The Junior Suite At M By Montcalm, Shoreditch

The Junior Suite At M By Montcalm, Shoreditch

Monday, 20 February 2017

It seemed like our anniversary passed us by last year; we were on a plane back from Hong Kong for most of it and spent the rest of the week too exhausted to do anything but Andrew being Andrew, he decided to book us a little romantic staycation a couple of weeks later. 

The M by Montcalm hotel is that strange building that has popped up on City Road, just down the road from Old Street Station. We were in London early so we though we'd chance it and see if we could check in and luckily for us, the room was ready so we were able to go straight away. We had booked the Feel Better deal in the Junior suite and it came to around £300 (in October 2016.) Alone with the room, we were given a couple of vouchers to spend in the club lounge on the 16th floor. We didn't get time to spend them but I love all the surprise perks you get when you book a suite, drinks were around £8 so that actually would have got you quite a bit.

Whilst this hotel is the sister hotel to The Montcalm Marble Arch which we stayed at earlier last year but it's completely different. Being less than a year old and surrounded by the trendy, start-up culture in Shoreditch, the hotel is an edgy, modern space and full of young, creative people and that is what we are all about at the moment. The room had white sheets, simple furniture, straight lines and lots of light but Andrew actually picked this hotel because of how it integrated technology into the rooms. Everything is controlled by tablets from the curtains to the heating. He loves all that kind of stuff but it's not something that I'm a huge fan of  because it can be a little bit of a pain when you need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.

 Apart from that, the room was a lovely size with lots of living space in the middle. The bed was majorly comfortable (and sprinkled with rose petals for our anniversary) and there was lots of light coming in from the windows. 


We spent some time downstairs in the gym before coming back up to the room to get ready for dinner! I love to take ages getting ready when we have a nice hotel bathroom and I took a particularly long time here. The bathroom was stocked up with Hermés goodies and staying in a suite meant that we had complimentary use of The Bath Butler. Okay it's not as weird as it sounds, basically its a small list of bath time treats, I went for one called Bubble Bliss and right on time (4.30 to be precise) a woman turned up with a bottle of champagne and a plate of chocolate and strawberries before disappearing into our bathroom to set up. Twenty minutes later she said good bye and left us to enjoy the bath.

The hotel is in a really great location, less than five minutes walk from Old Street station so after we had finished our champagne, we got ready for dinner and walked to The Red Dog Saloon in Hoxton Sqaure. We have a habit of accidentally picking almost identical outfits and it happened again here..

Overall we had a pretty lovely stay and yes, we would visit again. There are just two small things that I want to point out to you guys as they will be something that we actively avoid next time. We had booked the Feel Better deal which included an overnight stay, breakfast and a 20 minute head or foot massage each and whilst we loved the room, the other two parts of this deal were not up to scratch. When we came to book in our treatments (two weeks prior to our stay) they didn't have any slots left which is really bad practice if I’m honest, it should have been mentioned at the time of booking! Initially they were very unhelpful about this but after putting up a bit of a fuss, we were refunded £30 off of the price. As for breakfast, there wasn't necessarily anything wrong with it, it was just a bit of a cattle market. I was expecting an a la carte menu but what I got was a small buffet that never got refilled.

Have You Stayed Here Before?

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6 London Hotels I Stayed At In 2016

6 London Hotels I Stayed At In 2016

Thursday, 22 December 2016

You'd never have guessed that Andrew and I both work in London with the amount of weekend breaks we take here too. What can I say, we love our city and like spending time exploring and enjoying it as well as working here five days a week. Any special ocassion is an opportunity to visit a new hotel and we managed six stays in 2016, most of which were brand new places for us. We stayed in some really lovely rooms so this year it was quality over quantity. 

 The St Martins Lane Hotel: 
This year started with Andrews Birthday in January at The St Martins Lane Hotel. Already huge fans of the other two Morgans Hotels in London we were excited to finally book a couple of nights here and we were both very impressed! It is similar to The Sanderson, very white and eary but much cheaper and in another great location - Covent Garden. A definite new addition to our favourite local hotels. 

