I recently had the opportunity to travel Sandbanks, a small piece of land that projects out into the English Channel at Poole in Dorset, England. Dubbed as Britain’s “Palm Beach”, this beautiful piece of land is ranked fourth in the world for having the highest land value. The area has some of the most exclusive homesteads in England, while its waters are widely used for water sports, yachting and sailing.

Sandbanks has three hotels, one of which is the Haven Hotel, constructed in 1887. The Haven was built on the site of another hotel called the North Haven Inn. It was the first hotel to be built in the Sandbanks in 1838. It is historically important for being the first hotel to have a wireless transmitter in 1899. Guglielmo Marconi carried out some of his first wireless telegraphy experiments from the Haven, and today, the hotel pays homage to Marconi with its Marconi Lounge, in which photographs and information on these experiments is on display. The Haven was purchased in 1976 by the hotel chain FJB Hotels.

The hotel reminded me of an old-style resort hotel with beautiful furnishings and decor. I thought the history behind the hotel lent it a certain ambience that could not be missed, but having stayed there once, I wouldn’t recommend staying there again.

The room price far exceeds the services that we received there. We had booked a room with two twin beds and when we arrived, we realized that we would have to move the furniture around on our own. The shower in our room didn’t work properly and despite our complaints, it was never fixed and we had cold showers for most of the weekend. The hotel obviously uses its name and place in history to charge outrageous sums of money for meals and snacks. I was quite surprised to see that La Roche restaurant is a critically acclaimed restaurant with two AA red Rosettesa for the sixteenth year in succession. I think the restaurant depends a bit too much on those awards speaking for themselves, as I found the food overpriced and not particularly tasty. Nevertheless, the location is stunning and the beautiful daytime and evening views certainly helped to take the edge off of my disappointment over the quality of the food.

All in all, I would not stay here again. At $160GBP ($252USD) per night, I would rather spend my money elsewhere.

The Haven Hotel, Sandbanks at Poole in Dorset, England is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

In 2004, the Hotelstars Union, which was established in Europe,  took a step forward in revolutionizing the way hotels are classified throughout Europe and the surrounding area. Today, over a dozen countries in Europe have standardized their criteria for hotel ratings and by mid-2012, the concept will be applied in countries all over Europe.

The following info graphic was developed to show you all of the facilities and services that hotels must provide based on their star rating. Viewers can use this tool to help make decisions about the hotel choices.

How the Hotel Stars Ratings Works by Easytobook.com

How Do Hotel Star Ratings Work? is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

The Cargese Resort

Located on the west coast of Corsica, the Cargese Resort of France offers stunning views Gulf of Sagone and of Chiumi beach. This resort offers bungalow styled accommodations that are spread over the resort’s 32 acres. Cargese is a nature lover’s dream as the grounds are teeming with wildlife, and offers a variety of outdoor activities that can be great for both children and adults. The resort’s close proximity to the Mediterranean also allows for it to deliver a great selection of seafood daily.

Club Med Village of Beldi

The Beldi Resort of Turkey is located along the Mediterranean coastline just south of the Taurus Mountains which are inundated with various ancient ruins. The resort is also a part of the Turkish Riviera, an area in which both history and mythology are fused as one. At the Beldi resort, guests can either choose to stroll through one of the hotel’s many parks, groves, and gardens, or choose to embark on an adventure to the markets of ancient ruins.

The Resort of Napitia

Located just outside of the hustle and bustle normally associated with Italy’s cities is the resort Napitia. Napitia is located in the south of Italy, and the Club Med resort is situated on a clabria beach which produces the calming smells of eucalyptus and pine. This resort is a particularly good choice for families as it allows them access to some of Italy’s best historic destinations while also providing all the comforts and activities normally associated with a all-inclusive resort.

If you are looking to book a vacation in Europe this year, but want all of the comforts and ease of an all-inclusive resort, consider booking your vacation at one of the resorts listed above. Europe is a great place to visit, but many find the tight rooms and noisy cities to be too much. With an all-inclusive resort you are able to enjoy both large and spacious accommodations while also frequenting any point of interest the country you are staying in has to offer.

