I spend literally weeks of my life trawling the internet for holiday ideas and places to stay, but probably only actually book 0.5% of the time!  We nearly bought a gorgeous little holiday cottage in Northumberland a couple of years back (the sale fell through on the last day, I still miss it even though I never had it!) and we said we would definitely book lots of weekends away to make up for it.  The main thing that always puts me off booking, however, is the fact that so many rentals sites require you to contact the owner to check availability and pricing can be unclear.  

Recently, when searching for accommodation for a last minute easter break I came across Cottages 4 You.  I couldn't believe I hadn't come across it before but I loved it instantly.  It has loads of accommodation in the UK, France and Italy and is a really easy site to navigate.  The best thing I found was that you could see clearly what was available, where, when, for how long and how much it would cost.  We made a last minute booking and were even able to choose our exact nights rather than conform to weekend/midweek/week long breaks.

Best points:
          - Clear booking system
          - No need to contact owners to check availability
          - Wide range of properties and budgets
          - 'Collections' of properties meeting individual requirements e.g. boutique cottages
          - A comprehensive 'feature filter' e.g. dishwasher, hot tub, four post bed!

To get an idea of what's on offer a quick search just in our local Northumberland revealed these beauties:

Which leaves only one question... where to next?!

To me (the parent of twin toddlers) the absolute luxury, the be all and end all, the ultimate treat is a day at the spa! OK, maybe an overnight stay at a spa hotel, but a spa day comes second best.  When my friend text me to see if I fancied a spa day I immediately said yes and we started looking for deals and inspiration.  Neither of us had visited the Serenity Spa at Seaham Hall before and we found a great midweek deal, including a massage or facial and two course lunch for £85. 

We arrived at the spa just before 10am to have our treatments first.  The staff were professional and welcoming and served us a cold drink while we registered.  We were given a tour of the facilities before being encouraged to relax in the Zen Lounge and await our treatments.  The Zen Lounge featured reclining, heated chairs, magazines, water and herbal tea.  It was soon time to go to one of the treatment rooms, all of which had a shower and toilet and were tranquil and beautifully finished.  

I had the 50 minute Serenity Wellbeing Massage; a full body massage, with a little extra attention to the knots in my back, as requested.  It was a lovely treatment and I didn’t want it to end.  My friend opted for the skin specific facial and really enjoyed the products used.  After the treatment we returned to the Zen Lounge for a fruit plate before heading to the spa.  We were able to get a lounger by the pool; the staff keep an eye out to ensure the loungers don’t get reserved by people for too long. We flicked through some magazines for a while before trying out the facilities.  I really liked how many facilities the spa had to offer including inside and outside hot tubs, steam room, sauna, sanarium, hammam, ice pools (avoided!) and warm swimming pool.

We headed to the Ozone restaurant for a Pan Asian lunch, upgrading to the full three courses (obvs!) and a glass of wine.  The food was delicious, and they brought us a bowl of prawn crackers to stave off the hunger while we waited.  We both had the duck pancakes, then I had a delicious steamed sea bass, with pak choi and noodles, and my friend had oyster chicken.  We finished with an Eton Mess and coconut panna cotta.

We ventured into the outdoor hot tub after lunch and after a slow lap of the pool (post-lunch swimming was difficult) and another relax on the heated beds it was time to go home.  Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!  The day flew over and we were tempted to forget the kids and book a room!

I can’t recommend the spa enough.  The whole experience was effortless and professional.  The Spa and Hotel were refurbished in 2012 and the facilities were clean and well maintained.  The changing rooms were stocked with towels and robes and the were lots of staff on hand keeping the place immaculate.  I think I’ve found my new favourite North East Spa (I still love you Rockliffe, but you are a bit further from home!) and I can’t wait until the next time we can fit in a spa day.

