When your customers give you recognition for the good work that your company has done throughout the tear then it is a great feeling. This is just what has happened to the top companies from the travel industry over the last three years. The travel website Holiday Extras have put their heads together with their customers and have come up with a great new way to give the top performing companies the credit that they are due.

The Holiday Extras Customer Awards have been going for three years now and each year they are getting bigger and better. It is clear why these awards are getting more and more popular with the voters too. As the decision is purely down to the people who vote it means that customers can get their views across and help other people choose the best travel companies when they are booking their holiday.

This year’s awards were held in London on 15th September and saw many of the top people in the travel industry attending to celebrate the great customer service and value for money that was being awarded.

Here is the list of this year’s winners:

- Best Airline: Emirates
- Best Airline Cabin Crew: Emirates
- Best Airline for Value for Money : easyJet
- Best Airport: Belfast International
- Best Airport Car Park: Edinburgh Park and Fly
- Best Airport Hotel: Gatwick Sofitel
- Best Airport Hotel Restaurant: Manchester Premier Inn
- Best Airport Lounge: Edinburgh Servisair
- Best Airport Hotel for families: Manchester Premier Inn
- Best Airline for Travelling with Babies: Virgin Atlantic
- Best Airline for Travellers with a Disability: Virgin Atlantic
- Most Inspirational Travel Film: Shirley Valentine
- Best Travel Guide Publisher: Lonely Planet

In total 66,000 people voted this year – which is a massive leap from the number of people that took part in 2010. In fact the number of voters has almost trebled in just 12 months. Next year’s awards look set to be even more of a success as there are plans to add more categories and get more members of the public involved in the scheme. There were two new categories this year and these were the most inspirational travel film and the best travel guide publisher. The best film went to Shirley Valentine and the best travel guide went to the Lonely Planet Guides.

Picking out the best travel companies seems to be a theme that is very important to Holiday Extras. Their website is a great place for travellers to go to find the best deals on all those little things that need to be bolted on to your holiday, such as your airport parking, airport hotels and airport transfer services. So really they are the best placed company to be hosting such a valuable award ceremony for the travel industry.

To celebrate the Royal wedding between His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton next month, The Ritz in London has unveiled a long weekend of grand celebrations.

The Monarchy & Matrimony accommodation programme is available alongside a weekend of Ritz en fête, with patriot decorations taking centre stage in the hotel, exclusive commemorative gifts for guests and a Royal Wedding Brunch in the Ritz Restaurant.

With an enviable location only moments away from Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, The Ritz is a premier destination to immerse yourself in the excitement and splendour of a regal affair and a nation in celebration.

Afternoon Tea at The Ritz

The quintessentially British institution of ‘Afternoon Tea at The Ritz’ is a must for those visiting the capital. Once within the surrounds of the lavish Palm Court, enjoy pastries, scones and finger sandwiches amongst swathes of pastel hues and 24 carat gold leaf whilst watching screens streaming live coverage of the wedding throughout the day.

Priced from GBP 50 per person, Afternoon Tea will also include a commemorative souvenir menu and an exclusive limited edition chocolate heart bearing the initials of the Royal couple.

Royal Wedding Brunch at The Ritz Restaurant

Recently awarded the prestigious accolade of 3 Rosettes by the AA for Culinary Excellence, The Ritz Restaurant will host an extravagant Royal Wedding Brunch between 10:30am and 3:30pm.

Themed food stations will offer a wide selection of hot and cold dishes whilst an outdoor grill on the terrace will be at the ready, taking advantage of the spring sunshine. Screens streaming live coverage of the wedding will be displayed throughout the room.

Priced from GBP 150 per person, the Royal Wedding Brunch includes a glass of Champagne to toast the happy couple, a commemorative souvenir menu, and an exclusive limited edition decorative keepsake embroidered with the initials of the Royal couple and their wedding date.

Staying at The Ritz

Priced from GBP 1,460 (excluding VAT), the Monarchy & Matrimony programme is available exclusively to guests who check in on Thursday, 28 or Friday, 29 April 2011 and includes:

· Two nights’ accommodation in a Louis XVI inspired room
· Flowers, fresh fruit and a bottle of Champagne in-room on arrival
· Royal Wedding Brunch in The Ritz Restaurant, with live coverage of the Royal wedding playing throughout
· A unique and exclusive limited edition commemorative gift
· English breakfast each morning

The Ritz

To celebrate the Royal Wedding at The Ritz is to celebrate the occasion in the surrounds of your very own palace, cosseted within sumptuous Louis XVI inspired interiors that have been the home away from home for British and international Royalty since the hotel’s opening in 1906. Within the gilt-edged walls of this grand London landmark His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor dined and danced in The Palm Court, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 80th birthday and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales awarded the hotel the honour of a Royal Warrant.

