Enter the dragon
The swanky new ski lodge Hidden Dragon (0845 505 0251, hidden-dragon.com) opens in Les 4 Vallées, Switzerland, next week. It's been built to strict feng shui principles: the decor is Alpine chic meets Asian sleek, and there's a spa, a wine cellar, a private cinema and the promise of champagne picnic lunches under the Matterhorn. In keeping with the zen theme, rooms are named after celestial creatures. We'd be happy in White Tiger, but Brown Cow? They're revered in Asia, the company insists. Prices start at £2,000pp for a week, all-inclusive.
A potted history
A £75m theme park is set to open in Anjou, France, early next year. So can we expect gravity-defying white-knuckle rides that leave us with Wallace & Gromit rictus grins? Not exactly. Terra Botanica (terrabotanica.fr) is Europe's first theme park devoted entirely to... plant life. We're promised a "fun" look at side-splitting subjects such as the art of irrigation and geothermal power, as well as that well-known barrel of laughs, the mysteries of plant multiplication. Can't believe someone hasn't thought of it before.
Flighty financier
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Peter "Dragons' Den" Jones has been singing the praises of the flight-comparison website Skyscanner in a magazine column. While it's gratifying to know that even multimillionaires need to shop around for bargain trips to Barbados these days, there's a problem: Jones is the face of a television advertising campaign for Moneysupermarket.com, the company behind rival site Travelsupermarket.com. As the entrepreneur himself might say: "For that reason, Peter, you're out."
Glam up north
Millions have been spent to ensure that the just-opened Rockliffe Hall (rockliffehall.com), on Durham's doorstep, oozes gothic glamour. Rooms mix original features with smart technology, food is by the Michelin-starred Kenny Atkinson and the spa features organic Ila treatments (fans include Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow). Set in 375 huntin', shootin' and fishin' acres, the Victorian pile looks set to be the groovy new northern star of country houses. Visit before February 1 and you'll get £80 off the £270 rack rate.