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Stay The Night: Castaway Cottage, Whitstable

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Castaway Cottage, a terraced house in the heart of Whitstable on the north Kent coast, doesn't exactly grab your immediate attention. But open the door and you are presented with a stylish seaside aesthetic straight out of the pages of The White Company's catalogue.

Stay The Night: The Old Chapel, Stoke Fleming, Devon

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

It takes quite an event to bring our family to church. A wedding or funeral, perhaps. Or, in this case, the conversion of a 19th-century chapel just outside Dartmouth into a high-end holiday rental. It began and continued its life as a United Reformed Church 140 years ago, subsequently serving as a shop, storeroom and boathouse. The chapel was bought in 2009 by the Imlah family, who restored the near-derelict structure to its original elegant form, adding a level of comfort not always associated with places of worship.

24-hour Room Service: Nira Alpina, Silvaplana, Switzerland

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Few places have become as synonymous with affluence as a resort where even the dogs are sometimes seen in fur coats. St Moritz emerged as a sparkling winter playground for rich Brits 150 years ago and still wears its exclusivity on its mink-cuffed sleeve. At many of the resort's five-star palaces, there are as many butlers as guests.

Stay The Night: Maison Blanche & Verte, Portes Du Soleil

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:01 +0000

If your twin passions are skiing and road biking, a chalet in the land of the Tour de France is, perhaps, the acme of mountain huts.

24-hour room service: Sanctuary Zebra Plains, Zambia

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:01 +0000

To get to Zebra Plains, you need to cross the Luangwa River by canoe. But avoid the temptation of dipping your fingers in the cool water – the crocodiles might be hungry. Walk across the sandy riverbank to the canvas-covered lounge with contemporary rattan sofas, hardwood furniture, a library and the bar, and you'll discover the most luxurious of camps. Despite its remoteness in South Luangwa National Park, Zebra Plains combines discreet indulgence with authentic bush atmosphere.

Stay The Night: Ibsens hotel, Copenhagen

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:01 +0000

First impressions of Ibsens Hotel were mixed. After a long train journey, we arrived expecting to find a newly refurbished hotel. However, the façade was still tattered, complete with its name in bawdy red neon lights, recalling the run-down two-star joints you find in the insalubrious areas of any city. Then we were told the hotel was too busy to honour our confirmed booking for adjoining rooms for the children. Were we in the right place?

24-hour room service: Shangri-La Hotel, Paris

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:01 +0000

You can't help but feel a little frisson of excitement as you pass through the tall iron gates and pull up under the beautiful wrought-iron and glass porte-cochère of the Shangri-La in Paris.

Stay The Night: Cala Mia, Panama

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:01 +0000

While Panama's Pacific and Caribbean coasts are starting to crowd up with behemoth resorts – the Sheraton, InterContinental and Trump for starters – happily there is still sanctuary to be found in this most seductive sliver of Central America.

24-hour room service: Ana Mandara Hue, Vietnam

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:00:01 +0000

It was my first morning at the Ana Mandara, and I couldn't see a thing. I stepped gingerly towards the hiss of the South China Sea, first across fat, springy grass and then on to white, hot sand. A heavy morning mist was tumbling in from the ocean thick and fast, obscuring the view to no more than a few metres ahead. The bright sun still managed to infiltrate the fug, illuminating other figures in a surreal scene: a Vietnamese woman in a wedding dress posed for her photographer, while bewildered-looking guests made their own tentative journeys down to the sea.

Stay The Night: The Lancaster, Paris

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:00:01 +0000

Just after Christmas, this most discreet Parisian hotel reopened fully after a lengthy and much-needed refurbishment.

The Big Six: English spa hotels

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Lime Wood, Hampshire

24-hour room service: Zero 1, Montreal

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Dead of winter or height of summer: there always seems to be a festival going on in Montreal. Be it jazz, comedy, snow, fireworks, dragon boats or burlesque, Canada's second-biggest city is dedicated to celebration. And Zero 1, located in the city's Quartier des Spectacles, puts you at the heart of this perpetual party.

The Big Six: Luxury ski hotels

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Altapura, Val Thorens

Stay The Night: Hôtel Americano, New York

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Attaching an enormous steel grille to the front of your hotel might not seem the best way to attract guests. Want to feel like a zoo animal?

The Big Six: Dome hotels

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Ekopod, Cornwall

Stay The Night: Combermere Cottages, Shropshire

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

When Sarah Callander Beckett and her family transformed the derelict 19th-century stables at Combermere Abbey into a complex of cottages in 1994, they laid the foundations for a self-catering business that has become one of the best in Britain.

