Archive for the ‘Hotels’ Category

21
March
5 Awesome Hotels Supporting Earth Hour
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You’d be hard-pressed to find someone these days that isn’t supporting some sort of eco-friendly activity, and that definitely extends to hotels. Formerly bastions of all things eco-UNfriendly, most hotels today are working toward a greener environment, too, with initiatives like environmentally friendly electricity and heating/cooling systems, recycling programmes and water conservation techniques. We’ve even blogged about some of Europe’s best eco-friendly hotels in the past.

Well, the folks over at HotelsCombined.com have done their homework and come up with quite a few great hotels that are supporting Earth Hour. For those not familiar, Earth Hour started back in 2007 in Sydney and has become a global phenomenon. Every March 26, business and individuals all over the world turn their lights off to take a stand against climate change. Last year, hundreds of millions of people participated in 88 different countries and 4000 cities around the world, and this year promises to be even bigger.

Hotels Participating in Earth Hour

Mount Kenya Safari Club

Photo by Dan Lundberg

Now owned and operated by Fairmount Hotels, the Mount Kenya Safari Club is a distinguished, historic hotel in Nanyuki, Kenya. (more…)

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10
March
Jurys Inn offers a “shamrock” of a prize
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Jurys Inn St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway

Guests of Jurys Inn might be given an unexpected prize this March 17th, if the leprechaun fairy visits their hotel room on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day. 17 shamrocks will be hidden under pillows in rooms across the 30 different Jurys Inn hotels in Europe, such as Jurys Inn Prague, and the lucky winners will be treated to a 2-night Jurys Inn stay.

Photo by Robert OrrJurys Inn is hosting the competition to celebrate its Irish heritage. The hotel chain was founded in 1993 as part of the Jurys Hotel Group, which dates back to 1881, when William Jury opened his first hotel in Dublin.

The rules of the competition are pretty simple. All you have to do is book a room at Jurys Inn – any Jurys Inn – on the night of St. Patrick’s Day, or March 17, to be eligible for the prize.

Especially if you are planning to be in Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day, there are a number of Jurys Inn Dublin hotel options to choose from, and they always make a reliable and friendly, not to mention affordable hotel choice.

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5
March
The MAve: A Cheap but Chic NYC Hotel
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Finding a good and inexpensive hotel in New York is like the holy grail of bookings. Most New York hotels are either too expensive, too shoddy or too small, or they are miles away from the action of Manhattan Island.

The MAve NYC is everything a New York City hotel should be, and at the right price, to boot. First of all, it is located in the trendy Flatiron District, which is in Midtown Manhattan, right on Madison Avenue and just a few minutes’ walk from Gramercy Park and Park Avenue.

The MAve’s prices are also right, offering a reasonably cheap room but without sacrificing any of the boutique elements that you might want in a cute, upscale New York City hotel. Basic double rooms here start out at about £94, and you could do a lot worse for a lot worse in New York.

The styling of The MAve is a sort of chic New York City vibe that bursts with bright primary colours, which offset the plain white walls and bedding, and black furniture. Counted among The MAve’s amenities are free high speed WIFI, H20 bath products and high-def flat screen TVs. It is also a pet-friendly hotel, in case Rover is coming along.

The MAve NYC
62 Madison Avenue
New York, NY
Tel: +1 (212) 532-7373
Map | Book

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25
February
A Royal Hotel for the Royal Wedding
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It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but by the sounds of it, Kate Middleton will be spending her last night as single gal in the ritzy Goring Hotel (Map | Book) in central London, just a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace and the venue for the royal wedding: Westminster Abbey.

