The Swallows Nest at Chelidonia Luxury Suites, Oia, Santorini

The Swallows Nest at Chelidonia Luxury Suites, Oia, Santorini

Monday, 25 October 2021

I'm not sure why or how but the pandemic seems to have made European travel alot more attractive to me. Whereas I would never have considered it before, my short haul bucket list is now growing rather quickly. 

The Greek islands were the first one I managed to tick off and having not had any travel to write about for two years, there are a whole list of posts I want to write about my trip. I've decided to start with the thing I was most excited about, the hotel we stayed at in Santorini.

Our two nights in the Swallows Nest room at Chelidonia Luxury Suites were something I'll never forget. 

As we arrived and walked alot the main street in Oia, which is along the top of the mountain - the excitement set in. I spotted our room in amongst a sea of white buildings that covered the side of the cliff opposite

It looked exactly like the photos and stood out from all the others.

This photo is not doing it justice but it is the only one that has the beautiful blue of the plunge pool and the intense pink of the local bougainvillea flowers; by far the most beautiful room on the cliff. 

The location of Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

The location was perfect. Reception was on the main strip whilst the rooms were a little way down, past a private entry gate and then spread out across the cliff face. 

The most popular Instagram spot in the town - the best view of the blue domes was just before the gate so it was rather busy although past the gate it was very serene and you didn't really see anyone else as you walked along the cobbled paths.

The staff at Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

I can't say enough about the staff at the hotel, particularly Ned who took care of absolutely everything.

When we arrived, he explained every detail we might have needed, dropped us to our room and disappeared. We hopped in the pool as soon as he left and 30 minutes later, he arrived with a bottle of sparkling wine which was a really lovely touch. 

He served our breakfast, checked in on us every now and then and offered to take photos every time he came around which I really appreciated.

Another thing that was really helpful was the virtual concierge; a whatsapp number. Anytime we needed anything we just sent them a message and our problem was solved. This was how we put our breakfast orders in, how they let us know our reservations had been made, how we asked them to book our airport transfers, everything!

Our room at Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

The room was the most exciting place I've ever stayed. We had quite specific requirements when booking, we wanted a cave style room and we wanted a private plunge pool and this room ticked both of those boxes. The inside was white and airy with curved ceilings and door ways and the outside was extra special. 

Not only did we have a pool that went deep into the cave and snaked around corners, with a bench at each end, but it could be accessed from a secret hatch in the room.

It had crazy views across the cliff face and was the perfect temperature so we made the most of it, day and night.

As well as the pool and sunbed area, there was also a secret terrace...

Breakfast at Chelidonia Luxury Suites 

The room had so many different parts to it, each one more magical than the last and whilst the pool was pretty incredible, it was the terrace that took me by surprise.

Just up a few steps up and around the back of the room was our private terrace. With seats carved into the the stone and a table and umbrella set up for dining, it looked out in the other direction over the caldera and the Agean sea. 

It was the most incredible place I've ever eaten breakfast. 

Ned set up our feast and left us to enjoy our first course which usually consisted of breads, coffee, juices, fruit and yoghurt.

And then he was back twenty minutes later with the rest!

It was an absolutely magical way to spend the morning. We ate our food and spent a further hour sat there looking out over the ocean with not another person in sight which was one of my favourite parts of the day. 

It's not often I'd prefer to stay in the room than get out and explore but our stay was one of the best things I've ever experienced. I have always wanted to stay on one of Santorini's cave rooms so I can happily tick that one off my list! 

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Five Reasons I Loved The Rosewood Hotel, London

Five Reasons I Loved The Rosewood Hotel, London

Monday, 30 January 2017

From the outside, The Rosewood is a grand, old building and one that I had never been inside before, I think that made it all the more exciting. Andrew took me for my birthday and we only stayed for one night before we were off to another hotel in East London but this incredible place left a mark and I would now count it as one of my favourite hotels in London. Here's why:

The Bed
Obviously we spent the night in bed but we also spent a good proportion of the afternoon and the next morning in bed too. I’m not over exaggerating here, it was seriously the most comfortable night’s sleep we have ever had. The mattress was just the right mix of firm but squishy, the duvet was thick and dense but not suffocating and the pillows were just right. I love how a good night’s sleep makes you feel in the morning, we both woke up feeling super relaxed and excited to get up for breakfast! (which as it turns out, I wasn't such a big fan of)

The Gym
We go to a cheap pay as you go gym at home so a hotel gym is always a bit of a treat! This one was full of state of the art machines (complete with TVs, USB slots and internet access) and bright natural light from the big windows looking out over high Holborn. Big mirrors and wooden floors added to the chicness. The gym was split into two rooms; cardio and weights so I hopped on the treadmill whilst Andrew went off to the other room. My gym doesn’t offer any extras so I was very impressed to see a couple of antibacterial wipes on each piece of equipment as well as complimentary infused or bottled water, fruits, towels and headphones.

The Location
I walk past this hotel at least once a week and for me, it’s in a really great location. The hotel is less than five minutes’ walk from Holborn station and had everything we needed for my big birthday weekend within walking distance; we started at Hubbard & Bell for breakfast which on the same road. Andrew had also booked theater tickets in Covent Garden which was just a short walk away and if you’re not sick of Oxford Street like me (that’s what working there does to you) then it’s a great place to spend the day shopping before walking back to the hotel to put your feet up!

