Destination: Dubai (pictured)
Who goes there? Airline crews on all-expenses-paid stopovers, Arab princes in search of fun, jet-lagged tourists en route to Australia. Where should you strut your stuff? The exclusive Burj Al Arab Hotel - the one perched on its own private island, which features on Dubai numberplates. Casual visitors to this stunning tower, which rises from the Arabian Gulf, are deterred by the need to book and pay in advance for a meal at this seven-starred property. You'll be shopping, of course - and the brand new Mercato mall along the road in Jumeirah is the place to be: the first Italian Renaissance shopping experience in the Gulf, with top labels at bargain prices. What to avoid? The Jumeirah Beach hotel, right next door to the Burj Al Arab - despite the six-star rating, it feels like a package-holiday venue.
Glam or sham? Glam
Destination: St Tropez
Who goes there? 'You did what? Flew on easyJet? My dear, that's so last year.' Ideally, you should converge on this over-the-top Mediterranean hangout aboard your private yacht or, failing that, fly in on the Airbus with leather seats, from Gatwick to Toulon on GB Airways. It's a quick half-hour along the coast to St Tropez, unless you have your own helicopter. Once you land in St Tropez, you'll meet people with more money than sensitivity for preserving a quaint French port. Where should you strut your stuff? Down by the harbour, along the Millionaires' Row of super-yachts. After dark, in the restaurants of the old quarter, nibbling at a salade Nicoise. What to avoid? Topless is de rigueur, but stop right there.
Glam or sham? Sham
Destination: Antigua
Who goes there? In winter, rich people escaping the gloom. In summer, poor people who weren't warned about the oppressive heat. Where should you strut your stuff? English Harbour, where the yachties moor as part of their Caribbean meanderings. Hang around the bar at the Inn at English Harbour long enough and if you're convincing about your maritime prowess, you could score a crew berth on board and drift around a few more islands. What to avoid? Club Antigua, a huge all-inclusive on the west coast.
Glam or sham? The handbag.com rating:
(in winter) Glam
(in summer) Sham
Destination: Essaouira, Morocco
Who goes there? It used to be the hippie hangout for Hendrix and co (ask a grandparent), but now this sublime port on Morocco's Atlantic coast is a favourite with the Paris fashion set and trendy US designers in search of inspiration. Where should you strut your stuff? Anywhere in the old town, where new cafés are opening all the time, many in beautiful mansions, where you sit around on cushions discussing poetry or Prada. What to avoid? Alcohol. Although booze of all descriptions is openly on sale, the drink to be seen with is mint tea.
Glam or sham? Glam
Destination: Copacabana, Rio
Who goes there? Billionaires and babes, film stars and fashion photographers. Actually, that's a lie. Copacabana is one of those places celebrated mainly by people who haven't been there. The beach that curls deliciously south of the centre of Rio is superb, but on it you will mainly encounter(a) litter, (b) frenetic games of football and (c) petty criminals. Where should you strut your stuff? Ipanema, further south, is a bit less tacky and the transvestite quotient is extraordinary, too. What to avoid? Taking anything (or anyone) you really can't afford to lose.
Glam or sham? Sham
