Tag: Hotels
Discount Hotel Rooms: A Rose by any Other Name?
by Alexander Basek | 04.10.09 | 10:12 AM ET
The New York Times Practical Traveler has a good how-to on using opaque booking sites like Priceline for hotel room discounts. I, for one, am not a fan (of the booking sites—I’ve got no beef with the Practical Traveler). I have a list of no-go properties in most towns, no matter how discounted their rates, so the opaque strategy is too risky for me. Plus, some people believe that the rooms booked through those sites are the worst in any given property, and that your chances of getting walked should the hotel be overbooked are higher.
How do you guys feel about spinning the wheel of fate with these auction-style sites—yay or nay?
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Yahoo! BuzzLas Vegas Strip Tips
by Alexander Basek | 04.03.09 | 2:09 PM ET
Do check out HotelChatter and Jaunted‘s glitzy new spawn, VegasChatter. Where else would you find out about an all-male revue at Hooters?
Raffles Holds a Contest (Not a Raffle)
by Alexander Basek | 04.03.09 | 1:15 PM ET
Free stuff alert! Raffles hotels is holding a contest where entrants must submit “a description of the most enchanting experience they have enjoyed or alternatively their dream sojourn at any Raffles Hotels & Resorts.” The prize: “five-night experience in a luxurious Presidential Suite at any Raffles hotel or resort of the winner’s choice, with an option of a pampering Raffles Amrita Spa signature treatment or gourmet dinner for two.” Deadline’s May 30th, and you should head here for more info/to enter.
We already established that my favorite experience in a Raffles Hotel would involve being there while 2009’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit models were doing their thing, so I guess I’ll have to work on a time machine before submitting an entry of my own.
The Telegraph’s Top Hotels on Film
by Eva Holland | 04.03.09 | 10:16 AM ET
The Telegraph rounds up 10 real-life hotels that have taken starring turns in major films—and from where I’m sitting, it’s a very good list, with a nice mix of classics and more modern fare. My favorite? Tokyo’s Park Hyatt, which played such a crucial role in creating that bang-on sense of travel’s isolation and disconnectedness in “Lost in Translation.”
The ‘Golden Age’ of Green Travel
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.01.09 | 12:07 PM ET
That would be right now, despite the economic recession, says National Geographic Adventure’s eco tourism expert Costas Christ. Consider the evidence: Airlines are testing clean biofuels, top tourism organizations are battling climate change and defining sustainability standards and the Marriott Corporation is leading the charge to protect some 1.4 million acres of Amazon rain forest. Most notably for the humble traveler, the small outfitters and family-owned lodges of the early years of eco tourism are regaining their influence over the “$500-a-night jungle resorts” that have put eco travel out of financial reach for many, Christ says.
Hotel Tipping: A Change is Gonna Come
by Alexander Basek | 04.01.09 | 10:30 AM ET
I’m pretty good about tipping in hotels. I don’t mind dropping the bucks for bellmen—especially after I spent two days as one at the Hotel Giraffe for the New York Post—and I agree that some money for the maid in an envelope is usually the way to go. However, I had an interesting situation in Buenos Aires that made me wonder whether I made a cultural faux pas.
At the moment, BA is in the throes of a change shortage. There simply aren’t enough coins—you see signs everywhere that say “NO HAY MONEDAS” or demand exact change if you’re buying a pack of cigs. The buses in Buenos Aires only take coins, so the commute for a lot of working people in the city is rather difficult. I accumulated a fair amount of change over the course of my stay, and on the recommendation of a friend who lived in the city, I gave it to one of the front desk fellows at my hotel who had been helpful. He seemed a little ... surprised, though he said “Great! For the bus!” after an awkward pause. Still, I felt weird just giving someone a handful of change as a thank you.
Have you guys ever given unorthodox tips in hotels? Cookies? A hat? Tell me I’m not the only one.
A Visit to the Alvear
by Alexander Basek | 03.31.09 | 2:51 PM ET
While in Buenos Aires last week, I got a chance to tour the Alvear Palace. As part of a test of social media web 2.0 blahbitty blah, I also tried to tweet about my tour, with marginal success. It’s really hard to type little messages on your phone during a meeting with someone and not seem like a total jerkwad in the process.
Maybe, though, I gave you guys an eye into what the travel-writing game is about—namely, nodding appreciatively at pools and gym machines. OK, I actually was impressed by the Alvear’s gym—the machines have flatscreens with videos explaining how to do all the exercises. That’s right in the wheelhouse of a doughy nerd such as myself.
