Getaway you

As the cost of UK living spirals we’re all looking to cut back, and holidays are beginning to look like an unaffordable luxury.

But don’t worry, you can still afford a getaway – and a pretty nice one at that.

There are ways to precious travel cash on flights, hotel rooms and restaurants – all without stinting on comfort.

We spoke to travel experts with easy online hacks for grabbing a holiday bargain, from the apps to download to the best time to book flights.

Want hotel rooms for less?

Jen Avery, one half of the excellent Thrifty Nomads team , suggests investigating mystery hotel deals – variously called Hot Rate , Express Deals and Secret Deals .

‘These booking websites negotiate discounted rates on vacant rooms,’ she says. ‘Users, however, don’t learn their accommodation’s identity before purchase as hotels don’t want to publicly display such discounted rates.

‘As this is especially true of higher-end retreats wanting to save face, mystery deals often yield significant savings on five-star stays. When searching, you can select a price range and filters by star rating or location. Websites like BidGoggles also help to establish hotels’ (likely) identities.’

Otherwise, bargain hunters’ best tack is to utilise price- comparison sites. Avery rates HotelsCombined.com.

‘It aggregates results from Booking.com, Trip.com and so on, each of which can have unique deals or rates,’ she says.

Most comparison sites also offer reward programmes.

‘Booking.com’s free-to-join Genius Loyalty provides the best value,’ says Avery. ‘It’s tiered, so the more bookings made, the higher your ranking – and the greater your discounts.’

The top tier provides exclusive 10-20% savings, plus free upgrades and breakfast. ‘Those are also usable across many global hotels,’ adds Avery, ‘not just a narrow selection.’

Flights for the frugal

It’s a myth that booking air travel at the 11th hour brings bargains.

‘Last-minute flights tend not to be cheaper,’ says Nicky Kelvin, head of UK travel website The Points Guy . ‘Lower-price fares are actually reserved for purchases made at least 21 days ahead.

‘There’s no single best day of the week or month to book. Instead, being flexible with the days you travel is the way to find a great deal.’

Routes with plenty of options – eg, Vueling, British Airways and easyJet, which all fly daily from London to Barcelona during summer – often witness competitive fares, as do less obvious times.

Take Barcelona again: many people visiting are city-breakers travelling on Fridays and returning two days later. Do the opposite – depart on Sunday, fly back on Friday – and it’ll be less expensive as airlines struggle to fill those seats.

Kelvin debunks another common misconception.

‘It’s not true that prices rise when you search for flights multiple times,’ he says. ‘In fact, they just increase (or decrease) when cheaper fares sell out or discounted tickets become available, and price comparison sites like Skyscanner pull the latest available data.’

Essential apps

Claiming 95% accuracy, travel app Hopper predicts the times when your chosen flight will be cheapest – and thus the prime time to book. Colour-coded calendars reinforce this information.

Before dining abroad, make sure you’ve downloaded TheFork’s app. Exclusive deals or special menus offering discounts are available at restaurants in Europe, Australia and Latin America. A loyalty programme also soon generates price reductions on future meals.

Currensea is effectively a direct debit travel card for your existing current account. Use it, and overseas transactions won’t be subject to the usual 3% fee. No top-ups or pre-pays are required.

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They call the Azores the Hawaii of Europe (you can see why, the island is a tropical utopia – rainforests, lakes, waterfalls, black sand beaches, the lot), but my tour guide retorts, ‘Hawaii is the Azores of the Pacific’.

Located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores is an archipelago that boasts 9 islands in total – I stayed in the largest, Sao Miguel, but the others are a mere 50-minute plane ride away.

The Azores is an autonomous part of Portugal that often gets less hype than its mainland counterpart: you’ve probably partied in Lisbon or tanned under the Albufeira sun. But these Azorean islands are also worthy of a serene yet exciting adventure-filled holiday.

You can expect dramatic landscapes, pristine lakes, hedgerows of colourful hydrangeas, tea plantations, fishing villages, and if you stay in the centre, bustling nightlife.

One of the USPs of Sao Miguel, though, is the whale and dolphin watching tour. Sao Miguel has resident dolphins that are not ones to shy away from speed boats and camera-yielding tourists. Whales, too, will come up to breach, and some lucky tourists have even witnessed the mammals giving birth.

Sadly, when I went on this tour there were no whales spotted, but I was blown away by four different types of dolphins that greeted us – some of which came super close to the boat – they really love the attention.

Pro-tip – if you get seasick, sit towards the back of the boat which is less rocky than the front. Also ask for a raincoat as it can get very wet and cold.

Sao Miguel is a small island – you can drive its length in two hours – so when you stay in tourist-heavy places such as Ponta Delgada (where the airport is, and where I stayed), you’ll see a few excursion purveyors.

However, not every location has the best visibility and chances of seeing cetaceans (or even optimal waters for swimming) so my tour guide drove me to Villa France, which has calmer waters and very high visibility – ideal for snorkelers.

The island is also famous for its lakes, so you’ll want to book a jeep tour.

Futurismo is a good company that has fun and knowledgeable English-speaking guides – I did the full-day jeep tour to Sete Cidades, one of the seven natural wonders of Portugal (it also included lunch and afternoon activities including kayaking on the lake and bike-riding).

Top tip – bring a hoodie and thick clothes for the morning, as it gets really cold and windy (with chances of rain) at the top of the lakes. On the bottom though, when it’s afternoon, it can get really hot, so take a swimsuit and light summer clothes too.

Azoreans will often say ‘you get four seasons in one day here’. Pack accordingly.

While I had a tour guide drive me around on most days – I would recommend hiring a car or booking taxis. If you are hiring then do it well in advance, as during peak times it can go up to €300.

