Unique luxury hotels, fashionable travel and much more

Trust me, this is not a joke. A Czech travel agency is offering trips to Prague for your favourite teddy bear or other stuffed toy.

For the equivalent of £78 ($122), the agency will take pictures of the toy tourists at Prague’s major sights and put them on a CD so that you, the owner, can ‘boast to friends or on Facebook’.

The man behind it, Tomio Okamura, said:

“It is not a joke. We are four owners [including] me – the vice president of the Czech National Association of Travel Agencies – also Miss Dana Bérová, who is a former minister. So it’s proof that it’s a very serious business.”

But the sightseeing is just the half of it. For an extra £52 ($81), the toys can have massage or aromatherapy sessions. Mr Okamura again:

“Yes, we will make massage on the mat next to Charles Bridge, with Prague Castle in the background. So we will put teddy bear on the mat, put candles around him and take photos. So then his owner can say that his bear had a massage in Prague.”

Of course, the tour organisers need to know in advance if the guest is vegetarian because lunch is included …

Look, I can’t go on with this, it’s too ridiculous. If you have a teddy that’s shown an interest in broadening his horizons, go to www.sendyourdarling.com.

by Andy Moreton

Why send your teddy when you can go yourself? Here at Luxique, we describe the Czech capital as ‘a fairyland of pinnacles, towers and fabulously ornate castles and palaces.’ And we have a selection of 23 of the best luxury hotels in Prague.

A hotel with rooms as small as 50 sq ft. (15 sq m) is to be built as part of the redevelopment of a famous London tourist spot.

Plans have been approved for the 495–room hotel at the Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus. It will take its inspiration from Japanese ‘pod’ hotels, which have capsules for rooms to make use of space in crowded cities.

The Trocadero, originally built as a restaurant, is an entertainment space with shops and a cinema. The hotel will be located over seven floors behind its Grade II listed facade. Corridors will run round the building and rooms grouped around internal courtyards. Rates are expected to be £20–40 ($32–65) a night.

Wan Yau, director of architects Dexter Moren Associates, said:

“The lighting, temperature and even TV channels can be pre-programmed, enabling every guest to have a personalised ‘pod’ experience. We wanted to create an oasis away from the bustling activity [of London].”

When work starts on the site later this year, two neighbouring theatres – the Apollo and the Lyric – have asked for extra soundproofing so their productions aren’t ruined. It’s hoped to have the Trocadero Hotel ready in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique has a hand-picked selection of the finest luxury London hotels – some large and traditional, some small and chic (but not that small!)

One of the more bizarre travel stories of the past week was in the Daily Telegraph, which reported that Chechnya was to market itself as a ‘Swiss-style’ ski resort to attract Russian and foreign tourists.

As the Telegraph’s Moscow correspondent, Andrew Osborn, observed:

“If the plan succeeds, it will be one of the most radical makeovers in the history of global tourism. The southern Russian republic is better known for suicide bombings, kidnappings and two brutal wars than for après ski parties and designer ski wear.”

The President of the troubled region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said he thought the small mountainous republic had huge tourism potential. He and his advisers have earmarked a scenic area called the Argun Gorge for a large ski resort to include a luxury hotel, mid-priced chalets and a spa complex.

“We have a good climate and wonderful scenery,” said Mr Kadyrov. “We have places that, when equipped with the necessary infrastructure, will be in no way inferior to Swiss resorts.”

Russian tourism experts believe Chechnya does have potential, but say personal safety issues mean the bold plan is ahead of its time. That’s a view echoed by the Foreign Office in London. It advises against all travel to Chechnya, saying terrorism and kidnapping remain a serious threat.

by Andy Moreton

We all love those hotels that go the extra mile for their guests, but here’s one free service you might think you can do without.

The Holiday Inn chain in the UK is to pilot a scheme in Manchester whereby someone sleeps in your bed to warm it up before you get in. Sleep experts say a cold bed inhibits sleep – the ideal temperature is 20–24 degrees Celsius (68–75 Fahrenheit).

The human electric blanket will be dressed in an all-in-one sleeper suit and spend five minutes under the duvet.

Holiday Inn spokeswoman, Jane Bednall, said:

“People want to leave the cold outside and climb into a warm bed. The service is a bit like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed, warming it up before guests climb in to give them a great night’s sleep away from the cold. Of course they jump out before you jump in.”

Of course. But it could take some explaining if you forgot to tell your partner you’d booked the service …

by Andy Moreton

I wrote last week about some of the items that are lifted from hotel rooms (Nickers Down Under).

As far as the former US Ambassador in London, Raymond Seitz, is concerned, there’s only one souvenir he looks for – the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign. He’s now amassed a collection of 500, he told February’s Condé Nast Traveller magazine.

