The last few years of careering around the globe have transformed me from the world’s worst packer into a lean, mean travel machine. Well, OK, a slim enough, friendly enough woman powered by chocolate, a list and a desk full of post-it notes.

Ah, London. According to some things I read, there’s nothing but high rise buildings, reams of cement and formulaic, biscuit-cutter hotel rooms, unless you happen to be connected to royalty. Well, step into the immaculate Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where a square patch of grass that’s seen more attention than Kate Middleton’s wardrobe wins the accolade [...]

You know it comes to something when your own computer tells you to slow down (Wordpress, my blogging platform, often thinks I type too fast.) Now it turns out there’s a book that’ll tell you to do the same thing.

Go slow.

A golden sofa waits in the lobby of the Radisson on Mercer Street, its spine forming a glamorous backdrop that cannot be ignored. It’s nearly upstaged by the gilded birdcages and the gold leaf shaggy sheep – but not quite.

This glitzy…

Great for groups with plenty of time and few requirements; not so hot for the rest of us.

From the moment I opened the parcel, I could tell it was going to be special. I’d expected a standard “how to cook book” but instead I discovered a dreamy journey to India, bound between hardback pages adorned with purple and gold. Tasting India by Christine Manfield is clearly a labour of love. With India, [...]

There are hotels. And then there are hotels. Places so imaginative, so extraordinary and so unusual that they stand out as experiences in their own right. The Egerton Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, is one of those hotels…

Like many a hotel in London, a Union Jack flag hangs over the doorway of The Rubens at the Palace, the fabric swaying with all the haste of an oak tree expanding its roots. Unlike many hotels in London…

Picture this: a beach of white sand that curves to clasp the Indian Ocean. Palm trees fluttering at the edges of your vision. The crash and sigh of the waves in the distance. I open my eyes and…

How does a camera fare when you kayak, snorkel, coasteer and more? Here’s how…