Hotel & Spa

• The Hotel Shangrila, 1301 Ocean Avenue. Santa Monica, CA 90401. As we approached the end of Santa Monica Boulevard and caught our first ever glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, I swear my pulse rate instantly began to drop. And this overwhelming sense of calm continued as soon as we walked into the reception of The Hotel Shangrila. The lobby was decked out in Union Jack clad mannequins and red, white and blue bulldogs! Apparently it was ‘British week’, they really were making us feel at home. Albeit a stunning newly refurbished art deco home.

• Tuddenham Mill Hotel, High Street, Tuddenham, Suffolk IP28 6SQ. It had been one hell off a week, in fact it had been one hell of two weeks. So when we were given to opportunity to stay at Tuddenham Mill we booked a day off, packed an overnight bag and jumped in the car for an unwind weekend. An hour and a half after leaving home, including the usual Friday Dartford tunnel queuing time, we arrived in the tiny village of Tuddenham. Situated roughly half way between Newmarket and Bury St Edmonds in Suffolk, it’s the ideal distance for Londoners to escape for a couple of chilled nights away.

• The Crown Hotel, 16 High Street, Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP7 0DH. The Crown is (as their website says) ‘part of a family of modern coaching inns, all in historic timber-framed buildings providing eating, drinking, gatherings and lodgings’. We parked the car, although finding the car park was a little tricky (but we have become Sat Nav reliant) and walked past a pretty row of rooms into a beautiful cobblestone courtyard with potted flowers, chunky wooden patio furniture and best of all the Summer kitchen serving BBQ food.

• Grand Hotel Central, Via Laietana, 30, 08003 Barcelona, Spain. There are three main ingredients that make a short city break memorable, 1) The hotel, 2) the food and 3) the weather… And luckily for us we struck pure gold on all three counts. Talking of luck, I’d won a couple of easyJet flights with a Metro newspaper competition at the end of last year and decided to book a weekend away for our birthdays.

• Sanctum of The Green hotel, Cookham Dean, Berkshire. Tucked away in a leafy corner of Royal Berkshire lies an amazing little hideaway – Sanctum on the Green. With just nine rooms, it’s the little sister of the Sanctum Soho but with a very different feel. We knew it was special when we made our way through a maze of twisty narrow country lanes, arrived at the gated entrance and had to be buzzed through. SatNav is a must, even the keenest ramblers with the very latest OS map would struggle to find it…

• The spa at the Rayavadee hotel, Krabi, Thailand We can’t believe that it’ been nearly 4 months since our belated honeymoon to Thailand and our simply amazing spa treatment at the 5 star Rayavadee Luxury Resort. And when they say luxury, they mean luxury. Before we start to talk about the spa, let us try to put into words just how beautiful this tiny corner of Thailand really is…

• Radisson Edwardian Hotel & Spa, Guildford. Finally, Guildford has a new hotel that’s actually in the town centre, and isn’t a Holiday Inn. I lived in the town for 21 years and love it to death, I couldn’t wait to come and see what the new Radisson had to offer. It is the town’s first four star deluxe hotel offering 183 rooms and suites, two restaurants, a dining terrace, spa, gym and conference facilities for up to 400 with seven private meeting and function rooms…

• myhotel Brighton, 17 Jubilee Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1GE. myhotel just off the North Laine is slap bang in the middle of all Brighton‘s action. As soon as we walked through the coloured sliding doors into the vibrant and futuristic lobby we knew this was a special hotel. Very cool, and with spa-scented candles constantly lit (always a plus point for us)…

• K Spa at the K West Hotel, Richmond Way, London W14 0AX. I had been longing to visit this spa for about a year, and last week we finally made it down there. I always thought Shepherd’s Bush was 8 million mikes away, hence never having visited Westfield, or K West, but it was easy peasy. Being winner of the 2011 World Luxury Spa Awards and Best Luxury Hotel Spa UK, I had high hopes…

• Fox & Anchor, 115 Charterhouse Square, Smithfield, London EC1M 6AA. I’ve had my eye on this place for some time. I had been planning a secret birthday weekend for Ade’s 40th and needed somewhere to stay. The Fox & Anchor is a traditional pub in Smithfield that is newly renovated, with a suite of six luxury rooms upstairs, a bit like a boutique hotel, but a pub…

• Water Lilies, Lifehouse Spa, Frinton Road Thorpe-le-Soken Essex CO16 0JD. My only experience of spa food was at The Sanctuary, and I wasn’t very impressed. All I can recall is eating a plain piece of fish. The Water Lilies restaurant at the Lifehouse Spa has one of the best menus I’ve seen in a long time. Luckily we were there overnight so we managed to try almost everything we fancied…