Brighton, United Kingdom - The Artist Residence

Me and four girlfriends visited Brighton the last weekend of September 2016. 

We had booked the "below deck - the big one for 6" which was a perfect hang out for us with a private living room and keeping us all together rather than booking 3 separate rooms. 

The room had 4 bunk beds and a 1 king size bed in a separate bedroom, a big sofa and comfy armchairs, a nice bathroom and a separate toilet. 

I would rate the room (5 of 5) and the perfect choice for a girls weekend. 

Location
The location is great and very central, just behind the British Airways i360 (useful marker when navigating Brighton), so just off the seafront. 5 minute walk to the shops, 5-10 minutes to the pier, 5 minutes walk along the sea front. I would rate it (5 of 5).

Breakfast 
The breakfast restaurant is lovely and I had a really nice Eggs Florentine and cappuccino. 

I would rate the restaurant (based on breakfast only (4+ of 5).

Rating
I would give the Overall Experience (5 of 5). The only negative thing we experiences was on check out when we discovered that the water bottles in the hotel were not complimentary (EUR3 each) and with the hot weather we drank all the water in the room (6 bottles per day) which was very expensive.

Links 

• Link to hotel website: http://artistresidencebrighton.co.uk/
• Link to tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186273-d1162253-Reviews-Artist_Residence_Brighton-Brighton_East_Sussex_England.html

Lanzarote, Spain - Princesa Yaiza Suite Hotel Resort

We visited Lanzarote and stayed at the Princesa Yaiza Suite Hotel Resort 23 - 26 September 2016. 

We had booked the "relaxation package" which included the following:

• gourmet a la carte Breakfast in Isla de Lobos Restaurant with sea view terrace;
• daily access to the SPA;  and
• daily aromatherapy on turn down service. 

There was champagne on arrival and we received a complementary upgrade to a suite which was very nice. 

Facilities
The SPA was nice and clean with great service. Women had to purchase a showerhat for the pool (EUR 2) with slipper and robe being available at the SPA. 

During our stay we enjoyed the “A Thousand & One Nights Circuit” (sea water circuit) and the sauna but never booked any treatments as we simply ran out of time.

We also had a look at the gym which was nice and clean with weights and running machines and which offered daily cardio and spinning classes. 

I would rate the facilities 4 of 5. 

Pool
The hotel had two large outside pools, one heated and one cold. The pools are nice and clean. On check-in you receive towel cards which is exchanged for towels.  The hotel policy is that you are not allowed to reserve the deck chair but this is not really monitored and even if you go to the pool at 10am many of the chairs will already be reserved with towels. 

I would rate the pools 4 of 5.

Restaurants
It was a short visit, simply a long weekend away but we had the loveliest time. The hotel was great and we did not have time to fully explore it so may need to come back for a longer stay. There was three different buffer restaurants available for breakfast as well as the choice of eating breakfast in the gourmet a la carte adult only restaurant.  

We tried to buffet one morning which was very nice with a great selection of food including hot and cold food, pastries and a selection of freshly squeezed juices and smoothies and champagne. We also ate in the a la carte Breakfast one morning with a great selection of very well cooked dishes and great service. The last morning we ordered room service as we had to leave early for the airport. The room service was complementary (small selection) with the option to purchase more options. 

We never ate dinner at the hotel as there were so many restaurants a short walk away so we choose to go out for tapas and sangria in the village. 

I would rate the restaurants (based on breakfast only (4+ of 5).

  


Rating
I would give the Overall Experience (5 of 5). The only negative thing we experiences was on check out when we discovered that the water bottles in the hotel were not complimentary (EUR3 each) and with the hot weather we drank all the water in the room (6 bottles per day) which was very expensive.

Links 

• Link to hotel website: http://www.princesayaiza.com
• Link to tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g652121-d290459-Reviews-Princesa_Yaiza_Suite_Hotel_Resort-Playa_Blanca_Lanzarote_Canary_Islands.html

Things to do in Bahamas - Swimming with the Pigs in Exuma

We spent 2 weeks in Bahamas and split our stay as follows:

• 1 night at A Stones Throw Away in Nassau;
• 6 nights at Sandals Emerald Bay in Great Exuma; and 
• 5 nights at Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau.

Swimming with the Pigs in Exuma 

The best tour I have ever been to was when we went swimming with the pigs at Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma. We booked the ocean saffari through the hotel and it was amazing. We went in the morning and got picked up from the hotel to the boat. Not only did we see the swimming pigs but we also saw some beautiful spots of nature and iguanas. 

I would highly recommend this tour. It was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Bahamas and the trip exceeded my expectations. The captain and first mate entertained us and there was also a professional photographer on the boat that took pictures that you could purchase at the hotel gift shot. We purchased a couple of pictures but also took some pictures with our iphones. 

  

Shopping in Nassau
The resorts were so lovely so we didn't really feel the need to do anything else than spending time at the resort.  However, in Nassau we did go in to town one day for some shopping. We simply jumped on the local bus outside our hotel and it was about 30 min drive in to the center. There were mostly jewelry shops and tourist boutiques and everything is tax free. We bought some local souvenirs, Rich bough a watch and I bought a handbag.  

Bahamas - Sandals Royal Bahamian - Honey Moon

Sandals Royal Bahamian was very special to us as we stayed here for our honey moon 2 - 7 February 2016 after we got married at Sandals Emerald Bay Bahamas on 30 January 2016. 

The Resort
Sandals Emerald Bay is an adults only resort with food and drinks all-inclusive, which consist of the main resort as well as its own offshore island.

