Can anyone reccomend anywhere for a romantic break please

Gemma7_2

hi everyone thankyou for all your replies-thanks for the tip on it being half term i hadnt considered that so will need to arrange childcare for the friday as their dad wont collect until after school.

York also seems like a great idea so will try and look into that more-also thanks for the bath b and bs id got both of those short listed.

Re going abroad that sounds fab but i wouldnt know where to start as ive never booked accomodation and flights seperately so any tips on that would be fab-i think we might only manage the fri and sat night because we have four year old twins who will only be at their dads for those nights-theres no way he will want them anymore.

wow youve all got me thinking and very excited now about going somewhere special for my bday

Yorkshiredad

Hi Gemma,

Firstly, if it's a romantic treat for your birthday your partner should be doing the work!

I think if you are on a budget then a city break and romantic surroundings are hard to achieve. City hotels are mostly aimed at business travellers, and you can get functional business type hotels at weekends for great rates sometimes, but they are mostly as romantic as bus shelters. Budget hotels in cities, especially London, are generally pokey and horrible.

Have you thought about a country house hotel somewhere like the Cotswolds or Lake District even? I don't know if you like the country, but in a nice spot you can just pop on a pair of boots and go for a good walk, and that can be really romantic. Plus you burn some energy and enjoy a fancy dinner a lot more at the end of the day when you're properly hungry. Nice country hotels tend to be built around their restaurants, and I think it's much cosier to stay and dine in the same place. I would suggest looking for a DBB package when you are on a budget, because then you pay for everything bar drinks in advance and aren't worried about the menu prices when you get there. You don't want to spoil the romance of a nice candle light dinner by worried about totting up how much you are spending or whether you can afford desert.

The time you are going it off-season for country hotels so you can often get some great deals on places that would normally be off the scale cost-wise. I particularly like a site called Off Peak Luxury for this type of thing. They've got a lot of special offers where you get little extras. Try the Hatton Court on there for example, lovely cost place in the Costwolds, open fires, long distance views from the dining room and terrace, really friendly people. That's about £350 for 3 nights, but that includes DBB plus a bottle of champagne, which is a great deal. They also have a good offer on Lovelady Shield in the Lake District which is gorgeous but that's a bit more expensive and might be too much for you. Hope you find something you love - the looking is half the fun I think, it all adds to the anticipation.

Gemma7_2

hi thanks for your reply-we kind of live in the middle of nowhere in the smallest county in england and can see nothing but fields from our house and spend our weekends outdoors with the twins so thats why i fancied a city break as its a big change for us if you know what i mean-i will take a look at that website thanks!

My partner would happily look but i know he would book first thing regardless of money so not very money saving plus hes so busy running his own business and is a firefighter too so time is precious when hes off work and we tend to be out in the countryside somewhere.

Off to look at the website now x

Yorkshiredad

Ah yes - I have a friend who's a firefighter. Most lovely bloke you could ever meet, but took his wife for a "romantic anniversary treat" and booked a Post House at a motorway services, so perhaps you're right.

Best site for UK Citybreaks is probably Laterooms.com. I agree with the suggestion of Chester, but if you want a proper city feel, lots of nightlife, big choice of restaurants, museums, shopping etc, you could do much worse than Leeds (where I work). A couple of places to look at there would be "42 The Calls", which is a small-ish boutique kind of place, or also the City Inn. City Inn is a more typical large City hotel and a bit Holiday-inn esque, but it's new and good value, and has a fantastic bar at the top called the Sky Bar, with balconies and views right across the City. They will usually do a deal if you haggle too, especially as it's a 3 night booking. The lowest I've known them go is £59 so if you said your budget was 180 for 3 mights BB I suspect they'd take it.

Deals_2

in the evening! very romantic and real hot springs. and the only ones in uk! i think the hot springs are £24 per person unless you can find a package deal. said i would treat my other half at some stage and he cant wait! the only problem is we have a young child and you cant take them in why we have not been to them yet. loads to do in bath and if you like countryside you could go to glastonbury or somewhere closer if not.

Gemma7 wrote: »

Hi

My partner and i want to go away weekend of fri 29th Oct for 3 nights for my birthday-we would pref like a romantic hotel ie not travelodge as this is our first weekend away from our twins lol we are open to ideas but i think a city break would suit best so that we can enjoy a wander around the city and its historical buildings etc but also close enough to be able to go out in the evening for a meal and a drink maybe even a dance! Our budget isnt huge hence why im struggling to find anything better than a travelodge.

