21st - 23rd march 2008

Love wine and want to learn about wine, the nectar of the gods? Well here's a divine opportunity.

We have put together a weekend immersion course in learning about wine to bring you up to speed and allow you to achieve a recognised wine qualification. It's not all hard work though; you'll also be enjoying two nights of legendary Seattle hospitality in the style hotel of Brighton.

We have teamed up with our friends at The Wine Wise Company to offer a jam-packed wine weekend full of learning from highly qualified tutors. At the end of the course, you will achieve a world wide recognised qualification in wine:
Wine & Spirit Education Trust
Foundation Course in Wine

No previous knowledge is necessary as our tutors will guide you gently through the maze and give you a structured understanding of:
wine styles and Champagne
how to choose and match wine
how to look after your wine

Let the weekend begin...

Friday

Arrive to a warm Hotel Seattle welcome (plenty of free parking), settle into your stylish surroundings and relax in the comforting knowledge that the whole weekend is taken care of.

8pm Welcome reception, followed by an informal session on the art of wine tasting (using the WSET systematic approach) and then a delicious buffet supper.

Saturday

Morning
After a hearty breakfast, your Foundation Course in Wine begins.
Using the WSET approach to wine tasting, you will produce simple tasting records.
Learn how to describe the main styles of wine available.
Develop a basic understanding of the factors that determine the main styles of wines.
Buffet Lunch (with soft drinks)

Afternoon
2pm start.
Understand the procedures Sommeliers and Wine Merchants use for the receipt, storage and sale of wine.
Learn the correct temperatures to serve wine, the equipment and glassware used for each style of wine.
Understand how to provide basic food and wine matching advice.
Learn the guidelines for selecting wine in shops and restaurants.

Evening
Gourmet four course dinner.
It's time to sit back, relax and let Chef and the Crew impress you with our passion for excellent food in this fabulous, four-course celebratory gourmet dinner. Accompanying wines will be from our hand-picked wine list. During dinner, you'll enjoy talking through the events of the day with fellow guests, and partners not on the course will have the chance to hear what it's all about.
After dinner, you'll be treated to our Guest Speaker who will wax lyrical on Italian wines.

Sunday Morning

Guests will assemble at 10am for an extensive talk about, and tasting of, Champagne and sparkling wine. Why are we so attracted to those bubbles?
Then you'll be brushing up on WSET with a review and quiz to get the mind in order before taking the Foundation Course multiple choice exam. Your Certificate will follow.
With all the hard work behind you, join us in the restaurant for Sunday Lunch.
You might then like to relax in the lounge before you wend your way home.

From £545.00 for two people sharing a room
Both attending the Wine Course in a sea view Double Room

Link: seattle@aliashotels.com

Hotel Seattle certainly qualifies as a trend-setting, family breaks hotel in Brighton. The warmth of the welcome extended to families is well-known and, of course, the hotel is perfectly placed for exploring the delights of Brighton and the beautiful Sussex coast. There's also plenty of free parking.

As you arrive at Reception, your family break in Brighton begins with a Welcome Pack, including the Knapsack Guide to Brighton, the essential guide for streetwise kids!

For those families not wanting to venture too far, we have activity bags (by age) and DVDs to borrow from Reception. The more adventurous family might prefer to take a trip out with a crabbing net and bag. In fact, the beach and the marina alone are an adventure.

When it comes to eating, we are as passionate about children's food as we are about food for the discerning foodie. The Club Paradiso menu ensures that children have all their favourite meals made with fresh, local ingredients. We also have half portions from the a la carte menu for slightly older, perhaps a little more adventurous, children.

If Mum and Dad would like to take a little time out, we offer the use of Babytel, the baby listening service through your mobile. Then you can enjoy a 'Mediterranean evening' in Cafe Paradiso or recapture a youthful moment with a cocktail in the award-winning Black & White bar whilst watching the sun sinking over the distant horizon and listening to the halyards gently tapping the masts of the yachts below you. Such blissful pleasure.

There's no need to load up the car for your family break in Brighton. We offer complimentary use of cots, zed-beds, blankets, bottle sterilisers, baby listening (Babytel, via your mobile), DVDs for the kids and the adults, as well as a range of games and activity bags to keep you all entertained.

as featured on www.greatlittleadventures.co.uk

£149.00 per room per night
including: King room accommodation (maximum 2 adults and 2 children per room)
Full English breakfast
£30 dinner allowance in Cafe Paradiso.

(Available Sunday - Thursday during the school holidays until January 4th 2008
Children aged 12 and under stay free when sharing with their parents.)
Offer is subject to availability and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Link: seattle@aliashotels.com

Alias Hotels are award-winning, affordable, "funkier than average" hotels. The individually styled rooms with sumptuous beds, monsoon showers and 20th century art provide the ideal retreat. Our buzzy Mediterranean restaurants present imaginative cuisine in each hotel, whilst in our late night cocktail bars, you have the opportunity to see or be seen.

Alias The Weekend is a two night break in any one of the three Alias Hotels:
Hotel Seattle in Brighton
Hotel Kandinsky in Cheltenham
Hotel Barcelona in Exeter

Alias The Weekend includes:
2 nights slumber for 2 people in individually designed rooms
continental breakfast each morning
£40 to spend in our buzzy Cafe Paradiso restaurant
entrance to one of our late night cocktail bars - at Hotel Seattle it's the Black & White bar.

Link: seattle@aliashotels.com