Escape

UP AND AWAY

A new flight route from Brighton to Paris now means a day trip to the French capital is easier than ever

Spa attraction

We pick the most stylish resorts in the Maldives for total relaxation

Raise a glass

Porto's luxury wine hotel, The Yeatman, offers the perfect weekend escape

Stay the course

Get ready for this month's Cheltenham festival at a stylish country hotel

Be here now

Hire Abbey Road Studios for a different kind of business venue

Masters of vine ARTS

Feel thoroughly refreshed after a tour of Argentina's winelands

The life aquatic

Watch your worries float away at Turkey's D-Hotel Maris

MOUNT PLEASANT

Ascend to the height of luxuryat this ultra-chic ski chalet in the French alpine village of Châtel

You shall go to the ball

Get into the carnival spirit by throwing your own masquerade ball at Blenheim Palace

PASSAGE TO INDIA

Chennai's mixture of ancient heritage and modern innovation makes for a fascinating visit – for business or pleasure

A GLASS ACT

Singapore's staggering architecture, bustling business scene and cultural diversity make it an invigorating and inspiring destination

It'll blow you away

Got that 'try something new' feeling? Join an Extreme Sailing crew and race with the best

GRAND COLLECTION

Zürich's Dolder Grand blends a luxury getaway with a thrilling experience for art lovers

TOKYO CALLING

It's the centre of Japanese cool – and with the new, billion-dollar luxury Palace Hotel open for big business, nothing here will get lost in translation

WELSH MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY

If you're looking to escape the rat race, Bodysgallen Hall and Spa offers a tranquil hidden retreat and oozes cosiness

REI OF SUNSHINE

Stunning scenery, luxurious seclusion and a golf course designed by one of the greats - Monte Rei Golf & Country Club has R&R down to a tee

TAKE A BUSINESS PIT STOP

Relax and unwind with a range of fuss-free spa treatments at the Intercontinental Park Lane hotel

LICENCE TO CHILL

Ian Fleming fell in love with Jamaica in 1943 and created James Bond from the desk at his villa Goldeneye

travel in style

Luxe City Guides cut to the chase for time-poor business travellers

25Hours Hotel HafenCity

A new Hamburg hotel has gone overboard to offer a creative space to do business

The Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra

Recognising Phnom Penh's rising popularity as a business destination, Sofitel has launched a luxury hotel aimed at business travellers and holidaymakers

Heathrow terminal 5 hotel

Hilton Hotels will open the doors to its Heathrow Terminal 5 hotel this summer

Eurostar bonus

Eurostar has extended the opening hours of its travel agent support team as well as introducing a guaranteed boarding service for business premier class passengers

Connect and go

Carlson Wagonlit Travel has launched an app for iPhone and Android phones, giving business travellers a selection of 25 travel apps as well as mobile websites

Staying connected

A survey published by PrivateFly.com reveals the most important items business travellers won't leave home without

Back in business

The latest Hotels.com price index claims business travel and the convention trade are bouncing back

Eccleston Square Hotel

A £6.5m renovation of a Georgian townhouse in Pimlico, central London, is pushing the boundaries of in-room technology

Bangkok bling

Starwood's luxury St Regis brand opens its first hotel in Bangkok in April

adult-only cabins?

Seventy four per cent of business travellers say the most annoying thing about flying is children on board

Urban boltholes

The Hideaways Club is launching a city-based fractional ownership scheme in May

Flight connections

The average business traveller's cabin bag is packed with essentials worth nearly £1,500

Business travel apps

We choose six of the best to help executives on the move

Urban escape

The W Hotels group opens its first hotel in London next month

Firms tighten belts

Forty nine per cent of businesses have implemented economy class-only seating as standard company policy, regardless of journey length

Savvy traveller

How to trim your business travel bill

British Travel Awards

Virgin Atlantic was voted best for business and first class flights when the British Travel Awards were announced last month

