MAYBE it’s the chocolate on the pillow. Or the fancy way they fold the toilet paper. The bottles of posh shampoo, or the lavender-scented sleep mask on the bedside table. 
Whatever it is about hotels, it seems Jose Mourinho likes them so much he spent over two years living in one. Last week, after losing his job at Old Trafford, the former Man United boss finally checked out of Manchester’s Lowry Hotel, where he’s reported to have stayed in a luxury suite.  
He’s not the only famous person to set up home in a hotel. Coco Chanel lived at the Ritz in Paris for years, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Jimi Hendrix had longterm residences at New York’s Chelsea Hotel, Richard Harris lived at the Savoy and Howard Hughes spent much of his life living in luxury hotels. 
Life in a hotel might seem a bit soulless; an awkward nod to staff in the foyer, taking the lift to a room that doesn’t belong to you, eating meals surrounded by strangers, or having them delivered to your door to avoid the hoi polloi. 
It sounds fantastic to me! What’s not to like about hotels? You have a room to yourself, with a TV and a fluffy robe, and you don’t even have to make your own bed. Someone-else cleans the room, picks up the towels, re-stocks the coffee and tea, even ‘turns’ the bed linen.
I love hotels. I didn’t stay in one until my twenties and the novelty has never worn off. It’s still a thrill opening the door to that first sight of the room. I once stayed in a fabulous hotel in San Diego (I wasn’t paying), in a spacious suite overlooking the bay, with an enormous bath in which I could’ve happily spent the entire week. One night a buffet of wine, cheese and fruit was wheeled in. “I didn’t order this,” I told the waiter. “It’s just part of the service, ma’am,” he said. I nearly cried when it was time to check out. 
I even love a budget hotel. I stayed in one recently and, arriving late, ordered room service. The joy of having tea served in a cloche! Then there’s the hotel breakfast, when you consume a strange feast of mini croissants, slices of cheese and ham, pickles, fruit salad, piles of toast and lashings of jam, followed by a full English - just because it’s there. 
I’m with the Special One. If I was rich and famous, I’d live in a hotel too. 

* IT has long been a standing joke in my family that every Christmas I vow to make a chocolate Yule log and every year I buy one instead. I used to pass them off as my own, and no-one ever believed me.

This year my nephew insisted that we make one - he even Googled the recipe and texted it to me, shaming me into action.

So a few days ago I found myself buying things like flour, icing sugar and cocoa powder, and there we were in the kitchen, beating egg whites and buttering parchment paper. It took me back to Saturday afternoons with my mum, baking butterfly buns and biscuits. Nothing tasted quite as divine as ginger biscuit mixture.

Our Yule log turned out pretty well, (considering I hadn’t make a Swiss roll since domestic science at school). All it needs is a sprig of holly.

I come from a family of home bakers, my grandad was a particularly fabulous baker. My mum made her Christmas cakes weeks in advance, (we each stirred the mixture, making a wish), and pretty much everything else was home-baked too, including Christmas pud (with sixpences hidden inside), mince pies, even boxes of sweets. I don’t have the excuse of working fulltime, leaving little time for baking, because she worked fulltime too, and still gave us a home-cooked Christmas.

Now, thanks to our Yule log success, I’ve rekindled the simple pleasure of baking. Next year, I’ve decided, I’m making the Christmas cake too. That’s what I’ll tell them anyway...

* I RECENTLY overheard someone mention a puppy he was collecting just before Christmas. "It's a Cockapoo, really cute. They're on trend," he said.

Apart from the fact that Christmas is the worst time of year to bring home a new pet, it's a sad reflection on how we view animals that certain breeds are regarded as "on trend". A friend who works for a dog rescue charity says unwanted dogs are often dumped by their owners because they're "out of fashion".

In the weeks after Christmas last year, the Dogs Trust had nearly 5,000 calls from people wanting to hand over their dog.

As long as dogs continue to be regarded, by fickle humans, as fashionable status symbols, this sadly looks set to continue this year.

* THANKS to Bradford World War 1 Group's fascinating database, you can find out if past inhabitants of your house went to war.

Most of my little street lost a son to war - six men from neighbouring houses, including two brothers, died - but I discovered my house had its own sadness. The family living there lost their only child, aged just four, in 1917. She is buried in the nearby churchyard.

Unless you live in a brand new property, chances are someone has died there at some point. The history of our homes reminds us that we are simply passing through them.