Something For The Weekend

last chance to get On The Town...

Critics' choice labelled it 'A helluva hit'.

The Observer called it 'A brilliant production'.

Even the Financial Times couldn't resist noting this as 'A classic slice of Broadway.'

So if you haven't got yourself down to The London Coliseum yet, sail your good ships into to St Martin's Lane to catch On the Town before it cruises off into the sunset.

If you're wondering what it's all about, imagine what you'd do with just 24 hours in the Big Apple. Ok, if you're a girl try and steer your mind away from Macy's for a second - think 1940's fun, romance and a whole lotta singing and dancing.

Join three sailors as they're set loose in the city and watch the adventure unfold in this Olivier Award-nominated staging by director Jude Kelly and choreographer Stephen Mear. You've gotta give a hand to the orchestra too. With 105 members it's a wonder they can all fit in. 

See On the Town for just a tenner with this fabulous 50% off offer!

win a night in the Runnymede Hotel & Spa...

Only half an hour by train to London Waterloo and sitting on the banks of the River Thames close to the historic town of Windsor, the Runnymede Hotel & Spa welcomes you. Perhaps you've spent the day at nearby Windsor Castle, taking in the sights with your other half and soaking up a slice of English culture as autumn rolls into spring.  Take the weight off your feet and relax in one of the 180 guest rooms, including 3 riverside apartments.

The Runnymede's design varies from classic to contemporary, with the individual touches of flair you would expect from one of the UK's largest family-run 4-star hotels. It's a fantastic stop for seeing the sights, too.

In one direction is Windsor, home to the Royal Family, and Eton, home to the school that taught 18 British Prime Ministers. In the other direction is Hampton Court, home of Henry VIIIth, just a 25 minute drive away.

Need to unwind some more? Relax with a facial, a manicure, reflexology or an Indian head massage in the Runnymede fitness spa. Unwind in their 18 metre pool, whirlpool bath, saunas and eucalyptus steam room. Exercise in their dance studio, gymnasium or outdoor tennis courts, or to put those calories right back where they came from, dine at Leftbank, where the fresh food from New Covent Garden, mixed with the innovation of the clever chefs is as stunning as the setting.

For your chance to win a Friday night stay on a Friday for 2 in a double room, plus a yummy breakfast to be taken by 31.8.07, email us here with the subject line RUNNYMEDE. (subject to availability). Sorry, this competition has now closed.

win a trip to Vienna with our blogging competition...

Are you a bit of a rambler? Can you happily blog the day away regardless of your 'responsibilities'? Well, have we got a competition for you.

We've teamed up with our mates at fuelmyblog.com and Austrian Airlines to offer one lucky winner two business class flights and a fabulous hotel stay in Vienna - city of romance, history and medieval charm.

What a cool prize, how do I enter?

Just make a blog entry of up to 300 words on your best ever weekend or holiday, and send us the URL. Register with fuelmyblog.com to make sure everyone knows about it and hey presto, you could be winging your way to Vienna and writing for our brand new travel newsletter, Triptease.

Interested? Head here to enter the competition
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WIN a weekend for two at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel...

Having just completed a £76 million refurbishment, you can bet your bottom Euro/dollar/pound – wherever you happen to be traveling from - that the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel will do it’s utmost best to impress.

The hotel, sitting pretty on the lovely Park Lane, now boasts luxurious new guest rooms and suites, including the London Suite, Theo Randall at The InterContinental, contemporary event space and a chic urban spa.  With a passionate team and an ‘in the know’ service culture; this lot ensure that their guests enjoy a truly authentic experience. Oh, did we mention the gorgeous restaurant, the Cookbook Café? With tables of food in a spread that could have been laid out by your fussy mother, the ceramic dishes of sundried tomatoes, fresh salads and muffins still in their baking trays, compliment the dishes cooked before your eyes by grinning chefs. You’ll want to linger, trust us!

Located at 1 Park Lane between the famous shopping districts of Knightsbridge and Mayfair, the renamed InterContinental London Park Lane overlooks two Royal Parks and Buckingham Palace, so it’s great if you’re planning to see the sights. A 300 square metre chic urban spa is run in partnership with sexy group, Elemis and if you’ve greater aspirations you’ll definitely remember the magnificent ballroom, with space for up to 750 guests.

