Set against the backdrop of beautiful blue skies, turquoise seas and golden sunsets the Four Seasons resort in Koh Samui, Thailand is a paradise.

Tucked away on the hillside resort on the Gulf of Siam, you can stay in your own villa with coconut grove and tropical garden surroundings. To top it all off you can sun yourself on The Four Seasons very own private beach. Beach villas offer spectacular and unobstructed views of the Gulf and surrounding islands and come with outdoor wooden decking and seating area. To add to the tranquillity of it all you can enjoy eating by the beach or hillcrest and pamper yourself at the spa.

Enjoy yourself, exploring the beautiful island and the gorgeous scenic views in Koh Samui. Villas cost around £710 per night, to view available accommodation at The Four Season in Koh Samui and for reservations visit The Four Seasons website.

Autumn and winter is the worst time to shop for bikinis as the stores are all stocking winter woollies, however there are still some fantastic bikini’s available from popular fashion companies that are perfect, as they are normally on sale. Take this Chloe bikini as seen on Coleen McLoughlin available at www.asos.com. The bikini is small enough to avoid extreme tan lines, can either be worn as a halter neck or with shoulder straps and is available in five different colours, brown, black, pink, blue and white. The Chloe metallic logo can be seen on the back of the bikini bottom and there is metallic stitching on the trim.

The Chloe bikini was originally £85 and is now only £48 from ASOS so go get yours in time for sun, sea and sand.

The Hotel H10 Palmasol is a perfect hotel to stay in for a relaxing break in the sun. The hotel is located in the heart of Benalmadena, about a minute walk away from the beautiful marina, beach and nightlife.

Apart from the hotels gorgeous pool and fabulous location, there are many other great reasons to stay. The hotel provides a half board basis where a buffet breakfast and lunch is served, many activities to choose from for entertainment, a bar with evening entertainment and food served through out the day and an excellent cleaning service.

Rooms are nicely sized with a spacious and clean bathroom, separate bedroom and lounge with a balcony and if you’re lucky the rooms with a marina view have balconies three times the size of all other rooms.

Benalmadena is a small town located on the Costa Del Sol. Holiday makers flock there during the summer to see its award winning marina, lovely hotels and beautiful beaches. Not settled with just Benalmadena? You can experience most other parts of the Spanish south coast and even Morocco as an excursion with your tour operator. I recommend the trips to Puerto Banus and Tangiers in Morocco, these make the holidays just perfect!

Check out www.lastminute.com for some excellent deals at the Hotel Palmasol and resort of Benalmadena.

Its September and Mexico is suffering from what feels like a heat wave, a wonderful surprise as I was told to expect tropical storms. The main strip in Cancun is filled with hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants and more hotels. Arriving at the Grand Oasis Cancun was all I dreamt. The hotel was sophisticated, large and luxurious.

The hotel consists of one main five star building in the centre of the complex, surrounded by tropical gardens and a quarter of a mile in length pool with two pool bars for those who wish for a true, lazy and relaxing holiday. On each corner edge of the complex are blocks of apartments which are four star buildings with restaurants, a tennis court, a spa, a night club and a gym scattered around them. Not content with a beautiful pool? Walk straight out of the main complex towards the pool and you’ll see the sea. Just in front of the hotel is the beach which is long and stunning, complimented by the tropical clear blue sea. Five star rooms are very spacious with a mini bar and four star rooms are just as good, a bit smaller but all double rooms come with two king size beds. Rooms are cleaned each day and are of a high quality.

The great thing about this hotel is that even if you’re staying in one of the four star buildings you have the same access to all facilities that five star rooms pay for too. The main reception and five star building have two bars and a restaurant called Careyes which is for five star guests only. Careyes is a lovely restaurant and well recommended, try the steak, its tender and mouth watering which was complimented by the champagne you are allowed as part of the all inclusive band. Four star accommodations allow access to most other restaurants and bars which are equally as delicious, Dos Lunos serve lovely fish and Italian dishes and Tunkul International host a buffet with all types of food to try.

