Introduction

Some years are better than others. Someone tells me about a hotel over dinner, or I pick up a random rumour and - very rarely - it hooks me. It sounds right, so I ask to see some photos, and maybe it looks right (often it doesn't - hotel pictures are notoriously awful, even the ones you get from the most stylish hotels). So I get out the map, stick my finger on it and hope against hope. Most of the time I'll find that I've got a corker or two amid a smattering of averages: a one-off doing something secretly brilliant, a little nook with a big vision, a place that's impressive in its ambition or delightful in its detail. As long as I've got a few, I'm fine. And then some years, like this one, it's different. They just keep on coming. Round this corner, a firecracker; up this hill, something majestic; in the wild, a marvel. They're more independent than before, more adventurous, more inspiring. The collective imagination seems to be letting rip - and in the most unchartered territories. So it's with great pleasure that we unleash the Travel Guide 2009, generously sponsored by Africa Travel. It's a beast, but a beauty, a happy, shiny penny on an otherwise rainy day.

Melinda Stevens, travel editor

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Beach chicBottle rocketsFar-out adventuresFinal frontiersHappy familiesHideawaysHop, skip, jumpHotel of the yearKnock-your-socks-offPalace in wonderlandPretty little thingsSmartypantsWild onesWord of mouth view all