Tips For Travellers

BUNGEE JUMPING OFF THE VICTORIA FALLS BRIDGE ZAMBIA/ ZIMBABWE

2012-01-10T17:17:00.000Z

On a 2009 trip to Zambia, Mark (my partner) did the bungee jump off the bridge at Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is one of the highest jumps in the world. It is so high and very scary. I was a coward and did not do it.

In January 2011, the cord broke and an Australian Tourist plummeted into the crocodile infested, cold water. And survived amazingly.

In these 2 videos, you see Mark doing this jump as it should be (and it is very scary even without the cord breaking) and then talking about it...

Bungee Jump:

Interview after the jump:

Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire England: one of my most favourite hotels in the world!

2012-01-02T07:21:00.000Z

Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire England, originally uploaded by garybembridge.

We have stayed at this very beautiful hotel now 3 times for various short breaks over the last 3 years, most recently just before Christmas. While this hotel will never be a cheap break, it certainly is a luxurious and pleasant one. It is probably one of my most favourite hotels I have ever stayed at, and love coming back to it.

The hotel is situated in a massive estate that was first mentioned as far back as the Doomsday Book, but is more famous as an estate that Henry VIII owned and first received and met his first wife (Catherine of Aragon) here. Over the many years the estate and house passed through various families. In the last century it became a place where airmen stayed during the Second World War, was various schools and a Catholic Seminary. The main house was basically destroyed in about 1981 and so was rebuilt and became a corporate headquarters for a computer company before being added to and converted into the stunning Four Seasons hotel in 2005.

The hotel is situated very handy for London, and it takes less than an hour to get there down the M3 motorway near the Fleet and Hook exit at Dogmersfield.

The hotel is on the Dogmersfield Park. You drive up this long driveway through the huge green grounds and the restored house rises on a hill. It is very cleverly built as the added wings are not really visible when you first drive in.
The grounds around the hotel are immaculate and include a formal garden, croquet lawn and herb gardens. Then, of course, the huge open grounds that lead down to a small lake. The picturesque Basingstoke Canal passes around the estate, and is great for long walks and cycling.

The entrance to the hotel is beautiful and impressive. Service throughout the hotel is impeccable. As per an up market and costly hotel like this the service is personal and efficient.

We usually say in a “Heritage Room”. The first time in one on the ground floor that looks out towards the formal gardens and across towards the Spa building.

The room had a “wow” factor on entering and was more luxurious and beautiful than the photos I had seen before going. There is a large bathroom with big and comfortable bath, shower and basin. The bedroom area has a table and chairs, comfortable chairs to watch TV and a large comfortable bed.

The whole hotel is incredibly well done with a clever mix of modern and traditional. The Seasons Restaurant (where breakfast is also served) is attractive with amazing food. The Bistro and bar is trendy and funkier, and a great place to have drinks and a meal in the evening.

The Spa is really good. There is a large indoor pool with outdoor heated area (and no children are allowed in the pool form 11am to 3pm on the weekends). However, the hotel is very "child friendly" and so if you want to avoid children going during the week is the best bet, and avoiding school holidays.

There is a well equipped gym and make and female relaxing rooms and sauna and steam room in each changing room, and also in the pool area. There are 15 rooms for treatments and the best deal is an all day package that includes foot massage, body scrub, body massage and facial – which also includes lunch at the excellent Café Santé.

There is a lot to do at the hotel outdoors and we especially enjoyed using the bikes to cycle around the grounds and canal.

They serve a fabulous afternoon tea, which at about £30 a head is a lot, but a real treat. You can have it in the beautiful library or in your room.

It is not the cheapest break you can do, but you felt very pampered and special. We will be back even though we live less than an hour away…

PHOTOS: View all my photos of the Four Seasons and the grounds on Flickr: click here

VIDEO: View my video which explores the grounds, hotel, room, spa area and the nearby Basingstoke Canal:

To just see a video of one of the Garden Bedrooms, watch the video below:

Four Seasons Hampshire: The stunning pool area

The library at Four Seasons Hampshire

Afternoon tea spread at Four Seasons Hampshire

P&O Arcadia: Review of 3-nighter Russell Watson Cruise

2011-12-30T11:44:00.000Z

P&O Arcadia at Le Havre France

One of the tips I have for people considering taking a cruise is to take one of the 2 or 3 night taster trips that the cruise line you are considering offer. Most lines run a few of these every year. They are always reasonably priced and very popular. However, if you have taken a few cruises I recommend that you try and avoid them. (For the posting on tips for first time cruisers: click here).

We have done a few of them now, and while they are great for giving a taste of the experience, they get more frustrating and less enjoyable once you have done a full cruise and have experienced the less rushed and more interesting destinations than these short ones tend to be able to offer.

We decided, though, to take one on the P&O Arcadia ship as we wanted to take our mums on a short trip for combined Birthday/ Christmas gift. The cruise was very popular as they had booked the popular opera singer Russell Watson as the main performer. It was so popular that it sold out in about 20 minutes of going on sale. This is a review of that trip which was in early December and was due to be 3 nights taking in a day at Zeebrugge and Le Havre. I have been on the ship 3 times before on a Med Cruise, a Caribbean and Atlantic and giving a talk on a Marketing Conference on the ship. To read a review of the ship from those: click here

When we checked in at Southampton, we were told that due to the winds and sea conditions the trip to Zeebrugge would not take place and the ship would just go to Le Havre (France) and stay there overnight. Many were frustrated and complained a lot, as they would miss outings to things like the Christmas Markets in Bruge. I was surprised at how annoyed people got, as surely safety and not being sea sick is better?

Saying that, P&O did not really make much effort to find things for people to do either in on board entertainment activities or additional things in Le Havre. This was a pity, as it was also raining most of the time. I guess this is one of the disadvantages of these short trips, versus longer cruises where the lines tend to make more effort.

The ship itself is still in good shape, it is about 4 or 5 years old only, and although there have been some changes and updates since we were first on the ship it is largely the same.

Overall on this cruise, we found the service and general attitude across the ship to be lacking a bit. It was not bad, but overall the staff seemed a bit off hand and not very enthusiastic. I am not sure if this was due to them being jaded after a long service period, or they find these short trips frustrating or if I am more used to the Cunard service ethic (as most of our cruises have been with Cunard).

We boarded the ship quickly on arriving, around noon, but had to sit about in the Orchid where we had some light lunch. They sent suite and mini-suite passengers there, and the other cabins used the normal Belevedre self service.

The passengers seemed much older on this short trip than on the longer cruises. This is against the overall trend on ships which is getting younger, though the Arcadia is an adults only ship, and also maybe this is more the fan base for Russell Watson - so maybe this is why.

