NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: easy to get to, the Grand Place Disadvantages: Mannakin Pis is dissapointing, takcy tourist shops
Question
What does one do when you want to celebrate finishing the taught part of a Masters degree and want to go away but are so broke even the cheapest trip to Spain is not an option?
Answer.
Book a very cheap flight for a mini break to Brussels the capital of Belgium. I did this in June 2003 and I had a great time.
I flew with Ryanair from John Lennon airport in Liverpool to Charleroi airport in Brussels. Or so I thought it was in Brussels. It was near enough an hour from the airport to Midi railway station. The connecting bus is a rip off at 10 euros. Since there were four of us on the way there we took a taxi that cost us 35 euros. The airfare was really cheap. It only cost £20 for a return fare including all taxes.
Due to the European Parliament Brussels has cheap hotels at the weekend instead of during mid week. We were ...
duskmaiden 27.06.2003 (30.08.2009)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brussels (Belgium)
Advantages: Location, size, quality service and comfort Disadvantages: Some will not like the limited facilities
I was fortunate enough to stay at Le Meridien, in Brussels a few weeks back after winning a competition. It was a novel situation all round as I would not normally be able to afford to stay at this quite exclusive establishment on my travel and subsistence budget and, even if I were I would be too busy to appreciate my surroundings. I do visit Brussels a lot for work and have stayed in many hotels (I reviewed the Welcome Hotel a while back and this remains one of my personal favourites for my business trips) but this was a nice change and most people enjoy a little bit of luxury once in a while.
Ownership
The Le Meridien chain is managed by the US based Starwood Group. This also includes the Sheraton, Westin and St Regis chains amongst others. They operate 888 hotels worldwide, 499 are managed and the balance are franchised ...
Advantages: A chance to see the world and get paid for it Disadvantages: Long hours for relatively low pay
In January 2000 there was a BBC documentary broadcast which followed the lives of a handful of au pairs in various countries. Not meaning to be horrid, but most of them were appalling. The only one who looked like she was doing her best looking after the children, and trying to fit in to life in a new country was called Zoë. Perhaps it was as a sign.
I had no particular desire to be an au pair. I realized I would probably be a better one than most of the girls featured in the program, but that wouldn’t be hard. However, I wanted another job abroad following a successful summer in Germany the year before, and being only 17 at the time, my choices were limited. Au pairing was one option, and I had the experience and skills for it, so I did some research and applied to a few agencies. I couldn’t go with the best ones as ...
zoe_page 23.06.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Au Pair
