Top 10 Valentine’s breaks

Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith have sifted through the schmaltz to find Valentine’s packages that will really set hearts aflutter (and won’t involve soggy petals clogging the plughole). Here are 10 hot properties that offer something a little bit different…

A day in… Dundee

Dundee is transforming its waterfront, to draw visitors in. Adrian looks at what there is for the short break tripper

Trading Standards

From the website:

“The Trading Standards Institute is a not-for-profit professional body formed in 1881. We have members in the public and private sectors in the UK and abroad.

TSI encourages honest enterprise and business and helps safeguard the economic, environmental, health and social well-being of consumers.”

A Day in…Dublin: Part 2 – What To Do

So you’ve got there, seen the shops, found somewhere to eat, what do you do now? Start at an old church. St Andrews in Suffolk Street because this is where the main tourist office can be found (There is a small one in O’Connell Street opposite Dr Quirkey’s.). Not only has it an avalanche of information about attractions, accommodation and tours throughout Ireland but upstairs is a quiet café where you can catch a cup of tea whilst you go through the brochures and decide where to go. As ever it depends on your interests but one thing I would spend money on every time is to see the luxurious illuminations in the ninth century Book of Kells which , next year, will have been in Trinity College for 350 years

Three unusual places to stay in London

For those who have been lucky enough to get tickets the London 2012 Olympics, the next challenge for most is going to be finding a place to stay. Richard Hirson from onefinestay has some suggestions

Playing Trains in Your Hotel Room

Whilst the Washington Hotel in Tokyo, might appeal to some people I am not so sure that there may be marriages and families that couldn’t be thoroughly upset if they had to stay in this hotel. Why? Because the Washington has just installed a train set in one of its hotel rooms. You can bring your own engines or hire one from about £8. There is only one room at the moment and it is well booked out, but could this be the start of whole new range of features to entice us to stay in hotels?

By Sea and Land – Glen Coe and Lochaber in Summer 2010

Three women, one dog, a geology hammer and a long weekend

At the end of May I turned 32. No biggie (well, a bigger number than I would am comfortable with!) but, in February, some friends and I thought it would be nice to get away for a few days. May is a good time to visit Glen Coe and, since the Open University Geological Society had organised a couple of days “geologizing” in Glen Coe, that’s where we headed.