Europe repeater

This will be a sort of omnibus opus of several items I have delayed writing about.

• The folks at Pennsylvania Travel, Inc. (15 Maple Ave., Paoli, PA 19301; 877/251-6870), an ITN advertiser, have provided information about hotels overseas and booked them for me for many years. They’re bright, competent and eager to please — plus I have saved hundreds of dollars with them. I don’t have a computer, so they do all the research I require. Their attention to detail is exemplary.

• I have taken seven to 10 trips to Western Europe every year for the past 10 years and have two absolute favorite hotels.

In London, NH Harrington Hall Hotel (5-25 Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, London, SW7 4JW, England; phone 44 20 7396 9696, fax 7396 9090) is about two blocks from the Gloucester Road tube station.

It offers perfect comfort, with large, handsome rooms, excellent service and a generous buffet breakfast. I stayed there Dec. 5-17, 2007, for $3,290 less $196 kickback. This included breakfasts.

In Vienna, the K+K Hotel Maria Theresia (Kirchberggasse 6, 1070 Vienna, Austria; phone 0043 1 521 23, fax 521 23 70) is a 3-minute walk from the Museum Quarter and close to many restaurants. It has big, beautifully furnished rooms and friendly service. Perfect!

I usually spend a week or more in each hotel and book both through Pennsylvania Travel, saving big bucks.

• Through Idyll Untours (Media, PA; 888/868-6871), I have stayed in Paris twice (two blocks from the Eiffel Tower and in the Marais), in Venice twice and in Locarno, Prague and Rome. In each case, the apartment was excellently located, comfortably furnished and well stocked with butter, eggs, wine, etc.

In September ’07, through Untours, I stayed a week in Paris and a week in Rome and, including airfare from Tampa, Florida, paid $4,962.

Untours meets and greets you and transfers you to and from delightful digs. You really live among the locals and savor the true ambience rather than have the usual “plastic” tourist-group experience.

• The British Tourist Authority/Visit Britain in New York (800/462-2748) provides the London Planner, listing all the special events and places and theaters and plays. I have a book of “theater maps” detailing seating plans, and before each of my two trips to London each year I phone the theaters and book my seats before I leave home.

The book is “Harden’s Theatergoer’s Handbook” by Mark Shenton and Roger Foss (2005 — ISBN 9780955140006). I bought it two years ago at a Hatchard bookstore in London for £8, but you can find it these days at WH Smith bookstores.

DAN LEVINE
Tampa, FL