The food in the restaurant was good, and a lot of choice. We had room service breakfast the one morning, and this was good and right on time.

I think most people were there to see Russell Watson, which people raved about, and so think they were less fussed about what I saw as some flaws in the experience on the ship. The additional entertainment consisted of one of the singing/ dance reviews which was quite average, and a magician that once won young magician of the year (many years ago) and was also very average.

Overall, the trip was fine. I felt that P&O Arcadia crew were likely to be somewhat unenthusiastic about these short trips and it showed. This is likely to be less obvious to new cruisers who will be more interested in finding out out the ship, exploring and finding out more about cruising. Hence why I will shy away from doing these very short trips again.

Watch the video of the mini-suite B101 that we stayed in:

See the photos from this trip: click here

For the reviews on the P&O Arcadia ship itself: click here

P&O Arcadia Mini-Suite B101

Queen Elizabeth 2: Revisiting my review on the 3rd anniversary of her retirememt

2011-12-07T13:42:00.000Z

It is now just over 3 years since Cunard retired the iconic Queen Elizabeth 2, which has been sitting in Dubai waiting for the new owners to decide what to do with the ship, after original plans weer set aside due to the global economic crisis

I thought it was a good time to repost and update my thoughts, pictures and videos made on a very rough Transatlantic crossing in December 2004...

I was looking though some old reviews and postings that I had not yet put on this blog, and came across this one from an amazing crossing on the now retired QE2...

This was our first time on the QE2. We had booked the winter transatlantic crossing as we wanted to both experience the QE2, and also a crossing on this ship. Now that the QM2 is doing the regular crossings now, our only chance was this one which is the first leg of the 2005 World Cruise.

We were in Queen's Grill in 8006, which is a Q2 Penthouse Suite. The crossing (as was winter)was rough at the beginning, which meant the ship was quiet for the first few days as many people stayed in their cabins feeling ill!

As many people have done reviews on this historic ship, I thought I woudl post some of our thoughts and observations:

GOOD:

· The experience of being on the QE2 and being part of the history. Being on a winter trans-atlantic crossing was a great adventure to have done. Highly recommended!

· It was a fabulous experience. Even with the rough weather at the start (which I am sure the QE2 weathered better than any other ship could have). I am so pleased to have done it. It is definitely an experience versus just another trip.

· The "Queens Grill" experience, especially as we did in Q2, is very special. The restaurant is beautiful, the food amazing, the service outstanding. The pampering by the 3 butlers good. Having the Queens Grill Lounge to retreat to is quiet and handy, especially at tea time.

· Our cabin (8006 on the penthouse signal deck level with balcony) was tastefully decorated, and very cosy at night. It is a good size at 350 square feet. It was (however) noisy as it creaked a lot in the rough weather, and the air conditioning was noisy. The people next door did not get much sleep for those 2 reasons. They were added as prefab units and that is possibly why.

· The ship on the outside is glorious. It looks stylish from a distance in spite of the age (35 years). On the decks it looks great with the teak decks, levels at the back. I really enjoyed being out on deck watching the QE2 ploughing through the sea. It was always quiet out on deck and so you had it pretty much to yourself!

· There are some beautiful internal rooms that are classics and hold their own in spite of their age, like the Queens Lounge, Queens Grill Restaurant, bookshop and library, Yacht club bar and the Midships lounge.

· The staff on the QE2 make a real effort to treat you well, get to know what you like and you do feel like individuals even though there are around 1200 of you on board. We both felt we had got to know the people we came in contact with a lot (the room butlers, restaurant staff), and that they had taken care to understand what we liked.

· The gym facilities are good and the equipment modern. It is a good size and was never too busy (although the rough weather may have helped that!)

LESS GOOD

· Most of the ship inside looks dated, and does not have as much style and glamour of a "by-gone age" that the brochures and the image conjures up. It comes as something as a surprise at just how old fashioned an impression you get on entering the ship and seeing the decks like one and two deck which look like an old hotel, and then the stairwells with their red carpets and paintings of the royals etc. We had watched videos and read books and so it was less of a surprise, if we had not I think we would have been almost thrown by it. After a while you appreciate its look and style more, but it must be a shock for people (like the ones sitting at the table next to us) who had not researched the ship before coming.

· The ship is clearly in (sadly) in the twilight years. There were often signs of her aging, such as towels around leaking windows to the deck, chairs with signs of threadbare arms, sun faded portraits, outdated and pretty rowdy air conditioning and unpredictable plumbing (hot water from the cold and toilet problems on the entire penthouse for a full day). You tend to take them for granted and as part of what the QE2 is, but it does flag up the fact that the QE2 is nearing the end of her time. A fact even the crew acknowledge.

· It was much more "Butlin's Holiday Camp" than we had expected. We had expected based on the advertising and the image that one has of Cunard and the QE2 a different kind of passenger to other cruise ships. The program of events and related entertainment was much more bingo, karaoke, pub quiz kind of stuff than we had expected. We had fun doing them (of course!) but had expected more variety based on the wide cross section of people the QE2 attracts. The people at the table next to us complained there was nothing for them to do, as they did not like the bingo, etc stuff.

· It was older passenger wise, and the entertainment was (therefore) biased that way. The music quiz for example full of questions about 1950s singers and nothing from after the 70s!! I think though that this may be more driven by the cruise entertainment team than what the passengers would be happy with!

· Some of the facilities and rooms are very badly in need of some change. The shops were not so good. Very dated in design and not very inspiring merchandise. I had expected an amazing Cunard branded shop, but there was not a lot to excite and we struggled to buy mementos for friends at home. The spa was very shabby.

The ship is working out its last years. And I think you can feel it.

The regulations coming into force mean the QE2 cannot sail much past 2007 without a massive change to the inside. The inside - in addition to the regulations about wood etc - would really need such a massive job to make it relevant both in features and design for the new generation of cruise and crossing passengers. Something Cunard with the QM2 and the Victoria coming in 2007 are unlikely to do.

But in spite of the comments, I want to stress that we had a glorious and fabulous time. The QE2 is fantastic. Going on the QE2 on a winter transatlantic was amazing. You feel you are taking part in a real travel experience. It was such an amazing and pampered 6 days.

Would we go on the QE2 again? Yes! Although we are likely to go on the QM2 first to try that out and compare that first! But we will be back on the QE2 before her final days!!!

