Thirst, 53 Greek Street, Soho, London

Compact, dark and throbbing bar with a small dance area downstairs playing repetitive funky house. Don't try asking for Abba, as a sign above the turntables says 'No Requests'. Frequented by a cosmopolitan mix of sexually-charged punters in their early to mid-thirties, including eastern Europeans, south Asians and the odd punk. Drinks are pricey at about £3.50 for a bottle of beer and £2 for a bottle of fizzy water. There is also a lavatory attendant on the look out for tips and there can be an entrance charge after 10pm. Still, Thirst, open until 3am, does decent canapes for a private party and it has a friendly and inclusive vibe. 7/10

Virgin Upper Class, Nairobi to London

At Nairobi airport, your Upper Class ticket entitles you to use the 'premium' lounge, which Virgin shares with other airlines. It is pretty basic. There is one slow Internet terminal, lots of sofas, some meagre snacks, a narrow selection of drinks, the odd newspaper, a couple of TVs showing CNN and some very ugly chandeliers. The cafe near gate 14 has better food, better decor and you get a view of the military helicopters parked on the runway. At the gate, you have to go through security a further two times, but Upper Class passengers can jump the queue and the Kenyan airport staff are very helpful and friendly.

Hotel Serena, Kenyatta Avenue, Nairobi, Kenya

The kind of smart, upmarket hotel that makes it far too easy to forget that there are people living in squalid slums across much of this city. The fittings and furniture, mostly made out of a dark wood, are plush, while the rooms are large and comfortable. The upper floors even have a nice view of a tree-lined avenue leading up to Nairobi's shiny business district. Although some of the kit, such as the showers and the TVs, is a bit dated and temperamental, there is WiFi and complementary fruit, wine and a welcome drink. The Serena also has extensive, well-tended gardens and an abundance of friendly, laid-back staff. Service is leisurely, forcing you to unwind and slow down, so order food and drinks well before you get hungry and thirsty. For 'fast' food, such as burgers, pasta and sandwiches, head for the tables around the pool, but the very large cheese and bacon burger can be tepid and dry, while the accompanying chips are too salty. Still, this is a chilled-out spot to have one of the excellent and filling mango, banana or other tropical fruit smoothies. And the evening buffet in the restaurant has a wide selection of decent food. Particularly flavoursome are the Indian dishes, such as the prawn tikka masala. All in all, a good hotel, but, at $350 a night, the Serena is also expensive and highly indulgent by Kenyan standards. Like most international hotels in the developing world, guests, of course, occupy a bubble, heavily-insulated from real life in the surrounding city. 6/10

British Airways, World Traveller Plus, London Heathrow to Nairobi

Closer to economy than business class, World Traveller Plus essentially means more food and drinks, wider seats and greater legroom than economy. The main meal is served on one tray and includes a starter, such as a mackerel salad, a choice of two main courses, such as a spicy and tasty chicken tagine, and a fairly-appetising pudding in a supermarket-style plastic pot. With your meal, you get a miniature bottle of wine, which is just about drinkable. There are also free soft drinks and beer, newspapers, night bags, blankets and miniature pillows.

But getting any sleep on this eight-hour flight is tough as the seats don't recline very far and you end up lying on your back. In any case, the breakfast service wakes you up about an hour before you land, which is too early given it only takes 10 minutes to eat. You might get five grapes in a plastic bag, a cheese and cucumber croissant, a cranberry yoghurt drink and some coffee. At Nairobi, you leave the plane ahead of the economy passengers, enabling you to get near the front of the fairly fluid visa and passport queues. But baggage reclaim is slow and will probably take the best part of an hour. There are plenty of cabs and it only costs about $20 to take the 45 minute ride into town. 5/10

Hatchlands Park, East Clandon, Guildford, Surrey

A large and handsome 18th century red-brick mansion containing an extraordinary collection of antique harpsichords and early pianos, associated with great composers, such as Chopin. These beautiful instruments, together with a jumble of furniture and paintings, are arranged almost haphazardly around the few downstairs rooms that are open to the public. Hatchlands' owners still use some of these rooms - the lounge has a modern phone, TV and recent family snaps - and the fireplaces sometimes contain last night's embers. Four walks, ranging from 30 minutes to two hours, are laid out through the rolling parkland and woodland that surrounds the house. There is also an atmospheric cafe, serving tea, cakes, jacket potatoes and other snacks, housed in the original kitchen, which still has many of its period fittings, including a framed poster of the strict rules Hatchlands' domestic staff had to follow. Run by the National Trust, admission to the house and grounds is a reasonable £6.60. 7/10

Heathrow Express, London

This is the best way to escape Heathrow, but Paddington station, the terminus in central London, isn't very convenient for the West End or the City. At Heathrow, there is a station close to terminal 4, but the station for terminals 1,2,3 is at least a 10-minute walk from Departures and Arrivals. On board, you have to sit through a series of very loud announcements. To avoid the chattering television screens, you need to find the 'quiet' carriage. Still, the trains go every 15 minutes, you always get a seat and it takes less than 20 minutes to get to Paddington. A standard single is £15.50 if you buy a ticket from the machines or you can pay £17.50 on board. You can stump up an additional tenner for first class, where there is more space, complementary newspapers and tables to work at. But it is hardly worth the extra for such a short journey. 6/10

Empire Hotel, Midtown, Manhattan, New York

Well-located near Central Park, the Empire Hotel overlooks a busy junction where drivers hoot their horns well into the evening. Inside, there is an unrelenting succession of gold and brown furnishing and fittings, including large gold curtains in the lobby and brown wallpaper, decorated with silver trees, in the corridors. The bedrooms continue the ostentatious theme with mock tiger-skin arm chairs, big flat-screen televisions and large star-shaped mirrors, but they are very compact given the $500 plus room rate. There don't seem to be any instructions in the room, so you spend a fair bit of time figuring how to turn on lamps or ring reception. Eventually, you might discover there is fast, free WiFi and plenty of other amenities available, such as an iron and razors, but housekeeping can be sluggish bringing them. In the morning, you get a basic buffet breakfast of pastries, coffee and fruit juice in a spartan dining room with no place settings. 5/10

Taxi ride, JFK Airport to Manhattan, New York

On leaving JFK, be wary. As you come out of arrivals, guys in suits might try to lead you away from the taxi rank. They may claim there is a taxi strike on and entice you into one of their 'limos' for a one-way fare to Manhattan of more than $80. The flat rate fare in a genuine yellow licensed cab is $45 plus $4 toll and tip, which is good value considering the traffic in and out of Manhattan is usually appalling and it can take 90 minutes to get to or from JFK. But the taxi drivers, who are generally taciturn, don't provide much in the way of conversation to take your mind off the brake lights in front. 5/10