Before the Web, I’d ask friends and family for travel advice, then sit down with a travel agent. Then the Web made it much easier, except for the too much information part that could be overwhelming. Enter Yahoo! Travel Trip Planner. With this cool tool, you can organize your travel research from Yahoo! Travel —…
By now, we all know that Wilma was one big mother of a hurricane — one of the largest storms ever to swirl into the states from the Caribbean. She was literally hundreds of miles across. She affected — and still is affecting — air traffic throughout Florida. And where other storms had one eye,…
As a diver, I love live-abord boats. They let you spend more time diving than land-based vacations. They take you right to the reefs, feed you great food, let you sleep on board, and even provide amenities like hot tubs — all so you can achieve maximum bottom time. The Aggressor Fleet offers 11 exotic…
From Expedia.com, here’s a list of 10 Ghostly Getaways — great, stately hotels that are reportedly haunted by past guests (I told them not to order the seafood special) and visitors. Some were famous. Others were not. But they’re all dead and rattling chains to get your attention: 1) Queen Mary Hotel, Long Beach, California…
Frommer’s describes the Pan Pacific San Francisco as “artistically glitzy, enormous, and somehow romantic, all at the same time…â€? This classic four-diamond hotel is at the epicenter of the city’s Union Square shopping mecca. At just $129/night from November 2005 through January 19, 2006, with upscale furnishings, a first-rate restaurant, bar, fitness center, personal butler…
Most cities have a whole batch of blogs these days, chock full of cultural events, club listings, museum openings, restaurants, live theatre, and the like. We tip our hats to Gothamist, LLC as the most popular network of city blogs on the Net. It now has a most impressive 15 global sites with “ist” suffixes…
It’s about time! A big company has finally embraced the big, brave power of blogography, as Budget Rent A Car, Inc. launched a blog-based, four-week treasure hunt across 16 US cities on Tuesday. Called Up Your Budget, the promotion offers $10,000 in prizes per city; $160K in total prizes. Participants must find a sticker in…
Kayak.com calls itself “the most objective and comprehensive source for cheap airfare, discount hotels and car rentals.” It’s a free travel search engine that lets you: “Search with us, book with them.” Their Web site promotes how to: • Search for travel deals from over 100 online travel sites; • Quickly refine your search to…
While I love traveling to big cities with teeming nightlife and culture, a rest in the country is sometimes the cure for what ails you. Briol is that type of destination. It’s been family-owned for more than 100 years and is located in Italy’s Isarco Valley north of Barbiano. The owner’s grandmother imposed some rules…
When it opened in July, the new Lux 11 hip hotel in Berlin’s hip Mitte district scored points for its location near the city’s best boutiques and restaurants. But wait, it gets better. Much better. Because Lux 11 — more than a boarding house than a hotel with 72 apartments — will unveil an Italian-Asian…
You’ve no doubt seen newspaper and TV ads for Expedia’s Holiday & Getaway Offer. It says it’s “a gift that’s sure to make your holidays bright.” When you book a flight, a hotel, or a flight + hotel trip at Expedia.com, they’’ll give you $150 for a getaway next Spring! But you must book it…
With the continuing ubiquitousness of iPods, no one wants to lose one to theft. But there have been reports of podjackings on subways and in airports in the world’s largest cities. So what can you do to keep your music in your ears? The PodLocker seems like a plausible security device. It’s an aluminum frame…