Oktoberfest kicks off at Pittsburgh International Airport this Friday with live oompah tunes, classic German brews and dishes, complimentary pretzel bites and more.
Starting at 4 p.m. on Friday Grammy-nominated accordionist Kevin Solecki will be playing oompah tunes in the Center Core.
And throughout the month, the classic German brews at the airport’s Penn Brewery will include Great American Beer Festival medalists, Penn Oktoberfest and Penn Gold. On the menu will be classic dishes like Bavarian Pretzels with German Obatzda dip, Wurst Baguette on a Pretzel Roll and the German Reuben Sandwich.
More Oktoberfest parties are planned at PIT during the weekends of Sept. 20-22 and 27-29.
Amtrak’s BOGO sale
Amtrak has extended its Buy One Get One (BOGO) Saturday companion fare sale for destinations in the Northeast.
The sale applies to tickets booked on Saturday trips on either the Acela service in business class or Northeast Regional service in coach. (Three day advance purchase required).
These trains have stops in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island and Richmond, Virginia. Use the discount code “C222.”
Rather drive?
The premium rental car brand Silvercar by Audi has partnered up with activewear brand Outdoor Voicesin Austin to offer renters a cool deal.
Now through October, all Silvercar by Audi rentals at the Austin location come with Outdoor Voices apparel, a “Doing Things” local guide and a discount good for $100 off a purchase of $250 or more at Outdoor Voices.
If
you travel for business or pleasure, you know the value of a clean public
restroom.
Smart
business owners know that too. And in this age of selfies and social media,
some venues are gaining extra attention by giving guests unusual and creative
spaces to do their business.
Now ten of those lovely loos are running for the title of America’s Best Restroom.
Here’s a rundown I put together for CNBC.
Finalists were chosen based on cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation,
functionality and unique design elements and this year the list ranges from
loos in a museum and a zoo to lavs in restaurants, cafes and airports.
Through September 13, the public is invited to cast votes for the coolest commode from
amongst the ten finalists. The winning loo will take a throne in America’s Best
Restroom Hall of Fame and receive $2,500 in facility services from contest
sponsor Cintas Corporation.
Take a seat and help choose a winner.
This loo is a zoo
There are animals – behind glass – in two restrooms at
the Nashville Zoo in Nashville, Tennessee.
A lush exhibit that’s home to six cotton-top tamarins
is visible through a floor-to-ceiling glass window in a women’s restroom, while
a ball python snake exhibit can be viewed from a men’s restroom.
“It’s one of the may features that sets us apart from your
standard zoo visit,” said Jim Bartoo, Nashville Zoo
Marketing and Public Relations Director, “It creates
conversation after the guest leaves. They share it with their friends and
family. The put it on Facebook and Instagram. This organic, word-of-mouth advertising
is extremely valuable to us.”
Gold faucets and candelabras
The lobby restrooms at the Jupiter NEXT hotel in Portland, Oregon have
seven stalls with floor-to-ceiling, gray stone-paneled walls arranged in a
semicircle around a trough-style shared sink. Special features include gold
faucets and candelabra light fixtures.
“We pride
ourselves on creating community wherever possible,” said Katie Watkins,
Community Manager for the Jupiter, “Our low-lit separated sink area offers a
space to connect and say hello to other guests – both local folks and hotel
patrons – before heading out to make the most of your stay in Portland.”
Flush with French
flair
In Charlotte,
North Carolina, La Belle Helene is a brasserie-style restaurant designed by noted
Parisian architect Richard Lafond.
“We invested in every part of the restaurant, from the
pewter-poured bar and the gorgeous chandeliers and leather banquettes to
the bathroom,” said Scott Steenrod, Managing Director at
Constellation Culinary Group.
The vanity in the unisex restroom offers a shared space for guests and
the hand-painted mural reflected in the mirror offers a great backdrop for
selfies.
Modern Moroccan
The restrooms at Mourad, a Moroccan fine dining restaurant in San
Francisco, California, blend old and new; tradition and innovation. Each fully
enclosed stall is decorated in a different color of floor-to-ceiling Moroccan
mosaic tile, features a handy marble shelf and mirror and opens to a communal
marble-countertop sink.
Go stylish at the mall
At the Natick Mall in Natick, Massachusetts, the
women’s restrooms include a waiting room with a chandelier, makeup stations and
two private changing/nursing rooms with a lounge chair and outlets. Each stall
also includes a marble shelf to hold your bag.
Italian adventures
Each of the four single-user washrooms at Jianna Restaurant in
Greenville, South Carolina uses color, texture, tiles, lighting and accessories
to reflect a different aspect of Italian culture.
