Great value Easter Breaks are available this year at Guernsey’s newest four-star hotel, the St Pierre Park. Set in acres of beautiful parkland and gardens on the outskirts of Guernsey’s capital St Peter Port, the iconic St Pierre Park Hotel has just been awarded a 4-star rating by Visit Guernsey after a £1.5m refurbishment in 2009.

Over the years, the hotel has welcomed many famous people, including travel presenter Alan Whicker, author Jack Higgins, sports celebrities Martin Johnson and Henry Cooper, pop star Elton John, and international royalty, including Princess Caroline of Monaco.
The hotel is an ideal destination for Easter Breaks for families and couples. Three night “Guernsey Escapes” over the Easter holidays cost from just £327 per couple, for dinner, bed and breakfast.
The St Pierre Park is set in beautiful parkland, woodland and lakes, and boasts an impressive indoor swimming pool, steam room, Jacuzzi, full equipped gym, and outdoor activities including a 9-hole par-3 golf course designed by Tony Jacklin, tennis courts, Trim Trail, crazy golf and a children’s play area. Within its Le Mirage health club, there is also a hair salon and beauty treatment rooms, offering a wide range of treatments, including some aromatherapy treatments which are exclusive to the St Pierre Park, on Guernsey.

Easter escapes to Guernsey are easy, with flights from 10 UK airports, and three ferry routes from the south coast. Enquiries and bookings on tel. 01481 728282, or visit www.stpierrepark.co.uk.

Red Carnation, the luxury collection of five and four star family-run boutique hotels, is encouraging people to rediscover romance throughout the month of February with a special Valentine’s Day package that’s sure to fan the fires of passion.

Guests will be welcomed with a bottle of Pink Champagne, and end the evening with a special romantic turndown. There will also be the most decadent of treats in the room – a bowl of chocolate-dipped strawberries. The experience can be tailored to include a romantic dinner for two in the restaurant, followed by breakfast the next morning (in bed, with more champagne, if you wish). If you really want to over-indulge, the staff will even provide a midnight lover’s feast, plus there’s late check-out on the Sunday, giving lovers much longer in bed!

The package is available at all the UK hotels in the Red Carnation Collection, and there are some especially romantic options for you to choose from. The Egerton House Hotel in Knightsbridge may be in town but it’s delightfully quiet and intimate – more like a private home than a hotel. If you like the idea of a romantic weekend in the countryside, Summer Lodge Country House Hotel, Restaurant and Spa, just voted one of the best three hotels in the UK for food by the Condé Nast Traveller Gold List, is ideal. Or, for those who want a real get-away without a long flight and without and without venturing into the expensive Eurozone, there’s The Old Government House Hotel in Guernsey – cosy and luxurious, with spa, superb food, and loads of bracing fresh air by the seaside.

Whichever Red Carnation Hotel you choose, guests can give the occasion, and their loved one, all the romance and magic that’s required and desired!

Winter is a time when we can easily become jaded and faded, when the stresses of the festive season sometimes trouble our bodies and minds. Escape to Guernsey this winter, a mere 45 minute flight from London and other UK airports (10 in total) and experience Guernsey’s love affair with Mother Nature.

Consider these four very different walks guaranteed to shift all manner of cobwebs:

Walk 1 – The rural interior
Amble through the quiet, picturesque lanes of inland St Peter’s and St Andrew’s (the only parish in Guernsey that doesn’t touch the sea), through woodlands and patchwork fields. The interior of Guernsey is a delight with priority given to walkers, cyclists and horse-riders on the pretty Ruettes Tranquilles where cars are restricted to 15 mph – it feels like a completely different world.

Walk 2 – Coastal footpath
Stroll along the north and west coastal paths of the island for fabulous views of sweeping sandy bays and wide pearly sand beaches. A gentle, easy walk with plenty of drama without the physical effort required of the steeper cliff paths of the south.

Walk 3 – Lihou Island
Walk across the sea! Lihou Island – the Channel Island’s most westerly point – is separated from Guernsey at high tide (just a 2 hour window when the tide is right). A cobbled causeway literally appears before your eyes, like Guernsey’s very own Yellow Brick Road. Explore the ruins of a priory established by 12th century Benedictine monks or don some binoculars; the island is an important RAMSAR conservation area with abundant bird and marine life.

Walk 4 – Cliff path walk
The cliff paths of the south coast offer more of a challenge for walkers. With panoramic views of the cliffs over to the neighbouring islands of Herm, Sark, Brecquou and Jethou, this is the landscape that so inspired Renoir and where he found his ‘shimmering light’ and painted 15 canvasses of Moulin Huet bay.

Whichever walk you choose there is always a country pub offering hearty local dishes, such as the bean jar, or a traditional tea room serving the fruit loaf gâche (in winter, best served toasted so that the delicious Guernsey butter simply oozes from it).

Because the crowds have left, hotels often have great offers, flight costs have come down and now you can get your skates on as Guernsey has her very own ice rink for the first time in years.

Consider visiting Guernsey this winter because :

? The historic Market Square in St Peter Port will be home to Kyran Bracken’s Ice Rink for 4 weeks this Christmas opening on 12 December. Cost from £6 including skate hire.

? In this quieter season you may have a good stretch of the 27 miles of cliff-top paths to yourself for a while – time to savour the fabulous sea views and ponder.

? With a healthy appetite from all that walking have a hearty lunch and relax in front of an open fire. Hotel de Havelet, Moores, The Farmhouse, Fleur du Jardin all have real log fires as do the Captains Hotel pub and Haybarn.

? Christmas shopping in Guernsey is a treat. The gentle pace is reminiscent of times gone by. Find something in St Peter Port’s chic boutiques – hand made jewellery, silk scarves, rare prints and more. And there are special Christmas shopping trips to Herm island by boat.

? ‘Make a Fish’ on 28 October or a ‘Halloween Bug and Beetle’ on the 31 October at the Gallery at St Peter Port. Sorry, these workshops are for children only – shame! But the adult workshops sound fun too – there’s Landscape Photography on 17 October and a Beading Workshop on the 29 October with more events coming throughout the winter. www.thegallery.gg

Skates, scoff, boutiques and breathtaking walks ……. just some of the reasons why Guernsey in winter is worth a second look!

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