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Home & Away with Robert Walshe

Home and Away Extra

LivingIt wIll take two miracles for Pope John Paul II to become a saint. But Roman Catholics hoping to attend his beatification ceremony may also need divine intervention if they want a bed for the night. Mil-lions of people – including an esti-mated 700,000 Poles – are expected to flock to Rome this year to witness his progress towards saint-hood. But a combination of canny hoteliers, a public holiday and the endur-ing popularity of the late pontiff are conspiring to ensure that the pilgrimage on 1 May will be a costly affair. Irish Brides have de-clared one of the country’s newest hotels, five-star lough Eske Castle in Donegal, Ire-land’s top wedding venue for 2011 for the second year in a row through an awards scheme with Ireland’s most popular weddings website, weddingsOnline.ie. the award comes just three months after the 17th century castle hotel won the coveted world’s Best luxury Coun-try Hotel title for the second time at the industry’s top international awards ceremony, the world lux-ury Hotel Awards, in thailand. the hotel, which is managed by Solís Hotels & Resorts, opened just four years ago after being lovingly trans-formed from a ruin into Donegal’s only Five Star Hotel by owner and proud Donegal native Pat Doherty

Weekend HotspotFollowing an extensive restoration

project led by internationally ac-claimed interior designer, Jacques Garcia, the re-opening of la Mamou-nia in Marrakech showcased a stun-ningly re-furbished hotel combining refinement, elegance and a true sense of hospitality. the new uber luxurious hotels boasts 136 styl-ish guest rooms; 71 Suites, including seven Signature Suites; and three Riads, each with three bedrooms,

Moroccan salons and a private ter-race complete with an ozone swim-ming pool. la Mamounia has hosted the “who’s who” of international royalty, politicians, celebrities and the jet set its guest list goes back to Roosevelt and Churchill, Hitchcock and Eric von Stroheim. More recent

celebrity guests in-clude Omar Sharif and Elton John as well as Sarah Jes-sica Parker who stayed here dur-ing the filming of Sex and the City 2. while archi-tecturally its low wide corridors and intersect-ing lobbies remain art deco, the décor itself is inspired by the great dynasties that once ruled here: Almoravid h o r s e s h o e arches chis-eled Almohad stucco, delicate Merenid tile work and carved

Saadian corbels. It retains its signa-ture pink-and-green façade, but there has been an explosion of colour within. Big reds, yellows and blacks make the public areas dramatic. the one area that has not been given a vibrant makeover is le Bar Church-ill, which remains dark & smoky. the rooms and suites are a triumph of traditional Moroccan woodwork and tiling. the beds have Sealy mat-tresses and the linen is by Garnier-thiebaut. Bath products are made especially for la Mamounia using a special fragrance created for the hotel by Olivia Giacobetti, one of the world’s great perfumers.la Mamou-nia has four restaurants two of them (le Français and l’Italien) boasting Michelin stars. le Français is slightly more formal; l’Italien is moodier or alternatively, walk along the soft gravel path that leads to le Maro-cain, where local cuisine is served in the company of live Moroccan music, or feast poolside at the laid-back le Pavilion de la Piscine. If you a sweet tooth you will love le Men-zeh, a little hut in the gardens that serves up sugary delicacies such as

macaroons, homemade ice-cream cornets and wonder-ful coffee. Fabrice lasnon, Executive Chef has created a unique dining experience at this property which is truly world class.la Mamou-nia also features: a 27,000 sq foot Mamounia Spa; a state-of-the-art fitness center; ten-nis courts and scheduled clinics created by global

tennis legend, Henri leconte; indoor and outdoor ozone swimming pools; the famous eight-acre gardens are fragrant with orange blossom and roses, set among ancient olive trees. within the gardens there are three riads - or private houses - for the truly rich and/or famous to enjoy the hotel in perfect seclusion In fact the garden is the link to the hotel’s herit-age: the name la Mamounia comes from an 18th Century-prince called El Mamoun who was given the garden by his father as a wedding present. .la Mamounia offers “Unique Ex-periences” to encourage travelers around the world to experience the hotels magic. Each experience is centered around a theme, ensuring a personalized, rich, and unforgettable journey. Experiences include: ‘Gour-met Delight’, featuring a meeting with a la Mamounia Chef, a guided visit to the hotel garden, cooking classes, and gourmet meals at one of la Mamounia’s four exquisite dining venues; ‘Honeymoon Experi-ence’, featuring relaxing massages and hammam treatments, romantic picnics, and a helicopter ride around the Atlas Mountains; and a ‘Very Mo-

