Simon Calder's Travel Week
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Floating saunas, a bike workshop, breakfast with gauchos and marble bathtubs filled with spring water – when we asked the travel desk to share their favourite stays last year, we uncovered some of the world's most wonderful and unique places to bed down. And it wasn't all luxury. While spa hotels and five-star stays made the list, there were also some more modest lodgings that came out top: Travel Correspondent Simon Calder was charmed by a family-run guesthouse along the Danube in Austria, while Global Travel Editor Annabel Grossman cosied up in a rustic dorm room on a remote Argentinian estancia, and Senior Travel Writer Natalie Wilson escaped the summer crowds in a wooden boathouse on a tiny Swedish island. |
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The Europa Royale is a four-star spa hotel in the Tsarist-era spa town of Druskininkai in southern Lithuania – it was a top stay for Simon Calder in 2025 |
There were some firm favourites in the UK, too, with Content Editor Helen Wilson-Beevers revealing that 2025 saw her visit the Marine North Berwick Hotel for the fifth time. She said: "The hotel's decor is rich and inviting and tempts you to hunker down, with deep tones and vibrancy throughout. Think plush sofas, patterned wallpaper, and ornate details." Also in Scotland, Travel Writer Joanna Whitehead raved about the rooms at the Plockton Inn situated on the shores of Loch Carron in the north-west Highlands of Scotland that cost less than £100 a night. Meanwhile, down in London, Travel Writer Amelia Neath enjoyed a staycation in her home city at the newly opened Virgin Hotels Shoreditch. Alongside our Independent Travel team, a range of hotel reviewers, destination experts and specialist writers have bedded down at hotels, cottages, campsites and to bring you the best places to stay across the globe. Below are a few of our favourites. |
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| The Gastrohotel RH Canfali, from which I checked out yesterday, has a perfect perch at the top of the Old Town in Benidorm. Smart rooms. Top floor bar and jacuzzi. And the best breakfast on the Costa Blanca. |
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| Magdeburg, in the former DDR, is one of the fascinating cities astride the Elbe river. Stay at the weirdly wonderful Art Hotel – occupying part of the last project dreamed up by playful Austrian architect Friendensrich Hundertwasser. |
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| The Italian city is known for being an expensive break, but there are ways to do it on a budget – starting with these hotels that are great value for money. | |
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[Venice's] budget-friendly options can range from smaller, family-owned properties to those further from the centre. They don't have all the Murano chandeliers and damask-covered walls you were dreaming of, but what they all offer is value. |
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| The Bath Priory hotel has all of the grandeur you'd expect from the area, but is delightfully un-fusty. |
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| From eco-lodges and guesthouses to beachside resorts and boutique hotels, there's plenty of places you can stay on this archipelago in the eastern Atlantic. |
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