USA holidays

New research suggests that British travellers are forgoing their beloved summer hotspots like Greece and Spain in favour of more far-flung destinations like Thailand

According to new research, some key non-European destinations have enticed Brits away from their typical hotspots this summer.

While Italy, Spain and Greece continue to deal with the repercussions of over-tourism, British travellers are casting their holiday sight further abroad. Virgin Media O2 data suggests that visitors to Spain have dropped by about 9% year-on-year, with anti-tourism protests potentially giving British holidaymakers pause.

Visits to Greece and Portugal are also down by 7% and 5% respectively, the data suggests. Destinations like Thailand, Canada and the US are on British travel radars this year.

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Visits to France were even eclipsed by those of the US this summer, which brought in 17% of British travellers compared to France’s 14%. Canada now accounts for 9% of trips from the UK and the United Arab Emirates has enjoyed 8% of the British tourist allocation.

Thailand and Australia both earned 5% of visitors, which may have to do with The White Lotus effect. In fact, the TV series drove so much tourism to Thailand that it threatened to bury one of the paradise islands.

The exceptionally hot weather in the UK this summer could have also influenced why Brits didn’t feel the need to storm their sunny EU holiday destinations.

When it comes to last-minute getaways however, the data shows that convenience is still a top priority for British holidaymakers. Resorts that are a short-haul flight away still saw the biggest influx of travellers. Almost 38% of Brits will take late breaks to Spain while Greece will see 25% and Italy 23%.

Christian Hindennach, chief commercial officer at Virgin Media O2 said of the latest research: “As Brits explore new holiday spots beyond Europe, we’re proud to keep them connected wherever they may roam.

He continues: “From last-minute trips to far-flung adventures, we’re committed to keeping our customers connected without the worry of hidden fees, so they can focus on enjoying their time away.”

That said, months of active overtourism demonstrations across Spain in particular has been bad news for tourism revenue in some parts of the country.

A once busy Spanish city is now “dead” as Brits have reportedly abandoned the destination for other holiday spots.. Footage has surfaced online showing the area’s completely deserted streets.

Laura, who goes by lauratravelvlogs on TikTok, has been chronicling some stark changes in Barcelona this year, having resided there herself for over two years. She noted a significant drop in visitor numbers and, for months, she’s been posting videos of Spain’s vacant streets, silent roads and empty beaches to illustrate the drastic shift in the country’s tourism landscape.

In a recent video featuring eerily quiet roads, Laura questioned: “Sorry, no one can argue that these roads leading up to the beach were not packed in 2023?”

This Lower East Side hotel is not only in the centre of one of the city’s most eclectic boroughs, but is home to a live music venue, a rooftop bar, and an underground nightclub.

They say New York is the city that never sleeps, and this downtown hotel proves that. I stayed at the Moxy Lower East Side hotel, a haven for eclectic travellers looking to ditch high-brow Manhattan for a taste of the urban boroughs.

Located on Bowery, the Moxy is in the centre of the Lower East Side, with SoHo and Chinatown within walking distance. However, the true draw of the area is its lively atmosphere, with crowds filling the streets in the evenings as they sit outside bars, restaurants, and music venues.

Graffiti-filled corners and event spaces pack the area, which is the birthplace of American punk rock and new wave music. Paying homage to this, the Moxy Lower East Side has so many venues that you don’t need to leave to experience some of the borough’s rich culture.

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“That’s where I go if I want a real night out with my wife,” a local tells me. “First, hitting the rooftop for a pre-drink, then dinner, before catching some live music, and then, if I’m up for it, I’ll go down to the club for a dance.”

It’s almost hard to believe all of that can be done in what’s known as Marriott’s budget-brand Moxy. But lo and behold, as you walk into the modern hotel, there is a piano lounge to the left. Silver Lining Lounge offers nightly acts, including bands, resident performers, and jazz acts in its soundproof location – where hotel guests have first dibs at reservations. BRIT Award winner Lola Young also performed at the venue earlier this year in what was her first NYC showcase, while chart topper Benson Boone has also graced the boards.

With a large stage at the front of the room, the venue – owned by Tao Group hospitality – has table service and offers specialty cocktails alongside light bites such as tacos, fries and oysters.

Across the lobby is The Fix, which is your typical hotel bar filled with families, professionals catching up on work, and friends grabbing drinks. When it hits 9pm, a DJ arrives to lift the mood of the lobby, meaning you get a lively entrance if you’ve got a late check-in time.

Because of its location and modern design, the hotel is a hotspot for Instagram events – something which is in full swing on the Friday night I’m staying. “We’ve got a pop-up jewellery making class for influencers going on,” the hotel manager tells me as we slide past glamorous social media stars on the way to the lifts.

On the top floor of the 303-room hotel is the Highlight Room rooftop bar, which is bustling as I head up for a drink around sunset. With a DJ booth in the corner, indoor and outdoor seating, and an atmosphere that screams glamorous New York City, this is clearly a popular gem for locals looking to let loose after a busy week.

