Travel News Roundup

I thought I'd start this little segment to bring you all the weird, wonderful, useful and not always so useful news from the travel and leisure world. So here's my first news roundup edition:

Free drink, or Not Free Drink
Budget airlines offer some great deals but increasingly all the little things that we were once used to being included are being knocked off the main price and charged as extras.  So does it actually really work out as a great deal in the end? Food and drink are one of the things that we've come to expect to be charged for on short haul flights but what about mid or long haul flights? Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) have created a useful table so you can check before you go, or even book, what food and drink is available on which airlines. The table can be found at www.aph.com/airlinemeals

Mmmm airplane food

“Hell is other people’s children on holiday”
This is the consensus of one in three UK adults who were surveyed by Thomson Holidays.  Over-tired youngsters, noisy and unruly kids in the restaurant or room next door or being splashed by excited kids in the pool all seem to be major gripes for adults on holiday,  but it seems it’s not just other peoples kids that mar our annual breaks.  The survey found that 40% of parents admitted their own kids affected their holiday enjoyment while 4% said their holidays were ruined by their own kids!  Thomson did the research to launch ‘Couples’ their new child-free holiday experiences.  My advice – don’t buy your child a ‘joker soaker’ (water gun) for the pool - you and everyone around you will get wet! 


This photo of Hotel Orquidea is courtesy of TripAdvisor


Celeb Spotting or Best Tee Off
HotelClub have announced the winners of their 5^th Hotel awards.  With awards for hotels in London, Greater England, Scotland and Ireland here are my favourites from each area:

Best Place for Celeb Spotting – The Langham, London
Best Place for London Dry Gin – Egerton House Hotel, London
Best for “Weekend with the Girls/Guys” Getaway – The Light Boutique ApartHotel, Manchester
Best Tee Off and 19^th Hotel – Celtic Manor, Newport
Best Place to Enjoy a Guinness – Arlington Hotel O’Connell Bridge, Dublin


This photo of The Light Boutique ApartHotel is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Deals, Deals, Deals
Fancy a Nile Cruise visiting the Valley of the Kings, Colossi of Memnon and the Temple of Luxor along the way? (I'm nodding my head) With the some of the most amazing ancient archeological monuments and sites from over 6,000 years ago, Egypt really is the world’s largest open air museum.  Discover Egypt is offering 50% off its Nile Cruise between 4^th July and October 2012 - there is more info on www.discoveregypt.co.uk

http://famouswonders.com/luxor-temple/

Travel Gadgets
Micro Luggage – a neat carry-on sized Samsonite suitcase that converts into a scooter – genius! The nippy lean-and-steer scooter can be used to get to and from work or the train station and when you’re done you can fold it all up in the 26 litre capacity sturdy suitcase and still have room for all your work or travel essentials.

The Samonite Scooter