Michael Edwards, Author at A Luxury Travel Blog : A Luxury Travel Blog

Short stay: Abbey Farm glamping, Alby, North Norfolk, UK

By Michael Edwards on Nov 29, 2021 in Accommodation, Camping, Europe, Featured, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Abbey Farm takes glamping to new levels of indulgence. Look out from the private hot tub on your terrace, Abbey Farm gin in hand, to take in panoramic views of Norfolk’s big skies views. Meanwhile, in the kitchen there is dough to roll out pizzas from a Bertie’s nudja pizza kit before slipping them into […]

Short stay: The Eastbury Hotel and Spa, Sherborne, Dorset, UK

By Michael Edwards on Nov 01, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The Victorian Garden Potting Shed Suites, five gloriously indulgent creations are the latest luxurious chapter in the history of a house which dates back to 1740. Under their sedum and moss living roof the suites are stylishly contemporary and eco-friendly. The Eastbury Hotel’s mature gardens, a West in Bloom award winner, featuring shelter-giving beech and […]

Short stay: Burleigh Court, near Minchinhampton, Cotswolds, UK

By Michael Edwards on Oct 21, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Virginia creeper branches, as thick and sinewed as a farm worker’s thigh, grow across the weathered Cotswold stone of Burleigh Court. This is a hidden gem, a charming country hotel with a superb restaurant, where old world charm marries with contemporary comfort. Featuring 18 rooms, this boutique hotel, looks out across Gloucestershire’s Golden Valley: named […]

Taking a Le Boat cruiser on the Caledonian Canal, Scotland

By Michael Edwards on Sep 23, 2021 in Cruises & Boat Travel, Europe, Regions, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Some afternoons and evenings a bagpipe lament lingers over Laggan Locks. It is not a tourism stunt. Dressed in a tartan kilt, a resident hones his musical skills. It is an appropriate soundtrack for Le Boat’s base at Laggan Locks, on the waterway that runs from Fort William on the east coast to Inverness on […]

Short stay: Wynford, Ambleside, Lake District, UK

By Michael Edwards on Sep 05, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Regions, United Kingdom, Vacation Rentals, Western Europe

With six double bedrooms, comfortably able to accommodate a dozen guests, this is the ultimate self-catering house. Stylish contemporary decoration, with Orla Kiely fabrics, makes this spacious house a luxurious place for grand reunions of family and friends. Though, in such a large house, it is always possible to find a quiet corner for a […]

Short stay: Whittlebury Park, Northamptonshire, UK

By Michael Edwards on Aug 22, 2021 in Accommodation, Featured, Going Out, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Restaurants, Speciality Travel

Whittlebury Park is the refined late twentieth century successor to the great English country house. This time though, the contemporary nirvana, elegantly sat in 700 acres of parkland, comes with spacious rooms, instant hot-water and essential air-conditioning. Not a headless ghost, fraying Elizabethan tapestry or uneven floorboard in sight. Although the decor harks back with […]

7 reasons to visit Liverpool

By Michael Edwards on Aug 05, 2021 in Attractions, Europe, Going Out, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Looking out across the Irish Sea and to the world beyond, Liverpool has its own take on life. In its heyday, in the early decades of the twentieth century, Liverpool was the gateway to the world. The warm and welcoming locals, the Scousers, with that unique singing accent, usually see the funny side of life. […]

Short stay: The Belfry Hotel and Resort, near Birmingham, UK

By Michael Edwards on Jun 22, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Resorts, Speciality Travel, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The Belfry Hotel and Resort is not just a haven for golfers. Some guests, having the time of their lives, wouldn’t know the difference, in golfing terms, between an eagle and an albatross. It is a resort for all the family, for friends meeting. Though a visit to The Belfry, set in lush Warwickshire countryside […]

Short stay: Citadines, Barbican, London, UK

By Michael Edwards on Jun 12, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Citadines, Barbican is perfectly located for exploring London’s Culture Mile which includes the Barbican, Guild Hall School of Music & Drama, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Museum of London. Citadines offer a range of accommodation from classic rooms through to one bedroom apartments which can accommodate up to four people. As well as the […]

Short stay: Ettington Park Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK

By Michael Edwards on Jun 10, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Ettington Park Hotel is a grand palatial house, dripping with history, built on an epic scale in 40 stately acres of rural Warwickshire on the banks of the River Stour. A long tree-lined drive gives guests arriving by car the opportunity to take in glimpses of the towers and turrets of a country house that is […]

Short stay: Rothay Manor, Ambleside, Lake District, UK

By Michael Edwards on Jun 06, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Rothay Manor is a wonderfully elegant Regency mansion which has become a boutique hotel at the heart of the Lake District. Privately owned by Jamie and Jenna Shails, the hotel is renowned for fine-dining going from strength to strength with Dan McGeorge creatively leading an impressive culinary team. Although the house remains true to its […]

Short stay: The Black Bull, Sedbergh, Cumbria, UK

By Michael Edwards on Jun 04, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

It is a journey that has brought a Japanese Thinking Bath, kokedama mossball rooted plants and potent wasabi vodka to small-town Cumbria. Nina Matsunaga, born of Japanese parents in Düsseldorf, and James Ratcliffe, born just down the dry-stone-wall-bordered road, have put Sedbergh on the foodies’ global map. Guests travel from afar for East / West […]

Short stay: The Roseate Reading, Berkshire, UK

By Michael Edwards on May 23, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

It has been some journey. Shire Hall for the County of Berkshire, completed in 1911, has become Reading’s only five star hotel, recently described as “the UK’s sexiest townhouse”. Boldly built in Queen Anne symmetrical style, facing onto Forbury Gardens and its bandstand, with a central three bay portico framed by Doric order columns, today […]

5 English hotels to visit soon

By Michael Edwards on Apr 12, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Soon England’s hotels will be opening their doors again to welcome guests desperate for a weekend break or a holiday to explore city, coast or country. Here are five stars of England’s great hotel collection: from east to west and from north to south to help you start thinking where you will head once the […]

5 historic English hotels

By Michael Edwards on Feb 13, 2021 in Accommodation, Europe, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Across England’s green and pleasant land dozens of historic hotels reveal chapters of the nation’s rich and often turbulent history. Over the last century many grand country houses have been saved from ruin and reborn as luxurious hotels. Once these houses were the zealously guarded bastions of the aristocracy, not that every one of these […]

Short stay: Congham Hall Hotel and Spa, Near Kings Lynn, Norfolk, UK

By Michael Edwards on Nov 01, 2020 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Carved kingfishers and waders, an oil painting of deer flitting through the forest, a Norfolk estuary at sunset. Congham Hall Hotel and Spa, where you hear the birdsong, is a haven, a rural celebration of one of Britain’s most restful counties. Congham Hall Hotel, built in the 1780s, is a whitewashed Georgian mansion complete with […]

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