If you’re looking to travel to the glitzy, tony city of Monte Carlo, brace yourself and your pocketbook as average hotel prices in 2012 were highest in the Monegasque capital and lowest in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh, according to Hotels.com.

The 350sq m, two-bedroom luxury pad located on the fourth floor of Sydney’s Park Hyatt features floor-to-ceiling glass with uninterrupted views of Sydney Harbour.

It could be any standard hotel room in the quaint northeastern Dutch city of Zwolle, with a bed, a minibar, bathrobes and two pairs of slippers.

Except for the room temperature, which hovers just above freezing. Welcome to the first Dutch ice hotel, all the comforts at eight degrees Celsius (46 °F).

“If you take a shower before bed, make sure your hair is dry or it will freeze. Do not drink too much alcohol, or eat too heavy a meal. Make sure you change clothes before entering the room,” hotel manager Annet van Limburg told first-time visitors.

New York may be officially the most popular place in the US to spend New Year, but travelers will still be paying through the nose for the privilege.

Staying in the Big Apple in 2012 will cost revelers up to 700 percent more than normal, price comparison site NewYorkHotels.org said this week.

On average, the 50 properties that have room availability are charging more than triple their regular rates, the website calculated.

A London hotel has become the latest to roll out a suite of amenities for women, despite a ruling that declared a similar scheme in Copenhagen as illegal under discrimination laws.

The Dukes Hotel in London will assign some of its rooms ‘Duchess Rooms’, loading them with treats to tempt single female travelers or groups of women.

The Duchess rooms will be looked after by exclusively female room attendants, contain extra items such as a makeup mirror, hair dryer and styling accessories, and offer a selection of glossy magazines.

Philippine casino operator Alliance Global plans to build another 6,500 hotel rooms over the next five years as it ramps up investment in the country’s tourism sector.

The plan includes the launch by year-end of its 2,500-room Resorts World Bayshore project on Manila’s seafront, its chairman Andrew Tan said in a statement.

It also includes a previously launched $345-million project to build a 2,500-hotel room tourism estate called Boracay Newcoast on the central resort island of Boracay.