Hotels

Expedited airport screening for Loews Hotels loyalty program members

Hotels, , , ,

Here’s a interesting offer that may just spark a trend:

Loews Hotels & Resorts has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to promote the Trusted Traveler Network, which meshes the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Global Entry and the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Pre✓ programs.

Members of the hotel’s YouFirst Platinum loyalty rewards program will get complimentary enrollment in the Global Entry program. With a Global Entry membership, U.S. citizens are automatically qualified to participate in expedited screening with TSA’s Pre✓ program.

Current Platinum YouFirst members (which includes guests with 10+ stays) will be invited by email to participate in this one-time offer, which will made available for the next 60 days.

Good idea? For those who travel a lot and stay loyal to one hotel, you bet!

Beer for dogs: newest hotel amenity

Hotels, Pets, ,

Some travelers choose a hotel for the complimentary continental breakfast and free Wi-Fi. If dogs ruled the world, they might choose a pet-friendly inn where the welcome amenities include a bottle (or two) of dog-friendly beer.

Bowser Beer — a malty, non-alcoholic brew that replaces hops with chicken or beef broth — was cooked up by Jenny Brown of 3 Busy Dogs in 2008 as something to go with the peanut-butter pretzels (Bowser Bits) she’d been marketing for pooches.

“Some people give the beer to their dogs with ice or poured over a bowl of dog food. But lots of dogs drink it right out of the plastic bottle,” Brown said.

Bowser Beer is stocked at many pet shops in six-packs, but Brown says many pet-friendly restaurants and bars have added the product to the menu for their “Yappy Hours.” Now the FireSky Resort and Spa — a Kimpton Hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz. — and some of the more than 25,000 “pet-friendly” lodgings listed on sites, such as BringFido and in the AAA PetBook, are tucking the beer into amenity kits handed to guests checking in with their pets.

At the boutique Le Parc Suite Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., pets receive a welcome note signed by pet relations director, Bella (a Boston Terrier), as well as a kit that includes water and food bowls, a pet-friendly magazine and a bottle of Bowser Beer.

“Beer for dogs is a cool product,” said Barry Podob, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing. “And adding it to our welcome kit gives us a competitive edge over other hotels. The payoff is that we’re known as a very pet-friendly hotel.”

Offering an amenity that shows customers that your hotel “gets it” can “grab a potential guest’s attention,” said Katie Davin, director of hospitality education at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. “And a special amenity such as Bowser Beer or Westin’s Heavenly Dog Bed may be a differentiator.”

In microbrew-crazy Portland, Ore., the pet-friendly Hotel Monaco includes Bowser Beer in its special pet-package rates and offers it on the complimentary menu during nightly hosted wine hours, where dogs are welcome.

“We see pets as an extension of our guests, so we do everything we can to make them as welcome and comfortable as possible,” said general manager Craig Thompson. “The dogs like it and the owners like that we make that extra special effort to welcome their pet to the hotel.”

(My story about hotels offering beer for dogs as an amenity first appeared on NBC News Travel)

Travel advisory: do not text and ride the hotel elevator

Hotels

I pay close attention to safety when staying in a hotel.

 

If the reception agent giving me my key announces my room number out loud, I reject that room.

I make sure to close and lock the door when in the room and never open it unless I’m sure I know who is outside.

And if someone follows me out of the elevator down the hall towards my room, I make sure they’re well down the hall before unlocking my door.

I’ve just heard too many scary stories.

But last night at the Island Shangri-La Hong Kong, where I have been graciously hosted the past few nights as part of a Cathay Pacific organized trip that began with a 777-300 ER delivery flight from the Boeing plant in Everett, Wash., I was the one who frightened another guest.

In my defense, I’d been up since 3 a.m. and had spent the day working on last minute entries for my new book about museums (details another day) and touring the city. I was exhausted and anxious about packing and finishing up some tasks before a 5 a.m. wake-up call.

And I was reading email and sending messages during the elevator ride up to the 53rd floor.

The elevator emptied out and, still reading my email, I followed the last passenger off the elevator and down the hall.

I noticed he was dawdling a bit and he stepped aside as I got to my room. I thought about turning back, but decided to push by him and get into my room as quickly as I could.

But my key didn’t work in the lock. I started to panic a bit and then realized he was behind me making some alarmed noises.

Turns out, I was at the right room, but on the wrong floor!

I apologized, finally looked at the panicked man, figured out he didn’t speak English, apologized again and ran.

It’s a fancy hotel – and in fact, I noticed today that there’s a security person stationed at the end of the hallway on my (real) floor.

I hope he’s not there to make sure I don’t hassle other guests. But if he is, I apologize again. And I promise to never again text and ride a hotel elevator.

