About Me

About The Chic Explorer, hotel and restaurant reviews

I am Cheryl. A travel and restaurant blog with real photos, clear scores, and honest reviews so you can choose well.

About Me

About The Chic Explorer, hotel and restaurant reviews

I am Cheryl. A travel and restaurant blog with real photos, clear scores, and honest reviews so you can choose well.

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Hello, I am Cheryl

Hello, I am Cheryl

The Chic Explorer is a travel and restaurant blog built on real stays and real meals. By day I design websites. By choice I travel. I work wherever there is good Wi Fi and a quiet corner, often in hotel lobbies with a laptop and a grin when the socket is in the right place. Friends kept asking where to stay, where to eat, and who does a roast that makes Sunday feel like a small holiday. This site is my answer, long form, practical, and written after real stays and real meals with my own photos.

The Chic Explorer, travel and restaurant blogger, Cheryl Caption, Honest reviews with real photos and clear scores Filename

What I love, which is what I look for

  • Restaurants where flavour leads and service delivers
  • Hotels that are beautiful, stylish, and genuinely comfortable
  • Sunday roasts that arrive hot, with crisp potatoes and Yorkshire puddings that stand tall
  • Service that is warm, attentive, and unscripted
  • Rooms that work for laptop days, proper desk and chair, natural light, dependable Wi Fi
  • Showers with real pressure and stable temperature

How I travel and test

I travel across the UK and abroad through the year. Some trips are treats, some are practical, all are opportunities to learn what a place does well. I arrive like any guest. I take my own photos. I test the mattress, the shower, and whether the blackout curtains actually block light. I note charging points, and breakfast substance. In restaurants I focus on flavour balance, pacing, portion sense, and bills that feel fair. If a stay or meal is hosted or on a press rate, I disclose it at the top. Partners never edit reviews.

What I always check

  • Sleep, mattress, pillows, real blackout, quiet at night
  • Shower, hot fast water, steady pressure
  • Breakfast, proper options with healthy picks, think avocado toast or fresh fruit that is not sad
  • Service, warm hello, problems solved without scripts
  • Design, good lighting, sockets by the bed and desk
  • Wi Fi, stable for video calls, not lobby only
  • Work friendly, a usable desk and chair
  • Dog friendly, where dogs can actually go
  • Spa, gym, parking, the practical bits that matter

Independence and honesty

This site grows through search rather than social trends. I write for people planning real trips, not for a quick scroll. That is why posts are longer, include FAQs, and link into hubs you can browse. When someone invites a hosted visit, I treat it the same as any other stay. Honest, practical, and written for the reader first.

Work with me

Hotels, restaurants, and tourism boards are welcome to invite a review. Hosted stays and press rates are accepted with full disclosure. I keep editorial control and use my own photography. If your service is great, your rooms are beautiful, the shower behaves, and the Wi Fi holds a call, I am interested, views earn bonus points. Use the contact form to start the conversation.

A few truths I travel by

Good service is quiet confidence. Value is the right price for what you get. Breakfast can rescue a stay. If the potatoes are not crisp, the roast is not ready.