rocco’ experience, of-fering guests the best of Marrakech from the air – a private helicopter ride around the Atlas Mountains as well as a private balloon ride on the outskirts of Marrakech. Since the hotel originally opened in 1923, la Mamounia has been symbolic of tra-ditional Moroccan hospitality and a classic example of the great age of grand hotels and I look forward to my return. www.mamounia.com

Weekly Best Buy the Northern lights time of the

year is coming around and Project travel has a few things to keep you occupied while you wait in hope. A Norwegian five-night trip including flights, two nights in a hotel and three nights on a Hurtigruten ship watching the night sky costs from €1,395pps www.project-travel.ie

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray: Animal Behavioural Therapist

with Kathleen Murray

n La Mamounia courtyard

EtIHAD Airlines has opened a new lounge at Dublin’s ter-minal 2. this will offer Etihad’s premium customers a range of top quality facilities and serv-ices that have not been seen in Ireland before, including: a high-tech “Business Centre”, offering Mac workstations with broadband access and printer facilities, along with free wi-Fi for those that prefer to work from their own laptops; shower rooms; a luggage room for bag storage; a comfortable main lounge area boasting a library of books, magazines and news-papers from around the world, furnished with Italian leather chairs and soft sofas; a full bar; a wide variety of food for cus-tomers travelling out of Ireland, including an a la carte menu, in-ternational buffet, and a special children’s menu; and a dedi-cated “family room” for younger travellers, stocked with toys, books and a tV to keep them inspired and entertained.

Robert walshe is a freelance contributor / broadcaster and is guest travel writer for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland

n La-Mamounia Bedrooms

n La Mamounia Gardens & Pools

n Solis Lough Eske Staff with wedding planner Tara Fay

tHEN here’s a list of some things you need to be aware of and require:l 1 A whelping box… that’s a box es-pecially made for your dog to have the pups in so as to eliminate the risk of her smothering them under her when she lies on them by acci-dent.l 2 Extra food for your dog to make sure she is as healthy as she can be before she has the pups.l 3 loads of old newspapers for under your dog and the pups for when things get messy… like when she’s having them and then after-wards when they pee on them.l 4 Make sure you have lots of extra cash in the house also as dogs very often require expensive veterinary

assistance during this time.l 5 If the pups are born in the win-tertime they will probably require an infrared lamp to keep them warm when the mother is out of the box.l 6 If you have them in the house then you will have extra housework as your dog will be dripping milk etc when she lies down and things will be smellier as she will be feeding the pups and having them crawling over her.l 7 As the pups grow they will get livelier and come out of the box to pee and poo so there will be a lot more cleaning up and mopping or hosing down to be done.l 8 when pups start to eat and drink on their own they will realise that you

are the provider of the food and run to greet you enthusiastically, through lakes of pee and watery poos, jump-ing eagerly over your shoes and up your legs so you will need a pair of wellies or waterproofs to protect yourself every time you encounter the pups from then until they go to their new homes.l 9 Pups need to be wormed often. they get round worms that look like spaghetti, when they vomit them up or when they come out of their bottoms. they also need to be vaccinated against Parvovi-rus when they reach six or seven weeks… more expense.l 10 Your dog will need extra food during this time also as feeding

pups takes a lot of energy. She will start to wean off them before they are due to go to their new homes and pups learn valuable lessons at this crucial time. they shouldn’t leave their mother before they are eight weeks old. they will need to be handled and socialized as much as possible to prevent problems arising in later life… your respon-

sibility as you brought them into the world.l NB If your lucky enough to get homes for them all by the time they reach 4 or 5 months old (people can promise to take them but they can also change their mind) then you will be spared having to pay for all that extra food and vaccinations they will need to keep them safe and well.

So you’d like your dog to have pups?