Cathie Johnstone
03 July 2008
Hustyns
Another wonderfully restful time in the middle of the Cornwall countryside – but near enough to take the healthy ‘Camel Trail’ and walk to the sea at Padstow to enjoy a pint and wonderful Rick Stein fish ’n’ chips. Our group of six family and friends were in need of serious ‘battery re-charging’ or ‘chilling out’ as my niece would say. The lodge we stayed in was simply beautiful; luxuriously comfortable with great bathrooms, laundry facilities and a well-equipped kitchen with a thoughtful welcome pack to enable us to have hot drinks and a snack on arrival. The beds and linen – all perfect – were really comfortable with the option of fresh sheets or cleaning service if desired.
We absolutely loved our break – I read two books in four days and swam in the beautiful pool before breakfast every morning. My niece and her boyfriend played tennis, jogged and like all of us, loved the freedom of eating in Hustyns excellent restaurant, bar or ‘back home’ in our lodge. We’d had a wonderful first visit to the hotel last year and we are now hoping to make this an annual “chill-out” opportunity. The roads in Devon and Cornwall offered pleasurable driving and we never got lost! A truly perfect English break – but at the heart of it was the ability to relax and enjoy Hustyns, which offered just the right balance of care and attention with privacy and relaxation - a real sanctuary.
Catherine Johnstone
John R. Meggitt
03 July 2008
Recent Holiday Experience
At the beginning of June, my wife and I spent a few leisurely days on the Costa del Sol.
My wife prefers not to fly, so the challenge was to find an alternative method of travel.
We elected to take the car and use the overnight P&O Portsmouth - Bilbao ferry, and it proved to be an enjoyable experience. It might be a trifle more expensive, but the distinct lack of 'airport hassle' was a real bonus.
The Pride of Bilbao is in excess of 40,000 tonnes, so she's a sizeable vessel, having eight decks. The on-board facilities are varied, and good too.
With regard to the voyage through the Bay of Biscay, it was particularly fascinating to learn that it is a world-renowned area for dolphin and whale watching. We saw some of each, both ways - truly 'magic' moments, made all the better by the accompanying tannoy reports from an expert; a veritable mini-cruise and, happily, the weather was kind to us in both directions.
In order to help break the driving journey through Spain, we contacted Hotel Nights.
They were quickly able to set up overnight stopover accommodation and this proved to be satisfactory - full marks to that CLC Office.
The main roads in Spain were very good with far less traffic density than we experience here in the UK. Consequently the driving was far less tiring than we had expected.
A further 'bonus' was that the petrol's cheaper too (slightly less than £1.00 per litre.)
As there was no need to rush we attempted to keep our speed to a notional 60 mph (100 km/h.) and this gave us a consumption rate of just over 55 mpg which was no problem for my wife's 1.4 Honda Jazz Sport.
For those that have no aversion to driving, then the 'ferry & drive' option is recommended. For route maps, simply go on-line and use Via Michelin which we found to be good and helpful.
Regards,
John R. Meggitt
Annette & Mike Teesdale
South Wales
5th August 2008
We have recently returned from Santa Cruz Suites on the Costa del Sol - our second Club La Costa break this year as we were in Sunningdale, Tenerife, back in May. Full praise to the Club for two excellent holidays in top class accommodation. Our agent in Spain was friendly helpful and interesting, explaining things and showing us places to visit. Roll on our next booking.
Annette & Mike Teesdale,
Mark and Lynda Rushton
25th April, 2008
Hi,
We thought we would just drop you a line to say how much we enjoyed the last two weeks at Sunningdale Village.
My wife Lynda, youngest daughter Kerry (15) and myself had a one-bedroom apartment from 4th April 2008.
We had a really relaxing, enjoyable holiday. All of the staff at Sunningdale, from the reception team through to our apartment cleaner (Gloria), were very, very friendly. The staff at Zachary's, especially Nicholas (Nico), were more than eager to help us to enjoy ourselves and learn some more Spanish. They were all always cheerful and we never had to order a round of drinks for a second time - they always remembered what we wanted.
Although we did have a couple of cloudy days, the girls from Team Marina never let the weather stop us having a good time. So we were more than happy to join in with the fun and games. A trip on the submarine from San Miguel marina was a highlight of this holiday and we highly recommend it. Thanks also to Shaine, who took time over our breakfast meeting to make sure we knew how to get the most from our Vacation Club membership and how to use the new website to it's full potential.
We are now planning to return to Sunningdale Village again later this year, hopefully bringing some friends with us. As they have young children, we feel that this will be a happy, fun and safe place for them to have a holiday.
Thanks Club La Costa.
Mark and Lynda Rushton
Christine and Mike Simmonds
Club La Costa at Paradise, Tenerife
My wife, Christine, and I visited the Paradise Club in Week 1 and had one of our best holidays since we first purchased one week there in 1998. We have since purchased another week and have always enjoyed our visits.
This time, however, we were particularly pleased to notice the improvements being made under Club La Costa's management. Our apartment was in excellent condition and although some apartments below were being gutted during our stay, we were pleased to notice that complete refurbishment was being carried out and the work did not seriously inconvenience us.
The welcome meeting was concise and informative, while the paella was excellent! We were particularly pleased to notice that there had also been improvements made to the shop and the service offered by the two employees was first class. This was true of all the members of staff we came across and as part of the ‘service’ industry, Club La Costa certainly puts their customers first.
We must make particular mention of the cleaning staff, but above all, those on reception who have always been so welcoming; particularly Nellie, Fatima and Alex who we have got to know well during our yearly visits.
We look forward to further improvements to follow the recent provision of a much bigger car park and the landscaping of the gardens.
We look forward to our next visit in May.
Scott McMillan
I have just spoken to Maxine to make booking arrangements for our
Holiday to Crete in July. I have to send this email to say a big thank you to Maxine. She is most efficient and courteous and nothing seemed too much trouble for her. Often people only like to complain about how they are treated but it is also nice to compliment excellent service when it is delivered. Please express my thanks to Maxine for her excellent customer service.
Over the years I have spoken to several members of the Travel Staff and I have always found them helpful. Please keep up the good work.
Yours,
Scott McMillan
