After packing up our bags, not to board a flight but to move home, a (teeny-teeny-teeny) part of me was kicking myself that I’d not indulged in as much travel as I’d have liked in 2018, it was purely down to the house move that we had to reign in any travelling on many, excessive holidays throughout the year. Instead we focussed on two, very extravagant trips abroad in the first half of the year before we bought the house, which I think has resulted in me feeling totally burnt out towards the back-end of this year. Once I sat down and listed out where we had travelled to and the fabulous press trips I’ve also been on around the UK I started to feel quite grateful that we’d be fortunate enough to fit what we did in and around our very stressful house move.
Ah, Jamaica. This holiday was well & truly the downtime we had required. It was a last-minute trip we booked in March, not knowing where we wanted to go, and within 7 days of pressing “book holiday” we were boarding the TUI Dreamliner heading to one of the most luxurious hotels we’ve ever been to. The Secret St. James Resort was part of the TUI A La Carte range and adults only, which meant we received first class service from start to finish of our holiday. With private, taxi transfers from the airport we were whisked through Montego Bay and within 15 minutes we arrived at our home for the week. Greeted with wet hand towels and a freshly made cocktail we checked in with the amazingly kind staff. As it was James’ 30th Birthday we were upgraded to the top floor, with an ocean view room which made the break even more perfect (plus a big bottle of rum was left for us to enjoy too!)
Waking up to the beautiful sunrise over the ocean in a morning was everything we could have possibly dreamt of on our Caribbean trip. We tried to keep as close to the UK time as possible so we didn’t get bad jet lag (a definite must if you like your sleep as much as I do.) This meant early 6am starts, heading down to breakfast at 7am and hitting a sunlounger on the beach from 8am. We’d be tucked up in bed around 8.30pm/9pm after heading out for dinner in one of the many amazing, à la carte dining experiences around the hotel resort. Tried as we might, we didn’t go on any trips as we had spent a small fortune on visiting the hotel so had limited spends to get out and about. But, to be honest, we had plenty of free water sport activities to occupy us such as paddle boarding, kayaking and sailing, and of course, the brilliant all-inclusive mojitos on offer!
We’ve said we would most definitely stay & travel here again – next time I’d want to factor in a 10 night trip (rather than 7!) so we can experience more of what the Caribbean Island has for us to explore!
Whilst we only hopped over the sea that separates us from mainland Europe, this holiday happened to be one of the most exciting trips we’ve ever done, our French Adventure was definitely a highlight of the year. We travelled with Mr C’s cousin and partner which meant double the fun too! In the months leading up to the 9 nights away we planned an itinerary to take in Download Festival on the outskirts of Paris, 1 very short but sweet night in Paris, a night & day in Disneyland Paris and 4 nights for some rest & relaxation on the French Riviera.
Around Paris we used the very efficient tram, metro and train services (despite one day owing itself to a few strikes meaning we got to Paris a little later than we had planned!) and then booked internal Air France flights from Paris Orly to Nice airport on the South of France. It seemed like we packed a lot in to the trip and aside from the day walking around Disney like our feet were about to drop off, we had an awesome time!
We rocked out to Marilyn Manson and Ozzy Osborne at Download Festival, (thanks to Festicket!) which were two artists we’ve been dying to see for so long and what made the festival even more incredible was the food we got to try! Whilst it was weird not camping at a music festival we had a great apartment base in the town on Evry for getting cheap ubers to the site and a Carrefour nearby to stock up on beers too.
Following the festival, we boarded the rather late train to Paris (thanks to strikes!) and tried to take in as many sightseeing spots that we could in the wee-24 hours we had in the city. We eventually got very tired, found a quaint, little french restaurant and ordered a round of beers and steak frites to fill us up before heading back to our instagram-worthy hotel, The Hoxton! We each drank one of the most expensive cocktails we have ever bought, shaken by the hotel’s resident mixologist (which were worth every penny after he created us drinks based on our likes/dislikes) Finally, we headed back up to our swanky rooms and lets just say, falling in to their beds after 3 nights of sleeping on a hard bed at an AirBnB felt heavenly!
