The 5pm Dining blog learnt the hard way that buying his better half cigars for Christmas was unwise.
Avoid sleeping on the sofa by choosing carefully from the 5pm Christmas gift page.
Romantic getaway
There is a lot to be said for buying your partner a hotel mini-break. Not only is it a very romantic gift but the odds are high that he/she will choose to spend it with you. Everyone’s a winner.
£89 for a night in Duisdale Country House Hotel on Skye looks just the ticket. Skye is gorgeous at any time of year and whisking your nearest and dearest off to an actual island scores double in the romance stakes.
The offer includes breakfast and a glass of Champagne. Guests can upgrade to a four poster bedroom or one with a sea view. The hotel’s restaurant, which has won two AA Rosettes, looks spectacular.
There is also the option to have a two night stay for £169.
This blogger can also recommend the deal we have running with the Crinan Hotel in Crinan by Lochgilphead.
Looking across the water to Duntrune Castle and out to Jura, the hotel enjoys one of the most beautiful panoramas in Scotland.
Its location on the Argyll coast also means that its kitchens serve the freshest Scottish seafood.
It is £89 for an overnight bed and breakfast stay on the 5pm Christmas gifts page.
Take me out
As we noted, giving someone a short break means they are likely to take you with them. The same principle applies when you give someone the present of a meal in a restaurant.
The three Café Andaluz restaurants in Glasgow and Edinburgh are running a Christmas offer of five tapas to share between two diners along with a dessert each.
The Spanish tapas at the Café Andaluz restaurants are very popular on 5pm and sharing food with your partner always spices up a meal.
The offer is £20 for five tapas and two desserts between two.
Pamper present
Buying a pamper package for your partner is a canny move. Everybody likes a little pampering in their lives – especially in the early months of the year when the weather is unkind.
Fake Bake Hair & Beauty Boutique on West Regent Street in Glasgow city centre are offering a three treatment pamper package with a glass of wine.
The treatments are a refreshing facial; a stress-busting Indian head massage and a hot stone mini-massage.
The package is £29 and vouchers are valid until the 20th of February 2015.
Blend your own
If a pamper package is most likely to appeal to women then it seems reasonable to suppose that more blokes than women would appreciate a Master Blender distillery tour.
Glengoyne Distillery are offering a brilliant tour for £18.50 a head. As well as a behind the scenes look at this beautiful distillery, the tour includes a tasting of the Glengoyne 12 year old, Langs Select 12 year old blend and the award-winning 18 year old Highland Single Malt.
For many, the highlight of the tour will be making your own blended scotch whisky, which will be bottled for you to take home.
