Travel deals, tips, insider news and comment by 101 Holidays editors, Mark Hodson and David Wickers
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Holiday details: 7 nights - saving £100 - in Turkey, staying at Ayva, a 3-bedroom villa overlooking the gorgeous Kalkan Bay on the Lycian Coast. A short walk to the areas longest stretch of sand, the villa has its own private infinity pool, a barbecue and terraces to enjoy the views.
Price: from £650 – saving £100 – self-catering, based on 6 sharing. Flights and car hire extra.
Dates: departs September 27 and October 4, 2010.
Book with: Vintage Travel
Holiday details: 5 nights - saving £187pp - in Florida, staying in the trendy Art Deco District of Miami’s South Beach at the 3-star Crest Hotel Suites. Close to Ocean Drive, the boutique hotel is also just one block from the beach.
Price: from £549pp - saving £187pp – room only, based on 2 sharing, including return flights from London Heathrow with British Airways and transfers.
Dates: departs September 22, 2010.
Book with: Jetsave
Holiday details: 7 nights - saving £171pp - in Egypt, staying at the luxurious 5-star Grand Rotana Resort & Spa in divers haven Sharks Bay. There are numerous beach and water activities available at the resort including diving and snorkeling in the Red Sea.
Price: from £549pp - saving £171pp – B&B, based on 2 sharing including includes return flights from London Gatwick with British Airways and transfers.
Dates: departs October 4, 2010.
Book with: Thomson Tailormade
Holiday details: 7 nights staying at one of the Bahamas most exclusive 5* resorts, The One and Only Club on Paradise Island, Nassau. The resort has it’s own private beach area, spacious villas with sea views, an 18-hole golf course and a luxurious zen spa.
Price: £2,150pp – saving £1,600pp – half board, including free upgrade to Ocean View room, 2 for 1 on golf green fees and all spa treatments, return flights with British Airways from London and transfers.
Dates: Book before September 14, 2010. Departures until February 28, 2010.
Book with: Seasons In Style
Holiday details: 7 nights in St Lucia’s most spectacular and luxurious hotel, the 5* Jade Mountain on Morne Chastanet. Each of the vast suites has an open wall overlooking the Piton Mountains (a World Heritage site); most have a private infinity pool. The bay is one of the best areas for snorkelling and diving.
Price: £2,135pp - saving £676pp – B&B including return flights with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic from London and transfers.
Dates: departures between September 1 and 30, 2010.
Book with: W&O Travel
By Mark Hodson, Editor of 101 Holidays
I’ve just returned from a two-day bloggers’ trip to Berlin organised by bmi, which started flying to the German capital earlier this year. With such a short time in Berlin it’s vital to stay centrally, and there’s nowhere better for that than Sir Rocco Forte’s 5-star Hotel de Rome, which occupies a magnificent former bank building in what was the communist east.
In the years following the fall of the Berlin Wall the very notion of what is the city centre has shifted dramatically. Until recently, most tourists would stay in one of the many hotels in the former west and make only tentative visits to the former east.
Following the expensive renovation of many of Berlin’s most important buildings, the centre of gravity has moved several kilometres east. It would now be quite possible to spend several days in the German capital - visiting the city’s greatest museums, sights, most exciting bars and restaurants - and never cross into the old west.
The Hotel de Rome, set on Bebelplatz about 1km east of the former border, is perfectly positioned. It is also something of a tourist sight in its own right. Even if you can’t afford a room there, it’s worth stopping by for a drink in the Bebel Bar or sunset cocktails on the fourth-floor rooftop terrace.
The building dates back to 1889 and belonged to the Dresdner Bank until 1945 when it began to fall into disrepair. The 4-metre high ceilings, vast marble pillars, tiled floors and granite staircases have all been preserved, but softened with a warm and welcoming contemporary decor.
