2018-01-19 15:48
‘Kanpai!’ The cry echoed around the hotel dining room. It was the fifth ‘Kanpai!’ of the evening in our trip to Japan and it wouldn’t be the last. At this rally… Read More
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Luxury leisure travel reviews website containing hundreds of reviews of luxury hotels, holidays, bars, restaurants, spas, cruises, ski holidays, adventure holidays and solo travel.
2018-01-18 09:50
The joy of reviewing hotels and restaurants is that with every new visit there is often something which will surprise, delight or even shock you. The Montcalm at the Brewery London… Read More
2018-01-18 09:50
The joy of reviewing hotels and restaurants is that with every new visit there is often something which will surprise, delight or even shock you. The Montcalm at the Brewery hotel in Chiswel… Read More
2018-01-16 11:51
It isn’t often you plan on spending the night at a rather grand country house hotel and find yourself sleeping in a treehouse on stilts in the middle of a forest. But the treehouses at… Read More
2018-01-16 11:51
It isn’t often you spend the night at a five-star country house hotel and find yourself sleeping in a treehouse on stilts in the middle of a forest. But a Chewton Glen treehouse, locat… Read More
2018-01-15 12:13
Just one night at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst felt like a really long stay – but in a good way. I arrived there on Sunday afternoon, and by the time I left 24 hours later I&rs&hell…Read More
2018-01-15 12:13
Just one night at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst felt like a really long stay, which I mean in the most positive way. A stay at the Spread Eagle Hotel Midhurst I arrived there on Sunday aft… Read More
2018-01-13 12:36
Walking into a really gorgeous hotel room can be such a bittersweet moment. There is the initial reaction of ‘Wow! This is really, really nice….!’ and delight that th… Read More
2018-01-12 12:35
If the holiday season left you feeling in serious need of a relaxing break with country walks, a first-class spa and restaurant and cosy rooms to hide away in, then Bailiffscourt hotel and s… Read More
2018-01-01 21:13
Skiing is one of the world’s most sociable sports – there’s the long lunches, the dancing-on-tables après-ski, the cosy chalet dinners and oh yes, the skiing itself… Read More
2017-12-15 13:14
To arrive at Langshott Manor hotel is to jump back in time. One moment you are in urban Surrey, passing through towns like Redhill and Horley and driving though a modern housing estate, and… Read More
2017-12-13 11:23
There’s a warm glow which comes when reading a newspaper article called ‘Cosiest pubs to stay in this winter’ and realising you are heading off to stay in one of thos… Read More
2017-11-28 17:14
Feeling my car’s clutch cable snap while driving to the airport was not the greatest of starts to our Cape Verde holiday, but after a several hours on the hard shoulder of the M1, a su… Read More
2017-11-28 13:25
With every cloud there comes a silver lining and the missing of our flight to Cape Verde meant an unexpected overnight stay in Bristol and my first experience of Hotel du Vin.