More clever and sassy hotel Do Not Disturb signs

Hotels, ,

Chances are that when your fly somewhere, you’ll spend the night at a hotel.  And, if you’re not too sleepy, you’ll remember to put the do not disturb sign on the doorknob.

From my Bing Travel slide-show of clever and sassy door tags, here are few (more) samples:

Calling itself Brighton’s “sauciest boutique hotel,” England’s Hotel Pelirocco has put a twist on the Do Not Disturb concept in one of its unique, themed rooms.

The Do Knit Disturb suite is filled with the handiwork of local artist Kate (Cardigan) Jenkins, who knitted up this framed Do Knit Disturb artwork and hand-knit covers for most of the room’s furnishings, including the telephone and the lamp.

And in the San Juan range of the Colorado Rockies, just over the mountain from Telluride, the hand-built cabins at the Dunton Hot Springs Resort are urban cowboy-elegant. The all-inclusive rates hover at around $1,000 a night, but each do not disturb sign is nothing more than a recycled paint can lid that’s red on one side, and green on the other.

You can see the full Do Not Disturb slide show on Bing Travel

Cool hotel Do Not Disturb signs

Hotels, ,

From the Limelight Lodge in Aspen, Colorado

 

A do-not-disturb tag is a tiny but useful, low-tech device that becomes essential when you want uninterrupted time to sleep, work or play in your hotel room. A simple “In” or “Out” sign could suffice, but many hotels have gotten mighty creative with this housekeeping tool.

Here’s a sampling of the Clever Do Not Disturb Signs I found for a slide-show I created for Bing Travel.

From Boston's Libery Hotel, in the former Charles Street Jail. Signs request "solitary."

Do Not Disturb: Housekeeping crew restoring zen at motorcycle-themed Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee

Sassy Do Not Disturb signs at the Sanctuary Hotel in New York City

More tomorrow…

Road trip? 1st motel opened 86 years ago

Hotels, , ,

Sometimes flying from one place to another just doesn’t make sense.
So instead you choose to drive.

And while today we take it for granted that there will be a budget hotel – or three – around the next bend on the highway, back in the mid 1920s motels weren’t even part of the American landscape.

When early car owners hit the road, they’d often spend the night in auto camps that had few to zero amenities. But that changed on Dec. 12, 1925, when architect Arthur Heineman opened the country’s first roadside motor hotel. The price of a room: $2.50 a night.

Motel Inn courtesy: History Center of San Luis Obispo County

Located along Highway 101 just north of San Luis Obispo, Calif., the Milestone Motel (later the Motel Inn) halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles had individual units and a parking space in front of each door. Those features would soon become standard as more Americans hit the road and the concept of motels, motor courts and motor lodges spread nationwide.

While today there are more than 4.7 million guest rooms in the United States, according to the American Hotel &Lodging Association, and hundreds of thousands of motel-style properties along the nation’s highways, the Spanish-style Motel Inn is no longer open for business.

“It meant a lot to the community and used to be the first thing that greeted motorists that came into town,” said Pete Kelly, a researcher at the History Center of San Luis Obispo County.

“But now it’s almost torn down. Just a façade remains. The bell tower is still there and the original sign is there, but the rest is gone.”

(A slightly different version of this story first appeared on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin)

Thanksgiving hotel packages – with and without trimmings

Hotels,

For msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin this week, I poked around for some unusual and offbeat Thanksgiving hotel packages. Here’ what I found.

While many travelers will head over the river and through the woods to eat big meals and sleep them off at grandmother’s house this Thanksgiving, others will spend part of the holiday hanging out at an inn.

Many hotels will be offering special holiday rates and, in their restaurants, serving up traditional Thanksgiving meals. But we found a few hotels that have cooked up holiday packages that include some offbeat or unusual extras.

Room with a parade view

In New York City it can be difficult for out-of-towners to find a warm, comfortable spot to watch the marching bands, the performers, the celebrities and the giant helium balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

That’s why some hotels along the route put together special room-with-a-view packages. For example, in addition to an upgraded Central Park View room and a welcome amenity (pumpkin biscotti, a mug and a sachet of mulling spices), the Mandarin Oriental, New York’s “I Love a Parade” package includes parade-day access to the hotel’s ballroom, which offers a great viewing perch and activities such as cookie decorating, face painting and photos with (people dressed up as) turkeys. Rate: $1,155 per night, Nov. 22 – 25.

Sleep or shop?

