Hippie to the max, man

There are hippie-dippy rumblings in Stockholm, where the Grand Hotel (www.grandhotel.se; doubles from £382), will be unveiling a Nordic-inspired spa on Thursday. It’s not so much the tree-hugger treatments (based on items lovingly plucked from local forests) or the exclusively composed hypnotic music (probably sung by pole-caught whales), it’s the Be Balanced session, which realigns bones with heated pillows of mung seeds. Sounds like one for 1980s has-beans.

How not to lose it all in Vegas

The Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas (mandarinoriental.com; doubles from £392), will be a gaming-free zone when it opens next month. Yet they seem obsessed with dollars at the 23rd-floor Sky Lobby, home to a striking “welcome wall” as you exit the lift. “Exactly 1,550 bricks were used in its construction,” an excited insider confides, “and if all were solid gold, the whole thing would be worth $654m — the same as it cost to build the Las Vegas monorail!” Anyone care (enough) to bet on it? Thought not.

Peep show

Good reports from Cape Town, where the revamped Fire and Ice! hotel (proteahotels.com; doubles from £89) looks like the most entertaining place to stay. It’s lost the slightly studenty vibe, added a gym, a proper pool and urban styling, and gone “designer budget”. It retains the sense of humour that first won it fans, though: shark-cage lifts and giant naked beauties (male and female) adorning walls, with nothing but a towel to cover their modesty. Lift one up and a light out in the lobby tells the world that you’ve been peeking.

Goa goes child-friendly

Free love, full-moon raves... There are some words you automatically associate with Goa. And others — family entertainment zone, kids’ daycare — you don’t. Yet these are among the draws at Alila Diwa (seven nights from £1255pp, including flights, through Real Holidays; 020 7359 3938, www.realholidays.co.uk), a new boutique resort, opening next month, which claims to have found a niche at Majorda beach. “There’s not been a really good Mauritius-style, family-friendly option in Goa,” a booking agent explains, adding, soberingly: “But where once there were hippies, now you’ll find nappies.”

Bangers and crash

It’s cooked more than 325,000 bangers since it opened in 1991, and to see out British Sausage Week (which finishes today), the Leeds boutique hotel 42 The Calls (theetoncollection.com; doubles from £120) presents a Gourmet Sausage Challenge. The first 10 guests who, by November 30, in one breakfast, devour each of its 12 local varieties, get another free night for two. Breakfast (again) is included — mercifully, it’s not obligatory.

Times recommends

• Travel advice Q&A: how the BA strikes will affect you
• Guidebook writers' London: the ultimate city guide
• Video: How to get fit for skiing