Hotel Du Vin Winchester

History : _________ Many years ago when I was a young under age alcohol drinking teenager living in a small village outside Winchester, Hampshire my friends and I would go to what was then called the `Southgate Hotel` to sneak inside the stale smelling bar to pretend we were 18 and sip martini and cinzanos believing we were the height of chic...................... In 1994 some one had the good heart to transform my illegal drinking den into the first Hotel Du Vin, a hotel built on its reputation of quality and turn it into something so chic, smooth and luxurious that I had to pinch myself the first time I revisited it. This is now ...

Such is my weekend boredom that on any given Saturday or Sunday, I find myself looking through the Travel Supplement of the broadsheet newspaper I have to hand that day, playing the 'Hotel du Vin Challenge'. The idea is simple, just browse through the pages and see how quickly you can spot some mention of the hotel group. You'd be amazed just how little of a challenge it actually is. I don't think I've leafed through the Guardian or Telegraph over the past few months without some mention of this group, ranging from full page reports awash with numerous compliments, fleeting references to the hotel in any report mentioning a city where they happen ...