What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 13 October 2014

Welcome to another week at Cloud 9 Towers, this week's blog is for all of you chocolate lovers out there, including a Cloud 9 team member (Shannon)

We all know that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but chocolate must come a very close second! With National Chocolate Week this week, making it compulsory (well in Shannon's mind anyway!) to munch your way through as much chocolate as possible without the guilt, this surely is the greatest week of the year.

Chocolate Week, the nation's favourite themed week, returns for a tenth consecutive year, celebrating the world of fine chocolate. This week culminates with the Chocolate Show London at Olympia West from 17 to 19 October, bringing the best of the industry together all under one roof. 

Hundreds of events are expected in this Chocolate Week around the UK, with the country's top chocolatiers and chocolate companies, as well as hotels, bars and restaurants celebrating by hosting talks, tastings, demonstrations and sampling, as well as creating exclusive products, new launches, offers, chocolate meals, cocktails and recipes using some of the best chocolate brands from around the world.

Chocolate Week aims to promote fine flavour chocolate, the independent artisan choclatiers and the chocolate companies who work in direct partnership with cocoa farmers, encouraging consumers to pay a fairer price for their chocolate. 

Whether you adore milk, dark, white or even something a little more creative, we have just the places you need to check out when travelling (or just for fun!).

The Chocolate Boutique Hotel, Bournemouth

This has to be the ultimate chocolate lover's hotel. IT has 13 chocolate-themed rooms and you can even order a chocolate fountain to be there waiting for you. In a Grade II-listed building, the hotel offers free chocolates, chocolate-themed packages and workshops hosted by chocolatiers. Learn how to create the perfect Belgian truffles, try a delicious 'Choctail' at the hotel bar or even immortalise yourself in milk, white and dark chocolate in the chocolate portrait painting class. Their story began back in 2004, when the Wilton family were inspired to set up a chocolate business after seeing the first cascading chocolate fountain. They quickly snapped up the second and Chocolate Delight was soon hiring out fountains for film premieres and celebrity weddings, including Peter Andre and Katie Price's. 

In 2006, the Wilton family saw an opportunity to expand and bought a beautiful but outdated 19 century grade II listed hotel. By Christmas 2007, restoration was complete and the world's first chocolate themed hotel was born. 


Three Ways House Hotel, Cotswolds 

Home of The Pudding Club, the Three Ways has a Chocolate Suite equipped with Faith in Nature products - chocolate shower gel and chocolate soap. The bedroom also comes with free bars of Divine Chocolate and the bed cushions are shaped like chocolates! The hotel runs Divine Chocolate Indulgence breaks and Chocolate lunches and demonstrations every month. 


Boucan by Hotel Chocolat, St Lucia

You've seen the shops and the boxes of chocs, now see the hotel. Boucan by Hotel Chocolat is high among the St Lucia rain forest and cocoa groves of the Caribbeans island's oldest plantation Rabot Estate, above. You can walk the cocoa trails before tasting the chocolate in sweet and savoury dishes - including a nine-stage tasting plate from roasted beans to exquisite truffles, caramels and a chilled shot of liquid chocolate - or enjoy choccie-themed treatments in the Cocoa Juvenate Spa. 


The Chocolate Room, Alton Towers

All aboard to embark on a journey of discovery in the travel-inspired The Chocolate Room at Alton Towers. This room is decorated as a railway cabin, complete with sound effect and of course endless supply of hidden chocolates! Sleeping up to six, a stay in the Chocolate Room will keep the family entertained even after the kids leave the rides behind, with activity packs and games. 



The Wensleydale Heifer, Yorkshire

The Chocolate Heaven room is dedicated to lovers of both art and chocolate. Guests are treated to a delicious feast for the mouth and the eyes. Spoiled with homemade cakes, biscuits and unlimited access to popcorn, the unique feature here is the room's very own chocolate masterpiece of the famous Sistine Chapel, adorning the ceiling above the bath. 


Etruscan Chocohotel, Perugia, Italy

As the name suggests, everything about the Etruscan Chocohotel is dedicated to chocolate. Each of the three floors has a different theme: Milk Chocolate, Gianduja Chocolate and Dark Chocolate. The guest rooms are decorated accordingly, with room keys shaped like chocolate bars. In the Chocostore, guests will find the finest products by Construttori di Dolcezze and chocolate-themed gadgets from iChoc. The restaurant's ChocoMenu features everything from cocoa-based appetisers to chocolate desserts, whilst the chocolate breakfast buffet boasts croissants, nutella and a chocolate fondue.

So that's it for this week folks, Sweet Dreams to you all and have a great week!