The Crazy Bear Hotel

This Valentine’s, my husband and I stayed at The Crazy Bear Hotel in Beaconsfield. It’s a hotel we have always wanted to visit. The Crazy Bear Hotel is known for it’s out of the ordinary decor and screams sexy romantic. Being a listed building, the hotel has character and is so lusciously decorated inside with the most random things.

Upon arrival we were greeted with champagne and shown to our suite by a very friendly member of staff. Because every room is different, I had a look at the rooms available on the website and picked junior suite number 8. I was instantly drawn to the beautiful black and gold decor and the stunning rose gold bath tub at the end of the bed.

I’ve never seen decor quite as spectacular as this. The walls were black and gold crushed velvet diamond shapes and the floor was laid in black leather. Above the bed the ceiling was completely mirrored- seriously sexy. I was worried that people would be able to see through the windows, but it was mirrored from the outside, another very nice touch.

Once I had taken in all of the amazing surroundings, I found a complimentary bottle of champagne on ice, ready for our arrival. We arrived at around 4 pm so had some time to kill before dinner. So of course the first thing I did was I ran a bath and drank champagne!

I am dying over this amazing rose gold bath tub. Seriously, just look how inviting it looks! It was as heavenly as it looks. And get this, the water fills from the ceiling. It’s SO extra but I love it so much!

The bathroom was mirrored from every angle, and features a mini version of the bathtub for the sink. The shower was completely open which felt really strange to use, but liberating at the same time.

We really enjoyed our stay at The Crazy Bear Hotel. If you want to have a romantic getaway with the WOW factor, visit The Crazy Bear Hotel. This hotel will get you in the mood for quality time with your partner *wink wink*. It really is spectacular! I’m already thinking of excuses to go again. Happy Valentine’s Day!!

 

Click for my Valentine’s day outfit

 

Rome

Rome, Italy

Rome is rich with history and beauty, which is why it’s one of my favourite places in the world. I have been twice now and I would go again and again. I thought that because I had been to Rome already, I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as the first time. But I was able to see the details that I hadn’t see before as there is so much to take in.

I paid £30 for a return flight from Stansted, London to Campino, Italy. January, in my opinion, is a great time to see Rome because the weather is fairly mild and it’s not too overcrowded with tourists. I booked an apartment in the middle of all the attractions called Spanish Steps Gea. From there, everywhere we wanted to go was within walking distance. They say the best way to enjoy Rome is to get lost in it, for this reason we walked everywhere using Google maps to guide us.

Things to do

Walking Tour

I highly recommend booking a walking tour through Rome if it’s your first time. You can learn so much about Rome and its history just by walking through it. It’s so worth doing. Our tour guide was lovely, she gave us some very handy tips like how to pick a good restaurant and how much you should be paying for a cup of coffee. I booked our free tour through https://www.freetourrome.com/. This tour is free, you can give a tip to your tour guide at the end if you wish. Admin fees may apply when booking.

Colosseum

If you go to Rome, you must see the Colosseum. It is pretty extraordinary and the history of how it came to be how it is today is truly fascinating. Of course you can buy just the entry tickets, tours are not compulsory, but I really recommend booking a guided tour as you can access special parts of the Colosseum that a normal day ticket can not access. For example, depending on the guide you book, you could get a tour of the underground and higher tiers of the Colosseum. The view from the upper tiers and the Belvedere is stunning, so don’t miss out!

I booked using https://www.musement.com/us/. Whether you want to book just the entry ticket or a tour, book online as you will be able to skip the queue and go straight to the window to collect your ticket. Also, you will beat the prices of the all sales people trying to hassle you to buy through them outside of the Colosseum. Be prepared to say “no thank you” to purchasing a selfie stick every 20 yards lol!

Vatican City

Vatican City is technically not part of Rome, but is worth visiting. I booked tickets to visit the Vatican museum, here you can learn even more about the history of Rome. The Sistine Chapel is part of the museum, you can not buy tickets to see just the Sistine Chapel alone. For me, seeing the Sistine Chapel was the cherry on top of the whole visit to the Vatican museum. The walls and ceiling of the Sistine chapel is covered with paintings. I sat and marvelled at Michelangelo’s art and vision for a good half an hour. I used an audio guide throughout the museum, which was nice because I was able to go at my own pace and learn about the things that I was interested in.

Trevi Fountain

They say that if you stand with your back to the Trevi fountain and throw a coin from your right hand over your left shoulder, you will return to Rome. Two coins, and you will find a new romance. Three, and you will marry. When I saw the fountain for the first time last year, my husband warned me that I was to only throw in one coin, not two or three LOL. I’m not sure if I believe in legends or myths but I threw in one coin, and I have returned to Rome. It’s all for fun and I think you should do this if you visit. We are very lucky to see the fountain as it is now because it has only been restored back to its full glory just a few years ago, costing 2.2 millions euros, sponsored by FENDI.

