Travel Agenda: The Refinery in New York City; new Generator Hostel opens in Berlin and new range of travel luggage by Knomo

From hip Berlin hostels to luxury luggage and Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-o-Matic ride

Stitch up

The Refinery opens in New York City's Garment District on 16 May. This century-old, former hat factory holds 197 rooms and suites with an industrial finish that nods to the building's past. It also has a Prohibition-styled tea lounge and rooftop bar (refineryhotelnewyork.com).

Mexican wave

Thomson has announced two new long-haul destinations for summer 2014: the island of Mauritius and Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific Coast (thomson.co.uk)

Body beautiful

In Transit is a new range of beauty products for travellers. It includes a Skin Defence cream with SPF30 (£29) and a First Aid roll on for mosquito bites (£15) (thisworks.com).

Hip hostel

A new Generator Hostel opens in Berlin's Mitte district this week. The budget city-centre outpost will have dorm beds from €10.50, a café and ping-pong tables in the 24-hour lounge (generatorhostels.com).

Case by case

Knomo's new range of travel luggage includes the over-size Galactic weekender bag in butter-soft black leather or nut-brown (£395) and the Marseille carry-on wheeled case (£235), available in four different shades (knomobags.com).

1896

The year that Blackpool Pleasure Beach was founded. On Wednesday, it gets a new attraction in the shape of the Wallace & Gromit Thrill-o-Matic ride. Suitable for families, it takes you on a journey through their films, from the Wrong Trousers to the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (blackpoolpleasurebeach.com).

Up in the air

St Pancras station in London had a new artwork unveiled this week. The Cloud: Meteoros by sculptor, Lucy Orta, depicts clouds covered with laymen, prophets, angels and deities, suspended above the Grand Terrace (stpancras.com).

Stellar service

Six Star Travel is a new luxury tour operator offering tailor-made trips to Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, Middle East and Latin America. Holidays are Abta and Atol bonded and can be searched by specialism (sixstarholidays.co.uk).