Hotel du Vin B… Read More
2017-10-17 15:45
It’s been receiving guests for more than 60 years but Park House hotel and spa is only now making the transition from well-kept local secret to firm fixture on the British country hous… Read More
2017-09-27 12:11
There is always a worry when it comes to revisiting a hotel which you totally adored on the first visit – what if it’s not going to be as good as you remembered it? I know people… Read More
2017-09-25 10:37
If you like visiting beautiful English stately homes but hate the queues, the drive, the parking and the general hassle which usually goes with such visits, then Bowood hotel, spa and golf i… Read More
2017-09-01 12:42
Some holidays are so jam-packed with things to do, places to visit and sights to tick off that you end up needing a holiday afterwards to recover. A island-hopping voyage around the Aegean w… Read More
2017-08-23 09:21
Being in the Land of the Midnight Sun can do strange things to you. A few days into my cruise along the Norwegian coast, I’d been chatting on deck after dinner with my fellow pass… Read More
2017-08-21 10:27
I hadn’t meant to embark on an impromptu Champagne cocktail-tasting session just after breakfast, but in keeping with the overall spirit of relaxation and pampering at The Greenway hot… Read More
2017-06-26 14:28
Exactly 600 years ago, the Bel and The Dragon coaching inn was built in the pretty Berkshire town of Cookham and six centuries later, I took a friend with me to stay at the pub and see… Read More
2017-05-27 12:23
If your idea of a perfect summer’s day is afternoon tea (or a gin and tonic) on a beautiful lawn in the sunshine, The Manor House luxury hotel in the pretty Cotswolds village of Castle… Read More
2017-04-04 12:15
If the England rugby team need somewhere to recharge their batteries after this year’s bruising contest in which they finished a lowly fifth, then they needn’t travel very far: t… Read More
2017-02-04 15:52
Back in January 2015 I wrote a blog post in defence of little yellow photobombing cars, as the car owned by Peter Maddox, 82-year old resident of Bibury village in the Cotswolds, had attract… Read More
2017-01-31 17:16
There is something rather special about a rooftop bar in London. The views might not be spectacular – we’re not taking Rio or Hong Kong harbour here – but to rise above the… Read More
2017-01-17 12:42
It’s been quite a year! It started with an amazing culinary tour of Japan – a week full of sushi, puffer fish and bullet trains – and ended with a trip to Antarctica… Read More
2017-01-03 17:24
A trip to the Cotswolds is always a treat and if you’re in need of some bracing countryside walks, a hearty pub meal and then a nightcap in front of a roaring fire, then The Old Swan a… Read More
2016-12-03 22:03
As skiing is such a sociable sport – there’s the long lunches, the dancing-on-tables après-ski, the cosy chalet dinners and oh yes, the skiing itself (who wants to go on a… Read More
2016-12-02 13:30
I was feeling rather Christmassy anyway after ambling through Covent Garden with a glass of mulled wine and admiring the Christmas lights, but even the most Bah Humbug of Scrooges would… Read More
2016-11-11 12:41
Being named The Sunday Times’ Hotel of the Year, which The Painswick was just last year, can be a double-edged sword. On the upside, the phone didn’t stop ringing once the… Read More
2016-11-02 13:41
You have to be deeply relaxed to nod off during a massage, so falling completely asleep, not once, but twice, during my treatment at the Lime Wood hotel spa shows how totally unst… Read More
2016-10-26 16:37
The brochure for The Montagu Arms in the New Forest encourages guests to ‘take your cue from the ponies: graze, wander and enjoy the quiet.’ I did all three during my stay a… Read More
2016-10-17 13:24
A definite perk of reviewing luxury hotels is that ‘wow!’ feeling when you walk into a hotel bedroom for the first time and find something completely unexpected. Unlocking the do… Read More
2016-09-23 16:16
After being trapped in for hours in Bank Holiday roadworks hell, the five-star hotel Rockliffe Hall Darlington in in County Durham was a more than welcome sight. Set in 375 acres o… Read More
2016-09-20 11:48
When it’s hot in the city, your first instinct might be to run for the hills (or the coast) but just steps from the sweltering heat of Tottenham Court Road tube station, The Bloomsbury… Read More
2016-09-07 12:40
My bedroom at The Gore hotel in Kensington was definitely one with the ‘wow’ factor. There were oil-paintings and gilt-edged mirrors and the bed itself was so vast and so high it… Read More
2016-08-17 16:44
Calling a hotel ‘family-friendly’ often means that those travelling without children run a mile in the opposite direction, but the luxury Foxhills spa and golf hotel is so v… Read More
2016-07-27 16:10
It’s where Donald Trump and his family are staying during the Presidential visit to London and fittingly, the first thing that struck me about the five-star Corinthia Hotel in London w… Read More
2016-07-22 12:24
With the wildly inconsistent British summer, I was extremely fortunate to have timed my stay at the Alexandra hotel Lyme Regis for one of the hottest days of the year so far. While the hotel… Read More
2016-07-19 14:53
Last week, at home, I had some of the best bread I’d ever eaten. It was a soft, brown loaf and tasted marvellous. Was it the ingredients, I wondered – organic wholemeal &hell…Read More
2016-06-29 16:35
This is probably one of those things that Americans are much better at than the Brits (they certainly have more practice at it), but valet parking always sends me into a panic.