Hotel Hotsheet Halts
by Alexander Basek | 03.31.09 | 11:45 AM ET
After three years—or 21 “blogging” years—USA Today’s Hotel blogger, Kitty Bean Yancey, is hanging up her rolling suitcase today. She’s staying at the paper, just writing longer-form pieces about travel. Good luck, Kitty.
Looking Back at the Bed-In
by Eva Holland | 03.27.09 | 2:29 PM ET
This week marks the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko’s first bed-in, at the Amsterdam Hilton. The couple spent their honeymoon, from March 26 to 31, 1969, inviting the press to visit them in their hotel room, where they sat in bed and talked peace. (A second, more famous bed-in took place in Montreal in May of ’69 and resulted in the recording of “Give Peace a Chance.”)
If you happen to be in Amsterdam this weekend, check out a few ongoing commemorative events there, or—for a virtual commemoration—head over to Yoko Ono’s ImaginePeace.com for photos, video and reminiscences. You can also follow Yoko on Twitter; she’s had the anniversary on her mind. Yesterday she wrote: “I never liked ringing the service bell because it often made me realize that there was nobody at the other end.”
In the Budget Travel Game, Persistence Pays Off
by Eva Holland | 03.25.09 | 9:57 AM ET
I know, I know—awhile back I said that the real key to successful budget travel was to be informed. Well, here’s another absolutely critical element in the cheapskate traveler’s makeup: tenacity.
Last week I was contemplating a quick trip to Atlantic City, and while browsing hotel websites I came across a great web-only deal: $39 per night, for a premium room. But when I tried to book two nights—at $39 each, plus about $10 in taxes, coming to a tidy total of $88, right?—the total showed up as $114, with no explanation of where the extra $26 was coming from. Puzzled, I tried rebooking as “2 adults,” in case it was a hidden single supplement, but no dice. I tried opting for a standard room, also listed at $39, in case I was facing a hidden upgrade fee. Again, nothing changed.
No Heart-Shaped Jacuzzis for Couples at the Frog Hotel
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.24.09 | 3:34 PM ET
Because even amphibians need a place to get away from it all. The Frog Hotel in Edinburgh is more like the Bates hotel in “Psycho” than some smooth-lovin’ honeymoon inn soundtracked by Barry White, said Robert Henderson, Scottish coordinator for the Community Service Volunteers’ Action Earth campaign. But dark, dirt-scented ambience, complete with a compost cafe full of bugs and and a tiny ramp leading to a sleeping area, is just what gets frogs in the mood to schmooze.
Henderson’s group is encouraging people to put Frog Hotels in their gardens and yards in the hopes of preserving biodiversity in urban areas. It could work out really well for the frogs unless one of the hotels ends up next to a chef fond of cuisses de grenouille.
Trip Drip
by Alexander Basek | 03.24.09 | 12:30 PM ET
I like to think of myself as pretty worldly when it comes to hotels and hotel design. I don’t mind sacrificing a little to stay someplace pretty, whether it be some space or comfort. But sometimes, hotel showers baffle me. I’m staying at the Moreno here in Buenos Aires this week and the shower looks amazing: rainfall showerhead, slatted wooden floor and just a small glass partition with no actual door to enclose it.
Functionally, it makes no sense. The water spritzes everywhere else but on the partition when you use it, and there’s no door to close to prevent that from happening. I’m a relatively clean guest, yet the hotel is actively encouraging me to make a mess. Plus, some of the shower water stays on those wooden boards overnight. If I were a groggy, first-thing-in-the-morning shower taker, they’d be slippery beams of death. This happens to me time and again: great looking shower, but it fails in the whole keeping water inside the shower area part. Do the hotels just not care?
I don’t mean to single out the Moreno; I like that shower, and if they want me to be a little messy, fine. In a nod to their understanding and patience, I promise I won’t eat a meatball sub over the room’s white cowskin rug.
The Long and Short of Hotel Deals
by Alexander Basek | 03.23.09 | 2:40 PM ET
You don’t have to take advice from travel gurus to find the deals these days; you can go right to the source. Shell Vacations, which has properties all over North America, has started a blog to promote discounts and deals they offer. I like the vibe. It’s a bit earnest, but they break down what the deal is at the bottom of the copy, so you can skim for savings if you’re short on time.
Two, Twitter is blowing up as a source for hotel deals.
