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5.6.08
On the Occasional Importance of a Ceiling Fan
Emily Stone knew well the kind of moment she was experiencing in Puerto Rico: the guy, the Cuba libres, the accelerated intimacy. It was perfectly safe, she told herself, as long as she knew when to get out. 4.23.08A Writer’s Port of Call
Adam Karlin went to Indonesia to work as a reporter. But after a visit to Jakarta’s old wharf to see the aging Makassar schooners, he left with a calling of a different order. Q&A
Tony Horwitz: Rediscovering the New WorldBen Keene talks to the author of the new book “A Voyage Long and Strange” about travel, American myths and the importance of visiting places where “history happened” SPEAKER'S CORNER
In Patagonia, In PatagoniaTim Patterson packs his fleece and long underwear, and enters the Twilight Zone where corporate branding meets the multilayered reality of place. ASK ROLF
Should I Quit Law School so I can Travel the World?Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel BOOKS
‘The Worst Guidebook Writer Ever’?Lonely Planet author Robert Reid reviews Thomas Kohnstamm’s “Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?” and weighs in on the controversy surrounding it HOW TO
Have a Hockey Night in CanadaFrom Montreal to Sault Ste. Marie, the sport is the country’s greatest passion. Eva Holland explains where to go to indulge—and who you need to know. AUDIO SLIDE SHOW Promised Land ClosedAnd other odd and unlikely signs from around the world. Aficionado Doug Lansky, editor of the book “Signspotting,” recounts his 10 favorites. THE LIST
10 Sizzling Hot Travel Tips From Sir Francis BaconRolf Potts repackages the 17th century philosopher’s ‘Of Travel’ essay in the manner of a 21st century magazine feature |
TRAVEL BLOG: Hotels
TripAdvisor User Threatened with Libel Suit After Reviewing HotelVery creepy. And it seems other TripAdvisor users posting critical reviews have been threatened, too—apparently by attorneys representing unhappy hotel owners or managers. Catherine Hamm of the Los Angeles Times asked some experts about it. TripAdvisor users “have the 1st Amendment” on their side, she writes. But she adds: “All the experts agreed that those who post on TripAdvisor or like sites need not worry about having their say as long as they frame it as opinion rather than fact.”
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New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Holidate’Move over, glampers. The holidaters—couples traveling together in the very early stages of a relationship, sometimes even a second or third date—have arrived. And according to this Globe and Mail article, a number of large hotel chains are going out of their way to accommodate the travel-as-icebreaker scenario. Special arrangements include two separate bathrooms in one suite, or even two conjoined rooms. “If they don’t end up using the second room,” one hotel employee notes, “they’ll get a 50-per-cent refund.”
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Mayflower Hotel Gift Shop Cashing in on Spitzer ScandalCoffee mugs are selling out. Mayflower mints are going by the case. And “[t]here has been a rush on the Mayflower’s luxuriously soft white terry-cloth bathrobes,” writes Ylan Q. Mui in the Washington Post. The price tag on those robes: $69.99. Ouch. Mashing Up Washington D.C.’s Sex ScandalsIt didn’t take long for camera-toting tourists to ferret out Room 871 at Washington D.C.’s Mayflower Hotel. The site of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s call girl tryst is the latest in a long list of sex scandal locales dotting the capital. For those interested in mapping out their own tour, Slate helpfully provides an annotated Google mash-up. Anti-Jet Lag ‘Concept Room’ Offers Blue Lights, Banana Smoothies
Las Vegas’ Hooters Hotel to go Boutique
Deadly Ricin Found in Las Vegas Motel RoomThe discovery was made Thursday at an Extended Stay America Hotel. Seven people, all apparently in good condition, have been sent to hospitals for observation. It puts the whole bedbugs debate into perspective, doesn’t it? The ‘Bedbug Epidemic’: Real or Media Generated?"[I]t’s like they’re all rooting for the bedbugs.” That’s how Joe McInerney, president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, describes the reporters he’d spoken with about the so-called epidemic. There’s so much to love about the hideous bloodsuckers, the Washington Post reports, especially if you’re a trend-hungry newspaper reporter looking for a story. Hotel Concierge: ‘There Are Definitely Days When I Want to Hide Behind the Desk’
Monte Carlo in Las Vegas to Reopen FridayThree weeks after a three-alarm fire broke out on the top floors of the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, the hotel and casino will reopen on a limited basis Feb. 15. Most of the rest of the hotel will reopen the following week, according to Reuters.
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Fire Breaks Out at Monte Carlo in Las Vegas*The three-alarm fire started on the roof of the hotel and casino around 11 a.m. Las Vegas time, according to an early report from the AP. Grounded 747? No, it’s a Hostel.Thanks to an entrepreneurial Swede, it may soon be possible to spend an evening in a Boeing 747 that’s been grounded at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport since 2002. Oscar Diös, the businessman with the rather unconventional proposal, hopes to eventually open a chain of similar hostels at airports around the world. |
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Those are just two of the remedies being tested in an anti-jet lag “concept room” at the Westin Chicago River North hotel. The Today Show’s Peter Greenberg 
Yes, despite the oh-so-clever do-not-disturb signs—not to mention that fact that Hooters and Las Vegas would seem to be made for one another—redevelopers have come a knockin’. That’s the word from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which 
I would, too, if I had to deal with the “shamelessness” of the guest requests chronicled in 