Unique luxury hotels, fashionable travel and much more

Stonehenge, the prehistoric stone circle in south-west England, has been given a £10 million ($16 million) grant towards providing a new visitor centre.

The money has come from proceeds from the National Lottery that are earmarked for heritage purposes.

Lady Andrews, the Chairwoman of English Heritage, which manages the site, said it was very grateful for the generous grant. “Not only does it help to narrow the funding gap for the project considerably, it also sends out a message of confidence about the benefits that the project will bring – to tourism, the local economy and the conservation and public enjoyment of Stonehenge and its landscape.”

The proposed centre would consist of a pair of single-storey areas of glass and timber about a mile-and-a-half (2.4 km) west of the stones. It would include exhibition and education facilities, a cafe, shop and toilets.

Stonehenge, constructed between 3,000 BC and 1,600 BC, and thought to have been used for a variety of religious ceremonies, is a World Heritage site. It attracts about 900,000 tourists a year, 70 per cent of whom come from abroad. However, visitors have long expressed disappointment – and sometimes astonishment – at the state of facilities there.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a variety of luxury hotels in south-west England as well as in many other parts of the UK.

There was something of a surprise when our friends at Condé Nast Traveller magazine unveiled the results of their survey to find the best UK city for tourists.

A capital came out on top, but it wasn’t London. Instead, it was a triumph for Scotland’s first city, Edinburgh, which captured high scores across the board, but was noted in particular for its architecture, culture and ‘user-friendliness’.

City of Edinburgh Council Leader, Jenny Dawe, said: “This result is great news for the city and confirms what we all know: Edinburgh is a great place in which to invest, live, work, study and visit.

“It truly has the best of everything – historic buildings and great atmosphere, a vibrant leisure and retail offering, abundant green space, outstanding schools and universities – the list goes on.”

To add insult to London’s injury, it didn’t even make second place – it was pushed into third by Oxford.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re heading for the city the locals call ‘Auld Reekie,’ check out Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in Edinburgh, including the award-winning Balmoral.

Spare a thought for some of the unluckiest holidaymakers in the world.

They’re the people who booked vacations with the travel company, Goldtrail, which collapsed last month (see previous post) and then re-booked flights with Kiss, which also suddenly ceased trading.

Kiss Flights

Clive Rees from Wales was one of those who suffered this double-whammy. “I’m really disappointed. You wait for a long time for your holiday and it’s gone up in smoke. It’s tough. It puts us in a bit of a dilemma, whether we book for a third time with another company. We’re undecided at the moment.”

Customers of both companies should get their money back, but it might be a long wait.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, fourteen UK travel firms have gone bust in 2010 so far – three in August alone. The economic downturn, as well as a drop in British travellers going on holiday overseas, has been blamed for some of the failures. Analysts say they expect up to 20 more budget firms working on tight margins to go under before the end of the year.

by Andy Moreton

The body promoting tourism in the UK – VisitBritain – has found some interesting pre-conceptions about the British weather among would-be foreign visitors.

Around half the 1,000 people questioned apparently agreed that ‘wet and foggy’ was an accurate general description of the British climate. Seems to me they’ve been watching too many Sherlock Holmes movies!

However, it was reassuring to the tourism bosses that in answer to the question: “Would it put you off coming to Britain?” the majority said no.

VisitBritain’s Chief Executive, Sandie Dawe, said: “This survey shows that Britain’s weather is not as bad as folklore would have us believe. Visitors do not come with a belief that if a few drops of rain fall then their trip will be ruined.”

In fact, for many places in southern Britain, this has been a better summer than most – dry with quite a few days of sunshine. The north, though, has not had it so good.

Another survey from VisitBritain (don’t these people take vacations?) estimated that the British monarchy brings in £500 million a year from overseas tourists. This figure takes in visits to such attractions as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Tower of London.

