Go Advice:Your questions answered
Q In September my two daughters and I would like to spend a night (Friday or Saturday) in a hotel/spa resort. We would like to have spa treatments on the Saturday. We would like to go to Cork, Kerry or Limerick. Do you have any suggestions?
MT, Dublin
A spa break is always lovely and I can suggest the following hotels/resorts. In Killarney the Brehon Hotel has the Angsana Spa with very nice Thai therapists. The Brehon offers weekend spa packages from around €249pps with dinner one evening and a back beauty treatment or Thai massage, 064-6623917, thebrehon.com.
In Cork the Castlemartyr Resort, besides having the spa with Anne Sémonin products, has lovely grounds to walk or cycle in, castlemartyrresort.ie. The one-night spa package costs from €165pps and includes a treatment.
Also in Cork, the Fota Island Resort has a great spa with lovely relaxation rooms, and the hydrotherapy suite is perfect for relaxing stiff muscles. It has a one-night special of €269 a room, based on two sharing. This includes a treatment (fotaisland.ie).
In Limerick No 1 Pery Square, a boutique hotel in the city, has a very nice spa (but no pool) and uses organic Irish products.
A one-night stay with dinner costs from €179pps and includes a mini treatment (oneperysquare.com).
For other deals check out the independent Spa Ireland website spa-ireland.com.
Q We are going to northern Spain in September for 10 nights ending up in Santiago de Compostela via Santa Domingo and Burgos. I have booked a hotel in Burgos for two nights and was wondering if I should have stayed in Santa Domingo on the way? We want to see La Coruña but would welcome your suggestions about where to stay between Burgos and there. We have four nights to spare en route. We are spending our final two nights in Santiago de Compostela.
JB, Kildare
On the way from Burgos to Santiago, the main cities are León, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Astorga, Ponferrada, and Villafranca del Bierzo. All of them are very lively due to the fact that they are part of Camino de Santiago, and they are also very beautiful, with historical and cultural heritage. They are all small cities, apart from León.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a city of national historic interest and there is a Parador (parador.es) there on the site of the former palace, located within the city walls.
In León, there is Parador, Hostal San Marcos, in a 16th-century monastery. Also
in the historic part of town, the NH Plaza Mayor (nh-hotels.com) is old style with a contemporary twist. In the Monastery of Santa Maria de Carabajal, you will find the guesthouse Monastica Pax (hospederiapax.com), which is well located.
In Astorga, the Hotel Astur Plaza (asturplaza.com) is on the town hall square, and the Hotel Gaudi (hotelgaudiastorga.com) is on the old road to Santiago.
Ponferrada is the last town on the French route and is surrounded by mountains. The Templar Castle is worth seeing. The Bierzo Plaza Hotel (aroihoteles.com) was renovated last year and is well placed for seeing the town.
In La Coruña, there is a wide selection of hotels to choose from such as the Melia Maria Pita (melia.com) with sea views, the Hotel Avenida, (hotelavenida.com) and the Pension Nogallas, (nogallas.com).
Q We want to go to Jamaica for a week around September 23rd. Can you let me know if there are cheap flights and hotels. We are both big Bob Marley fans and would love to visit. I don’t know anything about Jamaica – is it safe and would a holiday there be expensive?
MC, Dublin
Jamaica is a great place to visit and if you like reggae you will get plenty of it there. It does have a reputation for being a bit edgy and, like anybody on holiday, you should be careful where you go.
The tourism destinations are principally on the north and west of the island, with flights into Montego Bay. The best area for some fun and music is Negril, and you have a couple of options for getting there.
If you book yourself, the best fare I have come across is about €500 with British Airways booked on ebookers.ie. You can then arrange accommodation through hotels.com, where there is some very good value in Negril. West End Negril is on the cliffs and closer to the action.
Alternatively, you could consider a package in an all-inclusive resort. Travelmood (01-433 1040, travelmood.ie) has a week in the Grand Pineapple Resort from €918pps or in the Club Hotel Riu from €1,015.
Tropicalsky (01-807 7996, tropicalsky.ie) has packages to the Grand Lido resort, where you can also enjoy watersports and beach activities. A week all inclusive will cost from €1,499pps.
Have a look at visitjamaica.com for tourism information.