New Hostel Near San Francisco Union Square

Those who don’t want to shell out a big chunk of their limited travel budget on a costly San Francisco hotel room might consider making reservations at the new low-cost, 175-bed American Youth Hostel, one block west of Union Square. This, San Francisco’s second AYH hostel, was developed to accommodate overflow from the Ft. Mason facility near the marina, which books up early and often turns away potential guests during the peak summer travel season. The new Union Square hostel is also more convenient to many tourist sites. The price for an overnight stay in the restored hotel, which at press time was scheduled to reopen as a hostel yesterday, is $14 per person plus a $3 guest membership fee for those who are not American Youth Hostel members. Guests who do not come equipped with a sleep sheet will be asked to pay an additional $2 for sheet rental. There is no age restriction for accommodations in rooms that sleep two or three and are adjacent to shared baths. Reservations should be made a minimum of several weeks in advance. For more information, contact the hostel at Union Square, 312 Mason St., (415) 788-5604, or write AYH, 425 Divisadero St., Suite 307, San Francisco 94117.

Travel Quiz: What are Americans’ most popular outdoor vacation activities?

Sweet Smell of Excess: Egyptian Queen Nefertari’s tomb, an unmatched nether world of splendor, is reopening after being closed to the public since 1940, but it won’t be open to tourists . . . they sweat too much.

The 3,200-year-old tomb of the chief wife of Pharoah Ramses II--one of the most powerful of all Egyptian queens and a woman renowned for her beauty, boldness and kindness--is among the most fabulous of Egypt’s archeological treasures but also one of its most fragile. A painstaking restoration project lasting six years and costing $4 million is complete, but for the immediate future is open to scholars and scientists only. Officials fear the warm bodies and sweat of large numbers of tourists would raise the humidity in the tomb and speed the peeling of ancient paint. Although boosting tourism was a prime reason for the restoration, which involved researchers and experts from Italy, Boston and the J. Paul Getty Conservation Institute of Marina del Rey, Egyptian officials said they are studying alternatives to mass tourism: an outside video or tomb reproduction, large entry fees or selection of visitors by lottery.

Quick Fact: Finland’s first casino--which opened in December at the Ramada Presidentti Hotel in Helsinki--is donating all proceeds to charities for the disabled and mentally ill.

A Race of Races: Nearly 300 sailing vessels from at least 39 countries are expected to participate in next month’s regatta from the Canary Islands, 800 miles southwest of Spain, to Puerto Rico, in what is billed as the biggest such nautical event in history. Called the Grand Regatta Columbus ‘92, the monthlong competition--which will leave the Canaries May 13 to retrace the steps of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria--will culminate June 10-14 in Puerto Rico in a kickoff to the commonwealth’s Columbus Quincentenary celebration. The mammoth celebration will feature tours of the racing vessels, fireworks displays, concerts, parades, fairs and sporting events. At least 26 tall ships and tens of thousands of foreign visitors are expected. From Puerto Rico, the ships will sail up to New York, arriving by July 4, then sail to Boston and back across the Atlantic to Liverpool, England.

Cruise Ship Tuberculosis: Two crew members aboard the cruise ship Regent Sea were diagnosed with tuberculosis in March, and some passengers who sailed on the Caribbean-bound ship between Sept. 1, 1991, and March 15, 1992, may have been exposed. In part as a result of this, federal Centers for Disease Control officials will, perhaps by this summer, formally request that all employees on cruise ships undergo annual skin tests and chest X-rays, as well as pre-employment screening.

A kitchen worker and a busboy were taken off Regency Cruise Lines 712-passenger Regent Sea in Tampa after they were found to have active TB. Other workers, and perhaps passengers, are believed to have been exposed, said William Kassler, a CDC epidemiologist. A CDC spokeswoman said the agency will probably request within the next few weeks that the cruise line contact vacationers who were housed in staterooms that shared the same air ventilation system as the ill crew members. Kassler said that tight living quarters aboard ships are conducive to transmission of tuberculosis, which is spread through airborne droplets expelled when a person coughs or sneezes.

Business as (Un)usual: Austrian Airlines recently opened its first Business Service Center at its city ticket office in Bucharest, Romania. The center, which took a year to set up and required a special satellite hookup for the electronic equipment, is the first such center in Romania. It has a conference room, two offices (one with a computer and printer), phone, fax, telex and secretarial services, and is open weekdays to business-class passengers and members of the airline’s Top Traveller Club.

Comparatively Speaking: February flights out of LAX that arrived at their destinations late more than 80% of the time: Delta flights to Kennedy in New York at 8 a.m., 12:20 and 10:15 p.m.; Delta flights to San Francisco at 10 a.m.; Delta flights to Honolulu at 10:50 a.m., and Delta flights to Newark, N.J., at 10:15 p.m. (Source: Department of Transportation.)

Fair Warning: Longboard surfing, volleyball, 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, biathlons, kite flying and sandcastle building will all be part of the seventh-annual California Beach Party, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25-26 in Ventura. Admission will be $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, and children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult. The mile-long festival along Ventura’s beachfront and centered at Ventura’s pier will also include a vintage convertible show and vendors with boardwalk fare such as hot dogs and seafood specialties. Take the California Street exit from California 101. For more information, call (805) 654-7850.

Quiz Answer: 1) hiking or backpacking, 2) camping and 3) bicycling. (Source: U.S. Travel Data Center.)