Nothing melts a heart like Valentines Day chocolates. Whether your sweetheart prefers milk chocolates, dark chocolates, nutty chocolates, or chocolate truffles, these Valentines Day confections send a message of love. And while Valentines Day chocolates may not last long, the loving sentiment and memory of the giver’s thoughtfulness will. Here are Top Ten Online Chocolate Shops with some truly extraordinary products.

Rank #2 – Hotel Chocolat

The Most Popular Online Luxury Chocolate Shop in UK

Warning: Reading this review will make you hungry!

Chocolate. It is one of life’s little luxuries and a necessity to treat yourself if life is going well or as a comfort if everything is going wrong. I do not know about you but I am a bit of a chocolate snob. Cadburys is OK for an everyday chocolate fix but I do like something better, something richer and more flavourful. Beforehand I would rely on Thorntons but I have found a shop called Hotel Chocolat who really know their chocolate.

Hotel Chocolat are the driving force behind the highly successful Chocolate Tasting Club, the service where you get a box of delicacies and sometimes unusual chocolate. They have had a mail order business for a while now but in 2004 they set out to fond a chain of retail outlets. They presently have 22 outlets mostly in the Midland and south of England. Their stores either seem to be in posh places such as Kensington and Knightsbridge or touristy places such as Canterbury as well as being in big shopping malls such as Bluewater. One great thing about Hotel Chocolat is that all the chocolate they use is Fairtrade.

I visited the Canterbury branch on a weekend visit to that lovely city. I was curious about the shop and was also on a mission to get a gift for my sister who love good quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage.

My first impressions of the shop was very good. It seemed larger than most Thorntons shops with a much larger range of goodies. It was different to Thorntons and other little chocolate shops as there were no glass cases with individual chocolates sitting there shouting eat me eat me. This could be perhaps a downside as you could not get your own selection of chocolates or just get a chocolate or two. Instead it was quite a logical layout with similar types of chocolate or similar themed merchandise grouped together on medium high shelves round the outside of the shop and free standing in the centre. It had a nice atmosphere. Luxurious without being snobby. You did not feel intimidated or you had no right to be in the shop unlike some smaller exclusive chocolate shops.

I wandered around and was in heaven. The selection of merchandise is wonderful. There really is something for everyone of all ages and all budgets (unless you are really skint and tight. I that is the case go to Woolworths) as long as you love the brown creamy stuff. Working my way around the store looking for that gift I had to make a big decision as I could have easily bought half the store. In one corner there were bags full of real hot chocolate. These were located next to the purist range of chocolates. These are bars of chocolate with high cocoa percentages. There is even one with 100 % cocoa for those who love a real chocolate hit. Next to the dark stuff were boxes of chocolate batons for about 36. I was deliberating about getting the dark version of this as I knew my sister really liked the dark batons when she tried one form my Chocolate teasing box of chocolates. There were also raisins and other fruit soaked in alcohol and covered in rich chocolate. Round the corner were the lovely oval boxes of chocolates each with different selections. These cost £14 and looked superb.

For those who on a tighter budget or just want a little treat there was good selection of slab of chocolate and bags of chocolates containing four or six little treats. These are laid out so you can find the type of chocolate you want and cost £2.50 (or £2 each if you buy three of them). I treated myself to an Ebony and orange dark slab which consisted of 72 % cocoa ( I may share my thoughts on this little treat in another review) I also selected a cookies and cream white chocolate slab for Duskman and a honey and milk chocolate slab for Duskman’s dad as it is his birthday soon. They have larger versions of these slabs for those who find the smaller size is not enough. These giant slabs are about the size of an A4 piece of paper and are bout £10. Round I went inspecting luscious chocolates. They had a nice range of Christmas themed treats including a cute Teddy bear with chocolate and a chocolate Advent Calendar. The Advent Calendar is at £6.25 a lot dearer than your bog standard Advent Calendar but the chocolate is not usually not that nice. I would really love having a Hotel Chocolat one and they should do a grown up one with really nice little surprises. I would pay up to about £10 for one.

There were some really nice gift sets which would make a nice present. One in particular was a dipping set with marshmallows and different pots of chocolate. This would make a wonderful little engagement or birthday present for the foodie in your life. Hotel Chocolat has a range of chocolate theme books and even a chocolate scented perfume at £44 for the dieting chcocoholic in your life.

Hotel Chocolat also has a range of diabetic chocolates that I did not really notice and label all vegetarian and vegan (mostly the really dark stuff which does nor have milk in it) very clearly.

I ended up getting my sister a 170 gram box of dark chocolates for a seriously dark chocolate fix which cost me £7.99. |it is an understated box but the chocolates inside look very tempting.

I took my purchases to the cash desk. Although the shop was fairly bust I did not have to queue to get served. The service was polite and friendly. The one downside in a place like this was that they did not offer a wrapping service. I would have quite happily paid a couple of pounds to get my box of chocolates looking that little bit more special. I am surprised they have not identified this service as surely most of their sales will be for gifts.

