Pop-up hotel rooms and luxury camping are both concepts we've written about on numerous occasions, but it wasn't until recently that we had seen a variation on the theme designed specifically for stargazing. Sure enough, French tourism company Bocages has created a pop-up cabin for four that features a transparent dome in the roof, a telescope and a sky observation kit.

Carré d'étoiles are portable and reversible cube-shaped structures crafted with recyclable wood. Included in each parquet-floored cabin are a double cabin bed, a sofa bed for two, a kitchenette with refrigerator and hot plates, shower, toilet, wardrobe, electric heating, a bio-ethanol fireplace and cast-iron garden furniture for outside. In addition to modern conveniences like flat-screen TV and connections for MP3, phone and internet, Carré d'étoiles cabins also come equipped with bedding and towels, and extra services such as cleaning and breakfast can be added. Black-out blinds, meanwhile, facilitate use of the telescope and stargazing kit.

Just launched this year, Carré d'étoiles have now been installed in several holiday spots in France. Pricing is EUR 25,000 per unit, according to a report on Forum Eco; structures are delivered fully equipped and ready to use, with an ROI ranging from at least 10 percent in the first year of operation to 30 percent or more in following years, Bocages says. One to set up under the starry skies in your neck of the woods...? (Related: Elqui Domos geodesic astro lodges — Farm camping in cottage-style tents.)

Website: www.carre-detoiles.com
Contact: info@carre-etoiles.com

Spotted by: Patrick Moizo

A few years back, we covered ride-sharing site Hitchsters, which matches travellers to help them cut down on cab fare to airports in New York and San Francisco. Now, in the UK, Luton Airport has now joined forces with ride-sharing enterprise Liftshare to connect commuters en route to the airport.

Interested passengers and airport employees can register to access a database of other commuters, dropping a line to those heading to the airport at a similar time. The site never reveals the user's email or other contact information, and suggests that ride-sharers meet in a public place for the first trip just to keep things safe. The program, which is the first of its kind in the UK, is a smart move by Luton Airport. Not only does it improve its less-than-stellar transportation links to London, but it can ease its negative impact on the environment by helping to reduce the numbers of cars on the road. Key, of course, will be to make it easy and safe for travellers to share, and targeting frequent flyers seems like the way to go. Other airports to follow?

Website: www.londonlutoncarshare.com
Contact: londonluton.carshare@ltn.aero

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

Digital publisher Zinio has teamed up with Starwood to offer guests free digital copies of their favourite magazines. As of last month, a variety of well-known titles can be downloaded at Starwood's Element hotels, with Aloft and Four Points by Sheraton joining at the end of the year.

Zinio's 'digital newsstand' can be accessed on guests' laptops in their rooms, or via a kiosk in the lobby. After logging on to the Starwood portal and registering with Zinio, guests can select as many single titles as they wish, choosing from a wide range of popular publications like Caribbean Travel & Life, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, Field & Stream and Ski Magazine. (Prices for magazines purchased through Zinio are normally similar to those paid for paper copies.)

With editions that can be read online or off—and that are identical to their printed brethren—travellers are freed from schlepping around a bag full of paper. Zinio gets the chance to demo its service to new users, and Starwood can offer its guests magazines they actually want to read, instead of a standard selection. And there's an environmental benefit too, of course, which is fitting since Element is Starwood's new 'green' brand. Reminds us of another download service for travellers we spotted recently: airline alliance offers free audiobook downloads at airports.

Website: www.zinio.com — www.starwood.com

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

A midnight snack in 140 characters? Guests at a new Maastricht hotel won't have to leave their Twitter stream if they're feeling peckish—they can just tweet their requests to the front desk, @townhousehotels. (Correction: It turns out that the hotel doesn't offer room service, but serves breakfast, soup and light snacks for guests who are unwilling to make their way to one of the city's many restaurants.)

Offering Twitter as an in-hotel communication tool is just one of the innovative elements at the Townhouse Hotel Maastricht, which is set to open in September. We previously covered the venture when it was still mysteriously known as Hotel X and piqued our curiosity by buying armchairs and alarm clocks from consumers. Building and decoration are still in progress, but the hotel's identity is taking shape, and it appears to be a timely combination of technology, affordability and personality.

As boutique hotels have become near-ubiquitous, the appeal of their polished design is losing its lustre. No surprise, then, that a counter-trend is building: hotels are aiming for a more memorable stay by combining style with personality. As indicated by how it sourced vintage furniture from local homes and attics, the Townhouse Hotel is choosing idiosyncratic charm and playfulness over showroom finesse, while keeping the technological perks that travellers have grown accustomed to. Adding to its sense of realness, Townhouse Hotel will recruit 'citizen models' for their premier ad campaign.