Courtesy photo - thegoring.com

Royal Wedding Hotel

First opened in 1910, the Goring has a rich history dotted with royal events. It was made famous in 1937 as the first hotel in London to offer ensuite bathrooms, about which King George VI made the famous statement to the Crown Prince of Norway: ‘At Buckingham Palace I have to share a bath with five people! Here [at the Goring] I have one to myself’. The Goring has often hosted British Kings and Queens for high tea and, over the years, has been visited by the likes of Winston Churchill and Prince Charles, among numerous other members of the royal family. (more…)

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22
February
Dublin Hotels for St. Patrick’s Day 2011
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If you’re planning to head over to the Emerald Isle to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this March 17th, you’d do well to start planning your Dublin hotel now. The major festivities take place around the Irish capital, with a few events also happening in smaller cities and towns around the country.

Dublin tends to get quite packed with tourists during its 4-day St. Patrick’s Festival and accommodation fills up very quickly each year. Luckily, Dublin has numerous hotels, B&Bs and hostels to cater to the shamrocking revelers that descend on the city every spring.

Here are our top picks for Dublin accommodation for St. Patrick’s Day.

Luxury Dublin Accommodation

The Westbury Hotel, Dublin

The Westbury Hotel
Balfe St., Dublin 2
+353 (0) 1 679 1122
Map | Book
Considered one of Dublin’s most beautiful hotels, this historic luxury Dublin hotel is located right off the city’s busiest shopping street, Grafton Street, and is just a few minutes’ walk from Trinity College. The Westbury makes a great choice for St. Patrick’s Day accommodation because of its central location and commitment to outstanding service. (more…)

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1
February
Review: Franklin “Feel The Sound”, Rome
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On a recent trip to Rome, my husband and I decided to upgrade ourselves from “budget chic” to an actual boutique hotel, since the difference in price between most of Rome’s hotels was fairly minimal (at least at the time we were there). After much searching through the slogs of Rome’s vastly uninteresting and dated hotel selection, we came across the Franklin “Feel the Sound” (Map | Book) a boutique hotel with a musical theme.

Photo by Franklin Feel The Sound Hotel in Rome, Italy

After perusing the list of amenities on offer, which included a top-of-the-line Bang & Olufsen stereo system in-room, which we’d both always wanted to try out, a selection of CDs to take upstairs in the lobby, and a generally cool-looking ambiance, plus the location, which is not far from the Vatican, we were sold. Music lovers at heart, we are. (more…)

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10
December
Jurys Inn: A Good Hotel Option for Prague
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Jurys Inn Prague, Entrance

It’s been a long while since I stayed in a hotel in Prague. Four and a half months, to be exact, and regular readers will remember my review of the 987 Prague Hotel from back in July. Furthermore, I’ve never had the chance to stay at a Jurys Inn (Map | Book), the bright and beaming little Irish hotel chain that is dotted all over the Emerald Isle and the U.K., so I was delighted when the General Manager of Jurys Inn Prague invited me for a behind-the-scenes tour of his 4-star property.

Jurys Inn Prague - Lobby (more…)

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11
November
Breckenridge Ski Resort Receives Green Rating
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Courtesy photo

The gorgeous luxury resort, One Ski Hill Place, is the first ski resort in Breckenridge, Colorado to receive a Green Globes rating. Set on an immaculate hillside next to Peak 8, where skiers can swoop in and out directly from the slopes, One Ski Hill Place does not, at first glance, seem like the type of property to be eco-friendly.

The resort opened under the RockResort name (a subsidiary of Vail Resorts) in June of 2010, but didn’t host its official grand opening until this month, as the ski season has now gotten underway in Breckenridge. With ski-in, ski-out condos and luxury rooms, a gorgeous indoor pool, a huge lobby with elegant wood fixtures and a three-sided fireplace, two movie lounges, a game room and a bowling alley, I think it’s safe to say that “eco-friendly” is no longer synonymous with “bare-bones”.

Courtesy photo

The resort received three Green Globes ratings based on its sustainable practices, energy efficiency, use of Energy Star appliances and even in-room recycling, which is still rare in most hotels.

