The eight cabanas are built in the local style with wooden floors and thatched roofs. Five are perched right on the beach overlooking the beautiful Habaneros Bay, and the other three are set in the verdant jungle that surrounds the hotel. The hotel, which opens its doors to guests tomorrow, is only accessible by boat and is located 11 miles north of the island's main town, San Pedro. The hotel's owners say they wanted room rates that won't break the bank, while at the same time offering a relaxed and sophisticated place to play at being a castaway. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.Beached in BelizeBe thankful for those who are generous enough to share their own little corner of paradise with the rest of us. The paradise in question is Salamander, an eight-bedroom hideaway on the tiny Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize.

They will also have to throw a small cat among the pigeons and invent a complaint during their stay to see how it's are dealt with. All expenses incurred during the stay will be reimbursed with the exception of travel. To be considered, applicants must write 50 words explaining their previous experiences of luxury travel and hotels and what would make them worthy of administering the SLH seal of approval, emailing it to: inspectors slh. SLH is appealing to well-travelled Brits to get in touch and tell them why they should be picked to become one of its mystery inspectors. Volunteers get to stay incognito in the Small Luxury Hotels of their choice for one or two nights and test all aspects of the hotel's services, from breakfast, dinner and afternoon tea to the wines on offer and any spa, golf course or gym. After their stay, inspectors are required to fill out a comprehensive 26-page report, comprising 100 questions covering all aspects of a stay from the welcome they received to the service and state of the guest rooms.

And when I complete my sample chapters for "Women Who Love Classical Music Too Much", I'll know where to send them.. Found: one dream job Found: one dream job Like to live in the lap of luxury? Think you can tell the difference between 200-thread count Egyptian cotton and its lesser-threaded inferiors? Well then, Small Luxury Hotels would like to hear from you. It is recruiting anonymous inspectors to ensure its strict standards are adhered to by the 309 independent hotels that it represents in more than 50 countries. After all this housework, the novice listener may well be weary but he or she is forbidden to "stretch out on a bed".Classical Music Unbuttoned follows the no pain, no gain model in almost every respect except that of musical repertoire.

One might quibble at his "essential discography" (the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of Handel's Water Music being the strangest of several strange choices), or the way in which he discourages "analytical thinking", but Plotkin's canon is as good a grounding as any. The contact details and descriptions of international arts venues and organisations for the travelling music-lover are invaluable. He is, however, as pernickety as a hiphop diva on her first headline tour when it comes to creating the right environment for musical appreciation.Though Plotkin's own apartment, he tells us, is prey to a predictable urban soundtrack of sirens and squealing brakes, he abjures the use of headphones. Instead, all ticking, ringing or bleeping devices should be switched off or removed from the room, the lights dimmed and placed "to one side of your chair or behind it", and the curtains closed.