More for less: BSR Golf offers more than just golf holidays. Flight and accommodation packages on its books until the end of March include: a six-day scuba diving holiday to Sipadan Water Village Resort in West Malaysia ($6,990, including all meals but excluding equipment hire); a three-day weekend break to Hangzhou, China (staying in five-star accommodation, $2,488); a seven-day cruise on Star Leo from Singapore to Hue, Vietnam; and a four-day trip on the Eastern & Oriental Express between Bangkok and Singapore ($3,990 and $9,990, respectively, including flights to and from Hong Kong). But if golf's your game, BSR has a three-day package to Spring City Golf & Lake Resort, Kunming (voted China's best golf course by Golf Digest magazine) for $4,360. For details, call 2730 3288.
Room with a view: The newish Horizon Suite Hotel overlooking Tolo Harbour targets the long-stay market (monthly packages start at $6,800), but also offers nightly accommodation in its 677sqft two-bedroom suites from $1,000, tax and service included. Facilities include an Olympic-sized pool, mini-cinema, gym, children's library, spa, ParknShop and free shuttle-bus services between the hotel and Diamond Hill MTR station, University KCR station and Sha Tin town centre. The two- or three-bedroom suites have a fully equipped pantry. For details, call 3157 8888 or visit
www.horizonsuitehotel.com.
New and improved: Shangri-La's China World Hotel in Beijing has just completed a $233 million renovation, which it says is the most expensive facelift for a local hotel to date. The 716-room hotel is now a plush mix of Chinese and western design, featuring red-lacquered pillars, lattice skylights, contemporary Asian art and white marble bathrooms. Among the other additions are an airport butler service and a health club featuring Beijing's only oxygen room (1 Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue, tel: [86] 10 6505 2266,
www.shangri-la.com).
One-stop shop: Europe's budget air-travel market has boomed in recent years, led by RyanAir and EasyJet, and newcomers such as bmibaby, MyTravelLite, Volareweb, Basiq Air, HLX and Germanwings. As carriers battle to gain market share, some are selling below cost, fuelling fierce competition. Routes such as London to Barcelona, Paris to Milan or Amsterdam to Venice can be booked for as little as $150 each way. Researching and navigating the network of connections can be confusing (there are budget flights serving more than 180 airports), but now you can compare, combine and book tickets from all the above carriers at
www.openjet.com. Users can also book car hire and accommodation at competitive prices. Bear in mind, however, that most budget airlines use secondary airports. For example, nearly all Asian services to London fly into Heathrow and most low-cost carriers fly out of London's other airports such as Stansted, Gatwick and Luton. So allow at least five to six hours to transfer between airports.
Value added: This year's top-value hotels, according to Travel + Leisure magazine:
1. The Peninsula, Bangkok
2. Mount Kenya Safari Club, Nanyuki, Kenya