While it’s still in construction at the moment, an eco-estate and boutique hotel in Ponta Delgada, called Solar Branco, has a super extensive gin farm – boasting a library of 600 brands. You can walk in or book an appointment with them where you’ll be given a tour and be able to make your own signature drink.

Sao Miguel is also famous for its traditional dish, Cozido de Furnas – a meal cooked by a volcano.

Furnas, the village where you get this meal, sits on a volcanic warren of geothermal springs (so yes, you get loads of hot springs to swim in, more on that later) meaning you can use the heated ground to cook.

In the morning, restaurant owners drive up by the lakeside to leave their metal pots to cook for a few hours, returning at lunchtime to pick it up.

By then, crowds will come to see the meals – cooked with meats, carrots, sweet potatoes, taro roots and more – as they’re taken out, and it’s become a bit of a ceremonious affair.

Loads of restaurants in the town will also advertise that they’re offering the dish and you can see the logo on their vans as they pick it up.

I had mine at Terra Nostra Park, a huge garden with hot springs and jacuzzis, boasting more than 2,000 trees.

This is also a hotel (no, I didn’t stay here either) but for just five euros, you can get admission into the garden and swim around the hot waters for ages.

Bear in mind, the main pool is discoloured because of iron. I know it’s not the most inviting look, but it’s not dirty or unsafe for swimming in.

Other thermal baths include Caldeira Velha (which you can book or buy at the door, tickets are available). Here, you’ll find a thermal water cascade and pools so bring a bathing suit. They also have showers to wash off but bring your own toiletries and note that the water is super cold.

There’s also the Gorreana tea factory run by three generations of women (who still live together) that’s worth seeing, where you get to taste the delicious tea as well.

Then there’s a pineapple plantation inside greenhouses (as the Azores doesn’t have a tropical climate to grow these) of which you can get a tour and taste the delicious liquor made with it (they are also experimenting with rum).

You’ll notice that flights to the Azorean islands are not so frequent, so it’s good that British Airways is now offering flights to the destination (I was on its inaugural journey) alongside Ryanair which also runs flights.

As for where to stay, there are plenty of hotels, with varying prices, as well as a few hostels dotted around the island. I stayed at hotel NEAT, which was located near what felt like the city centre as it had plenty of restaurants, bars, supermarkets and a beach nearby.

Next time you’re considering yet another trip to Lisbon, or a European getaway, why not venture to Sao Miguel, the Azoreans are all there to welcome you?

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A mum-of-two claims her holiday to Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest was ruined by excessive amounts of bird poo.

Daniela Sponder, 35, along with her husband and two young children, made the 180 mile round trip from their home in Croydon, south east London , to the Nottinghamshire resort for a long overdue getaway.

They shelled out more than £1,100 on luxury lakeside accommodation and spent three hours and 40 minutes driving cross-country to get there.

But they claim they were greeted to their lodge’s back patio absolutely covered in bird excrement and quickly raised a complaint.

Daniela, who works in HR, was told by guest services the area would be jet-washed within 24 hours. But when that came and went without action, she soon lodged another complaint.

Eventually, she says workers arrived to clean it up, but instead of a jet-washer arrived with only a bucket, mop and some bleach, leaving Daniela furious that dangerous chemicals were being used in an area where her children would have otherwise played.

Speaking to NottinghamshireLive , Daniela said: ‘When they arrived with that, I thought, “are you having a laugh?” The equipment was completely inadequate with inappropriate methods used.

‘There was a lack of common sense and it’s a massive health and safety hazard.

‘Even when we got to the lodge and saw the bird poo – I understand we were near a lake and it can get dirty very quickly, but I just wanted there to be the highest standard of cleaning possible and it was filthy.

‘There was no chance my children were going anywhere near that.

‘It was a bit of a disappointing trip in that sense; We were really looking forward to it as we couldn’t go abroad this year because of the birth of my daughter, it suited us well and it was a little adventure.

‘But since all that happened, it’s put us right off ever going back.’

Upon arriving home on July 8, Daniela raised a complaint with Center Parcs, but says she found their response unhelpful.

Daniela said: ‘I did receive a response from them, saying that the situation was out of their control, but I thought that’s not good enough, and wanted to escalate it to management. But I don’t believe this was done and I don’t think it was handled in the appropriate manner.

‘It’s all well and good when money is taken, but basic safety and hygienic matters were not taken into consideration. We’re talking about young children being able to play outside but they can’t because of the bleach.’

Center Parcs has been reached for comment.

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Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has arrived at court ahead of his trial where is accused of eight counts of rape.

Mendy, a 28-year-old French international, is also charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape. All the offences relate to seven women.

This morning Mendy pleaded not guilty to a new rape charge added to the charge sheet over an alleged attack on July 23 last year.

An order had banned media from publishing the latest charge until the order was lifted by Judge Steven Everett, Recorder of Chester, during a hearing at Chester Crown Court last month.

As jury selection began this lunchtime, Judge Everett told candidates of the two defendants: ‘Maybe you have heard their names. Some of you will be aware of the fact Mr Mendy is a professional footballer who plays football for Manchester City.

‘The way we deal with a case of this nature is to take you through these tow questionnaires.

‘It’s up to you to fill them out. Once I see them I am able to make a decision whether you are able to sit.’

All the offences are alleged to have taken place at his home address and span between October 2018 and August last year.

Mendy will go on trial along with his co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 40, who has also entered not guilty pleas to all charges he faces.

Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault, relating to eight young women.

His alleged offences span July 2012 to August last year.

None of the women involved must be identified and reporting restrictions apply ahead of the trial.

Mendy has played for Manchester City since 2017, when he joined from Monaco for a reported £52 million.

He was suspended by the club after being charged by police.

Both defendants are on bail.