TravelPost Blog

More Hotels Offer Deals for Community Service

2009-07-09T18:23:50Z

We recently posted about two Washington, DC hotels knocking 50 percent off room rates for guests who volunteer at least five hours this summer through VolunteerMatch. And it seems they are hardly the only ones. More than 50 hotels across the United States, including the JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek (pictured above), are participating in the Give A Day, Get A Night promotion from Sage Hospitality.

Some participating hotels are offering complimentary nights in exchange for community service, while others are offering 50 percent off room rates.

To get in on the discount, guests must prove they’ve worked at least eight hours for a 501c3 organization and provide documentation on the non-profit’s letterhead. There are a few restrictions, i.e. limited availability for complimentary free nights. But the offer runs through Dec. 20, so that means you’ve got plenty of time to volunteer and find time to get away afterward.

Keep reading the TravelPost Insider for more current hotel deals…..

Omni Offers Resort Credits Through Year’s End

2009-07-09T14:10:09Z

Omni would like guests of its four U.S. resorts to “resort more” during their next visit in 2008. Through the end of the year, Omni resorts will offer guests resort credits of $100 to $300 per visit when they book the 100 Reasons to Resort rate.

The resort credits are available from the following properties:

Omni Bedford Springs Resort

Omni Tucson National Resort

Omni Interlocken Resort

Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate

Details and starting rates vary by property. While each participating resort throws a complimentary 3 p.m. late check-out in with the deal, both the Omni Interlocken Resort and the Omni Bedford Springs Resort require a two-night minimum stay, for example. The latter also up the ante by offering a $300 resort credit when you opt to stay four nights. Credits may be used toward spa, dining, golf and other services at the resorts.

Keep reading the TravelPost Insider for more current hotel deals…..

Top 10 Hotels: Best Tented Accommodations

2009-07-08T22:58:43Z

From rustic cabins to luxurious canvas-sided suites, hotels with tented accommodations bridge the gap between solid walls and wilderness. For travelers, they mean getting close to nature, but leaving the sleeping bags at home.

While some of the world’s most famous spots for tented travel tackle luxury in a way that rivals the amenities and services of top hotels, others are relaxed and relatively affordable lodging options in beautiful locations such as Yosemite National Park and Bermuda.

We asked our crew of TravelPost travel experts and surveyed hotel reviews to compile our picks for the Best Tented Accommodations around the globe in a variety of countries and at a range of price points (note that we purposefully skipped safari camps and game lodges for this list. Stay tuned for those in another Top 10). Here are our favorites. Let us know what you think:

Longitude 131

The Resort at Paws Up (pictured)

El Capitan Canyon

Clayoquot Orca Resort Lodge and Wilderness Sanctuary

The Oberoi Rajvilas

Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle

Beach Village at Molokai Ranch

Maho Bay Camps

9 Beaches Bermuda

Curry Village

Keep reading the TravelPost Insider for more Top 10 travel lists….

“The Bachelorette” Gets Romantic at These Hawaii Hotels

2009-07-08T16:06:14Z

ABC’s current “The Bachelorette” Jillian Harris and the last three men standing in the competition for her heart (for the time being, at least) will be the focus of the reality matchmaking show’s two-hour finale showdown on the island of Maui when it airs on Monday.

More than who will win or whether she’ll say, “yes,” we’re interested in where Harris and her suitors will play and stay during their Hawaii adventure. Luckily for us, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau was more than happy to share the hotels and resorts that appear in the reality show’s final episode.

First up, Harris and the bachelors will overnight in oceanfront suites at the Westin Maui Resort and Spa and the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa.

Next, individual dates take Harris and the bachelors to Kapalua Resort and Hotel Hana-Maui (pictured above) and Honua Spa.

And as for the final rose ceremony, we hear the show’s climax will unfold at the popular Maui oceanfront wedding venue Olowalu Plantation House.

Of the hotels The Bachelorette and her boys will visit, TravelPost reviews suggest the Hotel Hana will be their favorite. With a 4.3 out of 5 rating, this Maui hotel has impressed TravelPost hotel reviewers who’ve stayed there with its quiet beauty, luxury accommodations, great service and spa.

Keep reading the TravelPost Insider for more celebrity travel news….

New York Hotels Conference Over Bedbug Problems

2009-07-07T14:50:21Z

New York hotels may have significantly fewer creepy crawly guests shortly after July 30, when many of the state’s lodging properties will have the opportunity to confer with bed bug and pest specialists during a seminar hosted by the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association.

Bed bug reports are on the rise, says a recent Crain’s New York article covering the upcoming meeting offered at month’s end to the tourism industry group’s 1,000 members.

Along with educating hoteliers from the Big Apple to Albany on methods for detecting and exterminating the pests, hotels will also receive advice on handling complaints from guests claiming to have encountered bed bugs during their stay.

We’re guessing that hoteliers are looking for ways to handle their guest-bug relations problems before they escalate and property names end up outed on sites such as Bed Bug Registry, which allows users to report (without verification, of course) bed bug encounters in hotels and set up alerts warning of bed bug reports near a registered address.

Want to see which hotels have ended up on the list lately? Read ‘em and itch….