“Our client challenged us to design the restrooms so
that they added something special to the great food and the drinks and the overall atmosphere in the restaurant,” said
project manager Missy Games, from McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture.
“The restaurant has been open a few years and you still have people coming back
to the table saying, ‘Oh wow, did you see the blue bathroom?’ It’s not your
typical dinner conversation.”
Bathrooms for a community-oriented brewpub
Processed with VSCO with kp8 preset
The Butcher and the Brewer brewpub in Cleveland, Ohio has an in-house butcher and charcutier and a sense of community that extends to the bathrooms. There, a communal entryway leads to green subway-tiled accents walls and a communal sink. Private stalls for men are on the right; stalls for women are on the left.
Yes, cool loos at New York’s LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport Terminal B, Location: Queens, New York, LaGuardia Gateway Partners
If the restrooms at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B are among the finalists
for America’s Best Restroom, there may indeed be hope for the overall success
of the airport’s current rebuild.
With an eye to efficiency, aesthetics and innovation, these new
restrooms have stalls large enough to accommodate luggage, trough-style sinks with
a raised counter above; live orchids, custom mosaic tiles at the entryway and
over the urinals and graphics depicting New York City on the stall doors.
Making good use of Seattle rain
Swanky new restrooms are part of a massive renovation
project for the North Satellite at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
These feature a flushing system that
will harvest rainwater to the tune of more than 750,000 gallons a year. The
modern loos also have separate sinks
inside the ADA stalls, family restrooms with adult changing tables and built-in custodial support closets.
“We realize no good work is done until the paperwork is done,”
said Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper, “And we appreciate that people think we
have some of the best seats in the house. We like to think, that’s how we roll.”
Museum quality restrooms
The minimalist design of New York City’s New Museum of
Contemporary Art is the work of Pritzker Prize-winning architects Kazuyo Sejima
and Ryue Nishizawa of the architecture firm SANAA. When it came time to create the restrooms, the Tokyo-based architects settled on a super-graphic wall
pattern featuring pixilated cherry blossoms against bright fields of turquoise
or orange.
The lid has been lifted on the finalists for this year’s America’s Best Restroom contest and this year restrooms in two airports on opposite sides of the country are on the list.
LaGuardia Airport’s loos in the running
LaGuardia Airport Terminal B, Location: Queens, New York, LaGuardia Gateway Partners
If the restrooms at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B are among the finalists
for America’s Best Restroom, there may indeed be hope for the overall success
of the airport’s current rebuild.
With an eye to efficiency and innovation, these new restrooms have stalls
large enough to accommodate luggage, trough-style sinks with a raised counter
above; live orchids, custom mosaic tiles at the entryway and over the urinals
and graphics depicting New York City on the stall doors.
Courtesy LaGuardia Gateway Partners
“Terminal B’s new restrooms combine cleanliness, innovative
aesthetics and advanced technology together to create a top-class guest experience that
travelers deserve,” said Stewart Steeves, CEO of LaGuardia Gateway
Partners.
On a roll at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Courtesy Port of Seattle
Lovely new restrooms are part of the major renovation project for the North
Satellite at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
These new loos feature a flushing system that harvests rainwater to the tune of more than 750,000 gallons a year. The modern
loos also have separate sinks inside the ADA
stalls, family restrooms with adult changing tables and built-in custodial support closets.
“We appreciate that people think we have some of the best
seats in the house. said Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper, “That’s how we roll.”
The eight other restrooms on the list of finalists this year include
loos at the Nashville Zoo, at the Natick Mall in Massachusetts, at the Jupiter
NEXT hotel in Portland and at restaurants, a brewpub and the New Museum of
Contemporary Art in New York City.
Courtesy New Museum
You can cast a vote
for the coolest commode through September 13. The winning
loo will take a throne in America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame and receive
$2,500 in facility services from contest sponsor Cintas Corporation.
— Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (@SOM_Design) August 6, 2019
In this article from Architectural Record, the Airport Construction Council notes that at least $70 billion is being spent over five years, beginning in 2017, to modernize 50 medium and large U.S. airports.
Most of that money and effort is going toward revamping, expanding or constructing terminals.
What's next for air-travel design? In this special Continuing Education section, we examine buildings that ease passenger aggravation and respond to the local culture and environment: https://t.co/evcBGsBAaS
Some of the other airports and airport terminal projects featured in this article include Pittsburgh International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport and JFK Airport.
Courtesy Pittsburgh International Airport Photo by Harriet Baskas
When the TWA Terminal by Eero Saarinen opened in 1962, it embodied the allure of air travel: https://t.co/DpxeWShNcT
My story this week for CNBC is about airports, airlines, hotels and other places – including Disney and National Parks – that have unique and, at times, bespoke, fragrances that you may want to take home.
