Movie stars, friendly ghosts and hoovers - it's been a busy few days!

Wands to the ready, and look out all of you Muggins.. um.. Muffins... (hang on let me ask Emily).. ah ha! Muggles!

Ah yes, your Secret Agent is amongst celebrated company once removed.

We have had not one, but TWO Harry Potter sightings just from the marketing team over the last few days. One HerMyOwny (Emma Watson) on a dance mat in one of those 'fun centres' in London. She was pretty good apparently. AND one Ginny (Bonnie Wright - you know, Ron's little sister. No? Me either, but try and keep up) who was outside Golders Green tube station. My workplace TUBE STATION! Movie stars in our midst.

To be honest, after my last blog, James could have been known as Voldemort by the look on his face. He did make a lovely cup of tea though. Absolutely magical.

Speaking of magical, we've got a couple of hotels that would make you feel like you could be in one of the Harry Potter movies.

Ballygally Castle is on the scenic Antrim coast only 20 miles (32km) from Belfast, facing the sandy beaches of Ballygally Bay. The original part of the hotel is a castle dating from 1625 so beware, though the paintings don't speak and there's no John Cleese, you may bump into the friendly resident ghost!

Staying in Northern Ireland, there is also the Culloden Hotel Belfast. It was formerly a Bishop's Palace dating back to the 1830's situated on the Hollywood Hills. The Culloden is set in 12 acres of beautiful landscaped grounds with spectacular views overlooking Belfast Lough. With its antique furniture, period paintings and Louis XIV chandeliers you could imagine running around under invisible cloaks and dodging drooling dogs (okay my Harry Potter knowledge is slightly limited if this is all i've taken from it).

Keep your eyes peeled for more sightings!

Personally, if we could get some sightings of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford or (yes, dream on Secret Agent) Chewbacca!!!

Now that would really make my day.

STOP PRESS : Day has officially been made by finding a video of someone's vaccuum cleaner that actually sounds like Chewbacca. I love the web!

Laters,

Secret Agent

With all this research I've been doing and all this footie going on I haven't really known where to be when - who do I want to win.... I just can't decide. When to be in the office...when to be in the pub...
The office has been busy selling all these summer of free night offers - they're flying off the shelves - er or just flying off our website apparently. I'm hoping this means I can get to go and try & find us some more free nights & consequently get off on my travels again.

This week I've been in the office - catching up on some paperwork as you do. It's a funny place the office. I've made a lot of tea, eaten a lot of muffins and constantly opened & closed the blinds as we can't work out whether the sun is shining or the rain & black clouds are looming. Think it may be time to get abroad again where I can get some guaranteed sunshine.
Anyway here is one of my colleagues - James.

James does clever things with the internet. He also makes a distinct LACK OF TEA. I am starting a new campaign called the JAMES NEEDS TO MAKE MORE TEA campaign. Even those in the reservations teams have begun to notice it - he seems to be allergic to the area around the kettle.

Ahem....anyway just in case you think I've lost my mind & perhaps have a little cabin fever, you'll be pleased to know I did manage to get out & about in London town visiting the K+K George Hotel London -

man did I wish I could stay there - it is very well located - very close to Earls Court if you're going to an exhibition - and within strolling distance of all those shops on High Street Kensington. The rooms are modern & light & airy and look so comfortable and the breakfast looked massive - so much choice. And with a gym & sauna, this really is a great place to stay if you're coming to London.

Right back to that James and that tea....

Football, cheese and juniper berries....

Ah footy...

I'm quite pleased that england aren't in Euro 2008. No - really, I am.

It doesn't just mean that our English lads can go crazy in sunny spots around the world and appear in the tabloids rest up...

It means that I can concentrate on the football. I can watch the silky skills of the other teams without booing, hissing and shouting 'LUCKY!!' when an amazing goal is scored.

I still haven't chosen 'my team' yet.

It's pretty hard to not love Holland after last night's game. The last time I was in Holland, it wasn't all clogs and tulips... no, that was the first visit. The last time I went, it was all about theatre and cheese. I got my ideas from here.

I also drank a lot of Genever (which is a Dutch gin drunk from tiny glasses) and then kind of regretted eating all that cheese.

I stayed in the beautiful Vondel Hotel .

It's a bit of an unusual hotel as it is comprised of three adjacent buildings, two of which are linked by a passageway with staff escorting guests to the other. The bedrooms are cool and contemporary with really cool furnishings!

There's also a fabulous bar open until 1am, giving the perfect holiday mix of sightseeing, nightlife - and yes, don't forget the cheese!

Right, I'm off to find some orange in my wardrobe!!

laters

Secret Agent

Want a free night in a hotel?

We prove that there's no better way to get a free night in a hotel....




To celebrate the launch of HotelConnect's fabulous Summer of Free Nights I went along to the Ambassadors Bloomsbury hotel to see if it was possible to sneak into a hotel to get a free night's stay. I took along my friend Michelle from our sales department, and Natalie and Sarah - our mates from Flight Centre - to see if they were able to spot me.

First of all I tried hiding in a laundry basket. I have to confess it's not the first time I've tried this, but that's a different story that's best told over a drink or three. However, our intrepid seekers, Natalie and Sarah were holding no prisoners, and soon sniffed me out - might have been my socks, which, on reflection, should have stayed in that laundry basket.

Next was the failsafe-behind-the-bed-looking-sheepish technique, which again, failed miserably as Natalie, Sarah and Michelle all found me within minutes. It was quite cosy sandwiched between 3 lovely ladies, but I digress....

By that point I was exhausted, but had scientifically* proven that the best way of getting a free night in a great hotel in top destinations is to visit HotelConnect's ...

There are great free night offers in destinations such as Barcelona, Amsterdam, Milan, Dublin, Berlin, Bruges, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice... There are bargain breaks and city breaks. Oodles of bargains to be snapped up. You can stay in a gorgeous 4* hotel in the beautiful city of Ghent for 3 nights just £96pp!

click here for more





Many thanks to Carolin and the great staff at the Ambassadors Bloomsbury hotel for letting us run amok in their gorgeous establishment. We had a look around the rooms, which are lovely, and the triple glazing is like some magical sound-stopper - the busy street below is completely blocked out. I for one was very impressed. I like gadgets. But please, no more kitchen gadgets for Christmas - that avocado slicer almost took my fingers off!

And for all my loyal fans out there, here's a quick peek at me in the shower at the Ambassadors Bloomsbury! Naughty!







*ish!

Get rewarded for being on holiday!

My employers have asked me to spread the word about these pretty amazing sounding competitions they've got going at the moment. Check this - you can win £300 of HotelConnect vouchers by just taking a video of your hotel room while you're away! You need to try & get your film director skills into this and make it stand out from the competition somehow so that it wins - but if it's any good - we'll put it up on the blog too!!! So get going - just make a recording of your room and at least one public part of the hotel, upload it to YouTube, mentioning HotelConnect somewhere in the audio or text and then email it through to my wonderful colleagues who will judge them at promotions@hotelconnect.co.uk. For more details see here>>

Agents don't miss out either - there's a stay in Prague on offer for you - just send in an original video showing why you deserve a holiday - and email it to agentspromotions@hotelconnect.co.uk
More>>

Must go and dig out my camera and try to figure out how it works.....