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There are hotels and there are Mals. Choose from 12 boutique hotels in the UK, perfect for stylish city breaks. Mal rooms are large and decorated with a real sense of style. The bold colours and rich designs create a sense of drama, and are furnished with a focus on serious comfort. All rooms have great beds for sleepy heads, power showers, CD players and libraries, satellite TV, serious wines and naughty nibbles. Other luxuries include take home toiletries and ‘vroom’ room service for breakfast and dinner or midnight munchies! Eating out? Imagine divinely tasty, beautifully presented cuisine prepared with incredible local ingredients and served with passion. All the Mal bars have lashings of attitude and have been designed with an eye to the hip, trendy and chic. They are a super-cool venue in which to sip delicious signature cocktails or try a great glass of vino from the eclectic wine list.  That's Mal Life. Malmaison

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Think quintessential British style. Elegant and unpretentious. Combine this with great spirit, wit, an unquestionable devotion to wine, and you have captured the essence of Hotel du Vin. Picture fourteen sensitively converted spaces, like a Georgian townhouse, a brewery, or a hospital, eclectically furnished in a timeless manner. Imagine a trademark bistro, serving simple classics, an outstanding cellar, Egyptian linen and monsoon showers for your room, a glorious Laroche tasting room for the wine-lover, a cigar shack in its gardens, and inspiring original art in its halls. How very du Vin. Hotel du Vin

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London’s Condor Cycles have been designers and builders of premium bespoke bicycles since 1948.

In today’s marketplace, a bespoke bicycle is a rarity. At Condor, it is what they do every day and what they have specialised in for over sixty years. Condor focus on the details and the quality that simply isn’t found in larger global brands.

Condor Cycles is a fully equipped retail store, a manufacturer and has one of Europe’s largest cycling clothing departments. Beyond consumer products, it’s team Rapha Condor Sharp is the number 1 ranked road cycling team in Britain.

The Condor shop at Gray’s Inn Road, London is a hub and focal point as well as a social networking space for the cycling community.		 condor_logo

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Nestling in the shadow of Mont Ventoux is the beautiful Roman village of Crillon-le-Brave. It is there that we will spend our few days in a luxury boutique hotel.

Each day we will cycle from the hotel heading for different pastures. The first day we will be heading towards Avignon through rolling lavender fields and vineyards. We will spend some time wine tasting in the world famous vineyards of the region and will visit a chateau in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

The following day sees us ride towards St.Pierre-de-Vassol before meandering up towards the foot of Mont Ventoux (the “Giant of Provence”) where so many Tour-de France stories have emanated, from Tom Simpson who famously died on the climb, to Eddy Merckx who required oxygen at the summit!

We will be cycling around the base of the mountain but there is the daunting option of climbing the Giant if anyone should so wish (you need to be in really good shape to attempt this as this is an exposed, tough climb.) Our afternoon's cycling takes us towards the gorgeous medieval village of Bedoin where we can stop for a cafe au lait in one of the village’s many stone cafes.

The third and final day's cycling will see us head north from the hotel in search of the local vineyards. We will spend some time tasting the Côtes du Ventoux wines made in the shadow of the mountain that bears their name, before a gentle but long ride back to Crillon-le-Brave.

This trip really is special. The hotel is exquisite,  the wines are word famous and the area is one of the most beautiful in France. Come and spend  a few days with us in this enchanting region.