New York hotel scam
Prospective visitors to New York are being warned about a hotel swindle, in which run-down apartments are sold on the internet as luxury hotel rooms.
Landlords post advertisements for rooms in “upmarket hotel suites” on popular travel websites and con tourists out of hundreds of dollars.
In the past nine months alone, 35 inspections of properties have taken place following complaints. Most have resulted in fines for the owner.
Chocolate heaven
Amsterdam is to launch a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theme park.
In keeping with Roald Dahl’s creation, the main part of the park will be underground, in a disused railway tunnel, and feature a glass lift and chocolate fountain.
The “factory” will open its doors in the next two to three years. Amsterdam is the world’s biggest cocoa port, processing around 30 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans.
Malaria pill warning
Millions of holidaymakers may be risking their health by not taking anti-malaria pills when they go abroad.
In the past five years, according to new research from Direct Line Travel Insurance, one in six who visited destinations where malaria is prevalent did not take medication. A further 12 per cent stopped taking their course of medicine while still in the malarial country.
There has been a surge in the number of cases among holidaymakers of Plasmodium falciparum, a potentially fatal strain of malaria.