And apparently the people most likely to visit places linked to the Royal Family are Russians, Brazilians and Malaysians.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re coming to the UK this year, Luxique can guide you to the perfect accommodation, with a wide selection of luxury hotels in London. We can also help you book luxury hotels in many other parts of the UK.

England has been basking in a spell of unusually warm weather and that, at least, has helped take minds off the national soccer team’s thumping defeat at the hands of Germany in the World Cup.

London has seen temperatures over the past few days as high as 30 degrees Celsius (86F) and whenever this happens, the newspapers here always make a comparison with holiday destinations around the world. ‘Hotter than Bermuda!’ ‘More sun hours than on the Costa del Sol!’

Regrettably, this happens for only about four days a year, but it’s fun while it lasts. Tourists would surely be disappointed if they didn’t see the slate-grey skies and rain which they’ve been told to expect on arrival in the UK.

The other thing that happens during a British mini-heatwave is that bookmakers stir from their slumbers and offer odds against all kinds of eventualities.

For example, you can get 10/1 that the highest ever UK temperature (38.5C/101.3F recorded at Brogdale, near Faversham in Kent, in 2003) will be beaten. And 5/6 that there will be no rain delays for the whole of the Wimbledon tennis championships.

Incidentally, I notice that the midday temperature in Lahore, Pakistan is currently 44C (111.2F). Now that is a scorcher.

by Andy Moreton

The power of movies to boost tourism has been demonstrated in a survey carried out on behalf of the UK Film Council.

The study suggests that ten per cent of foreign tourists come to the UK because they’ve fallen in love with a location they’ve seen on the big screen. This ‘film-induced tourism’ contributed £1.9 billion ($2.7 billion) to the UK economy last year.

The most popular locations include Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, which doubles for Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter films, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, the setting for the Keira Knightley film The Duchess, and Basildon Park in Berkshire, where parts of the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice were filmed.

One movie, Miss Potter, in which Renee Zellweger played the writer Beatrix Potter, caused such a rise in visitors from Japan that one company in the Lake District now employs a full time Japanese tour guide.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re coming to the UK this year, Luxique can guide you to the perfect accommodation, with a wide selection of luxury hotels in London. We can also help you book luxury hotels in many other parts of the UK.

It’s been reported here in the UK that tourist attractions are having to spend vast sums of money on compensation claims.

A survey of 24 museums, castles and galleries reveals that more than £2 million ($3 million) has been paid out over the past five years for on-site ‘trips and slips’. It’s fuelled the anger of those who’ve become exasperated by what’s seen as the UK’s growing ‘compensation culture’.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London had to pay out £23,651 ($36,216) and legal fees of almost £30,000 ($46,000) after a woman fell and hurt her hip when entering through a revolving door.

The V&A also had to pay £400 ($612) to a man who put his thumb in hot soup in the museum’s restaurant. The man had found the food counter unattended and helped himself to the soup, scalding himself in the process.

Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the National Trust, which looks after many historic and protected buildings, has previously warned how health and safety rules are making it harder to attract visitors.

In an interview in 2008, he said: “This is a plague and it is not just something that affects the National Trust. It is something I would join as a campaign to see if we can’t get some protocol of reasonableness from health and safety authorities to free people from total risk aversion.”

Arguably the most controversial pay-out was to a woman who fell into a moat while trespassing at Carlisle Castle at two in the morning. She suffered pelvic and hip injuries and received £15,000 ($23,000) from the government body, English Heritage, which also paid her legal costs of £37,250 ($57,000).

A spokesman for English Heritage said: “The woman passed a sign stating that our opening hours were 10am to 4pm, as well as a notice saying ‘Please take care, historic sites can be hazardous.’”

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a selection of luxury hotels in London and the length and breadth of the UK.

