Staying at The Grand (Hotel) Stockholm - Part 2

The best part of my stay was of course the Nordic Spa at the Grand Hotel. The indoor pool is one of the most wonderful in Europe to my taste, together with the one at the Corinthia London and the Hotel Europe in Killarney. There were two gender-separated changing rooms with sauna, steam room and dipping pool as well as showers and a small bar. The temperature of the indoor pool was very pleasant at 27c. If this is still too cold for your taste, there is a hot jacuzzi next to the pool at very comfortable 32c. One thing to remember is that the out-of-the-world Nordic Spa is also limited by space and therefore there are also limited relax chairs: a total of 10 chaise longues are way too less at peak hour, but there are also relax zones around the pool which take away the 

After coming back to my room at the first evening we decided to have dinner in the hotel and after coming back to the room I found out that there was a disturbing noise coming from the ballroom in front of my room. I went down to the front desk to change the room, but they told me that no other rooms are available. So I went back very sadly and waited until 11pm until the music stops according to the schedule. In fact it was 11.15 pm until there was no more noise.

After a sightseeing tour on Stockholm's waters with a boat, we went through the market hall, the Vasa Museum and of course we have been to NK, the Selfridges or Harrods of Scandinavia. When coming back to the hotel I watched inside the ballroom and I saw that they build up for an huge event. I guessed that there will be the same issue on the second night. And of course I was right! When coming back to my room at 10.00 pm I experienced noise again. I called the front desk and they told me again, no other room available, that the event lasts until 1 am. WOW, so I wanted to have a drink at Cadier Bar, but there was absolutely no seat available. 

After checking out, they did not take notes about my issues and they only grant a compensation after I complaint about my sleepless nights. They invited us for breakfast one day and that's it. I was not satisfied with this small compensation and therefore contacted the General Manager personally after coming back to Austria. 

Mrs Barck finally invited me to stay again at the Grand Hotel Stockholm and I am waiting for the voucher to be arrived here in Central Europe. I will keep you updated for a new experience at this Grand Hotel and member of the Leading Hotels of the World.

Insider's Getaway - Villa Marie

If you ever wished to spend your holidays on the French Riviera or more precisely in the town of Saint Tropez, you might be impressed of this hidden gem.

Located on a wonderful hill, overlooking Saint Tropez and Ramatuelle, the Villa Marie is just the ideal place for all those seeking for peace, harmony and the pure charm of the Provence. With just 42 rooms and suites it offers an intimate feeling of a private country house. The complimentary shuttle service brings you to the center of Saint Tropez within 10 minutes. The famous beach of Pampelonne is just 4 km away from the Villa, but you will immediately feel of holidays when relaxing in the picturesque garden or on the cool shaped outdoor pool.

There is no room like the other, with different fabrics and little touches everywhere you look - this is a real boutique hotel like it can only be found in Southern France.

Beside the wonderful architecture you won’t miss the undoubtedly excellent service, too. Feel free to book your journey to one of Saint Tropez’s finest hotels. http://www.villamarie.fr

Insider's Getaway

If you ever wondered which part of Italy is unknown to the most of us, then this might be your place to be in summer 2014. Take a look on the following picture and you will immediately think of an exotic destination such as Greece.

In fact, it is a small beautiful island in front of the northern coastline of Sicily in Southern Italy - Lipari. Lipari is the largest island of the Aeolian Archipelago, which consists of eight small islands.

If you are fine with the accommodation offered in Lipari - there are no luxury hotels and resorts - then it's alright.

In addition to Lipari there is also the wonderful and picturesque Island of Vulcano, which is famous for its National Park. 

If you cannot make holidays without staying at a super-luxurious property then you should book a room in the Therasia Resort & Spa on the island of Vulcano. This hotel is by far the most luxurious in the whole area of the Aeolian Islands and I can warmly recommend this unique place on earth. 

