Cool tips and hot deals for the heatwave

July 1st, 2009

Ok, so now remember; with a heatwave on, it really is time to take care of yourself so please take a few tips from us

wear a sun hat
slather on the factor 50
keep splashing yourself with water
stay in the shade
drink lots of water

and….

get out more

Try dining al fresco

There’s a new Summer trend in dining and it’s Pop up restaurants – seasonal, stylish and in really cool places – and for a very limited season only.

The picturesque gardens at Gray’s Inn are known as The Walks. Originally designed in 1606 by the Treasurer of Gray’s Inn, Sir Francis Bacon, whose statue can be seen in the South Square, the gardens are the perfect backdrop for an al fresco lunch or special dining occasion at The Griffin Restaurant.

This is a peaceful sanctuary with a truly peaceful ambience, hidden away from the bustling streets of the surrounding city, yet just a five-minute walk from Chancery Lane station and offering ample car parking facilities. This five-acre secluded and private garden is equipped with an elegant marquee offering opportunities for private and corporate summer events from champagne receptions and Mediterranean barbecues, to wedding receptions and formal dinner-and-dancing in the evenings.

outdoor drama in the city

With ecofriendly airconditioning and great entertainment thrown in, the outdoor theatre is certainly a must in a heatwave. Take a hamper and a rug and cool down as the sun sets and the stars come out. London has a number of venues such as Kensington Gardens, South Bank, Regents Park and Baker Street all with great productions on this Summer. Prices start at £5 a ticket.

I’ll be heading to Regents Park to see The Importance of Being Ernest, the timeless classic starring a ‘handbag’ – can’t wait to see how this translates to the open air.

Our final tip for you? Have fun and stay cool.

Hotel offers: London and Cardiff under £100

June 30th, 2009

We have two more special offers for you this week and both of them are under the £100 starting price for a one night stay.

Please check the links for more details on each specific offer.

Think 4* Earls Court, London

This Think apartment is perfectly placed for the London traveller and has great facilities too. There’s even a fridge freezer so you can make your own ice cubes – a must in this heatwave!

Radisson BLU Hotel 4* Cardiff, Wales

This modern hotel in the heart of Cardiff has air conditioning just about everywhere so you can watch the rest of Wimbledon and snaffle your cucumber sandwiches while the players sweat it out on court.

There’s lots to see and do in Cardiff as well. It’s where Dr Who and Torchwood are filmed, plus there is great shopping.

missoni hotel: lastminute.com exclusive offer

June 29th, 2009

If you’re a fashionista, stylista, frugalista or recessionista looking for a designer weekend break, Hotel Missoni is the place to be.

Launched to many a great accolade, the hottest hotel in Edinburgh has a great exclusive deal for this week. All bookings made between 29th June and 5th July will be given a complimentary upgrade to a Maggiore room.

This luxurious new hotel has just opened this month and features the distinctive Missoni look and style throughout. As featured in Vogue, this hotel is more than just a homage to the distinctive Italian design house, it’s a way of life.

With exquisite decor and styling this hotel is bound to be an inspirational home from home for lovers of design, architecture, fashion and fine dining.

Michael Jackson concerts cancellation latest update

June 26th, 2009

lastminute.com shares the sadness of many fans worldwide about the death of music legend Michael Jackson.

We are working hard with the event organisers to provide any affected customers with the latest information regarding refunds.

Updated information will follow soon.

this could be the Summer of your life!

June 25th, 2009

Here at lastminute.com our lives are devoted to dreaming up the best of the best when it comes to doing more good stuff. So when we had a collective brainwave, and the lightbulb switched on, we couldn’t wait to get started on making it happen.

What’s the deal? One lucky person is going to get an amazing experience which will definitely be worth writing home about.

Research out today reveals that almost half (42%) of British workers would like to do something completely different with their time if they were out of work, and a job involving travel is top of the list.

Yesterday we asked our followers on twitter what would they do if they lost their jobs and we got a similar response @lastminute_com too.

For us that is a no brainer! Here’s your chance to fulfil that dream and have the Summer of your life.

This great opportunity entails venturing to a series of destinations throughout the Summer, experiencing new and fantastic places every day, and reviewing the best of the good stuff lastminute.com has to offer – including flights, hotels, gigs, restaurants and theatre shows – reporting back via the lastminute.com blog.