Incredible All-Inclusive Resorts in Europe is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

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Galactic Suite Space Resort, Barcelona, Spain

Claramunt expects other space hotels to follow. As such, he has established the world’s largest chain of space resorts, Galactic Suite Limited (GSL). The cost for a three-night stay at Galactic Suite is steep at €3 million per person. Despite the cost, the hotel has seen a total of 38 bookings made since January 2008, with the majority of reservations coming from the United States. The three-bedroom suite will comprise of four modules that connect to a central enclosed area. Each module will have a window that slides back for a view of Earth. Each room is 7 meters in length and 4 meters in height, with protuberances that will allow guests to attach themselves when they are eating, viewing or sleeping. Specialized Velcro suits are provided to guests to allow them to stick to the walls to avoid the feeling of weightlessness.

The world’s first outer space spa will also be introduced at Galactic Suite, featuring a zero gravity spherical container with a water bubble of 201. Guests can ‘play’ with the water bubble, dividing it into an infinite number of separate bubbles in a weightless environment.

The project, in addition to its orbiting hotel, will also include a spaceport on an island in the Caribbean. The facility be provide astronaut training to passengers lasting 18 weeks. During training, guests will be allowed to bring their families to the spaceport to relax in the lush tropical accommodations in the days leading up to departure.

Unusual Hotels: Galactic Suite Space Resort in Barcelona, Spain is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

It’s 9am and there are men hanging on ropes outside our bedroom window peering in at us while we sleep. They’re just window washers, but it would’ve been nice if someone from the Novotel Hotel in Kota Kinabalu had let us know they were dropping by. I would’ve put on my pretty nightgown or gotten dressed at least!

John and I are all about backpacking, but we also enjoy staying at nice hotels when we can afford it. This trip to Kota Kinabalu was a short trip, so we decided to live it up a little and stay somewhere nice for a day or two before we set off on our sea and jungle adventures. With that said, we were still looking to save a little money and that is why we chose to stay at the Novotel. It was one of the few nice hotels in Kota Kinabalu that didn’t have construction going on (or so we were told), they offered a free tour, free breakfast, free Internet and an additional free night. We had never stayed at a Novotel before, but after our first night in Kota Kinabalu, we are pretty sure that we won’t ever stay at a Novotel property ever again.

Here are a few other things that left us feeling cold about our stay at the Novotel:

*No one told us that there would be people hanging outside our windows at 9am in the morning.

*No one told us there was construction going on near the swimming pool.

*Our bathtub was streaked in grime and didn’t drain properly. I ended standing in eight inches of water for my shower.

*The food was terrible. The hotel buffet breakfast was cold: sausages, potatoes, and eggs were all slick with cold congealed grease. When John asked the chef for a fresh omelet, the chef pointed to a lone congealed omelet on a plate and said, “Help yourself!”

*No one could be bothered to give us any information on car rental agencies in the area. We stopped by three times to speak with someone and were finally told that we should just book online. What’s the point of having a concierge if you’re going to tell your guests to do it themselves? (At Le Meridien, someone helped us rent a car within ten minutes of our arrival.)

*One of the perks of this package was supposed to be a wildlife tour. We were picked up at the airport by the hotel tour guide, and he seemed really nice and resourceful. He handed us a brochure and told us to pick our tour. We started getting a little excited to see our choices, and I commented that the tour more than made up for the price of a $80 USD room. Alas, when we got to the hotel, we were told that we would be picked up the following day at 9:20am. We asked where we were going and they told us our tour was a trip to the zoo! We asked the clerk to take us off the tour list as we weren’t interested in going to the zoo. It wasn’t a big deal and we weren’t disappointed until we received several phone calls the next morning urging us to hurry up and get downstairs as the bus was going to leave without us! That’s when we noticed the men washing our windows and having a good old gander at me in my undies. Lovely.

Workmen's Ropes Outside our Window

After our first night there, John and I talked about staying on for the additional three nights. We decided we wanted to cut our losses and move on. We explained our disappointment about the room and the services, and told them that we didn’t want an upgrade, we just wanted a refund on our credit card so that we could move on.