Las Vegas, po… Read More
2016-06-29 10:43
The man who described Bibury as ‘the most beautiful village in England’ surely never went to Lower Slaughter. I’ve often driven past the road signposted to The Slaughters o… Read More
2016-06-29 10:12
One massive advantage that non-London hotels have over their capital city rivals is space, and our suite at Brooklands Hotel in Weybridge, Surrey, was certainly one of the largest I’ve… Read More
2016-06-18 20:40
It was the most British of days. The Patron’s Lunch last Sunday had the Royal Family, it had cucumber sandwiches, it had queues and Pimms and cups of tea. And an awful lot of rain. It… Read More
2016-06-03 16:07
ALadyofLeisure.com is the hotel, restaurant and spa reviews website from national newspaper journalist Sarah Bridge, read by thousands of industry professionals and travel enthusiasts every… Read More
2016-06-03 12:30
Are baths in hotel bedrooms a great hotel treat or just a ghastly design nonsense?
I only ask because almost every hotel I’ve stayed in recently has at least one room where the bath is… Read More
2016-06-03 11:38
Spas in luxury hotels are big business and over the last few years owners have been making multi-million pound investments in providing the latest in pampering experiences.
But like hotel be… Read More
2016-06-03 10:06
If your idea of a perfect country break is to have breakfast in the sun on a terrace overlooking a spectacular view, followed by a day lounging in a luxury spa, then Danesfield House hotel a… Read More
2016-06-03 09:55
My heart often sinks when I discover my room is in a separate building to the main hotel – this usually implies some modern, soulless extension – but at Sopwell House luxury… Read More
2016-05-18 13:42
ALadyofLeisure.com is the hotel, restaurant and spa reviews website from national newspaper journalist Sarah Bridge, read by thousands of industry professionals and travel enthusia… Read More
2016-05-18 12:51
Searching for luxury hotels among the beautiful rolling hills of the Cotswolds may sound like an easy task – there seems to be one round every corner. However with so many to… Read More
2016-05-18 12:50
So we’re all agreed that free, fast wi-fi and power points in handy locations are a essential in a luxury hotel room – and we all like soft, fluffy bathrobes (even if we don&rsqu&hell…Read More
2016-05-18 12:46
It is hard not to start off a review of Noble Rot restaurant – as practically every other reviewer has done – with a nostalgic look back at days gone by, spent in the variou… Read More
2016-05-18 12:27
Just when you think you’ve stayed in the best hotels in the Cotswolds, along comes Whatley Manor luxury hotel and tops the lot. From the moment the gates opened to reveal a beauti… Read More
2016-05-10 10:40
A night in Kensington luxury hotel in South Kensington
Just a few weeks earlier I’d been at the Kensington luxury hotel in central London to drink cocktails at the launch of its n… Read More
2016-05-04 18:21
Things to do in Las Vegas come rain or shine…
It was my fourth visit to Las Vegas, but the first time I’d seen it raining on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Unsurprisingly, Vegas, b… Read More
2016-04-20 11:26
Is it a right or a privilege to be able to make tea in your hotel bedroom with your very own hotel kettle?
