7-Night Southern Italy Escape (With Flights!) From $1,599
7-Night Southern Italy Escape (With Flights!) From $1,599
BAHDANOVICH ALENA/Shutterstock
https://www.fodors.com/world/europe/italy/experiences/news/southern-italy-travel-deal-7-nights-flights-from-1599
Escape to the breathtaking coastlines and ancient wonders of Southern Italy with an exclusive seven-night package starting at just $1,599 per person, complete with flights, four-star hotels, a rental car, and immersive local experiences.
The rugged coastlines, ancient ruins, and culinary triumphs of Southern Italy are now within reach thanks to a spectacular vacation package starting at just $1,599 per person. Negotiated exclusively for Travelzoo members, this sweeping seven-night getaway bundles together everything needed for a dream Italian escape: roundtrip international flights, two distinct four-star hotel stays, a manual rental car, daily breakfast, and unforgettable guided experiences that highlight the region’s incredible history and cuisine.
Two Sides of Southern Italy
This itinerary perfectly balances the electric energy of Naples with the coastal tranquility of Castellammare di Stabia. Naples is Italy turned up to eleven—a chaotic, gorgeous, and deliriously alive metropolis resting beneath the watchful gaze of Mount Vesuvius. Spend your first few days exploring the Centro Storico, a labyrinth of centuries-old streets, hanging laundry, and Baroque churches. Do not miss the Cappella Sansevero to view the Veiled Christ, one of Italy’s most haunting sculptures, or the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, which boasts the best Greco-Roman collection outside of Rome. Stroll down Spaccanapoli, the main artery of old Naples, and grab an authentic pizza a portafoglio before heading to the Lungomare to watch the sun drop over the Bay of Naples.
After diving into the heart of the city, the journey continues south to Castellammare di Stabia. While Naples brings the drama and art, Castellammare is all about relaxation and breathtaking views. Think palm-lined promenades, serene marinas, and steep hills that look plucked straight out of a Renaissance painting. It serves as a perfect, peaceful base near the Amalfi Coast. From here, travelers can easily explore the local thermal baths (Terme di Stabia), wander through the ruins of Villa Arianna and Villa San Marco, or hop on a ferry for a quick ride to the glamorous islands of Capri and Sorrento.
Arcady/Shutterstock
What Is Included in the Package?
This robust deal takes the stress out of international travel planning by bundling the essentials and tossing in generous, exclusive perks. The package includes:
– International flights from the U.S. to Naples.
– A manual rental car for the entire duration of the trip. (You can upgrade to automatic.)
– 3 nights at the Hotel San Francesco Al Monte in Naples (a unique former 16th-century monastery turned 4-star hotel).
– A welcome bottle of prosecco during the Naples hotel stay.
– 4 nights at La Medusa Dimora di Charme, an elegant 4-star property in Castellammare di Stabia.
– Daily breakfast.
– A guided half-day tour of Pompeii with priority access, allowing visitors to explore the ancient city frozen in volcanic time.
– An authentic Neapolitan pizza and tiramisu cooking class.
– All base taxes and fees.
Departure Cities and Pricing
Pricing is tiered based on the departure airport. The per-person prices based on double occupancy are as follows:
– $1,599: Boston, San Francisco
–$1,649: Los Angeles, Miami, New York (JFK), Newark
– $1,699: Chicago, Washington, D.C.
– $1,799: Philadelphia
– $1,899: Atlanta
Note: Other departure cities are available.
When to Travel and How to Book
The absolute lowest pricing of $1,599 can be found for travel dates spanning November and December. For those looking to travel during a warmer shoulder season, dates in September and October are also on sale, though pricing will vary depending on the exact dates chosen.
Deal Caveat: The provider has not listed a specific booking expiration date, booking window, or exact blackout dates for this offer. Because this crucial timeline information is missing from the deal terms, travelers are highly encouraged to act quickly and confirm availability directly with the provider before the inventory sells out.
This exclusive rate is provided via Travelzoo, meaning a membership is required to access and complete the booking. Travelzoo memberships cost $50 annually, but new users can currently take advantage of a $1 trial for 30 days to secure this vacation.
As with all travel deals, this offer is subject to availability, and prices or terms are subject to change without notice. Always verify specific date restrictions, final flight routes, and any additional taxes or fees directly on the booking page before securing your reservation.
