At the far western end of the Isle of Wight, close to the Needles and Tennyson Down, there is the Sentry Mead Hotel. It's a relaxed and friendly, owner-managed, licensed hotel in a Victorian villa directly opposite Totland Bay, which faces onto the Solent.

The house blends smoothly into its well-tended garden via a conservatory and terrace, and all these are great places to enjoy a drink or a snack, or even to bring back a take-away for an easy evening meal.

The hotel is pet-friendly and also ideal for cyclists, with a special store for guests who bring their own bike. Both north and south coasts of the island are within easy reach, with The Needles, Freshwater Bay and the military road being most notable.

Situated on a hilltop, surrounded by avocado, mango and bamboo plantations, Casa Bambu offers a magnificent panorama and spectacular views of the Costa del Sol. The landscaped grounds include large terraces, an outdoor bar area and an ample swimming pool.

The accommodation comprises six studio apartments, all with the same levels of comfort and facilities, ranging from 17m² to 26m². In order to provide the most tranquil stay, Casa Bambu is dedicated exclusively to adult guests.

Fonda Llabrés was one of the first hotels in Alcudia, opened in 1957. After a recent refurbishment it is now a stunning boutique hotel with super-cool decor in the rooms and a magnificent rooftop terrace with sea views.

Brightness and elegance define each of the guest rooms. Designers Jaume Poma and Silvia Piris have sought a style of simple shapes, neutral colours with bright accents, parquet flooring and natural and lacquered woods. All rooms have air conditioning and heating, a smart TV, free WiFi, complimentary mineral water with daily replenishment, minibar, desk, safe and an en-suite shower room. Some also have a bathtub or whirlpool bath.

It has been a frustrating time of late for anyone with an urge to travel. We have tried to soften the blow a little with our virtual holidays on our Facebook page. We started with some island-hopping in the Caribbean and are continuing closer to home with a fantasy touring holiday around the South-West of England. Are you following us?

We'll continue with the fantasy until we get back to reality in May.

Our most recent blog offers some ideas for places to visit in the Westcountry. It's a big, big subject that we could write a book about, so we decided to pick a few places that may be a little less well-known.

We started with the Minack Theatre near Land's End, and then went even further west to the Isles of Scilly. Picking our way back we included a little-known spot on Dartmoor, Cheddar Gorge and finally Bath. OK, Bath is most definitely not "less well-known" but we enjoyed out visit there so much that we just had to include it.

Don't forget to see what else we have written about in our blogs.

For obvious reasons we have been giving much more emphasis to hotels in the UK in recent times. But that doesn't mean that we have abandoned our other destinations, like Spain, France, Italy and the Caribbean. is good reason to think that the UK government plan to allow English hotels to open from 17 May may also extend to the re-opening of international flights. We await more news on this with anticipation.

Obviously the rules in other countries will be down to the governments there. We are fairly confident though that the places with the greatest economic dependence on tourism will be the places that will be making the greatest efforts to get their hotels open for business. In the Canaries for instances, the local government made great efforts in 2020 to keep the islands open for visitors and we expect that to continue in 2021. While normally thought of as a winter destination, the Canaries are a great place in summer too so we think this will be an opportunity for many people who normally holiday in the summer to try out somewhere new.

By the same token, we expect to see the Balearics (Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza) and the Caribbean as some of the first places to open their doors.