Travel gems by Miss Sophie

Some travel gems, some luxury and some inspiration
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    • Madrid – you are wonderful ;)

      Posted at 7:32 pm by mylifemyworldrg, on December 15, 2019

      What is not to love about Madrid? I admit that sometimes my expectations are not to high when travelling to a new city. It is different reasons for this, I have not had time to search so much information in advance on what to see and do, and the choice of city is often random. This is what happened when I visit Madrid during Christmas and New Year. I wanted to visit a big city, and just searched on flights and accommodation with valuables rates, and Madrid was one of the choices and I am happy I did choose Madrid!

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      Centro Centro

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      Placa de Colon

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      Monument to Christopher Columbus

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      Royale Palace

      You do not see or read so much about Madrid, and I really think this city is underestimated. You find history, architecture, beautiful parks, a lot of restaurants and good shopping. And it gives you much more value for money than for example Paris (even though I love Paris too..)

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      I stayed for 12 nights, at three different hotels in different areas of the city and I am happy I did since I learned more about the city and got to know some of the areas quite well. Since I am a Leading Hotel of the World traveler, I of course stayed at three at their properties this time as well.

       

      The first night I stayed at Gran Hotel Ingles. A very nice Boutique hotel in the city center. At first location seems a bit of, but when you get familiar with the surroundings you realize it is in the middle of the city and it is just a few minute’s walk to “everywhere”.

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      The room at Gran Hotel Ingles was different, with this charming bathtub in the room. My room had a very nice terrace, and the room was very nice equipped. Breakfast was very good. The bar area relaxing. I really enjoyed my stay, and regretted I only had booked for one night..

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      Gran Hotel Ingles

      Then I moved further into the old part of the city, not so far from the Royal Castle, and stayed four nights at Gran Melia Palacio de los Duques. I really loved my stay here as well. Here the staff was very friendly and attentive. I upgraded to the Red Level, and enjoyed my time with a nice share of Ruinart Champagne.. The breakfast was very good, a lot of choices, both health and sweets.. The location of the hotel was very good as well, just a few minute’s walk to “everywere”.

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      The last 7 days I stayed at Gran Melia Fenix, situated in the Financial and Shopping district of Madrid. The hotel was more “Classic” in regards of the room, but I enjoyed the time in the DRY Cosmopolitan Bar. Vibrant, but still possible to relax. Here I enjoyed most the location, both close to many shopping possibilities, and only a “short” walk from the El Retiro Park, but also many good restaurants in this area. I recommend this district if you stay for a longer period, so many choices.

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      I prefer to stay as many days as possible when visiting a new city, because you don’t get the spirit, ambience and feeling of the city and its possibilities when only staying one weekend or a couple of days. I stayed 12 days, and loved Madrid more and more for each day.

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      One day I also had this daytrip to Toledo and Segovia, this trip I really recommend! A very nice break from the city, and these two towns are very charming, and with some interesting history as well, and you can include a visit to Alcázar Castle in Segovia.

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      Segovia

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      Segovia

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      Retiro Park

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      Retiro Park

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      Metropolis

       

       

      Posted in Hotels, travel, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged architecture, Christmas, city, Espagne, food, holidays, Hotels, inspiration, lhw, luxuryhotel, luxurytravel, Madrid, Retiro, Sagovia, Spain, Toledo, travel, travelling
    • Giraffe Manor

      Posted at 6:48 am by mylifemyworldrg, on March 30, 2018

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      A perfect day, this is what we experienced when we stayed at the Giraffe Manor. If you have the opportunity to travel and visit this wonderful hotel with the beautiful and gentile giraffes – do it!

      We arrived at 11.00 am after being picked up at our hotel location in Nairobi. It was so quiet and beautiful to sit down outside the manor and just listen to the singing birds and surroundings. The welcome was very attentive and warm, and the staff team was very caring. We got served refreshments while filling out all formalities. It was no rush, and for me that was wonderful, just sit quietly and enjoy the surroundings.

