Accommodations Worldwide

January 2007 issue

Hotels in Australia’s Northern Territory

From my March 12-26, 2006, trip to AUSTRALIA, here are appraisals of hotels in the Northern Territory. (For others in New South Wales and South Australia, see the September and March articles)

• Before picking up my rental car in Alice Springs, I had lunch at the Royal Flying Doctor Service facility (8-10 Stuart Terrace, Alice Springs, N.T., Australia; phone 08 8952 1129 or visit www.rfds.org.au). A delicious bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich with iced tea was Aus$10 (US$7).

After lunch I walked to the Hertz office and picked up the car. All car rental arrangements were made...

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July 2007 issue

Blandford Hotel in Great Britain

I spent a delightful week at a lovely, small hotel in London, ENGLAND: the Blandford Hotel (80 Chiltern St., London W1U 5AF, U.K.; phone 44-207-486-3103, fax 487-2786 or visit www.blandfordhotel.com). I first stayed there in January ’05 and liked it then, but on my most recent visit in March ’07 I found that the entire hotel has been beautifully renovated from top to bottom.

The rooms are small, as is customary in London hotels, but they are now very nicely furnished and contain many amenities, including central heat and air-conditioning, satellite TV with pay-TV options, tea/coffee...

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September 2007 issue

Duval Serviced Apartments in Poland

My husband and I went to Warsaw, POLAND, in March ’07 and were pleasantly surprised.

We stayed in Warsaw’s Old Town and were able to walk everywhere. English appeared to be the common second language, at least in the major cities, and we did not experience any language problems. The Polish people with whom we had contact were very helpful and friendly.

We rented a holiday apartment with Duval Serviced Apartments (Ul. Nowomiejska 10, 00-271 Warszawa, Polska; phone +48 22 849 70 24, fax 22 831 91 04, www.duval.net.pl). Only a block from the Old Town square, it was in an old...

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May 2008 issue

Hotels in Italy's Campania region

Here are recommendations from a November ’07 trip to the Campania area of ITALY.

• Hostel Hotel Bella Capri (Via Melisurgo, 4, Gate B, 6th Floor, Naples, Italy; phone/fax +39 081 552 92 65, www.bellacapri.it).

This combination hostel/hotel (there were a few private rooms with bath) is just off the waterfront, convenient to boats to and from Capri and also the bus to Pompeii.

Rooms, each with a small bathroom, were minimal but decent. Some rooms faced the bay and busy street so were relatively noisy, added to the sound from the reception area adjacent. Number 7 was much...

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September 2008 issue

Canasta Hotel, Capri, Italy

The best hotel we stayed at during our 3-week trip to ITALY in October-November ’07 (also see May ’08, pg. 34 & July ’08, pg. 56) was the Canasta Hotel (Via Campo di Teste 6, 80073 Capri, Italy; phone +39 81 837 0561, fax 837 6675, www.hotel-canasta.com).

The Canasta is one of the lower-price hotels in the high-price tourist area of Capri town. It’s also in a pedestrian zone, which means schlepping your luggage several blocks whether you arrive from the wharf by taxi or via the funicular.

We had a nice-size, attractive, quiet room with bath plus a good breakfast. €100 ($...

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March 2007 issue

Le Lot in France

We read the recommendation for Le Lot (46320 Issepts, FRANCE; phone 011 33 [0] 5 65 40 17 61 or e-mail catherineissepts@wanadoo.fr) (April ’06, pg. 55). We stayed there during our trip to southern France in May ’06 and it was by far our favorite chambre d’hôte of the trip.

Catherine has two rooms. Our spacious room with a view of the countryside had its own bathroom. We paid €34 ($40) each night, and this included a breakfast of croissants, yogurt, bread, homemade jams and coffee.

A full dinner of three appetizers, salad, salmon and dessert cost €12 ($15), with wine...

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July 2007 issue

France's Campanile Roissy hotel

We recommend Campanile Roissy (Zone d’Activites du Parc de Roissy, Allee des Vergers, 95700 Roissy en FRANCE; phone +33 1 34 29 80 40, fax 80 39 or e-mail roissy@campanile.fr) to anyone looking for a reasonably priced hotel near Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

When we stayed there in May ’07, double rooms were €67 ($90). They were plain but spotless and sufficiently spacious, with room for luggage and two people to get around without tripping over each other. Beds were solid, bathrooms were well equipped, and the breakfast buffet (an additional €8 [$11] per person) was one...

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December 2007 issue

Louisa’s Place apartment, Berlin

We stayed for five nights in Berlin at Louisa’s Place (Kurfürstendamm 160, 10709 Berlin, GERMANY; phone +49 [0] 30 6 31 03-0 or fax 03-100, www.louisas-place.de) at the end of March ’07 and couldn’t have been more pleased.

This is one of those rare finds — an upscale and classy yet very friendly hotel. The light and airy suites are extremely spacious and simply stunning, with high ceilings, beautiful wood floors, elegant window treatments and pleasing artwork on the walls.

Everything is first class. The kitchen has Bosch and Krupps appliances, the bedding is luxurious and...

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