They have also a private access to the turquoise sea including lots of sun beds with beach service. I also like the design of the rooms which are 100 per cent authentic with a touch of modern design. 

Rooms start at 275.00 Euros per room and night including the lavish breakfast on the wonderful terrace. Contact us directly, if you would like to book a special offer including dinner and special amenities for 40% off the standard rates.

So why not book your dream vacation immediately? Oh, that's the point - the arrival. If you would like to go to the Aeolian Islands, a long journey awaits you:

First you have to fly to Palermo, Catania or Reggio Calabria, from there you must take the bus or an expensive taxi, which brings you to the harbors of Palermo, Cefalu, Milazzo or the Port of Reggio Calabria. Hydrofoil boats or ferries bring you to Paradise between one-and-a-half hours to two hours. From the small harbor of Vulcano, a complimentary shuttle bus bring you to the Therasia Resort.

Therasia Resort & Spa
Localita Vulcanello, 
Isola di Vulcano 98050
Sicily, Italy
Telephone: +39 0909852555
http://www.therasiaresort.it/

Travel Diary: My Summer holidays Part 5

Day 3 at San Domenico Palace! Just one night left and the hotel turned out to be a rip-off! Although the staff is very nice, kind and attentive, they seem to act a bit unprofessional. At first sight, this hotel looks realy great, but if you take a deeper look inside my room, you immediately feel that this hotel has had it's best days, a long time ago!

Everywhere you look, you see used furniture and even the walls look used and dirty. The carpet floor was maybe not refurbished the last 5 years, so here it is really hard work to seek and find a Leading Hotel of the world!

The floors smell bad like a church, the room is dark, old and used, breakfast terrace has a beautiful view to the sea, but the feeling of relaxing is completely destroyed by a plague of bees and mosquitos. Furthermore the pool is old fashioned and uninviting and the worst of all: 

The use of the business center/computer costs 0,35€ per minute and printing ONE piece of paper costs another 0,35€!! HAHA it is just amusing!

Okay, they want to serve the 19th century but guests expect the services of the 21st century! 

There is also no free water at the turndown service, which is not the standard of a Leading Hotel! 

This hotel and especially the room turns me off! I never want to become manager of this old-fashioned hotel, which is just expensive and no way worth the price! There needs a lot of money to be invested in San Domenico Palace Hotel.

Yesterday I went to Syracusa, Modica, Noto and Ragusa. The most beautiful part was Syracusa (picture above), with the peninsula Ortigia. There is an excellent restaurant called Regina Lucia, directly on the main square, which should not be missed when in Ortigia. 

Today I am want to go to the Mount Etna, as well as to Catania, lets see if the weather gets better than now. Otherwise I will enjoy Taormina with all its beauty.

Travel Diary: My Summer holidays Part 3

My second week of travelling through the very Southern Italy and I am still very impressed of the beauty of the Amalfi Coast! Now I am on the way to Calabria and I just left the Peninsula of Sorrento, Vico Equense and the Capo La Gala hotel!

The hotel itself did a small change from the morning after my last blog entry! The requested and promised Lorenzo Villoresi toiletries were not in the room, but after I asked one of the super-friendly front office ladies, she immediately called all departments to get me the last products they could find! To top this service she also gave us a restaurant recommendation for a really wow-experience- we had the best dinner with locals only during this week!

The room itself was bright, with sea view window, comfy bed and nice bathroom with very small and old-smelling Palais Jamais Etro toiletries!

Furthermore there is a Spa with indoor pool, which is beautifully designed but not good managed (empty Ortigia soaps and terrible smell of dirty water in the corner o the relaxing room), as well as very nice Carthusia toiletries if you book a Prestige room or a suite! I do not like these hotels which make two-class system with the toiletries, this gives me more the feeling of a cheap hotel than a five-star property, but the front desk told me that they will have Carthusia everywhere soon! Again I have to mention the four ladies at the front desk, who are more than very helpful and they are so friendly - they greeted us like friends!

