If you like to do a little time travel with your present-day travel, the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach, California is a great place for a weekend getaway.

BBC: A ghostly visit on the RMS Queen Mary hotel

Next year, Professor John Oxford, an expert in virology from Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, in London, will lock volunteers in a hotel for a week, deliberately infect some with the flu virus, and wait to see what happens.

BBC: Colds and flu remain mysterious

Cunard put the Queen Mary up for sale and the city of Long Beach bought it to use as a tourist attraction, museum, hotel and event facility.

BBC: A ghostly visit on the RMS Queen Mary hotel