Just how easy is it to blow £1,000 on a weekend? Well, since you ask it is frighteningly easy - especially on the web. But don't get any delusions of grandeur about flying first class. For example, an Upper Class return to New York on Virgin Atlantic typically costs just under £4,000. But a grand will buy you rooms in some of the world's most enjoyable hotels. Try visiting Luxury Hotels of the World for ideas.
Four days at the Four Seasons Hotel, New York
Those with plenty to spend should go straight to Unmissable.com: its holidays can cost as much as an obscene £166,000 (that's for the hire of a yacht to sail around Antigua). It makes £1,040 for a long weekend in New York look positively cheap. Flights are included, fortunately.
Three days' hire of Dundas Castle in Scotland
The castle actually costs £5,000 to hire in total, but assuming that you happen to have four or five equally wealthy friends available at the time, you should be able to club together without too much difficulty. A private staff together with a thousand-acre estate will be at your disposal.
Two nights at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
With a superior room (£395 at the weekend) and two nights spent sampling the seven-course Menu Gourmand (£89) within your price range, you could take a partner to Raymond Blanc's two Michelin-starred Oxfordshire retreat for two nights and still have £32 left to put towards the cost of petrol.
A master suite at La Posta Vecchia, Rome
Current exchange rates mean that the room will set you back £767. Go has returns to Rome from £120, which leaves more than £100 to spend at Prada.
Three nights at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbellini, Lake Como, Italy
The price of a stay at this 18th-century hotel, with a private beach, two pools and a spa, varies between £855 and £980. It includes flights.
A night in the Coco Chanel suite at the Paris Ritz
A night in one of the Ritz's 10 "named apartments" costs at least Fr9,300 per night. (As well as Coco's, which overlooks the Place Vendme, there are rooms associated with the Duke of Windsor, Hemingway, and Proust.) That leaves you about £70 to spend on the Leisure Apex Return on Eurostar. Alternatively, you could stay at one of the Crillon's deluxe suites, which will cost about the same amount.
Two nights in Dubai
Flying to the United Arab Emirates takes about seven hours, and flynow.com has weekend returns in May for £410. The cheapest rooms at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel resort which resembles a 100-metre-high, 300 metre-long wave, cost £265 per night, leaving £60 to cover your bar bill.
Email Ros Taylor at ros.taylor@theguardian.com.
