Tag: Hotels
Travel Song of the Day: ‘Man in a Suitcase’ by The Police
by Michael Yessis | 11.16.09 | 12:29 PM ET
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Yahoo! BuzzVideo: ‘Ridiculous Long Walk From Room to Elevator’
by Eva Holland | 10.15.09 | 1:59 PM ET
Here’s a Jason Reitman original that I’m sure most travelers can relate to. It’ll have to tide us Reitman fans over until his larger-scale travel movie, Up in the Air, lands in December.
Introducing ‘The Adulterer’s Concierge’
by Eva Holland | 10.14.09 | 4:00 PM ET
From the Daily Beast: “Because when you’re paying top-dollar for a penthouse hotel room or a corner banquette at a luxury restaurant, the establishment’s staff should know enough not to call your wife by your mistresses’ name.”
Oyster Hotel Reviews: Going Undercover?
by Eva Holland | 10.07.09 | 11:01 AM ET
The Star-Ledger has an interesting profile of Oyster Hotel Reviews, a newcomer on the online travel scene. The story emphasizes the site’s efforts to hire writers with investigative reporting experience for their undercover reviews, and while some of the cloak-and-dagger language seems a tad over the top, it still adds up to an intriguing point: Oyster is abandoning the trend of user-generated reviews in favor of hiring trained professionals, and aiming to rise to the top of the hotel-review heap by doing so. Maybe guidebook writing isn’t a doomed profession after all?
Slideshow: Classic Hotel Door Hangers
by Michael Yessis | 10.05.09 | 3:17 PM ET
Michael Lebowitz found 55 classic door hangers from hotels around the world among the belongings of his late grandfather. They’re beautiful. (Via Coudal)
The Worst Hotel in the World
by Frank Bures | 10.02.09 | 10:47 AM ET
Frank Bures reflects on the hotels we love to hate -- and the book celebrating one of them
Interview With Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith: ‘Clean Breaks’
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.23.09 | 12:15 PM ET
Joanna Kakissis talks green travel, greenwashing and experiential journeys with the authors of a new book
The Voyeurs of New York’s High Line
by Michael Yessis | 09.17.09 | 12:37 PM ET
New York City’s new High Line park looks out at, among other things, the Standard Hotel, which, writes Geraldine Baum, “became New York’s hot attraction this summer after guests were photographed in the buff prancing about, even having sex, in front of floor-to-ceiling windows.” Baum looks at the phenomenon, and puts it into context:
This 21st century urban voyeurism is the next logical step in a society that has been peeping and poking into private lives, with all of us participating, on reality TV, through social networking, and in confessional interviews and memoirs.
‘Dying to do Letterman’ Comic Gets Wish, Riffs About Hotel Keys and Key Cards
by Michael Yessis | 09.09.09 | 12:06 PM ET
When Steve Mazan was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer, he decided to focus his energies on his dream: appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman. He made it last week with a bit about hotel keys and key cards.
The Battle for Cancun’s Sand
by Eva Holland | 08.20.09 | 11:18 AM ET
And no, I don’t mean the resort-goers’ daily fight for the best tanning spot. In the New York Times, Mark Lacey takes a look at Cancun’s shrinking beaches—and the lengths to which some hotels are going in an effort to keep their share of what’s left.
Joel Stein in Las Vegas: ‘I Have Come for Revenge’
by Michael Yessis | 08.18.09 | 2:19 PM ET
He went to Las Vegas to take advantage of the city when it’s down. “For the first time ever,” he writes in Time, “it is possible to complete a monetary exchange in Las Vegas and feel bad for the other person.” But you know what? He doesn’t feel bad about it. Good story, but, as someone who loves Vegas, I found it a bit painful to read.
Taking the ‘Flaubert Approach’ to Staying in a Hotel
by Michael Yessis | 08.12.09 | 11:43 AM ET
Rahul Jacob says travelers would be a lot happier if they didn’t “harbour illusions of a hotel stay bordering on perfection—just because we happen to be paying for it.”
The End of Cuba’s ‘Tourism Apartheid’?
by Eva Holland | 08.11.09 | 4:25 PM ET
It’s been more than a year since Raul Castro rescinded the ban on Cubans in local hotels and resorts, but the shift is only now seeing tangible results. Writes Nick Miroff of Global Post: “Given that the average wage on the island is less than $20 a month, the change was largely considered a symbolic one at the time. But this summer, something unusual has been happening up and down the beach at Varadero. The hotels are filling with cash-wielding locals.” Apparently, the influx is largely a result of steep discounts in a recession-hit off season. I never thought I’d say it, but this might be one “staycation” I can get behind.
Motel 6 Gets an Upgrade
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 1:30 PM ET
Yep, the roadside budget standby has got a flashy new interior design, described as “bold, sleek, frugal euro-modernism”—but don’t worry, the new look won’t affect the reliable prices. The Los Angeles Times has photos and a review.
How to Stay at a Love Hotel in Japan
by Lisa Gay | 07.17.09 | 11:20 AM ET
Want a memorable pay-by-the-hour experience? Lisa Gay explains the ins and outs of a stay at the famous Japanese love nests.
Japan’s Love Hotels: Recession-Proof?
by Michael Yessis | 07.09.09 | 1:43 PM ET
Looks that way. Apparently Japan’s love hotels have been rocking, even in what CNN calls the country’s deepest economic recession since World War II. “Even these days, on the weekend, every love hotel is full of people—it’s hard to get in,” one woman told CNN. “You can never stop sexual desire.” Or perhaps the drawing power of the Hello Kitty-themed rooms.
Checking Out
by Alexander Basek | 06.29.09 | 3:33 PM ET
Well guys, it’s been fun. Thanks for listening to me pontificate on all the hotel-ish things that caught my eye these last few months: Wi-Fi woes, soaps, showers, seaweed and sheets. I’m big on the letter “S,” apparently. I’ll still contribute to World Hum from time to time, but in the interim, look me up on Twitter: @alexanderbasek. See you on the road.
Check-in Time at Northern Ireland’s Oldest Prison
by Eva Holland | 06.23.09 | 2:48 PM ET
The Armagh Jail, a 230-year-old prison that served as a women’s detention center during Northern Ireland’s Troubles, will be converted into a luxury hotel, the Independent reports. The City Council will retain ownership of the site, and the developers who’ve leased it have apparently committed to maintaining its historical integrity during the renovations. Said one ex-inmate: “I just hope the food is better there now.”
Armagh may not be the only prison with turn-down service in its future, either. The story notes that The Maze—the infamous Troubles-era prison where 10 hunger-strikers died in the 1980s—is up for redevelopment, too.
See This Now: ‘Give Peace a Chance’
by Eva Holland | 06.23.09 | 10:14 AM ET
Photo by Eva Holland As we’ve noted, this spring marked the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko’s iconic “bed-ins” for peace, first at the Amsterdam Hilton and later (and more famously) at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel. The commemorations in those two cities have passed, but a powerful exhibit about the Montreal bed-in has just opened at the Museum at Bethel Woods (aka the Woodstock museum), and it will remain open through the summer.
Traveling the World in Search of ‘Supersleep’
by Eva Holland | 06.22.09 | 10:39 AM ET
Slate’s Tim Wu reflects on travel as a medium for some great sleeps, and looks back on his best. The winner? A night in a snow shelter: “After snowshoeing to our snow homes and burrowing in, I remember falling into what must be the deepest state of dreamless sleep humans are capable of. It was the mythical supersleep, deeper than any other, the Atlantis of the unconscious. It was a heavy dose of what scientists call slow-wave sleep. I’ve been trying to find it again ever since—but the question is, where?”