HIP HOTELS: BUDJET

Herbert Ypma`s Hip Hotels series has become something of a contemporary classic in travel publishing, and Hip Hotels: Budget, the fourth and latest title, is no exception. The difference is that volumes France, City, and Escape exist, for most of us, simply to be drooled over rather than used on some modern-day equivalent of the Grand Tour; with Budget the concept of a luxurious and unusual hotel room becomes something a little more attainable. Featuring a diverse worldwide collection, Budget has something for everyone. For those who wish to stray off the beaten track, choose from the achingly exquisite Nilaya Hermitage "perched on top of a jungle peak in tropical Goa", the "hidden gem" of Waka Gangga in Bali, or The Prairie Hotel in the "back of beyond" that is the Australian bush (film buffs note: the Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel picture Holy Smoke was set here). City slickers will enjoy the ultra-cool, minimalist Advokat in Munich, the Art Deco delights of The Albion in Miami, or the funky, themed Hotel Pelirocco in Brighton, the UK`s "London-by the Sea". Swamped with 411 enticing colour photographs, Budget is much more than just an aspirational coffee-table book. And if you can persuade someone else to foot the (mostly) affordable bill for your hotel stay, so much the better. --Catherine Taylor