View from the Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong

I say the Cosmo is the perfect place to stay in Hong Kong but frankly my dears I’ve never actually stayed anywhere else. Because once I found The Cosmo with its boutique concept, ice-cream sundae colour-pop rooms, super-efficient shuttle service about-town, and 24 hour check-in policy I simply never bothered to look elsewhere.

Golden Banana Alley – named after the first hotel to open on the road

I don’t mean to pry but are you gay or are you straight? And how would you feel about staying in a gay-friendly resort if you’re the latter?

I’m a straight gal, so why have I been feeling completely at home at a self-proclaimed gay hotel? In true Carrie Bradshaw style I got to thinking…

The Crimson Resort Cebu

If you’re looking for the perfect luxury beach resort on Cebu’s Mactan Island, it has to be The Crimson Resort Cebu. With stunning Asian-inspired decor and manicured grounds it makes a great retreat after exploring The Philippines’ bustling second city.

For a city of 22 million people, 10 million cars and seemingly a million coffee shops (plus a million and one Gangnam Style souvenirs) Seoul is pretty short on boutique hotels - but Seoul’s original boutique hotel, the IP, is just what you need for a short stop in the city.

‘There are over 100 Ferraris parked in the underground garages of the city’ reveals Stefania, my host at the Melia Hotel in the heart of the Northern Italian city of Genoa. ‘But,’ she leans in conspiratorially to explain ‘you never see them driving through the streets. That’s because the Genoese people aren’t ostentatious, they are – how do you say it – reserved? Actually our city has a reputation as the most English city in Italy.’

It’s lucky this Englishness doesn’t extend to the weather. In fact the mild climate has long been a major factor in drawing people to this part of Italy and despite being just a couple of hours’ drive from both the Cinque Terre and the French Riviera and offering a dock to countless cruise ships, Genoa somehow manages to evade mass tourism and is all the better for it.

Boutique Hotel Helvetia, Zurich

I love hotels, but I get even more excited about quirky and interesting accommodation which means I really love boutique hotels.

I seek out, write about, blog about and recommend boutique properties, yet the question I am most often asked is simply ‘What makes a hotel a boutique hotel?’ so I went along to the Boutique Hotel Summit at London’s Altitude 360 this week to find out.