Top 10 Hidden Hotel Fees

(NEWSER) - For travelers bored with the conventional comforts of most hotels, MSNBC offers some more creative choices:

1. Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa, Dubai—desert conservation preserve
2. Anatolian Houses, Turkey—five adjoining volcanic caves
3. Baron Island—nature reserve on volcanic island

Columnist pumps experts for hard-earned knowledge, tips

(NEWSER) - MSNBC travel columnist Christopher Elliott asks those sulky veterans of the airways— business travelers—for their best tips on making life on the road tolerable:

1. Expect nothing, and you won't be disappointed.
2. Be nice. It can't hurt, and it might even help.
3. Never pay cash—credit cards offer some protection against scams.

Delicious food means you don't have to leave the hotel

(NEWSER) - With this sort of room service, why leave the hotel at all? Forbes lists eight hotels that are stand-outs for room service offerings:

1. Four Seasons Washington, DC: Gourmet in-room dinner for two served by personal butler.
2. Ritz-Carlton Chicago: Get whatever you want, whenever you want from the kitchen—prepared to your specs.

Forget Paris—these great vacation sites can be found in your own backyard

(NEWSER) - Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die, turns Forbes readers onto her top 15:

1. The Pacific Coast Highway
2. Monument Valley, Utah and Ariz.
3. Texas Hill Country

Brave travelers can bed down with ghosts at these creepy locals

(NEWSER) - These hotels are known for more than complimentary breakfast. Tripso.com gets in the Halloween spirit with its rundown of haunted accommodations:

1. The Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, La.: An abused slave poisoned her master with oleander cake; a host of ghosties now appear at guests' bedsides.
2. Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans: Doors fly open and former staff members roam this building in the historic French Quarter.