They rarely seem to take you to your room.The property's original owner had an eccentric policy of selling anything and everything on display in the hotel - resulting in hilarious anecdotes about guests returning to their rooms to find the furniture had vanished. The current owners, the aristocratic Europeans Count de Reiset and his wife Eva, reassure bemused guests that today this no longer happens.LOCATION Villa Monta?Patzimba 201 (Colonia Vista Bella), Morelia, Michoacan, 58090 Mexico (00 52 443 314 0231; .mx). The hotel is 10 minutes from the historic centre of Morelia.Time to international airport: the 35-minute taxi journey to the airportshould cost little more than US$15 (£8).COMFORTABLE? Owing to its hillside setting, almost all the 36 rooms and suites boast stunning views over the city as well as giant fireplaces for the chilly winter months. Cavernous and individual, each room is filled with exotic flowers and has beamed ceilings, stone columns, carved woodwork and European antiques as well as indigenous artefacts.An ecclesiastical mood prevails in many of the rooms, with domed ceilings and religious icons - such as the giant glass crucifix in room 136.For a two-bedroom suite, complete with a red-walled terrace filled with orange trees, try number 105. Walk past the stone sculptures of fish, wolves and elephants to suite 137, which is home to a magnificent wood-panelled bedroom and an upstairs room for the children.But to experience life at its most regal, check into the Presidential suite. The heavy, carved doors open on to a sitting room and dining area, complete with imposing antique furniture. Best of all is the tiered terrace that offers first-class views of the city, with the baroque cathedral taking centre stage - the perfect setting for a civilised sunset tequila.Freebies: Neutrogena toiletries.THE BOTTOM LINE Suites range from US$211 (£117), excluding breakfast.I'm not paying that: Try Hotel Valladolid, Portal Hidalgo 245, a colonial hotel near the cathedral.

Double rooms start from Mex$600 (£29) (00 52 443 312 0027, /valladolid-morelia.htm).. Airlines are loading extra charges on to air fares, which can more than treble the basic price of a journey. Research by The Independent on one of the key international air routes, London to Amsterdam, reveals sharp discrepancies between airlines about the amount added on to fares as "taxes, fees, charges and surcharges" Five airlines fly between the UK and Dutch capital. Fares were checked on the same morning earlier this month for a day trip on 24 August. The only genuine government tax is a £5 Air Passenger Duty, collected by the British exchequer.

But several airlines multiply this figure tenfold. The lowest bill for extras was on easyJet, which levied a total of £10 on top of its basic fare of £37 - this was also easily the cheapest deal overall. Indeed, on other airlines the "taxes, fees, charges and surcharges" total more than the price you would pay to fly on easyJet. British Airways had a base fare of £34, but the extras amounted to £50.On BMI, the basic fare was lower, at £22, but the addition of an "insurance surcharge" pushed the bill for extras to £54.40. The seat sale that begins today continues that tradition: if you book by the end of the month for travel next May, you can fly to Auckland for as little as £489 or to Adelaide, Brisbane or Sydney for £20 more. All flights require a change of plane in Kuala Lumpur.For once, though, fares only as far as the Malaysian capital have been included, and have never been so low: through Airline Network (0870 234 0731; network.co.uk), you can fly there and back from Heathrow for just £309 return Unsurprisingly, the offer is heavily restricted.