The hotel is centred on the strip and has easy access to the night life and restaurants in the centre of Cancun. The buses are regular and run through the night but a taxi is better for those who want a quick entrance into town. The town is lively and I recommend Coco Bongo as not only is it a night club, there are shows put on throughout the night but you have to see this for yourself. On top of this there is a wide selection of excursions available, the water park is a good choice to swim with dolphins.

A perfect oasis.

Read reviews about the Grand Oasis at Trip Advisor.

Laganas in Zante is fast becoming a popular destination for young clubbers, it’s now not far behind Malia in Crete and San Antonio in Ibiza. Although it is a small resort there is still a great amount of things to do.

The Blue Bell Studios is a three star, self catering accommodation with fair sized rooms and either a terrace if you’re staying in a ground floor studio or a balcony on either floor above. Both terrace and balcony apartments face either the garden area or the pool, but if you would like a balcony I advise you to request this in advance. We arrived unaware of this and could not have a balcony due to it being peak time. On the studio complex there is a pool with a pool side bar which serves drinks and snacks throughout the day but next door there is a café that serves fantastic fry up’s. Sun beds are available all around the pool too.

Although the complex seems like quite a walk from the main strip in high heels it actually is not that far but perhaps worth a taxi if you would like to last the night standing and dancing on your feet. As you walk down the strip there are many bars and clubs, some good ones to try would be Cherry Bay situated at the bottom of the strip by the beach, The Rescue bar which is always packed and Cocktails and Dreams which has fantastic cocktails and vodka jellies. The beach in Laganas is beautiful, the sea is calm and you can walk for miles out to the sea as it is so shallow. There are many restaurants to choose from including authentic Greek and the usual McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC.

Laganas is a lively, clubbers paradise but I’d only advise a week’s stay as it’s not big enough for a lengthy holiday.

The ideal holiday is sun, sea and fun. Malia in Crete certainly provided that, a typical 18-30 resort with fantastic weather and a wide selection of night life, this was and still is one of the most popular choice of destinations for the 18-30 crowd.

The Club 18-30 studios, Mirage is self catering accommodation with spacious 2-3 person bedrooms and kitchen facilities. The studios themselves are smack bang in the centre of the strip in between some of Malia’s liveliest bars. As part of the apartment complex there is a large pool with a buzzing atmosphere, sunbeds are available all around the pool and there is also a 24hr pool bar which serves alcohol and food throughout the day.

It is a 10 minute stroll turning left out of the apartments, down the main strip to the beach and on the way you’ll spot some lovely Greek restaurants as well as the traditional British fry up cafés and pubs. Head to The Red Lion for good value British food or alternatively you could pop into McDonalds. On either side of the hotel you will find many clubs and bars, opposite the complex there is a bar called Yiasou bar which has the most comfortable chairs in Malia and Factory night club holds fantastic foam parties.

By far one of the best Club 18-30 resorts! Read more at www.club18-30.com.

My family and I visited the beautiful Cotton Bay resort in St Lucia during May 2007. The complex is set in three phases, the first two are completed but the third is still underway which means the back of the complex was still under construction.

This did not ruin any views and there was no noise because the development is set far away from the other apartments. All building work is projected to be finished by this year.

Apartment

The apartments are 5* and extremely luxurious with marble floors and brand new furniture. The apartment we stayed in was about 20 steps from the swimming pool, one minute from the beach and in an all round spectacular location.

The style of accommodation was a Tamarind; two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen with full appliances, lounge area, toilet, balcony and front porch/lounging area. The master bedroom was large with a four-poster bed, flat-screen TV, wardrobe and en-suite with shower, toilet etc. The second bedroom consisted of twin beds, two wardrobes, flat-screen TV. The bedroom was again a reasonable size and the beds were large for singles. The second bathroom also consisted of a shower, sink, toilet etc. both bathrooms were decorated in marble tiles.

The kitchen consisted of new units and doors, granite worktops, American style fridge/freezer, dishwasher, washing machine, oven and hob, microwave, basically everything you would normally have in your home kitchen. The lounge had enough seating for four people, a coffee table, huge TV cabinet and TV.

