News from Little Hotels, Edition 6
Summer is now well-and-truly with us: it rained at Wimbledon, Tim Henman crashed out again, and the sun is shining in Spain. Some of you have already enjoyed spring or early summer holidays in one of our little hotels, and many more will be here over the next couple of months. We wish you all a very good holiday.
Recent New Villas
We've not been adding so many new hotels recently because of other demands on our time. Look out for a couple of really nice ones coming soon though.Meanwhile we have added more villas to the Villas of Spain website. The tiny village of Cabrera in Almería has many privately-owned villas that are available for holiday rental. At this moment we are showing just five, varying from the impressive mountain eyrie of Casa Lamu to delightful little Fuente 6, both with amazing views. At least another five will be going on soon, so there will something to suit every preference and every budget.
Just yesterday, some first-time visitors from England came up to Cabrera and they were just blown away by the mountain views and the winding little road that led them through the Cortijo Grande valley and up the hill to Cabrera.
Star Gazing
The clear air of Spain, and even more especially the Canary Islands, is ideal for looking at the stars. The lack of light pollution in country areas means that you can see a hundred times more stars than are visible from most places in England. I had actually forgotten all about the Milky Way until I came to Spain and found that I could see
it nearly every night. It really is quite amazing, and rather humbling.
In August, we will have the opportunity for a closer look at Mars than at any other time in human history. I'm told that Mars will be easily the brightest body in the night sky, and it will be visible each evening from dusk until about 3.00 in the morning, from early August until about the 25th.
Pockets of Availability in Mallorca
Mallorca is one of the most popular holiday destinations, so it is now sometimes difficult to find a hotel or villa for July or August. There are some pockets of availability though. Contact Little Hotels of the Balearics and we will do the legwork for you, to try to ensure that you can still have a memorable holiday on this beautiful island.Mozilla Firefox
Normally I fill this newsletter with information about Spain and hotels and holidays, but Little Hotels is an internet business so this time I want to do something a little bit different and mention a piece of software that has impressed me. Many people dislike their dependence on Microsoft products and Internet Explorer comes at the top of many people's hate list, so it's nice to know that there is a viable alternative: Mozilla Firefox. I've been using it for the last couple of months and I like it: it's easy to use, faster, more reliable and I'm told it doesn't have all those security holes that let through the spyware and other nasties. You can download it free at www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/.Can Furios
Think about the perfect holiday: stress free days spent relaxing in the mediterranean sunshine, enjoying breathtaking mountain scenery while staying in the luxurious comfort of a delightful sixteenth century villa. This could be you at Can Furios, one of the loveliest little country hotels in Mallorca. The undiscovered heartland of northern Mallorca is the perfect location in which to unwind and relax. Here you can breathe mountain air scented with rosemary and jasmine, and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the olive groves, where the only sound is a distant sheep's bell. Owners Adrian and Susy are happy to provide itineraries tailored to your individual requirements from walking, fishing, golf, tennis, horse riding, to name but a few. Offering personal attention in a relaxed atmosphere, Can Furios is the ultimate away-from-it all destination.Los Castaños
Owners Di and Lu threw up the glamorous life of San Francisco to come to this quiet corner of Andalucia and to establish their little five-bedroom hotel in the tiny village of Cartajima. The result was Los Castaños, where a warm welcome awaits the intrepid visitors who make it through the mountain roads to their door. (Actually Cartajima is only 10 miles from the historic town of Ronda and 30 miles from Marbella so you're never far from the bright lights if that's really what you want.) Dinner at Los Castaños is not like eating in a restaurant. Guests enjoy a delightful dinner party atmosphere with new-found friends and delicious food. A typical menu might begin with rocket and watercress salad with a verjus dressing, followed by "gambas al ajillo" (lots of garlic and local olive oil), pork fillet stuffed with locally grown almonds accompanied by a selection of fresh vegetables, local cheeses and a petit pot de chocolat with fresh berries.“Cheapest Prices”
I noticed that Expedia have been advertising heavily on British television recently so it set me thinking, can we really compete on price with the big guns? I went off to look at the Expedia website and a few others to see how we compared. Obviously I had to pick hotels that feature on both our website and the competition. Good News. Despite all those “Cheap Hotels” and “Lowest Prices on the Internet” slogans that you find liberally scattered all over the web, no-one could offer prices any lower than Little Hotels. And, of course, it is only Little Hotels that backs up the efficiency of the internet as a medium of communication with the personal attention of knowledgeable people who will help you find just the right holiday for you.
Something Out-of-the-Ordinary
You probably know by now that Little Hotels is very selective about the hotels that we show on our website. Most especially, we give a very wide berth to the big slabs of concrete and glass, and anything that doesn't fit the description of “little hotel”. It is fundamental to our philosophy that each hotel should provide its guests with individual accommodation and personal attention. Even amongst our own selected hotels though, there are a few that stand out as being a little different:One such place is Albero Lodge. Each room is inspired and named after one of the most evocative and exciting cities in the world. Then everything in the room follows the inspiration of its mother city: the colours, the fabrics, the furniture, the lighting, the paintings. So we find that Deauville is classy French chic, while Fez is full of geometric shapes and bright vibrant colours. In contrast, New York is an intense design of monochromatic black and white and plays perfectly to the skyscraper culture.
Happy holidays!
Paul Melhuish
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