It's at least heading to that time of the year when we all start thinking a little bit more about getting away, especially this year as the weather has been so ghastly in Britain. There are a lot of hotels that have antiques as part of their decoration to help create an attractive ambience. I've mentioned some on the blog before; the Inn at Whitewell in the Forest of Bowland springs to mind. I've just had an email from a friend mentioning that he had stayed at the Hotel le Cep, Beaune in Burgundy. As he says in his email. "This family hotel is a gem. All the rooms are traditionally furnished and named after wines and local villages. There's a good idependently run restaurant that is attached to the hotel which sells a whole mass of wines by the glass, which is fun."
I'd love to hear from anyone who has a hotel to recommend with 'antique ambience.'
For many years now it's been popular to stay in hotels that boast rooms full of antiques – I even owned one at one point! It's easy to see the attraction of staying in rooms full of beautiful things, four-poster beds and all the accoutrements of those halcyon days. However, I've just been told of a new phenomenon. A trailer park in Arizona houses a collection of 1950s vintage trailers that are available to stay in. There's a 1949 Airstream, one of those beautiful sleek silver machines, there's a 33 foot Royal Mansion built in 1951 with leopard carpet, martini glasses, Diner-style breakfast booth and phonograph with a collection of 78rpm records, or a 1947 Tiki Bus Polynesian Palace, complete with hand-carved outrigger bar and your own Tiki God. 
I just receved this hotograph of us all on the cruise and wanted to share the moment – and especially my storm trooper boot! Left to right there's Ian Harris, me and my boot, Clive Stewart-Lockhart and Paul Viney