After a whistle-stop tour of Paris we were back on another train heading to Disneyland Paris to go wild on the rides. After seeing that a lot of my all-time fave rides such as Phantom Manor and The Pirates of the Caribbean rides were closed we had to make do with going on Space Mountain umpteen times and going on the ride that single-handedly, very nearly made me baba-de-kaka myself, The Tower of Terror (a ride I very much doubt I’ll ride again!) After walking tens of thousands of miles, we sadly skipped the nighttime parade and fireworks (sob!) and retreated back to the Kyriad Hotel for a snooze before an early morning wake up call to head to the airport for the last leg of our trip.
Our AirBnB in Villefrance-Sur-Mer was dreamy. D. R. E. A. M. Y. With a view of the bay to die for, its quaint and typically french interior and the amazing rooftop balcony overlooking the resort was second to none. Our hosts were an absolute dream and had stocked the fridge with some beers and wine for us (how cute?) We spent most of our days exploring using our Marco Polo Guides, we went to Eze, Nice, Monaco – the South of France is without a doubt somewhere I could see myself retiring to (depending on Brexit!) We made delicious food to eat on the rooftop, drank bottles and bottles of delicious red wine, dipped our toes in the sea and we just laughed and laughed, even through the last night when it rained.
It was safe to say that when the trip was ending I felt a real pang to be leaving France, a place I have grown very fond of over the years.
Wow, I feel incredibly fortunate to say that all seven out of the eight trips around the UK this year were working on collaborations with brands. I think this was a pinnacle point of realising that you, my readers enjoy reading about long, luxurious weekend breaks in the UK. They are simple and don’t have to break the bank and lets face it, our home country has some incredible scenery, cities and hotels to boast and I can’t wait to dip in to more of them in 2019.
The year started with a trip to the Dakota Deluxe Hotel in Leeds, the night before my #BlogAtTheBeach talk in January. It’s everything a luxury, city centre hotel should be and had a beautiful bed to boot. You can read all about the trip here.
The following month we spent a long, cosy weekend in the Peak District. It’s postcard-picture-perfect and whilst spending a lot of time over that way with my previous job I never got round to exploring, so when I got to work with Sykes Cottages on some content I was super excited to eat Bakewell tarts, go on nice long walks and check out the dramatic scenery of Mam Tor.
Just shortly after returning from our trip to Jamaica we stayed local in Yorkshire and stayed with the Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa for a weekend of pure indulgence and exhilaration! We got to enjoy a humongous afternoon tea, we had the best massages, we got to do falconry and finally get behind the wheel of a Landrover and push it to its limits. It was one of the best weekends away would certainly recommend a stay here if you get chance. You can read in more depth what we got up in this blog post.
In July we took another trip to the Lake District, this time just off the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake. We absolutely adore the Lakes and it’s somewhere that just oozes relaxation. I feel very chilled out when we find ourselves staring out to the gorgeous, twinkling lakes. We were hosted by the incredible Armathwaite Hall where we had a magnificent Lake View Suite. The view was to die for and so was my temple spa facial at the spa!
Before we headed to Leeds Festival in the August we had one of the best foodie experiences I’ve ever had at the General Tarleton. We stayed closed to home in a small village called Ferrensby, where we ate top notch, three course meal and could saunter back to the bedroom with our bellies full. You can read about the incredible food here.
September was the month we had tickets to see Arctic Monkeys for the first time again in 4 years! We stayed at the beautiful Roomzzz Corn Exchange aparthotel which served as a perfect base for everything, shopping, eating and drinking and close to the arena. Manchester is a city filled with vibrancy and we just can’t get enough of it!
The final UK campaign of the year was working with National Holidays on a trip to London to see Mamma Mia! We had so much fun exploring the capital (it was James’ first time in the landmark city!!!) We’re even thinking of heading back down in the summer of 2019 to tick off more spots and bars we didn’t get chance to try.
A trip that wasn’t sponsored was a quick night away in Burnsall, Yorkshire for a family wedding where we stayed at the Red Lion Hotel (a firm Yorkshire favourite!) – the scenery around the Dales is second to none and I love that it’s right on our doorstep!
As tacky it may sound, despite thinking we hadn’t had many breaks this year, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that yes, in fact we have, I feel incredibly blessed to be able to travel the world and keep creating content you want to read here on this blog – so thank you for sticking around.
Bee
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