A maid at the Hy-Way Motel near Fairfax City, Virginia, got quite a surprise recently when she discovered that several duffel bags that had been left in one of the motel's rooms were full of exotic snakes.

Twelve of the 17 snakes found were venomous; two had died, giving off an odor that attracted the maid's attention.

The Washington Post is reporting that the snakes belong to a man from Arlington County, Virginia, who was known to keep more than 100 exotic snakes in his home, but had been recently ordered by county authorities to remove them by the beginning of the month.

The man had apparently rented the Hy-Way Motel room for an entire week just to store some of his snakes there.

The man was not present when the snakes were discovered.

The lead singer and lead guitarist of U2, Bono and The Edge, won a protracted legal battle yesterday in their effort to renovate and expand Dublin's Clarence hotel, which they own.

The Clarence, located near the Temple Bar district of Dublin, is one of the city's most famous hotels.

The architect that the two musicians have hired for the $235 million renovation plan intends to completely gut the hotel before expanding into neighboring property sites, ultimately more than tripling the number of rooms currently offered.

The duo's plan had been marred in a 4 year legal battle, as preservationists argued that too many other protected buildings in the vicinity would be affected, including several which now will have to be knocked down.

Ireland's planning board approved the Clarence expansion, but with conditions, including calling for an archeologist to be on site throughout the project.

Naturally, preservationists say the celebrity of Bono and The Edge, two of Ireland's richest men, allowed them to bypass planning laws that would have thwarted anyone else.

One of the best things a person can do before traveling to a new country is to find out cultural norms in order to know how to be polite. It's a great way to make friends, get the best prices when bargaining, and to not create a situation where someone is mad at you because you've made a faux pas without realizing it.

Jim Wells at behospitable traveler.com of the Hilton Hotels hooked us into travel tips to help Americans (or anyone else for that matter) know how to behave when heading to China for the Olympic games.

This is part of the Hilton Hotels' campaign to help people be the stellar travelers we love to love. Hilton Hotels is one of the sponsors of the games and have been getting involved big time. (No, I'm not being paid to say that, it's just an observation.)

Whether you're one of the athletes or a couch potato, follow these tips and you'll leave China happy and the Chinese will be happy to have had you as a visitor.

The tips are presented by athletes in videos and print form. These are a good read whether you are going to China or not since they offer a glimpse into the Chinese value system. From this link, click on the hospitableTraveler: A call to Act box. This will lead you the tips. Click on the learn more tabs to "Thoughtfulness," "Character" and "Awareness." If you have problems accessing that link, try this one. Under the heading "Dining," you'll even find rules for using chopstick rules.

There is also a link to helpful Mandarin phrases like "Where is the bathroom?" When I was in Beijing, I used the bathroom at McDonald's several times. I bet that by the time the Olympics start, Beijing will be flush in Western style toilets.

Ah, the hotel, that most essential of components when you're having an illicit love affair.

It used to be that cheaters headed to the so-called No Tell Motel, some seedy establishment tucked away down an alley or on some remote road, to do their discreet deeds.

But politicians and other power figures with means usually choose upscale hotels for their affairs.

Concierge.com gives a nod to this fact with its list of the world's 12 best hotels in which to conduct an affair. Of course, the list is somewhat arbitrary, but the criteria are consistent across the board: luxury, big beds and discretion (who's going to catch you in Sardinia, after all?)

Now, Gadling of course does not endorse infidelity. But hey, if you're going to do it, Concierge at least thinks you should do it in style. And who knows, maybe you've stayed at one or more of these for other reasons...

The world's 12 best hotels for an affair

1. Hotel Sezz, Paris
   
2. Rock Water Secret Cove Resort, British Columbia
3. Las Passion, Cartagena (Colombia)
4. Lafayette House, New York City
5. Guana Island, British Virgin Islands
6. The Witchery, Edinburgh
7. The Bungalows at Chateau Marmont, L.A.
8. Su Gologone, Costa Smeralda (Sardinia)
9. Anger's Boutique Resort, Miami Beach
10. Soniat House, New Orleans
11. Angsana Riad Tiwoline, Marrakesh
12. Ivy Hotel, San Diego (featuring king-size bunk beds!)