The management asked us to stay for an extra half hour while they investigated the problems. We ended up going back twice to find out if they could refund our credit card for the remainder of our stay. That half hour stretched into an hour, and by that time, we were absolutely furious that we had already wasted half of day of our vacation dealing with hotel issues. The manager offered us a room upgrade and we figured we could spend the rest of the afternoon having a few drinks and lazing around by the pool for a few hours. That idea went kaputch when we got to the swimming pool and found out that not only is it under construction, but a family that was having lunch in the shade had also reserved all the sunbeds. There was nowhere for us to sit, the pool staff told us we should have reserved two seats, and that’s when we decided to cut our losses and get the hell out of Dodge, so to speak.

We both found it really ironic that Novotel is in the same price range as Le Meridien and the Hyatt. The attention to detail and the level of service that we received at Le Meridien (our next destination) doesn’t even compare to the Novotel. In fact, if I had to compare the two, then I say that Novotel had no guest service to speak of.

Despite how awful our first night was at the Novotel, we still ended up paying full price for our first night there. The way we were treated at Novotel made me angry enough to write to their headquarters. When we heard back from them, they literally had an excuse for every complaint we had.

Well, they say first impressions make a lasting impression. I can say with 100% certainty that we will never ever stay at the Novotel ever again.

Novotel, Kota Kinabalu, Borneo Malaysia is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

We have no complaints with our stay at the Sunshine Inn. We were in Smithers for a wedding and stayed at the Sunshine Inn for three days. When we first booked with the Inn, we thought the $120 price per night was really expensive for what we got. We still feel that we overpaid, but the truth is that all hotel and motel options in Western Canada are ridiculously overpriced.

Despite the price, we were quite happy with our room. It was clean and comfortable, with every convenience thoughtfully included. We enjoyed a free Continental breakfast each morning, we had a stunning view of the mountain, free high-speed Internet, free parking, and complimentary tickets to the town community center that included full gym services and a swimming pool.

The thing we liked best about the hotel, though, is the third-floor observatory deck. We ended up saving money by purchasing food at the local grocery store and grilling every evening, and since all the guests in the hotel were there for the wedding, we had two terrific evenings drinking beer on the deck and chatting the night away.  The management staff were super nice. They even dragged out some patio lights for us as the night closed in.

The terrific service, friendly staff, and attention to detail more than made up for the price. We definitely recommend staying at the Sunshine Inn, and we give it a rating of 7.5 out of 10.

Sunshine Inn, Smithers, British Columbia is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

The Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge was a free night stay for us. A place like this, at $260 a night, is out of our range completely, but I was awarded a free night’s stay through one of my travel points programs.

First off, I’d like to stay that we really enjoyed our stay at the Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge, but neither of us felt it was worth the price of the room.

As with most hotels in Jasper National Park and Banff National Park, the price is excessive and aren’t worth what you’re paying. Parking was $12 a day and it was not included with our stay.

The staff was extremely courteous and easy-going. Everyone I met at the hotel stopped to chat and asked how we were enjoying our stay in Banff.

The front lobby of the lodge is constructed of wood and stone in the tradition of a mountain lodge with a large fireplace, a giant chandelier, cozy armchairs and authentic Canadian handicrafts.

Our room had two extra comfy king-sized beds. Caleb was thrilled to have his own bed, since he had been sleeping on hide-a-beds and couches of most of the trip. The bathroom was huge with a nice deep tub and ornate fixtures. We also had a fireplace in our room, and we had a commanding view of the inspirational mountain scenery.

We really enjoyed the Grotto spa with its warm mineral swimming pool, hot tub and steam sauna. After a long day of driving and wandering around on the Athabasca glacier, being able to sit back and relax in steamy heated goodness felt out of this world!

Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

To say that we were not impressed with the Tonquin Motor Inn in Jasper National Park is an understatement. At $180 a night, it was a complete rip-off!

The parking lot was absolute chaos and despite the fact that parking was supposed to be included in the price of our room, we weren’t able to use the parking space in front of our room because the staff were using it for a garbage area. We ended up parking on the far side of the hotel.

Our room was on the third floor overlooking the parking lot, there weren’t any elevators or ramps, so we ended up lugging our stuff up three flights of stairs. We stopped to talk to an elderly couple who also had a lot to say about the hotel. They were upset about being placed on the third floor. They felt that the staff should have taken their age into consideration, and they were very disappointed with the lack of service.

The rooms themselves were oddly laid out. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in a room with such inconveniently placed electrical outlets. The main outlet behind the computer desk was a mess of wires and plugs. We counted up to eight plugs and decided not to use that outlet. The only other option for outlets was behind the air conditioning unit, which we had to move out of the way.