The site now occupied by The Ritz, at 150 Piccadilly, has previously been home to several similar businesses. The Old White Horse Cellar was once one of the most famous coaching inns in England, later the site was occupied by the Bath Hotel and then the Walsingham House Hotel, which was demolished to make way for The Ritz.

Construction of The Ritz began in 1905 and the building was completed remarkably quickly, in large part due to the efforts of Swedish engineer Sven Bylander who designed its steel frame, something of a rarity in European buildings at the time.

The actual design of the hotel is the work of architects Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis. Mewès, a Frenchman and London born Davis had worked with César Ritz before on the Hotel Ritz in Paris, and The Carlton in London. For The Ritz London they drew up a French chateau-style masterpiece with a wealth of clever details; light wells allowed rooms with no outside windows natural light, projecting dormer windows and tall chimneys broke the skyline. Some of the details are less functional; the copper lions on the corner of the roof for example are purely decorative.

Inside, the French theme continues; Mewès designed the interiors with a single Louis XVI theme incorporating all of César Ritz’s many requirements like double glazing, a sophisticated (for the time) ventilation system and even a bathroom for every guestroom.

Leading off the lobby is the Long Gallery, a vaulted space that runs almost the whole length of the building. The absence of walls or doors means it’s possible to see down its whole length, through The Restaurant and out over the hotel’s Italian Gardens and across Green Park.

Off the Long Gallery are many of the hotel’s key rooms, all with their own fascinating histories: The Restaurant, often described as one of the most beautiful dining rooms in Europe features so many chandeliers the ceiling had to be specially reinforced to cope with their weight.

Tune Hotels, already a growing success in Asia with its 5-star beds at 1-star prices, will open its first hotel in the heart of London at Westminster in August 2010.

Tune Hotels Westminster will be the first of 15 locations scheduled to open across the Greater London area by 2017, creating an additional 1,500 rooms and representing a total investment of £150 million for the capital’s hospitality sector. Globally the brand is aiming for 100 hotels in its portfolio by 2015.

As with low cost airlines, guests are encouraged to book online and well in advance in order to enjoy exceptionally low prices, typically from £35 per night with promotional rooms regularly available from as low as £9 per night. Online booking is now available for stays between 30 Aug 2010 – 30 April 2011.

In addition to that, Tune Hotels released 200 room nights priced at 1 Penny each at 12.01am, Tuesday, 13 July 2010.

Birmingham is a fascinating city in the West Midlands, England and it is a really popular destination for city breaks and  day trips. The city has a huge variety of excellent tourist attractions including a great many churches which have Grade I status and historic houses as well as many museums and galleries, including the Ikon Gallery Birmingham UK.

The Ikon Gallery in Birmingham is a contemporary art gallery which is housed in the former Oozells Street Board School , Brindleyplace, however it wasn’t always so suitably housed.

Founded in 1964 by Angus Skene and four students of art.  The 4 artists were; Robert Groves, Jesse Bruton, Robert Groves and Sylvani Merilion. Angus had bought a piece of art by Prentice and the two of them talked about the numerous problems faced by local artists, which included the lack of support for local artists.  The conversation formed the basic ideas for Ikon which was to be a “gallery without walls”.

Skene initially financed the project, which consisted of exhibitions in such unusual venues as post offices and cinemas in a motorcycle sidecar. The idea being to increase the accessibility of art to the general public.  To reduce costs staffing was by the founding artists who did not take wages. After a while the Gallery was given a glass walled kiosk in the Bull Ring shopping centre.

Over the two couple of decades the Ikon Gallery moved from location to location until 1997 when it purchased, with aid from the National Lottery, the current premises, the former Oozells Street Board School. recently the Ikon Gallery has put on a number of exhibitions and its continual ability to produce the superb has led to it becoming immensely popular, to such a degree that it opened another gallery in 2006, Ikon Eastside in  Digbeth.

If you are thinking about a Birmingham vacation remember to allow time for you to visit at least one of the Ikon Galleries. Also it is important to know that although there are many Birmingham hotels and guest houses finding Birmingham bed and breakfast can every now and again be very difficult. It is therefore crucially important to book your accommodation at the earliest opportunity. You will need to know that the nearest airport is approximately 8 miles east of the the city center (just off the A45 and near the M42, Junction 6. You will will be able to find a respectable number of guest houses and hotels close by the airport.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain is a terrific destination for a vacation. It is hugely popular with a wide range of tourists ranging from ramblers, hikers, hill-walkers, mountain climbers and other folk who enjoy vacations of this type to people who enjoy such things as castles, country homes, fortified houses and historical buildings.