To win a fantastic weekend for two at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel, email us with the subject line PARK LANE and keep your fingers crossed.
Sorry, this competition has now closed.

Book your stay in the hotel now

**** NOTE: comments in response to this blog posting will not be counted as competition entries.

Let’s talk about sex, baby...

The lastminute.com ladies feel the buzz in Amora – The Academy of Sex and Relationships

When someone tells you a new theme park is opening in the heart of London, it’s not a very surprising reaction to jump off your swivel seat and exclaim “Oh boy oh boy, me first for the rollercoaster, race you down there!!!”  Of course, when the new theme park is featuring nothing but sex, the fact that there aren’t any “rides” doesn’t seem so important. After all, one visit to the £7m Amora – The Academy of Sex and Relationships, and you’ll probably be ready to create some rides of your own. (ahem)

Always keen to learn a few more skills, Becky, Koulla and Amy trekked on over to the Trocadero last week to represent womankind in the name of pleasure, and to see exactly what’s been sending hearts a-flutter all over town. To be honest, we’re not normally prudes, but seven zones by such names as Pleasure and Orgasm, various videos documenting certain “acts” and a wall of manly parts sticking out further than the arms of the office coat-rack was enough to make even the most seasoned of sexperts blush.

Headphones accompanied our tour with the option of further explanations as to the exhibits – mostly wall panels with facts, figures and some pretty explicit videos. A soothing female voice informed us how to flirt, how to discover erogenous zones, how to recognise when someone fancies us, and how to get the message when they don’t. (It’s a cruel world, ladies). Koulla got a kick out of the option choosing her perfect man with the aid of a touch screen series of blokes, all with different features and charms. Unfortunately, having scrolled through them all, the options weren’t enough for her – she’s a picky cow.

The Orgasm tunnel is not the ideal place to linger if you’re on a date. Especially your first date. Your potential boyfriend will either be embarrassingly turned on or run from the building screaming in fear of your almighty expectations. Well, the video wall of scrunched up ‘ecstatic’ faces isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – and neither is the moaning, groaning soundtrack as you’re reading exactly what your body goes through in that moment of ‘YES, YES, YES!’

If the exhibition’s left you needy, there’s everything you need in the sexy shop, situated quite handily by the exit. Vibrators, whips, games for your love chamber, a saucy corset selection and enough lubes and lotions to render you more slippery than a wet goldfish – they’re all there waiting for your own personal pleasure.

As one intrigued colleague shouted out when we informed the office where we were off to – “Can I come?”  Well, to be quite honest, if you spend enough time in Amora, you probably can.

Save up to 10% on your visit to Amora

a little message from Audrey II...

Don't forget to book your May Madness theatre tickets for up to

50% off London theatre in May

we chat to Shane Meadows about his new film 'This is England'...

Shane Meadows has always classed himself as a regional filmmaker. Even before his 1997 feature debut, Twentyfour Seven, when he was making short films like Small Time and Where’s The Money, Ronnie? Meadows set about establishing his filmmaking playground as the East Midlands area where he grew up. Following Twentyfour Seven with A Room for Romeo Brass in 1999 and his “tinned Spaghetti western” Once Upon a Time in the Midlands three years later, Meadows swiftly became recognised as one of the most distinct British voices working in cinema.

After his 2004 revenge drama Dead Man’s Shoes, Meadows returns with his boldest film yet, This is England. Already the winner of the Best British Independent Film at the BIFA awards, this 1983-set tale of one boy’s induction into a gang of skinheads is anything but a nostalgia trip. Seen through the eyes of 11 year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), whose own father has been killed in the Falklands conflict, This is England is a poignant state-of-the-nation address that shows Meadows at his most mature. Below, he talks about how he drew from his own experiences for the film...             

Win a weekend at The Abbey Court Hotel...

Chess in bed, we hear you cry! Well you can certainly make good use of all facilities if you win this great competition of a weekend in The Abbey Court Hotel - a glorious luxury business hotel in Central London.

Standing proud as an elegant five storey detached Townhouse Hotel, Abbey Court was originally built in 1830, at the height of the grand Victorian era. Now one of London's most charming hotels, it's been  restored to the highest standards for today's discerning international business and leisure clientele. It's a pretty good place for just chilling out too, being just a minute's walk to the Central line on the tube. When you stay at the Abbey Court, London is literally on your doorstep!