For many people, Thanksgiving has become a day to map out a shopping strategy for Black Friday. For those intent on being first in line at the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Massachusetts, the Hampton Inn in nearby Franklin is offering a Midnight Madness Thanksgiving Shopping Special. Stores open at midnight and this Nov. 24-only package includes a $50 outlet center gift card, complimentary hourly shuttle rides beginning at 11 p.m., coffee-to-go, snacks and a bargain hunter’s early bird breakfast buffet. Rates start at $199.

In California, the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco is offering a Bloomingdale’s Luxe Holiday Package that includes a $100 Bloomingdale’s gift card, spiked hot chocolate cocktails and a 25- minute head, neck and shoulder post-shopping massage. Rates start at $595 and are available through Jan. 31, 2012.

Sip and smile

For guests attending family get-togethers that may stray to the stressful, the Hotel Palomar San Francisco is offering a Pie + Family + Booze = Splendid Holiday package that includes a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon and a choice of pie or cranberry preserve to bring along as a contribution to Thanksgiving dinner. Rates start at $229 and are valid through Dec. 29.

For families that think they can make it through the holiday intact, The Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C., has a package that includes a suite that can accommodate four people, a four-course Thanksgiving dinner with Virginia wine pairings for eight and a professionally photographed family portrait taken in the suite. Rates start at $799 a night. (Promotional code: Turkey Day).

No napkins needed

And then there’s the Thanksgiving without the Dressing dinner at the Terra Cotta Inn in Palm Springs, Calif. The popular nudist resort offers guests a free Thanksgiving dinner. “When you have Thanksgiving dinner dressed in your finest birthday suit,” said inn co-owner Tom Mulhall, “you don’t have to worry about your pants getting too tight and having to loosen your belt buckle. You won’t be wearing one.”

Crowdsourcing vs Friendscourcing for travel advice

Air Travel, Hotels, Travel tips, , , , , , ,

 

If, like most people, you turn to friends and family to recommend places to go and things to do, then consider this fresh batch of travel tools.

Several new sites and apps such as Trippy, Gogobot, Afar, Gtrot and Flymuch promise to help you plan the perfect trip by tapping into Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and friends or expert sources on other online networks you already trust.

Each product offers its own twist — for example, added editorial content or local coupons and deals — but all are based on information-gathering that goes beyond the crowdsourcing model of sites like TripAdvisor.com and relies instead on friendsourcing, or tapping into advice from your network of friends, as the model.

“When crowdsourcing sites first came out, they were pretty revolutionary,” said Travis Katz, CEO and co-founder of Gogobot.com. “They offered a way for people to get opinions and advice from regular, everyday people, as opposed to an editor. But then the problem was there was too much information. You had to read through a lot of information to figure out what matched your need.”

While much of that content can be helpful, much of it is anonymous. So it can also be untrustworthy. “People have a huge incentive to create fake content that promotes their own business or criticizes a competitor,” said J.R. Johnson, CEO and Founder of Trippy.com. “In a friend-sourced model, your only incentive is to help your friend have an amazing experience in a location you are familiar with and passionate about.”

“For aspirational products, this makes perfect sense. Anything you do for fun is fun to talk about and you like to share great experiences,” said Carroll Rheem, director of research at PhoCusWright Inc., a travel industry research provider. But when it comes to travel, Rheem finds the blend of social networks and crowdsourcing an especially good fit.

“Because travel is so expensive and experiential,” said Rheem. “And because there’s a lot of information gathering and weighing and making decisions, and a need for relevant content.”

But while travel-themed, friendsourcing sites are proliferating, Rheem doesn’t see them replacing the larger, established crowdsourcing sites anytime soon.

“The average person takes one or two trips a year. So unless you happen to have friends who are extremely well-traveled, the feasibility of friendsourcing can only go so far when you think of the entire world of travel. However, these sites can add an extra layer of leverage.”

“Crowdsourcing sites offer breadth,” said travel analyst Henry Harteveldt of the Atmosphere Group. “Friendsourcing offers trust. I could see someone checking a hotel on TripAdvisor and using Gogobot to verify the hotel with friends, while also getting additional ideas for what to do.”

The bottom line is that “friends and family remain the No. 1 source for travel information,” said Donna Quadri-Felitti, a professor at the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University. “This idea of online friendsourcing is really just harvesting user-generated content that already exists. Everyone is trying to find the way to monetize the new social media platforms and add value to what those sites already do. Some of the sites are there; some, not yet.”

(This story originally appeared on msnbc.com Travel)

 

Prize Patrol: contests for free travel

Contests, Hotels,

 

It’s hard to read travel stories about exotic places like, say, Chicago, if you can’t quite swing the cash for airfare and a swanky hotel.

 

That’s why, even though I never win, I’m in favor of entering contests that award – someone – free travel.

Because I learned early on that you can’t win if you don’t play.