“I think I’m attracted to these signs because their message so perfectly captures my personal philosophy. I would be happy if I could go through my life with one of them hanging around my neck,” he said.

He’s not alone in his passion – I discover there are a number of collectors around the world and at least one website dedicated to this peculiar pastime, set up by someone who’s got a staggering 6,000 of the things (http://www.freewebs.com/dndcollector/).

Mr Seitz is apparently not a fan of the trend of some hotels to re-word the simple message in favour of such modernisms as ZZZZ, I am re-energising, or I’m catching a cat nap.

by Andy Moreton

When you’re choosing a hotel, you probably don’t willingly go for one next to a railway track.

But some places in Japan are turning a potential disadvantage into a business opportunity and wooing some of the country’s 20,000 railway buffs.

The Hotel Mets Akabane in Tokyo has a scheme guaranteeing rooms with a view of the tracks on the fourth floor or above. The manager says some train-spotter customers return again and again.

The Odakyu Hotel Century Southern Tower overlooks Shinjuku station, one of the busiest in the world, and has a ‘Train View Stay Plan.’ As well as a good look at the many trains that enter and leave the station, guests get the latest timetable and a paperweight made from a piece of track.

by Andy Moreton, with the BBC’s Roland Buerk

Luxique offers five hand-picked luxury hotels in Tokyo, with stunning views of everything but trains.

What’s the difference between a beach in Thailand and one in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland?

Quite a lot you might say, but that didn’t stop Thai tourist officials from promoting Kai Bae Beach by using a picture of the Isle of Berneray. The give-away is the picturesque range of the Harris Hills in the background.

The subterfuge was first spotted by the British writer Ian McNamara, who runs a small guest house on Koh Chang island where Kai Bae Beach is located. It seems the Thais lifted the picture from the website www.isleofberneray.com.

Photographer John Kirriemuir took the shot four years ago. He said: “True, there are some similarities – great sand, unpolluted sea. But also some differences: if you swam off both beaches, you would very quickly realise what one of them is.”

A VisitScotland spokeswoman said: “Here in the Outer Hebrides we are fortunate to have some of the most spectacular scenery in the world right on our doorstep.”

“They do say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, so although the use of the photo of a beach on the Isle of Berneray to represent a Thai beach is somewhat misleading, I’m sure it’s a compliment in disguise.”

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers the best rates at 27 luxury hotels in Thailand.

Continental Airlines had a slightly weird but entirely valid excuse for an eighty-minute delay on a flight out of Houston, Texas just before Christmas.

A pair of otters had escaped from their wooden cages in the hold and were seen scurrying across the tarmac. Airport workers managed to catch the animals and return them to captivity, and the flight took off for Columbus, Ohio. One worker was slightly hurt in the chase.

“They told us there were a couple of otters loose in the cargo area,” said passenger Nicky Devanny. “People thought it was a joke at first I think.”

Some travellers reported that the otters had tried to chew into their luggage.

by Andy Moreton

My seasonal award for the most thoughtful travel gesture this holiday time goes to Air Berlin.

The airline – the second biggest in Germany after Lufthansa – is allowing passengers to take their Christmas trees with them on flights at no extra cost. Customers can take trees of up to two metres (six feet) in height until Christmas Eve on condition they notify the airline at least 24 hours in advance.

Titus Johnson, Air Berlin’s manager in the UK and Ireland, said: “Most of the demand for this comes from our German customers – it seems they can’t bear to be parted from their trees at Christmas. After all, it was Queen Victoria’s [German] husband, Prince Albert, who brought the tradition with him to England in the first place.”

The trees will, of course, go in the hold, not on the empty seat on the aisle. I’d love to witness the scene at the baggage carousel!

by Andy Moreton

Booked your holiday for 2012? What about something a bit different – outer space for instance.

It’s reported that the first hotel in space will be open for business and accepting tourists within three years, with the help of $3 billion (£1.8 billion) of funding from a wealthy anonymous space enthusiast.

The Galactic Suite Space Resort - a single pod in orbit 280 miles above the earth and travelling at more than 18,000 miles an hour - will have two astronaut-pilots and welcome four guests at a time.

The guests will have a three-night stay preceded by an eight-week training course on a tropical island. And, despite the fact that a return ticket will cost around 3 million euros (£2.7 million /$4.4 million), more than 200 people have reportedly expressed an interest and 43 have already made a reservation.

During their stay, guests will see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. They’ll wear Velcro suits to enable them to crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

Xavier Claramunt, the Chief Executive of Galactic Suite Ltd and a former aerospace engineer, said the project would put his company at the forefront of an infant industry with a huge future ahead of it.

He forecast that space travel would become commonplace in the future. “It’s very normal to think that your children, possibly within 15 years, could spend a weekend in space,” he said.

by Andy Moreton