See all my photos from the crossing on Flickr: click here

PHOTOS OF THE SUITE WE STAYED IN

Queens Grill Suite 8006 on QE2

VIDEOS SHOWING HOW ROUGH THE SEA WAS ON THE CROSSING:

Video tour of the QE2 we made of the ship This takes you through most of the interiors and also the decks

WATCH A SLIDESHOW OF ALL MY PHOTOS OF THE CROSSING

Qe2 Transatlantic 2004 Slideshow: Gary’s trip to Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom was created by TripAdvisor. See another Southampton slideshow. Take your travel photos and make a slideshow for free.

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Eltham Palace, Greenwich, London: Stunning Art Deco House and ancient Palace in one!

2011-11-23T18:37:00.001Z

Eltham Palace, Greenwich, London

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simiant/

It is highly likely that you will have seen Eltham Palace at some point on a TV show or in other media, as the breath-taking circular entrance hall with panelled walls is a standard in many shows set in the 1930s. And even though I had seen it pop videos and the Poirot TV show, it was even more spectacular in real life - as the photo on the left shows.

This spectacular circular room has a huge dome with around 700 glass circles that light up the room. The furniture and carpets are replicas, based on photos taken by a lifestyle magazine at the time the house was built which featured it.

This amazing house was built by the wealthy Stephen and Virginia Courtauld who wanted a house that felt it was in the countryside, but was close to central London. They had inherited money, but were involved in things like the famous Ealing Studios, and many philanthropy projects and activities.

The site was actually originally linked to royalty, and was where Henry VII and Henry VIII lived, but had been acquired even earlier. The property had become run down, and the only major part that had survived was the Great Hall. This was restored by the Courtaulds, although purists argue the restoration was more inspired by a Hollywood style interpretation that history. But either way it is an impressive huge hall.

The Courtaulds clearly lavished a lot of love (and money) into this house. There is a dramatic moat around the house, and the house was packed full of what was state of the art technology at the time, like internal phone system and a system that played music around the ground floor. Off the impressive circular entrance hall is a huge drawing room and a breath taking art deco dining room. Downstairs is also their respective sitting rooms and studies. Past this you enter the massive Grand Hall.

Upstairs are various bedrooms with different themes. In all rooms the furniture there are replicas based on the magazine photos and the inventory the Courtaulds had kept. You don't get to see the servant quarters, and it took about 10 or 12 staff to run the house. You do get to see the lemur monkey room, which had free run of the house.

There are various other quirky rooms that give insight into their lifestyle. They had a room for flower arranging which used to store up to 100 or more vases as they in sited on having fresh flowers all over the house. They also had a pay phone, for the weekend guests to use as although they were wealthily the cost of calls at that time was high, and they did not want to cover it.

Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos on the house, so need to buy the guide book to have images of the inside.

Outside, you can stroll around the gardens and see the scale of the house.

The Courtaulds left the house towards the end of the Second World War, living for a short time in Scotland before moving to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where they had a farm called La Rochelle. Like so many grand houses, it had many uses. For a while for education of the Army, and some of the offices in the grounds were even a target of an IRA bomb.

English Heritage took over the house from 1995, and started to restoration back to how the house was when lived in by the Courtaulds.

There is a tea room (to be honest not that impressive) and a small gift shop. This is a very popular place for visitors, and has some limited openings as also very popular for filming and events.

I loved the place, and highly recommend a visit

Watch the video I made of the house and grounds:

See all the photos I took at Eltham Palace: click here

English Heritage site on Eltham Palace: click here

Eltham Palace - Greenwich - London

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Things To Do
London

Wrest Park House and Gardens: Huge, impressive and stunning stately home to visit. A must see!

2011-11-15T13:00:00.000Z

Wrest Park House - Silsoe - Bedfordshire - England

We ended up going to Wrest Park more by chance than by design. And were so glad we did, it is a stunning house, incredible gardens and well worth a visit.

We were staying about 8 miles away on a weekend break and picked up a leaflet in reception, and thought it worth a visit. So glad we had.

The house and gardens, located in Bedfordshire England, are now looked after by English Heritage, who are working hard on a 20 year plan to restore the house and massive grounds back to the glory of the 1800s. They are working to restore it after years of being let out to the American Ambassador as a country retreat, and acting as a hospital in World War I after which it was sold. It was the home of Sun Insurance during the Second World War II, and after 1948 was home of the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering.

The De Grey family originally owned the property and rounds, and had done for several hundreds of years. The house that is there today was built by Thomas De Grey the 1830s to replace one about 200 metres away that was demolished. He built it in a French style, so it looks like you have been transported to French Chateau.

The place is manned by volunteers, who are very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and passionate about the house and grounds. They were all incredibly helpful and friendly.

There is so much to see and explore on the property. As you arrive there is a visitor centre with a tea room/ restaurant, and shop.

Then you can go into the house. Not all of it is open, as they still working on restoring it. There is though some impressive rooms and spaces open. As you enter, there is a timeline of the history of the house in relation to other major historical events. You can then visit the Countess Sitting Room, which overlooks the garden and into the Conservatory. This is the only room with furniture in.

You can also then explore some other rooms that include the real "wow factor" staircase room, which was used for functions and then 3 rooms off it that includes the ante-library, library and drawing room. They are large and impressive, as my photos and video show.

The gardens are absolutely huge and sprawling, and if you not up for walking there are golf buggies that volunteers will ferry you around to see everything. If you up for walking, then that is possible too.

You can view the Orangery, Bath House, Bowling Green House, Chinese Bridge and Temple, American Gardens and then the huge long lake with Pavilion at the end. This beautiful building used to be where parties were held, and is breathtaking and impressive.

This house and gardens were a real surprise, in both size and impressiveness of it. The work being done by English Heritage is impressive as they are painstakingly from original plans and drawings trying to restore the original look and vision. So are even taking out trees that had been there for many years to turn back the clock to the vision.

Watch a video I made of Wrest Park House and Gardens:

Look at all the photos I took of Wrest Park House and Hotel: click here

Wrest Park House - Silsoe - Bedfordshire - England

Letchworth Hall Hotel, Hertfordshire, England: Amazing value and great weekend break

2011-11-14T13:00:00.000Z

The Letchworth Hall Hotel - Hertfordshire - England

We found and booked the hotel through one of the deal sites called KGB deals. It was a 2 night offer including breakfast, and very good value.

I had then read some reviews, and they were a bit mixed. This was not our experience at all, we had a great time and found that service was good and the overall attitude and approach of the hotel was positive.

The hotel seems to be focused on a business that is about weddings at weekends, conferences in week and then fills the 80+ rooms with deals. While we were there we also had Sheffield United footballers staying before their game the next day, and there was a coach party staying one night.