Stay The Night: Hotel El Palace, Barcelona

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

The Barcelones still call it "The Ritz".

24-hour Room Service: Jolyon's at No 10, Cardiff

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

"You'll notice it gets a little livelier as we pull into Cardiff," a Welsh gentleman said with a chuckle as we hurtled across the River Severn on the train from London Paddington. And so it did, from Cardiff Central station – where the Friday night crowds were gathering – to the bustling bar of Jolyon's at No 10.

The Big Six: Chic Thai retreats

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Ritz-Carlton Phulay Bay, Krabi

Stay The Night: Mandarin Oriental, Japan

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Towering over fashionable Nihonbashi, the Mandarin Oriental rises like a great glass tree. Reception is on the 38th floor and the lifts rush you there ear-poppingly fast.

24-hour Room Service: Mr C Beverly Hills, Los Angeles

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Hospitality has been in the Cipriani family's veins since Giuseppe Cipriani founded the legendary Harry's Bar in Venice in 1931. The family restaurant business today takes in locations in New York, London, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Sardinia and Abu Dhabi – though the Hotel Cipriani in Venice was sold to Orient Express in the 1970s. So when his great-grandsons Ignazio and Maggio announced that they would be expanding to include, once again, a luxury hotel, one would expect traditions to be observed. And so they are. Almost every aspect of Beverly Hills' new Mr C hotel tips its hat to the founding father, while carving out a style of its own.

Stay The Night: Les Barmes de l'Ours

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Les Barmes de l'Ours claims the honour of being Val d'Isère's first five-star hotel under France's new classification scheme. It is also a first for Madame André, an astute businesswoman from Le Lavandou who has diversified into hotels after making a fortune out of trucking.

Bye-Bye to the B&B

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Fusty bed and breakfasts with their loud carpets and louder landlords have remained stubbornly unchanged for decades. And now they could be facing face their final chintzy curtain.

The Big Six: Belgian boutique hotels

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Concept Hotel, Brussels

24-hour Room Service: Gravetye Manor Hotel and Restaurant, Sussex

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

East Grinstead might not sound like the most lyrical of destinations, but there's a very good reason to visit this commuter-belt town, for it is the launching point for Gravetye Manor, a pretty perfect example of a country-house hotel. It's got all the right components – roaring log fires, wood panelling galore and four-poster beds – but with none of the chilly corporate feeling of some chains or the over-chintzification of others.

Stay The Night: El Nido, Lanzarote

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

When Heidi-Maria Wigmore moved to Lanzarote to work as a tour rep, her plan was to gain a little experience on top of her studies before returning home for a lucrative job in business travel.

24-hour Room Service: Ace Hotel, New York City

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Part of a chain that takes in Portland, Seattle and Palm Springs, Manhattan's Ace Hotel has become the place of refuge for globe-trotting hipsters. Its low-fi elegance and self-consciously retro styling strike a chord with a nostalgically minded but forward-thinking clientele, while sparse and grunge-inspired décor chimes perfectly with the up-and-coming feel of the Ace's Midtown location.

The Big Six: Igloo stays

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Sorrisniva Igloo, Norway

24-Hour Room Service: The Dylan, Keizersgracht 384, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Amsterdam isn't a shy and retiring type of city. The neon-lit windows of the red-light district are so in-your-face that you wander by with scarcely a second glance; the omnipresent tang from the coffee shops soon fades into familiarity. Even the elegant 17th-century merchant's houses that line the canals are so numerous that they start to look homogenous; you become blasé about their handsome good looks.

Hotel will offer a four-star service...and student staff

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:00:01 +0000

Guests are promised "an intriguingly different experience presented by hotel professionals and aspiring managers".

Stay The Night: Trout Point Lodge

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:00:01 +0100

Trout Point Lodge sits pretty on the edge of a wilderness preserve that goes by a characteristically unpronounceable First Nations name: "Kejimkujik" – or "keji" as it's locally known.

Stay The Night: Hotel Lone, Istria

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 00:00:42 +0100

Croatian contemporary design? No one visits Croatia for contemporary design.

24-hour room service: The Pig: New Forest, Hampshire

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:00:01 +0100

There was a time when "organic" could be roughly summed up by stodgy bread and unappetising health foods. Now it is more commonly found as a guise for wholesome living and rustic perfection. Never mind the lack of synthetic inputs, we want organic to look as good as it makes us feel. Tom and Barbara Good, meet Jerry and Margot Leadbetter.