Europe

Glitzy St Petersburg
Glitzy St Petersburg
Daily Express

TWO elderly Russian ladies wearing full-length mink fur coats carefully sip mugs of hot chocolate, their gnarled fingers heavy under the weight of gold rings. If there is one thing St Petersburg has in spades, it’s glamour.

December 2012
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Excelsior Palace Hotel – Rapallo
Excelsior Palace Hotel – Rapallo

Along the coast from the better-known French Riviera, is the arguably more scenic Italian Riviera, and here, at Rapallo, perched on a cliff, is the Excelsior Palace Hotel, one of only two five-star hotels on the Portofino Coast.  45 minutes’ drive from the airport, it’s an ideal weekend getaway.   The Excelsior Palace Hotel first

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Watergate Bay, Cornwall
Watergate Bay, Cornwall

Dramatic floor to ceiling windows overlook the unspoilt Watergate Bay with miles and miles of golden sands. A few surfers, a handful of dog walkers and a noisy group of seagulls arguing over a piece of fish were the only beach occupants on this rather overcast summer’s day. Inside, the squishy sofas, daily papers and

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Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow
Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow

There’s something really nice about being able to arrive under your own steam at your airport hotel, fly abroad and then come back to find your car ready for you.  This is the service offered by Radisson Edwardian near Heathrow airport, named Stay, Park and Fly.  It beats all the other options in my book

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May Fair Hotel Spa – London
May Fair Hotel Spa – London

One of the great things about the five star May Fair hotel is its position, down a side street opposite Green Park tube station affording the best of both worlds –  it’s relatively quiet yet walking distance to all that central London has to offer.   Because it’s a bit tucked away, it’s easy to

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St Petersburg
St Petersburg
Savista

Considering that you can now visit Russia without a visa by travelling overnight on the St Peter Line ferry from Helsinki, Olivia Greenway guides us to the best places to visit.

November 2011
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