If only we could do a scratch and sniff blog post today!
Singapore’s Changi Airport dazzles passengers with spiral tube slides, a butterfly garden, free movie
theaters and the new $1.25 billion Jewel
shopping and entertainment attraction built around the world’s
tallest indoor waterfall.
The award-winning airport also has a
special amenity that can’t be seen: a bespoke fragrance that’s diffused into
many areas of the sprawling terminals.
The airport’s signature scent has fresh floral notes of orchid, Damask rose, Asian spices and essential oils said to calm nerves and lower blood pressure. And travelers who want that soothing aroma for their homes can have it: a gift shop in Jewel’s mall sells the Changi Scent line of candles, reed diffusers and perfume oils for $14-$18.
Other
airports in Asia, as well as in Europe and the United States, scent their
public spaces as well.
“Honestly,
we borrowed the idea from the hotel industry, where many properties have
branded scents that welcome guests to the lobbies,” said Kevin Bumen, director of
California’s San Luis Obispo County
Regional Airport (SBP).
When the
airport opened its new 6-gate terminal, improving the passenger experience was
a high priority.
“We decided
one thing we could do was to add scent in the ticketing areas and in bag claim,”
said Bumen, “Those are the first and last areas passengers experience, and they
can be points of stress and confusion. So tested several fragrances and chose a
spa-like scent that conveys the idea that the airport is fresh and clean and
relaxing.”
“We’ve redesigned
much of the airport and improved our aesthetics. Now we’re looking into how to
enhance that with scents,” said TPA spokeswoman Emily Nipps, “We’ve
narrowed it down to three scents and I can tell you we’re sticking with scents
that reflect the Tampa Bay Region – ocean, wood, tropics, greenery, that sort
of thing.”
Airlines
adopt aromas
Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, Delta and
United are among the carriers that use bespoke and specially chosen fragrances
in some gate areas, lounges, lavatories, jetways and airplane cabins.
Japan’s ANA (All Nippon Airways) has a unique
fragrance that it is a blend of 12 natural aromas, including traditional Japanese umbrella-pine, Yoshino
Japanese cedar, mint and rosemary. Customers can purchase the scents on-line and
on flights with in-flight shopping.
British
scent designer Rachel Vosper created a bespoke scent called “Air” for Virgin Atlantic that has notes of lemon, rose, vanilla and essential oils such as
lavender and eucalyptus. The airline sells candles featuring the fragrance for 30 British pounds (about $37).
Cathay Pacific’s
unique scent, designed by Air Aroma,
is a mixture of subtle
woods, white florals, and fresh green tea notes, while Delta Air Lines’ “Calm” scent was created with lavender
and chamomile.
Alaska Airlines’ “Ocean Citron” scent, used in lounge soaps and hand lotions, was custom made by Seattle-based Antica Farmacista, and is designed to evoke “the allure of the cool blue ocean,” with notes of California Lemon, Soft Jasmine, Lavender, Green Tea, among others.
To create its signature scent, called “Landing,” United
Airlines tried
to avoid notes that were
too polarizing as well as notes that might be considered too feminine or too
masculine, said airline spokeswoman Maddie King. The final product, used in the
airline’s lounges and warm towels on board, includes a blend of orange peel,
bergamot, cypress, fir balsam, black pepper, black tea, violet wood,
sandalwood, cedar, amber, leather and patchouli.
The time and money airlines spend on choosing or developing a
signature scent “Is truly all about customer experience,” said Logan Andres, Director
of Products and Marketing for ScentAir, a company that provides and creates scents
for airlines, airports resorts and hotels as well as casinos, stores, spas,
auto dealerships and even doctors’ offices and funeral homes.
“Our research on this found that for airline passengers a good
smelling and welcoming gate area while you’re waiting for you plane is only
second behind having someplace to plug in your smartphone. And it was more
important than cushy seats. We were kind of surprised.”
Aroma to go
It’s not surprising that many travelers want to take home a
nice-smelling souvenir of a place they’ve enjoyed.
Disney has a new line of plush toys infused with the scent of iconic park foods, including
Mickey Mouse ice-cream bars and pizza slices and Minnie Mouse cupcakes and
donuts.
Paddywax sells a collection
of candles with scents inspired by the country’s national parks.
In addition to raising funds for the National
Park Foundation, “These scented candles transport you to the wilderness of
our national parks, filling the mind with treasured memories from trails and
vistas experienced with loved ones,” said Stefanie Mathew, the National Park Foundation’s
senior vice president of corporate partnerships.