Montcalm Marble Arch: 
Next was Valentines day in February and we stayed with the Montcalm Marble Arch. The room we stayed in was pretty amazing in terms of size - we had two adjoining rooms to ourselves but the hotel wasn't as modern as I would have liked. The deal we got was really good though so we did enjoy it and all of the extras (spa, strawberries, champagne breakfast), it's just not somewhere we would go back to again.

 The Mondrian Hotel: 
Easter was very exciting because we decided to go back to our favourite hotel in London - The Mondrian. We first stayed there for Valentines 2015, fell in love with it and have been back five times since; the rooms, the spa, the food and the overall vibe have been incredible each time not to mention we have been very lucky to have stayed in their incredible river view apartment suites (twice). This year, we booked two nights over the Easter break and stayed in a loft suite which was also great.

The Rosewood Hotel: 
There was a little bit of international travel from then onward so our next stay in London was in August and it was a big one. Andrew had planned this one as a surprise and decided we were going to stay at two different hotels over my birthday weekend. Our first stop was The Rosewood hotel which is somewhere I've wanted to visit for a very long time. This hotel stands apart from any of the other we have stayed in. The hotel itself is in an incredible Edwardian Grade II-listed building but the rooms were amazingly designed to still fit with this whilst being very modern. This was probably our most expensive night but we both really enjoyed our stay. 

The South Place Hotel: 
The next day we were off to a new hotel in Liverpool street called The South Place and I think this would be our favourite new find of 2016. Again, it is very modern and quirky - I'd love to go back and explore the rest of the hotel. Andrew booked us a studio which meant we had a free run of the mini bar in the room. I had never been in this situation before so took full advantage of trying out all the snacks and drinks, and anything I didn't have time to eat went straight in the came for later. The room also had a huge marble bathtub for two and large seating area. Isn't it funny how my photos got better though the year. 

M By Montcalm: 
and our last overnight trip into London for the year was in September for our 7 year anniversary. We decided to try the Montcalm again, although this time, we stayed at their little sister hotel in modern 'Tech City' aka Shoreditch and this one we would go back to! Its that crazy pointed building thats popped up on city road and everything in the room is controlled by Ipad. They have a bath butler service which involved us watching TV in bed whilst someone came to the room, poured us a glass of champagne and disappeared off to the bathroom to prepare a rose petal bath. 

Have you stayed at any of these hotels?

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Our Private BBQ Experience At The Elysian, Seminyak

Our Private BBQ Experience At The Elysian, Seminyak

Sunday, 23 October 2016

During our time in Seminyak, we spent five nights at The Elysian resort & like our villa in Ubud, it had a private pool and a pretty incredible bath situation. While they were both just as amazing as each other, our villa in Seminyak had a much more modern and luxurious feel to it.

 We only had one full pool day and the first thing we did was open the big front room windows which covered two whole walls. We loved that our whole garden was in the sun during the day but turning the living room into part of the garden meant we were able to lay in our air conditioned lounge when it got too much. The resort also supplied an Ipod dock so we hooked that up with my nano that I haven’t updated since 2009. The first song that came on with from the Lizzie McGuire movie which had us giggling; Andrew actually loves that song.

After reading a few trip advisor reviews, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my one pool day at The Elysian. They offer private in-villa BBQs and at £35 we booked up for lunch! Everyone seemed very confused as to why we didn’t want to book for dinner, I supposed it’s more romantic but we didn’t want to stay in the villa all night so decided to book ours for 2pm so there was lots of pool time and sunbathing before and after.