The hotel was a large old house with a great hall, where they serve afternoon tea, and then it has been expanded with meeting and function rooms, and about 80 rooms. The rooms are a good size and fairly functional, with large TV, chairs, desk area.

Positives
- Comfortable room, of a good size. We were on the 3rd floor in the eaves of the roof. There was only one small window, but that was fine. It was quite, clean and fine for a weekend break.
- Very good value as the price included a bottle of wine, breakfast, free wifi, and daily newspaper.
- It also included entry into the massive Nuffield Gym attached to the property. This is a great gym, with large pool and huge gym
- There is a good restaurant on site with large or a set menu. The food was good, and this is also where breakfast was served. The breakfast was a large buffet with wide choice of cold and hot food.
- Afternoon tea is served in the Great Hall with sandwiches, cakes etc
- We found the staff all friendly, helpful and eager

Negatives
- I think the only real negative for us was the bed. It was a double but not the most comfortable, but fine.
- The hotel is in good shape overall, but little bits of care is missing. So for example some of the handles on the cupboards/ drawers were loose, the safe battery was run down and so did not work. These are small things, that seemed to be missed but not that serious.

We were very pleasantly surprised by the hotel, and had a great time. The hotel is in surrounded by a lot of green space. Enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Watch the video of Room 73 we stayed in:

Room 73 Letchworth Hall Hotel - Hertfordshire - England

Hoover Dam, the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge & Lake Mead Las Vegas

2011-10-31T21:30:00.000Z

I love going to the Hoover Dam and the stunning Lake Mead that it holds back.

Situated on the border of Nevada and Arizona, and so if you cross the bridge the time changes by an hour as you cross a time zone, this is still a remarkable and breath-taking engineering feat that still has a wow factor. Build in the 1930s, the Hoover Dam Wall has an art deco feel and touches and a trip down deep into the bowels where the power generating room is, is quite something to see.

The whole area is now even more impressive as in addition to the Hoover Dam, they have also build a stunning high level traffic bridge called The Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. This bridge was built post the 9/11 attacks as it was felt that it would be safer and better to not have as much traffic crossing the Hoover Dam. It also increases capacity and the speed to cross the border.

The new bridge is an amazing technical feat, and highly impressive. There was one fatality in building the bridge, unlike the main Hoover Dam which had over 100 deaths.

You can walk over the bridge, and you get great photos across to the Hoover Dam wall and Lake Mead. Well worth doing!

Lake Mead behind the Hoover Dam is a large and deep lake that has some beach areas that people can swim in, and a large marina where you can hire boats and jet skis. The lake is a pleasant and cooling place to swim in the heat of the desert. The lake level had fallen dramatically over the last decade, and it was quite frightening to see by just how much. As the lake also supplies much of the water used in nearby Las Vegas, this was a real concern.

The level is due to increase again dramatically as the last winter had seen a lot of snow falls miles and miles away in the mountains, and this is the key to the level of the lake as it defrosts and works it way down the river into the lake.

If you hire a boat or jet ski, you can sail fairly close to the wall and also get great views. We did just this, and then parked them and swam in the cool water.

In addition to being able to walk over the main Hoover Dam, you can also go on organised tours of varying lengths that include one that takes you right down into the base of the dam. This is highly recommended.

Most people that go to Las Vegas, will just see the dam and wall by taking a quick flight over it on the way to the Grand Canyon. But it really is worth taking the drive out to it, which is about 40 minutes from The Strip in Las Vegas

The video I made of the Bridge, Hoover dam Wall and Lake Mead (including jet skiing):

Official Hoover Dam site
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/

Hoover Dam on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam

Official Hoover by-pass site
http://www.hooverdambypass.org/

Things To Do
Las Vegas

Tips For Travellers Podcast now available on Stitcher Radio

2011-10-29T06:52:00.000Z

I am pleased to let you know that my travel podcast series "Tips for Travellers: Global Travel Destination Podcast" is now available on the popular and fast growing Stitcher Radio network, as well as already being available on other platforms like iTunes.

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Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and Jacinto State Park: not to be missed!

2011-10-23T17:57:00.000Z

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

If you get a chance to get to Palm Springs, a sightly bizarre but very compelling holiday spot 100 miles from Los Angeles, then make sure you do go on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. We did not on our fist visit, but made a point on the next one. And it was clearly something that we should have done first time round.

At the end of this blog post is a video I made of the stunning ride up, a bit of what the park at the top looks like, and the ride down. Do watch it, as the engineering feat as well as the natural beauty is so remarkable.

The Aerial Tramway is the longest in the world, around 2,5 miles, and transports you from the floor of the massive mountain right way up onto the top, where is a beautiful, restful and lush State Park that is very popular with hikers and campers.

The temperature at the top is usually around 20 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the often stifling hot Palm Springs. And you are transported from a world of dryness, beige desert and rocks into an almost magical forest.

I am not great with heights, but this cable car is large, and feels safe and secure. It has a rotating floor so everyone gets to see the full vista. The only slightly scary bit is actually when the cars pass over the various torrents on the way when the car swings a bit, but settles down. The cars carry a lot of people, I think around 80.

The trick is to get there when it opens, as then people who have stayed up overnight hiking are still up, and tourists are still lazing about. We bought tickets, and were on within about 10 or 15 minutes. The ride takes about 15 minutes and so that is roughly the time between the trips.

At the top of the mountain is a large and fairly sprawling complex with a restaurant that attracts a lot of events and people for dinner, a deli/ cafe type place, a small museum and State Park shop and a rather eclectic gift shop.

It was glorious sitting outside looking across the valley having a cold drink. It is so peaceful and calm up there.

A real must do!

Watch the video I made of the ride on the Aerial Tramway, and the stunning Jacinto State Park at the top:

Official website: http://www.pstramway.com/

Read my full review and suggestions of things to do in Palm Springs: Click here

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Station at top

Jacinto State Park

The Centre at top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Things To Do
Palm Springs

Hotel Verta & Heliport Battersea London: thoughts and review

2011-10-08T17:29:00.005Z

Hotel Verta and Heliport

When we stayed in the Hotel Verta it was still in receivership after the collapse of the Essen Hotel Chain. So we had some trepidation and nerves about how a staff working under administration would be.

We found, with the exception of the reception staff who were disinterested and off-hand most of the time, we found other staff friendly, chatty and helpful. The staff was very good in the horribly quiet but attractive restaurant, where we had one of the most delicious meals I have ever had. It was really impressive.

