Manchester – Kings Street Townhouse Hotel

We have been to Manchester a few times in the last couple of months. Dave (my fiance) had a little operation and his surgeon is based there. The trips have turned into nice nights away from Hollytree for us. The first visit (after reading amazing reviews online) we stopped in The Gotham Hotel. We ended up upgrading our room because the room we were allocated had no windows which really freaked me out. Although the room we ended up in was amazing I don’t think the hotel as a whole (value for money and facilities) comes close to Kings Street Townhouse.

Kings Street Townhouse

Check in was quick and easy the staff were friendly and eager to help. Our room was a generous sized suite (for a city centre hotel) on the fifth floor that had a four poster (super comfy) bed, floor to ceiling windows with a view of the town hall and clock tower, a stand-alone bath (I have this thing for bathtubs so this was a big tick) and a beautiful bathroom. You are provided with the most luxurious robes I’ve ever had in a hotel room, not your regular towelling ones that are always way too big. The mini bar is a charged one but you do get free tea and coffee.

 

Although the room was beautiful the main reason I would visit this hotel again and again and recommend it to anyone that will listen is the pool and spa area on level 7.  We were lucky enough to have the spa area to ourselves which was perfect for the must-have Insta pics at the edge of the pool with the amazing view. *side notes if the screen is down (I’m guessing to keep the water temperature) ring reception and they will open it up remotely without disturbing you.  The spa pool is definitely the star attraction but the spa has other things to offer. Next to the pool is a steam room and a relaxation area where you can take in the view, read the magazines provided and enjoy drinks from the bar. There are treatments options which on our next visit I will definitely be making the most of. The top to toe 90 mins treatment is top of my list!

Q. What could make this hotel any better?

A.  Breakfast wasn’t the best – service was slow. Dave had the English breakfast and really enjoyed it, I had the American pancakes and they were overcooked and greasy.

Minibar – other hotels we stop in, for example, The Dakota deluxe offer a free minibar in suites which is a nice touch when you are spending so much already.

 

Jess x

Maid of Honor Duties

Just a quick post basically asking for hints and tips for our trip to Paris.

In November my bestie of 11 years asked me to be her maid of honor the card said it all. I always knew I would be but she had to ask officially. Since then I have been to look at venues, to wedding fayres, dress shopping and bridesmaid dress shopping I’ve loved it all. My biggest duty so far has been organising the hen party, we had a girls night in before Christmas to throw some ideas around and we settled on Paris. I sent out the group text and there are 6 of us headed to Paris for the weekend at the end of July I can not wait!

My little bridesmaid note book has come in useful writing things down and making lists make me feel organised even if I’m not. I’ve booked flights, an apartment then had the apartment cancel on me (I know absolute nightmare) so I’ve booked us a hotel in the Latin quarter .  The plan is to arrive in Paris Friday morning spend the day there doing I don’t know what yet, maybe a sightseeing cruise on the Seine (suggestions required please). Friday night we are going to Moulin Rouge and then cocktails. Saturday is a full day in Disney in our matching ears and vests cheesy but a necessity of a Disney hen party. I’m going to make us a fun photo scavenger hunt for the day with things like kissing a character, finding Nemo/Dory (more ideas are welcomed). Sunday we don’t fly home until 6pm so have most of the day to shop and chill in the amazing city that is Paris.

For the trip so far I’ve nearly finished everybody’s goody bags some of which has been handmade by me which I have really enjoyed doing (its inspired me to make my own save the dates).

Here is a sneak peek at something from the goody bags. I don’t want to give too much away.

I want my bestie’s hen to be as perfect as it can be so we need ideas and tips on the places to eat and drink and the must do’s when in Paris Please.

London Trip

For Valentines we decided we weren’t doing gifts instead we had a trip down to London we went down Monday afternoon and came back Tuesday night. Me & Dave haven’t really been to London and stopped over together before. While I love a London trip Dave isn’t a fan. He had a meeting he had to attended Tuesday morning in the city so with it being valentines and half term he invited me along.  First class travel and four star hotel I could cope with a few hours out of my day talking about weeds and trees, it was actually quite nice to have an incite into his work (not that I’m admitting that to him).

Monday was spent doing what we do best eating and drinking. We didn’t want to stay out too late with us having the meeting the next morning, so we stayed close to the hotel. We found a boutique bowling alley that served food and cocktails. I would  recommend booking in advance if you want a game as the one we visited didn’t have many lanes so we didn’t manage one. The food was yum and they did there own version of my favourite cocktail the porn star martini this was named All Star Martini it had rhubarb vodka instead of vanilla I will definitely be trying to recreate this one at home. We then headed to Londons cocktail club on Shaftesbury Avenue it was happy hour all night! I loved people watching couples, groups of friends from all over the world. The girl who served us was super helpful with choosing cocktails for us, its definitely worth a visit if you love a good cocktail and this isn’t the only one they are all over London meaning more to try next time we are there bonus!

The next morning we hopped on the underground then the DLR to Dave’s meeting, meaning I saw parts of London I’d never seen before and perfect for more people watching. Then shopping in Covent Garden, lunch in China Town, window shopping in Harrods (mostly spent dribbling in shoe heaven) and then we went to the Picturehouse central cinema and watched fifty shades darker we’ve all read the books so we know what the films about.

These will be my wedding shoes, these will be my wedding shoes, these will be my wedding shoes. If I say it enough it might come true 🙂 

Walking in the cinema I was in love with the decor especially the lighting is was very industrial we are currently decorating our dinning room and thats the look we are going for so I took far too many pics this was my favourite piece of lighting.

After the cinema we were walking through London to collect our bags and then back to Kings cross on the walk I had a total Love Actually moment, you know the part at the end of the film when Hugh Grant tells us all that love actually is all around (I now believe him). There were couples walking hand in hand, people waiting with flowers, inside restaurants were people who looked so in love. The streets of London were filled with happy couples and I loved just wandering through them imagining their stories. We walked past a girl coming out of her apartment to meet her friend, her friend had brought her a card and a rose and said I know we were doing an anti-valentines besties thing but happy valentines.  For a few streets we followed an older couple, I have this thing about the elderly I just love them. My nan was my best friend (sorry Jodie) but they tell the best stories and being around them makes me feel happy anyways back to the couple. They walked hand in hand chatting and laughing she was carrying a single red rose and when they got to where they were headed they stopped he kissed her cheek and he held the door open (its the little things) I hope me and Dave are as in love and still have as much to laugh and talk about their age.

On the train home we exchanged our Valentines cards I’m glad we didn’t do presents it meant we both put more thought into our cards (I wrote a blog post all about mine here) and it finished our Valentines off perfectly. Hope you all had a good valentines too.

Jessica x