Hotels and Lodging

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Dear Globetrotter:

A data breach at Starwood (owned by Marriott since 2016) exposed the names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and passport numbers of about 327 million hotel guests. Other guests also had credit card information stolen, bringing the total to about 500 million people; however, the credit card numbers and expiration dates were stored with two levels of encryption, and Marriott does not know if the thieves were able to successfully retrieve that information.

The former Cunard Line ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II, now a luxury hotel docked permanently at Mina Rashid Port in Dubai, began taking reservations in November. The 1,300-room hotel has 13 restaurants and bars plus a museum.

Room rates run about $100-$400 per night during high season (around January-May) and can be lower in off-season. Visit www.qe2.com or call +971 4 528 888.

Wild animals can be viewed day and night through a floor-to-ceiling window in each guest's room in special lodges at Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve (Nr. Ashford, Kent, CT21 4PD, England, UK; www.aspinallfoundation.org/port-lympne).

Within the reserve, at the Wolf Lodge, Tiger Lodge, Lion Lodge, Bear Lodge and Giraffe Lodge, each lodge's namesake move about freely in an adjacent enclosure. In the Giraffe Lodge, uniquely, guests can hand-feed the giraffes. Wildlife lodge rates range from £455 (near $582) to £1,000 per night.

Two car bombs were detonated outside of a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Nov. 9, killing at least 22 people. A third bomb, in a tuk-tuk, was set off shortly afterward nearby, with no casualties reported. The hotel is near the headquarters of Somalia's Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

After the bombing, at least four armed militants tried to enter the hotel, but they were killed by hotel guards and CID officers in the attempt. Islamist terrorist group al- Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the suburb of Nouaceur, adjacent to Casablanca, Morocco, the Relax Airport Hotel (phone, in the US, 888/205-7322, www.relaxhotelairportcasablanca.com) is ideally situated for stopover travelers. Away from any noisy flight paths, it's just a 10-minute hotel-shuttle ride from the airport.

Also, the hotel offers an unusual feature that makes it perfect for long layovers. You can stay from 9 a.m. the day you arrive until 2 p.m. the following day — up to 29 hours — all for the cost of a single day!

My longtime traveling companion, Joan Anderson, and I took a tour of several Balkan countries in September 2017 with Overseas Adventure Travel, or OAT (Boston, MA; 800/955-1925, www.oattravel.com).

First of all, I'm an independent traveler and have taken only two tours over the past 38 years. Joan and I were thinking about taking an independent tour of the Balkans, but I remembered how difficult this was for me in 1990.

My husband and I went on a trip called "The Baltic Capitals & St. Petersburg" with Overseas Adventure Travel, or OAT (Cambridge, MA; 800/955-1925, www.oattravel.com), Oct. 2-17, 2017.