Flashbacks and fear on an ageing plane

Floating houses in Ha Long Bay have profited from modernity For white sand between your toes and away-from-it-all desert island seclusion, you can't do better than this. "Haute-couture Robinson Crusoe" is how co-architect Silvio Rech describes the North Island resort of 11 sleek , beachfront villas on a 3km-long Seychellois island, accessible only by helicopter. Newly weds Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge booked the whole island for their secret honeymoon last spring, at a cost of US$700,000 (Dh2.5m).
For those on a smaller budget, there are 10 individual 450-sq-m huts built from reclaimed wood and refurbished in designer colonial style, with four-poster beds swathed in white cotton, indoor-outdoor living spaces on beachside decks, white marshmallow-like daybeds and private plunge pools. The most exclusive is Villa 11, a vast designer dream created especially for honeymooners on the incline of Anse d'Est Beach.
Mingle with fellow desert islanders at the "piazza", with its 45-metre pool, dive centre, spa and dining terraces, hosted by your own Man Friday, one of the impeccably turned out and barefoot staff. Tour the island on bike or buggy - the island's indigenous ecosystem, created when the resort was built, doesn't forsake five-star mod-cons such as air-conditioning, electric buggies and Wi-Fi.North Island Villas (www.north-island.com; 00 248 4 293 100) cost €2,115 (Dh11,152) per person per night, including all food, most beverages, scuba diving, snorkelling, mountain biking, kayaking, guided walks, a half-day fishing trip and taxes. Excludes helicopter transfers.
Northern Laikipia, Kenya
The sights and sounds of an African wilderness, home to more than 260 birds and 50 animal species, beckon guests at Loisaba Lodge in Northern Laikipia, Kenya (on the cover). Gaze across the Laikipia plateau at Mount Kenya, laze in the lodge's infinity pool, and spot elephants, zebras and lions at the watering hole from your private deck, but for the most wildly romantic experience, spend a night in a Loisaba "starbed". Friendly Samburu staff wheel beds out from under palm-thatches on platforms three metres above ground and 30m apart, ensuring total privacy in super-comfortable beds beneath vast skies, but well beyond the reach of the wildlife below.
Two camps containing four starbeds are a half-hour drive from Loisaba's 24,695-hectare ranch and game sanctuary, home to a seven-bedroom lodge, a private house and cottage, and where game drives, walks and camel and horse rides can be arranged for wildlife sightings.
Starbeds and doubles at Loisaba Lodge (www.loisaba.com) cost from $390 (Dh1,432) per person, per night (minimum two-night stay), full board, including transfers, game drives and bush walks. Honeymooners get a complimentary Jacuzzi experience and private dinner. Book through www.chelipeacock.com. Starbeds are not available in November.
Venice
You can sail into Venice, feted as one of the world's most romantic cities, by private boat direct from the quay at Marco Polo Airport and arrive in the mood for Carnevale, with its extravagant costumesand famous masked balls held in palaces along the Grand Canal (in February).
After a hard night's dancing, rest weary bodies at Palazzina Grassi, an aristocratic 15th-century palazzo and Italy's first Philippe Starck-designed hotel that merges ancient palace with creature comforts in lounges with eclectic designer chairs, modern Venini glass lamps and Doric columns, and mirrored walls with white leather sofas in all-white suites. Wander its smart residential district of narrow calle (alleys) where Casanova once lived and Venetian nobles still reside. A six-minute Vaporetto ride takes you to the acrobats, jugglers and masked masses animating St Mark's Square and Casanova hangout, Harry's Bar. Follow in the footsteps of the renowned lover on PG's private tours of secret Venice, or by arranging to dine at the home of a countess. The hotel has 15 rooms in the main building and six suite apartments adjoining, three with direct canal views. Book suite 201 for floor-to-ceiling canal views or, for total privacy, hire a suite-apartment in the building Johnny Depp lived in during the filming of The Tourist.
Doubles rooms at Palazzina Grassi cost from €320 (Dh1,659) per night, excluding breakfast. Two-night honeymoon packages cost from €1,431 (Dh7,510) in a suite, including breakfast, transfers, dinner, a Sunset Love Tour and late check out (www.palazzinagrassi.it; 00 39 041 528 4644). The carnival runs from February 11-21. To book gala dinner dances and masked balls, visit www.venice-carnival-italy.com (from €250 [Dh1,296] a ticket).