Sometimes, the souvenir scents are free.
Through its Scent Concierge program, guests at Hotel Spero in San Francisco can choose a wooden wand infused with one of four distinct scents and either take their wand home or use it to create a special fragrance in their rooms.
And at Casa Velas
in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, guests are given a small complimentary bottle of
the hotel’s signature citrus-lavender scent as a checkout amenity.
“Research has
shown that smell triggers emotions and memories,” said Luis Angarita, the
resort’s Managing Director, “So we thought an amenity of our signature scent
would be the perfect takeaway for our guests. Whenever they open the bottle,
they’ll think of their special times at Casa Velas.”
And maybe book another trip.
Do you notice the scent of airports, airplane, hotels or other venues you visit? Would you want to take any of those scents home?
This week pretty much everyone is celebrating
and commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 launch and
the first manned mission to land on the Moon.
And today, July 17 -the same day Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Buzz Aldrin made their first TV transmission from Earth to space – United Airlines is hosting a special celebration flight from Newark Liberty International (EWR) airport to Houston’s Georg Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
Why fly to Houston now?
Houston is also known as “Space City” because it is home to NASA’s Mission Control Center at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.
StuckatTheAirport.com is going along on Flight 355. We’re promised space-themed entertainment, inflight gifts (yay!) and “special onboard guests who have first-hand experience in space.”
We think that means astronauts will on board…
Once we land in Houston, we’ll join Space
Center Houston’s Apollo Anniversary Celebration and get to tour the Apollo
Mission Control Center, among other activities.
We’ll also try to taste some of the special cocktails and menu items being served this month at two OTG restaurants at IAH that were inspired by meals the astronauts ate during the Apollo 11 mission.
The astronauts were served “meals” that look like this:
But the special “Eat Like an Astronaut” dishes on the menu at Ember Tavern and Tanglewood Grille in United Airlines’ Terminal C and E at IAH look far more appetizing:
Stay tuned here and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for Apollo 11 celebration pictures along the way.
There are lots of travel awards and “Best of” lists out there in travel.
And now Fodor’s Travel has come out with its own and airports, of course, are on the list.
“Airports are like living creatures –
sprawling, complicated, chameleon-like things that are constantly expanding and
renewing themselves,” said Jeremy Tarr, Fodor’s Travel editorial director, “What
is today’s best airport can quickly become next year’s worst.”
“Burbank is an airport free of most of the
hassles that take the fun out of travel plans,” said Fodor’s managing editor
Rachael Leavitt. “It’s an agreeable airport in a perfect location, which is why
it’s at the top of our list of airports to love.”
LAX?
Fodor’s gave LAX low points for how difficult it is to get in and out of, especially with several construction projects underway. “Ironically,” notes Fodor’s, “Most of the construction projects are for features that will ultimately improve getting around the infamous LAX ‘horseshoe’” roadway.
“One day the construction will end. And,
one day, there will be a people-mover that will connect the yet-to-be-open
Crenshaw Metro Line to the airport,” Tarr said. “But until then, LAX has earned
a spot at the top of our Worst Airports list – and we’re loathing it.”
Here are the other airports that made Fodor’s
list. Let me know if you agree:
Cellphones, laptops, neck pillows and books are among the most common forgotten items, but bowling balls, valuable jewelry and other treasures also end up in airport lost and found centers.
Last month, the pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight heading to Kuala Lumpur from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia requested permission to return to the gate after a mother realized she’d left her baby behind in the boarding gate area.
Last week authorities at Alaska’s Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) turned to social media seeking help in identifying the owner of a plastic bag containing human ashes that was left at a security checkpoint back in August.
Picture perfect
About 1000 items a day end up in the 5,000-square-foot
warehouse managed by the Lost & Found department at Los Angeles
International Airport. Along with the electronics, jewelry and photo IDs, LAX
police found a still unclaimed script for the yet-to-air season premiere of a popular
TV show that ended the previous season with a cliffhanger. (And no, LAX
officials won’t reveal the show, nor the plot.)
Most airports keep found inventory for 30, 60 or 90 days
before discarding, donating or auctioning the items. But a few years back, airport
police at LAX could not bring themselves to discard a wedding photo album found
locked in a briefcase along with a mirror, a tablecloth and matching napkins.
A
Facebook campaign eventually helped identify the couple, who hadn’t even realized the album was
missing.
Questions
about a quilt
Last May, a floral box with a handmade quilt inside and a
card reading “Charlene and Lark” was found at the Salt Lake City International
Airport.
It was obvious that a lot of time and effort went in to making the quilt. So the airport lost & found team held onto it longer than the 30 days they usually do.
