Now that Christmas and New Year’s have come and gone, we can start thinking about warmer times ahead – spring! And, of course, the next major holiday is Easter.

With comfy surroundings, amazing views, incredible food and great entertainment, you will not want to celebrate Easter anywhere else but Stoke Park in England.

Located in leafy Buckinghamshire, situated amongst 350 acres of breath taking parkland which will be beautifully blooming by April, this gorgeous hotel in England is the ideal place to host a giant Easter egg hunt.

Luckily for guests who are looking for a vacation in English countryside this spring, Stoke Park is having a few excellent packages just in time for Easter.

Family Easter Break
•    Two Night’s accommodation
•    Full English Breakfast each morning
•    Three Course Table d’hote dinner on each evening
•    Easter Sunday Lunch.
•    Easter Egg for each guest in room
•    For children 16 and under an Easter Egg Hunt will be organised. After lunch, with the help of two Easter bunnies the children will be given a basket to search for the hidden Easter eggs. An entertainer will also be on hand to face paint, play games and do magic tricks.
•    Supplements will be added for those sharing a parent’s room.
•    Based on a family of four in interconnecting room.
£275 per person

Couples Easter Break
•    Two Night’s accommodation
•    Full English Breakfast each morning
•    Three Course Table d’hote dinner on each evening
•    Easter Sunday Lunch
•    Easter Egg for each guest in room
•    A one Hour SPC facial, massage, manicure or pedicure
£320 per person

Looking for a hot new spot in London to check out?

St James’s Hotel and Club is delighted to announce the official launch of newly named restaurant Seven Park Place which, with new Michelin starred chef, William Drabble, and mouth watering new menus, now also boasts a brand new look.

With 26 covers, Seven Park Place is an intimate and exclusive addition to the London restaurant scene.

Dinner menus are available from £39 for two courses with a six course Gourmand tasting menu for £59.

William’s dishes are modern-French in style but made up of primarily British ingredients. Suppliers include Cornvale Foods for game and Lune Valley Lamb; Keltic Sea Fare for scallops, langoustine and Scottish girolles; Channel Fisheries for Fish; and Cove Shellfish in Poole for shellfish.

Tony Filmer was commissioned to develop the concept for the all new restaurant at St James’s Hotel and Club. Designed to complement the age and elegance of the 1920’s architecture, Filmer has chosen a host of renowned British designers as fitting company for newly appointed British chef.

Introducing an exciting palette of colours, contrasting textures and vibrant pattern, Filmer has added drama to the restaurant with deep aubergine sculptured carpet by Tim Page and handmade crystal lighting by Vaughan. William Yeoward, Osborne & Little and Designers Guild feature in the soft furnishings with Neisha Crosland wrapping the walls with glamorous print.

Check out some photos of the new restaurant at this excellent hotel in the UK below:

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Save Money on Rates at Two of London’s Best Hotels

There is no better time to explore London than in the summer.

The weather is great, there are no end of street festivals, theatre and concerts…in short, it’s a great time to be in the UK’s capital city!

Luckily some of London’s best hotels take the opportunity to reward guests with some special seasonal promotions.

The Connaught Hotel, for example, is offering special summer rates from July 17 through to September 13 this summer. Calling this promotion “Summer Daze”, guests can stay at this gorgeous hotel for £255 per night (quite a good deal for this hotel, where rates typically start at £289 per night).

The Connaught hotel was constructed in the latter part of the 19th century and is thus located in a beautiful historical building. This hotel is found in the heart of Mayfair – which is packed with antique shops, churches and gardens. Mayfair is one of London’s wealthiest areas, and it’s a treat to stay there.

Location is one of the key features of The Connaught because guests are within a quick reach of Bond Street (London’s upscale shopping street), trendy West End stores and theatres, museums and parks.

In fact, the Connaught is the ideal place to stay if you’re looking for accommodation for a great shopping holiday, just based on its prime location alone!