Final Words of Hotel Chocolat Review

Hotel Chocolat is the place for me when I need an extra special chocolate fix or need a gif for someone special in my life. The selection is large enough really to tempt me. In a way it is too large as I spent half my time deciding what to choose

Advantages: lovely chocolate, wide range, good quality

Disadvantages: no gift wrapping service, not in every town

This Valentine’s Day get the Luxury Chocolate

from Hotel Chocolat.

Chocolate is the voice of passion and love, whether it is the love of chocolate itself or as an expression of love for another human being. Valentine’s Day or Saturday, chocolate is the perfect gift for those we care about or just want to impress. Here are Top Ten Online Chocolate Shops with some truly extraordinary products.

Rank #1 – zChocolat

The Most Perfect Luxury Chocolate Gifts Service

For people who search for pure decadence in everything that chocolate has to offer, discovering zChocolat will be like finding a little piece of heaven. Apparently the French take chocolate making as seriously as they do their wine.

zChocolat have been rated Forbes’s favorite online chocolatier by Forbes Inc since March 2005 and it’s no wonder as their chocolates are hand-made by 4 award-winning French chocolatiers in Pascal Caffet, Fabrice Gillotte, Franck Fresson and Philippe Urraca.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner why not show that special someone in your life just how much you adore them by sending the perfect luxury chocolate gift using their user friendly gift services.

Want to be a secret admirer

zChocolat provides you with the option of shipping your gift without revealing your name. With this service they ensure that the recipient will never know who the gift is from.

Concierge Call will ensure your gift gets delivered on time

Make sure your gift stylishly reaches the intended recipient on Valentine’s Day. A zChocolat Concierge will contact your recipient by telephone on the date YOU specify (including weekends and holidays) to let him/her know that their gift is on its way and when it can be expected to arrive.

The Storyteller tells the entire tale

Finding the perfect gift is the first step. Their Storyteller gift service assures that the recipient understands the exclusive nature of your gift by including a short essay regarding its background and uniqueness.

Your personal diamond engraving

You can adorn all zChocolat boxes with a diamond-engraved brass plate tastefully conveying your personal message of up to 25 characters. A diamond is used to produce an engraving unsurpassed in its precision. The result is compelling and flawless.

Unlock My Heart gift service

Give your gift a personal romantic touch with a heart-shaped padlock which is secured with your own secret combination. In order to access the decadent chocolate inside your special someone must crack the combination you have created.

Finish off your present with a touch of romantic genius by adding this heart shaped padlock with your own personalized combination. The gold colored handle of this elegant locket slides perfectly into a set of eyelets at the top of the cotton draw-string pouch thus securing within it the gourmet chocolate gift of your choice. In order to access the luscious goodness that awaits inside these fabric walls your special someone must crack the three number combination that you have creatively selected.

Luxury hand-made gift wrapping

Hand-made and selected for its elegant texture, zChocolat provide high-quality wrapping paper. Your gift is elegantly finished with a tradtional wax seal and stunning satin ribbon.

Use the custom gift card service

All zChocolat gift boxes are finished with chic, distinctive touches to assure your personal message is delivered with utmost style. Your gift card can deliver messages up to 400 characters and can instantly be customized with preset card themes or with your own images such as photographs, logos, drawings or symbols .This unique service is easy to implement and is complimentary.

Personalize it with a custom box or plate

You can adorn your gift boxes with a diamond engraved plate tastefully conveying your personal message or adorn their Natural and Deluxe Collections with a laser-engraved picture or logo of your choice. While you are on the site you can upload an image to get an idea of what it will look like.

Treat the special person in your life with the crème de la crème of chocolate decadence.

This Valentine’s Day get the ideal gift

sent from zChocolat.

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Cardstore is divided evenly between personal and business cards for many occasions. No electronic cards here: this online greeting card site offers only paper cards that can be customized and sent in the mail by Cardstore.com. You may add a gift card from one of 20 national retailers. With a little planning, you could do all of your gift giving year-round right here. Cardstore.com offers tasteful, elegant and endearing cards that you personalize—mail one at a time, many at a time, with or without a gift card, and always without a membership fee.

What’s New with The Card Store?

• Wedding Store-Invitations, announcements, & place cards.
• Baby Store-Photo cards & gift cards announcing your new arrival.

Favorite Card Store Feature:

My favorite feature was being able to select when the cards will be printed over a year in advance. I was able to sit down at one time and put together all the greeting cards, set the dates, and then walk away. How nice! No worrying if I remembered Aunt Susan’s birthday. We thought this was a great feature since we send cards every year for the same holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. Why not make them up ahead of time to speed up the process when the time comes to have them printed and mailed!

CardStore Review

When you check out the reviews for the online greeting card websites, Card Store is included among the top-ranking sites. You will find the selection of cards that they have particularly charming. If you’re a fan of customization, you will have a blast with the custom photo cards that they offer.

Finally, Card Store can serve as your one-stop gift shop no matter what time of the year it is. All you need to do is select the card – and Card Store will do the addressing, stamping and mailing of the card for you. That’s definitely not a bad alternative to scouring the shopping malls for a $5 gift that you could have otherwise given online.

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