Great Hotels In Britain & Ireland
This article was contributed by Linda Jefferson of Phoenix Arizona.
We’re just back from a family holiday to the United Kingdom, our second trip to that area in the last few years and I decided to write about some of the brilliant uk hotels that we stayed in during our latest trip. There is so much to see and do in the wonderful cities of the British Isles, those guys really do comprehend the meaning of the word tradition. Add in the other advantage that they speak a language not unlike our own and that a museum or art gallery can be enjoyed whatever the weather and we have the ingredients of a truly memorable trip. We’re confident that you’d enjoy visiting the UK, but would always suggest that U.S. citizens check with the U.S. Department of State Advice to Travelers website whilst planning travel outside the country.
Edinburgh, Scotland
You can be confident of a warm welcome in the wonderful city of Edinburgh. This friendly east coast city is made up of the Old Town including the Royal Mile and the New Town, with the two halves separated by the line of Princes Street. The University of Edinburgh was established in 1582 and its colleges, galleries and museums are scattered throughout the entire city. There are many exhibits open to the general public, check the web site for opening times.
The summer months see Edinburgh playing host to many thousands of visitors who are there to attend the various festivals. The Edinburgh International Festival runs for 4 weeks and showcases theatre, music, dance and opera. Running beside it is the world renowned “Fringe”, which typically offers over 25,000 performances in over 250 different venues all over the city. With that many widely varying shows to choose from (with a very high percentage of world premieres) including theatre, comedy, ballet, shows for the children and many musical concerts there is something for everybody. Edinburgh is also host to the Literary Festival, the Blues & Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival that take place throughout the summer here.
Because we only had two days in the city we decided to be a trifle extravagant and stay in one of the most famous hotels in Scotland, The Scotsman on North Bridge, Edinburgh. This wonderful old hotel is situated plumb in the middle of many of Edinburgh’s finest attractions and places such as The Royal Mile, Holyrood House, Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish National Gallery are all within easy walking distance. As previously stated we had decided to pamper ourselves by staying at this amazing hotel and everything that we could have expected came true.
Birmingham, England
One of the attractions of our latest visit to the UK was to visit the Crufts Dog Show which is held in the National Exhibition Center Arena in Birmingham. Taking place over four days, it’s the most famous dog show in the world. Last Year 143,000 enthusiasts admired a total of over 25,000 dogs from 26 countries in the show rings. A further crowd-puller at the show is the section labelled “Discover Dogs” where the owners of 190 different breeds are there with their dog, ready to answer questions from prospective new owners. Because we were only visiting Crufts, rather than venturing into the city centre we took the decision to stay at a hotel near to the NEC, Birmingham. On this occasion we were not expecting one of the world’s top hotels, more a place to get a good night’s sleep after an exhausting day walking miles inside the vast NEC complex. We booked into The NEC Crowne Plaza Hotel which is situated within the grounds of the UK’s largest exhibition center. The hotel was exactly what you’d expect, bright, clean and totally impersonal. There certainly wasn’t anything to complain about and we’d happily stay there again when visiting exhibitions or concerts at the NEC.
London, England
London was the final port of call on our recent trip. If you’ve never been there you honestly do need to comprehend the immense size of the place. It has grown and grown outwards in recent years and it’s essential that you make up your mind precisely what you intend to visit during your visit otherwise you will be spending all of your time traveling on underground trains and buses and I can tell you, that’s not something to look forward to. Our agenda for this final few days of our trip was to get in some retail therapy i.e. shopping. With this in mind we resolved to stay in the Knightsbridge area with its huge numbers of chic, world renowned stores such as Harrods. We booked into the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in ultra-stylish Knightsbridge. The Sheraton Park Tower is one of London’s most stylish hotels, known for its “One-O-One” restaurant, London’s best fish restaurant. The Sheraton Park Tower has tremendous views over the London skyline with many rooms overlooking Hyde Park In addition to the host of amazing shops, you will find many of London’s most popular museums and landmarks within a short distance of the hotel.