Lap of luxury on Skye
It never ceases to amaze me how many entrepreneurs decorate these shores with cool places to stay. Skeabost (Norse for sheltered house or haven) on Skye is a 19th-century shooting lodge whose location is steeped in ancient lore. A guesthouse in the 1950s, it had also been home to one Duncan Macleod, supplier of fine amber liquid to prohibition-era America. Now it is owned by Helen Myers, former blues festival organiser, who has remodelled the place, restoring the Scots pine panelling, installing huge freestanding baths and fashioning 17 rooms and suites individually adorned in pale under-statement or sumptuous shades. Add in a billiard room, panelled restaurant, challenging nine-hole golf course and salmon and trout fishing for a near-perfect getaway. All that's missing is access to Ms Myers' CD collection.
Double rooms from £150 per night D,B&B. Suites from £340 to £390 in Macdonald (pictured); 01470 532202, skeabostcountryhouse.com.
Late summer sails in Croatia
It's not often you can put travel brochure and smart in the same sentence. But that's exactly what new company Sail Croatia (020-7751 9988, sailcroatia.net) has achieved with the graphic red and white of its logo and a matt navy cover.
In fact the whole outfit, which launched its chartered yachting holidays this summer, is rather stylish - the itineraries are tailor-made by Olympic rower Luka Grubor and offered on a selection of sleekly appointed 35ft to 50ft Beneteau and Janneau yachts. Whether you want cosmopolitan marinas and clubbing or remote anchorages and rugged wilderness he knows where to go. Sailing enthusiasts can go it alone and novices can take a skipper. One week on a skippered 40ft craft sleeping from six to nine costs £2,000 (£222 to £333pp) including transfers; with flights around £225 extra. There's just time to book a last-minute week on the waves (season ends in October).
Leafing through the Lake District
Why schlep to New England for the fall when the Lake District is on the doorstep. Cute self-catering cottages converted from stable buildings behind 200-year-old house Longlands (015395 36475, www.cartmel.com) in Cartmel, Cumbria, could be the perfect base. All nine are furnished with antique pieces but the action really takes place outside where Hampsfell rises steeply. You have the run of the kitchen garden (courgettes, leeks etc) and fabulous local produce can be delivered. From £350 per week this week, £290 in October, weekend breaks from November.
Dashi of style for railway food
Soon every station could have a Dashi. In 2001, seafood wholesaler Steve Downey and former Tokyo-based and ex-Livebait head chef Brigit Chick decided to improve railway food when they opened their first branch of Dashi at Bristol Temple Meads station. This year they opened in Bath. Both dish up steaming mugs of miso with seaweed, sushi and chicken or salmon teriyaki. Prices start at £3.99. Next stops will be Reading and Oxford. How about getting this stuff on the trains, too?
Fair play to Manchester
Manchester Tart might be a signature dish on its menu, but cool city eaterie Obsidian (0161-238 4348) on Princess Street has a female-friendly policy. Anyone wishing to hang out at the bar is invited to book in advance. This is to ensure female fans of its cocktails don't find themselves fighting through a sea of beer-swilling suits who just who just lurched in off the street. Could more places think about us like this, please?
It's hard enough finding adult swimwear once summer's over, let alone kids' stuff. The mail order selection by Samantha Sage (0870 6088988, sagesarong.co.uk) now includes a range for girls aged three up to eight.
