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Road watch for the Northern Territory PDF Print E-mail
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Monday, 04 January 2010 10:32

Driving in Australia's Northern Territory can be challenging.  be prepared and plan where you are going carefully.  One resource not to be missed is the NT Governmen's Road Report site.
 
Traveling in the Northern Territory PDF Print E-mail
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Monday, 04 January 2010 10:20

One travel website I like a lot is the Virtual Tourist site.  A lot of common and not-so-common-sense advice from people in the know.
 
Budget accommodation around the world PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Saturday, 09 August 2008 16:46

Hostels

Britain

YHA London Central

Architecture and interior design company Blacksheep created the public spaces of this new £4.3m hostel, a stone's throw from Oxford Street in central London. The result is a bright, contemporary and colourful hostel - a world away from the traditional dingy image. There are 294 beds in rooms sleeping between six and eight, with ensuites, a self-catering kitchen, common room, lounge, internet access and cool cafe/bar.

· From £17.95 for adults, under-18s £13.50 ( 01629 592 700 , yha.org.uk).

YHA Hartington

A converted 17th-century manor house in its own grounds in the Peak District, this historic hostel is all oak-panelled rooms and squishy furniture. Highlights include the oak-panelled Bonnie Prince Charlie room, where the hero once spent the night, and the award-winning Eliza's Restaurant. For ultimate luxury stay in 'The Roost', a private apartment which doubles as a bridal suite and includes kitchen/diner and flat-screen TV. The largest dorms sleep eight. It suits families too, with family bunk rooms, adventure playground, pets' area, games room and outdoor chess. A new cafe/bar opened this year.

· From £17.95 for adults, under-18s £13.50 ( 01629 592 700 , yha.org.uk)

Europe

Eastseven, Berlin

This laidback hostel, in a great location between the Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg districts in central Berlin, attracts travellers of all ages. It's fairly small, which adds to the friendly atmosphere, and staff are happy to share insider tips on the city. Hang out in the homely kitchen, retro-style lounge or pretty garden (complete with picnic tables) or join a free walking tour. There's a choice of dorms (the largest sleeps eight), as well as private rooms, all brightly decorated, and pluses include complimentary lockers, wi-fi and a modern self-catering kitchen.

· From £15 in an eight-bed dorm, private twins/doubles from £21 (hostelbookers.com)

Oops! Hostel, Paris

Opened last year in the Latin quarter, this little gem is bold and beautiful, with striking murals, patterned wallpaper and ensuite rooms and dorms. The creation of interior architect Philippe Maidenberg and graphic designer Daniela Millas, it offers free wi-fi and internet, and complimentary breakfast.

· From £24 in a six-bed dorm, with hostelworld (hostelworld.com)

Oasis Backpackers' Mansion, Lisbon

Overlooking the river in the hip Santa Catarina district, the Oasis offers budget chic inside a wonderful historic building. Accommodation is in dorms with floor-to-ceiling French windows and Juliet balconies, with comfy mattresses and sparkling bathrooms. There's wi-fi and 24-hour internet access, a rooftop bar, full cooking facilities and a garden barbecue for self-catering, or you can tuck into great-value gourmet dinners. Breakfast is included in the price. Free activities include Portuguese classes, a weekly backpackers' party (held in a local club) and twice-weekly excursions to listen to Fado music. One- to three-day surf safaris with a former world champion surfer cost €50 a day.

· From £16 in a six-bed dorm (no private rooms) including breakfast, booked with hostelbookers.com

St Christopher's, Amsterdam

Ideally located between Dam Square and the Red Light District, this hostel has funky dorms for six or eight, all with their own bathroom. There's a chill-out room, private beer garden, the slick Belushi bar serving good value food and booze, and a buzzing nightclub, 'The Winston Kingdom'.

· From £17, including breakfast ( 00 31 206 231380 ; st-christophers.co.uk)

Plus Florence, Italy

This hostel opened in March with terrace bar and restaurant overlooking the Duomo and indoor pool. Rooms range from private twins to mixed or single-sex dorms for eight. A women-only space offers big bathrooms, large mirrors, hairdryers, fluffy towels and complimentary cosmetics bags.