You Can Rent an Entire Italian Village for Your Wedding for Just €200
Raffaele Vergaro
https://www.fodors.com/world/europe/italy/experiences/news/you-can-rent-an-entire-italian-ghost-village-for-your-wedding-for-just-231
Recently brought back from ruins, idyllic Celleno is just outside of Rome.
Ever dreamt of tying the knot in a bucolic, magical spot in Italy far from the madding crowd-possibly in an isolated castle or a lavish Renaissance palazzo? Well, now there’s something even better. And it’s incredibly cheap.
For just €200 ($231), you can book the entire ghost village of Celleno, just a few miles north of Rome, for a fairy-tale-like wedding. Renovated and revitalized in 2018 after more than half a century of neglect, Celleno is a secret gem located in the pristine Tiber Valley, with spectacular views of the Roman countryside and a medieval vibe. It rises atop a rocky spur surrounded by a deep chasm overlooking a dark forest cut across by two small rivers. Bright olive groves, chestnut trees, and vineyards dot the landscape.
The hamlet consists of winding narrow alleys and reddish-golden rock homes cropped at the feet of an overhanging medieval castle, which once upon a time served as a fortified military stronghold. Some buildings have been given a complete makeover, while others are still semi-ruins.
Old vegetation grows across the walls of the village–though it could have been removed, restaurateurs wanted it to remain and give the place a more dreamy setting. But the main piazza, with its shiny perfect cobblestones, has been perfectly brought back to life as if a movie set. This is where the wedding celebrations and evening aperitivo are held after the official ritual, right outside the chapel.
Mayor Luca Beraldo is hell-bent on promoting his ghost village for anniversaries, birthdays, and weddings, keen to particularly lure foreign couples looking to tie the knot in a unique, unusual setting. He is so proud that public funds have gone into recovering what was once a bunch of ruins following a series of quakes in the 1900s that sent locals running for their lives.
“To book the hamlet, we’re asking for what really is just a little donation, €1 ($1.16) per person for a total of 200 guests, which is the maximum capacity of the old district’s piazza and chapel where the ritual can be celebrated,” said Beraldo.
Raffaele Vergaro
The couple would have at their disposal the near entirety of the ghost village, barring a few buildings of private property belonging to the family of an Italian artist who years ago took up residency in the forsaken village.
And if the couple want, adds the mayor, even a priest or a civil servant would be available to perform the ritual inside the main frescoed chapel, which is incredibly well-preserved.
Catering and other nuptial services aren’t included in the €200 cost, of course, but the town-hall is happy to liaise with local wedding planners and catering businesses in the area to make the event a blast.
Beraldo says dozens of couples have already tied the knot among the ancient walls of Celleno, an offbeat place which remains unknown even to most Romans, let alone to other Italians.
The only catch to this amazing party opportunity is there might be a necessary dress codeFormal, long dresses and high heels are discouraged for both bride and guests as the only way to reach Celleno’s old district is by foot. A pair of white sparkling sneakers, or even going barefoot to the altar, might serve the purpose better and be more romantic.
The ghost village is in fact connected to the “new” Celleno, which is located nearby, and the main route by a winding, uphill cobble pathway is off-limits to car. The new town, where barely 1,200 people live today and where bars and taverns are located, was built in 1951 when then Italian president Luigi Einaudi decreed that the ancient town, in precarious conditions after the 1930s earthquakes, was no longer fit to be inhabited. All families were transferred a mile downhill to live safer lives in more modern and stable homes.
Old Celleno thus fell into oblivion for decades, wild lush jungle-like plants and trees grew over the abandoned homes, making those left standing prone to collapse. Then in 2018, the reconstruction phase kicked-in to bring Celleno back from the grave and to its former glory.
There is an old-timey ambiance, strolling across the deserted and quiet village—it’s like stepping back in time.
While tourists flock to the nearby, similar ghost town of Civita di Bagnoreggio (dubbed the “dying city” about to collapse) for selfies on a wobbly bridge above a precipice, nobody visits Celleno which is just as enchanting than Civita, if not even more.
