TRAVEL
Home & Away with Robert Walshe Stena Line has now completed a major ship upgrade programme with a £4M refit investment in sister ships Stena Mersey and Stena Lagan. The refurbishment of the ships, which was carried out at Harland &Wolf shipyard in Belfast, started in March and was completed in April. The investment programme has introduced new onboard facilities including Stena Plus, a Pod Area with five iMacs, a Trucker’s Lounge, free Wi-Fi onboard and the Metro Bar & Grill and Metro Restaurant (a la carte), both with a new menu. The refurbishment has also significantly improved onboard facilities and customer experience including the onboard look and feel, an improved shop with new products, improved guest services and cinema with free movies. Stena Line operates the biggest fleet and the widest choice of routes between Ireland and Britain with an extensive route network including Belfast to Liverpool, Belfast to Cairnryan, Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and Dublin Port and Rosslare to Fishguard. www.stenaline. co.uk
Weekend Hotspot – The Stafford St James- London
The Stafford by Kempinski is my favourite London five star hotel. Based in St.James’s the secluded location makes this hotel a real hidden gem for those seeking a home away from home. This historic building enjoys the ambience of a stately home with an award-winning personal service in an oasis of calm. Behind Green Park, The Stafford London by Kempinski is located at walking distance from Buckingham and St James’s Palace, Piccadilly Circus and Bond Street. The main house of The Stafford consists of three townhouses brought together in the 1920s. The recent refur-
bishments are a triumph and guests will notice a change to the physical floor plan, the colours that accent each room, and new furnishings ensure the character of the hotel remain intact bringing a new sense of spaciousness and arrival to the hotel. This was done by physically opening up the reception, lounge, and restaurant areas and the neutral backdrops of grays and creams accented by rich, textured fabrics, splashes of bold purples or reds, natural woods, and new parquet and stone floors are reminiscent of stepping into a sophisticated townhouse. Featuring an ivory and gray colour palette, rich floral fabrics, unique artwork, and a custom crafted chandelier, The Lyttelton at The Stafford has been designed to evoke the feeling of dining in a friend’s home. With a name that pays homage to the hotel’s historical residents, “Lord and Lady Lyttelton” – the restaurant has moved away from traditional fine dining to a more casual elegant atmosphere and it works! Twenty-four guestrooms along with all corridors in The Stafford’s Main House also received a makeover. Guestrooms here feature new bathrooms, carpets, and furnishings with new air conditioning, television, and entertainment systems. The corridors are also brighter through new wallpaper, carpet, and curtains. The worldfamous American Bar is a must see where hundreds of signed celebrity photos dating back to the 1960s cover the walls and the ceiling is hung with a colourful collection of club ties, sporting mementoes, baseball caps, model aircraft and customer memorabilia from around the globe. At the back in a private, cobbled courtyard there is the 18th century Carriage House which was converted in 1990. Above
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n Lyttelton
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the stables you’ll find private apartments, each including a separate living room. The mews has direct access from St. James’s Street so it really does feel live having your own address in St. James’s as you never need to go through the main hotel building. Across from the Carriage House is The Stafford Mews, where £26 million was spent to transform an office block into 26 suites where I enjoyed my 48 hours in this stunning part of London. All the guest rooms are individually decorated, reflecting the hotel’s origins as a private home. Some of the deluxe units offer four-posters and much has been done to preserve the original style of these rooms. Here, original architecture, traditional décor with contemporary touches, antique reproduction furniture, fireplaces, Juliette balconies, and super king sized beds make the authentic experience while wireless Internet, Bose CD radios, iPod docking stations and plasma-screen TVs make it realistic The Simply Stafford weekend package gives you a beautiful setting for a couple of days in the heart of London that you will never forget. This package includes Full English Breakfast for two, a bottle of champagne in your room upon arrival. Prices from:
Kempinski.
