Find a Second Home Afloat—for Less

Champagne, butlers, and Maybachs, oh my!

(NEWSER) - To stay at the top of NYC's Four Seasons Hotel, you have to fork over $35,000 a night (no matter who you are—no discounts given). The four-room 4,300 square-foot Ty Warner Penthouse (named for the hotel's owner/Beanie Baby mogul) took 7 years to design and $50 million to construct. So what do your mega bucks get you? The Wall Street Journal takes a look:

• a personal butler on-call 24 hours a day
• unlimited room service (unless you want thousands of dollars of caviar; that's extra)
• living room carpet made of white silk, handmade Venetian silk bedspread, bathroom sinks made of rock crystal

Capital-dwellers hard-working but snobbish: poll

(NEWSER) - The stereotype of Parisians as rude, unfriendly, and arrogant prevails among even the French, according to a countrywide poll. More than 70% of those surveyed believe Parisians are more snobbish than average and more than 65% label capital-dwellers more arrogant and aggressive, the Telegraph reports. Nearly 70%, however, had a favorable opinion of Parisians despite their less likeable qualities. More»

They may be cheap, but you really don't want to stay in them

(NEWSER) - Unless you like urine-scented rooms and hairs in the bathtub, you probably won’t want to stay at any of Trip Advisor ’s top 10 dirtiest hotels in the US. Below, a sampling of the user reviews:

1. Heritage Marina Hotel, San Francisco: “The second room ‘appeared’ clean until we realized the next morning that we slept with bed bugs.”
2. Days Inn Eureka/Six Flags, Eureka, Mo: “The smell was horrible. The floors and walls were dirty. There was food and beverage spilled and dried up all over the place.”
3. Tropicana Resort Hotel, Virginia Beach: “The ice machine produces dirty ice and is not fit to use.”
4. Super 8 Virginia Beach/At the Ocean, Virginia Beach: “There were hairs in the bathtub, and bugs on the counter.”

Can't afford a vacation? Don't worry about skipping these locales

(NEWSER) - Sure, you could read one of the many lists of destinations you should visit this year—but in this economic climate, wouldn’t it be more useful to check out a list of places not to visit? Hailey Eber thinks so, and gives her top 10 in BlackBook :

• Oymyakon, Russia: In this Siberian village on record as the coldest town on Earth, the temperature must drop to -62 degrees Fahrenheit before schools close.
• Paula Deen Cruise to the Caribbean: You usually put on a few pounds while on vacation…and a few more if that vacation is the neverending buffet of a cruise ship. Add Paula Deen’s butter-filled recipes into the mix, and you’ll soon be “too ashamed to waddle around the lido deck in your bikini.”
• Pakistan: “Violent extremists, Al-Qaida, and Taliban elements do not a vacation make. But, you probably knew that already.”

Find a bathroom, cheap gas, or a hiking trail wherever you are

(NEWSER) - If you’re traveling for the holidays, it should come as no surprise that the iPhone can be a handy tool. Michelle Higgins lists some of the best travel-friendly apps in the New York Times :

• HearPlanet, $4.99: Text and recorded commentary for 250,000 attractions and landmarks worldwide.
• SitOrSquat, free: Need a bathroom stat? Find the nearest toilet, or, if you’re picky, check out restroom ratings.
• Gas Buddy, $2.99: One of the best apps for finding cheap gas on the road, but there are many others available for free.