The hotel is located on the Thames River just off the York Road in an area of Battersea/ Wandsworth that is now covered with apartment block develops, and not really a great location. Unless you coming in on a helicopter, as the London Heliport is attached to the hotel. There is no public transport close by, and it seemed ordering a cab would take about 15 minutes. So not ideal for tourists, and so think they were looking more at a business market. The rooms to me reflected this too.

The room was quite small, and had a smart, designed feel. The bed was big and comfortable. There was a desk area, but not desk chair but an more informal chair. The bathroom was really nicely done, with large bath/ shower in bath and a TV you could watch in the bath. The soundproofing was amazing, as our room looked over the actual heliport and we could barely hear them landing and taking off.

There is a striking looking bar on the 1st floor, and the restaurant on the ground floor (as mentioned) looks great and has great food.

You can walk along the river but all you have are apartment blocks, though the famous Cake Boy shop and tea room is nearby. Well worth a visit!

The spa in the basement has a large fitness area that is well equipped, and then a pool with jet areas that was popular.

Overall was a slightly strange stay, and the hotel clearly does not seem to be busy with guests - but also the local community seem to have embraced it less that the Hotel Raefal near by where the bar was much more busy and vibrant.

Hotel Verta Restaurant

View of the Thames from Hotel Verta

Hotel Verta Bar

Hotel Verta Battersea Heliport

Video of the Hotel Verta Room we stayed in, with view of the Battersea Heliport:

Book Hotel Verta London

London Hotel Review

SIDMOUTH IN DEVON UK: Sorry fans (of which there are many) but for me it is a strange old place!

2011-09-20T10:00:00.000Z

The bay at Jacobs Ladder, Sidmouth, Devon

I am sure I about to offend lovers of the town of Sidmouth and this pretty part of Devon, but Sidmouth leaves me really cold. I don't get what the fuss is about as this is a popular and sought after place to visit.

To be honest, I find the beauty of the place pales as I always feel like I have been stranded a decade or two back in some Old Folks Home World planet. Not that a place full of retired people should be a bad thing, but for some reason Sidmouth seems to give the feeling that you have strolled onto the set of some creepy Leaugue of Gentleman style created town. Every time I have been I have left feeling a bit unsettled and also a bit depressed as the town feels like it is slowly wilting and fading.

On the surface it looks fine. As the picture shows, there are long beaches with grand bays and huge (crumbling into the sea) cliffs, seaside hotels and rambling town streets. It attracts a lot of people on the summer weekends in particular, with walkers and people braving the cold UK seas.

But the whole place from a hotel and sea front perspective seems to have become an over extended retirement centre. The hotels are full of people peering out at you as you pass. Now of course if you want somewhere busy to sit and peer at people with the backdrop of sweeping beach and sea this fits the bill perfectly. The hotels seem quite cheap even in the peak season.

We had a drink in the Riveria hotel and again it feels like you are caught in a strange time warp. Both the decor and the service is very 1970s.

The food and service in the hotels and restaurants is good enough, but again feels a few steps behind. This may be as there is a lot of transient passers through, and so they can get away with it.

There is a large Folk Festival in August that is a big deal for the town and has loads of people camping outside the town. Then across summer there are a number of different functions and events, and it feels like the whole area breaks out in small fetes and garden parties through the July/ August season.

Of course, if you like the sea side, like walking and big bold cliffs and bays then is best to make sure you face that way and enjoy that part of Sidmouth...

It is not all Devon towns and villages I am not wild about! See what I thought of Beer in Devon

I you want to disprove me and go then use the Visit Sidmouth Site
http://www.visitsidmouth.co.uk/

Official Sidmouth council site
http://www.sidmouth.gov.uk/

Sidmouth Devon

Sidmouth Vacations

BEER IN DEVON UK: pretty and charming seaside resort worth a visit

2011-09-19T20:07:00.000Z

The Beach at Beer Devon

This small village on the coast of Devon is in many ways a better example of what an English seaside venue should be.

Unlike its bigger neighbours like Sidmouth, it is not tacky, not full of big cheap looking hotels full of decrepit guests and over priced shops and tourist eating places.

Beer retains it charm as it seems to be a largely residential village, with some small guest houses and I assume houses that are rented out.

It does attract a lot of weekend visitors who amble down the steep road from the village down to the beach and fill the stoney beach relaxing on deckchairs, eating from the few on the beach "greasy spoon" cafes or sailing. It is also a popular point to head off on walks up and along the top of the steep cliffs.

You can also hire small wooden motor boats for 20 minutes to chug out to sea.

Beer village has a fairly long street that has small and increasingly more quirky boutique type shops selling arts and crafts, fudge and the like.

It has a buzz and friendly atmosphere especially on the weekends in summer as people chat and wander about.

Worth popping by if in the area.

Watch a video I took of the beach by clicking here to watch on YouTube, or on the blog posting.

Video of a trip out on the boat, followed by some scenes of Sidmouth

More photos:

Beer Devon

WESTIN PRINCETON (New Jersey, USA) : Review and video

2011-09-19T10:03:00.000Z

Westin Hotel Princeton

The review below from 2008 will show that I have mixed feelings about this hotel. Located on Route 1 towards Princeton, this hotel has had many guises over the last 2 decades. Recently refurbished, it is now a Westin.

The hotel is located in a strange shopping and office complex (Forrestal Village) that was supposed to be one of those Outlet Shopping areas, but never quite worked.

The revamped hotel is probably one of the nicer hotels in the area (but that is not a huge compliment!). It is functional, comfortable and good for business travellers.

There is a Starbucks concession in the lobby, which is popular. The food at the restaurant is not great overall, again very functional.

The room was large and comfortable (as the photos and video show):

Video of Room 374 I stayed in:

Westin Hotel Princeton

This is what I thought in 2008:

What a strange hotel. I was so glad I was only staying one night! That was more than enough.

It has been many years since I stayed here, and then it was called something different. It seems to have gone into a strange limbo state since then and the whole place feels in decline.
The hotel is going through some work, which is very desperately needed. I am not sure if this is just in the public areas only, but the rooms all need work as well.

The main observations I had of the hotel were:

(1) The bedroom was large, but strange. The bed was comfortable enough, though the fitted sheet seemed to be the wrong size and kept slipping off in the night. The decor in the room was odd and a weird mix of styles and furniture. It all felt a bit like it was made up by different people with different ideas. The bathroom had a toilet and bath/ shower (very beige and very dated) with the basin outside in a small hallway thing. Odd.

(2)The premium lounge, which I got access to as am Gold Starwood was very tatty. It had food and a good selection of coffee - but was so shabby.

(3)The restaurant was fine. Very empty and ok food.

