It's not every hotel that can boast a facade designed, it's rumoured, by Michelangelo. But then not every city is packed with the work of Michelango and other Renaissance greats who have attracted visitors to Florence for hundreds of years.

Croatian design? Thought so. This is a country of natural beauty, of warm waters and pristine forests – no one visits Croatia for the man-made delights of contemporary design.

Not so fast.

Sirayane is the brainchild of a former Moroccan merchant banker, who broke away from the traditional style of Marrakech hotels, or riadhs. Located 10 minutes from the airport, it is unusually spacious with giant doors and a huge reception area with a high vaulted ceiling.

I knew there was a preponderance of water in the Lake District but what I did not realise was that there were lakes in the middle of the road.

Ok, maybe not lakes but certainly ponds big enough to make driving into the resort of Bowness on Windermere the sort of journey to be undertaken in an amphibious vehicle rather than a Vauxhall Astra.

It was an unusually inclement time to visit – the

Enrico, the handsome Italian barman, is fixing me a cocktail - the famous "89" dedicated to Ian Fleming.

The four star superior hotel in Ischgl is a family run business that offers a very pleasant idyll just a stone's throw away from the centre of this lively resort.

Its rooms, suites and apartments are equipped with television, free internet access, minibar, safe and the usual array of smellies in the bathroom.

My room was at the very top of the hotel and was spacious with a large balcony offe

There are sound reasons why the Hilton Tel Aviv remains the hotel of choice for many in search of luxury accommodation in Israel's most vibrant beach-side city.

A new sister cocktail to the Singapore and Paris Sling has been created – it's the Praslin Sling, a heady mix of coconut milk, gin with a hint of vanilla and it is the baby of the team at the newly launched all-villa Raffles resort in Praslin, one of the granite islands of the Seychelles.

Supping the sling at the bar with views over the Indian Ocean was enough to set in motion waves of relax