· From £17 in an eight-bed dorm with hostelbookers.com

La Controra, Naples

A converted 17th-century hunting lodge in the heart of Naples, La Controra is an atmospheric, historic hostel with an arty edge. The rooms have recently been refurbished, and you'll find pieces of contemporary sculpture alongside retro furniture. The lush garden is a great place to relax in a hammock and swap travellers' tales, while films are shown in the lounge/bar area (which is often used for art exhibitions, too). Choose from mixed dorms, family rooms or doubles.

· From £14 in a 10-bed dorm or £25 for a twin/double, including breakfast with hostelbookers.com

Rooms Deluxe Hostel, Valencia

Billing itself as a 'deluxe hostel', this place has many similarities to a boutique hotel. There are 28 rooms (single, doubles and triples), and you can pick the room you fancy - the calming 'buddha' room, the sensual flamenco suite or the soothing Mediterranean room. The open-plan, fully equipped kitchen and stylish living room (stick on a DVD of your choice) offer a modern take on the traditional hostel's communal space. Next to the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, with beach and city centre close by, the location's great, too.

· From £27 in a three-bed ensuite, with hostelworld.com

Further Afield

Equity Point, Marrakesh

A sanctuary of calm on the edge of the chaotic Djemaa el-Fna, Equity Point is a characterful riad-style hostel, with dorms sleeping up to 10, as well as double and single rooms. It's decorated in true Moroccan style, with plenty of comfy cushion-strewn sofas, ornate mirrors and paintings and a softly lit inner courtyard. Head to the rooftop bar for amazing views and tuck into great-value traditional fare prepared by chef Rachida in the restaurant.

· From £12 in an eight-bed dorm with hostelbookers.com

Daddy Long Legs, Cape Town

Housed in a spacious Victorian building, this place could be called a hotel - but the self-catering kitchen and common room blur the hostel/hotel line. There's no queuing for communal bathrooms - the 13 bedrooms are all doubles and each has its own shower and toilet. Rooms were designed by artists, poets and musicians, and there's a lively bar and a cafe serving breakfast and lunch.

· From £38 for double ensuite with hostelworld.com

Imm Eco Hostel, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Opened this spring in huge tropical gardens not far from the city centre, the Imm Eco hostel is like a boutique hotel with dorms - all contemporary Thai decor, with wooden floors and stylish furniture. There are 71 rooms, ranging from twin rooms with private bathrooms to dormitories sleeping up to 12. Facilities include outdoor pool, chill-out common room, library, gallery, TV and 24-hour shop, as well as a shuttle bus into town.

· From £6 in shared room without ensuite ( 0066 53 247 111 ; immhotel.com)

Lub D Hostel, Bangkok

The owners of Lub D wanted to combine the 'explorative spirit' of a hostel with the quality of a premium hotel and the resulting sleek, contemporary property in central Bangkok is a haven for hostelling style-seekers. There's a theatre with flatscreen TV and comfy beanbags, a trendy Yellow Donute cafe, a bar (with free popcorn), a women-only zone and a lobby with 24-hour internet facilities, where guests can show their photographs on a big screen. Air-conditioning and towels are provided in all rooms, from the 12-bed dorms to the doubles with queen-size beds and private bathrooms.

· From £6 in a dorm, special internet rate ( 0066 2651 9501 ; bangkok.com/lub-d-hotel)

Base St Kilda, Melbourne

It's hip, cheap and close to the beach. Housed in a new red glass and polished concrete building, all the dorms and private rooms at Base have ensuite facilities, lockers and air-con - and the girls-only Sanctuary floor offers extra creature comforts (tea in bed, champagne in the evening, Aveda shampoo). Kick off your stay with a free drink at check in, and head to the popular Redeye Bar for happy hour, followed by games and pool competitions.

