No surprise then that serviced apartments are gaining a growing fan club. And business travellers visiting Manchester can check into some of the most stylish on offer with Staying Cool. The brainchild of Tracey Stephenson and her business partner Paul Taylor, their aim was to offer "more space and flexibility than a hotel room and more style and originality than your average serviced apartment". The expansion of their portfolio to 14 apartments (11 of which are up and running) ( Read more... )
View full article here

During the sticky summer months of July and August, it begins to resemble a giant, out-of-control sauna complete with temples, lady-boys, delicious street-food and gridlock. And, despite a few shaky moments, last year's coup has been shrugged off by the dynamic Thai capital and business is booming.

Whatever you do, don't be put off by Bangkok's travails ? there's probably no city on earth offering such a staggering array of affordable pleasures. From sumptuous day-spas ( Read more... )
View full article here

In a city with two official languages, music, painting, sculpture and the graphic novel have helped the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish find a creative common ground. Currently, there?s a major retrospective about painter Paul Klee at BOZAR (bozar.be). This exhibition is being mounted with the assistance of the conductor Pierre Boulez, who is also a Klee expert. That kind of imaginative crossover is very ( Read more... )
View full article here

The Marks, the only independently owned hotel of its size in the city, opened in September 2007. After picking up the business from pack-’em-in Irish chain Bewleys, local entrepreneur Stuart Wilson reopened it a year later as Marks Hotel, once a refit had taken it from a three to four-star. The boutique styling was masterminded by another local – Catherine Henderson Design – who’s turned around the interior of a difficult property. The contemporary One ( Read more... )
View full article here

You’ll find the city at the northern tip of the North China Plain, ringed to the west and north by mountains and the Great Wall. It’s unusual for an historic capital not to be sited near any major water course, but if you’ve seen Mulan you’ll remember Beijing's importance is strategic, repulsing all those incursions from the steppes.

The city’s traditional financial district spreads across Fuxingmen and Fuchengmen, but Guomao, home ( Read more... )
View full article here

This hotel should also create a new benchmark for value for money in Dubai and is likely to attract punters beyond the business crowd; during the first week of opening, the guests were a mix of business people on a budget, young families and groups attending sporting events. According to the company’s Middle East managing director, Darroch Crawford: “A lot of people who already work in the city have said relatives can’t afford to visit, so there’s a huge ( Read more... )
View full article here

Next time you are instructed "In order to keep fit, no spitting please" (Beijing) or "Any offence against public morality entitles the hotelkeeper to recede from the obligation of accommodation in course" (Florence), take a snap of the offending notice and e-mail it to biztravel@independent.co.uk. Each week we will pick the best and award a prize of the three top travel books published during that week - so send us a postal address, too.

Click here to view the entries so far.