Looking for suggestions of a top place to stay for my wifes birthday. Something similar to St Geran in Mauritius, looked at Sandy Lane(Barbados) but cannot book flights with airmiles(Star Alliance) and they don't do full/half board. Anyone been somewhere really good.

Cheers
Cammy

 

Try looking through the 'Leading Hotels of the World' - some very nice and very selective places to stay:

http://www.lhw.com/

I've stayed at the Mutiara Beach in Malaysia, which is VERY nice, but quiet, - though you can probably find better if you look through that lot...

A Mandarin Oriental would probably be good - and that Burj Al Arab place in Dubai is supposedly the dogs...

 

any recommendations in Seychelles, stayed at Meridien Fishermans Cove before but 9 years ago. Brochures show that there has been a lot of development since then.

Cammy

 

If ypu want what is IMHO (and many others) the best island/beach resort in the world then you should take a look at this:-

http://www.ccafrica.com/destinations/tanzania/mnemba/overview.asp

Mnemba Island is probably the best place I have stayed in the world and I have stayed at (amongst others) The Fours Seasons (Kuda Hara) in the Maldives, Bird Island (amongst several others in the Seychelles) and Hemingways in Watamu, Kenya to give you examples of the comparisons I am making.

Mnemba is exclusive - some serious people stay there - not everyones cup of tea though as the rooms are basically open bandas, but in terms of service and personal attention it is the best I have experienced anywhere.

If you like what you see I can recommend a good travel agent who won't take the proverbial and also have the resort managers email somewhere.......

Anyway hope that is of some help.

Regards

Robin

 

how about the Sheraton in Basra?

 

Jumeriah Beach Hotel in Dubai for a beach holiday.

Peniinsula in New York for the ultimate city-centre experience.

 

not sure i'd go anywhere muslim just at the moment, we're hardly popular???

 

Went to a (rich) mate's wedding at the Elysium beach hotel in Paphos, Cyprus last year. Fantastic place, apparently voted best beach hotel of the year by the Sunday Times. Food and service were second to none, and the pool terraces were amazing.

Being paupers, we stayed up the road in a B&B for one night and then buggered off to Aiya Napa, so can't really comment on the stay. Tariff seemed very reasonable though for the quality.

 

If the penthouse in the Hotel David Intercontinental in Tel Aviv is anything to go by stay in one of these.
If you can't handle kosher menu Tel Aviv won't be for you though.
Hotel New Grand in Yokohama [by yama****a park with a view of the ocean] is really nice.
Any hotel on the West Coast of Barbados will be fine. Beautiful island, you won't spend much time in your room.

 

I've heard that the Palstine Hotel in Iraq isn't bad.

Get the occasional Tank shell but that's not much to worry about

 

go buy a copy of the Hip Hotels guides - absolutely spot on with 99% of their recommendations. Two I tried in Europe that were spectacular (apologies for the spelling). Hacienda Benezusa nr. Seville. Certosa di Maggio outside Florence. There is a Hip Hotels Budget if you are too tight to shell out this much for your wifes birthday

 

Cant go wrong with Paris... Ahh, I feel the romance already. I stayed at the Ritz with my husband. Not cheap - about £600 per night for a double room.

Excellent service. We werent allowed in the dining room as my backpack opened on the French motorways losing all our clothes LOL.. We were on his R1.

A lot of the guests are damn snobby but I brought a breath of fresh air to the place. Funny to come out onto the steps and be photographed by tourists... right next door to Cartiers etc if you fancy getting her something nice.

Bottle of Evian in the fridge was £5! Eeek.

Loved it.

 

you want a beach holiday?

 

An addition here.. I have been to the Maldives twice and can also thoroughly reccommend Thudufushi... There are lots of pictues of that particular island on my website >>>HERE<<<.

Only 350 x 400 yards square, takes 15 mins to walk round and is fully inclusive including cigarettes. We are going there again next May and my Brother is going in a few weeks. You can book via Kuoni.



[Edited by Soulgirl - 4/9/2003 5:28:22 PM]

 

Another vote from me.

 

moon palace cancun the best ive been too

 

Again, Jumairah Beach Hotel or closer to home the hotel in Monaco which used to be Lowes (at the circuit hairpin)is brilliant.

 

Currently down to Lemuria Resort on Praslin or back to St Geran. I should have said but we have a 5yo so it needs to have some local activities. This probably rules out Maldives. Dubai is still a possibility and Jumeria Beach is a regularly highly recommended place from other folks.

Thanks to those with serious replies, Paris one will be packed away for later use

 

May I recommend any of the Hotels in the Hip Hotel range of books.
They currently have : Escape, City, France, Italy, Budget and Ski.
You can get them from Amazon and not only do they make great coffee table books, the actual hotels inside are STUNNING!

