WORDS
OLIVER THRING, LIZ GRANIRER
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V I E W P O I N T S
this chester hotel
is obviously a good
place to lay your head – after all, the
Roman elite built their townhouses here in
about 90AD. Nowadays, its high-tech
toys, such as flatscreen TVs, free wi-fi and
iPod docks, would baffle the ancients.
The Abode is easy walking distance
to the cathedral, city walls and the Rows
–
the iconic covered walkways through
Chester’s shopping district – but the most
swaying reason to visit is two-Michelin-
starred chef Michael Caines’s 5th-floor
restaurant. A grazing menu has smaller
versions of the chef’s signature dishes, like
pan-fried scallops with parsnip and vanilla
purée; Jerusalem artichoke and truffle soup;
and meltingly soft Macclesfield beef. Finish
with local cheese and homemade bread,
and you’ll just be able to wobble back to
your room.
Book at hotels.easyJet.com
Reid’s Palace
Madeira
|
Island escape
|
From €265
among the most
famous old hotels in the world, Reid’s is a
stately pink palace gazing across the Atlantic from its own cliff.
Since opening in 1891, it has hosted royalty, ex-dictators, film
stars and famous writers. Today it exudes a sedate, old-world
charm: it’s a place of tea on the veranda, tinkling gin and tonics,
rustling palm trees in the internationally renowned subtropical
gardens and jazz piano nights in cocktail lounges.
For all this, it lacks none of the amenities of a modern
five-star hotel: 163 rooms and suites, most offering balconies
or patios with garden or sea views; three swimming pools;
a spa; gym; concierge; tennis courts; billiards room and five
restaurants. In at least one of these men are expected to
wear a jacket and tie – and black tie is recommended. Such
formality, however, is offset by flashes of generosity: free soft
drinks in the minibars, and free Champagne and Bloody Marys
at the breakfast buffet. Plus, families are very welcome. Quiet
and sumptuous, smart and social: for a connoisseur’s Madeira
bolthole, it’s ideal.
Book at hotels.easyJet.com
Abode
Manchester
|
City centre modern
|
From €89
Since opening in 1891, it has hosted
royalty, ex-dictators, film stars and
famous writers. Today, it exudes a
sedate old-world charm
H O T E L
R E V I E W S