All in all a very odd place with a very odd feel. I would not go back.

The problem in the Princeton area is all the hotels are very average, but always busy and full - so none seems to try very hard.

Watch the room video on YouTube: click here

Nifty personal travel pods operational at London Heathrow T5

2011-09-17T14:10:00.000Z

Travel pods at London Heathrow T5

These nifty and clever innovations are fully operating at London Heathrow Terminal 5 (the main BA terminal at the airport). They are small travel pods that carry a few people and whisk you from the car park to the terminal, and vice versa.

They run to the car park that is designed for people to leave cars at all day or for a few days, and replace buses. They not only mean that there is less traffic and pollution from buses (they estimate about 50000 trips a year!), but are clever individual pods that you take "on demand", and so no waiting for a scheduled tram to arrive as at other airports.

These are clever, innovative and also a lot of fun.

The airport has made a video about them and how they work which can be watched below:

Here is a video someone took of the ride:

Do you have any thoughts, tips of comments? Leave a comment on the blog. Where you will also find details of how to subscribe for email updates, follow me on Twitter and Facebook, or subscribe for the free podcast.

RYANAIR: After one trip, what can I say? It's the passengers not the crew and airline...

2011-09-07T11:25:00.000Z

So what can I tell you about Ryanair that you have not heard before?

The worst part are the passengers, not the airline!?

Surprisingly to me was that it was - in my view - no worse or better than flying economy on any of the major carriers like Iberia or Air France. And was actually no cheaper either, once you have paid for the priority boarding lane, to check a bag in, various service fees and so on. It seemed to suffer the same annoying delays from traffic control despite rushing the turnaround and getting people on board.

The only major differences to me seemed to be you could not put your seat back (which was a positive as meant you did not have a chair back and bald patch in your face), and there is more selling. But of course on most economy flights you have to buy food and drink. The Ryanair crew are just faster and more efficient at it.

The leg room was actually slighty better than most carriers like Air France and Iberia. It made a more comfortable journey for me who is over six foot tall with long legs. Though the cushioning seems less comfy on the backside!

The main thing that drove me crazy was the appalling badly behaved children and adults on board, but not sure I can blame Ryanair for that - other than making it overall cheap for people with badly acting children. Paying little for a flight and being handled before boarding in off-hand and with strict rules on luggage and so on, seems to have created a monster when it came to the passengers!

Overall Ryanair seems to bring out the worst in people, the frantic scrabbling and shoving in the lines to get on the plane. Effective as ensures people board promptly, but the frenzy that breaks out is disturbing, like people are fighting for some mercy flight with limited spaces. Even the people that had bought priority boarding pushed and shoved.

The cabin crew were efficient, fast and very hard working. They earn their money. I was impressed with just how hard they worked.

Overall If it was not for the passengers it would be fine!

A view of Ryanair cabin crew:

This was a review I wrote after my 1st trip on the airline. I got some comments from a reader who says they are cabin crew and had the following to add:

I am cabin crew for ryanair and couldn't agree with you more.

Here are some helpful tips for anyone travelling with ryanai:

1) when you first come onboard the aircraft be nice to the crew because even tho you might have had a horrible time in the airport, the crew had nothing to do with it and if you are nice with us we are nice with you.

2) if you are travelling with children and want to sit with them then get to the gate first, you dont have to buy priority boarding just make sure you get onboard first, dont come last and expect the crew to help you or for people to move just because you chose to have kids.

3) done change the babies nappies on the seats or in the isles there is a baby changing table and bins in the toilets and people have to sit on those seats after you have left.

4) keep children out of the way of the isles especially when the crew are serving drinks and have the trollies out because we could stand on the kids or spill hot drinks on them.

5) do not get drunk before you get to the plane or onboard because the crew will not let you fly especially if you are on my flight.

6) pick up all your rubbish before you leave and give it to the crew, the crew pass through the cabin more than once collecting rubbish and make announcements, this is common respect for the next passengers and the crew who dont get paid on the ground but still collect all the rubbish you have left behind.

7) If the flight is delayed just remember that the crew are not getting paid on the ground and cant make the plane move without air traffic control authorization so there is no point in kicking off on the crew.

There are lots more that i could put on here but these are the main ones that really annoy the crew on nearly every flight

Las Vegas Stratosphere: Scary, crazy rides...not for the faint-hearted

2011-08-30T04:30:00.000Z

Add caption

The Stratosphere Tower and hotel in Las Vegas is a must visit attraction if you are a bit of an adrenalin junkie, or love heights! If not you will find this a scary trip! It is over 100 stories high.

Its tower is the tallest observation tower and the 5th tallest structure in the Unites States. Not surprisingly, it is the tallest structure in Las Vegas.

This huge structure sits at one end of the strip, not surrounded by other tall buildings and so it is sometimes hard to appreciate just how tall it is. But it is!

On top of this large tower there used to be a traditional rollercoaster, but this was replaced by a series of rides that really test people's ability to deal with heights.

The rides include X-Scream (a ride that sends people over the end of the tower); Insanity (a ride that takes people over the side of the tower and spins them round) and Big Shot (that shoots people straight up). There is also a newish attraction which lets you fall from the 110 floor down to the ground in a fixed bungee jump type harness.

You can buy a pass up to the top of the tower and go outside and get great views of the city, and watch the terrified people on the rides. There is also a restaurant, coffee shop and gift shop.

Watch the videos I made of the 3 main rides:

X-Scream

Insanity

Big Shot

Things To Do
Las Vegas

European Podcast Award. Please vote for my travel podcast that is nominated!

2011-08-25T17:36:00.001Z

I am pleased to say that my Travel Podcast has been nominated for a European Podcast Award again this year.

Please can you vote. Click the VOTE link and then rate, you then go to a page where you need to click on SKIP and that submits it. If you don't do that step your vote does not count. You can vote maximum of once a day..

Las Vegas Four Seasons: an amazing hotel within a hotel and well worth staying at..

2011-08-20T16:14:00.000Z

The Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas?

That was my initial reaction as I had never seen the hotel. That is because it is an hotel within a hotel! The Four Seasons takes up the top floors of the Mandalay Bay hotel block. The only sign for the hotel is an entrance sign on Las Vegas Boulevard South near the Mandalay Bay Conference Center.

The lobby is on the ground floor and unlike other strip hotels it does not have a casino nor a parking garage. There is easy access direct into the Mandalay Bay casino, and if you don't want to use the valet parking ($19/ night) you can park in Mandalay Bay.

The Four Seasons is a great place to stay if you want to be in Vegas but avoid the full on Blitz of casino noise and bustle every time you leave your room to go anywhere. You can easily come and go without seeing a casino area. But there is easy access via a room key controlled door directly into the Mandalay bay casino.

