We spent three weeks in northern ITALY, including the Lake District, Venice and the Cinque Terre, Oct. 3-24, ’03, and would like to recommend two hotels and two restaurants that we think are worth mentioning.
• Albergo Centrale (Via Regina, 39 - 22012 Cernobbio, Como, Italy; phone 011 39 031/511411, fax 011 39 031/341900, e-mail info@albergo-centrale.com), located 50 meters from the lake.
Portofino, the jewel of the Italian Riviera, is a tiny village on the Gulf of Genoa where local fishermen and their families rub shoulders harmoniously with the world’s rich and famous whose million-dollar yachts float at anchor in the picturesque harbor.
The little town with its busy piazzetta that slopes to the water’s edge looks across the bay to the lovely church of San Giorgio and the imposing Castello Brown. High up over the bay, the 5-star Hotel Splendido reigns supreme over the harbor.
We stayed at the Hotel Regence (21 rue Massena, 06000 Nice, FRANCE; phone 011 33 4 9387 7588), located in a pedestrian zone two blocks from Promenade des Anglais, in 1999. It was a good 2-star hotel, with helpful, friendly owners and staff.
In February ’04 we returned to celebrate my husband’s birthday. The hotel has been remodeled and is excellent, with individual thermostats in the rooms, lighting we could read by and heated towel racks in the large bathroom. Rooms with two beds cost €60 ($77) plus tax.
We booked into the Columbia Hotel (95/99 Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, London W2 3NS, ENGLAND; phone +44 [0] 20 7402 0021, fax +44 [0] 20 7706 4691, e-mail columbiahotel@btconnect.com). The location is within walking distance of Paddington Station and three underground lines, and it is on two bus routes. Kensington Gardens is just across the street.
This is a former officers’ club for U.S. forces in London. It is now a 100-room hotel, but they still give a discount to U.S. military personnel, active and retired.
On a July-August ’03 trip to England, we found a very good B&B convenient to Gatwick Airport, Castlelodge Guesthouse (28 Massetts Rd., Horley, Surrey, RH6 7DF, U.K.; e-mail info@castlelodge-guesthouse.co.uk).
They charged £50 (near $94) for the room for one night, and airport transfer was included. The Continental breakfast, available to us before we left for our early flight, was a real spread: juices, coffee, yogurt, fruit, pastries and, of course, cereal.
On a trip to COSTA RICA in March ’08, my wife, Sandra, and I stayed four nights at Hotel Casa Alegre (Santa Ana, Costa Rica; phone 506 2 235 5485, www.hotelcasaalegre.com. Note: there are no street addresses, but the website has directions to the hotel).
Santa Ana is a quiet, small town a few miles out of San José (which we thought rather dirty and poorer-looking) and only 10 miles from Juan Santamaria International Airport. The town has a picturesque town plaza and church.
In addition to recommendations found in ITN, a good resource for planning a trip to NEW ZEALAND is the government’s well-organized website www.newzealand.travel, where you can choose what kind of accommodation you want (B&B, hotel, etc.) in your price range. A list of locations pops up with descriptions and contact information.
For our February-March ’09 trip, we stayed in comfortable places and had delightful meals. B&Bs ran between US$47 and $68 per night, including ample breakfasts. Here are some of the highlights.
The only 5-star hotel in the heart of Old Town Dubrovnik is the Pucić Palace (Ulica OD Puća 1, 20000 Dubrovnik, CROATIA; phone +385 20 326 222, fax 223, www.thepucic palace.com).
My husband, Douglas, and I stayed at Villa Alviani Anna (Via delle Rotonda 9 [ingresso Via Rota 8], 80067, Sorrento, ITALY; phone/fax +39 0818073785, cell +39 3337947741 or visit http://villalvianianna.com), March 19-30, 2009. The location is excellent, a 10-minute walk from the central bus and train station (Circumvesuviana line). For those with a car, parking is available on the property.
While our experience of small hotels, especially in Provence, is that great hospitality is a given, we received the ultimate in helpfulness at Au Saint Roch Hotel et Jardin (9 rue Paul Mérindol, 84000 Avignon, FRANCE; phone +33 [0] 4 90 16 50 00, fax 90 82 78 30, www.hotelstroch-avignon.com). My husband and I and our daughter and son-in-law were traveling together in May ’08.