Like the similarly quirky Mama Shelter in Paris, Townhouse Hotel Maastricht is priced for high occupancy rates: prices at the 69-room hotel will start at EUR 75.

Website: www.townhousehotels.nl
Contact: info@townhousehotels.nl — @townhousehotels

Members of Hyatt's Gold Passport loyalty program already enjoy numerous benefits when they visit one of the company's hotels. Soon, however, they'll also benefit from a new initiative at the company to deliver random acts of kindness.

Hyatt's mission is to provide what it calls "authentic hospitality," defined—in the words of CEO Mark Hoplamazian—as "making a difference in the lives of the people we touch, including guests, employees and others." As part of a new effort to take better care of its Gold Passport members, the company will soon begin targeting those guests with pleasant surprises designed to delight them during their stay. "We will be empowering hotel employees to perform what we’re calling random acts of generosity," Hoplamazian wrote in a recent blog post. "So, don’t be surprised if Gold Passport picks up your bar tab, comps your massage or treats your family to breakfast. It’s part of bringing authentic hospitality to life and making you feel more than welcome."

Not only does the effort stand a good chance of boosting the authenticity of Hyatt's service delivery, it's also a shining example of the kind of corporate generosity that's increasingly being sought by disillusioned consumers and offered by clued-in brands. (A similar example from our sister site's briefing on Generation G: Wings, a credit card brand owned by one of Turkey's largest banks, partnered with five upscale restaurants in Istanbul to offer a random selection of lucky cardholders a pleasant surprise. After having dinner at one of the restaurants and paying with their Wings card, the customer was notified that Wings would foot the bill.) Time to start spreading some kindness of your own? (Related: Clothing brand asks its wearers to be kind — Online game focuses on real-world kindness.)

Website: goldpassport.hyatt.com
Contact: goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/contact_us.jsp

Spotted by: Judy McRae

Consumers suffering from an excess of online oxygen and a shortage of the old-fashioned kind have long been able to rediscover life's natural rhythms in a farm camping vacation. A network of working farms in the UK and beyond offers a decidedly compelling twist on the classic notion.

Feather Down Farms are small-scale, working farms that offer cottage-style tents with "traditional interiors" including feather beds, wood-burning stoves and flushing toilets. A far cry from a rustic tent, the spacious accommodations feature master and bunk bedrooms along with an extra canopy bed—sleeping up to 6 in all. There is no electricity in Feather Down tents, but oil lamps and candles are provided for lighting and hot showers are available nearby. Children can get cosy with the barnyard creatures, and a farm store provides locally grown produce and necessities. Guests can also gather fresh eggs in the farm's henhouse each morning—or, at some UK farms, a private chicken coop is even available for rent, as are recipes, ingredients and implements for select farm-style meals. UK rental prices begin at GBP 195 for a 3-night midweek stay, including firewood or coal for the stove; a private chicken coop starts at GBP 10 for a midweek stay. Bicycle rentals are also available.

Targeting double-income families with kids, Feather Down Farms just recently expanded into the Netherlands, France and the US, with additional nations in its plans for the upcoming future. Farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs around the globe: one to get in on now? (Related: Nostalgia for hire — Try-before-you-buy urban chicken farming — Boutique camping.)

Website: www.featherdownfarm.co.uk — www.featherdown.com — www.unlitaupre.com — www.boerenbed.com
Contact: info@featherdown.co.uk — info@featherdown.com

Spotted by: James Cohen

No-frills chic hotels have been around for years, offering guests a stylish stay without the bills to match. More recently, hotels and restaurants have been experimenting with pay-what-you-want schemes to attract budget conscious customers. And now San Diego's Rancho Bernardo Inn is taking yet another approach, offering travellers a rather novel pricing model dubbed the Survivor Package.

Rancho Bernardo Inn asks cash-strapped guests "How low will you go?", letting them set their price by excluding the amenities they can live without. The hotel's Survivor Package, valid through June 15th and promoted on Twitter by General Manager John Gates (@GMGoneMad), is presented as follows:

Deluxe accommodations with breakfast for two for USD 219 per night.
Or....
• $199 without breakfast
• $179 without honor bar
• $159 without A/C or heat
• $139 without pillows
• $109 without sheets
• $89 without lights
• $59 without linens
• $39 without toiletries
• $19 without bed

No word yet on whether anyone has been willing to pay USD 19 to sleep on the floor, but it definitely makes for an eye-catching price strategy ;-) (Related: Austrian village asks tourists to set their price.)