We’re making a meal of this and here’s the menu;

Starter
Over three months – trips to far flung destinations, how about Dubai, New York, Egypt, Paris, Barcelona, and Las Vegas?

Main
Travel over 32,000 miles
60 nights away
Visiting eight cities across three continents

Dessert
A 5* lifestyle equivalent to £20,000

Officially, this person who is selected will be our first lastminute.com reviewer. Unofficially, and this is the good part, this person is going to have the summer experience of a lifetime and send virtual postcards from every destination he or she visits.

Want To Know How?
If you want to be considered for this role, please send a photo of yourself having a seriously good time on holiday accompanied by a review of no more than 200 words, describing your experience, to this email address oneheckofasummer@lastminute.com by July 15th, 2009.

A panel of industry experts will vet all applications, before the lastminute.com Globe Trotter is chosen at the end of July 2009.

For full terms and conditions go here.

5 hotels under £100: Dubai, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam

June 24th, 2009

Wow – these are great late deals to check out and all of them under a starting price of £100.

Our late offers are quite popular among bloggers, as are our holiday deals, but make sure you don’t miss out on them.

Dubai from £94
Prices for one night staying at a 5*hotel in Dubai, on a room only basis and arriving on the 29th June.

Madrid from £51
This city is hot and this price for one night staying at a 4* Hotel Praga, Spain is too. It is on a room only basis and arriving on the 6th July.

Barcelona from £77
Tapas and Rioja, city and seaside all rolled into one, that’s Barcelona. The offer is for one night staying at a 4*hotel on a room only basis and arriving on the 20th July.

Paris from £93
Prices for one night staying at a 3* hotel on a room only basis and arriving on the 14th July to enjoy Bastille Day, du pain, du vin and more.

Amsterdam from £92
Bike around the canals and enjoy the museums and cafes of this historic city. This is a one night stay at the 4* Golden Tulip hotel on a room only basis and arriving on the 5th July.

Prices are correct at the time of posting.

Top secret hotels on lastminute.com

June 23rd, 2009

This blog post is top secret so please don’t expect any fancy imagery or video – we’d be giving the game away wouldn’t we?

It’s no big secret that you can save up to 45% on your hotel stay by booking one of our top secret hotels. Some of you may just be wondering how to do it.

Some basic rules apply, because we have such great prices, we’re unable to tell you the name of the hotel until you’ve booked.

How Does It Work?

Choose a date and pick a place by using our search tool or one of the offers below. We’ll give you the hotel’s location, star rating and description. Barcelona, Milan, Budapest and Berlin are just some of the cities we have on offer.

The Secret

Once you’ve booked, we’ll email you with the hotel name and details. You’ll get the same great service and quality of room as you would if you knew the hotel name but at a much lower price.

London, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Edinburgh are all great places to visit and there’s a big selection under £100 and even £50.

This great blog Appetite Indulgence was very pleased with his Top Secret deal as was walletpop.co.uk.

Tweetup Big Weekend at Butlins

June 22nd, 2009

This weekend was the Big Weekend Tweet up at Butlins which meant a few of us social media peeps headed off to Bognor for a cocktail and a bit of a boogie.

To set the scene, Butlins created a special Twitter cocktail for the occasion (pictured here).

The event was hosted by Paul Walsh from Net.works and Kevin Dixie from fuelmyblog, on behalf of Butlins. After a networking reception we headed to the Skyline to check out the entertainment. Spinning the disks was Topy Anstis followed by a cracking performance from Gwen Dickey, the singer from Rose Royce.

As well as Big Weekends (no kids allowed), Butlins also hosts the Big Reunions (also no kids allowed). They’re great for hen and stag weekends, and of course, tweetups ;-)

spa review: Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa, Cheshire

June 22nd, 2009

Just a train ride from London (1hr 40 minutes on Virgin Trains) and Manchester, is this fabulous hide away which has been given Five Bubbles from the Good Spa Guide which means it is the top of the range when it comes to pampering treats and retreats.

The Location

Far, far from the madding crowd is the 4* Rookery Hall hotel and Spa. Located in Nantwich, a mere 5 miles from Crewe station and close to Chester, the Spa has been created from an Old Coach House and Stables and is the perfect place to get away from it all. You’ll be greeted by a wonderfully Northern welcome and very attentive staff at this beautiful location.

