France, Rhone-Alpes, Saint-Didier-de-Formans, Chateau de Tanay


Quelle trouvaille!

http://www.chateau-tanay.com/

Staying in this beautiful castle as stopover on our way to the South of France was THE best way to start a great holiday. Lovely room, lovely owners, lovely gardens, lovely swimming pool and... lovely chocolates on our pillow!

The place (little bit above Lyon) is charming and romantic, but also child friendly with a playing room and an enormous field for little boys to offload energy after a 8 hour car drive ; ) Actually just the way we like it, and affordable.They serve a wonderful breakfast but no table d'hote, fortunately there is a small restaurant just opposite to the castle and for some more serious dining L'Embarcadere in Villefrance sur Saone is a real treat. http://www.georgesblanc.com/uk/l-embarcadere-jassans-riottier.php#

Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee, Kust Strandhuisjes

As we all are longing for summer to really arrive...., I had a sneak preview (although 8 degrees C...) on the beach yesterday having dinner with friends at a nice restaurant in Katwijk aan Zee. If you like seafood I can absolutely recommend this one http://www.kw106.com/.

Directly next to the restaurant (located on the beach) I saw these lovely beach cabins you can rent. They are brand new and designed and decorated with style. Fresh white with colorfull Fermob, hammocks, a mezzanine floor with a boxspring for guaranteed seaview... Sleep on the beach; the concept is not new, but this execution is really great! Two bedrooms, so a perfect weekend trip with kids. Rent a few next to eachother with friends and enjoy the sunset with bottles of wine on the porch while the kids are having fun on the beach... Nice!

http://www.kust.nu/index.php?p=1&taal=en

The Dutch beaches are great (weather permitting : ). There are many choices. Katwijk aan Zee is a quiet little village, a traditional fishing village, with a pure, unspoiled beachlife. No festivals, or beach club decibels, but a relaxed child friendly atmosphere.

Austria, St Anton am Arlberg, Valluga Hotel

Yeah!!! Another discovery... with Mozartkugeln on our pillow, every evening!

Just returned from a quality time spring skiing break with husband, without kids...We found the perfect setting: Valluga Hotel in St Anton withs lots of snow and lots of sun. We are fan, what a great place to stay! 

The Swedish owners of Esplendido and Portixol in Mallorca (also real ChocolateOnYourPillow material) have opened the doors of their dream hotel in the Tyrolean Alpes December last year. They renovated an old chalet and created a state of the art cosey homey retreat with spacious rooms, great food, wellness, gym and a great 'living room' area with big sofa's, open fires, MACs, a libary, pool table, a bar. All in a fresh retro Scandic design.

http://www.vallugahotel.at/

As we planned a 'quality time just the two of us' holiday, the overwhelming apres ski possibilities in St Anton were not the main magnet for us (for many visitors they are ; ).

We loved skiing at the Rendl side with fantastisch wide slopes (a tip we got from our Valluga waiter) and the Lech area (just one ski bus away). Fantastic restaurant with an awesome view for lunch or just a pitstop in Lech is Balmalp  http://www.palmenalpe.at/ and enjoy apres ski in style in the champagne icebar Frozen on the piste  http://www.frozenlech.com/icebar/ . If it's sunny and you sit outside don't forget to check out the interior with icebar and frozen champagne bottles... nice!.

Netherlands, Maastricht, Hoogeweert Suites

Just returned from a wonderfull birthday celebration weekend in Maastricht. My parents offered to babysit our boys (the best birthday present ever!), so we took off down south. 

As we are frequent visitors of Maastricht, we wanted to stay somewhere else and not per definition in the centre of town. A few years ago (sort of in another lifetime ; ), when we were training to run a marathon we always took our gear where ever we went, also when staying in Maastricht. During one of our runs we discovered an area of real natural beauty, so close to the centre. If you start at the St Servaas bridge you just walk (or run : ) along the Maas (at the Wyck side of town) in the direction of the Kennedy bridge and you just go straight on and on and on. At a certain point in the natural parc you will find a marina and you will see a beautifull idyllic 14th century castle, just opposite the ENCI factory at the other side of the river. It's the recently renovated castle The Hoogeweert, with seven uniquely decorated suites in the red plastered coach house. I like castles! So we decided to celebrate my birthday in style and stayed in the Eve suite. The suites are similar in their modern design interior, but very different in space, set up and theme. The Eve suite is a 'love suite', particularly suitable for couples (or better to say only suitable for 'happy' couples). It was quite an experience, not per definition the most practical hotel room I have ever stayed in, but it was fun and definitely different.

The white and pink Eve suite has an integrated bath/living room, with a pretty egg shaped design bath tub in the centre of the attention. The bed is upstairs, its a matress on a mezzanine floor. It is absolutely cosey as it is 1,5m high up there, so you have to crawl to bed! This and the fact that there is no shower were minor comments. The plusses are: the friendly welcome with a free glass of prosecco, the beautifull parc and the great terrace of the restaurant SOFA (especially nice in summertime), small kitchenette with tea/coffee and the breakfast in your room service.

Check out the website for more details and see the different themes and designs of the suites. The bridal suite (Royal suite) in the castle itself is absolutely amazing.  

 http://www.kasteeldehoogenweerth.nl/

Belgium, Antwerp, Hotel Julien

Suffering from winter depression? And a plane to the sun or a skiing trip is not an option... why not book a night in hotel Julien for a weekend break Antwerp. Anti depression features:

1) central location in the middle of the shopping area (and the Januari soldes are on : )
2) endless possibilities to wine, dine and drink Belgium beers (ask for latest addresses at the reception, 't Zuid is a nice area)
3) great hotel spa to reboot
4) dvd library and delicious breakfast in your room service to cocoon to the max
5) and enough things that make you smile like pretty design, custom made linen and friendly people 

http://www.hotel-julien.com/

Enjoy!