At first glance this three-storey building doesn’t look terribly special, but step inside and the energy here can be overwhelming. Travellers from all corners of the earth come together here to drink, dance, have fun and play – Bacchus would be proud. (Bianca de Meyrick)

262-264 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe. 9692 8418, www.yha.com.au

The Harry Seidler-designed aquatic centre is the best spot in Sydney for year-round swimming, with its Olympic-sized heated indoor pool. If laps of freestyle aren’t your thing, get your endorphin fix in the fully equipped fitness centre, splash around in the spa or sweat it out in sauna. (Danielle Bevins-Sundvall)

458 Harris St, Ultimo. 9518 7220, www.itac.org.au

Ever wasted hundreds of dollars at the gym, but failed to see results? Well, Vision is a little different from other fitness centres. Here, each trainer works with you to help you achieve the physique, strength and fitness you’re after – and if they’re no good, they promise a full cash refund. The only downside? No excuses left, now!  (Bianca de Meyrick)

Suite 3, 27 Spring St, Bondi Junction. 9386 1411, www.visionpt.com.au

After a hard week of work, here’s your chance to discover the healing power of touch at Aveda. Silly little things like tension and stress will vanish at the fingertips of their highly trained masseuses. The relaxing and uplifting massages on offer provide a full sensory experience that Aveda promise restore wellbeing and calm for days. (Monique Moussa)

Various locations, but flagship at 17 Oxford St, Paddington. 8198 8207‎, www.aveda.com

Sure, it’s a franchise. Sure, getting a ‘Toni & Guy’ style has at times been synonymous with putting a new-age hair helmet on. But this spacious, light-filled coiff-centre has over the years been my bedrock for reliable cuts, dispensed by painfully trendy youths straight off the plane from London. My only complaint? As soon as I fall in love with a hairdresser, they leave. It cuts deep. (Angela Bennetts)

255C Oxford St, Paddington. 9380 2299, www.toniandguy.com.au/NSW/Paddington

V Club was established as a place to escape to – a place where gym-junkies would be totally spoilt for choice. The joint boasts over 2,700m of floor space across four levels, featuring an impressive six dedicated studios for dance, yoga, Pilates, fitness, cycling and – wait for it – pole dancing and exotic dance.  What’s more, those studios have been individually designed and themed to suit whatever mood you are in.

Throw in a state-of-the-art gym and boxing ring replete with the latest equipment, including innovative training tools like Kettlebells, TRX and the Torsonator; along with beautiful changing rooms including steam, sauna and even GHDs, and suddenly laps of the local oval start to look a little lame. (Scott Winter)

48 Druitt St Sydney. 8088 8888, www.vclub.com.au

Once you’ve finished running the kids to Saturday morning sport, let them do the running as they chase you through the maze of scents and stalls on offer at the weekly Orange Grove Markets. Not the best if you’re a hay fever sufferer, but this is the place for beautiful, perfectly fresh cut flowers – perfect as a gift or to liven up the living room. (Bianca de Meyrick)

Orange Grove Public School, cnr Perry Street and Balmain Road, Lilyfield. 9999 2226

Nestled deep in Sydney’s design district, Stella Design has been out there plying the trade for over seven years now, and each of those years they’ve grown along with their clients. Thanks to a winning combination of creative design skills, business acumen and marketing know-how, what’s more, they offer free initial consultations to curious companies.

At this point we would have quite liked to work in a pun involving the word ‘stellar’ and possibly space travel, but decided it would be less cringe-worthy to have a chat with Creative Director Stella Gianotto herself.

“Inspiration for us comes from everywhere, all the time. It comes from art galleries, magazines, restaurants, artists, musicians, comic books, libraries, street art – it goes on and on,” she says. “We have a graphic designer that is an artist that likes painting abstract portraiture, a web developer that does fashion shoots on the weekend …  We have a dedicated area of our studio for cool books, samples and other ‘cool stuff’ to admire and learn from.” That’s right: the design team have a dedicated cool room to house all their cool paraphernalia. It kind of puts the office water cooler to shame. Ask what the designers have been up to lately and it’s hard to pigeonhole: Gianotto tells us the team recently finished off a brand and packaging line for pet accessories, and are currently working for a balloon decoration company called Balloongram, with a brief to design a van “that will cause accidents.”

“Seriously though we have had requests for really strange things, too strange mention,” Gianotto says. “The most recognisable design briefs that we have designed is the foil packaging for Four Seasons condoms, working with rubber products was fun and the team had a blast,” she says. “We enjoyed the boxes of samples we received at the end of the job.” (Scott Winter & Sophie Tarr)

Lvl 5, 2-12 Foveaux St, Surry Hills. 8217 0000, www.stelladesign.com.au

Pyrmont Dental Health is one place that will help you rewire the kids’ distrust fear of dentists. Just step into the waiting room decked out with cosy lounges, aquariums and a level of serenity usually reserved for yoga studios  and suddenly – what’s that, you need a root canal? Piece of cake. Sugar-free, natch. (Bianca de Meyrick)

3/19 Harris St, Pyrmont. www.pyrmontdentalhealth.com.au