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Get cosy in an igloo
Every year, several igloo villages appear out of the snow in Switzerland, complete with heated whirlpool baths, saunas, mulled wine served at the igloo bar and get-togethers over cheese fondue. Inside your igloo the sheepskin blankets and thermal sleeping bags keep things toasty, and artists’ carvings in the snow and ice beat hotel wallpaper any day. Fly to Geneva to reach the igloo village near Gstaad, and you’ll be well placed to hit the ski slopes in the mornings, too. Savour the moment: by Easter it will all have melted away. From €80 per person per night. www.iglu-dorf.com
Hit The Hoxton
One of the creators of Britain’s sandwich shop chain Pret A Manger is also behind London’s new, funkily designed Hoxton hotel. Its unusual location among the bars and creative studios of the city’s too-cool Shoreditch district hints at the fresh approach within. The British capital isn’t known for its good-value hotels, but The Hoxton’s changing that. In your budget-friendly room (from €79 per night for a double) you’ll find free internet access, a standard-rate – rather than hotel rip-off – telephone, a fridge you can stock yourself from the fairly priced shop downstairs and the option of room service from the inexpensive in-house bistro. Now that you can find this kind of hotel at this kind of price, the whole industry will have improve its act – about time!
The Hoxton
81 Great Eastern Street, London
+44 (0)20 7550 1000
www.hoxtonhotels.com
Bed down in Berlin
As of winter 2006, Bangaluu is open for business. The German supper club originally opened last summer under the name Bungalow, but objections from the city’s Bungalow record label necessitated a revamp, and Bangaluu was born. A temple to food, drink and, most importantly, laziness, Bangaluu invites its diners to recline on bright white beds, complete with enormous cloud-like pillows to prop them up as they eat, chat, drink and flirt.
Bangaluu
Invalidenstrasse 30, Berlin
+49 (0)30 8096 93077
www.bangaluu.com
Make Valentine’s Day sexy again
Valentine’s Day in Paris doesn’t have to mean giving someone red roses and an engagement ring at the top of the Eiffel Tower you know. Hip hotel Murano offers a Valentine’s package that’s advertised as a frolic suitable for “lifelong lovers or just for a night”. They’ll dim the lights in one of their stylish bedrooms, fill the bath with aromatic essential oils, veil your bed with diaphanous drapes and lay on all the caviar and Billecart-Salmon champagne you can consume. All you have to do is decide who to invite. From €850-€1,350 for two people.
Murano Urban Resort
13 boulevard du Temple, Paris
+33 (0)1 4271 2000
www.muranoresort.com
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