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

The Isle of Wight: 7 reasons to sail across

By Michael Edwards on Jun 10, 2019 in Accommodation, Attractions, Cruises & Boat Travel, Europe, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, Speciality Travel, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

The short voyage across the Solent, sometimes as little as 22 minutes, makes a visit to the Isle of Wight an adventure. Not only are crossings fast, they are very frequent too. You are embarking on a mini-cruise when you take Wightlink from Lymington, Portsmouth or Southampton to the Isle of Wight. Although the ferry […]

5 luxurious Marrakech riads

By Michael Edwards on May 18, 2019 in Accommodation, Africa, Hotels, Morocco, Regions

For travellers looking for an authentic Marrakech experience it is hard to beat a Riad. That’s a traditional Moroccan house within the historic walls of the Medina. Riad translates from Arabic as garden. Tall airy houses, often three storeys, are based around an internal cooling garden made up of a plunge pool, trees climbing up […]

Short stay: Stanbrook Abbey Hotel, Worcester, UK

By Michael Edwards on May 14, 2019 in Accommodation, Europe, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, United Kingdom, Western Europe

A mere decade ago, the Benedictine nuns of Stanbrook Abbey were wearing grooves into the floor of their chapel as they knelt to pray, as they had since the 19th century. Then, seeking further peace and seclusion, the nuns relocated to Waas in North Yorkshire. Once the Pope had agreed to deconsecrate Stanbrook Abbey it […]

Short stay: Hilton at St. George’s Park, Burton-upon-Trent, UK

By Michael Edwards on May 10, 2019 in Accommodation, Europe, Hotels, Regions, United Kingdom, Western Europe

If you ever feel a touch of nostalgia for England’s 1966 World Cup win, sense the drama when you see that picture of Gazza with a tear in his eye and know that Harry Kane does more than just advertise razors, then a visit to the Hilton at St George’s Park is a must. It […]

Bryher: 9 reasons to visit this idyllic Isle of Scilly

By Michael Edwards on Apr 09, 2019 in Accommodation, Attractions, Europe, Events, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Travel Miscellany, United Kingdom, Western Europe

A little over a mile long and rarely half a mile wide, Bryher is as close as you will get to the Caribbean around Britain. The rugged island, “The Island of Hills”, with a sub-tropical climate, has azure and turquoise seas, a scattering of palm trees and white sand beaches. With a population of just […]

Soma Bay, Egypt: 8 reasons to visit

By Michael Edwards on Apr 03, 2019 in Accommodation, Africa, Egypt, Going Out, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Restaurants, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel

Soma Bay is Egypt’s welcoming resort on the warm shores of the Red Sea Riviera. Top-end hotels luxuriate in acres of space. A speedy 40 minute transfer from Hurghada airport is increasingly making Soma Bay a popular destination. In 2018 visitor numbers soared by 110%. The climate With a sub-tropical desert climate, mild winters and […]

Egypt’s Red Sea Riviera: 5 luxurious Somabay hotels

By Michael Edwards on Mar 15, 2019 in Accommodation, Africa, Egypt, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Regions, Spas & Pampering, Speciality Travel

The sun almost always shines on the Somabay peninsula, a welcoming sub-tropical finger bathing in the warmth of the Red Sea. Even in the depths of the cold and dark European winter visitors still pick-up a tan on the shores of the Red Sea. Hurghada’s modern airport quickly sends visitors on their way on a […]

Light Festival, Lucerne: 7 reasons to put LILU in your 2020 diary

By Michael Edwards on Jan 31, 2019 in Europe, Events, Regions, Switzerland, Travel Miscellany, Western Europe

Lucerne is celebrating its first and highly successful Light Festival. From 10th to 20th January 2019, soft-lights shimmered across Lake Lucerne and this Swiss city’s beautiful architecture was highlighted by the installations. Throughout this historic city, in the centre of Switzerland, national and international artists created 18 beautiful and thought-provoking installations. In cold and dark […]