· From £15 in a dorm room for six with STA Travel ( 0871 2300040 ; statravel.co.uk)

Peking International Youth Hostel, China

In the heart of Beijing, just five minutes from the Forbidden City, this converted old house is set around a peaceful, green courtyard, offering a retreat from the frenetic city. The decor is traditional Chinese, with wood beams, antique furniture and colourful walls. There's free wi-fi, a well-stocked library and a restaurant serving affordable local cuisine. Private and dorm accommodation available, the largest sleeps 12.

· From £7 in a 12-bed dorm with hostelworld.com

Tango Backpackers, Buenos Aires

In the lively, bohemian district of Palermo, Tango Backpackers is a fun place to stay, with friendly staff and spacious accommodation. Several old houses have been joined together to create a rambling property, with a large terrace for sunbathing, complete with showers. Spacious brightly painted rooms have high ceilings and wooden floors, with single-sex or mixed dorms sleeping up to six and double and single options too. There's a 24-hour bar, fully equipped kitchen, high-speed internet, wi-fi and reading room, live music every Friday and an Argentinian barbecue each Saturday.

· From £7 in a dorm, through STA Travel ( 0871 2300040 ; statravel.co.uk)

Hostel Inn, Iguazu Falls, Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

There's a real party atmosphere at this hostel, so if you're looking for peace and quiet, check in elsewhere. The biggest pool in town is the centre of action, and there are volleyball courts, a football pitch and table tennis to keep you busy. Cook for yourself in the self-catering kitchen, or munch on delights from the restaurant. The weekly barbecue and tango and samba nights guarantee Latino-style fun. There are double and triple rooms with TV and air-conditioning, and dorms for up to eight with private bathrooms - and maid service and breakfast is included.

· From £6 in an eight-bed dorm with hostelworld.com
Last Updated on Friday, 01 January 2010 04:03
 
Top 10 hotels in and around Delhi PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 30 July 2008 20:27

Delhi is boomtown, but the choice of hotels is still limited to palaces or pits — unless you know where to look. Amelia Gentleman leads the way ........ Amelia Gentleman of Guardian Unlimited, Tuesday January 8 2008

Most hotels in Delhi are breathtakingly expensive. The country's economy has gone from near-hibernation to frenzied growth in the space of little more than a decade and Delhi can barely accommodate the constant arrival of business delegations from around the world, let alone tourists. In peak season, between October and March, when the temperatures are bearable, it is hard to get a room unless you've booked in advance and are prepared to pay extortionate prices. There is still very little in between the mammoth five-star establishments, groaning with obsequious staff and offering you £15 glasses of wine, and the backpacker dives near the railway station, where you pay by the hour to turn on ear-splittingly noisy air-conditioning boxes, share showers with fellow tourists and cockroaches, and cook your own meals in the corridors. But, with some advance planning there is a third way. If the big city becomes intolerable, it is worth driving an hour outside Delhi to take refuge in some of the forts and palaces on the city's fringes. 

Pataudi Palace

Once owned by the aristocratic cricketer Mansur Ali Khan "Tiger" Pataudi, this palace built in the 1930s is full of cricketing memorabilia, as well as faded remnants of high-society Indian life. It feels quite musty and creaky in the billiards and games rooms, but this is part of its charm. Several of the rooms have four posters and interesting paintings by modern Indian artists. The building has beautiful white terraces looking out over the pool. Only a little more than an hour from Delhi, and minutes from the hi-tech hub city of Gurgaon, the palace is surprisingly peaceful. There's also a cricket pitch, and the Indian food is fantastic.

 

Tickli Bottom

Owned by two British former diplomats who never wanted to go home after their India posting, this is another country retreat, an hour from the city.

A neo-Lutyens mansion built around a courtyard, with pretty rooms, the house has its own farmyard next door and children are invited to go and play with the animals once they've tired of the swimming pool.

 

Beyond the city centre

 

Neemrana Fort Palace Hotel

An hour and a half's drive from Delhi, this recently rebuilt fort is a wonderful place to spend a night. If you are feeling rich, ask for the room Kate Winslet stayed in, but even the cheaper rooms are lovely. It has a pool and great views over the local countryside. There's not much to do nearby, so it's best not to plan to stay too long, but use it as a half-way stop off on the way to Jaipur, or as a one night escape from Delhi.