Shirodhara, Anyone? That and Other Exotic Spa Treatments at Aqua Cancun

2009-07-07T14:08:13Z

If you’re looking for exotic spa treatments, Aqua Cancun will be happy to indulge you with not-on-every-spa-menu offerings such as Samumpray, a traditional Thai treatment involving hot and cold herbal compresses, and Shirodhara, an experience that combines massage with warm oil streamed onto the forehead.

Another option? Playing human sushi during the resort spa’s 50-minute rice wrap experience. In fact, food-related spa treatments abound on the spa menu. There’s a mosturizing avocado yogurt body wrap, a mood-boosting chocolate wrap and an exfoliating treatment that incorporates both coffee and seaweed.

In addition to knocking 50 percent off room rates this summer, we just received word that the resort also happens to be offering guests 25 percent off spa treatments, food and beverage during their stay.

So how much will it cost you? For a long weekend stay August 7-10, we found ocean front rooms with balconies available for $174 per night via the resort’s web site.

Keep reading the TravelPost Insider for more hotel deals….

At Hotels, Kindle vs. Sony Digital Reader War Heats Up

2009-07-06T19:46:19Z

In the burgeoning e-reader battle for dominance in the nation’s hotel chains, one model seems to be emerging as the device of choice, among boutique hoteliers at least.

The news that Kimpton’s Epic Hotel in Miami began offering the Sony Digital Reader to guests today through its Epic Page Turner program puts the e-reader solidly ahead of Amazon’s Kindle in the race to infiltrate hotels with digital reading material.

While the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan is currently the only hotel we can find offering guests use of Kindle readers, Sony Digital Readers are available to guests not only of the EPIC, but also to those staying at Gansevoort properties Hotel Gansevoort, Gansevoort South and Gansevoort Turks & Caicos.

In most cases, the hotels are loaning the readers free of charge to guests on a first-come, first-served basis during their visit.

It’s a logical amenity for hotels to embrace these days, and we look forward to seeing more programs like this crop up in the coming months….

Celebrity Travel: Did Courtney Love Trash The Inn at Irving Place?

2009-07-06T15:00:55Z

In completely unsubstantiated-yet-still-intriguing celebrity travel news, Courtney Love reportedly trashed a hotel room at Manhattan’s The Inn at Irving Place (pictured below). According to the New York Post, Love and her daughter Frances Bean overnighted in the hotel on June 17 and, in just eight hours, managed to flood the floor they were staying on and left all manner of questionable paraphernalia in their wake. The damage to the hotel apparently reached the $5,000 mark. We’ll let you click through to the full story on the post for all the gory details.

If you were to bunk in at the Inn at Irving Place on your next visit to New York, you’d find yourself in a 1834 brownstone in the Gramercy Park neighborhood with just 12 rooms and suites that TravelPost hotel reviewers report are elegantly and individually decorated with antiques. On the downside, reviewers complain about the hotel’s $500-and-up nightly rates and a lack of business-friendly amenities such as numerous outlets in the rooms.

Have you stayed at the Inn at Irving Place? What did you think?

Travel Discount Codes Here to Stay

2009-07-03T15:18:40Z

As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, coupon and discount codes for travel have been among the more noticeable trends in the online travel space this year. In a short time, they’ve gone from being pretty much non-existent to regular features in airline, car and hotel newsletters, web sites and special offers sections. And recently, we ran across CouponShack, a web site that aims to round these kinds of travel discount codes up all in one place.

In the travel section (the site offers coupon and discount codes from all kinds of online retailers), you can quickly scan the list of current hotel chains and online travel retailers to find available codes and their expiration dates.

We noticed that clicking on many of the travel merchants listed led us to deals available without codes and required us to use a reservation or booking engine to search for available dates and corresponding rates as we would with any deals-oriented section of a web site, but we were able find several current discount codes for BedandBreakfast.com, Marriott and Extended Stay.

What we liked the most about the site was the clear listing of expiration dates and the option to rate different deals and discount codes. The site also lists codes for air travel and cruises, not to mention tons of mainstream stores and retail brands.

Keep reading for more current travel deals and hotel promotions….

[Photo: JW Marriott Hotel Houston]

Best Hotels for Teens

2009-07-03T14:29:04Z

Yesterday, we featured a hotel package aimed at families traveling with teenagers. Today, we’re taking that idea a step further and highlighting TravelPost’s list of the Best Hotels for Teens…with their parents in tow, of course.

Finding a destination that will please the whole family is difficult with young children, but becomes all the more so when you add freedom-seeking teenagers to the mix. With the help of TravelPost travel experts and hotel reviewers who’ve visited, we selected the following hotels and resorts for their overall teen travel appeal.

We were careful to choose hotels in a variety of destinations and at varying price points, while still selecting properties that we think offer plenty of options for adults and young adults. Many hotels that made the list offer special teen programs or teen facilities, while others are well known for a wide variety of water sports, recreational activities and dining options in a safe, scenic environment. And we couldn’t resist throwing in one unexpected option especially for Twilight fans….Let us know what you think:

Smuggler’s Notch Resort (pictured)

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island

Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort and Spa

Club Med Punta Cana All Inclusive

Loews Coronado Bay Resort

Kingsmill Resort and Spa

Kalaloch Lodge

Crown Paradise Club All Inclusive

Amelia Island Plantation Hotel

Looking for more hotel recommendations? Check out more of TravelPost Top 10 Travel Lists….