Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts

Monday, May 19

The George Hotel Inverary

We first had dinner at the George Hotel in Inverary on our first visit to Scotland in December 2004. It was exactly what I had imagined and hoped for in a Highland hotel. The stone floors, roaring fires and delicious seafood sold me on the place immediately. It wasn’t until a year later, after moving to Scotland, that we booked a room for an overnight stay.


Hotel is an absolute delight and has been run by the same family since the 19th century. It is the must go to spot for all of our out of town guests. The hotel is a classic 18th Georgian building overlooking the main street of Inverary and a stone's throw from the beautiful shores of Loch Fyne.

Of course being a pet friendly hotel and pub is a big plus in my book. The rooms are huge (especially by British standards) and the bathrooms are well appointed. The mixture of tartan carpets, antiques and oil paintings all add to the ambiance. Certainly the beds are not the best in the world, but with all of the other perks and charm I tend to overlook that one fault.

The George Hotel beer garden is a lively haunt for both local characters and visitors alike with a wide choice of real ales, 100 malt whiskies and an extensive wine list. The garden is particularly nice on a bright sunny day like to ones we have been witnessing lately.

Perhaps my favorite part of the stay is breakfast in the conservatory-style room at the rear of the hotel. In my opinion the breakfast is legendary. A full Scottish breakfast (if you are brave), Loch Fyne kippers, smoked haddock, cereal, croissants and yogurt are all included in the cost of the room. The hotel is extremely popular and books up months in advance. I highly recommended this little jewel and yes we will be back very soon.

Friday, April 4

The Oberoi Udaivilas

One of Oberoi Udaivilas's private pools.

A serendipitous email once again has me thinking about India. It seems so exotic, far away and wonderfully romantic. In the heart of Rajasthan, overlooking the picturesque Lake Pichola and the City Palace, is a resort that is on my list of places I must visit in this lifetime. Voted the number one Hotel in the World in the Travel + Leisure 2007 Readers’ Poll The Oberoi Udaivilas captures the beauty and splendor of a royal era.

Unfortunately there are not many high-resolution photos available for me to post. You will have to visit their website for a photo tour, if for no other reason than a moment of escapism. However, in my search for photos I did come across these beautiful images and felt they were too wonderful not to share. As the revered Diana Vreeland remarked, “Pink is the navy blue of India.”





All images flickr

Monday, August 20

An Lochan Hotel




The An Lochan Hotel (formerly the Royal Hotel at Tighnabruaich) is a stylish and friendly hotel in the village of Tighnabruaich (pronounced ti-na-brui). It’s a Gaelic word that I still can’t pronounce properly. The An Lochan Hotel is a two-hour drive west of Glasgow in one of Scotland's most picturesque villages.

Owned and run by the McKie family since 1997 this small yet perfectly formed hotel is the ideal place to escape the stresses and pressures of everyday life. The hotel boasts a lovely dining room with top-notch seafood drawn from the nearby Scottish waters. An Lochan also has a common room/library where guests can read or play games when the weather is…well…Scottish. Our son loved the library and I escaped to the spa for one of the best facial ever.

The bedrooms and bathrooms at An Lochan are beautifully appointed. The overall look is upscale Scotland meets Ralph Lauren. Our room was stocked with fresh fruit, bottled water and Molten Brown bath products. The rooms also feature a huge ball-and-claw tub, a thick robes and down filled duvets.

This past Christmas we spent the weekend with my parents in this lovely hotel. Unfortunately for my husband he came down with the flu on our trip in the Highlands and spent that weekend in bed. But he insists that if you are going to suffer the flu, An Lochan is a great place to do so.

In 2005, Harpers & Queen magazine voted An Lochan one of their Top 100
Hotels in the World. Judge for yourself.

Wednesday, August 1

Hotel Chateau Marmont




Chateau Marmont is something of a legend. Think of any famous name, past or present, and there’s sure to be a Chateau Marmont anecdote, scandal or connection.

This is the esteemed hotel where Paul Newman met his wife Joanne Woodward, Jean Harlow carried on a scandalous affair with Clark Gable while on her honeymoon, Jim Morrison jumped off the roof of a poolside cabana and John Belushi tragically died of a cocaine and heroine overdose.

Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard has been an enduring feature of the Hollywood scene since the early thirties. Unlike the Garden of Allah, Mocambo and Schwab’s drugstore, renowned institutions that sadly no longer exist, Chateau Marmont is still a prominent fixture.

Ask a member of the old Hollywood set about the Marmont and their eyes will twinkle as if talking about a naughty but likeable uncle who once scandalized and secretly delighted the family with his outrageous exploits.

The risk of being such a legendary hotel is not getting stuck in a time warp. Thanks to the preservation and restoration by New-York-based nightclub, hotel and restaurant impresario André Balazs, Chateau Marmont is still an alluring legend today.