Sydney, Australia

Soho Apartment: http://www.vrbo.com/240257

My husband and I (both aged 50) stayed in this wonderful Soho apartment for 6 nights from 5/3-11/3 2012. It was a wonderful alternative to that of the usual small and dark hotel room. The apartment is very generously proportioned with an entrance foyer, large lounge area with adjoining kitchen, shower room and bedroom. There are so many advantages to this apartment that it is hard to prioritise them so instead I will list the things we loved about it.-

• A safe and secure building.

• The ease of dealing with the owner/manager, Paul to manage the booking and his staff to access apartment.-

• The spectacular London views from the 15^th floor location.·

• The loads of natural light pouring into the apartment through the large windows.·

• The modern finishes in all rooms.

• The large flat screen TV in the bedroom.·

• The very comfortable king sized bed.·

• Dining at the table on bar stools taking in the spectacular views.·

• Excellent wi-fi. A real must!·

• Excellent location; just near Carnaby St and a 5 min walk to either Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus tubes.·

• An enormous number of excellent dining options within a 5~ 10 min radius walk.

• A 10~15 min walk down to Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.·

• Dining: Please consider our favourites:

o Fernandez and Wells (just around the corner): http://www.fernandezandwells.com/ Located at 43 Lexington St.

o The Crown and Two Chairmen pub: excellent food, wine and beer, we went there twice! (5 min walk away at 31-32 Dean St, Soho ). http://www.thecrownandtwochairmenw1.co. uk/

o Buy your own healthy and delicious meals to take home and heat up after a long day sightseeing from Whole Foods at 69-75 Brewer St, Soho; just a 5 min walk away. http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/

Edinburgh http://www.vrbo.com/134258

My husband and I stayed in this lovely apartment for just 3 nights from 11-14^th March 2012. This was a wonderful and comfortable apartment in an ideal location for exploring Edinburgh. It is true to the VRBO listing with a spectacular view of Edinburgh castle right out of the lounge room window. The apartment is in a secure and safe building right in the heart of the Grassmarket area.

The apartment has a generous entrance foyer, a large, comfortable and well appointed bedroom with luxury linens, a large lounge room, a shower room and a good sized and well appointed kitchen. The booking and apartment access was made very easy and smooth thanks to the efficiency of the owner, Vivienne Cameron, who was most professional to deal with. Vivienne also generously left a lovely welcome basket with wine, bread, biscuits and some other helpful and essential items.

The apartment is only a short 5 -10 min walk to the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, to the New Town district and tourist bus area and only a few minutes to many pubs and loads of different restaurants and dining options. I can highly recommend dining at ‘Mussels and Steak, just a few minutes’ walk up to the top of the Grassmarket at 110 West Bow St. This was a suggestion from Vivienne and we loved it so much we went there twice; for dinner and for lunch. (http://www.musselandsteakbar.com/). Our favourite pub in the Grassmarket was ‘The Last Drop’ and we also went there more than once. We also had a lovely meal at Maison Bleue, only a few min walk at 36/38 Victoria St (http://www.maisonbleuerestaurant.com/) . We would definitely stay here again if we ever returned to Edinburgh!