Latest news with #Bunkhouse
The Herald Scotland
20-07-2025
- The Herald Scotland
I spent a weekend on a remote Scottish beach - and it was magical
But that's exactly how I spent last weekend at Kilmory Beach on the Isle of Rum. And it was magical. I'll be the first to admit that, even after moving to such an idyllic place, I've still had the itch to 'get away' for the summer. Our cancelled honeymoon last year means that our last beach holiday - or rather, or last visit to any beach - was almost three years ago on the outskirts of Barcelona. It's such a habit, almost like an annual muscle memory, to have a peruse of the airlines and see where looks good for a few days' escape. Even this year, seven months pregnant and not exactly in peak travel form, I caught myself having a peak at flights to Italy, beckoned by the call of sun and fresh pasta. But this weekend was a reminder that I live in a place that can be just as extraordinary. Sometimes, better. Read more Elle We'd been eying up the forecast for the week previously, after having ferries cancelled due to high winds and lashing rain. The promise of temperatures above 20C seemed too good to be true. And yet, it arrived. We packed bags of homemade wraps and fruit skewers and took to Kilmory Bay with some of our good pals on the island, and some very excited kids in tow. It was the first time we'd properly been to this beach. Good weather days tend to mean extra hours working at the Bunkhouse, and advising day trippers to visit all the places we wish we could also escape to for the day. But today we were determined. That's one of the strange things about moving to an island - you can live somewhere and still have endless new places to explore just a few miles away. The sand was golden and firm, and boiling under our bare feet. The sea was calm and a pearlescent blue that 'looked like Hawaii', one kid commented. The waves, however, were certainly a fair bit colder than Hawaii. We spent hours running between the crystal clear waters and the roasting sand; as the hours passed, the sun got more intense, and our squeals got louder and louder every time we entered the freezing sea. We saw crabs scurrying at our feet, jellyfish coming a little too close for comfort, and even some deer picking their way along the high tide line, glancing at us as if unsure what sort of wildlife we were. While we were swimming, another joined our picnic. We're fairly convinced it was an otter, though the only evidence left behind was a trail of sandy footprints and a pilfered sandwich. Of course, not every weekend will be like this one (Image: Elle Duffy) I was the palest of our group, and in true Scottish fashion, I left redder than a tomato. The back of my neck and legs are still burning as I write this, and I've never experienced sunburn on the tops of my feet until now. It's not something I'd recommend. Lesson learned. But even the sunburn couldn't spoil the joy of it all. The weekend brought with it an unexpected magic of discovering that you don't need to fly hundreds of miles to feel like you've had a proper escape - or, in our case, you don't even need to leave your island. Sometimes you just need to be brave enough to trust the forecast and take a chance, and live with the consequences of your poor sun cream application. There's still something to be said about why people decide to venture abroad for their holidays. Accommodation in Scotland can be pricey, particularly over the school breaks, and if you live in a highly populated town or city, the idea of spending the day down at a heaving local beach or trying your luck along the A82 might not be the same as the beautiful picture I've painted today. So why not give our islands a try? Of course, not every weekend will be like this one. There will be more grey skies, and more days where the sea doesn't look quite so inviting. But it means that next time I get that familiar urge to go searching for summer somewhere else, I'll try a little harder to find it here first. Elle Duffy lives and works on Rum
%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%2FTAL-bedroom-standard-brussels-STNDRDEXPNDS0225-9856d756f9914982aceee18ac306e206.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Travel + Leisure
04-06-2025
- Business
- Travel + Leisure
You Can Now Use Your Hyatt Points to Book These Chic Boutique Hotels
World of Hyatt members can finally earn and burn points at one of the more lifestyle-forward additions to the brand family in recent years. The Standard and StandardX brands—including the new The Standard, Brussels—are slated to fully integrate into the World of Hyatt platform in phases beginning this month. Bunkhouse, a collection of smaller boutique hotels that was also included in the Hyatt acquisition of the Standard International brand collective, is expected to join World of Hyatt at a later date. The Manner, the Standard's fashion-forward lifestyle hotel in Manhattan joined World of Hyatt earlier this year by way of the Unbound Collection. Hyatt closed on the Standard acquisition last October, so why the slow-drip process of pulling each of these hotels into the loyalty program? 'Integrating a new brand into World of Hyatt isn't just about adding a logo on our website—it's about making sure the entire guest experience from booking to earning to point redemption feels seamless and meaningful at every property,' says Laurie Blair, Hyatt's senior vice president of global marketing, in an interview with Travel + Leisure . 'Each brand has unique offerings, design standards, and service philosophies, so we take the time to get it right.' As part of the brand integration, Hyatt is offering various new, Standard-specific Find Experiences for World of Hyatt members to bid on with their points. Some of those offerings include having a wedding for up to 150 guests at Boom at The Standard, High Line (complete with a four-hour open bar, passed hors d'oeuvres, a bistro station, and desserts), or bidding on access to a Burberry summer party alongside a three-night stay at The Standard, Ibiza (including a private yacht tour and American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles to help with flying in your preferred +1). You can bid on a late-September journey to Southeast Asia with three stops along the way to The Standard, Singapore; The Standard, Bangkok; and the soon-to-open Standard, Pattaya Na Jomien (which also comes with bonus American Airlines AAdvantage miles). Back in the U.S., you can bid on a one-night penthouse getaway at The Manner that includes rooftop massages, facials, and a seafood dinner. Bidding for each of the four packages starts at 5,000 World of Hyatt points. The Standard-Hyatt brand integration comes at a time when many major hotel companies look to have options at all budgets for points earning and redemption. Hyatt's extensive focus on lifestyle hotel offerings in recent years includes the Standard takeover as well as the acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality in 2018, which netted the Chicago-based company brands like Alila and Thompson Hotels. While its competitors at Marriott, Hilton, and IHG Hotels & Resorts have similarly pursued lifestyle hotel expansions of their own, the World of Hyatt loyalty platform is the only one that largely remains tied to an award chart—meaning members can plan precisely how many points they need to budget for a stay. The incoming Standard properties generally fall between Category 2 and Category 6, which means World of Hyatt members should plan on stays as little as 6,500 points for an off-peak Category 2 night award stay or as much as 29,000 for a peak night award stay at a Category 6 property. The Manner, which was already on the platform, is a Category 8—meaning you'll have to shell out anywhere from 35,000 to 45,000 points to enjoy an award redemption. 'As more hotels join World of Hyatt, we're thoughtfully aligning each hotel to our award chart to ensure consistency and value for our members. Members will see some variation based on things like geography and hotel offerings,' Blair said. 'The beauty of our award chart is that members can plan and redeem with confidence, knowing there's consistent value whether you're staying in New York, Bangkok, or Ibiza.' The Standard and The StandardX joining World of Hyatt means loyalty members can earn 5 base points for every eligible dollar spent at participating properties and get an extra 4 bonus points per dollar for those using a World of Hyatt credit card. The integration also means there are two new options to earn toward a Brand Explorer Award, where you get a free night at a World of Hyatt Category 1-4 hotel for every five Hyatt different brands you stay. And to those who wonder if linking up with Hyatt means The Standard is going a little too corporate and isn't quite an iconoclast hotel operation anymore? 'The Standard hotels thrive because they don't follow convention,' Blair said. 'Our goal isn't to standardize The Standard—it's to scale what makes them unique, while giving travelers even more access and opportunities through World of Hyatt.'
