Hen dos ... do girls' getaways always have to stick to stereotypes? Photograph: Corbis
Brace yourself girlies, New York's W Hotels have announced their latest weekend package: the Girls' Getaway. Your so-called "empowering" weekend will include an exercise class that blends yoga with striptease, a free book of "strip workouts for every woman" and a "High Thigh Slimmer Scrub, a skin-smoothing, cellulite-fighting sensation".
But, asked Kira Cochrane in G2, is "learning how to get your kecks off for the lads, before getting your thighs shipshape for the job" really empowering?
W Hotels would be advised to steer clear of faux-feminism and advertise their deal for what it is (just a bit of fun, or something more disturbing? I'll leave you to fill in the blanks there).
Last month, we were similarly unimpressed by the recent launch of an all-female airline Fly Pink. Offering pink champagne and manicures, its customised fleet of pink planes specialises in - surprise, surprise - shopping breaks. Following promotional material featuring the bold statement "Unknown Singer Becomes Face of Major Airline Launch" (somehow, someone overlooked holding the front page for that one), Fly Pink is set to begin offering flights to Paris in August, with flights to New York and Milan launching later in the year. We'll have to wait and see if demand for all things pink keeps this one flying.
But do girls' holidays have to be so riddled with stereotypes? Not always. Ski-Morzine's "Girls only!" ski package, for example, doesn't patronise its participants by insisting everyone wears pink skis. The all-female cycling trips GPM10 run in Chamonix are also firmly at the other end of the scale.
But not all of us want to play action heroine when we are abroad. As hen dos increasing become weekend-long extravaganzas, what can we do to celebrate enjoying female company without resorting to pole dancing?
