the holiday budget especially if you are going on long haul trips to some exotic places around the world.  And if you are living on a moderate income flying to some far off place can be considered a rare luxury. 
However there are ways to reduce this expense by smartly shopping around and knowing some techniques to get real discounted air fares.

The Age of the Net

The internet has provided a lot of opportunities – not the least in finding good shopping deals online - but most importantly to find out what other people who have already purchased a particular product have to say about it and how they got it cheaper. In the travel industry there has been a big boom in online travel agent sites & tour operators, fare comparison sites and review sites.
I am picking a few big sites as an example you have probably heard already about:

Trip Advisor:  A large online community of people who rate and review accommodation, holiday trips and even flights. It’s an excellent way to find out about a place before getting there through honest reviews of people who have actually been there. Trip advisor also has an air fare search engine to find flight availability and prices.
Sky Scanner: A search engine for flight itineraries and prices. It’s an excellent site to scour through the net to find the best available prices within a specific date range
Opodo: This is an online search portal for flights, hotels, package holidays and late deals.  This is one of the most famous sites together with expedia.com because of their large inventory.
Spa Travel: If you are in the UK wanting to travel to Europe, Middle East and further beyond , this is an ideal place to find excellent holiday packages such as all-inclusive hotels, Spa Breaks and luxury five star hotels at amazing prices.

Is the down-town Travel agent still Helpful?

Online is not the only answer however. Even in this day & age when everything is available at a click of a mouse, it is still advisable to visit a brick & mortar travel agent. The reason is that most agents still have better prices than online
 published fares because they sell a large inventory and have longstanding business relations with the airlines. Moreover they have the experience. Most of them have been in business for decades and they can still offer very relevant advice on how to get the best value out of your holiday budget.

Reverse Auction Methods & ‘Bucket Shops’

Non-traditional methods, or what I like to call ‘methods on the fringe’ , have also been making their way in the recent years. After all the web has been a fertile ground for experimenting with innovative methods.
One such method is the reverse auction in which you first bid for what you are willing to pay for an air fare on a specific route and if the airline has a last minute seat release on that route the seat is yours. 
Another way of finding cheap air fare tickets is through ‘Bucket Shops’.  Bucket shops bulk buy tickets from airline at very discounted rates. The way the system works is that you propose a time window during which you like to fly and if something comes up in the last minute you can have that week at a heavy discount.