Another thing attracting people is that the vacation destination has graceful rural regions with heaps of awesome sites as well as a superb list of world class visitor attractions. Below I introduce the city of Bristol, an extremely popular vacation destination.

Things You Should Know about Spending Time In Bristol, England

The city of Bristol has an immensely rich and superbly varied history, making it the ideal city for a short city break.  In the past Bristol City was included amongst the top 3 medieval towns after London. The City of Bristol was one of the primary trading ports in England, and in the fourteenth century, it handled most of England’s trade with the nation of Ireland.

In thirteen seventy three Bristol was constituted a county, and during this time the city developed into the centre of shipbuilding and manufacturing. It is the city’s rich cultural history which makes it one of the most exciting cities in the country of this present age. Luckily, those tourists wishing to spend time in Bristol will quickly discover that there is a large selection of bed & breakfast in Bristol available to book online, making it very easy to books rooms.

The city of Bristol has an incredibly diverse arts scene with the city giving us an interesting selection of very talented and reasonably successful artists over the decades. Did you know  that Wallace & Grommit began life in Bristol, and that Cary Grant also hailed from the city. The famous graffiti artist called Banksy sprayed some of his most famous works of art around  Bristol. The City Museum & Art Gallery is a free entry visitor attraction well worth visiting and shows a varied collection of superb works of art, ancient artefacts, archaeology, natural history  together with a continually changing selection of exhibitions and events. For a truly unique arts centre experience then pop along to Spike Island. The centre focuses upon the exhibition and production of contemporary visual arts, which include many areas of painting, multimedia projects, printmaking, working with moving images and more. If you would much prefer a visit to a slightly more traditional art gallery, then The Royal West of England Academy should be the ideal answer. The Royal West of England Academy was the city’s very first art gallery and has in excess of twelve hundred artistic works dating from the nineteenth century right up to the present day.

You will find a respectable number of visitor attractions in Bristol. A fascinating place to spend some time is Bristol Zoo which houses in excess of four hundred and fifty various types of animal. Bristol Zoo is also involved in in the conservation of rare species of insects, amphibians and mammals. from around the planet.

If you get excited about all things equine then a few hours spent in Horseworld would be perfect for you for you and your family. A visit to Horseworld will enable you to meet rescued ponies, donkeys and horses. If you wish you can also indulge in the hands on feeding of the animals. Another 2 visitor attractions which you might also find interesting are Avon Valley Adventure & Wildlife Park and the Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, which both supply all of the essentials you will need for a superb family day out.

If the article above has inspired you so much so that you are currently deciding upon spending a few days in Bristol it is incredibly important that you book your  accommodation at your first opportunity because, unfortunately hotel and guest house accommodation in Bristol tend to be alarmingly busy and are often fully booked months in advance. If your family is large you may find that apartments in Bristol prove to be less expensive option than paying for your whole family to stay in one of the many Bristol hotels, guest houses or other accommodation..

Vacations in Britain appear to be immensely popular at the moment, probably due to the current economic climate and the low value of the pound.

Great Britain has many top class vacation destinations including London ( the English capital) and other fascinating cities plus a fine selection of seaside resorts such as; Blackpool, Brighton, Bognor Regis and Bournemouth. One vacation resort commonly overlooked is Plymouth in the south of England.

When you first arrive Plymouth appears rather plain and modern, but investigating a bit deeper and you will very quickly discover that Plymouth has a fascinating history and a deep association with the sea. As long ago as the 16th century there has been a busy port in Plymouth.

In 1588 Francis Drake embarked from the town’s port to successfully defend England by defeating the Spanish Armada. Another historic moment occurred in 1620 when the port served as the last embarkation point for the Pilgrim Fathers on their journey to North America.

It is possible to have reasonably priced short breaks in Plymouth by booking rooms in B&B in Plymouth rather than booking a expensive hotel. A simple online search will show that you can make a reservation from twenty nine pounds a night and many guest houses offer reasonably priced dinners too, often equal to, or less expensive than local restaurants.

Tourist Attractions In Plymouth

There are a great many places of interest to visit in Plymouth. Popular tourist attractions include; the old quay at Sutton Harbour, the Barbican district, Merchant’s House Museum and the National Marine Aquarium. A trip on a boat around the waters of the port is an interesting way to spend some time and if you have more time why not take a day trip to places close to Plymouth, such as; Mount Edgcumbe, Saltram House or Buckland Abbey.

