It's HPB darling....

I've just come back from a week's holiday in Lanzarote, staying at the HPB Santa Rosa resort, and I thought I would share with you my experience of travelling HPB style. 

Until a few years ago, I'd never heard of a Holiday Property Bond. I'm not a financial expert, and I am not FSA regulated, but this is how it works as I understand it.

You basically invest in a life assurance bond with HPB and this gives you a financial interest in a portfolio of villas, cottages and apartments across Europe. Your investment gives you a certain number of points a year (depending on how much you invest), meaning you can go on holiday as many times a year as you like, until your points run out.

The next year, you get your points back, and you can start holidaying all over again. Some properties cost more points than others, and certain times of the year cost more points than others. But if you invest a good amount of money in your bond initially, and you are clever with when and where you go, you can enjoy lovely holidays a couple of times a year. And, if you want to take your money out, you can, and if you die, the money is gifted to your relatives (jolly!).

The view from our balcony at Santa Rosa in Lanzarote. The HPB terrace is in the foreground.

So, with HPB, you get an alternative to a fixed timeshare. Instead of going to the same place, year on year, you can go to a range of places with a range of accommodation types. In fact, they apparently have over 1,000 properties! The only costs, after your initial investment, are your flights, a small maintenance charge and of course your drinking money! 

And, although it means that you get a fairly cheap holiday, the accommodation certainly is not cheap. To date, I've only been to two and I've been impressed with both.

Before we went to Lanzarote, we looked at the reviews on Trip Advisor of the Santa Rosa resort. Quite a few of them mentioned that the HPB apartment and pool were much nicer than the non HPB accommodation which is situated on the same site. So much so that the phrase of the holiday became "it's not HPB darling" to describe a second rate experience or person.

One of the beaches in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote, a few minutes walk from the HPB site

Our poolside area could not be accessed by the not "HPB darling" people, which made us feel most superior! On the first day, there was a Paella cookery demonstration and we all had Paella and sangria by the pool whilst sneering at the "other" people over the fence! And every now and then, we would pop over to their side, just because we could!

When I booked the room, I was told how many steps there were to my front door, the size of my balcony and also whether I had twin or a double bed. The self catering apartments had every single utensil you could possibly require - more than in my house! There was even a wine cooler, for my El Grifo Malvasia Colleccion wine that I drank while in Lanzarote. Amazing attention to detail, and very HPB.

Oh, and did I mention about the free wifi?

The HPB St Brides property with its sweeping driveway

I've also been to a property near St Davids in Wales called HPB St Brides. We went for a family Christmas and it was lovely to stay in 99 acres of parkland, by a castle which you reached via a long, sweeping driveway, flanked with spectacular views of the sea.

As you can see, I'm a bit of a fan! I've just booked Turunc in Turkey for October, which also looks lovely so I'll let you know how I get on.

Please note. I do not work for HPB and I am not FSA regulated. Therefore, if you are interested to invest in HPB, I would suggest you visit their website or ring them to talk it all through, as I am sure there are a range of exclusions such as minimum investment etc they would have to go through with you: http://www.hpb.co.uk/howitworks/

A welcome change to a traditional curry

I've always loved going for a curry. Traditionally, this has been at the end of a night out, accompanied by several pints of lager with the food temperature as hot as possible!

Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot of time for that sort of curry experience, and sometimes, there is nothing better than a lamb rogan josh and a pint of Cobra. Recently though, I've been introduced to the world of gourmet Indian dining, which is a completely different way of enjoying Indian cuisine.

Chickpeas and baby aubergine curry in Gujarati spices from the menu at Anokaa

I've been to a few of these restaurants near where I live in the South of England. Included among the best is Kuti's Brasserie in Southampton which is on Oxford Street and serves great food with a friendly atmosphere. Hox Brasserie near the train station in Salisbury is excellent. I would recommend the Goan Fish Curry as it is exquisite. And you generally get a free liqueur (fake Baileys) at the end of the meal at Hox, which I would never turn down!

However, for me, there is nowhere like Anokaa on Fisherton Street in Salisbury, and it is probably my favourite restaurant in the area. 

Their strap line is "Style. Sophistication and Sheer Seduction" and Anokaa apparently means "exceptional" in Hindi which may seem a little over the top. But this place holds a special, little, romantic place in my heart, so for me, couldn't be more accurate.  

Soft shell crab - with kumquat chutney, from the Anokaa menu

The restaurant is modern in decor, but in an interesting juxtaposition, the staff all wear traditional clothing. The food is a fusion between Indian flavours and spices, and British classics. So think steak cooked Asian style, or Welsh lamb in a stir fry. And all the food comes beautifully presented, like a piece of artwork on your plate, with an array of saucy chutneys, dips and drizzles. 

Whenever I go, I either have the soft shell crab, or the mixed fish platter for starter. And last time I had the aubergine and chickpea curry which was so beautiful it seemed a shame to eat it, and I would also recommend the char grilled halibut with tomato and shrimp broth served with curry leaf quinoa. 

Often you think beer is more suited to a hot curry, but I think a good red can go really well. There is a wide selection of wines at Anokaa and this time we had a lovely bottle of MAN Vinters Pinotage from the Stellenbosch region. I promise myself that I will only have one bottle, but I always end up having another and they never rush you though your meal so you can sit back and slurp away.

MAN Vinters Pinotage, enjoyed at Anokaa

One restaurant that I thought was very disappointing was the Coriander Lounge in Southampton. I'd been recommended to eat there by several people and was looking forward to going. However, despite making a reservation, we had to queue to be seated, and there was no area for waiting in, so we were literally had to stand in a line by the door. When we were finally shown to our table, we were asked what we wanted to drink before we even opened the menu. This set the precedent for the rest of the meal, where we were rushed through service, which offered a thoroughly uncomfortable dining experience.

Having said that, I must concede that the food was delicious. I enjoyed the Tandoori Mackerel and my friend had the coriander monkfish which was also exceptional. Just sort out the service.... please! 

CFTFF7ECA5GU