The great Marriott ice cream adventure

Today I bring you a true, real life adventure undertaken by those lovely people at Marriott. They have spent the last couple of days travelling the length of England bringing the wonderful folks of this country what they need and desire most in this hot weather…. ICE CREAM!

Now, they are not relying on our extremely efficient public transport system to do this, nor are they popping to the local newsagents every time someone asks for a Calippo. They have gone and got themselves their very own Marriott Ice Cream van, and a very fine specimen it is too!

You may be wondering why I will be the one telling this story and not our friends at the englandhotelexperts?  Well, no trip across England would be complete without a stop over in London and as you can see from the picture, the van (or Ice Cream Genie as I like to call it) looks splendid in front of Big Ben!

Below is a couple of extracts from the first 2 days on the road… I hope you enjoy!

So, day one on the Great Marriott Ice Cream started in a positive mood, ‘Cautiously optimistic’ that :

A)    The Ice Cream Van would turn up at 9am

B)    The Weather would hold out

C)    They  would make it in one piece without losing the Ice Cream Man on-route.

I am pleased to say that 2 out of the 3 would prevail but the weather unfortunately didn’t – but in ‘True British Summer Spirit’ they soldiered on, in glamorous Pink, Sprowston Manor Hotel & Country Club shirts to kick-start the Marriott Ice Cream Adventure.

Day one started from Kent, travelling to 2 companies in Kent, through London and on to Windsor and then to the Leicester Marriott. They were then supposed to go to Northampton but thanks to the M25 , the appointment had to be moved to the next day. Perhaps they were better off on our public transport!?

Day 2 started with The General Manager from Hanbury Manor, William Boulton-Smith joining in on the road-trip to Northampton. However, due to the unfortunate chain of circumstances with M25 & M1 Traffic, they were not travelling through Northampton at the time they were supposed to – thus the Ice Cream Jingle at 8.45am on a Tuesday Morning certainly made Marriott “’Stand out from the crowd” as the Northampton commuters drearily made their way to work.

The Ice Cream Genie then found itself locked in at Northampton, which set them back slightly on the schedule but not to be deterred –  it found it’s 27^th Gear and gained ground (surprisingly) on the M6 towards Birmingham.

But they weren’t finished there… Day two also saw them take in Burntwood, Derby, Nottingham and York! Quite how they did it I don’t know, but what I do know is that everyone got their ice creams (even if they had to enjoy them in the rain) and the whole of the midlands lived happily ever after!

I don’t even what to ask about the shenanigans that they will get up to in Manchester on day 3. What a great idea by a great bunch of people!

The best bit about it all is that you can book all the Marriott hotels on lastminute.com and enjoy 20% off weekend rates. How about staying at the Marriott Hotel Marble Arch, where, from the 9^th August you can also stay for 3 nights midweek and pay for only 2!

Sofitel London Gatwick celebrates Gatwick Monorail Back up and running!!

Let’s start with a few interesting facts about our beloved Gatwick airport… 1. It is the busiest single runway airport in the world; 2. After Heathrow Airport, Gatwick is the second largest airport in the UK; 3. It is in fact the sixth busiest international airport in the world!!

It is my great pleasure to announce, for those of you who do not already know, that after twelve long months of closure for refurbishment, the Gatwick Monorail was reopened on the 1^st July 2010, two months ahead of schedule!!! After a £43 million investment the new state-of-the-art shuttle offers passengers a fast, free and comfortable journey between the North and South Terminals. The project included the installation of a completely new shuttle system, new shuttle cars, refurbishment of the track and transformation of the two terminal stations. It really is quite impressive to look at.

In conjunction with the opening of the inter-terminal shuttle the dedicated link way connecting Sofitel London Gatwick to the North Terminal at Gatwick Airport has been re-established providing the hotel’s customers with a direct and quick link to the North Terminal, the shuttle to the South Terminal and onwards to central London via the Gatwick Express.

The Sofitel London Gatwick is a wonderful 4-star hotel offering guests convenience, comfort and fantastic value.  The hotel’s link to the airport by covered linkway offers the ideal way to get a smooth, hassle-free start to any holiday or business trip.

Not travelling from Gatwick but Heathrow and like your Sofitels?? Then why not try out the wonderful Sofitel London Heathrow instead!!

Flemings Hotel Mayfair! Great History!

Half Moon Street has been occupied by nobility, surgeons, physicians, legal professionals… and rogues. George Hudson, MP for Sunderland, had apartments in the hotel between1855 and 1857. Hudson, called the ‘Railway King’, was a railway promoter and fraudster accused of manipulating the share prices of his companies and misappropriating funds. As an MP he could not be arrested while Parliament sat, so he lodged at Flemings Hotel.

Today Flemings Hotel in central London is unique, occupying 6 interconnecting Georgian Townhouses bordering Half Moon Street and Clarges Street in central London, and is privately owned.

Don’t let all this history fool you though. The hotel has recently undertaken a beautiful refurbishment of its public areas with a very modern twist. The bar, restaurant, lounge and lobby are now very much in the 21st century. As I’m sure you can see from the picture on the left!

How can a square look so good?

Shaun yesterday talked of an oasis at the K+K Hotel George; today, I bring you a completely different oasis. Located in Pimlico, no more than 10 minutes walk to Victoria and even less in the other direction to our grand waterway (I am talking about the Thames by the way!) lays one of the most stunning buildings I have ever been to – Dolphin Square.

It has long been one of London’s best kept secrets and yet in certain circles it has been one of the most desirable and envied of addresses. With its history dating back to the 1820’s the formative years have seen it owned by the Duke of Wellington, bombed a very unlucky 13 times in the Blitz and house an army clothing factory in the 1850’s. The sheer scale of the development is something to behold – in fact up until 1992, no other building had a greater number of self contained apartments in the whole of Europe! (now you can sleep at night knowing that!)

So, now you know, Dolphin Square contains literally millions of private residences (one was once inhabited by William Hague I’ll have you know), a leisure centre and stunning gardens (3 and a half acres of stunning gardens to be precise).  However probably the best part of the entire place Dolphin House.

Now, Dolphin House has 165 serviced apartments – all are incredibly spacious and have even more incredibly sophisticated furnishings.  Guests have access to all the facilities including the leisure centre and the very tempting Dolphin Bar and Grill, and what other hotel in central London can boast having its own shopping arcade!

I leave you with this note, The revered American travel writer Temple Fielding saw the Square as a “mini city” and to a certain extent this is still true today. However, the size of the building, the number of tenants, the sheer scope of the amenities and the central location all belie the fact that Dolphin Square is indeed an oasis of calm in the city.