Saltram House is a fine Tudor Mansion which is situated two miles east of the town, Mount Edgcumbe is another fine example of a Tudor house with coastal paths, parklands and landscaped gardens, and Buckland Abbey, roughly six miles in distance from Plymouth, is a Cistercian abbey which was at one time by Sir Francis Drake and was at a later date redesigned as a family home.

If you are currently thinking about taking a break in the city of Plymouth it is crucial that you reserve your lodgings as early as possible as, sadly Plymouth hotels tend to be amazingly busy and are commonly fully booked for months in advance. If you are travelling in a group you might find that Plymouth serviced apartments prove to be reasonable alternative to Plymouth bed & breakfast accommodation. If you are visiting England from abroad then you could consider booking a room for a few days in hotels in London to take in the attractions of the nations capital too.

Birmingham is a city in the English county called the West Midlands and those living in the city are called”Brummies”. The accent of Birmingham sounds typically northern English and it can be very difficult to fully comprehend what is being said a problem which is exaggerated if if you are new to such dialects.

Thankfully the folk from Birmingham are kind, polite and helpful and do their very best to explain so if necessary do not be afraid to engage in conversation about help and directions or assistance with bed & breakfast in Birmingham.

Birmingham is home to  a reasonable selection of things to do and places to visit including a few informative museums and galleries, such as the highly enjoyable Ikon Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and the Thinktank, a new museum in the Eastside.

Birmingham also possesses a stunning number of acres of woodland, open spaces and parks, Sutton Park is the largest with 2,400 acres it is also the largest urban nature reserve in the United Kingdom and even Europe.

Birmingham has a wide ranging and vibrant night life with a large number restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs. You will find some of the most popular in one of the city’s squares, Victoria Square, Rotunda Square, Chamberlain Square, the historic Old Square at Corporation Street, St Martin’s Square, Centenary Square and the Gas Street Basin. Gas Street Basin is the hub of Birmingham’s intricate network of canals. Birmingham has roughly thirty two miles of canals with a total of eight canals which were built during the eighteenth century and continued being used by local industries until the nineteen seventies. Today the Gas Street Basin has been regenerated and is now a rather good tourist attraction.

Important Facts Concerning The City Of Birmingham

If you are thinking about a vacation in the city of Birmingham it is important to know that although there are many hotels and guest houses in Birmingham finding bed and breakfast in Birmingham can at times be pretty difficult. It is therefore crucially important to book your accommodation at the earliest opportunity. You should be aware that the closest airport is about eight miles distance from the the city center just off the A45, near the M42. You will find there is a respectable number of hotels and guest houses not too far from the airport.

Finally I would like to wish that you have a thoroughly enjoyable vacation in the fascinating West Midlands city of Birmingham, England.

Finding a vacation from Edinburgh is a lot simpler than at any time thanks to the growth of low cost flights and the internet. There are now more holiday and city break locations to choose from, which provide non-stop flights departing from Edinburgh. Edinburgh Flights have never been as cheap and going from Edinburgh has never been so easy. If you need a short break away or a couple of days in the sun you can with a low-cost flight from Edinburgh. Thomson holidays late deals offer great prices on holidays booked within 6 weeks of departure so you may discover a vacation for less than you imagine.

If you’re searching for some bargain sun you may get a cheap flight to Alicante in the Costa Blanca, which is the principal airport for the holiday destination of Benidorm. This is an extremely popular holiday destination and has a decent but crowded beach, numerous eating places, public houses and nightclubs. There are numerous hotels and apartment choices in Benidorm and the most fashionable area to look for is a property near Levante Beach.

The vacation island of Ibiza is different choice especially with teens expecting to party the nights away with many of the best DJ’s in Europe at the huge clubs in the San Antonio region. There are some wonderful family areas in Ibiza also offering decent clean and family friendly beaches in resorts such as Es Cana.

You can go to the South of mailnland Spain to the area known as the Costa Del Sol this is served by Malaga airport which has direct flights departing from Edinburgh. You can also visit Gibraltar from Malaga airport saving you time and cash from otherwise getting transport from Edinburgh via London. This is a great choice especially if you are hiring a car as you will not then have to pay for a taxicab to drive you there.

There are Edinburgh flights direct as well to the vacation island of Majorca, which has a location for everyone. There are parts with lots of nightlife such as Magaluf offering eating places, public houses and nightclubs in abundance. If you travel to the opposite end of the island there are other resorts more acceptable to families or tourists looking for a more subdued holiday.

A painless bit of research on the internet will expose the many options available from the afore mentioned vacation locations. The umpteen new Edinburgh flights now offer so many options for travellers whether they are searching for a city break or an escape to the sun.

