Tag Archives: United States

Luxury Travel Fair, London, 4-7 November

Posted on by By Vivienne DuBourdieu
Colour and excitement at the Luxury Travel Fair, Olympia, Kensington

Colour and excitement at the Luxury Travel Fair, Olympia, Kensington

This year’s Luxury Travel Fair is fast approaching and looks set to be a hot destination for travel lovers.

Over 95 companies will exhibit at Olympia, Kensington, and many exhibitors offer exclusive travel deals – only available to those visiting the fair.

At the Meet the Experts theatre, you can get inside travel tips from speakers such as Josceline Dimbleby, Carol Drinkwater and Marcus Wareing.

Highlights

  • Seven nights for the price of five from ITC Classics at One & Only, Le Saint Geran, Mauritius.
  • Free return flight offers to Australia for the Kimberley Cruise on the Orion with Mundy Cruising.
  • 30% discount off winter room rates at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
  • Complimentary ski guiding and, for that special après-ski treat, a complimentary massage in Verbier, Switzerland, when you go with ITC Classics.
  • And for those who have yet to decide on their next travel destination, Mr & Mrs Smith are offering 50% off their guidebooks.
Image from Conde-Nast Johansens

Image from Conde-Nast Johansens

Celebrity speakers

Thursday 4 November – Michelin Star chef Marcus Wareing; 2009 Masterchef Champion Matt Follas and  Raj Joshi, the expert expedition guide for Comic Relief Trek.

Friday 5 November - History and wildlife presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff and food and travel writer Josceline Dimbleby.

Saturday 6 November – Olympic skier and Ski Sunday presenter Graham Bell and explorer and TV presenter Paul Rose.

Sunday 7 November – BBC presenter Dan Cruickshank and actress Carol Drinkwater.

Best known for her role as Helen Herriot in BBC Television’s All Creatures Great and Small (for which she was awarded The Variety Club Television Personality of the Year Award), Carol Drinkwater has enjoyed a long and distinguished career both as an actress and a writer.

Carol is also the author of series of bestselling memoirs, including The Olive Tree (shortlisted for Travel Book of the Year, Travel Press Awards, 2009). She is currently working on a ten-hour documentary film series based on The Olive Route and The Olive Tree.

France. Image by Bailey Robinson.

France. Image by Bailey Robinson.

Her latest book Return to the Olive Farm has been published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Tickets for The Luxury Travel Fair can be booked here.

You want the National Hall, Olympia, Hammersmith Road, West Kensington. The best way to get here is by taking a No. 9, 27, 10 or 28 bus from the bus station at Hammersmith Underground towards High Street Kensington or from Stop F at that end towards Hammersmith.

Hot Hostels – Chapels, Schools & Jails

Posted on by By Vivienne DuBourdieu

Clink Hostel, Kings Cross, London: UK Independent Hostels

Right in the heart of London’s King’s Cross, the aptly named Clink Hostel is a restored, converted 200 year old courthouse with accommodation for up to 200 people.

With its stylish interior, modern facilities and high-tech pod beds, the Clink is far removed from the traditional perception of a youth hostel.

Chill out in the Courtroom Lounge where The Clash were on trial, enjoy nightly entertainment and happy hour in the bar, and sleep it off in a real prison cell – all from £10 per night including continental breakfast.

Chapels and Schools
Once a Methodist chapel, the hostel at Kirby Stephen, Yorkshire has kept the original stained glass windows, pews, pulpit and organ in communal living areas, and has bedrooms and dormitories in a building behind the chapel.

The hostel is right in the town’s main street, close to restaurants and food shops, while Wainwright’s coast to coast path and the W2W cycle trail pass by the town.

Greenhead Hotel near Brampton, Cumbria: UK Independent Hostels

Greenhead Hostel near Brampton, Cumbria, is also in a former Methodist chapel which was built in 1886 to serve the village miners. Situated on Hadrian’s Wall, it’s ideally placed for walkers on the Pennine Way. Prices at Kirby Stephen are from £18pppn and at Greenhead they start at £10 for under 18s and £15 for adults.

Several of the hostels were once village schools; these include Bridges Long Mynd, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire; the Old School Bunkhouse, Chapel-le-Dale, Lancashire and the Old School Hostel at Trefin, close to Pembrokeshire’s unspoilt coast path in South West Wales.

Prices start around £12pp at the Old School Hostel and £15pp at Bridges. The Old School Bunkhouse offers ‘group only’ accommodation for up to 30 people from £200 per night for sole use.

View hostels, get maps, find special offers, and enter competitions here.

Click here for Lighthouse and Railway Station hostels.