See that guy over there, the one wearing a business suit lying on the floor inside an orange tent at the airport? The first time I saw that picture on The New York Times website, I laughed, and then I thought to myself, genius, absolute genius. The Mini Motel, a one-person tent complete with air mattress, pillow, reading light and alarm clock, that's what Frank Giotto, a business traveler, created after an unscheduled stay at a German airport.

There's one problem with the luxury tent, and it's a pretty big problem. Simply put, it's a tent. Personally, I can't see too many passengers interested in buying a tent. I mean who in their right mind wants to lug that thing on the airplane - just in case there's a delay, or cancellation, or something that would cause one to set up tent? Nor do I see the airlines purchasing it. Not when they're getting rid of things - namely employees - in order to save money. So who do I see desperate to get their hands on a luxury tent aimed at stranded people at the airport? Flight attendants of course!

According to Wikipedia, Commuting is the process of traveling between one's place of residence and regular place of work. For most people, normal people, commuting means getting in the car or hopping on a train and taking an hour long ride to the city where the office is located. Commuting for a flight attendant is a whole other animal. We cross cities, as in several cities, in order to get to work. Yet it's what a lot of flight attendants choose to do, particularly the ones based in New York - like me! Yes, I am a commuter. I commute from my home in Los Angeles to New York where I start my trips at one of two New York airports. I know I know, it's a little crazy, but it works.

Earlier this year, I happened to be in Zuerich and staying at a rather nice hotel. Not top-of-the-line, Ritz or Four Seasons level but some place still charging north of $300 a night. In other words, not a place I would stay at all the time.

Needing to get some work done, I shuffled downstairs and asked about the hotel's wireless connectivity. Yes, there was wireless. Cost: $45 for 24 hours.

Should expensive hotels (or even moderately priced hotels) charge for Internet?

Now, I'm not launching into some annoying, techie talk about how free WiFi is a right. I don't think Internet access is a right. I'd expect to shell out for it at a cheap place on the grounds that one gets what one pays for.

But for places charging $200, $300, $400, $500 a night and up to tack on another $20 or $30 for Internet just makes me feel like my business isn't even appreciated. I almost hear them saying: We're going to squeeze every last penny out of this guy. Worse, they'll think I'm on expenses, which I sometimes am, so they're really thinking I won't care about the principle of the matter because they're sticking it to a faceless corporation.

O.K., let me pull back here.

I tell my friends how annoyed I was that upon graduating from college, my esteemed university charged me $150 for my diploma. My school charged tens of thousands for tuition, I say -- they just couldn't throw in the diploma as a way of saying thanks for my business? I guess this same conceit goes with my problem with pay-to-play Internet at upscale hotels. I mean, they are already overcharging for the room and all that comes with it ($22 burger!). Couldn't they just throw Internet in? Hell, fold it into the cost of the room. Then I'd at least think I was getting something for free.

But reading Joe Brancatelli's latest column at Portfolio.com has at least given me a few things to think about.

Brancatelli tackles just this issue. He says that the cheaper hotels are the ones that will always offer free WiFi, because they see that as their main selling point. In contrast, the luxury brands figure you're staying for other reasons. I hadn't thought of it like that. It still seems a little contrary: you'd think the budget places would not want to be saddled with the cost of Internet without getting money for it, whereas Marriott can afford it.

And I didn't really know how much hotels actually pay for high bandwidth Internet. Brancatelli gives some numbers, and they're not insignificant.

On balance, it still annoys me to be charged for Internet at nice places, because it's the amount these hotels charge. I mean, $5, $10 -- I could live with that. But charging at such a mark up above what I can get at home?

Read Brancatelli's column. What do you think? Hotel WiFi -- fee or free?

Travel enough and people will ask you where is the coolest place you've ever spent the night.

