Zika hotel deals are here

Hotels in the Caribbean and Mexico are being hit with cancellations in the wake of the Zika virus — and not just in Zika-affected areas. Properties are responding by offering deals during their peak season. At the Cape in Los Cabos, Mexico, travelers get a fourth night free through Dec. 18. Those who call the hotel and book 60 days in advance get 30 percent off their room rate (from $399/night). The Ritz-Carlton's seven hotels in the Caribbean and Mexico all have stay-longer, save-more offers. Guests who book a stay at the Cancun property, for example, get a 25 percent discount off their room rate on a four-night stay, 30 percent off for five nights and 40 percent off for seven or more nights (from $399/night).

New York Times

Stones to rock Havana

The Rolling Stones will play a free concert in Havana on March 25, becoming the most famous act to play Cuba since its 1959 revolution. The Stones will play in Havana's Ciudad Deportiva three days after President Obama visits Havana. The concert is expected to draw a massive audience in a country where the government once persecuted young people for listening to rock music.

Associated Press

Thanks for #nothing

An analysis of more than 1.3 million Twitter messages sent to airlines from Nov. 20 to Jan. 9 found the phrase "thank you" was more common than any other. But the term may have been sarcastic more often than not. Consider a recent tweet sent to Spirit Airlines: "Thanks for keeping us waiting for 8 hrs only to cancel!" In the study by Stratos Jet Charters, "thank you" got 101,798 mentions, while "delayed, late and canceled" got 66,831 mentions, followed by "lost," as in lost luggage, with 16,272 mentions. Profanity erupted 14,490 times in the tweets.

Los Angeles Times

The Amanyara resort in Turks and Caicos is luring visitors with a deal.

A showy Miami restaurant

"Do you salsa or merengue?" the emcee at Miami's El Tucán asked the dolled-up crowd one Saturday night. "Me, either," she said, winking. "This band will get you there." Soon, audience members were twirling to the 11-piece Latin band led by Grammy winner Marlow Rosado. El Tucán styles itself as a throwback to another era, when you could see a variety show while having an elegant meal. The lighting is sexily dim and the decor is full-blown retro glam. French-born chef Jean Paul Lourdes looked to local Cuban joints, and the cuisines of Mexico and Peru. Adding his own Asian-cooking background, he turned a roast pork dish into a global "suckling porquetta." Lourdes was aware that the $85 prix fixe menu plays second billing to the entertainment. "We tried to make the flavor profile intense," he said, "so that it almost pops in your mouth and surprises you, but not to distract you from the show." New York Times

Airbus floats bench seats

Airbus has applied for a patent for a seat design that can offer extra space for overweight fliers. Airbus is suggesting that airlines use a bench seat, in which all the passengers share the same long seat cushion and backrest. The advantage is that the seat belt can be moved sideways along the length of the seat to fit between two and four passengers. The disadvantage is that the seat back can't recline, and fliers in the middle don't get an armrest. Airbus noted, "The vast majority of items and processes patented never become fully realized technology or products."

Los Angeles Times