The Connaught is an intimate 123-room hotel, and is the perfect place to base a trip to London in one of the city’s trendiest neighbourhoods. We featured the Connaught as one of our prime choices for accomodation in London for Wimbledon 2009.

Another hotel that’s having a summer daze special is The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge (an exclusive neighbourhood west of Central London).  Like the special offered by The Connaught, from July 17 to September 13, 2009, rates start at £225 per night! We wrote about the restaurant at the Berkeley in our feature about Gordon Ramsay’s hotel restaurants – so check it out!

*Rates are based on single occupancy per room, per night, exclusive of VAP at 15% and a discretionary service charge of 5% for both of the hotel’s summer daze offers. Special offer rates are subject to limited availability on selected dates and can’t be used in conjunction with other offers or negotiated rates.

Ideal for a golf getaway, Stoke Park is one of England’s best golf hotels. Be sure to spend a weekend here for some rounds of golf, spa treatments and a generally fun and relaxing time.

Spring is fast approaching, and you’re probably planning on taking advantage of the weather as it warms up. Why not spend a relaxing weekend outside with Stoke Park? This luxury golf hotel is the perfect place to go if you want to play a few rounds of golf in the sun shine, or even get in a game of Tennis!

Stoke Park is found on 350 acres of historic parkland and gardens and is close to Heathrow, Windsor and London and has 49 gorgeous rooms that are open to both members of the golf club and non-members. In the mansion house itself, there are 21 bedrooms with many having balconies – which are perfect spots to enjoy your breakfast or a have drink in the evening before dinner.

Stoke Park’s golf course is called Stoke Poges. It was designed by green architect Harry Shapland Colt and is 100 years old! Golf World chose this course to be one of the “Top 100 Courses in the World” in 2005. Enjoy the high quality of the greens which have been impeccably maintained and the traditions, events and atmosphere of such a gorgeous old golf course.
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There are few corners of England as authentic as the Cotswolds with its rolling hills, quant stone villages and cream teas, which is why it’s a favourite for indulgent weekend breaks in luxury hotels.

I took my little red Mazda for a run last month and was pleasantly surprised to find an absence of chintz in the Kiwi Collection luxury hotels that pepper the area – probably the largest concentration of 5* rooms outside London.

Cowley Manor, with its coveted location in the Cheltenham countryside and pantone-registered signature green, had the painters in. Come October, expect a fresh new look in the same quirky style but with a riot of colour.

For the girls, this has always been a favourite with its indoor and outdoor pools, treatment rooms and idyllic picnic spots but the new ‘Village Shop’ onsite takes some beating – a good place to stock up on Christmas gifts away from the bustle of the high street.

Lords of the Manor in Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter Manor have both been given a makeover and the rooms are simply gorgeous. We are often wary of converted stable blocks which can be nothing like the manor house rooms advertised on a hotel website but, in the case of Lower Slaughter Manor, the ‘garden suites’ were my favourite with private gardens, outdoor hot tubs and acres of space.

I spent the night in Cotswold House, right in the heart of Chipping Camden, and loved every minute of it. From the street, the hotel blends into the honey stone village but the back reveals a fabulous hidden garden that, by year-end, will host one of the area’s best spas along with an indoor pool and spa suite.

Cotswold House gets everything right, from the blend of luxury and comfort in the contemporary rooms and suites to the eye-catching artwork, intimate bar and casual Hicks’ brasserie with its own on-street entrance.

But it does one thing exceptionally well and that’s the food in its main restaurant, Juliana’s. I sat down alone for dinner at 8pm with a book to keep me company and was still there 3 hours’ later with not a page turned thanks to the delectable creations of Head Chef Steve Love and the company of Bill, the waiter who brought every dish to life and made exceptional service seem effortless.

They even got breakfast right, which is a rarity, with a menu featuring traditional English starters and main courses and a view into the garden. I still remember every dish I ate (and there were many) and have already planned my return visit – a 40th birthday dinner in the high-beamed Grammar School Suite with 10 girlfriends, a roaring fire and Mamma Mia on the 42” plasma screen.