Asia

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in Asia, independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

The Adonis Hotel Singapore

The Adonis Hotel Singapore. A true boutique hotel experience.

I could recite the Oxford dictionary definition, without hesitations: “It’s a stylish small hotel, didah, didah, didah…..” But my true answer is “I don’t know”. Really, I don’t but unfailingly I’ll recognize one, when I’ll see one. In my opinion, half the hotels claiming being Boutique, just aren’t. Yes, they might well be small or located in a fashionable area or even both but that doesn’t win them the title.
The Adonis Hotel Singapore is. In fact, it’s the epitome of this elusive classification.

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Hello to Hanoi. Hanoi trafficPG

Hello to Hanoi. 5 top tips. Unmissable Insider guide.

For me, saying hello to Hanoi for the first time was like opening up a box of chocolates; it all looked good, but until you took a few bites you wouldn’t know if you were going to enjoy it. I had my doubts, after all, it was, before unification, Ho Chi Minh’s seat of power as the communist capital of north Vietnam, and although Vietnam remains a communist country, it doesn’t really feel like one, if my experiences in Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An were anything to go by.

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Ho Chi Minh City insider travel guide smiling Vietnamese girl

Ho Chi Minh City insider travel guide. 6 unforgettable things to do.

My Ho Chi Minh City Insider travel guide has, for me, put even more colour on a city reborn after such a turbulent past. Yes you can visit Saigon’s typical tourist hot spots, but uncovering the real Saigon is an experience not to be missed.

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Andy Mossack stays at the Silk Path Boutique Hotel in Hanoi. A wonderful lakeside property. Lobby RECEPTION Bussiness center2

Silk Path Boutique Hotel review. Hanoi’s lovely lakeside hotel.

Hanoi is a real gem of city, not least because of its thirty two lakes and one of the grandest of them, Hoan Kiem, right in Hanoi’s centre and just a stone’s throw from the old quarter, is right on the doorstep of the delightful Silk Path Boutique Hotel.

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Ha LOng Bay cruise1

Ha Long Bay Cruise review. Discover a romantic world of natural islets.

It’s almost midnight, and Ha Long Bay is ink-black and still. Her ancient limestone pillars have me surrounded. I can’t see them now, but I can feel them, watching me like silent sentinels. All I can hear is the boat creaking, singing its nautical lullaby as gentle waves lap at the wooded hull. This is beautiful. Perfect. Just how a Ha Long Bay cruise should be.

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Andy Mossack arrives at Ha Long Bay by seaplane. It's the ultimate way to visit one of the most beautiful bays on the planet.

Ha Long Bay by Seaplane. Discover the ultimate way to arrive.

“My background is flying sea planes in Canada but this one has so many bells and toys I couldn’t turn it down” says pilot Mike at the wheel of Hai Au Aviation’s impressive Cessna Grand Caravan Amphibian, as we make our way from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay by seaplane in north east Vietnam.

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