Choice hotels have just opened a new purpose-built hotel in at Oranmore - the Quality Inn is about 10 minutes drive from the city centre. Best of all, the price is £49 for rooms that sleep up to three and, even better still, they have a terrific leisure centre with swimming pool, childrens pool, jacuzzi, sauna and a high-tech gymnasium. Tel: (091) 792244.
Tesco and Budget Travelshops have just announced that for every £1 you spend on holidays you will get one point on your . This is an easy way to increase your points which are awarded as quarterly vouchers to spend in Tesco Stores. Don't forget your Clubcard when booking your holiday. Also Budget has just announced that it be selling packages to Egypt and Thailand for next year. Prices for both promise to be well within reach of everyone.
At this time of the year and as we go deeper into the winter, everyone wants to know where the sun is. Well, here is an island in the sun that will not break the bank. The tropical island of Cuba offers a cocktail of African colour and rhythm, Spanish colonial heritage, Latin American culture and year-round sunshine. The largest island in the Caribbean , Cuba has a lot of offer Irish tourists.
You can choose to spend your time lying on Varadero beach or make it a two or three centre holiday. In Old Havana, the part of the capital that has been declared a world heritage site, you can see examples of impressive but decaying Spanish colonial architecture, and examples of North America's finest gas guzzlers. Cubatravel, at 11 Sth Anne Street, Dublin, is the specialist on Cuba, or phone (01) 671 3422.
Cityjet is expanding its services to Malaga during the winter. Day flights will operate every Sunday and will cost from £229. Ideal for the many Irish people who now own property on the Costa Del Sol. They will also be offering a business-class service on the route.
Keith Prowse's new range of weekend breaks from the Hello Cities brochure represent great value for money. A weekend in from £110 including flights and two nights accommodation, or Manchester from £119, Birmingham at £124, Glasgow from £138 and Edinburgh from £133. In many of the hotels children under 12 are free. If you would like to holiday in Dublin they also have some great weekend deals with a variety of well placed hotels from £67 in the Montrose up to £146 in the five star Towers Hotel, Ballsbridge. Brochure from (01) 679 5333.
The big fight of the year is Wayne McCullough v Prince Naseem Hamed inAtlantic City on October 30th. At £599 for flights via London, two nights in the Boardwalk City and one night in the Big Apple, and transfers, how could you miss it? Fight tickets cost from £69. Details from the Travel Department, (01) 260 2431 or 2434.
Still on the subject of sports, Stephens Green Travel has just issued its programme for the Five Nations Rugby Championships. This season we play
Scotland in Murrayfield and Wales in Wembley Stadium. Brochures from (01) 283 7900.