Attitude’s Travel Inside: Travel like a celebrity (sort of)
Last week, Lily Allen tweeted some seriously valuable travel advice.
She wrote: “I gladly go on record to say that in my opinion Sofitels consistently bring a better pillow game than any Radisson Blu.”
Bold statement, and one I imagine Sofitel were thrilled with, considering the message went out to nearly 4.9 million followers. Radisson Blu, on the other hand, probably weren’t doing much air punching – but they did promise to give Lils a larger pillow selection on her next visit. She didn’t reply. Awkward.
The point is a celebrity endorsement is always a winner when it comes to sniffing out good service. After all, famous folk don’t often settle for anything less than luxury and we all love a bit of that.
And now Sofitel have now overtaken Travelodge in my imaginary list of ‘where to stay when away on a work trip’, meaning Lily’s tweet worked.
Which makes me wonder, who else can we trust when it comes to a travel thumbs up? This lot are (probably) fail-safe:
1. Take That might be one member down but that doesn’t mean they’re not planning to tour the UK next year. And when they do, they’ll probably be resting their post-performance heads at the Great John Street hotel in Manchester. In fact, the group loves this boutique hotel on the Castlefield back streets so much, they usually book the whole place out for their band and crew. At over £100 a pop, it doesn’t come cheap, but you’ll be safe in the knowledge Barlow has probably had a bath somewhere on the premises. Great John Street hotel
2. Remember when Prince Harry got naked with a load of Las Vegas party girls? Well, he did it at the The Wynn, which is one of the Sin City’s more pricey hotels. Still, you don’t need to lay your head where Hazza did to enjoy a feast fit for a royal; instead fork out the $20 for their breakfast buffet and you’ll experience one of the hotel’s finest services. Sometimes, they serve lobster. I’m not even kidding. Wynn Las Vegas
3. Holidaying like Kimye is actually pretty easy if you don’t mind the 28-hour flight to the Tahitian islands and have a bit of cash saved up. The $5,000-a-night over-water Presidential villa at the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa might be out of your price range (unless you have secret Kardashian skills), but regular villas begin at a much more affordable £200 per night excluding taxes. Not bad for near-enough paradise. Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort
4. After the stars of TOWIE launched their new series with a one-off special based in Ibiza, the White Isle’s finest hotels such as Hacienda Na Xamena, Ocean Beach Ibiza and Surf House are experiencing a 111% surge in bookings according to hotels.com. The reality is, come party-season next year, you could be in the same hot tub as bicep-bulging Dan Osborne. Hotels.com
5. Toronto sandwich shop Lou Dawg’s is the place to go for brownies, wraps and pulled pork poutine according to One Direction stars Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. The pair stopped there after a gig and ordered the lot, with Louis following up the visit with a tweet, “If anyone wants to eat in Toronto go to @loudawgs. Very very good brownie!” @loudawgs
Karen is a freelance Travel & Entertainment Editor based in London. She can be found tweeting at @KarenNEdwards and contacted through her personal blog popandprettythings.com