Business break

Goldsborough Hall, located six miles from Harrogate, has put together a corporate package for companies wishing to use the stately home for conferences and team building projects

Accor expands

Hotel giant Accor has laid out ambitious expansion plans, announcing the opening of 300 new hotels every year between now and 2015

Export gloom

The September Travelex Confidence Index found that 63 per cent of UK exporters think spending cuts and tax rises will hurt industry

Asia's hope for business

In a Norton Rose survey of global financial institutions, 87 per cent identified Asia (including China) as offering the best prospects for business

Travel austerity

American Express Business Travel report the top five measures firms have taken to trim travel costs

Tourism bonanza warning

State of the Nation 2010, a report by People 1st, warns that hospitality and tourism businesses need to improve the skills of employees to cope with a 10 per cent expansion in the sector by 2017

Gucci's global ambition

Luxury hotelier Elisabetta Gucci aims to open 40 new hotels over the next 15 years in the Middle East, Far East and South America

ipad in the sky

Passengers on select domestic Jetstar flights in Australia are being offered an iPad to access inflight entertainment

Goodbye to jet lag

Aimed at travellers, Molton Brown's new Power-boost Zinc Anti-Fatigue Hydrator helps combat the physical signs of jet lag

Airport app

Heathrow and Manchester airports have launched a mobile app to make travelling easier

Premier class

From 1 September Eurostar will introduce Standard Premier—a "mid-class" offering to replace its Leisure Select service

Happy flyers

Low-cost carrier Germanwings is profiting from its Happy Meal pricing, which bundles charges into discount packages

Travel spending rises

The 2010 American Express/CFO Research Global Business & Spending Monitor suggests purse strings for travel expenses are being loosened

Oberoi rises again

The Oberoi hotel in Mumbai reopened on 24 April following extensive restoration after the terrorist attacks in 2008

All aboard the fast train

The Guild of Travel Management Companies recently published a business travel manifesto based on a survey of 1,250 business travellers

High table

Richard Cree checks out the food on flight BA001

Light work

Research in Motion's BlackBerry Presenter, means you can leave your heavy laptop behind

Fast food

Von Essen's Forbury Hotel in Reading has launched an "express breakfast" and "50-minute" lunch for executives on the go

A meeting with real drive

Next month sees the opening of Brooklands Hotel, adjacent to Mercedes-Benz World

Eastern promise

Cheapflights.co.uk is reporting a surge in interest for eastern European destinations

Full speed ahead

Business travellers relish the prospect of a new high-speed railway linking London and Scotland. But its success depends on pricing

It's all business

September 29 was a big day for British Airways. Its first all-business flight took off from London City for New York's JFK

Still surfing

Travellers to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly still have a flight option, despite Ryanair scrapping its Stansted-to-Newquay route

Twitter service

The Townhouse Hotel Maastricht is offering Twitter as an in-hotel communication tool

Fare's fare

The American Express EMEA Business Travel Monitor Report found that UK air fares remained stable in the first three months of 2009

End of line for short-haul?

Transport secretary Lord Adonis would like to see domestic and short-haul flights largely replaced by high-speed rail over the next 20 years

New look for the Langham

The Langham hotel, a London landmark since Victorian times, has undergone a major facelift

Free flights for SMEs

British Airways in association with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is offering 4,000 free flights to SMEs to boost UK exports

Small London ABode

The award-winning ABode hotel group has opened a first property in its Baby ABode sub-group in London

Best in business class

Etihad Airways has been crowned  the airline with the best business class and best cabin staff

Buck stops here again

VisitBritain and Virgin Atlantic have joined forces to tempt more American tourists to take holidays in the UK

false economy

Premium-economy seats may be the ideal compromise between cost and comfort

Green travel tips

Making business travel greener saves money and boosts corporate reputations

Special agents

They go beyond the basics of finding the best flight and hotel deals—and they're good in a crisis,too. Travel management companies are a vital weapon in the battle to control budgets

Rocco's retreat

The Rocco Forte Collection opens its latest hotel in a group of historic buildings close to Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge in early May

Hotels showcase

Business Travel Market takes place at London's ExCeL Exhibition Centre on June 17-18

A rival to Eurostar?

