We recently went on a 3 day visa free cruise around Greece with Tatil Sepeti. We set sail from Kusadasi, a bustling resort on the Aegean coast of Turkey which is famous for it’s close proximity to Ephesus and the House of Virgin Mary. We visited 5 Greek islands over the course of 3 days: Patmos, Crete, Santorini, Athens and Mykonos before sailing back to Kusadasi.
Last week we went on a little trip to Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa in Antalya, Turkey. After a really long drive down the coast, we arrived just in time to explore our new home for the next 4 days.
Cornelia Diamond is in an area of Antalya called Belek with it’s own beach and an ultra all inclusive system. There are 8 swimming pools, a beach, a water park, mini golf area, bowling & games room, tennis courts and a 27 hole golf course. There is certainly no time to be bored at Cornelia!
We just got back from a quick trip to Istanbul. Out of the 4 nights, 2 of them we spent at the Raffles Hotel. It was my first ever time staying at a Raffles property and it certainly won’t be my last!
Maybe our room was a little too amazing, as it made leaving it to explore and shoot around Istanbul pretty hard. We were staying in the Bosphorus Suite and when you opened the door you walked into a beautiful large living room…
We flew from Turkey to Athens, explored the city for awhile (and ate our body weight in tzatziki) then jumped on a ferry as the sun was setting and headed for an island that’s been on my bucket list for years…Santorini.
7 and a half veryyyy long hours later we arrived. Our home for the next 2 nights was Astarte Suites and the hotel had kindly sent a driver to pick us up at the port. Since it was 3 in the morning and we couldn’t see much, we sleepily made our way to the hotel and fell into bed.
Astarte Suites is located in the Akrotiri area of Santorini, about 45 minutes from Oia, nestled on the cliffs of Caldera with glorious views over the Aegean Sea, Fira, Oia and the volcano.
Last week we spent 3 days exploring the beautiful island of Santorini. On our last night we were lucky enough to stay at Andronis Luxury Suites located in the heart of the town of Oia.
I am obsessed with swimming pools and it was funny as we had seen these 2 amazing pools nestled away on one of the cliffs in Oia overlooking the cute white buildings, blue domed churches and the sea and I remember thinking how I wished I could swim there. When we went to check in, it turns out that one of those pools was ours! It certainly didn’t take me long to jump in!
We spent 3 nights on the beautiful island of Mykonos last week, and 2 of those nights we stayed at Kivotos Hotel. Located on the beautiful bay of Ornos, around 3.5 kilometers from the center of Mykonos, the hotel has it’s own private beach, 2 swimming pools, a spa and a gym.
We traveled to Mykonos on the ferry from Santorini and Kivotos hotel had kindly sent their driver to pick us up. We arrived at the 5-star boutique hotel exhausted but were met with the lovely Christina from guests relations and a glass of prosecco.
Kivotos Mykonos offers 39 exquisitely designed guest rooms and suites, as well as a private villa. Our room was the Junior Suite with sea view which was very comfortable and had 2 bathrooms, one with a jacuzzi bath and the other with a shower. The view from our balcony over the swimming pool and private beach was beautiful.
Breakfast starts at 8am and is a buffet with a great selection of foods to choose from. Located inside the main building, it’s lovely to eat breakfast whilst looking over the sea and Ornos Bay.
Kivotos Hotel is a great place to stay when you want to in Mykonos as you’re only 10 minutes from the hustle and bustle of Mykonos but the hotel is the perfect place to unwind and enjoy a beautiful Greek getaway.
A couple of months ago I got an email inviting me to experience the Cannes Film Festival and to stay at the newly renovated Hotel Martinez as it reopens as part of Hyatt’s newest brand, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt.
Cannes is a gorgeous seaside town on the French Riviera and Hotel Martinez, with it’s stunning art deco building, is one of the most iconic hotels in Cannes. Opened in 1929 by luxury hotelier Emmanuel Michele Martinez, this building has had a very interesting and colourful past. Before Emmanuel Martinez opened it as the largest hotel in the French Riviera, it had previously served as a home to English aristocrats.
During World War II, the Martinez was occupied successively by the French and Italian armies, by the Commission d’armistice, the German Army, and (after the Liberation) by the USA. Air Force. The hotel was then sold in 2012 and joined the Hyatt chain on April 9, 2013.
Ahh Paris, one of my favourite cities in the world so I was really happy to have a few days to enjoy it at the end of our trip before flying home. We woke up early and caught the 7am train from Nice to Paris which took a total of 5 hours and 40 minutes. It was a very comfortable journey and fun to see the landscape of the South of France change as you soared across the country. I slipped in and out of sleep and before I knew it had arrived at Paris’ Gare de Lyon.
We made our way on the metro to our stop Madeleine (with the help of some very lovely French people) as we were going to Hyatt Madeleine which would be our home for the next two nights.
Last week we flew to France and visited 3 beautiful places: Cannes, Nice and Paris. Whilst we were there we stayed at 3 different Hyatt hotels – Hotel Martinez in Cannes, Hyatt Madeleine in Paris and Hyatt Regency Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice.
Lets talk about Nice. Located on the French Riviera at the foot of the Alps between Cannes and Monaco is where you’ll find the cute and colourful town of Nice (pronounced niece) Although it’s not actually a town…it’s a city and France’s 5th largest one at that. Nice was named after Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, by the Greeks who founded the city around 350 BC.
Last week we packed our suitcases, headed to Schiphol and flew 6 hours 45 minutes from Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airlines. Although it’s not my first visit to the UAE, it was my first time in Abu Dhabi and I absolutely loved it.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE and is a very cosmopolitan and diverse city. We spent 5 days there and experienced everything from boat trips, luxurious spa treatments and delicious food to the most beautiful mosque, sleeping in the largest sand desert in the world, exploring a £1 billion museum and swimming in water as clear as the Maldives. Abu Dhabi has so much to offer that 5 days wasn’t enough.
The Maldives has been on my bucket list for as long as I could remember so I was beyond thrilled when we were invited to Gili Lankanfushi to experience this beautiful Robinson Crusoe style Island. Located in the North Male Atoll of the Maldives, Gili Lankanfushi is a luxury sustainable resort that’s won numerous awards including ‘Number one Hotel in the World’ and ‘The most Eco-Friendly Hotel in the World’.
We flew direct from Istanbul and the journey took 8 hours. Thankfully Gili Lankanfushi is located pretty close to the island where the airport is so we only had a 15 minute speedboat ride until we reached paradise.
Instagram Stories are a great and fun way of getting to know your followers and vice versa! I thought i’d jump on the Story template bandwagon and i’ve made 7 templates with some random questions. Feel free to save or screenshot them, fill in the answers and repost them on your Instagram stories!
Tag me if you do – @izkiz so I can get to know more about you!
