Q Can you suggest somewhere that my two lifelong girlfriends and I can go for a long weekend in May to celebrate our 50th birthdays? We would like somewhere hot but no more than four hours’ flying from a northwest airport, with bars and restaurants close to the hotel. We can stay in one or two rooms and have a budget of about £400 each.
Bern Rowe, via email
A Hip, friendly and remarkably good value, Lisbon is a great choice for a celebratory weekend break. It’s a short flight (two hours from Manchester) and then only ten minutes by cab to the five-star Corinthia (corinthia.com), where you could spend a very comfortable three nights in an executive junior suite, which would give you access to the rooftop lounge and its buffet breakfast (including fizz if you’re feeling decadent), all-day snacks and canapés, and a concierge who could book restaurants for you. With TAP flights (flytap.com) and B&B this would cost £361pp, leaving on May 6.
You might also want to book a session in the Acqua Thermal area of the Corinthia’s huge spa for £16pp — the cobblestones in Lisbon’s old town are tough on the feet. Try Cervejaria Ramiro (cervejariaramiro.pt) for fantastic seafood and El Clandestino (Rua da Rosa 321) for delicious pisco sours, and Mexican and Peruvian cuisine in the nightlife hub of Bairro Alto.
Q My son is getting married near Avignon in France this August bank holiday and we would like to extend our stay in the area. The aim will be to mix relaxation with some sightseeing and we would like four-star accommodation with a pool. We will be close to Nîmes airport and could fly to Nice, for example, or perhaps drive, if that is doable.
Nicola Hoy, via email
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AI’d certainly recommend a few days in Nice; the Old Town is wonderful, especially the Cours Saleya, home to the city’s flower market, and you could nip over to Antibes for the Picasso museum and along the coast to Monaco. Stay at La Pérouse (leshotelsduroy.com), a boutique hotel high above the Promenade des Anglais that’s a minute from the beach and a short stroll from the market. It has a heated pool, sundeck and pretty patio restaurant, and a double room at the end of August starts at £234 a night B&B. You can’t fly from Nîmes to Nice; the drive will take about three hours.
Q We are trying to arrange a holiday in the summer half-term in Cornwall but are struggling to find accommodation for eight adults, one of whom is a wheelchair user, a four-year old, three babies and two dogs. My father-in-law is able walk up a single stair or two but would need a downstairs bedroom and bathroom, or a bungalow. We would be happy to consider adjacent accommodation and could go the week before half-term if necessary.
Alex Jevons, via email
AIf you can travel the week before half-term I would strongly advise you to do so; not only will it be much cheaper but with specific requirements such as yours you really need to book a holiday up to a year in advance to get the dates you want. I could find nothing in half-term that would suit you.Travel the week before and you have a much better choice.
You could book two adjacent pet-friendly cottages at Trelowarren, a 1,000-acre estate near Helston in Cornwall with beautiful gardens, heated pool, spa, restaurant and pizza shop. A week’s stay in Doctor’s Cottage (sleeps six) costs £1,295 and a week in Primrose (sleeps three) costs £695, both arriving on May 21 (premiercottages.co.uk).
Alternatively, there are several accessible, pet-friendly cottages available for the same week at the Park at Mawgan Porth (mawganporth.co.uk), a few minutes’ walk from the beach and with its own indoor and outdoor pools, as well as an excellent café/restaurant. Kernewek lodge sleeping six, for example, costs £760, plus £40 for a dog, while Penttir, sleeping four, costs £540.
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Don’t put up with this: We can’t cancel because of the Zika risk
Q My girlfriend and I booked flights on Air France-KLM through STA Travel in January to go to Rio de Janeiro at the end of March. However, because of worldwide concerns about the zika virus we are unsure if we should travel there. After consulting her doctor, my girlfriend was advised that it was not possible to say how long the virus would stay in her system if she was to be bitten by a mosquito. Nor do we know how long we would need to wait until she could get pregnant. When we asked STA about a refund or to transfer our flights to another destination it said there was nothing they could do and no refund or transfer would be given under any circumstances. Can you help?
Steven Sykes, via email
A If passengers can provide a medical note to say that they are either pregnant or at risk, then Air France-KLM will consider a waiver. You don’t fall into either category (and have bought non-refundable, non-changeable tickets) but after my intervention STA has taken pity on you and negotiated with the airline. You are being offered a non-refundable credit voucher for the full amount of the tickets (£858), valid for one year. “This is a one-time exception for these passengers only, therefore we will apply the regular guidelines [ie, medical certificate] on any further case,” said an Air France-KLM spokesman.