The ghost village dates back to pre-Roman times, and it is said that the ancient Italic tribe of the Etruscans built it before being wiped out by imperial Rome. Ruins of catacombs dot the nearby woods. Roman armies later used the village as a military lookout post against enemy troops and invasions, thanks to the strategic hilltop location of Celleno. In time, that unique location, perched atop a ragged cliff shaped like a huge rocky shard, became more of a liability. While it was a means of protection in the old days, in modern times, the fragile structure of the landscape and homes made of porous rock, cut right from the cliff, were no match for the quakes that rocked Celleno in the past centuries. But today, thanks to a solid reconstruction of the entire ghost hamlet, all locations have been made safe.
For a song, you can have the wedding of your dreams in the old, authentic heart of Celleno, far from the crowds of Rome, Venice, or Florence.
Difficult development environment leads to drop in California hotel openings
Investors see housing projects as better route for returns
The 99-key Kimpton Mirador Pacific Grove was one of 21 hotels to open in California during the first half of 2026. (IHG Hotels & Resorts)
https://www.costar.com/article/1362716153/difficult-development-environment-leads-to-drop-in-california-hotel-openings
By Bryan Wroten
Hotel openings are down in California, with factors outside typical supply-demand dynamics influencing that trend.
The California Development Survey 2026 Mid-Year from Atlas Hospitality Group found that during the first six months of the year, California had 21 hotels open with approximately 1,988 rooms, a year-over-year decline of 42% and 63%, respectively. Conversely, both the number of hotels and hotel rooms entering the construction phase grew by 16% to 115 properties and 14,126 rooms.
However, the number for both projects and hotel rooms in the planning phase dropped by 6% to 1,180 projects and 139,274 rooms.
The largest hotel to open in California in the first half of the year was the 146-key Element by Marriott San Diego Mission Valley.
One thing to keep in mind about the significant drop in new hotel room openings is that the 1,600-key Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center opened in May 2025 in Chula Vista, Atlas President Alan Reay said.
“We’re still seeing that 42% fewer hotels that opened up,” he said.
Another wrinkle to hotel development is that every hotel project his company is tracking is taking another six, nine or 12 months to complete, he said.
“I don't know if that's a combination of making any changes to plans or it's a part of tariffs and the delay in getting things or the problems with trying to find labor,” he said.
“We’re definitely seeing a spike in the delay in getting these hotels to cross the finish line.”
Excluding coastal hotel projects, which take longer due to needing California Coastal Commission approval, the development process now takes 30 to 36 months, compared to the roughly 18 months it took previously, Reay said.
“That’s what I think is dampening investors’ appetite for new construction, that almost doubling the amount of time you’re paying the carrying costs of your financing,” he said.
Developers with construction loans financed their projects years ago, and those loans are coming due now when interest rates are much higher than when they started, he added.
Given the complications associated with new build projects, adaptive reuse projects may seem a good alternative, but Reay said developers tend to prefer converting hotels to apartments. There’s the occasional review of an office building to convert to a hotel, but few of those make sense financially.
“As time goes by, we’re seeing more distressed sales of hotels at much lower prices,” he said. “That seems to be the focus of buyers and investors today. I can buy product at a big, substantial discount to replacement cost. When we have that happening in the marketplace, it just really kills any new construction.”
Cities are facing pressure from the state government to increase the availability of affordable housing, even going so far as to relax environment impact standards and overrule local restrictions on housing projects, Reay said. Where developers have faced local opposition to housing projects, they now have the state behind them.
“They’re winning every single case that I’m following where the cities might be saying our local residents are saying they don’t want affordable housing in their neighborhood, and that’s being thrown out,” he said.
The state’s emphasis on adding more affordable housing and multifamily units is causing commercial developers to focus their efforts and capital on housing because that’s where they see the money, he said.
“Multifamily is probably the No. 1 desirable product right now,” he said.
Projects that have construction financing will move forward and break down, but for those without that financing in place, developers and lenders are both likely to take a wait-and-see approach to the market, Reay said. There are more transactions taking place as big discounts to replacement cost and what the properties traded for within the last 10 years.
The vast majority of new projects tends to be in the extended-stay space, such as Residence Inns and Home2 Suites, as well as the higher-end limited-service hotels, including Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and Courtyard by Marriott.