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      Giraffe Manor from the parking entrance

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      We stayed in the beautiful room “Daisy”. The room was not so large, but had light and bright colors, and very charming bathroom and a wonderful terrace. I loved it.

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      A personal welcome note and fresh roses

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      From our terrace;

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      My recommendation is to arrive early so you have the chance to enjoy the property before the Afternoon Tea at 17.00 when we have the first interaction with the giraffes and get to feed them and get photos.

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      We got served this wonderful lunsj on the patio, the food was so tasteful and the ambiance perfect.

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      The manor have some beautiful common areas, I really loved the Living Room with the grammofon playing evocative music, so you kind of felt going back in time.

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      Dining room in the Manor

      At 17.00 the giraffes came for Afternoon Tea, and we got to feed them with pellets and got a lot of pictures and videos. A lot of fun

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      Later we had dinner together with some of the other guests at the Manor in the Main Dining Room, it was a candle light dinner.

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      Early the next morning at 6.00 am the first giraffe came to get fed by the guestroom windows and terrace. And later we eat breakfast together. It was a wonderful and fun experience.

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      And some videos at the end..

      Posted in Hotels, travel, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged africa, architecture, beautiful places, beautifulhotels, beauty, bucketlist, Charming, decor, exploring, gem, giraffe manor, giraffes, holidays, hotel, Hotels, inspiration, kenya, Leisure, life, luxury, luxuryhotel, luxurytravel, nairobi, nature, travel, travelling, View
    • Hotel Casa Del Mar at Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles, California

      Posted at 5:43 pm by mylifemyworldrg, on December 30, 2017

      Casa Del Mar – This is my new favorite hotel, everything was perfect from start to end. Hotel Casa Del Mar is perfectly situated at Santa Monica beach, by the Pier. Beautiful setting to look at both the sunset or the sunrise. The hotel itself is beautiful with classic interior and decor in maritime colors. The hotel is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World.

      Even if we arrived early in the morning, they had the room ready for us for check-in. They had even upgraded our room, to sea view and view to the pier. A wonderful room with good size, with a large bathroom. A lot of amenities in the room, and the I loved the quality of the bathrobe and all the attention to details in the room.

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      Loved the decor in the room, felt more like a living room at home than a hotel room

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      View from the Room #1

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      View from the room #2

      After the turndown service in the afternoon, there were wine and snack awaiting for us in the room

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      One hour bike rental was included in the rate, and it was a wonderful ride from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach and back. Since we visited in December the temperature was a bit low for relaxing on the beach. But it was perfect to enjoy and explore the surroundings without a crowd of people.

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      The Beach side / Front side of the Hotel Casa Del Mar

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      Free bike rental handled by their sister hotel “Shutters” situated just a few meters from Casa Del Mar

       

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      From the Pier, were trail 66 ends.

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      The beach a sunny day in December..

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      The interior of the hotel, The Lobby and Restaurant

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      The beautiful entrance of the hotel

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      The Restaurant ready for Breakfast time

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      Wonderful Cabanas

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      The Lobby

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      Coffee available for early birds before breakfast

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      The Lounge with the restaurant in the back

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      The Bar

       

       

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      Breakfast

       

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      Beautiful sunrise view from the breakfast table

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      The Exterior of the hotel with the pool area, and some pictures of both sunset and sunrise..

       

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      Early morning

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      Soon sunrise

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      Quiet and wonderful

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      Sunrise

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      Sunrise at Santa Monica Beach

       

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      View at the Pier after sunset

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      Casa Del Mar in the dark

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      Sunset

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      Sunset at Santa Monica Beach and the Pier

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      The Pier at night

      If you want to learn more about this fabulous hotel visit their webpage Hotel Casa Del Mar or let me know if you have a ny questions.

