Travel trends

Distracting destinations: With the World Cup kicking off in June, 2014 is set to be all about Brazil. Beyond Rio, visit the melting pot of Bahia for its forested interior and stylish seaside resorts, and Ponta dos Ganchos in Santa Catarina for beachcombing and jungle roaming.

Mr & Mrs Smith predicts the southern states of America are on the up, so watch out for Austin's cool and the understated but sophisticated Zero George Street in Charleston.

Look east to Japan, the next cool kid on the block, which offers Claska in Tokyo, or Beniya Mukayu in Kanazawa. Don't neglect Sri Lanka - Mr & Mrs Smith website recommends Paradise Road Tintagel Colombo and Casa Colombo in the capital.

Hot hotels: The minimalist masterpiece that is Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland, Canada, is set to make waves on the hotel scene. It won Best Newcomer at the Smith Hotel Awards 2013 because of its soul-stirring location and incredible interiors.

This year, keep your eyes peeled for the opening of Grace Marrakech in Morocco, the Pig near Bath in Britain and Alila hotels in India (Alila Fort Bishangarh in Jaipur) and Oman (Alila Jabal Akhdar).

Delayed reaction: Delays to a journey are always a nuisance but travelers can now choose from a range of services designed to take the sting out of lengthy waits. In the Netherlands, VertragingsApp is an iOS app that offers readers short stories based on the length of their delay.

In Australia, Qantas Airways has created a range of books carefully selected to correspond with flying times.

Based on research that shows the average reader can finish about one page a minute, Stories For Every Journey is a collection of novels and non-fiction titles that are the perfect length to be enjoyed between take-off and landing (allowing breaks for meals, naps and bouts of leg-wiggling, of course).

Room service: Shaken and stirred. In 2013, the New York Hilton Midtown stopped offering breakfast in bed for the residents of its 1,980 rooms. Mr & Mrs Smith predict a fresh approach to in-room snacking from other hotels, too.

Public Chicago leaves a breakfast bag at your door and The Upper House has gone high-tech - guests can order from an iPod touch.

Reuters has not endorsed this list.

www.mrandmrssmith.com