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The Material Girl Is Still Very Serious About Material Things

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Havannah Street, Cardiff, United Kingdom, CF10 5SD
August 26, 2008 at 9:30 AM | by abigailmschilling | 0 Comments

"You must cook for Madonna as if she is the real Queen."

That is what one of Madonna's people supposedly told the kitchen staff at St. David's Spa and Hotel in Cardiff where Madge was staying during the first night of her Sticky and Sweet Concert Tour.

Despite the hotel's over-the-top efforts to please her with a total remodel of her top-floor suite including new furniture, curtains, rugs, TV, and on and on, she still managed to throw a fit about some chips.

According to the Wales Online site, the oil they were cooked in was "too old." The St. David's chef says the oil was only two days old, but it was--of course--changed to please the queen.

[Ed. Note: Madonna eats chips/fries? And oil? What happened to her macrobiotic diet?]

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Cardiff's Seaside Secret: The Holm House in Penarth

February 28, 2008 at 9:00 AM | by femmefatale | 0 Comments

Here's a secret for any of you who want an exclusive olde-style 'British' boutique hotel experience - Holm House in Penarth, a short way from Wales' capital city Cardiff.

It's a classic, from its top-quality guest-only restaurant and its 12 individually designed and decorated rooms. And if you're wondering, it really is a house, a 1920s house done up in fine style with modern installations - Bang & Olufsen and WiFi and all the rest.

Go if you're over 30 (in age or attitude) and want a quiet romantic break - it's no good for clubbers and outrageous lovers.

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Welsh Country Living: Gliffaes Country House Hotel

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Crickhowell, Powys, United Kingdom, NP8 1RH
February 27, 2008 at 11:04 AM | by femmefatale | 0 Comments

If you're heading for Wales but are not businessy enough for the St David's Hotel & Spa and too old for the Jolyon's Boutique Hotel, drive half an hour out of the city to the Gliffaes Country House Hotel.

It's right in the heart of the Brecon Beacon's, one of Wales' most beautiful natural parks and a top area for walking, fishing, chilling....it's so quiet you can almost hear what the birds are saying. The perfect place to sit out the Ryder Cup.

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Cardiff is the New London: Jolyon's Boutique Hotel

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Bute Crescent, Cardiff, United Kingdom, CF10 5AN
February 26, 2008 at 9:46 AM | by femmefatale | 1 Comment

We're always a bit dubious about hotels that advertise themselves blatantly as a 'Boutique Hotel', as the Jolyon's Boutique Hotel does. We were a bit dubious about this one as we approached and saw the also-advertised 'beer garden', which was a small backyard area with a saggy sofa in one corner looking out onto a building site.

But we take it back - the tiny 6-room Jolyon's makes the grade in the fledgling Cardiff hotel scene, partly for its ever-present smiley owner, partly for its cute downstairs bar, and partly for its top location by Cardiff Bay.

It's a bit of a stretch to call Jolyon's a 'Boutique Hotel', but we'll let it off. In Cardiff, at the moment at least, it's the closest to boutique you'll get.

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Cardiff is the New London

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Havannah Street , Cardiff, United Kingdom, CF10 5SD
February 25, 2008 at 11:57 AM | by femmefatale | 0 Comments

Forget London - the latest British capital city to visit is Cardiff. After decades of drudgery brought on be incessant rain and regular invasions of sheep, the Welsh capital is now hotting up faster than the US election race.

A spectacular opera house, a shiny new Parliament building, and the super Millennium rugby stadium are the city's most showy accessories. Depending on your attitude towards cruel sports, Cardiff is either a superb or a revolting place to visit on rugby match weekends, as we did.

The hotel scene is hotting up as well, in expectation of the Ryder Cup 2010, to be held at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport and Cardiff. In the capital, there's a rather frightening trend for ripping the guts out of office blocks and turning them into hotels, with varying levels of success.

The only area currently worth staying is near the imaginatively named 'Mermaid Quay', or Cardiff Bay. In the last few years, it's been redeveloped from a stinking muddy dock area into a fantastic leisure area, packed with bars and restaurants and heaving with Welsh rugby fans, students and increasing numbers of tourists. Thankfully, Cardiff's two best and most long-standing hotels - the St David's Hotel & Spa and the Jolyon's Boutique Hotel - are right in the centre of this area.

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