Sandcastle Pop-Ups, Pet Rescue & Build-Your-Own Islands

Welcome back to World of Travel, where we round up our favourite stories from the farthest reaches of the travelsphere. You can expect everything from hints and tips sourced from the world's leading travel bloggers, to pictures and videos of incredible destinations you might not have known existed, plus loads of other stuff. You may even see a few travelling animals here and there.

Just so you know, we publish a new one of these every Friday. This is a quite deliberate move, designed to ensure that you have something to read/watch while easing into the weekend. Just make sure the boss isn't watching.

This week we have stories from (among others) @TelegraphTravel, @CNNTravel, @buzzfeedtravel, @ExpertVagabond, @theawesomer, @nomadicmatt.

Good Week For...

Sandcastle enthusiasts, who can now holiday in a world-first pop-up hotel made of sand. Two 8-metre high sculptures, one of which is modelled on the Great Wall of China and decorated with dragons and Terracotta warriors, have been erected in the delightfully named Dutch towns of Oss and Sneek for their annual sand sculpture festivals. CNN has pictures.  

Travellers with a spare $50,000 wedged behind the sofa. That's the price of one night in America's most expensive hotel room. The New York suite is about the size of a basketball court and comes with a butler and an art concierge.

The Economist has some alternative suggestions on how to spend your $50k, including buying an entire holiday home in Bulgaria.

Harry Potter fans, who can now quaff a chalice of Befuddlement elixir at new Toronto bar The Lockhart. Quick, to a portkey!

Metro has more. 

Dubliners, who live in Europe's best-value city for culture vultures, according to a new survey.

Read more at The Daily Mail.

Bad Week For...

Air India cabin crew who failed to achieve an "adequate BMI" following their weight-loss probation period. The airline grounded 125 cabin stewards for being "too fat", citing safety concerns. Time has the full story.

TripAdvisor users, who were forced to go to Italy and waste their time looking at world-famous disappointing landmarks such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum ("poorly built" and "a ruined mess," apparently).

Read the reviews over at Buzzfeed.

Passengers unlucky enough to be on a JetBlue flight to Portland, Oregon, with Jeff Rubin – who awoke 30 minutes before landing, stood up and relieved himself onto fellow travellers through a crack in the seats. "At some point Jeff Rubin lost his balance causing him to fall backwards and urinate upwards which got on the passengers and seats next to him as well as some other passenger's personal belongings," police said.

CNN has the gory details.

Did You Know…?

You can now build your own, made-to-order, private floating island in the Maldives. Because why not? Telegraph Travel has more.

Travelling Animal of the Week 

French bulldog Simba had a lucky escape this week after heaters malfunctioned in the cargo hold on an Air Canada flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto. With temperatures in the hold plummeting to freezing point, the pilot made the unprecedented decision to divert the flight to Frankfurt to protect the pup's wellbeing, even though Air Canada had to take a financial hit. Hero. Find out more at Condé Nast Traveler.    

From the Blogs & Beyond

• So many cocktails, so little time. Business Insider's helped to narrow it down with this bucket list of bars, including a fisherman's hut in Zanzibar (which you can only get to by boat) and the 118th floor of Hong Kong's Ritz Carlton. Intoxicating stuff.
• New Yorkers have their own language, apparently. Buzzfeed decodes it. You're mad welcome.
• Camel trekking, Roman ruins and Game of Thrones. Here's NomadicMatt on falling in love with Morocco.
• The Expert Vagabond clues you in on 15 of the most common travel scams worldwide. Don't get taken for a ride.
• Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko has just stepped out in the world's all-new largest sailing superyacht. Telegraph Travel has pictures.

This Week We're Dreaming About...

...giant robots, cherry blossoms and temples dipped in snow. Buzzfeed has us obsessed with Japan.

See more gratuitous pictures here.

What We're Watching...

Surf's up! Watch drone footage of surfers riding 30-foot waves in Tahiti, courtesy of Adventure.com.

Ever wondered what happens to your luggage after you check in for a flight? So did The Awesomer, so they found out:

This not-at-all-creepy-or-stalker-like video of an airport reunion is adorable and tender. We possibly have something in our eye...

Do you have a travel story that you think the world needs to hear? Email rbatho@travelzoo.com with the details or tweet us (we're on @Travelzoo_UK) using the hashtag #TravelzooWoT.