Five Great Pod Hotels
by Jennifer Plum Auvil | 03.23.09 | 8:19 AM ET
Photo courtesy of The Pod Hotel Travelers can save big bucks at pocket-sized pod hotels. Jennifer Plum Auvil offers her top picks.
Young Turks: Paradise in the Caribbean?
by Alexander Basek | 03.17.09 | 11:45 AM ET
Good news kids! The Gansevoort Turks and Caicos soft opened yesterday. The property’s official kick-off date is April 1, once all the kids get back from SXSW. Or, you know, St. Mortiz. Located on Grace Cay Beach, it’s the first Gansevoort property outside the lower 48. Goodies include a 7,000-square-foot infinity pool, a Bagatelle Beach Club for eats and an “Exhale” Spa right on the beach. Fun times. The Gansevoort weathered the economic downtown here in New York quite well, so their $400-a-night-plus starting rates in Grace Cay may not prove to be an impediment to bookings just yet.
Still, the vibe in T&C is a little off this season after the hostage situation last fall, when Chinese construction workers building the Ritz-Carlton Molasses Reef project took their Israeli bosses hostage. (Freelancers take note: they did it when they stopped getting paid). Perhaps a simulated kidnapping could be a theme for a team-building exercise on your next workplace retreat?
Lt. Gov to SNL About Hawaii Skit: That’s Not Funny!
by Pam Mandel | 03.12.09 | 2:29 PM ET
According to Hawaii’s Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona, “Hawaiian Hotel,” a Saturday Night Live skit (video below) in which two grass-skirted, uke-playing, hula-dancing, minimum wage entertainers abuse guests at a hotel restaurant is not funny.
The skit “went too far in its negative depiction of Hawaii’s native people and tourism industry,” Aiona said. He added he wouldn’t let “such distortions go unchecked” when the economy is doing so poorly.
Las Vegas Hotels for Every Tax Bracket
by Eva Holland | 03.11.09 | 12:52 PM ET
Over at the Los Angeles Times daily deal blog, Jen Leo has a breakdown of Vegas hotel bargains by price—and the low end starts at just $6.25 per night. The list ranges from less than $10 to a little over $100 per night, and there are some surprising deals. The Excalibur for $24 per night? That’s about how much an off-strip hostel bunk will cost you, too. (I know which one I’d choose.)
The Rise of Best Western Civilization
by Alexander Basek | 03.10.09 | 11:00 AM ET
The budget hotel chain with the best street cred—well, at least until Motel 6 finishes their system-wide renovations and ditches the Magic Fingers beds—is having a special limited-time sale each day this week. The names of the discounted properties are posted at noon eastern and remain on sale for a couple hours each day. And even if it’s not on sale, you could always stay at the fabulous Best Western in the Hollywood Hills for about $160 a night, one of L.A.‘s secretly good hotels. An added bonus: no fishtank models in the lobby!
Rajasthan Gets Zipped
by Julia Ross | 03.09.09 | 11:00 AM ET
Move over Costa Rica, India is onto your game. The Neemrana Fort Palace hotel in Rajasthan now offers the country’s first zip line tour, which allows tourists to zip to five platforms and listen to local guides expound on the history of the forts and palaces below.
I suppose it’s a new twist on a long-running tourist money-spinner, though I doubt the history lectures are the main draw. More important, is the concept appropriate to the setting? This Guardian reviewer, who found the experience “fresh,” claims the environmental impact is minimal. It’s one thing to zip through jungles looking for howler monkeys; in this case, I think I’d prefer to explore the area by foot.
Hot Sheets!
by Alexander Basek | 03.09.09 | 10:19 AM ET
Linen reuse programs in hotels: are they helping the earth or just passing the burden onto the guests? Those little cards appeal to a sense of environmental guilt and ask guests to conserve by keeping hotels and sheets a second or third day, but Jill Hunter Pellettieri suggests that hotels view these programs in terms of reduced energy and water costs alone. The nerve! It’s not surprising the businesses would act business-y, but it galls nonetheless.
I expect fresh sheets every day, especially at a higher-end stay. (At some pensions, you might not get them even if you want them). A bed with fresh sheets every day is a luxury, and, well, that’s something that’s nice to have at a luxury hotel.
As for the hotels getting greener, weatherproofing the windows or using recycled materials is a lot better for the environment than a tsk-tsk note asking to leave the sheets for days on end. Go down that road, and a Ryanair-operated chain of hotels where you have to bring your own sheets could be close behind.