Snorers' rumble in the jungle

SNORERS and sleepwalkers are behind a sharp increase in the number of single travellers requesting their own rooms on adventure holidays.

Explore Worldwide has found that fewer customers are willing to share with other people on trips to isolated parts of Africa, Asia and South America. Sharing used to be usual on such breaks, partly because doing so helped to keep down costs.

“People aren't willing to risk snorers, sleepwalkers or people who go to the bathroom ten times a night,” said a spokesman. “They tend to be younger travellers who are used to their privacy and comfort.”

Older solo travellers, however, consider sharing to be a standard part of an adventure holiday. “It's a generational thing,” the spokesman said. A typical “single option” payment to guarantee a private room is about £100 on a fortnight Explore break.

BERLIN SPLASHES OUT

Visitors to the German capital looking for low-cost stays have a new option - they can pitch their tent in a disused swimming pool at Tentstation. Alternatively, Pension 11 Himmel offers £9 rooms in a former tower block, including one in “British style”, with golf clubs and a portrait of the Prince of Wales.

DUTCH COURAGE

Survival pods created for workers on oil rigs have been converted into tourist accommodation in The Hague. Sleeping bags and chemical toilets are included, and one has a Bond theme with a DVD playing Bond films.

GO UNDERCOVER

The Pride of Britain group of 35 top-class UK hotels is looking for a couple to inspect its properties undercover. Hotel bills will be covered, but not travel expenses. E-mail info@prideofbritain hotels.com

RUDE HEALTH

A company called Rudechalets is offering five-star chalets in Chamonix in France with unlimited wine, table football and a ten-person outdoor hot-tub.

BLACK SEA

Authorities are urging bathers to avoid raw sewage in the sea off Dubai close to the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club. The sewage is believed to have been illegally dumped in storm drains, and the tourist board is investigating the extent of the pollution.

READ ON

The literary critic Robert Adams, author of the bestselling book A Love of Reading, is to lead a book club on Crystal Cruise sailings next year. Groups will meet to discuss three books each week, with titles on sale at an onboard shop.

ZEPPELINS REFORM

The fuel efficiency of skyships is to be highlighted in a round-the-world race of Zeppelins planned by Unesco's World Heritage Centre in 2010. Stop-offs are planned at Greenwich, the Egyptian pyramids and the Taj Mahal. Unesco says skyships use 89 per cent less fuel than jet aircraft.

FAST TRACK

Programmes shown on BBC World's fast Track travel programme can now be viewed online at www.bbcworldnews.com/fasttrack.

TRIANGULAR ADVICE

A change in French law this week has made it compulsory for all drivers to carry a warning triangle in vehicles.

Tom Chesshyre

BOLT IN THE BLUE

Olympic sprint champ Usain Bolt has been chilling in St Lucia after his stunning victories at the Beijing Games. Bolt was spotted enjoying a bit of R&R at the Sandals Grande St Lucian Spa & Beach Resort after winning his three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. It's not known if the giant Jamaican sank a few victory pints at the on-site Olde London pub (the menu includes that well-known British favourite, deep-fried mozzarella), but if anyone deserves a few celebratory snifters, it's him.

THE DEBRIEF

Chocs on the hotel pillow - marketing gimmick or sweet- toothed heaven? Both, of course, but did you know the practice started when Cary Grant stayed at the Mayfair Hotel in St Louis in 1950? The actor laid a trail of chocolates to his bed to woo his lady companion. The manager later ordered a night-time chocolate for all guests.

HOTSPOT

If you want to reinvent yourself as a budding author, there are worse places to pick up inspiration than Bali, so scoot along to the Ubud Writers and Readers' Festival (www.ubudwritersfestival.com), which starts there a week on Tuesday. There will be dozens of writers (including Lonely Planet's founder, Tony Wheeler), workshops and fringe events such as literary lunches, a night-time street party and a Balinese interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream

PIP, PIP, HURRAY...

Think Somerset, think cider.

At least that's what the local tourist board wants with the introduction of a cider-lover's guide (www.visitsomerset.co.uk) offering ideas for apple-inspired weekends ranging from farm visits to distillery tours, plus pubs, of course.

SITE OF THE WEEK

www.bbook.com

This website of a trendy US magazine is a useful guide to the drinking holes and restaurants du jour in North America and major European cities. It also gives an insight into fashion and pop culture for those who need more than a little help keeping up with what's in, and there are lists for style victims such as “Los Angeles's top five happy hours” and “Miami's top five views”.

Will Hide

Times recommends

• The Green Spaces Travel Awards, 2008 - the winners
• Britain's 12 best winter walks
• The insiders' guide to bohemian Paris