What do you get the person who has everything? A little bit of luxury. Irelandhotels.com gift vouchers, valid for over 600 hotels in Ireland are available online.

The vouchers allow users to book all hotels, guesthouses and offers on Irelandhotels.com. Shoppers can choose to opt for a gift card and wallet option and have the card mailed out or the gift voucher can be instantly emailed. Vouchers are priced from €25 ($34).

Irelandhotels.com is the official website of the Irish Hotels Federation and offers guests the widest choice of accommodation in Ireland, featuring exclusive packages for top four and five-star hotels, stately country houses, luxurious castles and homely guesthouses. They have a special offers section, giving instant access to the very latest hotel deals across the country and visitors can also choose from an enormous range of great value packages for Christmas, New Year's, weekends away, family breaks, spa and over 55’s breaks.
 
The hotel federation has done some research for their clients and provides a word of warning about buying travel breaks for women. Recent research by British Airways into women’s attitude to surprise travel unearthed some strange results:
 
• On the one hand, women may claim that they desire spontaneity from their man…

• But on the other hand, they owned up to wanting eight days’ notice of any “surprise” trip (7 days and eleven hours to be precise).

• Three out of five women in the survey confessed to hating surprises and a third said they would hate it if their partner suddenly sprang a short break on them.
 
Why women need notice of “surprise travel”…
 
• Of 2,000 women surveyed, the typical woman wanted to make at least three shopping trips before the break.

• A fifth of those who had been whisked away felt that their enjoyment had been affected because they were not given enough notice.

• Necessary activities before leaving home included planning outfits, packing, sorting out work and canceling other arrangements.

• Women said at least nine outfits were needed for a short break. One in four said forgetting something in the hurry to leave had spoiled their time away

Some really important insights from the research

• One in four said a romantic trip away “just wouldn’t cross their partner’s mind.”

• The average woman is treated to just two romantic trips from their partner during the course of a relationship.

• The enjoyment of going away is drastically enhanced if they feel they have been given enough time to get excited.
 
In a nutshell…

• Sophie Bailey, 33, from Southampton, was whisked away to Morocco by her boyfriend – here’s what she said:
 
“It was a really sweet idea to celebrate our first year together, but really I hated it.”

“He packed my bags so I had all the wrong clothes and my hair straighteners had been left behind.”

“I had to grin and bear it because the trip showed he cared, but it was awful.”
 
Some really important insights from the research

• First of all, men don’t buy gifts for truly altruistic reasons – they make a purchase based on their perceived need to oil the wheels of the relationship…and they know to their cost how cool things can become when they get it wrong.

• Men stand to gain if they can nail two key issues:

- They need to come across as thoughtful, spontaneous and romantic.
- But without any nasty surprises.
 
You can be spontaneous as long as she can plan it.