He may be British, but agent 007 James Bond loves to visit the USA, and you too can enjoy some typical Bond glamor, gadgets and adrenaline. Cuddle up in a gondola, wrestle wild beasts, dodge dangerous villains and rest up at hotels served with a slice of double-o decadence. All guaranteed to leave you shaken with pleasure and stirred for another day of action.

Hit the Florida Everglades for some Live and Let Die thrills on an airboat ride to see alligators, turtles, snakes and exotic birds, with the help of your professional guide. The tour continues at a wildlife show, where you can hold a baby gator and see slithery snakes, then relax on the Biscayne Bay boat for a cruise alongside celebrity speckled islands. Impress your Bond boy/girl with some in-room dining at the Hyatt Regency Miami, on the scenic Miami River, then slink to the heated outdoor swimming pool to gaze up at the city lights. You won’t need Solitaire’s tarot cards to tell you what happens next.

You don’t need to jet off to Italy for a romantic Bond style rendezvous when the Las Vegas Gondola tour has everything you need and more. Impress your date by introducing them to more than 100 of your closest celebrity pals at Madame Tussaud’s wax works - and they’re always happy to pose for a photo with you. Then slip into an authentic gondola for a ride down the Grand Canal to your lunch destination. Make eyes and suggestive corny jokes over Italian cuisine at Zeffirino’s. You may want a roll of the dice or a cocktail by the pool before heading back to your room at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino where suites have canopy draped king size beds. If you’re up for some Bondesque action the next day, you can conquor the climbing wall and reward yourself with a spa session, rated one of the best in the USA by Conde Nast Traveler magazine.

Before super spies packed Walther PKK pistols and cruised around in Aston Martins, all the villianous action took place around a speakeasy dinner show at Tommy Gun’s Garage in Chicago. Now you can enter the den of roaring twenties gangsters, complete with Model A Ford car, machine gun fire and dancing ‘molls’ as you eat a hearty dinner… but keep a low profile or you might be pulled on stage for some audience participation! Keep your cover at the Mediterranean themed Raffaello Hotel and enjoy one of Bond’s favourite pastimes — room service breakfast dressed in a luxury bathrobe.

You’ll never look at an umbrella the same again after the Washington DC Spy tour, with admission to the International Spy museum. You’ll be briefed for an interactive mission by high level M-types, who use video and trade secrets to prepare you for the 25 sites tour around the capital. Afterwards, use your VIP admission to investigate over 200 spy gadgets that would have Q in a lather, and eavesdrop on some spy tales. Muse over your intel at The Fairmont Hotel’s luxurious Gold Floor, with its exclusive lounge offering complimentary breakfast, bar, and evening hors d’oeuvres.

Like to do more with your holiday break than lounging around at home in your pyjamas, but don’t want an exhausting sight-seeing experience, bouncing from photo-opportunity A to souvenier shop Z and everything in between? Nothing wrong with that. In fact, we love those lazy kind of holidays. 

Sure it’s great to explore a new destination, but sometimes it’s nice to spend time loitering around your hotel.  Forget the sights – buy a postcard -and check out these holidays in your hotel – NZ style.

The Westin Auckland Lighter Quay hotel is a great place to give your body, mind and soul a break. Check in and kick back, go for a jog using a mapped track around Auckland harbour, or use the Westin Workout gym and pool. Have lunch outside at Toast Cafe, then spend the afternoon at their Senses Spa and Wellness Centre for a wide range of spa and beauty treatments. Relaxed and refreshed, enjoy an elegant dinner at Q restaurant followed by a Westin Heavenly Bed experience. Now do you see what we’re talking about?

You can stay in a cottage at Kauri Cliffs Lodge with his and hers walk-in wardrobes, private veranda backing onto native NZ forest and views over the golf course to the Pacific Ocean. Enjoy the entertainment of the main building’s games room, dining room fireplace, spa and heated pool. And when you need a stretch you’ll find walking tracks, three private beaches, tennis courts, and kayaking to work up an appetite for the a la carte dining at the Lodge.

You’ll need an explosion of energy just like the nearby volcano of Mt Ruapehu to get through all the activities and facilities at the Bayview Château Tongariro. Everything from petanque/boules, snooker and tennis to golf on the highest course in NZ with spectacular Mt Ruapehu as a backdrop. Relax with a visit to the bar and restaurant, and finish the evening with a flick at the hotel’s on-site cinema, which shows three recent release movies each night.

