Travel Suggestions Blog

This article was written by Barbara James of Los Angeles.

We’ve just returned from a visit to the UK, our third in recent years and I decided to write about some of the great uk hotels where we’ve stayed during our travels. The cities of the British Isles offer so much to the visitor, those guys really do comprehend the meaning of the word history. Add to that the fact that they converse in a language similar to our own and that a museum or art gallery can be visited whatever the weather and you have found a ingredients of a truly memorable visit. We’re certain that you will enjoy a visit to the UK, but would always suggest that U.S. citizens check with the U.S. Department of State Advice to Travelers website whilst planning international travel.

Edinburgh, Scotland

You can be assured of a friendly welcome in the historic city of Edinburgh. This friendly east coast city is made up of the Old Town which includes 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 spread throughout the entire city. There are many exhibits open to the general public, check their web site for opening and closing times.

The summer season sees Edinburgh playing host to countless numbers of visitors who travel from all over the world to attend the various festivals. The Edinburgh International Festival runs for four weeks and showcases theatre, music, dance and opera. Running beside it is the famous “Fringe”, which typically offers over 25,000 performances in over 250 different venues all over the city. With that many different shows to choose from (in 2006 36% of them were World Premieres) including comedy, theatre, dance, children’s shows and music there is something for everybody. There is in addition, the Literary Festival, the Blues & Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival that run throughout the summer season.

Since we were only in Edinburgh for a couple of days we were determined to pamper ourselves and stay in one of the most celebrated hotels in Scotland, The Scotsman on North Bridge, Edinburgh. This wonderful old hotel can be found plumb in the center of many of Edinburgh’s finest buildings and venues including The Royal Mile, Holyrood House, Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish National Gallery are all within easy walking distance. As I mentioned earlier the decision had been made to pamper ourselves with a stay at this amazing hotel and everything that we could have wished for came true.

Birmingham, England

One of the highlights of our recent visit to Britain was to visit the Crufts Dog Show which is held in the NEC Arena in Birmingham, the UK’s second city. Spread over 4 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 taking part. Another great crowd-puller at the show is the Discover Dogs section where examples from 190 different breeds of dog are present with their owners, giving all and sundry the chance to quiz the owners and find the breed that will be right for them. Because we were only visiting Crufts, rather than going into the city of Birmingham we decided to stay at one of the closest hotels to the NEC. On this occasion we were not expecting one of the world’s top hotels, but rather a place to get a good night’s sleep after an exhausting day walking around that vast complex admiring dogs of all shapes and sizes. We booked into The NEC Crowne Plaza Hotel which is situated within the grounds of the UK’s largest convention center. The hotel was precisely as expected, clean, bright and totally antiseptic. There was nothing to complain about and we’d happily stay there again when visiting concerts or exhibitions at the NEC.

London, England

London was the final destination on our recent trip. If you’ve never seen London you really do need to comprehend the sheer size of the city. It has spread out in all directions in recent years and it’s important that you decide exactly what you want to see during your visit otherwise you will be spending all of your time sitting on underground trains and buses and I can tell you, that is not something that you could should look forward to. Our itinerary for the last few days of our trip was to get in some retail therapy i.e. shopping. To that end we decided to stay in London’s Knightsbridge district with its huge numbers of chic, world famous stores such as Harrods. We stayed in the Sheraton Park Tower in ultra-stylish Knightsbridge. The Sheraton Park Tower is one of London’s most famous hotels, famed for its “One-O-One” restaurant, London’s best fish restaurant.  The Sheraton Park Tower offers tremendous views over the London skyline with many rooms overlooking Hyde Park Nearby attractions besides the the excellent shops include Hyde Park and many of London’s world renowned landmarks and museums.