Lately I've been discovering that rather than cleaning the house on the weekend and battling crowds in Woolworths, it is far more enjoyable to walk away from it all and stay in a five star hotel for the weekend.

I know that sounds rather self-indulgent but if you do it once a month and book it through one of those 'mystery' deals on lastminute.com.au you don't have to be CEO material to be able to afford it.

Kate treated us to this one for my birthday last weekend and it was completely fantastic.

I've never swum in such an incredible swimming pool as this hotel had. It had a navy blue ceiling with 'twinkling stars' in it and that glassy water that you only ever see in travel brochures.

Anyway, to bring me to the real point of this post. My brother Stephen alerted me to the fact that Lonely Planet has started publishing an authoritative, non-commercial accommodation guide. He reckons it is "what the world has been waiting for". I agree with him… Google has NOT done a good job of weeding out the gazillions of commission-hungry online booking agents sites' that clutter up search results.

From this list I think the next hotel I'm going to have to try out for a weekend getaway is Doyle's Palace Hotel. They have a large 'swimming pool' right on the doorstep, and if you go out at night, there really are stars above.