The Service
We have stayed at a lot of 5* hotels in London and sometimes I find that staff can act as if they are too cool to talk to you; they take your details, give you a key and that's that but the service here was very genuine. The lady who checked us in asked about our plans and then in the morning, she asked how Matilda was and we had a chat about the show. Room staff were very efficient; we asked for some cold water and instead of a glass each we got four chilled bottles brought up to the room within minutes or putting the phone down. Also they worked out it was my birthday and brought a surprise birthday cake up to the room.

The Décor (& the Dog)
I loved the classic meets modern design of the Rosewood and I feel like that is something that makes it totally unlike anywhere else we have stayed in London. You enter though a big courtyard taking you instantly from the hustle and bustle of the street into the tranquillity of the hotel. Honestly, it’s more like a countryside manor house than a hotel in central London. The whole place is very grand, luxurious and classic but without the old fashioned feel; it was actually very modern. Also, I loved our dark marble bathroom and the bold striped carpets in our room

FYI, taking dog friendly pub/hotel to the next level, The Rosewood also has its very own resident dog, Pearl the golden retriever! She’s very sweet and sleeps in reception. This image was taken from her instagram account!

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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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LIFESTYLE: Easter At The Mondrian, London

LIFESTYLE: Easter At The Mondrian, London

Wednesday, 6 April 2016

Last year, I didn't really take any notice of bank holidays until they rolled around and I found myself with an extra day off and absolutely nothing to do. I ended up getting quite frustrated because most times, I would just end up wasting the day at home, very bored. That was especially true last Easter - two whole extra days off and nothing to do? Needless to say, I spent most of napping, waking up only to eat Easter eggs and then fall back asleep again. After that, I promised myself that I was never going to let a bank holiday pass again without having properly thought about how I wanted to spend it.

This year, we decided to make up for that buy squeezing as much as activity as we could fit in over one weekend. We went to The Ivy Grill for breakfast and YO Sushi and Big Easy for dinner but in between all of that, we booked ourselves in at The Mondrian for two nights stay!

As well as staying in their smaller rooms in the past, we have had the amazing opportunity to stay in a couple of their biggest rooms so going back to a mid level room, I was a bit worried that it was be a little disappointing. But of course, it wasn't and it just shows that you don't have to stay in the biggest most delux room to get the full luxury of the hotel! This time we stayed in a river view suite and it was the perfect base for our weekend!

The room features a super soft, king size bed with a big TV opposite, gotta be comfy for all that come dine with me! They also always leave us a couple of bottles of water next to our bed which is nice!

Next door was a separate living room area which had a big sofa, an arm chair, another TV, a desk, a whole load of snacks and dining table and chairs as well. How incredible is the decor?! As can be expected with all of the furniture is custom designed by Tom Dixon, I love every single room we've stayed in.

We were lucky enough to have two different bathrooms again! One with just a toilet and sink (that was Andrews one) and the other had that plus a rainfall shower and huge roll top bath. Two bathrooms makes such a difference to our stay - it meant that I could spend as long as I wanted in the bath (and I did) without Andrew interrupting for a wee or to brush his teeth.

The rooms are all lovely and bright thanks to the big windows in both the bed and living rooms, these let in a huge amount of natural light and also give way to the most incredible view over London and the Thames.

I loved to sit staring out of those windows whenever I had a spare few minutes

We were lucky enough to be left a lovely note and bottle of champagne by the hotel staff so after our venture to Covent Garden for dinner, we decided that we were going to take advantage of the living room and pop it open with a film. Luckily, The Heat was just starting as we got settled but in the past we have used their in room film download service! It was so easy and something like £7 to download a film - we watched Bad Neighbors last time.

The next morning we were up bright and early to go to the gym! That not something you would normally hear me say but with all the food that we eating that weekend, Andrew thought it would be a good idea. This was actually my first ever trip to a gym but it didn't take long for me to get started! The equipment was really easy to use!

After a good 40 minutes there, we were back up to the room, washed and ready for breakfast by 10! The breakfast at all three London Morgans hotels is always amazing but I think the Sea Containers is just a little bit more my style plus the big windows mean, like the room, it was full of natural night and a lovely view over Southbank.

Andrew went up and picked from the buffet whilst I went for the a la cart menu - it was a hard choice between mashed Avocado on Charred Toast with cherry tomatoes & soft boiled egg (you know me) or the Crab Scrambled Eggs on Toast with avocado & cherry tomatoes.

but as you can see, I went for the crab! I decided that since we were there for two days, I could get the crab today and the avo tomorrow but it was just so good that I got the same thing all over again the next day! I really enjoyed it and it kept me full until dinner that evening with the exception of a green juice and a cookie. We usually order breakfast as room service but this weekend, we ate in the restaurant with our juice and hot drinks, it was lovely to watch people come and go along the southbank.

After breakfast we went for a walk and stumbled across a food market where I got my juice and a huge cookie! Theres always something going on around there. As I said, we rest of the weekend was spend wandering around the area and eating. Here's a few photos from the rest of our weekend:

There aren't that many as we did spend alot of time in the room, relaxing in bed and watching one episode of man vs food after the other! We did the same thing again the next morning before packing up ready to leave! Not without one last moment spent looking out at the view whilst finishing off my Easter egg!

As always we had an incredible stay at The Mondrian and yes, I am actually looking at out next trip back already!

How Was Your Easter?

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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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