My answer is usually pretty easy: A few years ago, I managed to talk my way into spending the night -- completely alone -- in Rudyard Kipling's house, Naulakha, outside Brattleboro, Vermont. I still remember the giddying invitation the estate's caretaker, David Tansey, gave me when he said I could sleep in any room I wanted. Kipling's brass twin bed is still there, but I chose the nursery room, which had served as a guest quarters for Arthur Conan Doyle. A large room, it had a magnificent veranda that overlooked the Connecticut River Valley. I worked a bit in Kipling's study, read some later on in his parlor, then bedded down for the night, listening to the creaks of the old house.

People can rent the house throughout the year. I lucked out and had it for one night.

So, that's always my answer to the question. I thought about this just now after considering these 10 cool places to stay from VirtualTourist, via Reuters. All seem likely to spawn a good story. Check the list out.

Where's the coolest place you've ever spent the night?

I hesitate to make snakes on a plane jokes because they're bad and overused, but in this case I'm going to have to do it once again. What just might be worse than snakes on a plane? Snakes in your hotel room. Fairfax City police said that they found a total of 17 exotic snakes in the room of the Hy-Way Motel last night near Fairfax Circle, VA. 12 of those snakes happened to be poisonous.

The hotel management was alerted to the snake issue because of the report of a foul odor coming from said room; two of the snakes had died which led to the smell. The snakes are believed to belong to an Arlington County man who kept as many as 100 exotic snakes in his home until recently. I think the important question here is: why did the snakes need a getaway at a cheap roadside hotel?

This gives us just another reason as to why it's important to fully investigate your hotel room (which can harbor some nasty things) before committing to stay in it for the night.

Think that's weird? What strange things have been found on planes?

Click the image to read the bizarre story...

Even when whizzing through a state on the way to somewhere else, it's possible to make observations. One can discover something new or remember a detail known, but forgotten.

As I am writing this, we are whizzing through Wisconsin on our way to Minneapolis after a night at La Quinta Inn in Madison. This is one leg of our road trip to Montana. No time on this leg for stops--except to pee and fill up on coffee and gas. We're on a schedule with people to visit by dinner.

Still, I want Wisconsin to have more impact than the breakfast we had this morning which was just like the breakfast we had at a La Quinta in Denver two summers ago.

La Quinta Inns might be the same everywhere, but I've noticed a difference in barns. In Ohio, where I live, most I've seen are white. In Wisconsin, red seems to be the most common. I've also thought about the cheese curds that I bought near Wisconsin Dells three years ago when we also took this route. We didn't have time to linger back then either.

At a rest area stop this afternoon, I picked up a brochure for Sun Prairie, the birthplace of Georgia O'Keefe. Sun Prairie is not far from where we are at the moment. Her grandparents who were Irish immigrants who settled here in 1848. O'Keefe was born in 1887 and grew up not far from her grandparent's farm. According to the brochure, O'Keefe's family's house burned down in 1976, but there is a historic marker in its place. The town also has celebrations in her honor.

With gas prices fluctuating between $3.95 and $4.09 in Columbus, Ohio, we've embarked on a road trip to Montana, cruise control set at 65 mph.

Right now we're driving into the sunset on I-80 near Fremont, Ohio, home of Rutherford B. Hayes. My laptop is resting across my lap. We're passing yet another white farmhouse with a barn silo. Our goal is to make it to La Quinta Inn in Madison, Wisconsin. It has a pool, WiFi and free breakfast. Wheee!

If we don't make it, we're out $100. It's 8:52 p.m. If you do the math, you'll notice that we won't roll into the parking lot until at least 2:00.

The relatives we just left in Brunswick at a high school graduation party for one of our ten nephews gave us hugs and waved us off. "Of course, you're driving to Madison tonight," was the general response.

The graduation party stop, two hours after I shoved our last belonging in the car in Columbus, was a quick one-just enough time to say our congrats, have a swim in a backyard pool, eat our fill and head out.

The stop was a chance to regroup. Leaving Columbus was not the smoothest. We left pillows and umbrellas behind. By the time we made it to the entrance ramp of I-71 north, I was ready to call it quits. This was not even a mile from our house.