Right on time, a whole team of people turned up at our villa and all got to work at once, it was a bit of a whirlwind five minutes actually as we were just expecting a some food and a DIY BBQ to arrived. Two men brought in a big gas grill and got to work setting that up, our sunbed was moved out of the way and replaced with a table and chairs, complete with tablecloth and flower, someone else brought the food (we went for seafood option), another person came as swept the garden and one more cleared any leaves that were floating in the pool; they all did their jobs and then disappeared, leaving Andrew and I with a chef and waiter.

After waving them all off; (everyone was so friendly) amazed, we both sat down in our swimwear whilst the chef got to work putting everything on the BBQ and drenching it all in melted butter. Our waiter first brought all the sides up to the table; garlic bread, potato salad, avocado and a bowl of steamed rice, it wouldn’t be Asia without the rice! I thought it might be a little bit awkward having them there but they made us feel comfortable and we really enjoyed chatting to them.

Once salad was served, the first round of fish was ready! There was so much food. We started with tuna steaks, Mahi Mahi, jacket potatoes and grilled squid followed by king prawns and half a lobster each and every piece was delicious.

Once all the food was cooked, they asked if we wanted anything else and then left us to enjoy the afternoon together telling us to call them when we were ready for someone to come and clear up. They even had dessert delivered half an hour later but I was honestly too full by then!

We spent the rest of the afternoon the same way we had spent the morning, playing around in and out of the pool and relaxing in the sunshine (and in the shade). It was all very honeymoony but such a wonderful day!

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Things | March 21st

Things | March 21st

Monday, 21 March 2016

Coconut Oil

So I was a little bit skeptical about this because I literally had no idea what to do with it and every single write up said something different! But never fear, twitter to the rescue - I tweeted and luckily for me I got four of the same replies so I went with that! Melt it into a liquid oil and apply to dry hair, leave for 30 minutes, then wash out. Easy!

I was a little bit stressed and edgy because I have silly thoughts like what if my hair doesn't like it so I washed it out after 15 minutes but even after that I felt a great improvement in my hair, it was much softer than before! So that's me set up for next time, I'll try it for the whole half hour, maybe longer and I'll let you know how it goes, I'm pretty impressed so far.

Diet Coke Freebies

Maybe you've noticed by now that I'm not really big into make up, I don't wear lipstick, I don't wear face foundation, I can live without mascara but one thing I cant go without is my eyeliner! I'm currently using the Barry M blink eyeliner pen but I got a little bit nostalgic when this package from Diet coke turned up at my door. 

That L'Oreal skinny liner was the my first ever piece of make up that was all my own, something that I went out and actually bought for myself so I was very pleased to see it again! I'm not sure why I stopped using it in the first place, I think it was because the Barry M one was just that much cheaper but with this great deal they have on at the moment, maybe its time to stock up again since theyre now the same price!

From 2nd to 29th March, you can pick up a 500ml bottle of Diet Coke and a L’Oréal Super Liner Blackbuster or L’Oréal Super Liner Perfect Slim eyeliner for only £5 at Boots. That’s a 40% saving (RRP £8.36).

Wagamama Ramen
We love Wagas! Andrew has a ramen every single time we go, but I mix it up and order something different most times although I usually stick between cha han, teriyaki donburi and the famous chicken katsu curry. As you can see, I like my rice, I think thats probably why I havent picked a ramen dish for years now!

During March though, Wagas are celebrating their ramen and thought it was about time that I tried one! They have been perfecting the dish for over 20 years now and invited me along to have one so obviously, I took my ramen expert with me! His favourite is the wagamama ramen so that's what I ordered. Along came a huge bowl of steamy broth packed full with chicken, pork, prawns and mussels, I could see why it's his favourite - there is so much in the bowl! As well as all that meat they also throw in noodles, half a tea-stained egg, menma and spring onions. I was stuffed!

