Joan Scaleshas the week's best offers From a James Bond weekend to a seafood night in Co Kerry.
HOME BREAKS
Kerry seafood night: €185pps
A feast of seafood is planned at Muckross Park Hotel, in Killarney, Co Kerry, on November 8th, when six award-winning local seafood restaurants will prepare a gourmet evening. A champagne reception will be followed by a tasting menu with signature dishes from each restaurant. Specially selected wines will be provided by Febvre. The evening costs €85 per person - or, if you wish to stay over, €185 per person sharing. 064-23400, www.muckrosspark.com.
Austrian wine night: €165pps
In the middle of the country, Middleton Park Hotel, near Mullingar, in Co Westmeath, will have a similar dinner next Friday, October 31st. It will be showcasing Austrian wines with top winemaker Markus Kirnbauer. The nine-course dinner will be complemented by a selection of wines.
The evening, which begins at 7pm, costs €97 per person, or €165 per person sharing if you stay over. 044-9226996, www.mph.ie.
Bellinter break: €150pps
Autumn escapes at Bellinter House, in Co Meath, include a one-night weekend stay for €150 per person sharing that includes dinner at Eden, a delicious breakfast and a treatment, such as an Indian head massage, a manicure or a seaweed bath. See our competition, too, on page 19. 046-9030900, www.bellinterhouse.com.
Wedding recce: €75pps
The Dunraven Arms, in Co Limerick, hopes to tempt soon-to-be brides and grooms to try it out, with a view to holding their receptions at the hotel. It's offering a rate of €75 per person per night, including dinner, bed and breakfast. If you go ahead and book your wedding reception at the Dunraven Arms, it will refund the cost of your recce. 061-605900, www.dunravenhotel.com.
Citywest stay and play: €135
Stay and play at the Citywest Hotel and Resort, in west Dublin, from €135 per person sharing. That's the price of two nights' bed and breakfast with a round of golf on one of the hotel's two Christie O'Connor-designed courses, in November. 01-4010500, www.citywesthotel.com .
Rooms with a view of Bantry Bay: from €55pps
The contemporary four-star Maritime Hotel, in Co Cork, looks across Bantry Bay (above); almost all the rooms have the view. Until April it is charging €55 per person sharing midweek and €69pps at weekends for bed and breakfast - or two weekend nights, with dinner, for €167pps. The hotel's family suites are spacious and, at €139-€159, good value. All rooms have internet access, too. 1890-300107, www.themaritime.ie.
OVERSEAS BREAKS
Bond in London: from €570 for 2
Some of London's hotels are making the most of the release of the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Stay on a Friday or Saturday night at Dukes Hotel, in St James's, where Ian Fleming is said to have come up with the line "shaken not stirred", and you can learn how to shake or stir the perfect Martini before dinner in the Dining Room. Then, after a late breakfast, he can go for a perfect Truefill & Hill shave while she has a Miss Moneypenny manicure or pedicure. The package costs £450 (about €570) for two. You could even complete your stay with a tour of Bond's London, choosing from www.visit london.com/itineraries. 00-44-20-74914840, www.dukeshotel.com.
British Airways seat sale
British Airways is having a sale on business and first-class fares for travel from November until the spring. Fly in style to New York from £1,199 (about €1,520), Cape Town from £1,959 (about €2,475), Hong Kong from £1,999 (about €2,510 and Bermuda from £1,379 (about €1,735), with savings of more than £1,000 (about €1,260). In Europe, return business-class fares to Barcelona and Zurich from £159 (about €200), Nice from £259 (about €328) and Cairo from £499 (about €630). Book by November 25th with your travel agent or on www.ba.com.
Helsinki break: from €311pps
If you've ever been tempted by the idea of a break on the Baltic, this could be your chance. Two nights at a three-star hotel in Helsinki, the Finnish capital, cost from €311 - three start at €355 - per person sharing, including flights, in November. If you are lucky it will have begun snowing. www.lastminute.com.
Gran Canaria: from €329pps
Offers from Falcon Holidays for November include a week in Maspalomas, on Gran Canaria, flying from Dublin or Cork, from €329pps; and a week in Matagorda, in Lanzarote, flying from Shannon, from €299 per person sharing. 1850-453545, www.falconholidays.ie.
Tenerife week: from €299pps
Sunway has one-week holidays to Tenerife on December 5th and 12th, staying at Aparthotel Santa Maria, for from €299 per person sharing. It is also offering a week at Costa Adeje Gran Hotel from €659 per person sharing. 01-2311888, www.sunway.ie.
Canaries holiday: from €379pps
Direct Holidays has a week at Los Alisios apartments in Los Christianos, in Tenerife, on November 14th from €379pps. A week at Cumana Apartments, in Puerto Rico in Gran Canaria, costs the same. 01-8860400, www.directholidays.ie.
Sail and rail to England: €78
Stena Line will pick you up from Westmoreland Street in Dublin then bring you by ferry and rail to towns in England or Wales for €78. 01-2047744, www.stenaline.ie.
Please bear in mind that deals are subject to availability.
DEAL OF THE WEEK
Rooms with a view of Bantry Bay: from €55pps
The contemporary four-star Maritime Hotel, in Co Cork, looks across Bantry Bay; almost all the rooms have the view. Until April it is charging ¤55 per person sharing midweek and €69pps at weekends for bed and breakfast - or two weekend nights, with dinner, for€167pps. The hotel's family suites are
spacious and, at ¤139-¤159, good value. All rooms have internet access, too. 1890-300107, www.themaritime.ie.