Staying at the Hilton...

So (after only one -very minor- sat-nav hiccough) we found ourselves (the very last) parking space, grabbed (or rode - in Thomas' case) our overnight bags and headed into reception at the Hilton Hotel Southampton -

- which had a jolly nice fish tank (to keep the kids amused while we checked in)...our room was on the ground floor (great!), so we quickly booked a table at the restaurant, dumped our things, freshened up a little and then ran straight for food - an excellent burger and chunky chips for me, veggie risotto for Flyingpops and the kids had a quite extensive buffet to choose from (the fried chicken from which was absolutely amazing - I must confess to actually eating about a portion-worth myself as I was helping them to theirs)...pudding was profiteroles for Flyingpops, lemon and blackberry sorbet for me and watermelon (for the little ones - although Thomas did help out with my sorbet)...during dinner Flyingpops broke the news to Thomas that we would be going back to Peppa Pig World the next day (to great joy) and everything was topped off by our lovely waitress delivering helium balloons (their choice of colour) and free activity packs (Pirate themed for Thomas and Princess themed for Poppy) - it really couldn't have been any better!  As you can imagine we all slept like logs, got up early for breakfast (which was a *stunning* spread - I think Thomas had about 4 platefuls in the end)!  Then we were checking out and heading off into the bright sunshine, our plan being to be *right* at the front of the queue come park opening time to make the very most of day 2 of our adventure! ;)

Occidental Grand Flamenco Xcaret, review

So what was it like, this hotel? Well, that's fairly simple, it was (of course) staggeringly beautiful - but given the surroundings, one would have to work pretty hard to forge a "bad" hotel, however, the only neighbour that came anyway near close (from the multiple trips we made up and down the strip on pick-ups, drop-offs and waits for transfers) was the "Barcello" (not really surprising) somewhere back up the road towards Cancun (and even that wasn't quite as impressive), from the ludicrously titled "lobby" (bigger than an aircraft hanger) -


- where you could find one of the 10 bars, enjoy live music and the Mayan show in the early evening -

- to the *many* swimming pools (5 in total), this one was our view from the balcony (in our second room) -

- more through the jungle, when the blue pyramid of the pool bar greets you over the foliage -



- and in these rooms (picture this), you could leap from the balcony straight into the water(!), the beach -

- complete with that gorgeous azure Caribbean sea and whitest of white, powder-soft coral sand (if you dug down a bit you could uncover quite substantial pieces still intact) -

- hammocks strung around in the shade (awaiting tired guests) -


- the shopping "village" that followed the river right through the centre of the site -

- with a multitude of (what appeared to be) independent shops and stalls -



- and artists working and selling their wares -

- everywhere teeming with wildlife, from huge shoals of brightly coloured fish in the lagoon -

- past the kind that reply if you say "Ola" to them -

- the huge iguanas that are as prolific as cats in a European resort (if one were visiting Spain or Corfu) -


- and other miscellaneous fauna -



- including these rather cheeky birds who lurk at any restaurant they can find hoping to avail themselves of the small (but inevitable) gap between guest standing up and waiter reaching the table with his tray -

- they redeem themselves fully, though, by cutely wiping their beaks (on both sides) after they have finished eating or drinking whatever they have stolen... ;)

There are ample facilities (and plenty to do if you *did* just want to stay in the hotel) -

- and even a "Wally Trolley" to ferry you around the place if you are feeling lazy (as the site is *rather* large) -

If there were to be any negatives at all they would have to be the fact that there was a bit of a lack of co-operation/communication between the various hotel departments (reception, when we decided to move rooms took almost 48 hours to get housekeeping to turn the new room over for us), and at times the food fell into the questionable domain (not a great deal of choice for vegetarians for example), but the restaurants on site probably deserve a posting of their own...so more to follow... ;)

Click here for my first impressions of Mexico upon landing...

Update - Click here to see our visit to a 100 ft deep cenote!

Update Update - Click here to take a walk with us around the Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza (a wonder of the modern world)...!

Update Update Update - Join us as we saw the incredible sights of Tulum!

Update Update Update Update - Don your eye-patch and grab your parrot for the Captain Hook Cruise in Cancun bay!

Even more updates - too many to list, so click here to see the rest of the honeymoon as a photo essay...

King Charles Hotel, Gillingham - Review

So, clutching our wedding invite we set course for Kent early on Saturday evening...we had booked a cabin at the King Charles Hotel (the pictures on their website are hilarious fantasy), Chatham (about 2 minutes from Fort Amhurst, where the reception was to be held), pictured above (in reality), it turned out to be a charming, sympathetic conversion of an old naval military facility, lovingly decorated by local artists and set in a stunning location (as you can see)...the room came complete with authentic capstan full strength aroma (despite booking non-smoking), and the shower was equipped with a handy auto-on feature when running the bath, to really capure that feeling of adventure on the high seas as you wade across the bathroom floor trying to shield your wedding outfit from the forceful spray...

The reception, in contrast, was in the lovely grounds of Fort Amhurst (here is a view of the town from the ramparts)...

...and a view of the festivities from the same location...

- the food was really good, a selection of BBQ'd burgers, kebabs and wraps, veggies well catered for also, then drinks until the sun was well below the horizon and disco action late into the night, a very pleasant affair spent in the company of some genuinely interesting and friendly folk -

In the morning we were woken early by the noisy natives setting up a massive car boot sale right outside our cabin window, so we gave up trying to sleep, got up and went down for breakfast (which was included in the price) -

We asked for one Full English and one vegetarian breakfast, and I think the chef must have been having an off day...the vegetarian breakfast had an enormous block of cheese on the side...how I kept a straight face when the waitress brought it to the table I really cannot say-

So, we took a quick walk around the boot sale (got a DVD), then hopped in the car and Tomtom brought us home...wedding good, hotel bad... ;)