The breakast is a nice Buffet of a 5-star hotel and the service is friendly.

Although they try to be luxury in some aspects, which have to be improved for this price category, they get 8 Points out of 10 for one of the best front office staff I've ever had as a hotel guest!

Yesterday I had a great day in Capri! I went there with the Speed Ferry from Sorrento and experienced one of the most beautiful islands I've ever been! The streets are narrow and you can find every world-famous Designer you can imagine: there is a Prada store next to the funicular, a Louis Vuitton shop in the luxury shopping street and of course the Carthusia factory with the factory store around the corner - a MUST for every Capri visitor!

I have bought a nice 50ml perfume called 1689, which is a great male perfume mix by Carthusia! The price was 55 Euros for 50ml, which is not too overpriced for a nice holiday souvenier! Afterwards I strolled into the shop of the famous Qvisisana Palace, where they have beautiful accessoires in cool beige and brown colours.

After the shopping tour I passed by a very chic restaurant called Edodè, which serves excellent sea food! The only problem or shok for me was the service charge of 14 Euros!!! It was a nice lunch, but not really worth such high obligatory tip or service charge!

Travel Diary: My Summer holidays Part 2

Finally, after two days of sightseeing in Amalfi and Positano, we finally arrived at our last Property on the Amalfi Coast, which is the Capo la Gala Resort near Sorrento. I have to say one thing first: 

This hotel is a "luxe-wannabe" which means it is supposed to be one of the best hotels in Italy (like their website shows!) - in fact it is not! The very exlusive and unique toiletries of Lorenzo Villoresi (which should be in the room, as the website says!) were replaced by 30ml Etro Palais Jamais ones! They do not even have a Hair Conditioner!

Next, as we always got upgraded in all three deluxe hotels where we stayed before, we just got that room we booked, not even a balcony room!

The extra bed is not what I expected for 80 Euros, much more different from which I have experienced during these days and the pool shows up some not nice chemicals on top, as it is no floating pool!

Uuuuh that was my first impression, and as you might now: the first impression counts!! 

Good luck to Capo la Gala to show improvement the next four days!

Have a nice weekend, Daniel!

Travel Diary: My Summer holidays Part 1

It is more than wonderful at the place where I am relaxing now. In fact it is the Costiera Amalfitana, I would say THE most beautiful place in Italy. To be more correct, I am sunbathing at the world famous and often renowned Santa Caterina Property. The Condé Nast Traveller rated this hotel as the 20th best hotel in the Gold List Worldwide, and I can only proof this fact! The staff is wonderful, from the beginning everyone speaks to you by your last name and they know every wish you have. This is just the place to be, I felt never better and I can proudly say that I am as relaxed as at the 1000-Dollar-per-night Reethi Rah Resort in the Maldives. 

I even got a Double-Upgrade to a marvellous Deluxe Room with separate living room and unbelievable sea view and even better views of the town of Amalfi! The breakfast today morning was more than spectacular as the views were. The service is excellent, wherever you look!

They have a complimentary shuttle service to the town of Amalfi every 30 minutes, but it only runs unil 6.30 pm., which is really bad if you want to dine in the town!

Before I arrived at this super-luxe Hideaway in Amalfi, I was staying at the Villa Tolomei in Florence: 2 kilometres outside of Florence! We were also uprgaded to a Junior Suite, which was very nice and everything was completely new! The service there was also good, but not to compare with the Santa Caterina here in Amalfi, these hotels are completely different, although they both have 5-stars. 

Tomorrow I am going to the more picturesque town of Positano, which should be even nicer than Amalfi, but let's see. If you want to top your stay at the Santa Caterina, then you should upgrade yourself to the Le Sirenuse in Positano, where you can really Hide-away! I wanted to try a different hotel, which is called Il Marincanto. I am very exited of the views there and I will be back in two days!