A hotel that’s huggable? Well, the complimentary bear provided by The George Hotel in Christchurch is there to welcome you. Within its walls, this hotel is full of entertainment and the one-to-one ratio of staff to guests ensures attentive service. Use the gym or mountain bikes for a ride in nearby Hagley Park, then come back for a cocktail, followed by a special dinner at the award-winning Pescatore restaurant. Head back to your room and curl up with your favourite bear or bearette.

They say you should never work with kids and animals. We say, who said anything about working? With the school holidays just around the corner you’re going to need something special to keep those impatient little people entertained. What better way than to introduce them to a few of their favourite cute, cuddly, slippery and scary four-legged and no-legged friends? When you stay at a family-friendly hotel with kids entertainment and facilities such as babysitting services and special rooms with toys, it makes the purrrr-fect holiday for all members of the pride.

The family that plays together, stays together, and there’s no better way than on a Tangalooma Dolphin Adventure Day Tour ex Brisbane. After a cruise from Pinkenba to Tangalooma resort, you and the kids can enjoy a day of sand tobogganing, buffet lunching and more than 30 free activities. Your mini-marine biologists even get to feed wild dolphins and learn about dolphin behaviour at the Marine Education and Conservation Centre. The fun doesn’t stop at the Best Western Metropole Hotel and Apartments with its swimming pool and close proximity to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

The day comes when every parent must answer that dreaded question, “Mum, dad, can I have a pony?” Well, we’ve found you the perfect get out of jail card solution – a Pony for a Day tour at Wooroloo, an hour’s drive from Perth. You’ll learn the basics of safety, grooming and saddling up before a morning bushland trail ride to your family’s level of riding prowess. After bonding together over a farmstyle lunch, your pint sized posse heads out for more horsing around before returning to the farm to groom and feed your steeds. Bed down for the night at the practical, popular and kid-proof Esplanade River Suites near the Swan River.

Waddle it be? There’s something for everyone on the Phillip Island Penguin Parade day tour, starting in Gippsland with a winery visit (that’s for the parents!), then to a fauna park where you follow a guide who tells you all about the kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils and much more. Then onto Phillip Island to wander the scenic boardwalks until sunset, when the world’s smallest penguins march to the beach in an irresistable Penguin Parade. Savor the ocean air at the Novotel St Kilda – a seaside sojourn that has family rooms, safe play areas and special kid’s menus.

Go exploring on a guided 4WD Wildlife Discovery Tour in the Blue Mountains, starting off with a morning tea surrounded by kangaroos, parrots and cockatoos, followed by sightseeing of cliffs and canyons. The kids will munch up the country lunch at an Aussie homestead and look forward to a photoshoot with a koala. Enjoy some privacy at the Swissôtel Sydney with an adjoining room for the kids. They’ll love the décor, toys and special DVD menu for their entertainment.

Canberra and kids go hand-in-hand on a visit to the National Zoo and Aquarium. You’ll get wide-eyes and giggles when the kids get to feel a python’s skin, let brown bears lick honey from their fingertips and hear the roar of a Sumatran tiger leaping for lunch. Once those heart-pounding squeals of delight and awe have faded, everyone can sleep easy at the Novotel Canberra in the centre of town. Or book a babysitting service and head out for a well-deserved dinner.

It’s bubble, bubble toil and trouble for star-crossed lovers on our latest New Zealand hotels concoction. A dash of mischief, a dollop of scary thrills, lashings of love —and a few glasses of champers — are a magical mix when Friday the 13^th and Valentine’s Day weekend coincide.

An underworld exploration of the Waitomo Caves is the perfect place to snuggle up close in the dark as the boat drifts under a star-scape of glowworms. A two-minute walk away is the Kiwi Paka Waitomo offering basic accommodation for budget minded travellers.

Escaping through your wardrobe is exotic, fun and frightening when it leads to a stroll though the dense forests and craggy rocks of Narnia, surrounding the White Witch’s camp at Woodhill Forest, an hour’s drive north-west of Auckland. Then ease back to reality in your spa-whirlpool at the Stamford Plaza Auckland, followed by a chic cocktail at the Knight’s lobby bar.

Get dark and bubbly with a visit to Rotorua’s Hell’s Gate Reserve, or the Black Gate of Mordor in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Then make like a pair of hobbits back to the Sudima Hotel Lake Rotorua, tantalizingly close to the Polynesian Spa voted by readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine 2004-2007 as one of the Top Ten world spas. Ahh, the precious!

Creep about in Larnach Castle, Dunedin, the only castle in New Zealand, discovering its tragic history since 1871. For those who prefer warm bodies in their bed, the nearby Visitors Centre houses guests and offers a Scottish themed breakfast in the stables, and the opportunity to dine in the castle itself.