We booked our stay without butler service (same as we did at Emerald Bay). Our main disappointment was that although they did know we were here on our honey moon they made no effort on reflecting this in our stay, i.e. no flowers in room or special welcome message to say congratulations etc. 

The private island was my favorite thing about the resort, with great transportation over to this beautiful island where we did some snorkeling on the way and then snorkled around the island on our own with the turtles. 

I also liked all the watersports that were included in the resort and we did kayaking and paddle boarding.

The resort was amazing. However, having just traveled from the Emerald Bay Resort in south Bahamas, we found that the service was not at all as good and therefore I would rate the overall experience 4 of 5.

Facilities
We never used the SPA during our stay so cannot comment on this but I did use the gym which was nice and cool and not too busy, and with fantastic views. 

Restaurants
There are so many choices for restaurants. A tip is to recommend them as soon as you arrive as they fill up quickly and some of them are impossible to get into if you don't book them as soon as the reservations open up (a week in advance)/

We tried most of them:

Baccarat French Cousine (4+ of 5)
This restaurant serves the nicest a la carte breakfast and we also had dinner here on our last night.

Chrystal room (4+ of 5)
Looks very nice and food was good too. 

Casanova (4+ of 5)
We had a beautiful Italian meal here. I could have easily gone for the starter only which offer an Italian buffet with all the Italian specialties you can think off including nice pharma ham, arhioches, mozzarella, pesto, nice bread and salads.

Spices (3 of 5)
This is the restaurant that has the buffet breakfast and lunch. We tried it one evening for dinner too which was OK. Lunch and breakfast was good with many different choices. 

Kimonos (5 of 5)This was our favorite with excellent service, entertainment and food is great too. You get paired with other couples, we were 8 people in total around our table with "our" chef. Started with some starters from buffet (including great sushi choices) and then the main is cooked in front of you and the chef is so entertaining. We would have loved to go there more than once but it is difficult to get a reservation as so popular.

Stew Fish(3 - of 5)
This is the restaurant on the private island so we only tried it for lunch. It was OK but nothing more really and we would not have tried it for dinner as so many nicer options available.

Royal Grill (3+ of 5)
We tried it for lunch only which was really good.

The cricketers pub (never tried it) 
We never tried it as we thought so many nicer options available.

Gordons on the Pier (never tried it) 
We really wanted to try this as out on the pier and looked so romantic and lovely.  However, we could not get a reservation during our stay (even though we tried to press that we were on honeymoon). 

Links 

• Link to hotel website: http://www.sandals.co.uk/main/bahamian/ba-home/
• Link to tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g147416-d181641-Reviews-Sandals_Royal_Bahamian_Spa_Resort_Offshore_Island-Nassau_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html

Bahamas - Sandals Emerald Bay

Sandals Emerald Bay was very special to us as we got married here on 30 January 2016. I will write a separate post about getting married at the Sandals as too much to fit into this post. 

A separate post will also be written about the best tour ever; swimming with the pigs.

We stayed here for a week, 28 January 2016 to 2 February 2016. 

The Resort
Sandals Emerald Bay is an adults only resort with food and drinks all-inclusive, which sits directly on a pristine, mile-long beach, deep within the idyllic waters of the Exumas.

The overall experience cant get anything less than 5 of 5.  

Facilities
I never used the SPA during my stay so cannot comment on this but my husband did use the SPA on the day of our wedding to get some treatments and to get ready and he was happy with it. 

I did use the gym a couple of times which was nice and cool and not too busy.

Pool
There is a main pool and a quiet pool. We only used the main pool which had a swim up bar with lots of great choices for drinks. 

There were many deck chairs as well as comfy beds in the shade. There was also sofas in the pool which were very comfy to lie in. 

I would rate the pools 5 of 5.

Restaurants
There are so many choices for restaurants and we tried all of them:

Il Cielo  (4+ of 5)
Italian restaurant that serves Italian food, great limoncellos and the nicest a la carte breakfast. We had dinner here once and breakfast twice.

Barefoot by the Sea (5 of 5)
A restaurant on the beach where we had dinner twice. Each time I had the tuna steak but chose different side dishes to have with it. The ambiance is lovely and the food is amazing. We also had some nice lunches here.

 Le Parisienne (4 of 5)
We had dinner here on our wedding night and on another night and the food were nice but I preferred the Il Cielo and the Barefoot by the Sea. 

Drunken Duck (3+ of 5)
The food is OK for a British pub but not what we preferred for a dinner as so many other great choices.  However, it is great for drinks after dinner somewhere else and we had a great kareoke night here one night. We also enjoyed a roast Sunday lunch during our stay and shared a fish and chips one afternoon when we wanted a snack.

Bahama Bay (3+ of 5)
We has most of our breakfast and lunches here with a great selection for hot and cold breakfast and also great with choices for lighter or larger lunches. We never had dinner here. 

Dinos Pizzeria (4 of 5)
Were nice pizzas! We had lunch here once and also grabbed a few slizes in the afternoons to tie us over before a late dinner.

Cafe de Paris (5 of 5)
An excellent little cafe with a great selection of pastries, cakes and icecream as well as hot and cold coffee drinks. We often choose to walk here after dinner rather than having dessert in the restaurants and I drank many many ice coffees here and a few liqueur coffees in the evenings. 


Links 

• Link to hotel website: http://www.sandals.com/main/emerald/em-home/
• Link to tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g147429-d278089-Reviews-Sandals_Emerald_Bay_Golf_Tennis_and_Spa_Resort-Great_Exuma_Out_Islands_Bahamas.html