GO ASK JOAN: From finding an apartment in London to a day trip to see Santa and a hotel treat on the Amalfi coast JOAN SCALESanswers your queries
Special hotel on the Amalfi coast
We love the Amalfi coast of Italy. Next spring my wife has a special birthday and I would like to take her to a really nice hotel to celebrate. Would you have any ideas for that area and how we could get there easily?
– BC, Offaly
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flights to Naples resume at the end of March – the service is three days a week direct from Dublin.
There are many fine hotels on the Amalfi coast and it’s hard to make a decision. However, I suggest three: they are four and five-star properties, each with character.
The first is Hotel Capo La Gala (hotelcapolagala.com) in Vico Eqense – about 30 minutes from Sorrento. It’s a boutique hotel on the coast and only has about 22 rooms. It is built into a cliff side and has a lovely pool area while all rooms have sea views. It also has a Michelin star restaurant, Maxi.
The next is high above Sorrento and is a classic. Hotel Bristol (bristolsorrento.com) has views of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. There is a lovely piano bar and the food is good. This hotel is popular with Irish people as it has good rates with Topflight (topflight.ie, 1890-240170) which can put together flights, transfers and accommodation for you. This year Topflight was offering keenly priced weeks at the Bristol and Capo La Gala.
Finally, Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria (exvitt.it) is in Sorrento town, or at least the driveway begins in the town and leads into acres of gardens and an orange grove. The hotel is open from May 1st to October 31st and over Christmas. It is a grand five-star hotel in the European style (Enrico Caruso and Sophia Loren stayed here). It has been open since 1834 and is still run by the same family.
DIY day trip to see Santa
After an unsuccessful attempt to take a day trip to see Santa last year – we were grounded by snow – I hoped to bring my six-year-old this year. However, organised trips seem to be limited to midweek or Saturday, neither of which suit due to work commitments. Is there any way of organising a similar trip ourselves?
– MF, Dublin
Falcon Holidays (falconholidays.ie, 1850-946164) has a trip to Lapland on Friday, December 9th from Belfast from £447 (€512) per person.
Canterbury Travel (santa-holidays.com, 01-6770776) has trips on Saturday, December 17th and Wednesday, December 21st for €680 (adults) and €645 (kids). From the UK, it has trips almost every day up to Christmas from various airports. If you travel via the UK you will be looking at staying over on the night before the trip. It would be impossible to do this trip in one day using scheduled flights from Ireland. You would have to travel via another airport, probably Copenhagen or Oslo, and more than likely you will need three flights to make it there.
Apartment in central London
My two sisters and I have gone to London at the end of January for the last three years. We usually stay in the Strand Palace Hotel on the Strand which is central. But it no longer offers triple rooms (for health and safety reasons), so last year two of us shared a double bed (which was okay) and the third slept on a pull-out bed, which wasn’t great. We thought this year we might try an apartment. I tried some websites but got bogged down. We would like somewhere in Covent Garden, the Strand or Westminster. Say an apartment with a double and a single for two nights, January 27th and 28th, in the £300-£400 bracket all-in. Is this possible in central London?
– CM, Clare
There are some hotels that have triple rooms and the easiest way to find them in is on booking.com. It has an option where you can specify the number of adults in a room and you can then find suitable hotels.
Some hotel chains, like Travelodge and Premier Inn, have family rooms at good prices. They have sales from time to time.
When it comes to apartments, London is quite expensive and getting more so. I have seen some to rent in and around your price range. The Citadines (citadines.com/uk) at Trafalgar Square is about £430 (€493) for two nights.
A little further away, for around the same price is 196Bishopgate.com.
Or you could rent direct from an owner on holiday-rentals.com. Use the search facility on the left-hand side to narrow the hunt.
Winter sun on the cheap
Do you have any suggestions for a sun destination holiday departing late December? Our budget is limited (around €600). Do you have any suggestions for either a DIY or a package for two active women interested in cafe society, good food, walking and swimming and not nightlife?
– AK, Dublin
Cafe society in the sun in December? Now that’s a tall order.
When it comes to easy accessibility from Ireland within your price range, you’re looking at the Canary Islands, and Morocco.
Tour operators, such as Thomas Cook Group, Falcon Holidays and Sunway Travel, have packages to the Canary Islands and Morocco for around €600.
These holidays are self-catering with flights and transfers, the swimming and walking provided and maybe the food, but not necessarily the cafe society.
When it comes to doing it yourself, you have more choices with direct flights from Ireland to Malaga, Alicante, Murcia, Faro, Lisbon, Nice, Rome and the Canary Islands.
Flights to the Canary Islands are the most expensive at around €300-€400. Other cities are less costly, in the €150-€250 range. So it is a toss up between cafe society and swimming.
Cities to consider would be Lisbon, Murcia and Malaga. They will be warmer than here and have things to see and do. Rome is colder in December and Nice is around 12-14 degrees.