 Andrew decided to be a bit adventerous this time and went for the new short rib version which features a huge chunk of meat! Look how pleased he is with himself! haha 

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LIFESTYLE: A Stay at The Montcalm, Marble Arch

LIFESTYLE: A Stay at The Montcalm, Marble Arch

Monday, 14 March 2016

Ok so I've finally got a little post together on our recent hotel visit. I love when Andrew decides it's time for another hotel break, we spend the whole night on the phone going through hotel websites picking out our favourite room and deal and it's so much fun (we actually did the same this last night, you'll have to wait to see where we booked next). This time we came across the Montcalm Marble Arch hotel which looked lovely and also had a great deal on for valentines. Along with the room, we got a massage each, a bottle of champagne, a bunch of flowers, chocolate truffles and strawberries plus a champagne breakfast in the morning which was really great for the price! We were also lucky enough to receive and incredible room upgrade when we arrived!

We decided to start making the most of the whole day, not just starting at check in so we were up bright and early for breakfast at Carluccios. We found one quite near to the hotel, in St Christophers Place which was the most magical little side road hidden in between two shops on Oxford Street. I had to literally walk Andrew over to the alley before he noticed where I meant. We also had the best breakfast, I would definitely recommend Carluccios as everything was delicious.

I took my new case on its debut outing for this trip and it didn't disappoint! After years and years of using my old family cases I had had enough of walking around with grubby black cases - think broken wheels and handles falling off - So I got a brand new one from Antler!

It's my first with those clever wheels and I don't think I'll ever go back, life is just so much easier now that the case actually moves where I want it to! Mine is bright red, which was perfect for our Valentines day weekend but of course it came in a range of colours. Its hard and sturdy and the inside even has zip up compartments and a strap. I am just not used to this kind of luxury when it comes to cases. As you can tell, I'm pretty pleased with it.

After brunch, we were off to the hotel! The reception was so big and modern, plus it was warm which was lovely to come in to from the cold outside

The receptionist was very excited to tell us that we had been upgraded to one of her favourite rooms in the hotel so we couldn't wait to go up and see it! 

We went up into a lovely big room, it opened out with a huge four poster double bed in the middle and a big bathroom with a bath - heaven! I was pretty pleased with that, but there was more! The lady opened an adjoining door which took us into the room next door giving us another toilet and shower and a whole living room area with a sofa, TV and dining table, it really was such a treat!

We didnt have much time to settle in as we were straight off the to spa for the afternoon but made the most of our room on return - we got comfy and ordered room service for lunch! 

 I spent the afternoon in my new lounge wear from NEXT - Super soft tracksuit bottoms and a baggy V neck tee with the cutest fluffy flip flop slippers!

Of course later in the afternoon it was time to take advantage of the lovely big bath! We filled it right to the top and dropping in a bath bomb. As I said here, I also brought along my favourite shower gel plus my Toni & guy hair mask, I probably should have added that to my essentials post because my hair just cant do without it any more! The hotel had the cutest little Hermes toiletries as well!

and that took us through to the evening! It was a Saturday so all the good TV was on, we ordered a chinese, popped open the champagne and settled down for a relaxed night in our lovely room finished off with tea and biscuits! Andrew likes a good old English tea but had my chocolate digestives with an Ahmad green tea. Mcvities sent over a box of them the day before the celebrate the launch of their Ikitten app - go download it, its as cute as it sounds! 

We had a lovely sleep in that huge white bed, it was one of the best hotel nights sleep we've had actually and I wasn't too upset to get out of it either, not when it was to open the door to breakfast and two more glasses of champagne! 

I couldnt decide what I wanted so the obvious answer was to just order both right? Andrew got a fry up and I went for a plate of fruit and pancakes! Totally different for me, I usually go straight in for the eggs florentine but I just had an urge for pancakes and it paid off, they were so delicious, I loved their crunchy edges and soft, fluffy center!

We had sorted out a late check out so after breakfast, it was back to bed! P.S how cute are my F&F pyjamas?!

We had a lovely weekend and would recommend if you are looking for super value for money! We were pretty impressed with the price when it just meant a normal room but are so grateful to The Montcalm for our upgrade! 

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