Sandra Murray explores two top options for holidaymakers keen to travel to Cyprus
First, a big thank you to Sandra Bruce who represents Casale Panayiotis and St. Raphael Hotels in Cyprus for a wonderful trip ? we stayed for two nights in each resort.
Casale Panayiotis, in the Troodos Mountains is a wonderful place to recharge your batteries. You can hire bikes or go on lovely walks and we picked lemons in the orchard. There is a great spa and even a snow room ? and you must try the food at the Loutraki Restaurant.
Then we went to Limassol, staying at St Raphael. It was great to see the general manager, Demetris Demetriou again. He made us very welcome and showed us the new renovations. This hotel is ideal for couples, families and, if you have clients who want to get married here, the marina, beach, and lovely gardens with a very old olive tree make for a romantic backdrop ? and they only have one wedding a day.
The Captain?s Bar Terrace is a great place to meet for drinks ? let Chris make you one of his special cocktails. Then there is the fantastic Sailor?s Rest restaurant at the marina. If you want to work off the wonderful food, Gregg, head of the entertainment team, leads the way with activities from yoga, Pilates, pool aerobics, volleyball, and boules through to paddle boats.
Being an animal lover, I think it's wonderful that they have cat feeding stations at the hotel and Demetris has promised they will get more of the cats neutered. I wish more hotels would follow their example ? people love it when they see the animals being looked after.
Back home, I attended a great evening organised by Events for Travel in Leeds on Madeira. It is one of those destinations that people used to associate with older travellers but it has changed. There are many lovely four and five-star hotels that appeal to families and younger
people, as well as walks, diving, swimming with dolphins, caves and a cable car. Madeira boasts the second-highest cliff in the world with a lift to take you to the beach!
Many of the island?s hotels have spas and infinity pools or you can take the ferry across to the island of Porto Santo if you want to relax and go to the beach ? it?s totally different from Madeira. ?The best vitamin for making friends ? B1? and ?It is never too late to become what you might have been?.