Facebook led the team to the photographer for Charlene and Lark’s wedding, who shared a contact for Charlene. But because the quilt had been intended as a wedding gift Lark had left behind after attending the funeral of his aunt – the quilt maker – Charlene at first ignored emails and calls about a quilt she’d never heard of. But she eventually called back and claimed the quilt.
Serial
numbers and skunks
Airport teams often use investigative skills
and, sometimes, compassion, in finding a lost item its home.
Earlier this year the lost & found staff
at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport was able to reunite a St.
Louis passenger with a valuable and sentimental piece of jewelry after calling
Cartier customer service with the serial number on a found bracelet.
And, after an airline refused to let a passenger
at Nashville International Airport take his pet skunk onboard or check it as
baggage, customer service supervisor Chris Patterson agreed to look after Pepe
the skunk for a few days. “After a week I
realized that Pepe’s owner would not be coming back for him, and I was fine
with that decision,” said Patterson, who adopted Pepe and later found him a
home in a zoo.
Keeping an eye on
lost items
After a Central Oregon festival celebrating the August 2017
eclipse, the lost and found in Redmond Municipal Airport (RDM) was overflowing with
everything from camping gear and
hula hoops to drugs and psychedelic paraphernalia. Water bottles, neck pillows
and sunglasses are the usual fare, said RDM spokeswoman Erinn Shaw, “But we
also once had a live chicken.”
Portland
International Airport also reports a wide range of odd left behind item,
including a 9-pound zucchini and a glass eye. “The zucchini is long
gone,” said PDX spokeswoman Kama Simonds, “But the glass eye has been in the
lost and found for a few years.”
TSA’s favorites
Courtesy TSA
The most common items left at airport security checkpoints around the country are belts, keys, glasses (sunglasses and prescription), photo IDs and laptops, says TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein, but she snaps and posts on social media photos of some odd left-behind items. On the list: diamond watches and engagement rings, bowling balls, canes and walkers, a Santa statue, Halloween masks and thousands of dollars in cash.
“The most
unusual item I think I have seen left at a checkpoint was a portable child’s
potty at Dulles Airport,” said Farbstein. It was returned.”
Miami International Airport now has a multi-sensory room just beyond the Concourse D TSA security checkpoint. The room provides a quiet area for young passengers with cognitive or developmental disabilities such as autism.
The dimly lit space includes sensory-soothing fixtures, including an aquatic bubble tub, wall puzzles, cushioned seats and a light projector. Hours: seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Party at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
Look who's back in some shiny new digs! Renovations to @AmysIceCreams are complete, and the ice cream ready to go!
Now open Sunday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 pm. and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays across from Gate 21. pic.twitter.com/8TRAx79Nim
— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (@AUStinAirport) April 12, 2019
Amy’s Ice Cream is back at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and a good time to indulge is today during the kick-off party for the refreshed Asleep at the Wheel Stage in the center of the Barbara Jordan Terminal.
Located near Gate 19, there’s a 9-foot neon lighted guitar spinning above the area and seating for 190 patrons.
The party runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and includes a ribbon cutting ceremony and performances by Ray Benson, Heybale Band, and Love & Chaos.
NFL Hall of Famer Earl Campbell will be on hand to help celebrate the Heart of Austin area of the airport that includes the Saxon Pub Bar, Joe’s Coffee and Earl Campbell taco-themed food truck.
Fresh art at John Wayne Airport
A new photographic exhibit at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA by Jane Szabo’s is titled “Family Matters” and uses childhood posessions and simple objects to tell a complicated story of family dynamics.
After moving her 86-year-old father and 91-year-old mother into assisted living, Szabo began to organize the contents of their home of 36 years. “Family Matters” is a result of the final selection of treasures she kept before placing her parent’s home for sale.
Fiesta at San Antonio International Airport
San Antonio International Airport held its Second Annual Fiesta San Jacinto Day Parade recently, with mariachi music, parade floats, mascots and festive colors through both terminals of the airport.
Jewel, the new over-the-top attraction at Changi Airport, hasn’t officially opened to the public. But thanks to ticketed previews for local residents and, of course, all the media reports, word has been getting around.
The venue is part mall, with 280 swank and unusual shops and restaurants, and part forest theme-park, with the world’s largest indoor waterfall right in the center.
The flow of the waterfall and the size of the droplets can be controlled. And somewhow each evening the water becomes a screen upon which two different 360-degree light & sound shows are projected each evening.
Take a look.
This video is courtesy of Changi Airport. I took a video too during one of the preview nights, but there were so many thousands of people and cameras in front of me that my version features the back of someone’s bald head.