I once spent the night at luxury country house hotel Cliveden and had a meeting wit… Read More
2016-04-14 11:40
The view from the top of the five star luxury hotel ME London is a tourist’s delight, taking in the essential sights of London, from the London Eye to Big Ben, St Paul’s, To… Read More
2016-04-06 15:25
It might be just a few miles from the M42 and Birmingham Airport but Hampton Manor hotel in the Midlands feels a hundred years from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
Within a couple of h… Read More
2016-04-06 15:23
Turning up to lunch at Dinner restaurant in Knightsbridge – the restaurant from top chef Heston Blumenthal – with a copy of the menu from The Fat Duck at Bray (also by… Read More
2016-03-25 16:17
Some hotels just get it completely right – and luxury country house hotel Hambleton Hall hotel Rutland is one of them. From the traditional and immaculate bedroom, to the excellent foo… Read More
2016-03-04 19:58
If you are one of those people who love nothing more than to sit in a country pub in front of a roaring fire, working your way through the weekend papers while you also work your way through… Read More
2016-03-04 17:56
It is just seconds from the shopping and traffic maelstrom which is Knightsbridge, but The Levin hotel Knightsbridge boutique hotel in central London is the very essence of calm and tranquil… Read More
2016-02-29 13:24
Last year was a hectic one for ALadyofLeisure.com with 50 fabulous places reviewed, and with so many to choose from, it’s hard to pick out the best. However some were so memorable that… Read More
2016-02-25 12:57
Returning to Balans Soho Society restaurant Kensington High Street was like visiting an old friend who had had a complete image change in the intervening years. My colleagues and I used… Read More
2016-02-12 15:42
For horse-racing fans, the location of Ellenborough Park hotel and spa is hard to beat, being the closest hotel to Cheltenham Racecourse. Just a few hundred metres from the front door of the… Read More
2016-01-29 12:35
It isn’t easy to stand out among such a competitive field – I’m talking about the ‘best hotels in the Cotswolds’ category, of which there are many – but t… Read More
2015-12-31 12:32
From Michelin-starred dining to London’s most decadent pancake, grand country house hotels, brand new cruise ships, boutique hotels and celebrity hangouts (not to mention cocktail clas… Read More
2015-12-31 11:38
For those who love the idea of staying in a luxury spa hotel in the Cotswolds (and who doesn’t?) and are travelling with children in tow, its sister hotel Calcot Manor luxury hotel, ju… Read More
2015-12-19 13:03
Within two minutes of arriving at Barnsley House hotel and spa in the Cotswolds I had completely fallen in love with it – and that’s before I’d even tried out the private c… Read More
2015-12-08 16:24
Sexy Fish, the newly-opened £15 million restaurant from Richard Caring (The Ivy, Le Caprice, J Sheekey) doesn’t actually look very sexy from the outside. It’s rather… Read More
2015-11-18 19:20
The Arch hotel is not a flashy hotel. For a luxury hotel near to Oxford Street and just across the road from Madonna’s London home, the Arch is neat, calm, and quiet.
It doesn’t… Read More
2015-10-27 18:10
Just as you think that you have pretty much tried all the cocktails there are at One Sixty City and you’re just going to stick to an old favourite from now on, along comes a new one wh… Read More
2015-10-27 14:07
[no major spoilers but it is a Spectre film review all the same]
If this is Daniel Craig’s final film as 007 then it’s a great way to go.
Better than Quantum of Solace with its u… Read More
2015-10-15 10:32
Its claim to fame is that it is the closest hotel to Harrods, and it’s true that less than 30 seconds walk will take you right into the iconic department store. But thankfully The Capi… Read More
2015-10-14 10:23
Bodysgallen Hall hotel North Wales was the starting point for my week exploring Wales and it was a great place to begin. One of the top luxury hotels in Wales, its location just outside Llan… Read More
2015-10-14 10:05
The wonderful thing about writing the ALadyofLeisure.com blog is that I’ve discovered so many new places which I would never in a million years have come across otherwise, and the awar… Read More
2015-09-28 15:35
The part of London between Portland Place and Goodge Street near Goodge Street tube station has historically been a bit of a culinary no-man’s land, with little to tempt you to e… Read More
2015-09-03 10:45
One thing I’ve learnt from writing my ALadyofLeisure.com blog is that you never really know all about luxury hotels – and especially the one you’re staying in –… Read More
2015-09-01 09:36
There are some places that are so lovely you can’t stop thinking about them after you leave, and Gravetye Manor in West Sussex is most definitely one of those.
