News from Little Hotels, Edition 22

For once I seem to have been able to get this newsletter written rather more promptly than is usual. Just a month has passed since the last one. The main reason for this is a piece of information that we want to get to you as soon as possible (see "Facebook" below). The second reason is because I have a few more things to say. So here goes .....

Facebook

We have just started up our new page on Facebook. Have a look at it here. If you like it and would like to keep track of what is happening at Little Hotels, click the "Like" link. Facebook will show some of the news and special offers that we put on our "News and Offers" page too, but is also an opportunity express more opinions, be a bit more chatty, and most importantly receive your comments about the postings.

We also have a Twitter page, but we feel rather frustrated by the restriction on the number of characters. You can follow us from there too though.

Recent New Hotels

I am always impressed by an architect or designer who can mix up the styles and create a harmonious whole, and that's just what has happened at Hotel Viura. All around is a traditional old Spanish village with some substantial historic buildings including a 16th century Baroque church, yet the hotel is an ultra-modern fantasy. And it works so well! Luxury in La Rioja.

Think of all the most evocative place names in the south of France: French Riviera, Côte d'Azur, Nice, Cannes, Cap d'Antibes, Monte Carlo. One hotel page that features all those names is Villa St Maxime. This is a very stylish designer hotel within easy reach of all those magic places, located about 5 miles inland, between Nice and Antibes. The views of the Mediterranean are spectacular.

Finally here's a new addition to Villas of Spain, a modern two-bedroom villa called Casa Lila in the little village of Punta de Las Mujeres. It's right on the coast, but being on Lanzarote, being on the coast doesn't mean having to be surrounded by concrete. It's a nice cosy villa for four (plus, perhaps, one or two extra children), the pool shared by just six villas is right in front and the sea is only 100 metres away. Ideal!

Design Changes

We have been making some design changes to Little Hotels of the Balearics. Each hotel page now has a series of tabs near the bottom where you can select prices, availablility information, enquiry and booking forms and opinions and reviews both from us and other visitors to the hotel. As a result of this, we are now able to show up-to-date availability information for some hotels (not all!) which will enable our visitors to go straight to a reservation with a high degree of confidence that the room and dates they ask for will be available. We hope you like it, but please tell us if you don't, or if you think there is anything else that we could improve. Just e-mail office@littlehotels.co.uk.

Where Have All the Australians Gone?

To Spain, it would seem! We have been amazed at the quantity of bookings we have received from the Antipodes this year. But when we checked up on the exchange rate, it wasn't so surprising. Since the beginning of 2009 the euro has become 30% cheaper against the Australian dollar. Of course Australians have great beaches, glorious mountains and stunning countryside of their own, so what do they travel halfway around the world for? The history. Typically they are visiting Granada, Córdoba, Seville, Barcelona and Madrid.

Americans have also benefitted from the weak euro and can now see their US dollars stretch 15% further than they would have just six months ago. Even we Brits are really not so badly off: the exchange rate has gone nearly 10% in our favour since the sterling low at the beginning of 2009.

I commented in the last newsletter about the amazing correlation between British weather and our level of bookings. The relatively balmy April this year chopped a chunk off our expectations. Eventually though everyone realises that they need a holiday, and a "barbecue summer" in England is no more likely this year than last. It just seems that this year more than most, people are leaving their plans to the last minute. Booking levels for June are very healthy, and we are just beginning to see a sharp rise in people looking ahead to July and August, though there are still plenty of bookings coming in for June, and even May! Don't leave it too long, though.

Iceland

We've had Cod Wars (those of us old enough to remember, anyway), dodgy banks and now volcanoes. This latter one has really caused a bit of pain over the last couple of months, hitting business travellers, holidaymakers, airlines and hotels alike. Ever since the arrival of the jet age, there have been few outbursts of volcanic ash clouds interfering with busy air routes though a few isolated incidents seemed to cause a super-cautious reaction on the part of the authorities. Volcanic ash is going to be with us for a while longer so it has necessitated a more reasoned consideration than the simple knee-jerk no-fly response that first appeared. In the last few days a much more reasoned approach has evolved, including a change to the permissible ash density (still a microscopic 0.004 g per cu m), the close involvement of aircraft and engine manufacturers and much better methods for establishing where and at what density the ash is lying. The whole aviation industry remains obsessively safety-conscious, but this seems to us to be a sensible way forward. Flybe is one of the first airlines to partner up with their aircraft and engine suppliers in this "joined-up" solution to the problem and they have estimated that the 380 cancellations they suffered recently would have been reduced to just 21 under the new rules.


If you haven't yet booked your summer holiday, now is the time to start thinking seriously about it. There are good deals from the airlines and many of our hotels are offering discounts too. Just pick your destination:
Mainland Spain
Balearic Islands
Canary Islands
France
Morocco
or maybe you prefer a villa or other self-catering

Happy holidays!

Paul Melhuish

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