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View Map

My boyfriend and I spent 2 weeks at the all inclusive resort in March 2007. We booked online with Thomson for £1700. The flight was 9 hours long, but luckily if you book with Thomson from May they have upgraded their planes on all long haul flights, you get nice new leather seats and 33 inches legroom with a TV in the back of the seat in front. Unfortunately they only fly to Punta Cana, not La Romana which is almost a 2 hour coach journey to our resort. However the journey was comfortable and you get to see the real Dominican Republic and how the people there really live.

Accommodation

When we arrived at the resort we were greeted with cocktails while we waited to check in. We were given a room in block 2, which out of the 7 buildings is one of the oldest and could do with being refurbished. We took a sneaky peak in a couple of the rooms in building 3 and they looked a lot nicer. We had a balcony, bathroom, fridge, TV and DVD player and two double beds. It was plenty of room for 2 people, some of the rooms have king-size beds instead which would have been better for us, so if you happen to go I’d request it at check in. We did have a leak in our roof which left a puddle on the floor everyday, and we were unlucky enough to have a birds nest in our roof and the birds were quite loud early morning. We also had an aerial problem with our TV and the DVD player didn’t work which they did attempt to fix but were unable to do. Other than that it was fine and to be honest we could have changed rooms if we really wanted to, we were just too lazy. Everyday our fridge was restocked with water, coke, sprite and orange juice which was all included.

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I visited the Taurito Princess, Gran Canaria in December 2005. Unfortunately the weather was awful so the photographs do not do the complex any justice. I wouldn’t say it was the most memorable holiday I have ever had but I’m sure it would have been lovely if the sun had been out for more than a day!

The hotel itself was lovely and clean with marble floors and a nicely decorated interior. The first thing that struck me as we drove up in the coach was its location – on the very side of a cliff. I had never seen a hotel in this sort of position before but I thought it was really cool. The good thing about this was you had a lovely sea view and you could see into the town of Taurito from most rooms.

Rooms

There are 404 rooms in the Taurito Princess spanning 11 floors. 392 of these are double rooms and 12 are larger suites. The double rooms are a reasonable size with either a double bed or two singles to choose from, they have an attractive yellow patterned overthrow with white sheets and a blanket underneath. The beds are very comfortable with a long pillow per person; additional pillows can be requested at reception if needed. Full-length curtains between the room and balcony match the bed cover decoration and help keep out the heat.

The walls are plain white with 2 art pieces hanging up and the floor is covered with shiny white tiles. The rooms are a little outdated compared to the rest of the hotel and probably more to a 3* standard but the maid comes in every morning and keeps them nice and clean. Each room has a large square shaped balcony with plastic table and chairs and due to the situation of the hotel; every room has a sea view to its right and a view of the town to its left. There are 12 suites located on floors 6 – 11.

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My boyfriend and I decided to visit Sheraton la Caleta after we found a great Internet offer for just €90 (£60) a night. This was for the both of us and this included a buffet breakfast each morning. We stayed during June so the offer was for an off-peak season holiday but the great thing about Tenerife is that it’s warm all year round so if you can go off-peak your more likely to get a better deal. We also enjoyed the peace and quiet around the hotel and on the beach that you wouldn’t normally get during peak season.

The hotel it situated in Costa Adeje, about 10 minutes from Playas de las Americas so the entertainment is just round the corner id that’s what you’re after. The only downside is that the Sheraton la Caleta beach isn’t sandy and we had to walk along the promenade a little to find a nice spot to sunbath. However, overall I was extremely impressed with the hotel and the facilities and would definitely return if I got the chance.

Hotel

The hotel is a very unique brick red colour and almost looks like a castle due to the structure. I liked this about the hotel, I felt it had much more character than the usual white painted hotels I am use to. There are 284 guest rooms and suites in total, meeting rooms, restaurants, cafés, bars, a grand ballroom and a spa. You can probably get an idea of the size of this hotel.

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