Hill and Dean Travel PR

A Caribbean Classic

tiggy — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:01:22 +0000

We’ve just been out to see our latest client – the classic Caribbean hotel Cobblers Cove (www.cobblerscove.com). The hotel is small and has real charm and an old time feel that you don’t find in many hotels anymore. The bar and drawing room have the ambience of a plantation house.

The hotel has its own fisherman, Mr Barker, who delivers his catch to the kitchen daily and is eaten that night. The hotel is one of only five Relais and Chateau hotels in the Caribbean and the food is extremely good.

Guests staying at the hotel get one complimentary boat ride a day so we took advantage of this and hopped down the coast to Lonestar for lunch, saving on an expensive taxi fare. We also took the boat to swim with the turtles just ten minutes north of the hotel. They are pretty tame but it can be unnerving when they swim right up to you as they are big.

If you are going to Barbados you should check out the newest restaurant Cin Cin, which has a very sleek balcony overlooking the Caribbean and the new Limegrove cinema with waitress service to your seat.

A Hidden Spanish Gem

tiggy — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:51:40 +0000

We’ve just got back from Trujillo, in the south west of Spain, which is a medieval walled town on a hill with far reaching views over the plains of Extremadura. We didin’t realise that the Plains of Spain really do exist and they are vast. Steeped in the history of the conquistadors, Trujillo feels vitually untouched by tourism.

We stayed at Villa Martires (www.trujillovillasespana.com), which is situated high up in the town by the castle with 180 degree views over the plains below. The Medieval buildings used to be part of a 12 century garrison, but have now been restored to a very high standard.

Trujillo is the birthplace of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro – the man, who conquered Peru and founded Lima. His house is next to Villa Martires and there’s a huge statue of him on his horse in the main square.

We would recommend that visitors climb to the top of the tower of the Church of Santa Maria for the fab views, eat tortilla and churros in the main square and visit the Carmelita monastery where silent nuns sell freshly baked biscuits cooked within the convent. Make sure that you catch the sunset over the plains and don’t leave without some pimenton to make your Spanish cooking more authentic.

A Sri Lankan cookery lesson

tiggy — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:03:35 +0000

During my travels through Sri Lanka this summer on our family holiday, my children aged 10 and 12 developed an obsession for the traditional Sri Lankan breakfast of egg hoppers. These are bowl-shaped thin crispy pancakes with a poached egg in the middle. Whilst at the gorgeous Amangalla in Galle Fort,we were offered the

chance to learn how to make them.

In the Amangalla kitchen, chef Mendis showed us how he had made a thick batter using hopper or rice flour (200g), yeast (1tsp), one egg, coconut milk (80ml), sugar (1tsp), salt and water (60ml). Leave the batter for around two to three hours (or overnight) for resting, add water to adjust consistency. The pancakes get their shape from the distinctive hopper pan, which looks like a small wok. Get the greased hopper pan really hot and add a spoonful of the batter. Make sure the inside of the pan is well covered with the batter. Crack the egg in the middle and then cover the pan for two minutes or until cooked. For a really authentic Sri Lankan breakfast serve with potato curry and lunu miris – a mix of red onions and spices or spicy coconut sambol. Delicious. Amangalla gave us a hopper pan as a leaving gift, so now back in the UK, we are going to try them on some unsuspecting English guests instead of bacon and eggs.

Here's the facade of Amangalla

The verandah at Amangalla - great for tea or a mango cocktail

Montenegro

tiggy — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:40:08 +0000

Just back from the newly opened Aman Sveti Stefan (www.amanresorts.com) in Montenegro, which is such an iconic and beautiful place. The hotel is on the island of Sveti Stefan, which is attached to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. A fortified fishing village in the 1400s, it was converted by Tito into a hotel in the 1950s and became a high-profile destination amongst celebrities from the fashion and entertainment worlds, graced by the likes of Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Amanresorts have been painstakingly restoring the island since 2007. Above is a view of the island.

Here’s a peek at one of the resort’s suites:

The resort has Aman’s trademark understated elegant style combined with original walls and features that have been carefully preserved during the renovation so guests still get a strong sense of the island’s history.

We did managed to tear ourselves away from the resort’s cliff-top swimming pool to visit Skadar Lake, which is a huge inland lake bordering Albania. The countryside was mountainous and completely unspoilt. We kayaked through the lily pads and swam in the lake. Look at this – it looks like remote China.

Writing in the Financial Times on 4 June 2011, here’s what Claire Wrathall said about Aman Sveti Stefan:

“I found Sveti Stefan a place of strange enchantment. I loved the fig-scented air; the pellucid light; the peace (except when the wind howls and the waves crash); the sense of history, of all this rock has witnessed and endured. But most of all I loved the optimism that seemed to abound.”

Hill & Dean on Facebook

hugo — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:14:35 +0000

You can now find Hill & Dean PR on Facebook, where you will be able to keep up with our frenetic lifestyle and hear about Tiggy, Emma and Sara’s exploits!