The upscale Radisson Blu Aqua, Chicago open its doors on November 1 and to celebrate the first Radisson Blu in the U.S., Club Carlson is having an Ultimate Getaway Giveaway.

Each week during the eight week sweepstakes, which runs December 16, Club Carlson members will have an opportunity to win a two-night stay at the new Radisson Blu Aqua, Chicago, airfare for two and $2,500 in spending cash. One grand prize winner will receive a five-night getaway at any Carlson hotel worldwide, airfare for two and $10,000 in spending cash.

You’ll need to be Club Carlson member to enter, but membership in that club is free.

In Victoria, B.C., home to one of my favorite museums – the Royal B.C. Museum –  the Hotel Grand Pacific has rolled out a “pay what you want” promotion.

From October 27 through November 11, the hotel is asking prospective guests to visit the contest site, answer some questions about what they’re looking for in a hotel and make an offer for a night’s stay.

Ten rooms for each night between October 28 and December 23 will be available at a “Pay What You Want” rate, on a first come, first served basis.

Good luck! And if you win, please send a souvenir.

 

 

No boys allowed: Hotels bring back women-only floors

Hotels, Security, , ,

Women-only floors at hotels — an amenity discarded by the hotel industry at the dawn of the feminist movement — may be experiencing a comeback.

You won’t find them everywhere. But, as I discovered in a story for msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin, women-only floors at hotels aren’t as rare as you’d think.

A "Bella Donna" room at Copenhagen's new Bella Sky Comwell hotel

In a focus group study conducted by the 812-room Hotel Bella Sky Comwell in Copenhagen, Denmark, more than half of the “influential and well-traveled Danish women” surveyed said they’d stay on a women-only floor because “it provides a sense of security; it feels more hygienic to know that the previous guest was also a woman and they prefer rooms tailored to women’s needs.”

Armed with that data, the hotel opened in May 2011 with a secure-access floor for ladies only. “Bella Donna” floors cost an additional DKK 300 (about US$55) and offer extra-large showerheads, extra clothes hangers for skirts and dresses and a minibar stocked with items such as smoothies, champagne and high-quality chocolate.

The Naumi Hotel in Singapore, the Premier Hotel in New York City, and Crowne Plaza properties in Washington, D.C. and Bloomington, Minn., are among the hotels that also feature floors strictly for female guests.

For the past two years, the 180-room Georgian Court Hotel in downtown Vancouver, B.C., has been offering the 18 rooms on its Orchid Floor exclusively to woman at no extra charge.

“The rooms are definitely not pink,” said general manager Lisa Jackson. “But women seem to like the additional amenities we offer, such as a flat iron, a curling iron and an emergency kit with nylons and some other amenities they might forget at home.” The rooms also feature upgraded bathroom amenities, a yoga mat, satin-padded hangers and fashion magazines.

“Rooms on the Orchid Floor are often sold-out,” said Jackson, “and now the hotel is considering adding an additional women-only floor.”

“I thought women-only rooms were a trend that came and went,” said Katie Davin, an associate professor and director of hospitality education for Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. “When it first came back around, in the early 2000s, it was more about what hotels thought women wanted — pretty rooms, good hairdryers, things like that. But it sounds like they’ve been talking to women instead of just guessing.”

At the 318-room Hamilton Crowne Plaza in Washington, D.C., one floor has been set aside for women-only for the past five years. While the hotel’s average occupancy is about 80 percent, rooms on the women’s floor are often sold-out. Available Sunday through Thursday, when most business travelers are on the road, rooms on the secure-access floor offer upgraded amenities, bathrobes and slippers and an invitation to join other women for a networking dinner in the hotel restaurant. This year the hotel added complimentary concierge service to guests on the women-only floor as well.

“The market dynamics have changed. Women business travelers are traveling more than ever,” said hotel sales and marketing manager Regina Willson. “And that’s our target.”

Tonya Harris-Hill of Atlanta is right in that target range. On the road regularly for her job as a nurse manager, she’s been a regular at the Crowne Plaza in Bloomington, Minn., for months. As a frequent guest, she often gets upgraded to a suite, but at the suggestion of a co-worker gave the hotel’s secure-access, women-only floor a try.

Harris-Hill said she initially chose the women-only floor, which has a $30 surcharge, because she was new to the area and felt more secure. But now she likes it for the upgraded bath amenities and the gathering area in the hallway with magazines, fresh fruit and flowers and a fridge stocked with complimentary refreshments and snacks such as yogurt, ice cream and chocolate.

“I can put on a bathrobe and go out there and grab a snack and it is fine because you know you won’t run into a guy. And it is kind of pretty,” said Harris-Hill.