You'll love the luxurious comfort that comes with every stay,

Lounge in one of the 22 bedrooms, each individually designed with comfy beds, (anyone for a bounce?), ranging from brass to Four Poster, each with an ensuite newly renovated Italian Marble bathroom with Jacuzzi bath.  Make good use of the 24 hour high speed Internet connection, enjoy a wonderful breakfast and sooth away your stresses in your own Jacuzzi bath. There's even a sunny Conservatory for you to enjoy the warmth of this lovely English spring.

Enter to win a weekend at the Abbey Court Hotel by e mailing us here.

Sorry, this competition has now closed.

NOTE: Comments on this blog will not be counted as competition entries

fun with Holland House on Saturday...

It's all going on down on the South Bank this Saturday (28th April), as Holland House celebrates the Dutch national day. Enjoy a fun day to remember for all the family with no entrance fee and find a host of exciting activities and entertainment for you to enjoy from 11am till 10pm. It's fun for all the family and there's no pre-booking required.

The Holland House Event will start at 11am on Saturday 28 April 2007. All day long there will be tons of activities for all the family such as a Dutch Market, Silent Disco, a kid’s corner, live music and delicious Dutch food and drinks. See lastminute.com there, too. From 10 pm onwards there will also be famous Dutch DJs playing at Club Holland (the seOne club) in London Bridge.

COMPETITION:

lastminute.com have teamed up with Holland House to offer you the chance to win a 3* city break to Amsterdam for 2 nights and the chance to meet top Dutch DJ Don Diablo at the up coming Club Holland event at SeOne this Saturday night.

Send us your mobile phone number - you might just get a lastminute.com surprise call.

Even if you do not win you can still take part in all the fun at the Holland House Event on the 28 April at Bernie Spain Gardens, adjacent to Oxo Tower Wharf, Southbank, London from 11.00am - 10.00pm and then party all night at Club Holland (seOne - Weston Street) from 10.00pm - 4.30am.

Click here to enter and don't forget to send your phone number!

Sorry, this competition has now closed.

Win This is England goodies & a weekend in a lovely cottage...

This is England hits cinemas this Friday (27th April) and it's already got the critics' tongues a-wagging. The film by Shane Meadows won Best  British Independent Film and the Most Promising Newcomer Award (Thomas  Turgoose) at the British Independent Film Awards. This follows on from the Jury Prize awarded at the Rome Festival and Mark Herbert’s Dunhill award at the London Film Festival.

WIN WIN WIN
We're teaming up with the movie This is England to  offer one lucky couple a top weekend in a positively English cottage, plus 5 runners up prizes of Dead Mans Shoes on DVD (another Shane Meadows film) and 5 movie posters. To enter the competition email us with the subject line ENGLAND and your name and address. Sorry, this competition is now closed.

This Is England, is the story of a summertime school holiday - we remember them so well!  Those long weeks between terms where life changing events can take place. It’s 1983  and school is out. 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is an isolated lad growing up in a grim coastal town, whose father has died fighting in the Falklands war. Over the course of the summer holiday he finds fresh male role  models when those in the local skinhead scene take him in. With his new  friends Shaun discovers a world of parties, first love and the joys of Dr  Martin boots. Here he meets Combo (Stephen Graham), an older, racist skinhead  who has recently got out of prison. As Combo’s gang harass the local ethnic  minorities, the course is set for a rite of passage that will hurl Shaun from innocence to experience.

The  ensemble cast includes newcomer Thomas Turgoose playing the role of  Shaun, Stephen Graham (Gangs of New York), Jo Hartley  (Dead Man’s Shoes), Joe Gilgun (‘Emmerdale’), Andrew  Shim (A Room for Romeo Brass, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands) and  Vicky McClure (A Room for Romeo Brass).

Check out the film's official website and book your VUE cinema tickets here 

Release date: 27 April 2007 /  Running time: 100mins / Cert: 18

Pssssssst. There are thousands of cottages for you to choose from and it's not too late to get away this weekend! Late bookers need to call us on 0870 197 1602, or search for cottages here