Hotel Girl

Travel Weekly reports this week that some hotels in Europe are dropping their prices by ten to fifteen percent this summer. This is to combat the trend towards people travelling to non Euro zones such as Turkey or Egypt because of the weak pound.

Commercial manager for bed bank HotelConnect Ian Ackland told me he is encouraging their hotel partners to bring down prices for later in the year as well.

How are your bookings going for this summer? Do you think hotels should bring down their prices?

I visited the new Great Hallingbury Manor in Bishop's Stortford at the weekend. The hotel is still under development, but we had a sneak preview of an annexe building called the Piggeries.

The annexe has the feeling of a secluded lodge in the country - not a village 5 miles from Stanstead Airport. The rooms were simple but elegant, light and spacious, with the delicious smell of being brand new.

The hotel is part of Anton's Restaurant, a new venture by former Savoy chef Anton Edelmann. The restaurant - already buzzing with locals - offers excellent food and service.

Owners Janet and Ludo Marcello have gone all out to make this a completely green hotel. All the food is locally sourced and they are installing an environmentally friendly heating system.

Once it's complete, this hotel will be a lovely option for a romantic weekend away or luxurious night before flying off on holiday from Stansted. It is also attracting businessmen looking for an alternative to the usual faceless corporate hotels.

The Marcelos - who also own three hotels in Barbados - are full of life and have really stamped their personaility on the property. They have lots of stories to tell, so make sure you say hello if you see them by the bar.

Guest Hotels is opening its second hotel, Nest, on 1 September in London's Bloomsbury. The press release calls it an "audacious" transformation of a Victorian townhouse.

Bedrooms have their own private entrance lobbies and wall panels slide away to reveal wardrobes, storage, entertainment, internet and minibar. It also has five floors of photography which 'catch the mood of the modern moment'.

Sounds very James Bond to me, but time will tell if it really brings something different to the London hotel market.

Each entry offers a full opinion and description of the hotel, as well as which operators feature it. Hotels to look out for include the trendy new boutique hotel Club in the centre of St Helier. The Savoy is another good option, having had a recent refurbishment.

First Choice is the latest tour operator to receive a high profile customer complaint. But this time it's not a bout of diarrhoea, but a spot of hanky panky that's caused a problem.

Ricky Dearn, 29, of Wolverhampton, took his girlfriend and three children to the Royal Park Hotel in Elenite, Bulgaria. He was furious when his fourteen year old son came across two staff members having sex in his bedroom. When he went to check, he found two staff scampering down the corridor clutching their clothes.

He told the BBC: "I found it slightly amusing at first but then I thought it could have security issues. I was adamant the hotel room got cleaned that night."

A hotel is asking guests to sign the 'Official Secrets Act' after its top secret recipe for sticky toffee pudding was leaked onto the internet.

Sharrow Bay at Lake Ullwater in the Lake District said the ingredients of the sticky treat have been kept under wraps since the hotel was founded by Fracis Coulson 60 years ago.

During a cooking masterclass, a student filmed the pudding being made and posted it onto YouTube. The hotel was livid.

A spokesman said: "Protecting the recipe of the Original Sharrow Bay Sticky Toffee Pudding is something we take extremely seriously. In gourmet terms, getting hold of the recipe is something of a culinary holy grail and we will do everything we can to safeguard it."

If you just can't live without the recipe, sign up for the hotel's cooking classes which begin in 2009.

An interesting new hotel is opening in Beijing this summer. The 117-room Opposite House aims to challenge the norms of the industry. It says it will eliminate crowded check-in desks by allowing guests to wait in their living room for a staff member to come to them.

As for the decor, the idea of combining old and new styles is nothing new, but the hotel seems to take this to a whole new level. The exterior is striking green emerald glass while inside has natural wooden floors and touches of traditional Chinese decor.

The hotel is the first of a new chain called Swire Hotels - a name to look out for as their focus for 2009 is the UK. Take a look at the pics here.

My colleagues Martin and Michelle had a surprise when they ordered eggs benedict at the Grosvenor Hotel in Victoria this week. There was no hollandaise sauce or ham in sight, but plenty of crisps, and er..salad.

If you just can't drag yourself away from the beach at the end of a sunny day, this hotel is for you.

The UK's first sand castle hotel has been built in Weymouth. The four metre high structure was built by 'sand sculptor' Mark Anderson and a team of five staff.

A night at the sand hotel will set you back £10 a night for a bed made of sand and no roof. It might cost more if the rain sweeps your bed away and you have to head for the nearest Hilton..

The shooting of a British couple on honeymoon in Antigua has been dominating the press this week.

Understandably, the news has frightened customers planning a trip to Antigua, and some are even cancelling or switching to another destination.

The news has also sparked fears about the safety of the Caribbean in general. Agents have called for tour operators to review the security of all the hotels they feature in the region.

What happened to Catherine Mullany and her husband is very tragic, and frightening. However, we have to keep it in perspective.

Mullany is the first tourist to be murdered in Antigua for ten years. Crime can happen anywhere and at any time. It is a shame the island - which relies heavily on tourism - has to suffer because of one horrific act.

(Above: Cocos Hotel, where the couple was staying)