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Raise your hand if you've ever been featured in a movie? No? Well unfortunately it's not many of us who get handpicked to appear in some of the world's most famous and influential movies ever made unless of course you're Brad Pitt or Dame Judi Dench. The same however, cannot be said for hotels for many a hotel across the globe has been made infinitely more famous due to it's appearance in a motion picture (or several).

The Bellagio Resort - Las Vegas, USA

The Bellagio is arguably the top luxury hotel to appear on film within the past decade and has been featured in a number of blockbusters such as Dodgeball, Knocked up and perhaps most notably the celebrity packed Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen. The Bellagio itself is a AAA 5 Diamond award winning hotel with nearly 4,000 guest rooms, the hotel is also famed for it's spectacular fountains, botanical garden and gallery of fine art.

La Mamounia - Marrakesh, Morocco

The Hotel La Mamounia in Marrakesh, arguably one of the most beautiful and luxurious hotels in the world and a favourite of the Late Winston Churchill and a hot spot among many modern day celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Orlando Bloom and Gwyneth Paltrow. The hotel featured in Alfred Hitchcock's big budget, intensely visual remake of his spy thriller, The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1956. The numerous refits over the hotel's splendid history have not robbed it of its charm and it still retains gorgeous period detailing and fittings and is undeniably glamorous. The most recent renovation by French Designer Jacques Garcia started in 2006, taking 3 years and touching all guest facilities while keeping the essence, flavour and architecture of the historical Mamounia. The hotel's seven acres of exotic gardens also featured, more recently in Oliver Stone's thrilling epic Alexander in 2004. Visit their site for more on Marrakech hotels.

The Park Hyatt - Tokyo, Japan

It could be argued that one of the biggest stars of Sophia Coppola's 2003 smash hit Lost in Translation was in fact The Park Hyatt hotel considering this is where the majority of the film was filmed. The Park Hyatt is a 5* luxury Hotel located within the centre of Tokyo, the hotel boasts impressive amenities and activities to guests including a spectacular spa and gymnasium and numourous shops and restaurants.

The Royal Lancaster Hotel - London, UK

London Hotels have been increasingly popular for the setting of motion pictures over recent decades. Perhaps one of the most famous scenes to have been filmed in a London Hotel was Michael Caine's "hiya Charlie" moment in The Italian Job in 1969 which took place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Bayswater, London. The Royal Lancaster is a 4* luxury hotel within what could be described as the perfect location, overlooking Hyde Park and just minutes away from attractions such as Oxford Street and The Royal Albert Hall.

These hotels were found on Octopus Travel which provides hotels all over the world.

Search for North East's Top Lollipop Person Nears Close

Kwik Fit Insurance are calling on all schools in the North East region to remember to nominate their Lollipop person for the 2009 Lollipop Person of the Year Awards, which close on Friday 30th October.

The North East winner from 2008 was Eric Allen from St Oswald's Primary School in Durham and time is running out for schools to get this year's entries in.

The 2009 competition is even bigger and better. Twelve regional winners from across the UK will receive GBP500 worth of holiday vouchers and each of the 12 schools will be awarded with GBP100 worth of book tokens. All winning regional entrants go forward with a chance to win the UK title, with GBP3,000 available to the winning school for new equipment and a holiday of a lifetime for the crossing patroller.

Brendan Devine, Group Managing Director of Kwik Fit Financial Services said: "We have had some fantastic entries already this year for the competition and time is running out for schools to get involved. There are unsung heroes all over the UK helping our children to and from school safely and I want to put out the message today that it's not too late for schools across the North East region to nominate!"

Lorraine Kelly, who has been an ambassador for the campaign for the past 2 years, said: "The Lollipop Person of the Year Awards is a real heart-warming way of recognising the wonderful job our lollipop people do every day to make Britain's roads safer for our children."

"This year the competition is bigger than ever before, with schools from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland all having the opportunity to show how their lollipop person makes a real difference to their journey to school. We want kids, teachers and parents alike to show their support for their local lollipop person and get voting!"

