A tour manager’s worst nightmare is arriving at a hotel with a group to find that no accommodation has been booked, and the hotel is full. It happened to me just once, in Edinburgh, at the Scandic Crown Hotel on […]
If you had an Australian $10 note issued between 1966 and 1993, and which was still in circulation for some time beyond that, then this was it. You became used to seeing this face for over 30 years. So […]
Self contained accommodation – a fully equipped home away from home with kitchen, lounge, bathroom and bedrooms is very popular, and many newcomers like Airbnb have jumped on the bandwagon. But holiday makers have been booking privately owned cottages, […]
Here is a funny tale from my recent trip to the UK. At 7 pm I am sitting in the lounge of my very comfortable 2-star budget hotel at Paignton,Devon, as the lounge is the only place with decent […]
First some history and background – I’ll keep it brief. TripAdvisor began in 2000, and soon launched the new concept where guests review the hotel in which they had just stayed. Today TA claims to be the world’s largest […]
I am always very polite and respectful to hotel porters, and a good tipper as well. But some porters really don’t want to be there, and delight in being difficult, and sometime rude as well. Here is the story of […]
This is a funny story (not funny for me at the time) about an altercation between a coach driver and tour manager. It occurred during the early 90s on one of my first UK group tours. The coach driver […]
Noise in hotels is something that happens, but there is acceptable noise and unacceptable noise, and if the latter then I take action! I was staying with my travel group in Plymouth, England at a fashionable traditional hotel, on […]
Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Russian Revolution loved big, fancy, expensive, foreign cars! Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks and champion of the working class did harbour some upper class traits which are not common […]
The Knickers Nicker Strikes on the Trans-Siberian Express The Case of the Stolen Undies I was travelling with my business partner, let’s call her Joanna (not Lumley), with a large group on the Trans-Siberian Express – a private train […]
Does the “Budapest train” go to Budapest or is it from Budapest? Railjet is an express, high speed modern Austrian train, and one major route is from Munich to Budapest via Salzburg and Vienna. Four years ago I travelled from […]
I’ve spent more than 30 years in the travel industry and today I enjoy sharing my experiences and “insider secrets” with others in an entertaining and fun way. On this site l’ll help you to avoid the many pitfalls and traps so that you have that wonderful holiday that you deserve. Click on my pic to read more about me.
