
Just Back From: Antigua, My Favourite Luxury Hotels & Experiences
There’s no substitute for experiencing a destination first-hand.
I was delighted to be invited by the Antigua & Barbuda Tourist Board on a luxury educational trip
At Swords Travel Bournemouth, I do things differently. I’m not just here to book your trip, I’m here to design a holiday that’s entirely unique to you. And yes, I often get asked, “Are you away again?” but that’s a good thing! My frequent travels mean I’m constantly discovering the best luxury hotels, hidden gems, and unforgettable experiences to recommend to my clients.
Every journey I create is bespoke, carefully tailored to your personal tastes, interests, and lifestyle. Whether it’s a private island escape in the Maldives, a luxury safari in Africa, a cultural adventure through Asia, or a multi-stop family holiday in Europe, I handle every detail with expert care and creativity. With my trusted relationships across the luxury travel world, I can offer exclusive experiences, personalised touches, and thoughtful recommendations that elevate your trip from start to finish.
This is travel designed around you – effortless, exciting and completely unforgettable.
Welcome to my world of luxury travel. With over 23 years of experience creating bespoke, tailor-made holidays for clients who expect the very best. My expertise is in crafting unforgettable experiences, whether it’s a relaxing beach escape, an adventurous safari or a multi-destination Itinerary.
How do I know? Because I go. There’s no substitute for first-hand experience, which is why I’m constantly on the move, exploring both popular and off-the-beaten track destinations, checking out hotels, and making contacts that allow us to create your perfect trip. Packed with personal highlights, observations and advice, follow my adventures on my blog.

There’s no substitute for experiencing a destination first-hand.
I was delighted to be invited by the Antigua & Barbuda Tourist Board on a luxury educational trip

After years of sending clients, I finally experienced Banff for myself. Spending a week skiing the Big 3, with incredible powder, spectacular scenery and a brilliant après-ski scene.

When most people picture the Maldives, they imagine one dreamy island stay. But on my recent trip,
Want to be first to know about the hottest hotel openings, the most exciting new flight routes and all the freshest experiences to be found around the world? With my global connections and a finger on the pulse of the travel industry, I’ll keep you up to date with all the latest news and trends. Warning – this may inspire wanderlust.
Nitty gritty planning can be arduous.
Online information can be overwhelming. I want to help you.
Don’t spend your precious moments on the detail. Dream and imagine then pass it on to me!
You don’t have to pay more – that’s not how it works.
You don’t have to be booking the holiday of a lifetime – just the journey, accommodation, a package holiday, a tour, an attraction, a transfer – I’ll do them all, some or none!
Added to which it’s a free service. Why ever not?
As a specialist in family holidays but passionate and knowledgeable about all travel, I am waiting for your call, email or message to chat about your next invaluable quality trip.
We have had the pleasure of having Carla organise multiple holidays for us already. Carla is always highly professional, fast with responses and makes sure every detail of the holiday is perfect. Carla always listens to what we want and uses her knowledge and expertise to tailor the holiday so it exceeds our expectations every time. We highly recommend Carla and we will certainly be booking many more holidays via her in the future!
We can’t wait to work with Carla on our honeymoon next year! Absolutely fantastic experience booking with sword travel @Carla – The Luxury Nomad.
We booked a trip by train (as i have a bad back and cant fly) from london to Paris then Italy, Switzerland and back to France. It was a dream and Carla was there for anything we needed.
Booking was easy and she took on board everything that we wanted and made the best holiday possible.
This is the second holiday we have booked with Carla and it wont be the last. I dont think i would book with anyone else. We have used Carla from Swords Travel for years and have been very pleased with the Service. Her knowledge of countries, areas and hotels is great and she always seems to provide just what we are looking for! Highly recommended! Thanks to Carla for all the time and effort you put into booking our last minute trip for us. You sorted exactly what we were looking for when it didn’t seem possible!
Thank you. Carla has arranged long haul holidays for us for a number of years now and we have never been disappointed. She has a good grasp of what kind of holiday would suit our requirements and always recommends great hotels to suit our family holiday goals as the children have grown.
Her customer service is top notch and she has good knowledge and insights of the places we have wanted to explore. Highly recommend if you’re wanting to go and explore far away places with a young family. I can’t recommend Carla from Swords travel enough when looking for your next holiday. She really knows her stuff and was amazing at securing our flights and recommending several hotels for us to choose from in Mauritius. We had a glitch at the airport on a Sunday and she was on the phone and able to help us to get things sorted. It’s when things happen that the value of an independent travel specialist really comes into play. We are already looking forward to our next trip through Carla in October. Carla worked with us to create an itinerary that included all our “must sees”. The accommodation that she found was absolutely stunning. Throughout the whole booking process she made everything clear and easy, and we felt like she was always on hand during our travels should anything crop up. Highly recommend for anyone looking at a bespoke trip. Great service, really personal and friendly. Carla has helped us plan two quite different holidays and she was spot on with both! Looking at our options now for our next trip. We would thoroughly recommend Carla and have passed her details on to a couple of our friends . A friend recommended Carla at Swords Travel Bournemouth to us and she helped us book a couple of cruises which we were really happy with. Her service was great and everything was planned and communicated really well.
We then spoke to Carla about our honeymoon and she blew us away! Her knowledge of the Maldives is excellent and the advice she gave us meant that together we planned the perfect break. Carla really listened to us and built the perfect package, her attention to detail meant we felt safe in her hands and at no point did we feel we were being influenced or sold to.
We would definitely recommend Carla for your travel needs. Carla is absolutely fantastic. She books all our holidays and we cannot fault the service Swords Travel provide. Carla always knows what to suggest and takes our likes, dislikes and needs into account every time. I cannot recommend her enough!
Thank you Carla, looking forward to booking the next trip. Carla is great to work with. Helped with the planning of our trip by making suggestions regarding hotels and excursions that proved to be superb. She was also easily contactable if we had any queries whilst we were away. Now, where next?….
Anna Bristow
Emma Humphries
Updated 13 August 2026
david rickards
Kate Dickie
Sarah Gilchrist
Updated 15 April 2026
Clare O'Neill
Stuart Mills
Nicola French
Lindsay Wilson
Rebecca Davis
PT at PC