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£335.00 www.kempinski. com/thestafford
Weekly Best Buy
The Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the fastest growing hotel companies worldwide and a member of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, announces the rebranding of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cork Airport to the Park Inn by Radisson Cork Airport. Effective immediately, the 81room property is a member of Carlson Rezidor’s young and dynamic mid-market
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brand. The hotel located within the Cork International Airport complex and just a 10 minute drive from the centre of Cork will provide guests with the comfort, reliability, personalised service and great value for money for which the Park Inn by Radisson brand is renowned. Celebratory Packages from Park Inn by Radisson at Cork Airport include a one night bed and breakfast for two people sharing a double room,
Kempinski.
super buffet breakfast, three course evening meal with sparkling wine with parking for 7 days at €75 per person sharing until 31st July 2012. http://www.parkinn.ie/airporthotel-cork Robert Walshe is a freelance contributor / broadcaster and Travel Editor for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland. www.robertwalshe.com
Home and Away Extra The popular Irish Shindig Nights have returned to the Old Jameson Distillery and will run until October. A celebration of all things Irish, the Irish Shindig Nights include a tour of the distillery, exceptional entertainment and a four course meal made using fresh Irish ingredients, which is accompanied by the finest Irish whiskey. After dinner the Irish Shindig Nights culminate with energetic live entertainment. Celebrated musicians the Jameson Players perform their mix of traditional and contemporary Irish music, while the Claddagh Dancers bring an exhilarating energy to the performance. The Shindig nights take place from now until October every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening, from 7pm to 11pm. Price, including tour, Jameson drink, four course meal and live entertainment, is €60 per person or avail of reduced rates if you book online at www.tours.jamesonwhiskey.com
Wi-Fi provider Bit buzz has signed a deal with Tinakillly Country House Hotel to provide guests with complimentary Bit buzz Wi-Fi during their stay. Tinakilly Country House Hotel was already well known for its telecommunications associations; the house was originally constructed for Captain Robert Halpin, who was Commander of The Great Eastern when it laid most of the world’s transoceanic telegraph cables in 1866, connecting Europe to America. A section of the original transatlantic cable and a fine colour print of The Great Eastern can be seen today in Tinakilly House. Other hotels signed up to the Bit buzz service include the Carlton Hotel group, Travelodge Hotel Group, Choice Hotels, Ibis Hotels, Days Hotels, Barberstown Castle, Kensington Rooms, The Berkley, Fitzwilliam Hotels,Merrion Hotel, Ramada Hotels, Druids Glen Resort and Lough Erne Resort. www.bitbuzz.com
with Kathleen Murray
What guidance does your dog need? It can be confusing for people sometimes to know what their dog needs rather than what it wants. Many people think that if they join a basic obedience class then this will solve their problems. They think that if a dog learns a few basic commands such as SIT or STAY etc then the dog will be workable. This is a big mistake. Working with a dog is a long term project. Some dogs learn quickly and some dogs need more time. Dogs can learn new things easily and often faster than their owners. . I have worked with many dogs over many years and the one thing that
has consistently been a barrier to a dog’s rehabilitation has been its handler. I use the word handler and not owner because the dog will not always be with it’s owner. The handler is the person that needs to know how to control what they have on the end of the lead. It doesn’t matter if the person is the owner or not. The connection in this work is simply a person, a lead and a dog. Any person, any dog. Training and control always starts at home and as young as possible. Training and control are two very different things. You can train a dog to do many things
but you might not be in control of the dog. A dog can go to a 6 week dog training class and end up as unruly as the day it started. It may know a couple of commands but out in the real world it will not listen if you are not in control of the dog as well. Some people have a mental block when it comes to control. They think it is a negative thing because they may have resented control themselves, so they let the dog do what it wants so that the dog can enjoy itself. A dog enjoying itself is often a nightmare for people that don’t like dogs or people out walking with kids
(or a baby in a buggy). An out of control dog is a dangerous dog because it is liable to do anything, and,, without control over the dog, the person that took it out will just end up being a passenger in the nightmarethat follows. Explaining what a dog needs long term can be a waste of time if a person just wants the dog to “stop pulling on the lead”. Any dog that I have ever met that is pulling on a lead is also doing other important things that it should not be doing.... most obviously, not listening to it’s owner in the first place. Lots of people just want a quick fix and find
it too much of a commitment and a bother to set up a good behaviour long-term plan for their dog. A dog lives a long time and it will go through many things and can develop problems at any stage of it’s life. People in general don’t understand the workings of the mind of a dog and this is perfectly acceptable because otherwise there would be no need for dog
trainers etc., but to try to fix something you know nothing about yourself is not acceptable. If you are experiencing problems in control or training then contact me on 0863192247 and I will tell you if you need to work the problem at home or if a class is a good place for you and your dog to be. Every problem is different, and every dog and owner are different.