 

The Manor

One of Delhi's very few boutique hotels, The Manor was originally conceived in the 1950s as a country hotel on the outskirts of Delhi. Such is the pace of urbanisation here, that the hotel now feels pretty central. It has a beautiful garden, a restaurant on the terrace, and roaring fires in the winter. 

 

The Imperial

Only stay here if you have a big budget, but if not, you can drop in for a drink on the lawns for an hour's peace after trinket shopping on Janpath or sight-seeing at the nearby India Gate. Designed by Lutyens, the hotel's art deco inspired architecture is unforgettable, and the garden, lined with tall palm trees, is a rare stretch of green near the crowds of Connaught Circus.

Inside is equally lavish, with white marble and heavy teak but the jasmine-scent sprayed throughout the corridors is a bit overpowering. The water-colours painted by colonial British soldiers which line the walls are interesting and it's worth peeping into the vast ballroom where Indian society weddings have taken place for decades. If you eat breakfast or lunch on the lawns, watch out for huge crows and kites which hover above to steal food from your table.

 

Park Hotel

With its bright pink sofas, lounge music and urban chic furniture in the lobby, it can feel more like stepping into a Clerkenwell bar than a central Delhi hotel. The Park is not cheap, but it has a lovely pool, a good Italian restaurant (which Antonio Carluccio helped launch a few years ago, although standards have perhaps dipped a little), and the fashionable Fire bar frequented by Delhi's rich, young professionals. The main attraction is the Indian restaurant, Agni, which has the best Indian food in any five-star hotel in Delhi. Try their version of Indian street food (which is the best way for newly-arrived visitors to try it, because the real version needs a strong stomach), the chaat platter. Also good is the slow-cooked, minced lamb stew, halim and the fish cooked in banana leaves.  It has the quiet feeling of a grand Indian home rather than a place to brush shoulders with business delegates from Chicago. The white Lutyens-style terraced building is beautiful, but the hotel's three main attractions are its location right in the heart of New Delhi; its room prices, which are much lower than the big corporate hotels; and the presence of one of Delhi's best restaurants on the ground floor. With its sister restaurant in Mumbai, Olive is probably India's most fashionable restaurant, a good place to go and see young Delhi elite hanging out in the late evening. It serves Mediterranean food in the garden and in a breezy white courtyard inside. The food is good (but best to avoid the peculiar bananas wrapped in parma ham for a starter).

 

Ahuja Residency

Right in the centre of Delhi, this is a no-frills guesthouse, which comes highly-recommended. The 1950s home is located in one of the city's upmarket residential enclaves, Golf Links, and family-owned and run. It's very central, and best of all walking distance from the extraordinary shopping arcarde of Khan Market, where you can buy everything from £15,000 antique pearl necklaces to jars of Marmite imported from the UK. Chelsea Clinton bought pashminas here and Cherie Blair came here to get cheap sunglasses.

 

The Maharani Guest House

Simple, quite unglamorous, but cheapish and clean, this hotel has the advantage of being located in the reasonably central, prosperous, tree-lined residential complex of Sunder Nagar, walking distance from the Sunder Nagar antique market, (which also offers Baci, an Italian restaurant with late night drinking and dancing). It's close enough to the zoo to hear the howls of the caged animals, and only a few minutes drive from Delhi's excellent, underrated, craft museum.

 

Delhi government bed and breakfast home stays This is a new initiative launched by the government as an imaginative way of coping with the dire shortage of hotels in the city. The Tourism Ministry has advertised for "friendly families" willing to take in tourists on a bed and breakfast basis. These families are interviewed and their linen supply/bathrooms checked out before they are added to the lists. It's still a very new idea, but the tourism minister hopes it will take off. As a very broad rule, Indian families are tremendously hospitable and Indian food cooked at home is usually far better than anything that you get in restaurants here.

 

 
Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 January 2010 00:21