While the hotel doesn’t have a typical restaurant to grab some buffet food, it does have a high-brow modern Japanese eatery, which is well-known in the area and popular amongst celebrities. From sushi platters to wagyu beef and crown melon, Sake No Hana is truly a dining experience and rivals famous friend Nobu, which is just a 30-minute walk away.

Just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be any more nightlife under one roof, I was taken down to the Moxy’s subterranean nightclub, Loosie’s. The small venue is decked out with VIP booths and a sizable dancefloor, meaning visitors can party until 4 am and not have too far to go back to their rooms.

The Highlight Room, Loosie’s, and Silver Lining lounge all have separate entrances from the main hotel, meaning they’re not just for guests to enjoy. In fact, most of the guests inside the Moxy venues were locals taking in the music, food, and cocktails.

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Moxy Lower East Side has rates from $179 (£133) per night. Book at moxylowereastside.com

Can you really visit one of New York’s most upmarket borough’s on a budget? I visited this wallet-friendly hotel and felt like I was staying in a boutique haven.

When I arrived in upmarket New York City neighbourhood Chelsea to see the sprawling streets of flower markets, trendy art galleries and Madison Square Garden in eyeshot, I had a feeling this trip wasn’t going to be kind on my wallet.

But the hidden gem hotel I stayed in showed me that you don’t always have to choose between luxury and sticking to a budget. Nestled between the string of flower stalls gracing 28th St, the Moxy Chelsea hotel blends in almost too well—with greenery surrounding the entrance and a structure to match its neighbours. You would be forgiven for missing it despite its towering 35-floor height.

With rates from $189 (£141) per night, the four-star Moxy Chelsea – one of the brand’s five hotels across the city – sits right in the competitive price point for the city, which has an average of $300 per night for a hotel stay.

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The hotel doesn’t pretend to have all the bells and whistles, with a modern check-in area replacing a typical hotel lobby and a grab-and-go style café, Café d’Avignon, serving breakfast rather than a kitchen serving up full American fry-ups. However, guests do get a $25 voucher to spend at the café, which will get you a cappuccino or one of their fresh baked goods. The almond croissant and banana bread were personal favourites.

With a contemporary design and gorgeous interiors across the building, it was easy to forget I wasn’t in a luxury hotel, with a boutique feel throughout.

Stepping into our King View room certainly felt luxurious, with floor-to-ceiling windows allowing me to have a full view of Manhattan’s skyscrapers from the bed. New York isn’t known for its large hotel rooms, and the Moxy doubles down on this with more compact rooms than you’d usually find on holiday.

But what it lacks in size, the room makes up for in detail without feeling cramped. The rooms have a deconstructed bathroom design, which means the sink—doubling as a vanity—is in the main room, while the shower and toilet are side by side and separated by sliding doors.

Mitchell Hochberg, the architect who designed the hotel, told me that he refused to go budget on the small details. “The things we didn’t scrimp on were the shower, which we made sure was high pressure and good quality, and the beds. The bedding is the same quality used in the Ritz-Carlton,” he said.

With plenty of vibrant touches, such as a vintage telephone that tells bedtime stories and bottle openers attached to the doors, I doubt you’d find that at the Ritz.

While they offer comfort and hard-to-beat views, the hotel rooms aren’t somewhere you’d entertain and serve as more of a crash pad in the city. But the rest of the hotel has plenty going on to make sure you don’t need to leave.

I visited at the end of July, which meant the hotel was bustling with guests and summertime activities. With constant events such as drag bingo, paint and sip nights, pizza parties, and DJ performances, Moxy Chelsea has enough going on to keep you busy every night.

One thing I noticed while walking around the hotel was its popularity with locals, who pop in and out to use the several on-site bars. I headed up to The Fleur Room, Moxy Chelsea’s 360-rooftop, to find plenty of New Yorkers enjoying after-work drinks and cocktails. All with the Empire State Building in eyeshot.

Despite the hotel’s low price point, you can experience a touch of luxury at The Fleur Room, which offers upmarket cocktails, champagne, and well-known wines such as Whispering Angel. The venue, which has a separate entrance to the main hotel for non-guests, has even served the NFL and A-list guests for events.

Then there’s the first-floor bar, which doubles as a work-from-home space for nearby residents to come and work from, with meeting rooms and plug sockets all around the relaxed bar area.

After arriving at the hotel, I decided to take in my surroundings with a walk around the block, and was surprised to stumble across Madison Square Garden and foodie haven Chelsea Market less than 10 minutes after leaving, with Times Square less than 20 minutes away.

My jet lag meant that I was heading to the nearby Starbucks at 5am every morning, which turned into a positive as I managed to catch the flower wholesalers unpacking for the day on my doorstep. They transformed the whole street into a carpet of gorgeous blooms.

My stay at Moxy Chelsea left me with a newfound love for the borough and the realisation that you don’t need to spend your life savings to have a taste of the high life in the city that never sleeps.

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Moxy Chelsea room rates start at $189 (£141) per night. Book at moxychelsea.com

When Laura Hill told people she was going on a vineyard tour in Washington State, they were surprised — that’s because Washingtonians are keeping their exquisite wines a secret.

