Dubai, Kerala and Cairo feature in list of best small hotels

Boutique hotels in Dubai, Kerala and Cairo are among a list selected by a travel journalist as some of the best winter sun destinations.

By Southall Travel -Monday, November 30, 2009 06:50 PM

Dubai, Kerala and Cairo feature in list of best small hotels

Anyone booking holidays to Dubai, Kerala, Cairo or Thailand may be interested in a list of the top 20 boutique hotels available to help travellers escape from the winter blues.

Travel journalist Annabelle Thorpe has picked out some quieter options for people looking for a quiet winter-sun break.

Writing in the Guardian, she described the Fusion boutique hotel in Dubai as "a real find". Compared with many of the emirate's hotels, Fusion is a small, 15-room hideaway based in Jumeirah that offers guests classic Arabian villas with gardens.

Also featured in her top 20 is the Villa Belle Epoque in Cairo that "provides an escape from the madness of Cairo's streets in the lush suburb of Maadi".

Tourists going a little further afield for their winter sun may want to try one of Ms Thorpe's Asian suggestions.

Malabar House in Cochin, Kerala, offers elegant rooms and has its own Ayurvedic spa, while the Mandalai on Koh Phangan in Thailand provides an "impressive level of comfort and style" given the price, Ms Thorpe said.

Research released earlier this month by the International Air Travel Association found that passenger demand for flights was up by 0.5 per cent in October this year compared with the same month in 2008.

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