Hotel focus
Five fantastic... snug hotels
After a hard day travelling, there’s nothing you want more than a cosy hotel to warm up in. Here’s DialExpotel’s guide to hotels with restaurants offering comfort food and snug bars where you can thaw in front of a fire, single malt in hand...
Hastings Hotels’ Culloden Estate and Spa, Holywood, Belfast, Northern Ireland
The 105-room hotel is set within twelve acres of secluded gardens and woodlands of the Culloden Estate, yet is only five miles from Belfast city centre, making it ideal for those travelling on business to the Northern Irish capital. With its stained glass windows and polished wood floors, its Cultra Inn is the perfect winter getaway, serving comfort food with a modern twist, using local produce. Afterwards, why not retire to the lounge and its warming log fire?
Oxford Hotels and Inns’ Tulloch Castle in Dingwall, Ross-shire, Scotland
At one time, only the clan chief could enjoy a relaxing stay in this 12th-century castle, now the 20-room hotel offers a warm welcome to the modern business traveller. Period features aplenty greet guests - think painstakingly restored fireplaces and ceilings, as well as the gorgeous 250-year old panelled Great Hall. Do as they do north of the border, and banish the cold with a Scottish malt from the vast selection in the Green Lady Bar, while warming your toes beside the roaring fire.
Rezidor's Radisson Blu Hotel, Bristol
Whether you’re on business in Bath, South Wales or Bristol itself, this newly opened modern hotel in the city centre is a great convenient stop off. It has 176 rooms and contemporary styling, but who can the resist the traditional appeal of a fire in its cosy lounge? Catch up on emails with free high-speed internet here (and indeed throughout the hotel) and then head to the bar, which has views over the waterfront, where you can enjoy a well-earned post-work hot toddy or two.
Millennium Mayfair Hotel, London
This elegantly appointed hotel, once an eighteenth-century mansion, overlooking Grosvenor Square in the centre of town, offers a sophisticated retreat from the wintery elements and is just 30 minutes from both Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Warm up in style beneath the black chandeliers in the Pine Bar, surrounded by wood paneling and flock wallpaper. Staying over on a Sunday? Then enjoy a cosy traditional lunch between 12:30 and 3pm, with Yorkshire pud and all the trimmings for just £12.50 per person.
The Legacy Falcon Hotel, Stratford
This 83-room hotel in the heart of Shakespeare’s country is a really historical winter warmer. The 16th-century inn features the oak panelled Merlin Lounge, a fab place to hide away from the cold weather - or indeed read the business sections or perfect that presentation in front of its open fire. You can also have a snack, courtesy of its lounge menu, take tea in its covered walkway or enjoy a real ale in the Oak Bar.
This feature was written by DialExpotel for Expotel, the UK’s leading hotel, travel and venue booking agency. To find out more about Expotel or any of the hotel groups mentioned, call 0844 793 7300.
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Published: 01-02-2010 10:20:00
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