[Note: this review of Gr… Read More
2015-08-24 12:01
They’ve both received glowing reviews and are two of the hottest places on London’s restaurant scene at the moment, but Kitty Fisher’s and Ham Yard restaurant are rath… Read More
2015-08-12 18:09
St James’s Hotel in London might be five-star luxury but thankfully it has none of the formal starchiness you might expect from a super-posh hotel. The staff are so cheerful and relaxe… Read More
2015-08-07 19:00
It is a bittersweet moment when you go to a new restaurant and discover that it has replaced an old favourite. However in the case of The Secret Garden, located just opposite Clapham No… Read More
2015-07-28 09:40
From basket case to billion pound business, Travelodge has undergone a remarkable turnaround in just three short years. The chain was on the brink of collapse with a debt mountain of &p&hell…Read More
2015-07-24 17:47
‘Don’t worry, you won’t get a hangover,’ insisted Pleurat Shabani, the maker of Konik’s Tail vodka and the host of our martini marathon. ‘I’ve… Read More
2015-07-23 16:40
There was something about P&O Britannia cruise ship which reminded me of Las Vegas, and it wasn’t just the casino. It was partly the vast amount of food on offer on board at its 13… Read More
2015-06-27 22:22
It might not be located in the most beautiful part of London, but Qbic Hotel London City in Aldgate, East London, scores highly on all the essentials for a budget hotel in London: price, loc… Read More
2015-06-16 12:00
Note: my review of Ashdown Park hotel East Sussex was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date
As beautiful settings go, Ashdown Park hotel East Sussex certain… Read More
2015-06-13 21:40
Note: this review of Luton Hoo luxury hotel in Bedfordshire was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now need updating
It isn’t often you get to share a sink with Hugh… Read More
2015-06-09 15:09
You would have to start pretty early and finish late to be able to squeeze in the maximum amount of relaxation possible at my Nirvana Spa day near Reading, the award-winning spa near London… Read More
2015-05-13 16:22
Note: my review of luxury Buckinghamshire hotel Hartwell House was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date
You know you’re in good hands when you arrive… Read More
2015-05-13 11:03
Note: this article about Mark Warner holiday Rhodes was first published in 2015 and some of the information might now be out of date
It might surprise those people who associate Mark Warner… Read More
2015-05-07 14:14
Note: my exclusive interview with Sir Rocco Forte in Browns Hotel London was first published in 2015
Sir Rocco Forte is not shy about revealing his political opinions. As the nation ap… Read More
2015-05-05 10:47
Note: my article about the Las Vegas food festival Vegas Uncork’d was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date
Mention Las Vegas and most people would im… Read More
2015-05-02 14:46
Note: my review of The Grove hotel near Watford was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date
There was nothing around to disturb the peace of my morning stroll… Read More
2015-04-14 15:04
Note: my review of Amba Hotel Charing Cross was first published in 2015 and so some of the details might now be out of date
One of the closest hotels to Charing Cross station in London, the… Read More
2015-04-14 12:22
Note: my review of London Peruvian restaurant Senor Ceviche was first published in April 2015 and so of the information might now be out of date
As a late arrival to the cult of the Pisco so… Read More
2015-04-10 19:03
Note: this review of Olivo restaurant Victoria London was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date
Olivo, the Italian restaurant in Victoria London, used… Read More
2015-04-10 10:29
Note: this review of El Pirata Mayfair was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date
Tucked away behind the grey anonymity of Park Lane’s high-rise hotel… Read More
2015-03-28 17:43
Note: this review of Saatchi Gallery restaurant Gallery Mess was first published in 2015 so some of the information might now be out of date
For a restaurant attached to an art gallery, the… Read More
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