It is surprising to me that there weren’t already Green Globes certified Breckenridge hotels, given that the little town in Western Colorado is one of the state’s most hippy dippy paradises. Nonetheless, it is a welcome addition to the Breckenridge slopes to have a resort of this caliber also certified for environmental friendliness.

One Ski Hill Place
Ski Hill Road
Breckenridge, Colorado
USA
+1 (877) 354-6747
www.oneskihillplace.com

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14
August
Hostels in America?
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Americans may not be the biggest travellers on earth, but the USA is still a wonderful travel destination with a diverse selection of landscapes, cities and activities. And even though Americans aren’t typically known as backpackers, there is actually a decent selection of hostels in the USA to choose from.

The problem, I suppose, in finding a hostel in the USA is that the United States is so big but the hostel selection is not. So, if you stray too far away from a bigger city, you’re bound to be sleeping in an uninteresting chain hotel. That’s not always true, though.

Depending on which state or area you’re in, you might find quite a good selection of hostels in non-urban areas, simply because that place is known for its outdoor activities or something similar. For instance, there are a plethora of hostels available in Colorado, a state with lots of outdoor activities like hiking and skiing. Similarly, northern California is not too shabby in terms of selection, giving hostellers access to famous natural sites such as Yosemite National Park.

One thing to remember when booking a hostel in the USA is that, because Americans are not particularly geared to staying in hostels, especially in their own country, sometimes the hostels on offer don’t turn out to be exactly what you might expect. For instance, occasionally you’ll book into an American hostel that has very little atmosphere, is incredibly dirty or doesn’t offer basic amenities such as a kitchen or computers.

Best course of action is to check the hostel’s amenities before you book, and make sure you read plenty of reviews and see plenty of pictures. One thing to stay away from is “the only hostel in town”, because in my experience, if a town only has one hostel, then it’s not a good one!

The following are a few resources for finding USA hostels:

USA Hostels – Has 3 properties in California (Hollywood, San Francisco and San Diego) and one in Las Vegas, but they get mixed reviews.

Hostelling International USA

USA on Hostels.com

Hostelworld USA – I particularly like this one for its interactive map of all hostels they offer in the USA

Hostelbookers USA – Also has an interactive map showing all hostels nationally.

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29
July
Airbnb: A New Way to Sleep
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Screenshoot by Eric Sun

If you are anything like me, you hate hotels. I mean, really. They are cramped. Most of the time they are stale and uniteresting. Often, they are overpriced. Rapidly heading toward the big 3-0, I find myself feeling a bit too old to bunk up in a hostel, while most hotels are just, in a word, boring.

An answer has finally come for those of us that always wished they could pack up their cute city flat or lovely country home and bring it along on holidays, and that answer is Airbnb. This new concept in accommodation is the latest rage in the travel community and has received write-ups by the New York Times, CNN, USA Today and a huge handful of other media, as well as of course, me!

The basic premise of Airbnb is simple: “Travel like a human” by renting space in an actual apartment, house or cottage. Time cutely called the website “the Ebay of space”, for it is essentially a place where you can search for any variety of accommodations – large or small – most offered at an incredibly affordable rate.

With Airbnb, you can easily find an apartment in Paris that sleeps four and comes with a modern kitchen and adorable modern design for less than the price you would pay for one hotel room, and for many travelers, the price and the option of having an entire home away from home is incredibly attractive.

Unlike the days of yore, when holiday rentals were overly-luxurious, stuffy and unaffordable for the vast majority of travellers, most of the properties on Airbnb are privately owned by regular people and rented out to holiday-goers. A lot of people are also lauding Airbnb for providing an answer to eco-friendly travel, where many hotels are still missing the bar in terms of earth happy practices.

As an example, there are some 960 properties in Paris currently listed on Airbnb, ranging from a private room near the Champs Elysées for £23 a night, to a luxury 2-bedroom flat in Marais for £298 per night, with plenty of reasonable options for under £80 for an entire flat.

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