Cheers,

Mossman

 

Funnily enough, there was an article on the world's most expensive hotels in the paper this morning (although most expensive obviously doesn't necessarily equate to "best"). By some margin, it's the Royal Towers at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island (previously Hog island!) in the Bahamas.

Yours for a trifling $25,000 per night for the Bridge Suite, a ten room complex. The previous patron list is a closely guarded secret, but Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan are known to have been amongst those who have suffered this ordeal...

 

Can recommend the Coral Sands Hotel on Harbout Island, (North Eluthera, Bahamas) it's on a 3 mile pink sand beach with turquoise sea, quite superb, but not the easiest place to get to. Coconut Cove on Great Exuma Island is also rather nice.

 

Banyan tree resorts. They are lumpy but the best Ive stayed in. Just came back from 2 weeks in the Phuket one. A must !!!!

 

I practically lived there when we lived in Dubai... ahhh memories

 

Of tomorrow to St Geran in Mauritius, that came round quick

 

I can thoroughly recommend the Hilton Waikaloha in Hawaii.
See here for details:-
http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=GSJS4Q3BZAKBMCSGBIX222QKIYF CXUUC?ctyhocn=KOAHWHH



On the nine-mile long stretch of sunny coast, known as the Kohala coast, Hilton provides the ultimate luxury resort- the Hilton Waikoloa Village. There is no other hotel like it in Hawaii. This 62-acre resort has everything- a 4-acre swimming and snorkeling lagoon, 3 freshwater swimming pools, sun-drenched beach, interactive dolphin encounter program, more than 7 million dollars in art, waterfalls, exotic gardens, trams and canal boats. The Hilton Waikoloa is a destination in itself. Arriving guest cruise on mahogany boats along tranquil waterways to expansive guest rooms. All have lanais and whether you have a garden-mountain-golf course/ full or partial ocean view- the view will be spectacular. Guests may choose to travel through the resort by boat, by air-conditioned trams, or by strolling along walkways flanked by Polynesian and Oriental artwork. This Hawaiian playground offers virtually every activity under the sun - from snorkeling and swimming to scuba diving and nearby deep sea fishing- and some unique adventures such as the Dolphinquest Educational Encounter with bottlenose dolphins. This activity is conducted under the expert guidance of professional staff. The Hilton Waikoloa Village is home to two 18-hole championship courses. The beach course is designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and the king's course by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish. Set among the lava fields and by the adjacent ocean, the Hilton Waikoloa courses are among the very best in Hawaii. For tennis enthusiasts, there are 7 plexicushion tennis courts and a 450-seat stadim court. The 25 thousand square foot Kohala Spa offers European-style treatments including seaweed body masques, baalneotherapy baths, a variety of massages including Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi, facials and a full service beauty salon. For children from ages 5-12, there's Camp Menehune. It is an adult supervised day-time activity program where our younger visitors can build their own Hawaiian memories to treasure. Each of the seven restaurants offers distinctive cuisine exquisitely prepared and presented. From gourmet dining in elegant surrounding to casual poolside snacks or a tropical drink in one of the many lounges, we'll be certain the experience is outstanding. The Hilton Waikoloa Village - truly more Hawaii than you can imagine. It happens at the Hilton.

 

Moon Palace at Cancun mexico or Hawaii as above.

Also Paris use the Relais Christine on Rue Christine..

 

Another vote for Jumeirah Beach hotel in Dubai. Fantastic base for a safe holiday (Dubai is VERY westernised in a lot of ways.)
Alternatively, Oriental in Bangkok or Shangri La in Singapore.
Both terrific (but 14 hours flying time v 7 to Dubai!!)

 

erm - see camk's post above

[Edited by what would scooby do - 11/27/2003 10:41:07 PM]

 

Camk, i worked on the country club at Sandy Lane last winter and i can tell you it is unbelieveable.

the owners,

Dermot Desmond- owns Celtic footy club, owns6% of Man United and loads of other stuff

J P McManus- Owns race horses, K-Club in Ireland and 12% of Man United

Derek Smith- started Ladbrookes from scratch and took it to the top, sold it for a fortune.

John Magnier- (Alex Ferguson having an arguement with at the mo) best horse breader in the world.

Anyway, they've just sunk 500 million into renovating it and building a golf course thats bound for the top ten in the world!! houses at the side are going to be owned by Tiger Woods and some other World stars. plots of land start at 6 million

the penthouse sweet is about 7000 per night and the villa (only one) is 20,000 a night!!!

cant tell you enough how good it is there and so exclusive. i met Jodie Kidd when there ( how sexy ) and played golf with her dad a few times!! Sir Gary Sobers and Desmond Haynes loads too!!!

if you need any info, e-mail me and i'll get it for you. the head greenskeeper is a very good friend of mine.

gav..