A Luxury Travel Blog

Much of this is already covered on the ‘Subscribe for updates’ page on this blog but, if you happen not to venture that far, here’s a quick summary of where to find A Luxury Travel Blog on various social media.

First off, there’s a fan page on Facebook.  Secondly, you can join over 100,000 followers by following A Luxury Travel Blog on Twitter.

If you wish to connect with me on a more personal level, you will find me on Facebook, on LinkedIn and on Google+.

A Luxury Travel Blog – in conjunction with Voyage Privé – is offering one lucky winner (and a person of their choice) the chance to win a luxury getaway worth £1,500.

This could be the perfect surprise for Christmas or the New Year! Chose between any of their luxury four and five star hotels or holidays up to a value of £1,500. Whether you are looking for a romantic rural getaway, an idyllic beach retreat or a chic city break, the choice is yours.

Voyage Privé is a luxury travel club that scours the globe to bring its members unforgettable getaways, at unbelievable prices. Their experts hand pick only the best holidays and hotels, then make sure they source their members the best deal possible with up to 70% off.

To enter, simply register to become a member before 31st December 2011.

As regular readers will know, A Luxury Travel Blog is more of a sideline interest for me rather than my main business, although I do work in online tourism marketing.  I do not (and have never) spent money on advertising this site, but I’m pleased to be able to tell you that it’s up there in the Google rankings, competing with the big boys and their equally big budgets.  In fact, it’s doing more than just competing – it’s ahead of them – and is currently ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th on Google for a search for ‘luxury travel’ (quotes not required), bettered only by luxurytravel.com which, because of its domain, is always going to be difficult to overcome!  Here’s a screenshot from Google:

Obviously, this alone brings its fair share of traffic.  If you’re involved in the luxury travel industry and you’d like to get involved with the site, be it with free or paid opportunities, do please get in touch. You can also become a fan on Facebook, follow me on Twitter (I’ll be passing 100,000 followers later this month), or add me to your Google+ circles.

Excursionist.com is a new members only site that connects travelers with their passions by providing a menu of curated and expert-led trips around the world. Excursionist offers hundreds of once-in-a-lifetime experiences across 40 passion areas, making it easier than ever to plan unique excursions based on your personal interests. Whether you want to trek across Greenland with a world-record holding polar explorer, access a rarely opened tomb in Egypt, or visit a community project in Cambodia, Excursionist offers amazing experiences to suit any passion.

Readers of A Luxury Travel Blog can sign up for a free membership AND receive a $100 credit towards any future excursions simply by clicking on the link.

Sign up now and travel your passions!

I’m pleased to share the news that A Luxury Travel Blog has been included in a list of the top 100 Twitter users for travellers, as published by TravelersPress.  Not only did our @luxury__travel Twitter account get included in the list, but we were delighted to also achieve a second showing in the top 100 with our UK travel site (@ukseries).

So, if you’re not already following us on Twitter, you should be!  And you can do so at http://twitter.com/luxury__travel where you’ll notice that we’re fast approaching 100,000 followers… please join us and keep up to date with all things luxurious in the travel industry.

Azamara Club Cruises, a world leading luxury cruise line owned by the Norwegian-American company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., has decided to commend those who share their passion for luxury travel with a new ‘luxury travel blogger of the month’ award.

They have just written to me saying that we are their first ever winner: “Every month we will be highlighting the best luxury travel blogs and websites.  We are pleased to inform you that your blog http://www.aluxurytravelblog.com has been selected as a winner for the month August 2011; your post “5 of the best restaurant views in the world” was paid particular praise.”

Thank you, Azamara!  I am delighted to hear you are enjoying your visits to A Luxury Travel Blog.

I’m pleased to announce that A Luxury Travel Blog has won a 2011 travel award from Iglu Cruise.  In their own words:

Most people who write blogs do not produce useful material for travellers. In fact, few blogs are of any use to anybody at all. That’s why the Iglu team spend hours (if not days) on each category, making sure that deserving blogs – however obscure – are listed… Iglu gives the awards only to blogs which thoroughly deserve them. We won’t put our name to a website unless they have shown that they are experts in their fields and that they deal only with truth, fact, and relevance.

Many of you will be aware that Google’s answer to Facebook is very much doing the rounds.  It’s still earlier days but I have an account on there so, if you’d like to add me, please do so.  You’ll find me at http://gplus.to/luxurytravel

Also, if any of you don’t yet have a Google+ account but would like one, send in your email address via the contact page and I’ll send you an invitation.

This Sunday I shall be running in the Edinburgh Marathon to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation.  If I’ve helped you in some way with A Luxury Travel Blog, or if you’re just feeling mighty generous, I really would appreciate it if you could sponsor me.  I have set up a JustGiving page at http://justgiving.com/paulhjohnson – all donations, however big or small, will be very much appreciated and I’m sure will be put to good use by the charity. Thank you!

I’m pleased to be able to share that A Luxury Travel Blog picked up more than 50% of the votes in the ‘Bon Voyages’ category of the LuXplosion 2010 Awards. The award looks for the best blogs that “chronicle, review or feature travel-related information, services, products and even deals”. Here are the results of the voting:

A Luxury Travel Blog (51%, 49 Votes)
Frommers Blog (21%, 20 Votes)
Grid Skipper (13%, 12 Votes)
Happy Hotelier (8%, 8 Votes)
Everything Everywhere (7%, 7 Votes)

A couple of weeks ago I was meant to be going on a press trip to Tenerife  with my family and reviewing a couple of hotels out there.  Shortly before we were due to depart, I was looking into travel insurance as I was aware that our annual policy had expired.  I contacted the travel insurance company we’d previously had cover from and sent them an email, rather than an instruction initially, because I had a query about the policy that I wanted to run by them.