“Those are the products that we're seeing that are at least penciling and making sense to move forward, but I think that by the end of the year, we'll see these numbers in terms of new projects going into construction continue to decline,” he said.
Hotels at the higher end of the chain scale are less likely to move forward, Reay said. Smaller luxury hotels in coastal markets such as Malibu, Laguna Beach or La Jolla are still viable, but there are certain factors at play. The investors behind projects such as these are not looking to sell as soon as they complete the construction because they are typically wealthy enough to have a longer hold strategy.
They may look at it as a more exclusive project, and having that longer-hold approach in high-end markets means the economics don’t need to make sense immediately, he said. Their financial capability means they’re less reliant on big construction loans.
“They’re looking at, ‘Hey, this might be overpriced today, but 10, 20, 30 years from now, people are going to look back and go, my God, what an incredible asset,’” he said.
On the flip side, a “regular developer” doing anything in the luxury segment in California is facing a project with a price of over $1 million per key to build, he said. That will require driving high revenue and profit margins.
United Can’t Escape Lawsuit Over Window Seats Without Windows
Courtesy United Airlines
https://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/experiences/news/united-cant-escape-lawsuit-over-window-seats-without-windows
A judge ruled that passengers can move forward with a lawsuit claiming United sold window seats that did not actually have windows.
A lawsuit filed by a group of passengers alleging that United Airlines engaged in breach of contract by selling window seats without windows can move forward, a judge ruled in San Francisco’s District Court on Monday.
The suit, filed in 2025, was one of a pair of lawsuits by passengers seeking damages from airlines for allowing them to select window seats without telling them at the time of booking that the seats actually lacked a window. The other suit was filed against Delta Air Lines in a New York federal court; Delta has similarly moved to have the case dismissed. United had moved to dismiss the lawsuit, which sought to create a class action against both airlines.
The plaintiffs in both actions have alleged that United and Delta charged extra for window seats that weren’t actually window seats but were instead located next to a wall or an air-conditioning duct vent, which replaces the window in certain segments of an aircraft fuselage. They point out that other carriers, such as American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, provide this information to passengers during the seat selection process, so they can make an informed decision about whether to pay for that seat. United and Delta’s failure to provide the information, the plaintiffs allege, was misleading, causing them to pay for a product that wasn’t what was advertised.
“Had plaintiffs and the class members known that the seats they were purchasing [were] windowless, they would not have selected them—much less have paid extra,” the United complaint said, according to Reuters, which noted that the Delta complaint contained similar claims. At the time the lawsuits were filed, a lawyer for the parties said that the fact that seating information about both airlines’ aircraft could be found on other websites—but not on the carriers’ own sites—did not excuse them from the complaint.
While some passengers named in the suit have since received refunds of seat fees they paid, others haven’t. The suits seek compensation for damages related to the carriers’ practices.
In rejecting United’s motion to dismiss, Judge James Donato rejected the defense that the term “window” referred to a seat’s position along the wall of the aircraft and did not contractually promise a window or a view. Donato also rejected United’s argument that federal law preempted passengers’ claims. Federal law preempts a passenger’s complaint if the activity in question is a violation of federal laws, such as disability claims or violations of federal rules on how airlines display fares or respond to customer complaints.
U.S. airlines began charging for seat assignments beginning in the mid-2000s; the practice is now commonplace. Both United and Delta charge for standard seat assignments on most discounted fares, and also charge a premium for extra legroom sections in the front of the economy cabin. Depending on the type of aircraft, window seats without actual windows can be in portions of the aircraft fitted with seats in any class of service—including premium cabins such as premium economy and business class where seat assignments can typically be made in advance without incurring additional fees.
Airline technology surrounding seat maps has markedly improved in the last few years, allowing airlines to indicate whether seats don’t recline, are in emergency exit rows, lack windows, or are misaligned with entertainment screens in the booking process. Japan Airlines even goes so far as to allow passengers to see the locations of passengers traveling with infants—ostensibly so they can select seats away from the general vicinity.
The case now moves to discovery and class certification—processes that can be lengthy, often taking a year or more. In the meantime, either airline could elect to offer settlements in lieu of a summary judgment or a trial. If a class is certified, other passengers who have paid the airlines for similar windowless seats could also file for compensation as part of any settlement.
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