One of Vegas's newest-looking hotels is actually just OYO Las Vegas, the former Hooters Hotel and one of the city's lowest-rated properties, relisted under a fake name with AI-generated photos. We share a few simple ways to verify any unfamiliar hotel before you book.

Airlines catfish too. Emirates loves showing off its Game Changer suite, but it's still only installed on nine planes nearly a decade after launch. Before you fall for a fancy seat online, check which plane you'll actually be flying on.

Hilton is also targeting some Honors members with a promo worth up to 15,000 bonus points across five stays, as long as you register by Dec. 31 and complete the stays within six months. Emirates may also add a fifth freedom route between Milan and Lima, Peru. Nothing is confirmed yet, but we explain what the route could mean for travelers. And in Helsinki, a new sauna island called Saunasaari just opened to individual visitors for the first time this summer. Think Othership, but on an actual island, with wood-fired hot tubs and the Baltic Sea to cool off.

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I’ve been catfished by hotel photos before. A beach looked like a turquoise postcard online and turned out to be dark and rocky. I’ve even been catfished by airlines. But apparently we’ve reached the next level of travel catfishing, because one of the newest hotels in Vegas literally doesn’t even exist.

This is Departure Digest, five minutes on what’s happening in travel right now.

Let’s start with that hotel.

It’s called Palette Las Vegas. Cute name, pretty photos, very convincing.

But actually, it’s just the OYO Las Vegas, formerly the Hooters Hotel, and one of the city’s worst-rated properties, relisted under a fake name with AI-generated photos.

People online are sharing how they specifically wanted to avoid OYO because of its reviews, booked Palette instead, and ended up stuck at the OYO anyway. We’re talking broken elevators, dirty rooms, the kind of place where you really don’t want to bring a black light. One review even called it a hotel with, and I’m quoting here, “human enthusiasm all over the walls.”

Most travel sites seem to have pulled the fake listings for now, but that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear elsewhere. Still do your research before you book anywhere unfamiliar.

My rule now is simple. Don’t always trust the pictures, verify the place. Before you book anywhere unfamiliar, search the actual address, not just the hotel name. Check the location tag on Instagram to see what real guests are actually posting. Look up reviews on Tripadvisor, Google, or Reddit instead of just the site you’re booking through. If that same address pulls up under a different name with way worse reviews, that’s your answer.

This kind of catfishing shows up with airlines too. Airlines love advertising their newest cabins. The marketing image isn’t necessarily the product you’ll actually get though.

Take Emirates’ Game Changer first class. It’s one of the best seats in the sky, a fully enclosed suite, all the bells and whistles. It’s been almost a decade since they introduced it and it’s still installed on just nine of its planes.

So before you get excited about a seat map, check what aircraft is actually assigned to your specific flight. Don’t just go off what the ad campaign wants you picturing.

Next, one where I actually do want you checking your account, because there could be real points waiting for you.

Hilton is targeting some Honors members with a promo called Stay More Earn More. I got the email myself over the weekend. It’s tiered by stay, up to 1,000 bonus points on your first stay after registering, climbing up to 5,000 on your fifth, for up to 15,000 points total. You’ve got six months from the day you register to complete the stays, and you need to register by Dec. 31.

One thing before you register though, don’t do it just because you can. If you’ve already got several Hilton stays coming up anyway, absolutely take the points. If you’re staring at your calendar wondering how you’d possibly fit in five Hilton stays, this isn’t the promotion that’s going to change your life.

Moving on, Emirates might be adding a very strange new route. Milan to Lima, Peru.

Nothing’s confirmed yet, approval could come as early as October, and even then Emirates has said it has no immediate plans to launch it. But if it happens, here’s why it’s worth knowing about.

It would be what’s called a fifth freedom route. An airline flies from its home country to another country, then continues on to a third, and it’s allowed to sell tickets on just that middle segment. Emirates already does this on a few routes. They fly Dubai to Milan to New York, for example, and you can book just the Milan to New York piece. It’s like getting on a train halfway through its journey.

If the Milan to Lima route happens, it’d connect Europe and South America without ever touching Dubai, on a Middle Eastern airline no less.

Last one, and it might be my favorite story of the day.

Helsinki recently opened something called Saunasaari. I might’ve butchered the name, but it literally translates to sauna island. It’s a short water taxi ride from the city center, home to Helsinki’s only public smoke sauna, plus wood fired hot tubs. Plus, you can walk straight into the Baltic Sea to cool off in between.

Here’s the part that makes this special. Saunasaari used to be private bookings only. This summer was the first time it opened up to individual visitors, but the public season only ran a few weeks. So I’m putting this on my list for next year.

If you’re into Othership, you’ll love this. It’s basically Othership on steroids, except it’s on an actual island.

Honestly, I’m not sure what’s cooler, that, or the fact that one of the Finnair lounges in Helsinki has its own sauna you can use before your flight, showers included so you’re not boarding sweaty. It’s open to Finnair’s own top tier elites and anyone else with oneworld Emerald status, including if you earned that status through an airline like American or Alaska.

Either way, if you’ve got that kind of status and a layover in Helsinki, this might be the most Finnish possible way to spend it.

That’s your Monday. Do your research, and maybe start planning a Helsinki layover. We’re back Wednesday.