I never received a reply from that email and, before I knew it, events unfolded shortly afterwards, that were to entirely scupper our plans.  Our younger son was diagnosed with Henoch–Schönlein purpura which left him with a nasty rash on his legs, and resulted in painful swelling on his joints – particularly his ankles – that temporarily prevented him from being able to walk.  Our doctor sensibly advised us not to travel.

With this diagnosis, I knew I couldn’t just get travel insurance retrospectively.  So I contacted Monarch who I’d booked our flights with, and explained my predicament. They were extremely helpful and understanding and have allowed me to re-schedule the flights for the same time next year so that I can make the trip then – all at no cost.

Of course, all this was the least of our worries.  The main thing was that our son made a speedy recovery and I’m pleased to report that he is doing much better now and has even been able to return to school today. That said, it was a very kind gesture from Monarch and gave us one less thing to worry about.

For the record, to my surprise Monarch do have a policy that allows you to amend your flights up to just 4.5 hours prior to your departure, usually at a cost of £27.50 per flight if done online (or £40 if done over the telephone), and you can amend your flight to dates up to a year in advance – a useful feature for anyone else finding themselves in a similar predicament.

A worthy mention also goes to Skyparksecure who I’d booked a ‘meet and greet’ airport parking service with.  I contacted them also, and they have simply re-credited our account so that we can re-book with them on another occasion.

And the moral of the story?  Even if your travels aren’t imminent, if you have a trip booked, make sure you have travel insurance in place at the time of booking, and not just prior to your departure.

A very big ‘thank you’ to all those of you who nominated A Luxury Travel Blog for the “Blog > Bon Voyages” category of the Luxplosion 2010 luxury travel awards.  I’m pleased to report that we have been shortlisted for the award along with four others (Frommers, Grid Skipper, Everything Everywhere and Happy Hotelier).  If you would like to vote in the awards – and of course we welcome your continued support – then you can do so here. Voting ends on 25th February 2011 with the winners due to be announced shortly afterwards.

I have just received an email from The Luxury Hub, informing me that we have been nominated for the “Blogs > Bon voyages” category award.  (Thank you, Anthony… whoever you are!)  If you would like to nominate us for the same category – or indeed for any of the other categories on there – we’d obviously really appreciate it.  Just follow the link to http://theluxuryhub.com/luxplosion-2010/ in order to nominate.  Thank you so much!

WhichBudget.com, a leading flight search and destination finder, has a pair of return Air Berlin flights up for grabs on their new direct flights from London Stansted to Salzburg which launch today.To be in with a chance of winning simply ‘Guess the Destination’. The destination is part of the Air Berlin network and to help you narrow it down WhichBudget and The Travel Magazine have hidden six clues across the web including one on A Luxury Travel Blog!

Exclusive Clue: Over 10,000 litres of beer are served daily at this city’s most famous drinking establishment – Hofbräuhaus. Regular beer aficionados even have a locker to store their steins. Where am I?

For other clues, go here. When you think you know which city it is visit this link and enter your details. All entries must be received by midnight 19th December 2010.

The winner will be announced on 21st December 2010 and will have the chance to blog about their trip on the WhichBudget Blog. The competition is subject to Terms and Conditions

Some information about Salzburg

Salzburg is the perfect destination for a pre-Christmas jaunt. Surrounded by hills that are brought to life by The Sound of Music, the Salzburg Christkindlmarkt, set under the Cathedral in the heart of the Old Town, brings the whole city of Salzburg alive. Picturesque lanes of wooden stalls offer traditional must-have delicacies such as hand made sweets, roasted almonds and chestnuts as well as decorated gingerbread goodies. Pause for some warming Gluhwein or traditional Punsch before browsing the locally hand crafted toys, tree decorations and souvenirs. Finish with a stroll up to the Monschberg and take in the fairytale views of the snow covered roof tops of Salzburg.

To be notified of other great travel competitions, sign up at Travel Competitions.

lastminute.com have started producing a list of the top 50 travel and lifestyle blogs this year, entitled ‘Oh You Lucky Bloggers 50′ and we’re delighted to see we’ve been included.  The list is being updated each month and we’re nicely positioned in 8th place for the months of January and February.  If you’d like to learn more or watch the list’s development, follow this link.

As some of you will already be aware, the blog has had to take a bit of a backseat this last couple of months as I’ve been working on embarking on a new venture – Kendal Cottages – offering luxury vacation rental accommodation in the UK.  This week was a significant one  as we exchanged contracts on our first property, meaning that I can now describe what we are doing in a little more detail.

We have purchased a luxury riverside apartment on the edge of the Lake District and accessible also to the Yorkshire Dales (both National Parks).  It is in the town of Kendal, meaning that you get all the amenities of a small market town (restaurants, bars, shops, etc.) but that you also have beautiful scenery – some of the UK’s finest – within easy reach.

As you can imagine, it’s been a busy time for us.  Not only have we been dealing with finance, solicitors, etc. but we’ve also had to think ahead with regards to equipping the property.  This week we bought outdoor furniture as the apartment as a decked balcony overlooking the River Kent and out towards Kendal Castle, now in ruins but once home to Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr.  We’ve also purchased two sofas from Laura Ashley for the living area, a solid oak dining table and hope to order more furniture before the week is out.  Thankfully the kitchen already comes equipped with brand new oven, hob, fridge, freezer and microwave, all built in, so we don’t have to source these items.  The next job will be beds and then curtains, I think.  We need to get the property looking complete, even if we still need to buy miscellaneous items such as cutlery, etc. in order that we can take photographs for the website that I’m also working on.  As you can see, it’s busy times but we’ll try not to let A Luxury Travel Blog fall by the wayside too much!