You know you’re in need of a holiday when you’re relying
on coffee to wake up, when the weekend flies by and you’ve lost all focus at
work. And I was without a doubt at that point and needed to cleanse my body
from the constant caffeine cravings, so my boyfriend Ben booked an impromptu seven-day
break to Rhodes and it was simply beautiful.
We stayed at the Atlantica Aegean Blue hotel in Kolymbia, Rhodes. The family hotel sits on the beachfront and we could see the sea from our hotel room, which was a lovely touch. The pebble beach was idyllic, evoking childhood memories and for the first time in a long time I felt truly relaxed. Most evenings we sat on the open air terrace chatting away and having a drink, or two (primarily piña coladas - my favourite) and during the day we basked by the poolside where I would disconnect from the likes of my emails and lose myself in a good book. The buffet restaurant offered a wide variety of food and the little onsite shop sold snickers ice cream. What more could I ask for?
The Mitsis Blue Domes Hotel in Karadmena, Kos, Greece is like
something out of a brochure (or, on triangleswimwear's Instagram account!) it was breathtakingly
beautiful...
My boyfriend Ben had booked the holiday with Thomas Cook and kept the location secret, I have never been so excited! I could talk about my holiday and the hotel for hours on end, so I will try and keep this short and sweet! The Mitsis Blue Domes Hotel, sits on a backdrop of rocky Mountains and overlooks the sea and is situated just 20 minutes away from Kos airport, 30 minutes away from Kos town and just 10 minutes away from Karadmena, a walled town full of bars and restaurants, with a boat filled marina.
The hotel itself was pretty darn fabulous. Let me
start by saying, I have never had the pleasure of staying in a hotel, that has
functional swimming pools, that are just for show... that’s right, pools that
sparkled in the sunshine undisturbed. The complex had many large outdoor swimming
pools that although a little chilly, you can take a dip into (and we did!),
surrounded by decking, pretty gardens, bridges and many sun beds. In fact,
there was never a rush for a sun bed, no need to be a sun bed reserver
and there were no mosquitoes, as the pools are salt-water pools. The beach was
pebbled and very pretty, with a bar serving drinks, ice cream and snacks.
Water sports and beach massages were also available.
The complex was beautifully decorated and every little
detail had been very well thought out. It’s a large hotel, but it was never
crowded, or loud. I cant fault the staff, they were professional, friendly,
and welcoming. The animation team wasn’t too in your face and although the
lip-syncing was a little questionable, we stayed through a whole performance of
Mamma Mia and actually quite enjoyed it!
The hotel has 10 restaurants; the main restaurant is a
buffet style and had the most beautiful outdoor seating area overlooking the
sea. There are also 6 smaller restaurants around one of the larger pooler
areas, that all serve different food such as, burgers, pancakes, ice
cream, greek cuisine, german cuisine and fish. And not forgetting the
3 restaurants on the sea front which you had to book; Italian,
Mexican and Greek. The food was really nice and Ben’s beer often came in a
frozen glass in the main restaurant (the little things)! It's
probably worth mentioning we went all inclusive and boy was it worth
it.
Every evening, bar one (no pun intended), we sat in the
main bar (open every evening until 1am) where I drank a few piña
coladas and Ben drank a few beers. There was always a bit of a queue for
drinks, but nothing like my local Weatherspoons! However, a waitress would come
over and take our order and we found that was much quicker than queuing.
We met some lovely people whilst on holiday and spent most evenings in the bar
with them laughing and chatting away. The Wi-Fi was only free in the bar and it
was pretty poor. But myself and Ben left our phones back in our hotel room
and all things considered it was a breath of fresh air not being
connected to everything and everyone. It was just what I needed.
Unfortunately I have no pictures of our room (so
you’ll just have to take my word for it!), but the room was spacious and
beautifully decorated, with a wooden ceiling, marble flooring, a balcony
overlooking the sea, a mini bar (that was refilled daily), two showers, a bath,
large sink area and super comfy beds - probably the best I’ve ever slept in! My
only negative comment would be that the hairdryer was pretty useless, but in
all honesty I didn’t expect anything different! Have you ever been abroad
and had a decent hairdryer?
So much for keeping it
short! But all in all, (minus the delays on both our inbound and outbound flights
*cough* Thomas Cook *cough*), I have never really wanted to visit
the same hotel twice, I have a list longer than my arm of places I want to visit and like going to new places. But I would make an exception with this hotel
and Ben has said the same.
Take me back...
Being in Bournemouth bought back many memories of family holidays spent on the Jurassic coast and the beautiful sandy beaches and sparkling sea of Bournemouth reignited my love for the UK’s coastline. Ben pulled off a string of surprises starting with a bit of fun at Splashdown. Soon after we headed to our next destination, Chalfield Manor. Chalfield Manor is a boutique hotel just 1.5 miles east of Bournemouth Town centre, close to the cliff top in Boscombe Manor and I couldn’t have stayed in a more welcoming hotel. I can’t fault the hotel, possibly one of the nicest hotels, with the friendliest staff I have ever had the pleasure of staying in.
After checking in we found ourselves making our way to Bournemouth along the sea front from Boscombe Pier. It takes about 30 minutes to walk from one pier to the other, but I would walk it everyday if I could, the view is just beautiful. Oh and not to mention the beach huts, I want one (preferably in mint!). We ended up in the most appropriately named restaurant ‘Harry Ramsdon’s Fish And Chips. The Worlds Best Fish And Chip Shop’. And as a legitimate source, I can vouch for that! The fish and chips where the best I have ever had. Fact.
The surprises continued the following day when Ben took me to Monkey World, which if the name didn’t suggest is a sanctuary for monkeys! If you didn’t already know I work at a zoo and I love monkeys, so it was more than appropriate and I throughly enjoyed it. We also visited Bournemouth Oceanarium during our stay, followed by a trip into the town centre just a 5 minute walk from the beach and the vibrant town centre was full of shops. Perfect for a beauty addict like myself!
My weekend away was completed by spending my pennies in the arcade on Bournemouth Pier (and not winning much in return!) and tucking into the scrummiest Dorset honeycomb ice cream. We loved our stay so much that we stayed an extra night and I will without a doubt be visiting Bournemouth again! What more can I say, the town of Bournemouth has it all! I highly recommend if you can to visit! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend away!
Have you ever been to Bournemouth?
Where’s your favourite UK destination?
Where’s your favourite UK destination?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)