Reviews - Hotels & Restaurants


last update: 06 February 2021


This is a list of my hotel and restaurant reports. I have mentioned in the past the occasional hotel or restaurant, but not in the form of a dedicated report.

This page lists my custom reports. It's early days, but as they say "from small acorns ….".

My first reports, before actually deciding to write dedicated reports were:-
Château de Besseuil, Clessé (2018)
Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud
Hotel Balneario Las Arenas, Valencia (end 2018-early 2019)

However my first attempts at reporting only on a hotel are listed below:-
NH Collection Palacio de Aranjuez (2019)
Gran Meliá Palacio de las Duques, Madrid (2019)
Barceló Cabo de Gata (2019)
Meliá Barcelona Sky (2019)
La Pyramide Patrick Henriroux, Vienne, France (2019)
Hotel 'Principi di Piemonte', Turin
Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, Champillon (Christmas-New Year 2019-20)
Renaissance Hotel, Heathrow Terminal 3 (2020)
Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai (2020)
Sofitel Jumeirah Hotel, Dubai (2020)
Angsana Laguna Resort, Phuket (2020)
Hotel Catalonia Reina Victoria, Ronda (Christmas 2020)
Gran Hotel Miramar, Málaga (New Year 2021)

And on restaurants:-
Ristorante Del Cambio, Turin

However I do mention the food in some of the reviewed hotels.

Other places we have stayed in, but never reported on were:-
In spring 2018 we spent a couple of weeks in the Gran Meliá Sancti Petri enjoying the brisk Atlantic air.
In late 2018 we stayed in the Hôtel La Pinede in Amélie-les-Bains (Pyrénées Orientales), a simple but efficiently run 3-star hotel with an excellent and very health-oriented restaurant.
In mid-2018 we stayed in the Relais de Chambord, an excellently situated 4-star hotel right in the grounds of the Château de Chambord.
For one night in July 2018 we stayed in Hôtel L'Yeuse, a small 4-star hotel hidden away in the Cognac region of France.
For one night in July 2018 we stayed in the 4-star Parador of Lerma, situated in a Spanish ducal palace near Burgos.
In late 2017 we stayed in the Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao, a very pleasant 5-star hotel right in front of the Guggenheim.
Over Christmas and New Year 2014-2015 we stayed in the modern 4-star Parador of Cadiz, possibly the best hotel within the old city limits.

Recently I have been trying to pull together a list of the some of the hotels we have stayed in over the past 40 years, and it includes:-
The Homestead, Virginia (Golf)
Conrad Algarve, Almancil
Grand Hotel, Wien
Hotel Amigo, Brussels
Kaua'i Marriott Resort, Hawaii (Golf)
Domaine de la Bretesche Golf & Spa, Missillac (Golf)
Elounda Beach Hotel & Villas, Crete
Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa (Golf)
Le Dolce Frégate, Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (Golf)
Le Grand Hôtel, Divonne (Golf)
Fortevraud l'Hôtel, Forntvraud-l'Abbaye
The Peninsula, Beijing
The K Club, Kildare (Golf)
The Westin, Perth
La Finca, Alicante (Golf)
Hotel Quinta da Marinha Resort, Cascais (Golf)
Baglioni Hotel Regina, Rome
Le Betulle Golf Hotel, Biella (Golf)
Club Med Sandpiper, Port St. Lucie, Florida (Golf)
El Saler Parador, El Saler (Golf)
Penha Longan Resort, Sintra (Golf)
Château de Taulane, Le Logis du Pin (Golf)
Adare Manor Hotel, Adare (Golf)
Hotel Le Royal, Luxembourg
Hotel Eden, Rome
Doral Golf Resort and Spa, Miami (Golf)
Hotel National, Moscow
Grand Hotel Europe, Moscow
Grand Hotel, Stockholm
The Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire (Golf)
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo
Domaines de Saint-Endréol, Le-Motte-en-Provence (Golf)
Tides Inn, Irvington (Golf)
Grand Hotel Baglioni, Florence
… and many, many more…


What next?


Here is just one list of the 'best' hotels in the world
Burj Al Arab, Dubai
The Plaza Hotel, New York City
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Brown's Hotel, London
Atlantis Bahamas, Nassau
The Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles
Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro
The Brando, Tahiti
La Mamounia, Marrakech
Omni Parker House, Boston

Friends of ours have 'waxed lyrical' about the BelleVue San Lorenzo Hotel on the east-side of Lago di Garda. It's also on our list …