The pool at the hotel is great. The pool is on the ground floor and fenced off and although it gets busy it does not feel as packed as other pools in Vegas. Service at the pool is outstanding, they set up your beds, you can order food, they bring round jugs of ice water all the time, bring round small smoothies, Popsicles and iced fruit. If you want it is a short walk to the Mandalay Wave pool and pools. The pool at the hotel on this last trip was full of families with young children, and guess the lack of the casino is attracting more and more families. So not as peaceful by the pool as used to be...

The service overall is what makes the hotel good. There is a lot of attention to detail everywhere. The room cleaning is meticulous and they take time to sort and tidy your toiletries even! In the excellent (and quiet) fitness room they check if you want a drink as you work out. Overall the four seasons make you feel like a guest, not just a number.

As the hotel is at the end of the strip you also feel a bit out of the madness. But as there is a tram that runs every 5 minutes to Excalibur you can get to the strip fast. But is a long walk to places like Caesar’s palace, so cabs or a car is a good idea.

The rooms are a good size and comfortable. We chose a strip view which I highly recommend as you get a stunning view both in the day and especially at night. As the hotel takes the top 5 floors all are great. We were on the top floor (39th) which was amazing.

It is worth watching the four seasons site for promotions, we got 3 nights for the price of 2 which is a great deal. It is also best to try and stay in Vegas and the hotel in the week if you can, as it is clearly quieter and even the casino at Mandalay bay, restaurants are quieter - and less drunk and loud weekend partying crowds! I highly recommend the Four Seasons Las Vegas.

The hotel is fairly active on social media like Twitter, but whoever manages it is not that connected to reception and concierge. We had made some requests about not having room with inter-connected door which was acknowledged, but had not been fed into reception system.

Wi-fi costs $14.99 per device, and this seems an out-dated approach!

They also leave some treats like strawberries and chocolate/ small cupcakes/ brownies day after you arrive and the day before you leave. This is a nice touch.

The only real negative was we made the mistake of arriving on a Saturday night fairly late on this trip, and got a not great room as they were full. Avoid that!

A great hotel, highly recommended..

Watch the video of the room we stayed in (Premier Strip View):

Hotel Review Las Vegas

POSH Guest House Palm Springs California: review, pictures and video

2011-08-18T14:30:00.000Z

Before this guest house became Posh, it was a hotel for "bears" (large and hairy gay men). It was not very successful, and was rundown and went into receivership in 2009. This was when the new owners came across it, bought it and did major work to create a very pleasant, bright and comfortable guest house.

The name POSH, according to the materials in the room, was inspired by the old nautical practice in days before jet travel when those with money would book cabins on Port side on the way out and starboard on the home run: Port Out, Starboard Home (so you got the most sun). The aim of the owners is to create a place that feels up-market.

The overall look and feel is good. They have done a good job at making it bright, clean and looking good. There are 10 guest rooms, including larger suites with their own kitchen (like room 6 which we stayed in).

POSH is in a good location, down a quiet suburb street. It is also very accessible to the main centre of town and also to attractions like the Aerial Tramway that takes you up to the Jacinto State Park. You do need a car though as not really walkable, especially when in the heat of summer.

The overall attitude and approach is relaxed from the owners, and they are available if you need them - but largely make things informal.

When we arrived they were out, but left envelopes on the door for arriving guests with the code and some instructions. So we settled ourselves in, which was fine. The informal approach runs through, including even not having to check in formally at any point.

Positives

Rooms. They have done a good job at creating a "wow" factor in the rooms. I suspect they did not have a huge budget but have used imagination and style to create slightly quirky, but appealing looks. The Room 6 we stayed in was especially good as slightly away from the pool, and large with a dining area and kitchen. The rooms by the pool seemed small and compact.
Breakfast. There is a big breakfast spread from 9am to 10am. There is always fruit, bacon, sausage and then a special of the day.
Pool The pool is a good size, and has a nice deep end (about 8 feet deep) and is kept at a constant temperature, so nice and cool. We have stayed at another guest house at the same time of the year (mid summer) and the pool was too warm. Here it is nice and refreshing all day.
Drinks. There are free sodas, water and in the evening they have a cocktail hour where they make a signature Posh Cocktail. You can also have wine, and they have some snacks and cheese.
Free wifi. This is a plus, and is fairly fast. It did seem a bit directional, and we did not have a signal in our room and noticed that most people would sit outside their room on their laptops/ iPads to get the signal.

Negatives (hard to find any....)
People! As it is an intimate small resort, there is a risk (like at any guest house) that there may be rowdy weekender group or Hen party that hog the pool and get a bit loud. When we were there we had a bit of that on the Saturday, but only after the owners left at around 4pm. But they all headed out and so things were quiet after that.
Rooms are very bright as thin curtains or blinds (and of course lots of bright sun!), so if that troubles you bring along eyeshades (and maybe earplugs if you worried about the point above!)

We had a great time here and enjoyed the resort and informality. Luckily for us on our 3 nights, we just had the one late afternoon/ evening where we had slightly rowdy guests versus the more laid back time the rest of the stay. But is always a risk at guest houses when you are up close and in a smaller environment.

We enjoyed it and preferred it to the other guest house we stayed at on our last trip

See some photos and watch the video I made below:

Posh Palm Springs Pool

Posh Palm Springs Hot Tub

Posh Palm Springs Room 6

Watch my video of Room 6 Posh Palm Springs:

Hotel Review
Palm Springs

New British Airways BA First Class Prime Cabin: review and comments

2011-08-15T17:46:00.003Z

The new British Airways First Class seats and cabin is being rolled out across the entire fleet, although it is not on every plane and so if you are lucky enough to be flying in BA First, you may or may not be on the new seats.

There is a nifty site that tracks the % of new cabins so you can see if you are more or less likely to be on the new seats, and in theory you can call and check with the First executive Club 24 hours before and check. I checked the site before our flight to Las Vegas and found that about 65% of the time it had the new seats. This worked out as on way out we had the old seats and on the way back the new ones.

Another clue is if you see on the plane when at the gate that some of the windows in the First are blocked out, then this is the new First as the new window approach means some get covered to create the blinds and window effect.

The new seats and cabin is much better than the old. By a long way.

Although, as the images I took show, the layout is the same as before. There are 14 seats, and in the centre there are 2 rows which are best if you travelling together as you site side-by-side and can chat.