Just before Christmas I celebrated a milestone birthday.  Having a December birthday means that I usually don’t make a fuss about it as people are busy with festive events and Christmas parties and so my birthday normally slips by quietly.  I did celebrate at home with friends, with a Champagne afternoon tea (of sorts).  My husband kindly supplied the Champers and I asked everyone to bring the food, in lieu of gifts, leading to a gorgeous spread of home made scones, quiches and sandwiches and an extremely satisfying carb-fest.  It was a great idea for a party as there was minimal preparation for the hostess!

But, I really want to tell you about the two days escape from reality for me and my other half, inspired by food and relaxation, and taking in two places I’ve wanted to visit for a while.  A slightly delayed, picture-heavy post! 

After finding our feet in this northern USA city we really wanted to explore and get to know our surroundings.  We did this mostly in the car of our host (hence the blurry photos!), rather than our usual preference of walking around with our eyes in the air.  We realised that, although this city has had its hardships, the people who live there and have stuck it out are passionate and proud of their city, and are striving to make it better.  There is a growing art scene, a huge sports following and some fantastic places to eat.  We did find out, however, that the city doesn't always seem to support the areas of talent that are thriving, making them nearly impossible to sustain.  One clear example of this was the music scene.  Being the birthplace of Motown and techno we expected a rich music scene and an abundance of venues to go to but it was difficult to find a venue to hear some Motown, despite asking lots of people that we met along the way.

We toured the city mainly by car, and saw some interesting reminders of the tough times the city has been through, including this huge, now disused, train station which was, at one point, a bustling rail exchange, so big and busy that it had to be located outside the downtown area.  Excitingly, there are proposed plans for a large scale art installation inside.

We visited a street art project called the Heidelberg Project, which was once an entire street full of decorated houses, many of which have since burned down or been left to ruin.  

Beautiful homes now boarded up are commonplace in Detroit, and contrast massively to the interspersed affluent neighbourhoods filled with workers from the car industry.  

The skywalks dotted around the city, we were told, provided protection to people during times of austerity, when it could be unsafe to be on the street.  

The best part of any trip... the food!

We had some great meals in Detroit.  Within our hotel complex was a fabulous seafood restaurant called Joe Muer Seafood, where we had a fun and knowledgable waiter called John, who made the night extra special.  He was able to tell us all about the menu and wines, making suggestions along the way, and was abundant in interesting stories. We had a table with views of Canada. OK, really just a garish casino in Canada but still! The highlights were the whole lobster, prepared for you at the table and the truffle fries (ahhh the truffle fries!)  Our waiter told us that a certain NFL team had recently visited after a game, and between them went through 70 portions of these fries!!!

We visited a very cute coffee shop called Astro Coffee for strong cappuccinos and these delicious muffins, filled with scrambled egg and strong mustard hollandaise type sauce.

We ate a fantastic dinner at Wright and Co, with small plates for sharing, strong and complex cocktails and a grand, baroque decor.

We had some authentic Cuban food washed down with fresh mojitos, at Vicente's.

(Excuse the hair! Frizzy vs. sleek, what's going on? And why did my husband not point it out?!)

And finally, I definitely enjoyed this Melted Pecorino Cheese Plate at Ottava Via!

So Detroit has good points and bad points, and although I couldn't recommend it for your next summer holiday, we did thoroughly enjoy our five days in Detroit.  And in case you're wondering how the mural turned out...

Have you ever visited Detroit?  Do you know someone who has been to Detroit?  Having recently visited I would be surprised if the answer is ‘yes’.  Detroit is not somewhere I would have chosen to visit but a recent opportunity for my husband led us there just a few weeks ago.  We initially knew very little about the city, other than that it was the home of Motown music, birthplace of house and techno and that it went bankrupt not so long ago.  A little bit of online research revealed that Detroit has one of the highest crime rates in the USA (but a safe downtown area) and that over the past 60 years the population has declined by two thirds.  The city of Detroit could geographically contain the whole of Boston, San Francisco and Manhattan but has only 28% of the population of those combined cities combined.  So we knew we were about to visit a city that has been having some hardships, and really weren’t sure what to expect.