Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for hotels
New Hotel Chain Promises a Lofty Experience
By Linda Tancs
If tight ceilings, small beds and even smaller TVs are putting a crimp in your hotel experience, then maybe Starwood’s new offering will give you a lift, or should I say, a loft. “aloft” is the newest budget entry in the chain’s array of properties, sporting oversized windows, HDTV flat panels, oversized beds and showers, and 9-foot ceilings that even Brobdingnagian guests should find comforting. The majority of open properties at the moment are in North America, ranging from Montreal in the East to Rancho Cucamonga in the West. Other properties slated to open in 2009 and beyond include hotspots such as Orlando, Nashville and Denver in the U.S. and international locales such as Brussels, U.A.E. and the Asian Pacific region. With hotel development in full vigor worldwide among the leading players, let’s hope that guests won’t be aloof over aloft.
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Travel and Hospitality Take Hold of Environmental Protection
By Linda Tancs
Following last week’s report on Virgin’s maiden biofuel flight comes news that the airline is furthering its environmental protection initiatives by testing out zero-emissions vehicles on business traveler shuttle services. Virgin also plans on equipping planes with Rolls Royce engines to cut emissions by thirty percent. Not to be outdone, the hospitality industry is likewise jumping into the fray with Sofitel’s announcement that it will use windmills at its U.S. properties to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by two million pounds. Rock Resorts is also promoting green travel through recycling, water conservation, organic foods and a host of other policies. We’ve come a long way since the mere reuse of towels and linens.
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White Days, White Nights
By Linda Tancs
Are you dreaming of a white Christmas at the Winter Palace? If so, start packing your mukluks (leave the stilettos home) and ushankas and head to St. Petersburg’s Hotel Astoria for their special White Days package. Valid now through March 31, 2008, the 3-day package includes buffet breakfast each morning, a ticket to the Hermitage and a Russian Table (no, not roulette) in the Davidov Restaurant. As you sample from eighty or so vodkas and dine on the finest caviar on earth, enjoy the hotel’s view of the gilded cupola of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which dominates the city’s skyline. Also nearby are the Winter Palace and Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress and Mariinsky Theatre. Be sure to buy your matryoshkas at Nevsky Prospekt, the main shopping mecca. After your 3-hour tour of the city’s highlights, you’ll be ready for your complimentary Russian classical leaf massage at the spa. Chances are, you’ll never look at an oak leaf the same way again. The Mongols managed to conquer Russia in winter. In great style, so can you.
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Trump Luxury Expands
By Linda Tancs
Never one to rest on his laurels, Trump has now launched the Trump Hotel Collection, a luxe brand including the New York Trump International Hotel and Tower and the yet-to-be completed Chicago and Las Vegas properties. In Chicago, the new Spa at Trump line will be unveiled, sporting dedicated spa guestrooms and a full-service health club. Lest you feel overwhelmed by all the extravagances available to you, a personal butler is on hand to see you through it. That alone should let you rest well on your 500 thread-count Bellino Italian bed sheets.
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Women-Friendly Hotels on the Rise
By Linda Tancs
Does your room make you look fat? If the answer is ‘yes,’ then maybe your hotel isn’t trying hard enough to please female occupants. In an apparent attempt to sway the considerable population of women business travelers, some hotels have taken on the charge to make their premises more female friendly. Take the London Hilton on Park Lane, for instance. Their 22nd floor is devoted to female travelers, reputedly adapted to a woman’s special needs (skirt hangers, anyone?). Ditto the Wyndham chain, offering enhanced security and in-room amenities like ergonomic chairs and shower massagers. Now if they could only align the mirrors with the outlets, we’d all be a lot more comfortable.
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Relaxing at London’s Gatwick Airport
By Linda Tancs
Weary travelers, take heart. London’s Gatwick Airport now offers restful, hotel-like stays on the premises, courtesy of Yotel. Check out (no pun intended) www.yotel.com.
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Pet Travel
By Linda Tancs
In this week’s edition of the podcast Travelrific, the topic is: traveling with pets. Will Fido like Marriott–or will Marriott like Fido? Tune in for the do’s and don’ts of pet travel. Visit www.travelrificradio.com.
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Room With A View
By Linda Tancs
There simply is something majestic about Hotel Suisse Majestic in Montreux, where everyone gets the room with a view. Open the glass doors beside the bed and admire the lake or mountain view from the cozy balcony with table and chairs for two. It’s hard to resist a bottle of wine and some emmental as you gaze at the Alps or Lake Geneva, or both. If you have the good fortune of getting there when the Jazz Festival aligns with Bastille Day, you have the unmitigated pleasure of enjoying great music during the day and fireworks over the distant French Alps at night. Que magnifique!
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