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      Beautiful views and surroundings every hour of the day

      Posted in Hotels, travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment | Tagged architecture, beauty, California, casa del mar, casadelmar, Christmas, Colors, decor, Dining, gem, holidays, Hotel Casa Del Mar, hotelcasadelmar, Hotels, inspiration, Leading Hotels of the World, life, Los Angeles, LosAngeles, luxury, luxuryhotel, nature, restaurant, santa monica, santa monica hotel, santamonica, travel, travelling, usa, View
    • Riga – Grand Palace Hotel

      Posted at 9:50 am by mylifemyworldrg, on October 22, 2017

      Do you want to have some recommendations on were to stay when visiting Riga? If you like to have a touch of Luxury but still at a favorable price I think Grand Palace Riga is a really great choice.

      From my perspective you get value for money. I guess it is a bit more expensive then many other hotels in Riga, but still compared to a many other capital cities the rates here are quite low. This is the city to try out a more luxury hotel without ending up “broke”. The hotel picked me up at the airport in a nice Mercedes E-class car at an affordable rate, convenient and safe.

      It is a wonderful hotel. It is a small, beautiful with both a historical and luxurious atmosphere. I think it is a gem. And I was really positively surprised. What I loved the most about this hotel was the Bar, were you could sit and relax, read, write, work (if you work in the sky), eat or drink. The atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable, and the service on top.

      I have some nice pictures to share with you;

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      The hotel is situated in the Old Town of Riga, just next of  the “Three Brothers” and with a perfect walking distance to the rest of the Old Town. Just a few minutes walk to “everywhere”. I thought it was perfect.

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      The Checking In was more “relaxed” than on larger hotels. The reception invites to a “personal touch”, while you sit down in the chair and they introduce them self and make you feel welcome and ensure that they want to assist you to make your stay in Riga as comfortable and beneficial as possible.

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      I had breakfast in the restaurant the first morning. The breakfast buffet had a lot of choices, and was fresh and appealing. There were some healthy choices, and you could have freshly made eggs, omelets or pancakes if you wished.

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      The room was nice and comfortable. It contained all I needed. Since I booked through Leading Hotels of the World, I got a very nice welcome gift Black Balsam, fruit basket with flower, and both still and sparkling water. The bathroom had a lot of amenities, and was light and maintained.

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      As Mentioned before the Bar is the best place to be. Relaxed, very good atmosphere and nice decor. And not at least the staff, very attentive and professional.

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      The Restaurant is situated in connection with the Bar. I did not try out the Restaurant, only had a Club Sandwich served in the Bar the first night, since I had a late arrival. The Restaurant looked nice. Something to be aware of is that the bar is a smoking area, and the restaurant is non smooking. I am a non smoker, and I am not used to smooking in public areas inside anymore. I can understand if someone get dissatisfied with the smooking in the Bar, but for me it was not a problem, I was here to enjoy my weekend and travel, and not focus on “negatives”. I spent time in the Bar when it was not  so crowded, and then the issue was gone.

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      Here are some more pictures to try to shoe the “feel” and atmosphere of the hotel;

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      The second morning I had a “sleeping morning” and had breakfast in the room (in bed). They had prepared it acorrding to my request, delivered and served on time. Ensuring a very good start of the day.

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      I really enjoyed my stay, the staff team was very nice and caring, always assisting you in a professional behavior. Kind and smiling. Even if this was a solo travel I never felt alone.

      Today I am moving to another hotel, the newly opened Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga. Looking forward to get to know them as well, and later tonight visiting the Opera and listen to The Rose Of Turadia. New blog post on those experiences soon to come. Wishing you all a very nice day!

       

      Posted in Hotels, travel, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged architecture, bar, beautiful, beautifulhotels, beauty, city, Colors, Dining, gem, grandpalaceriga, historical, history, Hotels, hunting, inspiration, Leadinghotelsoftheworld, lhw, life, luxury, luxuryhotel, Old Town, restaurant, Riga, travel, travelling
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