When most people think of a wine road trip in the US, they think of California. So when I told people I was going on a vineyard tour in Washington State, they were surprised, with many telling me they “didn’t know they made wine that far north”.

Neither did I, so I packed waterproofs and jumpers for my flight to Seattle expecting typical Pacific Northwest Coast rainy weather. I was pleasantly surprised a few days later to find myself sitting on a sunny terrace overlooking acres of vineyards, with temperatures in the high 20s in mid-October.

Far from being “too far north”, much of Washington State’s wine country is on a latitude of 46 degrees north – similar to regions including Burgundy and Bordeaux, boasted my tour guide. And with an extra two hours of sunlight per day than California on average, the region has perfect conditions. So why is Washington wine not better known worldwide? The answer is partly because Washingtonians are keeping it to themselves.

“Around 75% of wine made here is consumed within the state itself,” Adam Acampora of Woodinville Wines explained. That and the fact many wineries are small, with most making 5,000 cases per year or less.

So for the time being, it seems the best way to sample the wines of this well-kept secret region is to travel there and take a road trip.

It would be criminal to head to Washington and skip over Seattle so my first stop was the famous Space Needle. The 1961 monument is still the city’s tallest building. On a clear day it’s possible to see the surrounding lakes and mountain ranges from the viewing platform. After a pit stop at the Pike Place Market – renowned for fish being thrown to customers – it was time to hit the road in search of Washington’s wine.

The first “wine town” I visited was Woodinville itself, just half an hour from downtown Seattle. It is far from the vineyards, but it’s home to 130 wineries in four “wine districts” with various tasting rooms, restaurants and bars.

The map of the area reminded me of a theme-park guide with a “Downtown” and a “Hollywood District” to explore.

Before I hit the tasting rooms, a huge roaring fire and a complimentary glass of red wine was awaiting me as I checked into Willows Lodge, a boutique hotel, which leans into the cosy woodland lodge style with reclaimed wood furniture and fireplaces.

Rooms overlook tree-lined grounds giving the illusion of a countryside escape, but just on the other side of the car park were warehouse-like buildings housing wineries.

Inside one of the nondescript industrial buildings was Sparkman Cellars, a family-run winery where I tried a variety of reds in the modern tasting room. I quickly realised red is the tipple of choice here in Washington and most of the tastings included three reds with just one rose, white or sparkling.

My usual wine order is a dry white, so I was apprehensive. But I’m pleased to report there were plenty of “white-wine drinker’s reds” – aka light and fruity wines on offer –alongside the punchy, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignons the area is best known for. Many of Woodinville’s wineries are within walking distance from each other, so across the road is the oldest winery in Washington, Chateau Ste. Michelle which dates back to 1912. If Woodinville is a wine theme park, this is Cinderella’s Castle with a huge chateau-style building surrounded by gardens.

After a day of tasting the end product, it was time to hit the road (with a designated driver) and head east to the vineyards.

In just a two-hour journey from Seattle, the landscape changed from moody, Twilight-style forests to almost desert-like on the other side of the Cascade mountains. The area had a slight Wild West vibe with fruit stands and quaint clapboard farm shops to stop off at along the route for a true all-American road-trip experience. Despite the Wild West appearances, the vineyards I visited on the first stop, Yakima, were 100% Pacific Northwest in laid-back style. I joined a Harvest tour visiting three – Dineen Vineyards, Two Mountain Winery and VanArnam Vineyards – to see how the wine was made and was soon stomping grapes with my feet and tasting wine straight from the barrel.

“There’s no right or wrong, it’s about people having a good time,” said Branden Seymour, the new owner of VanArmen Vineyards as he clambered to the top of a stack of barrels to allow us to sample last year’s vintage unblended.

A short hike through the scenic Cowiche Canyon freshened me up before a two-hour drive east to Walla Walla, a college town near the Oregon border. The cute Main Street was home to half a dozen wine-tasting rooms, boutique bakeries and upmarket restaurants including the Salted Mill where American classics like mac and cheese and burgers are paired with local wines. I stayed at the historic Marcus Whitman hotel, proclaimed to be ‘‘the grandest hotel for at least 150 miles”. Sticking with the theme park idea, I’ll admit the 1928 13-storey property reminded me slightly of Disney’s Tower of Terror.

But newly-renovated chic interiors put a stop to that. This elegant style continued at the nearby vineyards, which I explored on an e-bike with Kickstand Tours (from £132). I enjoyed the driest white wine of the whole trip in the Ibizan-inspired tasting room at Grosgrain Vineyards, before heading to neighbouring Valdemar Estates. The ultra-modern winery was opened in 2019 by a Spanish family who have had vineyards in Rioja for more than 130 years, giving the region a European stamp of approval. Overall I found this wine tasting road trip more relaxed than any previous tours.

Combining a tipple or two with a city stop and a road trip filled with all-American icons means even people who don’t love wine would have a great time exploring the US’s lesser-known vineyard region.

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