Who Loves It?

Well it certainly is glam up North; this is where the Beckhams got engaged several years ago. It’s also been used as a photo shoot location for the long-running soap Coronation Street. Charlotte Church dropped in just before having her second child last year. This place is really popular with Premier League talent as lots of footballers stay over before a match. They use both the gym and the spa to make sure they’re match fit against the local team Stoke-on-Trent.

Mid-week the spa is very popular with local people from Manchester, Cheshire and Stoke on Trent, while the weekends bring in people travelling from all over the UK. Lastminute.com has a 2-for-1 special on the Day Spa at the moment and many more deals coming.

Inside the Spa
Victoria, my host for the day, gave me a tour of the facilities so I could have a good nose around and see what’s on offer. I was particularly taken with the nail spa which is a real room with a view. Clients are able to relax and unwind while taking in the cascading view.

In between treatments or after a work out, there are beautiful grounds to stroll around. The gardens are currently in flower with lavender and geraniums everywhere, and the property is peaceful and serene.

The Relaxation lounge at Rookery Hall Spa is very stylish and my word, after a neck, head and shoulder massage, this is really the place to sit back, relax and sip a refreshing herbal tea. There is a calming waterfall which adds to the serene atmosphere.

There are lots of facilities included in the package price such as access to a fully equipped gym, the group exercise studio and a gorgeous 18m glass roofed swimming pool with Hydrotherapy pool, Crystal steam room and sauna.

The lounge area is right next to the vibrant brasserie and bar which has the most amazing menu – my favourite dish was a bowl of the very chunky home made fries (naughty but nice!).

Products They Use

The main product range is ESPA which promises the ultimate in relaxation and indulgence. I chose the ESPA Fitness Body Oil for my neck and shoulder massage, which has holistic properties and a fusion of essential oils including; clove buds, peppermint, eucalyptus, West Indian bay, Chinese litsea cubeba, rosemary and lavender. Gift packs.

If you are keen to take some of the special spa atmosphere home (which I certainly did) don’t forget to check out the Neom collection which is a range of luxury organic products. There are oils, room scents and fabulous candles. I chose the Moroccan Rose candle and the room scent.

Treatments on Offer

There are 12 treatment rooms and here is just a taste of the full range of treatments.

Body
Choose from a range of wraps best suited to your specific requirements.

Speciality treatments
The speciality treatments include therapies such as Hopi ear candles through to reflexology, all aimed at resolving spiritual and physical conditions.

Massage
Experience the benefits of massage and individually chosen essential oils in one of the finest anti-stress treatments available.

Male treatments
A series of treatments aimed specifically at male grooming and resolving common male complaints including back problems and stress.

Facial treatments and therapies
A wide range of treatments and therapies focusing on the application of dermatological products to help hydrate, rejuvenate and repair

Hot stone therapy
This technique has been used for thousands of years for harmonising, cleansing and relaxing the body at its deepest level.

Hands & Feet
Specialist pedicure and manicure therapies to help achieve perfect hands and feet. These treatments help achieve softer feet, ease aching joints and of course beautify your nails.

Lion King – the dress circle of life

June 19th, 2009

Well this is truly the dress circle of life.  On Wednesday evening, we had the pleasure of going along to see The Lion King.

This musical has been running to great critical acclaim since 1999 and it’s no surprise that it continues to play to packed houses night after night. Rather excitingly, Michelle Obama and her two daughters (sans puppy) popped along to see The Lion King last week.

What a truly great show this is, as the curtains raised and the music began to set the scene, dancers appeared as if by magic.  They were on stage, in the audience – they were even in the boxes to the side of the stage, as were the bongo players.  I loved the Zebras and Giraffes.

There were quite a few children at the performance who were completely in awe of the players, and they were all wide awake until the end.

My favourite character was Rafiki who came out to meet us all. Here’s a few of us enjoying a reception before the show. 

The Lyceum is a great venue for a show like this because the stage is so large. The seating in the stalls gently slopes towards the stage which means everyone can get a great view.  This is a Disney Production which means it is produced to very high standards and a good performance is guaranteed. 

I would definitely go back and catch this show again, in fact, I would prefer to call it an event. That’s how good it is.