There are many reasons for visiting the Capital and staying in one of the the top luxury hotels in London – the world-class shows, theatre, opera and ballet; the unrivalled opportunities to truly shop ‘till you drop, even at London prices; the museums and art galleries, many of which are now free to enter, and the legendary gourmet dining. There are at least 5570 restaurants in London, according to the Yellow Pages, and many more pubs and coffee houses, snack bars and take-aways so you should be able to dine somewhere different every night for the next 27 years without having to repeat yourself.

However, in reality, we are creatures of habit, and having found somewhere good to dine out, we would rather return there than risk disappointment elsewhere. Many of London’s finest restaurants are an integral part of the luxury hotels in London which are found in Capital’s most prestigious areas. With expensive taxi fares and impossible parking, it makes sense to dine where you are staying. Here are some of London’s very best restaurants, complete with adjoining luxury hotel accommodation.

One of the city’s best restaurants is tucked inside the five star Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. Although you may feel out of place without a jacket and tie, Hélène Darroze, one of France’s most distinguished chefs has brought her Michelin-star cuisine to London for a gastronomic experience to savor. The more informal Espelette restaurant also offers signature dishes by Hélène, along with delectable afternoon teas.

Equally Michelin star-studded is the Foliage restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental. Nestled in one of the top luxury hotels in London, the restaurant enjoys a Royal Park on either side hotel and al fresco dining on the terrace in the warm summer evenings is an unrivalled experience. Attention to detail includes the waiting staff collecting leaves from Hyde Park and placing them beneath the bespoke glass plates to truly set the scene for an amazing experience.

The five star luxury Berkeley Hotel in London boasts possibly the finest dining with not one but two award-winning restaurants. Gordon Ramsay takes on New York’s café scene with his Boxwood Café whilst Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley presents a total food euphoria.

Finally, be prepared to be dazzled by an exciting international restaurant set in one of the premier luxury hotels in London. Nobu offers a delectable Peruvian-Japanese menu in the Metropolitan Hotel. Founded by world-renowned chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and presided over by Executive Chef Mark Edwards, this specialty cuisine cannot fail to impress. Coupled with the legendary service and contemporary interior design, this luxury hotel in London’s Park Lane makes a truly refreshing place to dine and to stay.

by Luxique - A Unique Collection of Luxury Hotels in London

For the fifth year in a row, France has topped a list of the best places in the world to live.

International Living magazine’s 30th Quality of Life Index surveyed almost 200 countries across nine categories, including cost of living, culture/leisure, environment, and safety/risk.

“In France, life is savoured,” said International Living publisher, Jackie Flynn. “I don’t think anyone would disagree that France is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, where there is so much pride in all the small details. The French love little window boxes filled with flowers, tidy gardens, pretty sidewalk cafes and clean streets.”

International Living paid particular attention to provincial France, praising the affordability and services outside Paris, especially for retired people and their families.

Australia jumped up the rankings from fifth to second place on the strength of its economic recovery, while the US dropped from third to seventh. International Living claimed that sustaining the ‘American Dream’ had escalated out of the reach of many.

Top Ten
1. France
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
4. Germany
5. New Zealand
6. Luxembourg
7. United States
8. Belgium
9. Canada
10. Italy

The UK’s position? A lowly 25th behind the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique can help you book some of the finest luxury hotels in Paris and in many other areas of beautiful France.

The UK government’s announcement that it intends to introduce body scanners at all major airports has stirred up something of a hornets’ nest.

The decision was taken in the light of the failed attempt to blow up a US plane on Christmas Day, but the government has been told the devices might breach an individual’s right to privacy under the Human Rights Act.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has written to the government expressing its concerns.

The scanners produce ‘naked’ images of passengers, and civil rights groups warn they could generate illegal pictures of children and celebrities that could be leaked online. In response to such fears, the Department of Transport said it was developing a staff code of practice for airport body scanners.

In its letter, the EHRC calls on the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, to set out in detail the justification for bringing in body scanners, and clarify what safeguards will be put in place.

The Netherlands has also decided to install the scanners, but other countries such as Spain have sounded less enthusiastic.

by Andy Moreton