As we touched upon in our previous post about Rye Bay Scallop Week, we spent the weekend in the suite of the lovely Rye Windmill B&B, just on the edge of the town. This was booked massively in advance; we knew if we held off it would be snapped up by some other Scallop devotees. As Jonathan Creek fans as well as scallop fans, it was the icing on the cake.

Rye Town is small and compact - you could walk from one end to the other in 15 minutes - so when we say the Windmill is on the edge of town, you understand this bears little relevance to proximity to the action! The grade II listed landmark is situated next to the River Tillingham and the railway line, but far from being disruptive, the infrequent clack-clack of the local commuter train was rather pleasant.

We pulled up in the gravel drive early on a blue and brisk Friday afternoon, which made for a fantastic first view of the Windmill. We were welcomed by the smiling proprietor before we'd even lifted our cases from the boot, and immediately felt at ease. He was very welcoming and took the time to show us the town map, marking out some of the best spots for a couple of foodies. On the way up to the suite, we spied the Four-Poster room through an open door, and were immediately convinced that any of the 10 rooms in the B&B would have been lovely. Upon entering our own room, nestled up inside the top of the windmill, we were thrilled.

It was light and open, but cosy all at once, with windows on all sides for a panoramic view of Rye. We also had exclusive access to the balcony, where we enjoyed a brew while the weather held. The room itself covers two levels, with the king-size bed and living area on the main floor, and a large bathroom on the floor above, complete with both bath, spacious shower, and couples' sinks. C's favourite part of the suite, in fact, was the modern roll-top; positioned by a window looking out on to the countryside, it made for a perfect afternoon bubble bath.

Facilities in the room were well-stocked and thoughtful: from the tea and coffee making area, large dressing table and mirror, hairdryer, iron, and good-sized fridge (complete with complementary bars of Dairy Milk). Soft white bath robes were also provided as well as towels, which is always a nice touch to a B&B or hotel stay.

The communal area and breakfast room, named 'The Granary', was beautiful. All oak beams, and cute tables and chairs, with a stunning wood burning fireplace that would be wonderfully cosy in the colder months. The B&B is also licensed, with a well-stocked, reasonably priced 'honesty bar'.

Breakfast was also very good. Not only were there the usual self-service options of cereals, yoghurt, and fruit, you could also order a freshly cooked hot breakfast of more or less whatever combination you wanted. From a full English to perfectly cooked poached eggs on muffins, and catering for vegetarians and gluten-free diets too, everything was made from quality local produce.

Whenever we review anything, we always feel like we ought to dig for some negative aspects so as not to sound too gushing, but we honestly had a wonderful stay, and the suite was worth every extra penny. We'll definitely be returning to Rye - whether for Scallop Week again, or the equally interesting Wild Boar Week - and we would love to stay again at the Rye Windmill.

N.B. We booked and paid for our stay at The Rye Windmill ourselves, and all opinions are our own.

Zeavola Resort, Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

After our first weekend in Hong Kong, we headed to Thailand for four days on Koh Phi Phi. We've got to start by warning you: AVOID PHUKET INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT ALL COSTS. It's absolute chaos, and there's no workable queuing system, which as you can imagine, was utter torture for a pair of Brits.

In all honesty, in our aim to be cost-efficient on this break, I think we took the long way round, getting to Phi Phi. Our flight from Hong Kong landed at Phuket in the early hours of the morning, and our 3 hour ferry to the island from Rassada Pier wasn't until 8.30am. We spent a good deal of time bumming about the airport before getting our pre-booked cab to the pier at 6.00am. (We did meet a fantastic French-German lady and her daughter, who were winging their holidays around South East Asia. We let them share our cab to the pier, whereby the mother accidentally jumped in to the driver's seat! - not again! her daughter muttered in French.) If we were to do it again, we would possibly book a hotel room for the wait, or just spend the extra and come in from a different destination by speed boat.
Moaning aside, our mini break finally began when the ferry dropped anchor just off Laemtong Bay, and the jolly, grinning representatives from our chosen hotel, Zeavola Resort, came to collect us in a traditional long boat. Upon arrival on the beach, they carried our small amount of luggage across the sand to reception, and presented us each with a cold towel and refreshing glass of watermelon juice. After such a long, sweaty journey I could have kissed them!

Zeavola is a sustainable, luxury resort of traditional teakwood suites starting right on the beach and spreading back and up into the trees. We were booked in to one of the Village Suites, as there were only a couple left for our dates when we booked and I knew I wanted to stay here. It turned out that even their budget rooms are totally stunning, and we were jammy enough to be given one that backed immediately on to the pool, which we more or less got exclusive use of. I would go as far to say that I would want that exact room again if we were to go back (#39 FYI).
The Thais in general are incredibly smiley and accommodating, and at Zeavola especially, we found the service to be exceptional. We arrived just as a week-long tropical storm was starting, which caused all sorts of problems, including the plugs in our room to stop working. The maintenance staff worked quietly and unassumingly to get us back up and running, and there was even a letter from the general manager apologising for the weather! We booked ourselves in for and received a fantastic traditional Thai massage, and one thing I looked forward to in the evenings, was coming back to the suite to find our bed turned down, with a sweet pillow favour on my side each night.

We didn't dine at the hotel, but that's not unusual for us. We like to explore and find eateries for ourselves when we're away (more on where we ate in a follow-up post), so each evening we set out to find dinner at one of the restaurants further down the beach. We did, of course, indulge in breakfast every morning. Served in the beautiful open-sided Baxil Restaurant dining room, the buffet had all the usual continental options one is accustomed to seeing on a hotel stay, plus a selection of lovely Thai options. The menu for cooked breakfast was also very good, with something for everyone. There was an American style breakfast dish, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Thai and others. Each morning, the breakfast staff pop some little Chinese pastries on your table with honey, coconut, and pandanas leaf dips. I loved those. If you're lucky, you can also spot the handsome resort cockerel strutting around outside.
You might say we were sort of unfortunate to arrive on a tropical island just as the first rains after the drought started to pour. It was actually a wonderful experience. So, we didn't get to sun bathe underneath bright blue skies, sipping cocktails, but we did jump in to a warm Andaman sea, fully clothed, as a cooling rain pelted the surface and our faces, and sent schools of fish skipping and jumping around us, with the locals huddled under awnings and giggling at us from the shore. We still swam, and explored, and ate out, and managed to get sun burned. And we had a wonderful stay at Zeavola.

N.B. We booked and paid for our stay at Zeavola ourselves, and all opinions are our own.