In my view, the best seats are the 1A and 1K right in the front. These are held until a few days before the flight (to put VIPs etc) and so worth checking and trying to get these as the quietest and most private - especially good for overnight flights if you want to sleep.

The new seats are much more comfortable both for sitting and for sleeping. They feel longer, and are definitely wider. I am 6' 2" and could lie down fully.

They also have more features that include: a HUGE TV screen, a big window that has a blind that you can put down electronically, personal cupboard at each seat to store clothes and other items. There is a plug for all types of electric plugs, a USB port to charge iPhones etc.

They have not updated the sleeper suits, duvets or the amenity packs. The food and menu is still excellent.

We were lucky enough to be flying First on this trip thanks to BA Airmiles. It is a great update and very comfortable. I am not sure that it is quite as exotic as the new First on the A380 lines yet though where you have very private cabins and even bigger seats.

But I loved it! First on BA is much better.

British Airways First Class

To see my review and images of the old BA First: click here

Do you have any thoughts, tips of comments? Leave a comment on the blog. Where you will also find details of how to subscribe for email updates, follow me on Twitter and Facebook, or subscribe for the free podcast.

60 Thompson Hotel Soho New York: is this trendy hotel worth staying at?

2011-07-27T19:50:00.002Z

Sometimes hotels that try and be trendy end up being too focused on being funky and trendy, and forget that at the end of the day people are looking for quiet, comfortable rooms, and great service.

Having stayed at some, I feared that Sixty Thompson in Soho New York would be one of the former - as they make much of their style, attitude and locations in trendy parts of town. I had also read mixed reviews, including those talking about the place being a bit shabby.

Overall, I was impressed with the hotel. I found the location was great (right within easy access of all that Soho has to offer) but in a quiet spot. I found the decor stylish, without being overly done. The staff almost without exception were friendly, genuine and chatty.

The hotel is not cheap, but not many are in New York. I had asked for a room higher up as heard that the lower rooms can suffer from noise from the trendy bar on the lobby floor. And it was quiet and peaceful.

The room was a decent size, with decent sized bed (though not as comfy as some of the chain hotels), sofa, big TV. But no desk to be able to sit and work at. This was a miss as sure these days even people not on work also like to sit on a laptop and so on. The wireless access is expensive at $14.75, and it costs per device and so if you attaching a work laptop and maybe a personal iPad you pay twice.

The bathroom was great, and had shower and no bath. Something more common these days.

Room service was very fast and very friendly. The restaurant downstairs, which is a Thai fusion, was not that good in my view. It is very popular and although I was so-so on the food, they did amazing cocktails (especially the Classic Moijto)

There is a very small fitness room in the basement that was average. But enough stuff to have a decent workout.

The hotel was good at checking and watching activity on twitter @60_thompson and noted comments and so on through my stay. This was a nice touch too.

Overall a pleasant place to stay. Good alternative to chains...

60 Thompson Hotel - Soho - New York: Room 85

Watch the video I made of Room 85 I stayed in:

Book 60 Thompson Hotel New York

Do you have any thoughts, tips of comments? Leave a comment on the blog. Where you will also find details of how to subscribe for email updates, follow me on Twitter and Facebook, or subscribe for the free podcast.

Hotel Review
New York City

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Review

2011-07-23T11:10:00.002Z

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class has been in the current format for some years now, and it remains one of the more innovative and unusual layouts, with the herringbone layout so every seat has aisle access. This is a positive as unlike other airlines business class where you get someone climbing over you when lying down, inevitably they kick you and wake you up.

Overall the seats in Upper Class are very clever as you have one side that you sit on (as per the picture above) and then when you want to sleep or lie down, you push a button and the seat flips over and turns into a flat solid bed. You then are given a mat and a very comfy duvet.

Like most business class these days, in Virgin there is an on demand movie, TV show and games service. There is a very large choice of movies, and both recent and new releases.

The food, for me, is more hit and miss. There is a choice of starters and main courses. There is usually a big choice of wine.

In Upper Class there is also a bar area where people sometime congregate, and so a tip is when choosing seats is to avoid getting too close to it as if you have rowdy group it can be a bit distracting.

When selecting seats and travelling by yourself, my tip is to choose one that is in the section where you do not have seats opposite you. These tend to then be very quiet and private.

The downside of the layout of the seats overall is that if people are travelling in a group or family, to be able to talk and interact they need to shout across to each other...

The big plus of the Virgin Upper Class is that you get access to the amazing Virgin lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3. This is really quite something and worth making sure you allow time to enjoy it. To read more read my posting about it: click here

Overall Virgin Upper Class is impressive and comfortable. The crew are informal and chatty.

Virgin Atlantic Lounge Terminal 3 Heathrow

My Tips for Travellers App: available on iTunes, Android Marketplace, Cisco AppHQ

2011-07-16T16:44:00.000Z

Consistently one of the top 20 travel podcasts on iTunes since the launch, it has been almost a year since the launch of my iPhone/ iPod Tips for Travellers app.

It is available right now on iTunes App store for just $1.99 or £1.19

It is also available for Android Phones via Android Marketplace, and now also on the Cisco AppHQ

Click here now to find it in the iTunes App store

FREE Tips for Travellers: Most popular destinations eBook
If you buy the App, you will get access to the exclusive Tips for Travellers Most Popular Destinations eBook included in the purchase. You can access it via the links in the show extras! The eBook will be constantly updated and include all episode extra content

WATCH A VIDEO AND DEMO OF THE APP

Click here now to find it in the iTunes App store

More about the app:
Developed by Wizzard media, experts at creating apps for podcasts series, the Gary Bembridge Tips for Travellers iPhone app not only brings you all of the past 50 global travel destinations, but all the future ones automatically - along with show extras only available via the app that will be launched at the same time as new podcasts and is being added to all the past episodes.

The features of the app include:
- Easiest way to listen to the podcast. Including listening while using other functions.
- Free exclusive show extras.
- Email the show with questions and ideas.

Click here now to find it in the iTunes App store

This is what it looks like on the Android Marketplace:

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Your help need! Vote for my Tips for Travellers podcast in Euro Podcast Awards!

2011-07-15T11:45:00.001Z

European Podcast Award

I need your help! Please can you take a few moments to vote for my Tips For Travellers Podcast that has been nominated in one of the categories in the 2011 European Podcast Awards.

It is very simple. All you need to do is follow this link (click here) and click on the VOTE button you will see below the Podcast Picture. Then vote, rating the stars (hopefully 5 stars!) and submit. You have the chance to sign up to their email newsletter but you do not need too. Make sure you click the submit and you are done!

I really appreciate it is you can! Hopefully your kind votes means I get a high ranking...