Places To Eat

Aroma

Aroma is my favourite restaurant in the world. Sadly, I couldn’t get a reservation on this visit as they were doing renovations. The food is out of this world. Being a Michelin restaurant, it is pricey. But this is an experience in dining, you really get a sense of the chef Giuseppe Di Iorio’s creativity. The restaurant is on the rooftop and looks over the city and Colosseum, it is so beautiful and romantic in the evening. During the day, if warm enough, it is an open roof top terrace and an excellent place for breakfast and lunch.

Pietro Al Pantheon

Situated right by the Pantheon, this small restaurant offers many traditional Roman dishes that not only tastes great, but authentic. The decor is very, what I call Knick-knacky. There’s lots of bits and bobs all over the place, I found it very charming and my eyes had so much to look at.

Ambrosia

Ambrosia is a rooftop terrace restaurant and offers fine food. Dinner was lovely, the service impeccable, I really enjoyed my experience here. They have a good cocktail menu and food and drinks are very reasonably priced.

Why visit Rome?

If you love art, history and food then you will love Rome. The fountains, the architecture, there’s so much to see and so much to learn about. Rome being the size it is makes it the perfect city break location because it’s almost impossible to get lost. Every corner you turn there are beautiful churches and fountains with water clean enough to drink from (literally).

You will never think that Italian food is just pasta a pizza ever again. Yes, of course Rome’s restaurants have plenty of pizza and pasta dishes, but there is so much more! Rome is home to some of the finest restaurants in the world, from small family run restaurants to Michelin Star restaurants. And have I mentioned how good the coffee is in Rome?

Rome is only a 2 and a half hours flight for me. I am so thankful that this little treasure is so close to home and somewhere I can fly to for the weekend. Whether you are going with friends or your partner, it is the perfect city break location and somewhere you must visit once in your life.

 

Brussels

Our girls weekend away

If I had known how quick and easy it is to get from London to Brussel via Eurostar, I would have gone a lot sooner. This was a last minute girly get away with my cousins and my sis. We all wanted to get away for a weekend and we all share a mutual love for Churros and mulled wine. Brussels in late November/December is perfect for that as the Christmas market opens up late November.

Accommodation

I have to thank my cousin who arranged everything. We stayed in a modern apartment with very interesting decor. Conveniently it was just a short walk from Central and not too far from the main train station. The area itself was lovely, however our Air bnb host warned us that there are areas which are still up and coming and not safe to walk through. This made me feel a little bit nervous but of course we found it very safe in Brussels, police were always around and we were sensible with our belongings.

Christmas lights – Grand Place

If you have been to Brussels recently, then you too like myself have probably gone home and downloaded Sia’s Christmas album on your Spotify. The Grand place is the main attraction of Brussels and around this time of year they hold a light show in the Square where the magnificent buildings light up in colourful lights which synchronised with songs from Sia’s Christmas album. The square was packed with many tourists who have travelled to Brussels just for the Christmas markets. The experience was overwhelming, emotional and really got me in the Christmas spirit.

Christmas Market

All I could smell was Christmas. Rich aromas of mulled wine, sausages and Churros filled the cold air. The gorgeous market stalls were lit up with festive decorations, selling things like handcrafted presents and Christmas baubles. For the beer lovers, there was a huge outdoor beer garden which looked very warm and inviting. But I’m more of a mulled wine kind of girl so we walked around with mulled wines in hands to warm us up.

Food

We were spoilt for choice with places to eat. However I would advise that to get into a nice restaurant you should book ahead as it was quite busy and the average waiting time was 20 minutes at most places. My favourite place we went for Brunch was Houtsiplou Cafe & Restaurant. It just so happened to across the road from where we stayed, unfortunately we only discovered it on the very last day before we were due to catch our train home, otherwise I think we would have had breakfast there everyday. This spot is a hipster’s dream. The walls were covered in beautiful cartoon art, something you can imagine seeing in Camden or Shoreditch. The menu had a good variety of choices, from mussels to impressive tower burgers.

Mussels in Brussels

Brussels has many places to eat. We even managed find Vietnamese food. But what I was really looking forward to was a good pot of mussels as Brussels is famous for their mussels. I was not disappointed when we chose to enjoy a pre-dinner munch and drink at Brussels Brasserie BB situated in Grand place. We sat on the third floor so had a great view of the square, just in time for the light show. Between us we had mulled wine and Beer with our mussels and calamari, it was just perfection.

Drinks

We enjoyed drinks at a small bar called Groupil Le Foul through recommendation. I was fascinated to say the least. It was creepy but kind of cool, dark, very small and there was not an an inch of wall or ceiling that wasn’t covered with some sort of art or picture. There wasn’t a massive variety of cocktails but I was more than happy with a G&T and the company. This bar isn’t for everyone but I liked that it was cosy and full of interesting things to look at.

Can we go again?

I fell in love with Brussels and I feel like there’s still so many places to explore. There’s lots of interesting bars and restaurants I’d like to try. My short blog does not cover what a lovely trip this was. I will definitely be going again and I may make this a Christmas tradition. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, may your bellies be full of mince pies and mulled wine!

All my love,