Tag: hotels

The Ultimate Mendoza Travel Map

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I had too much fun creating my Ultimate Dublin Travel Map, and so now I present to you, the Interwebs, my dear readers, my Ultimate Mendoza Travel Map. This applies to Mendoza, Argentina, for the record.

This is only my map of the City of Mendoza, and doesn’t cover my favorite spots in the surrounding countryside (hello, bodegas (wineries) and vineyards!) – that stuff will be coming sooner than later. There are three main wine areas surrounding Mendoza: Lujan de Cuyo, Maipu and the Uco Valley (Valle de Uco). Each are an easy day trip from the city, if you plan to make the city your base. You can hire a driver for the day and hit up to 4 wineries each day if you really hustle.

How to use this Mendoza travel map:

View the map bigger by clicking the bracket window-looking icon in the upper-right corner, next to your photo/avatar. Save the link to your phone if you’re traveling – I think it might be handy (but that’s just me!). Use the layers to toggle between stuff that you’re looking for – I’ve grouped them in Sightseeing, Restaurants and Bars, Hotels, Shopping and Entertainment and Services & Tourism info, or Continue reading →

The Ultimate Dublin Travel Map

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Following on the heels of last week’s post (Top 15 Reasons to Love Dublin, Ireland), I thought I’d create what I like to call “The Ultimate Dublin Travel Map” – noting all my favorite haunts in the city, some must-sees, must-eats, must-drinks and more.

Without further ado, here is my masterpiece – a work in progress, so keep checking back as I explore and add new points of interest!

How to use this Dublin map: Click the framed square on the upper-right-hand side of the map and open it in your browser. If you’re on the go, open in Safari on your iPhone and turn your phone sideways so you can see the map better. You can select certain categories of locations and make layers that you don’t want to see disappear.

Click on a place’s pin to see details and addresses, then cut and paste the address into your Maps application to get directions if the My Maps page won’t find your current location. I can’t control that – sorry.

I should note that this map features The Marker Hotel, Brother Hubbard, the Jameson Distillery, and other spots in Dublin that I have featured here on the blog.

Slainte!

Do you have any spots in Dublin that you think are worth adding here? Leave a comment and I’ll make sure to add them!

Pin this handy map for later!

The Ultimate Dublin, Ireland Travel Map

The Ultimate Dublin, Ireland Travel Map

The Marker Hotel Dublin

Get Your Sleep On – The Marker Hotel (Dublin, Ireland)

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My husband and I decided to stay at The Marker Hotel in Dublin, Ireland for 2 nights this winter on a whim when stopping back through Dublin during New Year’s week after a family wedding in Donegal. It is seriously the nicest, most comfortable, most friendly modern luxury hotel we have ever stayed in (and we are hotel snobs, if you didn’t already realize).  It is clear why this property is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.  The hotel just celebrated its second birthday this April, and is as spotless as if it just opened yesterday.

The Location

The Marker Hotel Dublin

Grand Canal Dock

The hotel is situated in the sort-of-recently gentrified and renovated Grand Canal Dock, right next to the Bord Gáis theatre, the largest theatre in Ireland. For a listing of what’s on at the theatre, you can click right here.  There are Dublin Bike stations right near the hotel and little cafés and restaurants within a 2 minute walk, including the popular pizza chain Milano.  Temple Bar is about a 10-15 minute walk down the quays and the beautiful, modern Samuel Beckett Bridge is just a short 2 minute stroll, too.

The Room

The room was beautiful, HUGE, and Continue reading →

Get Your Sleep On – Hotel Josef (Prague, Czech Republic)

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While on a quieter side-street in Old Town, Prague’s Hotel Josef has it all.

Luke and I stayed here during my “Bar Trip” during September 2010.  For those of you wondering exactly what a “Bar Trip” is, it’s an American law school tradition of taking a big trip after you take the bar exam and before you start working.

Stellar location, amazingly comfortable beds, really neat rooms, and a great staff made our stay so enjoyable, we wouldn’t consider staying anywhere else next time we find ourselves in this storybook city.

Hotel Josef

Garden courtyard at the Hotel Josef

We were cheerfully greeted by the reception, who were eager to help us with whatever we needed, and offered help with bringing our bags to our room, which is becoming more and more rare in even the nicer hotels in Europe, I’ve found. We took the elevator from the super-modern lobby to our 3rd floor room in the Pink House, to find a really quiet hallway leading to our room. Everything in this hotel has a hint of design and thoughtfulness, even the room numbers. Continue reading →

Get Your Sleep On – Altarocca Wine Resort (Orvieto, Italy)

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Altarocca Wine Resort is a fantastic retreat for those who want to get away from it all, but also who want to visit the nearby town of Orvieto during their stay. We stayed here for 2 nights in the middle of our Honeymoon, on our way to a longer stay in Tuscany and on the Italian Riviera.

We actually added this hotel and stop to our itinerary after, while I was planning our stay, I noticed that a friend of mine from the UK had just stayed here and had posted some photos on Facebook of his stay. I had to find out where this place was. Luckily, my friend answered my frantic FB chats almost immediately and gave me some info and his full recommendation.

Full disclosure: I formerly worked for a company in Argentina that has built and now operates a wine resort and spa in Mendoza, and I really wanted to see Altarocca Wine Resort especially due to my love of wine and curiosity!

We arrived just before dusk, which was unfortunate because the views from the resort are simply amazing.

Altarocca Wine Resort

One of the views from Altarocca Wine Resort

You really feel like Continue reading →

Hilton Malta - Pool

Get Your Sleep On – Hilton Malta (St. Julian’s, Malta)

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My husband and I spent the first leg of our honeymoon at the Hilton Malta, a luxury property situated in St. Julian’s Bay, Malta, and I could not be more pleased with our decision to stay here! We had looked at several other hotels on Malta and, after reading reviews, decided to cancel another reservation and book here instead. While the other property we were looking at was very nice, I think it’s the best decision we could have made.
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Pro-Tip: Get a room in the newer part of the hotel and upgrade to Executive Level. It’s worth it.

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Apart from a beautiful Executive King room in the new part of the hotel (Room #1158), what made our stay so special was Continue reading →