Air France has been talking to German train operator Deutsche Bahn about the possibility of starting a rival rail service

The X Factor

Tony Fernandes's AirAsia X lures business travellers with the option to change the dates of their travel and take extra luggage

extra time

From flight upgrades to limos, airlines and hotels are becoming more creative to reward loyalty as company budgets tighten

Lucky high flier

Just 15 months after the A380 made its first commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney, Singapore Airlines (SIA) expects to welcome its one millionth passenger onboard in February

Plug in, tune out

Samsung has launched a new range of hotel TVs

Screen saver

As the credit crunch deepens, increasing numbers of companies are making use of video conferencing to save time and money

Blue-sky thinking

Air France-KLM has created a social network, Bluenity, so fliers can offer tips and make comments on travel-related topics

BA's Saudi take-off

British Airways will begin flying to Saudi Arabia again on March 29 after a four-year break

BA's mobile check-in

British Airways passengers can now check in and select seats from their BlackBerry or web-enabled mobile phone

Royal cuisine

American Airlines has hired the Queen's former chef, Darren McGrady, to give its premium-class menus the regal touch

Jumeirah's new arrival

Dubai hospitality group Jumeirah is opening its fifth European hotel in Glasgow

Amsterdam shuttle

Passengers travelling between London City and Amsterdam airports will have more choice from January

stay in style

Luxury chain Hotel du Vin is rapidly extending its offerings for business travellers with three new openings this year

Check it out

Virgin Atlantic has reduced the minimum check-in time for Upper Class passengers at Heathrow to as little as 40 minutes before the flight

Going Dutch

The capsule hotel brand Yotel has opened a third site at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport

Rail tale

The online rail booking engine www.thetrainline.com has launched a new-look website aimed at corporate buyers

Business class

Six gadgets to keep you happy on your next work trip

Plane hungry

Fasting before a long flight may help prevent jet lag, researchers at the Harvard Medical School have found

Biofuel takes off

Air New Zealand has announced plans to use biofuels for 10 per cent of its fuel consumption within the next five years

Conferences always need a bigger stage to shine

Unusual venues are increasingly popular for the inspirational qualities they can bring to a corporate event

Safe and soundless

Many business travellers treasure the peace and quiet they get while flying—but allowing the use of mobile phones on planes could be more than a minor irritation

China's aviation boom

The Chinese air travel industry is all set to take off

A new dawn for rail travel

2007 was a good year for breaking rail speed records, says Alastair McKenzie

A higher calling

We don't want to chat away on the phone at 35,000ft, according to Alastair McKenzie

Working on the move

Web tools make it far easier for travellers to work remotely

What's changed in 60 years of civil aviation?

Not a great deal, finds Alastair McKenzie

From VIP to CIP

VIP is now just part of our common language. According to Alastair McKenzie it's CIP (commercially important person) that carries real cachet

Business only—the class barrier takes to the sky

Industry watchers thought they'd never survive but now the transatlantic business-only airline sector is soaring

Business or pleasure?

Combining a business trip with pleasure is the in-thing, says Alastair McKenzie

Has the humble train finally caught up with the plane?

Glamorous new rail terminals, high-speed trainsets and a new high-speed route between France and Germany—the railways are giving the airlines a run for their money

At last, hotels are going green

Becoming more environmentally friendly saves money, but many hotels are taking their time about it

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner soon to take to the skies

Open skies may be an opportunity for the Dreamliner

Videoconferencing

Businesses have been seduced by the promise of videoconferencing (VC) for decades but how good is it

Funky budget hotels

Alastair McKenzie checks out the latest offerings

Fighting jet lag

How does Alastair McKenzie do it?