He cannot be serious

Bit of a coup for the high heid yins at the Scottish Tourist Board, getting Andy Murray to recommend the most inspiring sights across his native land. The dramatic seascapes of the Western Isles, maybe, or Castle Rock by night? Nope – he’s gone for the Hard Rock cafe, Easter Road stadium and a go-karting centre. He’s doing it on purpose, isn’t he?

Two fat ladies

When Americans do a theme, they do it properly. On 8/8/08, the Stratosphere hotel in Las Vegas will marry 88 couples in a mass ceremony on the level108 observation deck at 8.08am, charging each one $8.88 for the privilege. We called them to see how many people have booked up so far – eight, we suspect – but nobody was in. (Well, they’re eight hours behind.) Always eager to join in, we wanted this item to contain precisely 88 words, but that would mean stopping before we got to the

Work those calves

The Yang Sing Oriental (pictured above; 0161 880 0188, doubles from £175), which launches in Manchester next week, should be a Chinese cracker. Created in a restored 1890s cotton warehouse by local bigwig restaurateur Gerry Yeung, it’s fearfully hip – hydraulic tables in the bar, custom-designed sandalwood scent wafting from the aircon, and a reception desk hacked from the building’s original timbers by the chainsaw artist Mick Burns. Best of all, they’re importing a fleet of rickshaws to ferry guests about – not the naff copies you get in London, but the real thing, direct from Beijing. Now all they need is the drivers. “Rickshaw experience isn’t necessary,” says Yeung. “But you’ll need great leg muscles.”

Rampant corruption

Journalists are offered many tempting freebies and blandishments, which this column scrupulously rises above. We’re not sure the new website Travel.co.uk has quite got the hang of it, though. It’s brazenly offering £100 in Harvey Nicks vouchers to hacks who don't think its site cuts the mustard. Er, have they got that right? “It’s to reiterate that we offer a great shopping experience,” they tell us, a little confusingly. We’re normally models of integrity, but, hmm, Harvey Nicks... okay, then. The site is absolute rubbish. Stick the vouchers in the post, would you?

Ode to a Hoover

They’re clearly shaping up to have a whale of a time at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, which continues all this week. Of almost 1,000 entries to its annual competition, more than 33% deal with “death, decay, despair and disillusionment”, while a paltry 9% are about love. We might go, just to hear the 0.15% that were about “domestic chores”.