The country of Scotland is a fine place in which to take a short break. Scotland great for a massive list of different types of vacation, with large areas of attractive countryside with extensive amounts of sites of outstanding natural beauty (perfect for mountain climbers, ramblers, hikers, hill-walkers and the likes).

The country also features some of the best attractions, including, some of the best galleries and museums in the UK, striking beauty spots, castles, historical buildings, fortified houses and country houses plus a great deal more. In the following article I talk about Stranraer.

Stranraer is a town located in the district of Dumfries & Galloway in the south of Scotland, it is widely known for being the place where people can catch the ferry over to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Sadly virtually all folk do not get to explore the local attractions in and around Stranraer. This is a little bit of an enigma, if you arrive at the port, and reserve yourself a room in a Stranraer bed and breakfast, a day or two earlier it would be possible to get to see a selection of the visitor attractions before catching your ferry to the city of Belfast.

There are a few places to see in the town including the Castle of St John (a medieval tower house) located in the centre of the town. The tower house was erected in the year fifteen ten as a residence for the Laird of Wigtownshire, Ninian Adair of Kilhurst. The castle was restored, during 1988/89, in 1988/89, by the district council of Wigtown who made it available for public viewing in 1990.

Another attraction near to the town is Castle Kennedy Gardens. The castle acts as the centrepiece of the gardens which are situated on a hill between 2 lochs( it is important to note that access to the ruined castle is no longer allowed. The gardens extend across seventy five acres. If you would like you can purchase plants from the shop which has propagated them from seeds and plants from the gardens.

A further attractive attraction worth visiting is Glenluce Abbey, about seven miles from Stranraer. Although the abbey is ruined( in truth the most ruinous of a trio of Cistercian monasteries situated in the south westerly region of Scotland) it features an incredible 15th Chapter House. Other places worth consideration include, Port Logan, Portpatrick, the Mull of Galloway and the Machars.

If you are thinking about taking a Scottish vacation you will be pleased to hear that there is a reasonable selection of hotels in Stranraer. Please take a look at our comprehensive list of Stranraer hotels and guest house accommodation.

Tenting has lengthy been seen as a practice for men.  Girls have historically been portrayed as whiny and incapable on camping trips.  However, girls are camping more and more.  Even ladies who aren’t outdoorsy are discovering causes and opportunities to not only go tenting, but to take pleasure in it.  

It may be quite enjoyable for a gaggle of ladies to get collectively and go on a tenting trip.  It’s fun to get away with other girls with out having to worry about important others or children.  Camping is a true opportunity to loosen up and unwind.  When you’re with a gaggle that isn’t all family you get one of the best of both worlds. 

You are capable of get round a campfire with your friends and talk about anything.  Nonetheless, while you want some time alone to learn or meditate you do not have to feel obligated to be with the group. 

 Be certain though that earlier than you ever go to be alone that you just let the others know the place you are going to be and the way lengthy you count on to be.  Security should all the time be a priority when camping.

There additionally comes a terrific sense of success once you go camping with a bunch of women.  There’s a sense of independence figuring out that you simply had been capable of survive with out all the fashionable conveniences.  Ladies often are seen as unable to camp.  The truth of the matter is more that women do not go camping whereas growing up as a lot as men do.  Boys go tenting with buddies, with their dads, and with organizations just like the boy scouts.  Women typically solely go tenting with their household if their family likes to camp.  So, girls simply grow up with less camping training.  However, with the arrival of the web, women are actually in a position to be taught all there may be to find out about tenting from the consolation of home.

Going into the unknown is frightening, so it is no surprise that many ladies are apprehensive about camping.  They don’t know what to anticipate or what will be expected of them.  Now the web will help plan a whole tenting trip and it is potential for a group of tenting novices to exit and have a profitable camping trip.  

The camping benefits are innumerable for women.  You get to get away from family; certain you’re keen on them however usually our identity gets misplaced in the two roles of wife and mother.  While camping you might be expected to only be you.  You are not performing as anybody’s wife or mom, you’re simply being your self and generally that means rediscovering who you are.  Tenting additionally presents an important opportunity to meditate and suppose over tough decisions.  If you’re considering a significant life determination or are faced with some robust selections, tenting might be great for you.

If you want to find some lovely caravan sites stafford way then come visit the Green Man in Hixon.  Based in a small country village you are guaranteed fine service, great food and some great camping in Staffordshire.

The change in surroundings can give you new perspective.  By getting away from all the opposite distractions in your life you’ll be able to look at the selection more objectively and think of new ideas or angles.  Camping is now not nearly roughing it and it is not only for men.  On a regular basis ladies are discovering how much enjoyable camping can be.  So, seize a gaggle of your girlfriends and plan your camping trip immediately!