Boutique chic small hotel, nice city please someone tell me its do able.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Gem

lynwestie

We have done many "city " Uk Breaks Gemma but you would need to allow somewhere between £70 - £100 per night for something rasonable . I've always tried to find a city with enough there to last 2/3 days .

Here are some we have done

York . Tops IMO plenty to do day and night . great restaurants & pubs + evening ghost tours not to be missed . have a look at the visityork website . lots of info and links to accomodation. Just type in the city follwed by the word tourism into a google search and all the major cities will have a decent tourist board website .

Durham . nice but not enough there and ruined by many pubs/restaurants now catering for the uni students

Canterbury . Again nice for 2 nights max . lot's of students

Bath . Only went for the day . lovely but expensive.

Winchester . Another place worth a look for 2/3 days .

salisbury . Never been but worthy of a look also Lincoln. chester is another on my list of must do's but since I have become obsessed with oversea's city breaks & the satisfaction of getting bargain flights the UK ones have taken a back seat

Or how about Brighton if you want young and hip.

If you can find some cheap flights to either Prague, Talinn or Krakow (lots outside the city with a visit to Auschwitz a must) all these are great choices for good priced accomodation . i've never paid more than around £130 for 2 return weekend flights with easyjet or ryanair either sat-tues or Fri - mon but half term week will be a lot more difficult as the prices rise steeply . You need to play the game with budget airlines or you stung with extras . dont check in baggage for a weekend and just take the small wheelie cabin cases.

Once you have bagged yourself the flights only then would you look for accomodation. the way I do it is to go to the relevant destination on Trip advisor and run through their list of hotels/reviews for a particular destination and pick out any that look within your budget & get decent reviews . Then run their "price check" function for individual hotels and up will come quotes from all the decent , reliable Bed bookers. (prices vary a lot) we have done all of those destinations for around £120-£150 for 3 nights accomodation at decent hotels out of season . but as I say Oct prices will be a little higher . Add the flights and maybe £300 spending money and you have a city break abroad for a possible £600 . most city break destinations are close to airports so you jump in a cab, reseach transfers or ask the hotel to collect you.

As suggested Brugges is another lovely place if you are close to the Eurostar and have some airmiles you could use up for tickets or do the ferry /short drive as mentioned above. More expensive for accomodation & spends though if you are on a budget .

now I'm off to investigate the off peak luxury website


lyn

IHateDida

Yorkshiredad wrote: »

A couple of places to look at there would be "42 The Calls", which is a small-ish boutique kind of place, or also the City Inn. City Inn is a more typical large City hotel and a bit Holiday-inn esque, but it's new and good value, and has a fantastic bar at the top called the Sky Bar, with balconies and views right across the City. They will usually do a deal if you haggle too, especially as it's a 3 night booking. The lowest I've known them go is £59 so if you said your budget was 180 for 3 mights BB I suspect they'd take it.

I second the Leeds City Inn - we went a month ago for 3 nights thanks to our Tesco vouchers - fab free cooked breakfast to order included and in a lovely part of Leeds.

I saw the recommendation of Lovelady Shield above - OMG don't touch the hotel with a bargepole - I have never come across such a creepy owner in my life - he followed us into the room and blamed us for overflowing the bath - when we hadn't even had a bath! The pictures on the website are clearly the nicest rooms - we had a stained material headboard and peeling paint in our room.

Another place to consider would be Harts in Nottingham - right in the centre and both me and my partner loved it! Or St Giles House in Norwich - fab food and boutique rooms.

Check out tripadvisor before booking anywhere - we now always ensure that we do this to ensure we don't end up somewhere like the Lovelady Shield again!!!

realshannon

I live in Devon and can recommend Tavistock. There is Bedford Hotel (recently refurbished) and Browns. Cornwall is lovely too, Exeter is a lovely city and lots to see and shop etc

Gemma7_2

hi think weve decided to go to york but are struggling to find anywhere we found a lovely place called the judges lodgings but its fully booked as our weekend has changed to this fri coming up can anyone help

Loanranger

My vote would be Oxford, beautiful buildings, great atmosphere.
Use tripadvisor.com for unbiased reports of accommodation and eating places.

Someone here suggested Harts in Nottingham. It's just about THE most expensive restaurant/hotel in the city. Excellent food but definitely not a budget choice