If you’re just visiting, you may be able to put your head around the door to the two-storey ballroom, built in the bank’s original counter hall. This elegant room with huge glass chandeliers and tiled floors is regularly used by film crews. But to see the rest of the hotel you’ll need to stay.
One of the highlights is the below-ground spa. The former jewellery vault now houses a superb 20-metre lap pool with gold mosaic tiles, and some of the treatment rooms are behind 18-inch thick steel doors.
On the first floor were the offices of the bank’s directors. These beautiful grand rooms, complete with wooden coffered ceilings and original panelled walls are now the hotel’s suites. If they aren’t occupied, staff may agree to show you around.
Since it was launched in 1996, the Rocco Forte Collection now has 13 properties across Europe and it wouldn’t be outrageous to suggest that they rank among the finest luxury contemporary hotels in the world. Although it originally foccused only on cities, the group is now branching out into resorts, including the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily, with another to follow in Marrakech.
From 101 Holidays newsdesk
The California fly-drive holiday recommendation is one of 101 Holidays’ most popular pages - driving yourself around this immense and diverse state is a great way to explore beyond the more obvious attractions. Here are 10 weird and wonderful things to do in California.
1. The hills above Palm Springs are home to The Integratron, one of the world’s weirdest must-sees. Located on a magnetic vortex, this dome shaped building was built by George Van Tassel to be a rejuvenation centre and time machine. It claims to have communicated with Extra Terrestrials, and apparently harbours a magical magnetic energy.
2. If you’re a wine enthusiast and are planning to tie the knot, surround yourselves with beautiful Merlot and Pinot Noir vines as you say “I do” with a wedding at Gundlach Bundschu Winery. Celebrate with a wedding breakfast in the romantic Cave Barrel Room. More ideas and information from California Wines.
3. Try sky-diving at 120mph, two miles above the wine country, from the Russian River to Lake Sonoma. Land at the Alexander Valley Vineyards for a celebratory glass or two.
4. Take a catamaran across Lake Shasta to some spectacular caves, formed over 250 million years ago. Trek up into the hills for a chance to see bald eagles, mountain lions and black bears and have a go at sluicing for gemstones and fossils.
5. Enjoy a game of Monopoly in the Park in San Jose. Throw the monster dice on a gigantic 930 sq ft Monopoly board wearing Monopoly pieces as headgear. Great fun for all the family.
6. Head to Chico for the Yo-Yo Museum, housing a collection of yo-yos dating back 80 years. It’s also home to the world’s largest yo-yo, weighing an impressive 256 pounds!
7. Huntington Beach a surfer’s paradise. Not only is the beach sensationally sandy, but it hosted the world record for the most riders (40 in total) on one giant surfboard in 2005. Time your visit to coincide with the US Open Surfing Championships in July and August to see how the experts do it.
8. Pasadena is home to the infamous Colorado Street Bridge. Built in 1913 across a canyon linking the San Gabriel Mountains to the Los Angeles River, it is rumoured to be haunted and has been the location of numerous suicides.
9. In North Hills, a 15 ft topiary poodle stands on Plummer Street and Hayvenhurst Avenue, created by resident Brian Welch. Named ‘Ivy Poodle’ the pooch even wears a red ribbon collar to celebrate Christmas.
10. Visit Watts Towers in Los Angeles, an art centre with a difference. Consisting of 17 different towers, the steel structures are adorned with mosaics made from whatever materials were available to the artist, Simon Rodia. With no access to machinery, the towers were created using his own ingenuity and simple tools (including a washer’s belt and buckle).
Visit our recommended tour operator for California: North America Travel Service
Holiday details: self-drive short break in Iceland, staying at the Hotel Budir on the edge of a sweeping bay with the Snaefellsjokull glacier as backdrop. Located in the auroral zone away from light pollution, this is a top spot for views of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis).
Price: £508 pp for 4 nights half-board (4th night free) including gourmet a la carte dining each evening and a 4WD. Flights extra (approx £184 pp).
Dates: November 2010 - March 2011
Book with: Discover the World