Pupils are encouraged to send in stories, poems, drawings and videos to the panel of judges either by post or via the competition website at http://www.bestlollipop.co.uk.

Kwik Fit Financial Services was launched in 1995 and has grown to become one of the UK's leading motor insurance distributors, Operating as an insurance broker, our core product is car insurance, which is underwritten by a panel of leading insurance companies that provide home insurance and car insurance.

An award winning company, who are regularly listed in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, we are extremely passionate about our commitment to charity work, road safety and community initiatives. Kwik Fit have been running the Lollipop Person of the Year competition since 2003.

Online Whisky Shop Master of Malt are the First Internet Retailer in the UK to Offer for Sale the New Release of the Hugely Anticipated 2009 Release of Sazerac Rye Whiskey

Sazerac Rye (fall 2008 edition) was rated by world-renowned critic Jim Murray as the "2010 world whisky of the year" in his recently released 2010 Whisky Bible, and promptly sold out in leading whisky retailers as a result.

The new shipment of the 2009 edition has just arrived in the UK, and Master of Malt are the first to offer it for sale.

Tasting notes for the whiskey have been compiled by the tasting team at Master of Malt and read as follows:

Sazerac Rye 18 Years Old (fall 2009 edition) is available now from Master of Malt priced at GBP89.95, and for a limited time only Master of Malt are giving away a free 5cl miniature of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon with every bottle sold.

Established in 1985, Master of Malt has a proud heritage of over 25 years in whisky retail. They are one of the UK's leading online whisky merchants, and one of the most highly rated independent bottlers, all of whose single cask whiskies scored over 90 points in the Jim Murray Whisky Bible 2009.

Sazerac Rye (18 Years Old (fall 2009 edition) is available now from Master of Malt and for a limited time only will come with a free 5cl miniature of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

Many a business is struggling to make ends meet these days, and that can put a lot of pressure on the business owner. Having to pay the bills and trying to hang onto employees can start to stress any small business owner who is also accounting for that business to put food on their own table as well. There are small business loans that are available for the business owner in their time of need, although it is not advisable to take a loan if your business is too far gone, but for the business that is still hanging on, it can provide a business owner with just enough to make it through the next few months, which is supposed to be the end of this joyous recession.

Applying for a small business loan can actually be a very simple process especially if your business has been opened for several years and had some success prior to the current economic climate. As a small business owner you can use these additional funds to breathe some life back into your business and can even use it to help further promote your business. It is not wise to simply take a loan and then use it to pay all the bills without trying to take some action to salvage your business. This may mean cutting back hours for your current staff until things pick up and perhaps cutting back on your businesses hours all together to further cut back on expenses. Just be careful not to cut back so much that it winds up in you losing additional money and costing you more.

Cutting back carefully while promoting wisely is the best way to ensure that you don't run out of the loan money before your business picks back up and you begin repaying it. If you are unsure as to whether or not you should take out a small business loan for your business than it is best to consult with your accountant or a financial advisor. It is always wise to determine if this temporary fix will help bring your business back to life or will sink it when the loan goes into repayment.

Another Christmas, another year. Looking at a site for gift ideas for others has inspired me to think about my own Christmas wish list. As always, there is no better time of year for reflecting one’s own wants and desires. So here is my Christmas wish list which is a mixture of my practical needs and a personal desire for something a little more.

1. It has been an exhausting year and I would love to visit a luxury spa so that I can unwind and recover myself

2. My TV is on its last legs and I would like Santa to get me a new TV with surround sound and widescreen

3. Boring and traditional I know, but now is the time of year you get some men’s suits for my threadbare wardrobe.

4. Some cool new home appliances are always good for a gadget lovers like me. I’m not fussy – any cool new kitchen gadget will do.

5. And on a purely practical front, I would be grateful for a new washer dryers that does not have a thing for eating socks and leaves your cloths feeling warm and fuzzy.

I will however settle for the usual scarf, sock and men’s toiletries if there is not room in the sleigh...