Website: www.ranchobernardoinn.com
Contact: RanchoBernardoInn@JCResorts.com

Spotted by: Matthew Cua

Längenfeld, an idyllic village in Austria’s Alps, is inviting 200 people to visit for three days during the first week of July. Visitors will perform a Live Quality Check, testing the village’s hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities. When it’s time to leave, they’ll fill out a survey and pay what they think their stay was worth.

When signing up for the Live Quality Check, people were asked to select their preferred type of accommodation, as well indicate the holiday activities they enjoy—rafting, hiking, climbing, swimming, biking, culture and a spa are on offer. Sixteen accommodation providers, four restaurants and seven leisure facilities are participating in the endeavour, and over 400 people applied for a testing slot. According to Martin Santer, the project’s initiator, “Längenfeld is a place of energy, both for locals and our guests, and it has become a thriving tourist resort; a place we’re very proud of. With Live Quality Check, we’re showing our pride by letting guests determine how much they pay.”

More than just a PR gimmick at the start of the summer season, the test should help uncover whether tourists feel they’re getting value for money in Längenfeld. By combining pay-as-you-wish with an extensive survey, the local tourist industry gains valuable information about the quality of their services, and useful feedback on their pricing strategy. Now, if they really want to go the full mile, they’ll add transparency to the mix and put all those reviews online… (Related: Pay-what-you-want hotel in Singapore — Pay-what-you-want ad agency — London diners pay what they want at Little Bay.)

Website: www.live-qualitycheck.com
Contact: info@live-qualitycheck.com

Spotted by: M.M.

Air passengers everywhere may soon be getting a literary boost, thanks to a new offer from the Oneworld alliance. As of June 2009, travellers passing through Brussels, Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino airports can download three audiobooks for free.

Oneworld, which includes American Airlines, British Airways, JAL and 7 other airlines, offers the service over wifi at the aforementioned airports. Consumers can download audiobooks to their laptops, smartphones andPDAs—any device that connects to the airports' wifi networks. They can pick from forty titles, covering fiction, business, society and travel; available in English, Dutch, French and Italian. And for customers who always get in a forgetful flap at the airport, an email reminder can be requested for the day before the flight, reminding them of the freebies on offer.

The initiative complements Oneworld’s Travel Stations, which enable users to download travel advice and information onto mobile devices, and its Charging Stations, which give gadgets a bit of extra juice. In an unusually inclusive move, all travellers, whether Oneworld customers or not, are invited to make the most of the perks—as Oneworld hopes to be the alliance of choice for the user’s next journey.

It’s a relatively cost-effective way of treating customers, requiring little infrastructure or installation to get up and running. And a great example of what our sister-site trendwatching.com calls free love, or the art of (relevantly) giving away stuff to build your brand. (Related: Personalized in-flight magazines at Heathrow’s Terminal 1.)

Website: library.oneworld.com
Contact: www.oneworld.com/ow/contact

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

In tropical climates, roughly 80 percent of the energy used in an average hotel room is for air conditioning. Aiming to provide a more sustainable alternative, the Evening Breeze bed is a canopy bed with built-in air conditioner that uses only a fraction of that energy.

In the Evening Breeze bed, air is filtered and cooled to a set temperature and humidity level and then gently directed over the sleeper via an upholstered canopy ceiling. A built-in mosquito net protects the sleeper from uninvited visitors while also helping to contain the cooled air, meaning that no airtight insulation is necessary—rather, the room can be left to its natural state, with windows open for fresh air. The eco-minded bed is crafted from FSC-approved wood, and it uses only environmentally friendly R410A coolant. Perhaps best of all, however, is that whereas conventional air conditioners use between 1,200 and 2,000 Watts, the average energy use for the Evening Breeze bed is only 400 Watts, creating a reduction in energy use of 60 percent per room. That, in turn, results in a potential yearly savings of 4 MWh, equivalent to USD 1,000 or 2.5 tons of CO2 pollution, the bed's maker says. Earlier this year the Evening Breeze bed was awarded Honourable Mention in the Design and Build category of the 2008 Green Dot Awards. Priced at EUR 1,800, each Evening Breeze system sold gets combined with a locally made mattress and box spring when it arrives at its destination.

Five resorts in the Caribbean and South Africa are now equipped with the beds, and Mozambique's Coral Lodge—due to open in September—will be the first to use them hotelwide. Dutch Evening Breeze is currently developing its sales and service network in the Caribbean and Africa; one to get in on early? (Related: Eco-mattress in a box — Buy the bed you just slept in.)

Website: www.evening-breeze.com
Contact: info@evening-breeze.com

Spotted by: Robin Benjamin