The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
THE CUMBERLAND HOTEL London
I loved the handwoven hammock on the balcony and the enormous comfy bed
WHERE AND WHY: Jimi Hendrix loved it. So did Buddy Holly. Bob Dylan, Diana Ross and Madonna have also checked in.
The Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch has a history of hosting music’s biggest names.
Inside, a black taxi doubles as a photo booth and a chandelier of drumsticks hangs over the check-in desk. The music theme continued upstairs where our room had a boutique feel. Hard to imagine there are 899 of them!
As well as the usual coffee machine and mini-bar, ours contained a Crosley Record Player with a stack of LPS and a Marshall Bluetooth speaker.
There was no place for bland hotel art. Instead, we had portraits of Mick Jagger and sculpted seven-inch vinyl singles. The mirror even had a height chart to see how you measure up against your pop idols. It’s all tremendous fun and our stay was a happy mixture of great music and relaxation.
ON THE MENU: Its spectacular 360° Sound Bar, pictured inset, is a must. We sampled its signature cocktails. Our favourite was Rocket Man (£15.50), a blend of Bulleit Bourbon, Cointreau, Aperol and fruit juices. Next to it is the Sound Sports Bar, where you can catch the day’s sporting action.
The Sound Cafe’s Americanainspired menu offers burgers including a delicious Classic Cheeseburger (£18) – or go large with a special London Doubledecker Cheeseburger (£22.50).
All dishes come with a side order of live music from the Sound Cafe’s stage. The night we were there, The Dirty Tree played funk and soul covers, creating a party atmosphere.
Our waiter, Leo, couldn’t do enough for us – and he was only slightly upstaged by the robot waiter whizzing between tables. WHILE YOU’RE THERE: It’s a short walk or bus ride to Soho and the West End. Hyde Park is just over the road.
WAKE-UP CALL: Rooms from £190 per night including breakfast. guoman.com
By Piers Eady
WITH my heart pounding and knees trembling, I throw my hands up in the air and scream, “Diva, I’m close!”
The glamorous figure on stage gasps and turns towards me but before she can sashay over, someone across the room yells out “Yaaasss, bingo!”, and it’s game over.
As all bad losers will tell you, it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts. And although I narrowly missed out on the $900 top prize, spending an hour with the Diva was well worth getting out of bed for.
It’s not every day you get to play bingo with a drag queen, but when you join a Virgin Voyages cruise, most days are far from ordinary.
Drag bingo is just one of the many activities you can enjoy on board, alongside morning meditation, karaoke, bungee workouts and bottomless brunches. Then there are the live DJS, supper clubs and West End-style shows as well as Virgin’s signature “Scarlet Night” where everyone is encouraged to wear red as they party by the pool.
It’s no secret that Sir Richard Branson is trying to bring cruising to a younger market and, at 40, my husband Nick and I are bang on target. We’re no strangers to cruising, but I did wonder whether we would be booking on to a party boat full of influencers.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and we loved our week on the Valiant Lady with passengers aged from 18 to 80.
We joined the ship in Barcelona for its French Daze & Ibiza Nights sailing, calling at Marseille, Cannes, Palma and Ibiza. And while Nick and I are not party people, preferring nice bottles of wine to nightclubs and early nights to late ones, we fitted right in.
That’s probably because the Virgin experience is whatever you make it: you come as you are, wear what you want and do what you like. No annoying announcements piped into your cabin at 6am, no one trying to pap you while you’re having dinner, no being loaded up like a packhorse for a day of exploring, and no screaming kids – because the cruises are adultsonly.
The week-long Mediterranean itinerary had a good mix of time onboard and overnight stays in ports.
In Marseille we hiked up to the Notre-dame de la Garde then rewarded ourselves with some craft beer. From Cannes, we ventured to Nice and hopped over the border to Monaco, and in Palma we sampled wine at the Jose L Ferrer vineyard before sailing on to Ibiza. There, we saw Calvin Harris at Ushuaia and, while it was good to tick a superclub off the bucket list, it confirmed to me that my party days are over.
We had a much better experience in the Old Town, where we shared a litre of sangria and a huge plate of cheese for the same price as a bottle of Heineken at Ushuaia.
But it was always a pleasure to get back to the ship and relax with a margarita and some ambient beats.
With Virgin, you’re not a passenger, you’re a Sailor. You don’t book excursions – they’re “Shore Things”. An app allows you to control almost every aspect of your cruise, whether you want to book a table for dinner, reserve a spot in the spa, find out about the next destination or check your account balance.
You can even use the app to “Shake for Champagne”, and a smiling staff member will turn up wherever you are with a lovely chilled bottle of Moet.
It’s all very slick and stylish – much like the super cool ship itself, which has a superyacht-inspired design. Some of the bars and restaurants wouldn’t be out of place in swanky parts of London.
There’s a dizzying array of accommodation to choose from, from inside cabins to Rockstar suites, but our Sea Terrace had everything we needed, and more.
I loved the handwoven hammock on the balcony and the enormous comfy bed but, as our cruise coincided with a scorching heatwave, the standout features for us were the excellent air-con and powerful shower.
One of Virgin’s main focuses is food – and just like its staff, it is fabulous. There are more than 20 places to grab a bite and all restaurants are included in the price.
Some are more formal than others but our favourites included the labstyle Test Kitchen, where you can eat a six-course tasting menu, and upscale
Mexican, Pink Agave, which is home to the largest selection of tequila at sea. We were also frequent visitors to The Pizza Place, which cooks handmade pizzas to order and is open until 2am. Most of the restaurants are in The Galley – Virgin’s answer to a traditional buffet restaurant – but you won’t get any bunfights over the last burger here as it’s all table service.
Whether you want to create a salad, enjoy sushi or tuck in to breakfast at the 24-hour diner, you can. Food and drink can be ordered to your cabin at any time via the app.
Many things that other cruise lines skimp on are included, such as superfast wi-fi, filtered water, soft drinks and gym classes.
If you’re a seasoned cruiser who likes formal nights and Baked Alaska Parades, it might not be the line for you. But we booked our next cruise before we left the ship – and that should tell you all you need to know. Branson is definitely on to something.