The swimming pool also wasn’t very inviting. Little Caleb took one look at it and said, “That pool looks yucky.”

The sad thing about most hotels in western Canada is that they totally take advantage of visitors to the area by asking for unbelievable rates. We have enjoyed traveling in Canada, but the next time we’re out this way, we’ll bring our camping gear along.

Tonquin Motor Inn, Jasper National Park is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

Carrie and I do almost all of our booking through Priceline when we’re staying in major cities in North America. We decide how much we want to pay for a night and put in a bid. We never know where we’re going to end up, but that’s part of the fun. We’ve stayed at some really nice places – places we probably wouldn’t have stayed at on our own – in the past five years.

Unfortanately, the Westin in Edmonton was a miss for us this time around. We really didn’t enjoy our stay there, and our main beef with them was the quality of service, or rather the lack of service we received. Despite our late arrival at the hotel, the service staff didn’t seem all that interested in making us happy.

We arrived at midnight and when we got there, there was no doorman or bellhop, so we ended up lugging our suitcases on our own. Lugging our own luggage in is NEVER a problem with us, but in light of what ensued, we felt the lack of service added to our overall impression of the hotel. That is, after all, what this site is for.

When I booked the room, I asked that our room be equipped with an extra cot for Caleb. I reminded the front desk again when we checked in and when we went up to our room, we spent fifteen minutes trying to get the door unlocked. We called someone to come and take care of our keys, but after what seemed like a long time of waiting around in the hallway with our luggage, I just decided to go downstairs and get the key changed myself. You’d think that in that amount of time, they’d have the cot delivered, but no, we ended up waiting another 20 minutes for the cot to arrive. We didn’t get to bed that night until an hour after check-in.

One thing we did enjoy the next morning, however, was the The Westin’s signature Heavenly Showerhead. Now, those are a nice added touch to the rooms. Each shower is equipped with a dual showerhead which was perfect for me and for five-year old Caleb. It’s the first time he’s showered with me and had a showerhead all to himself. After a long day of traveling, that high-pressure showerhead smoothed all our travel aches and pains out.

My complaints with the Westin are minor and I haven’t written the Westin off, though I’m curious about the lack of service at midnight. Does this happen during the day as well, or did we just catch them at a bad time?

The Westin in Edmonton, Canada is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here

I didn’t think anything would be able to top our free night at the Park Hyatt this summer, but I admit, I was quite impressed with the Hilton. I’ve never stayed at a Hilton hotel before. The only reason I stayed there this summer was because I was heading to Toronto with a couple of girlfriends and we wanted a nice five-star hotel to bunk down in.

I bid on a downtown Toronto hotel on Priceline and that’s where I was placed. So I guess I have Priceline to thank for a great stay in Toronto and for turning me on to Hilton Hotels.

Our room was great, the service was impeccable, and I loved my stay there. I really enjoyed the modern ambiance of the hotel. The lobby was huge with lots of wood, glass, beautiful lights and tasteful decorations that really made the whole area feel very welcoming.

We were all impressed with the scenic elevator. We whisked our way to the top floor for a great view of downtown Toronto. After we viewed downtown Toronto from a birds-eye view, we headed out into the streets. The location of the Hilton is ultra-convenient. Toronto’s main attractions: the CN Tower, the entertainment, fashion, theater, and financial districts, even the Four Seasons Center of Performing Arts are all within walking distance.

Our room was tastefully decorated with large, comfortable beds and extra dark blinds that plunge the room into darkness when it’s time to sleep. Personal grooming products by L’Occitane made us feel quite extravagant.

We were really impressed with the indoor/outdoor pool. Located on the 2^nd floor, the pool overlooks University Street and there are lots of lounge chairs and plush towels for sunbathing.

The only thing I wasn’t impressed with was the $15 fee for Wi-Fi. However, I found out later that if I had presented my HHonors VIP card, I could have enjoyed complimentary Wi-Fi and access to the Executive Lounge. Ah, well.

All in all, though, we enjoyed our stay at the Hilton. I’d definitely consider staying there again.

The Hilton Hotel in Downtown Toronto, Canada is a post from: Lay Your Head Here

© 2009-2010 Lay Your Head Here