Short stay: Jumeirah Dar al Masyaf at the Madinat, Dubai

By Michael Edwards on Dec 20, 2018 in Accommodation, Going Out, Hotels, Middle East, Regions, Restaurants, United Arab Emirates

Jumeirah Dar al Masyaf, the summer-houses, is where Arabian Nights living coalesces with Venetian canal-style. East meets West, Arabia greets Europe in perfect harmony in Jumeirah’s contemporary take on a traditional Arabian citadel. This is an opulent 5 star luxury leading on to a white-sand private beach on the shores of the warm Gulf of […]

Short stay: Al Seef Hotel by Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE

By Michael Edwards on Dec 09, 2018 in Accommodation, Food and Drink, Going Out, Hotels, Middle East, Regions, Restaurants, Travel Miscellany, United Arab Emirates

Step out of time. Drop out of high-rise Dubai into a quieter almost biblical scene in Arabia’s history. Jumeirah has deconstructed the concept of the big hotel. There are ten “bayts”, traditional Arabic houses with clusters of rooms, dotted through the Al Seef heritage village to recreate the intimate hospitality of a bygone era. Altogether […]

8 reasons why you should walk with a bushman

By Michael Edwards on Nov 27, 2018 in Adventure Travel, Africa, Regions, South Africa, Speciality Travel

The Khomani San were a people who forgot their identity after they had been expelled from their ancient homelands to create the South Africa’s Gemsbok National Park in 1931. By the 1990s perhaps just fifty men and women remembered their proud heritage. For over 20,000 years the tribe had lived in the red sands and […]

Short Stay: Audleys Wood Hotel, Basingstoke, UK

By Michael Edwards on Nov 20, 2018 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Going Out, Hotels, Regions, Restaurants, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Oak panelling, intricately carved fireplaces, sombre portraits, vaulted ceilings and a grand staircase make the 4 star Audleys Wood Hotel a charming country retreat from the hectic 21st Century. With just 72 rooms, it’s easy to find a luxuriant leather sofa to slump into or a cosy nook in the Bar or Long Lounge. No, […]

6 luxury hotels in Mauritius

By Michael Edwards on Nov 08, 2018 in Accommodation, Africa, Hotels, Mauritius, Regions, Resorts

Everyone wants to go to Mauritius. It is a speck of volcanic rock, covered with sugar cane and palm trees, sun-bathing in the warm Indian Ocean. Then there are the white-sand beaches gently shelving into an azure sea. “Azure” may be a travel writer’s cliché but there is no other word for the lagoon’s pools […]

Mauritius: 10 sights of the Colourful South

By Michael Edwards on Oct 26, 2018 in Africa, Attractions, Food and Drink, Going Out, Mauritius, Regions, Travel Miscellany

As an idyllic dot of paradise in the warm Indian Ocean, Mauritius has much more to offer than just white-sand beaches leading into the azure seas of a warm lagoon and catamaran cruises out beyond the coral reefs in search of dolphins and whales. Although Mauritius only has a brief history of human occupation it […]

Short stay: Jumeirah Hotel, Frankfurt

By Michael Edwards on Sep 27, 2018 in Accommodation, Europe, Featured, Germany, Hotels, Regions, Western Europe

Ninety-nine metres of aspirational floor-to-ceiling-plate glass windows and steel soars into Frankfurt’s sky. The Jumeirah is an opulent hotel power-dressing in a dynamic city which hosts both the German Stock Exchange and the European Central Bank. Centuries-old traditions of hospitality are celebrated by Jumeirah Hotels which originate from the sands of Arabia. Chilled juices are […]

Lugano’s closer now: 8 reasons why you should visit

By Michael Edwards on Sep 19, 2018 in Attractions, Europe, Going Out, Rail Travel, Regions, Road Travel, Speciality Travel, Switzerland, Western Europe

The Swiss Alps have always protected Lugano from the extremes of European weather and hordes of visitors. Movie idols Clark Gable and Sophie Loren knew they could relax and enjoy Lugano’s cafe society without being mobbed back in their day. Although a 57 km tunnel through the Alps opened in 2016, reducing the rail journey […]

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