Featured Posts (5024)

Sort by

Once again, I am on the road and looking for interesting things to do while participating in wine tasting (good activity) and less enjoyable shopping. I am in a sort of time warp of suburban Seattle across Lake Washington. This is Woodinville, next to Redmond where Microsoft lives. Back in the 80’s I lived around here. What a change, but life marches on and I just try to keep up these days.

Woodinville is getting big into wine tasting at traditional wineries and tasting rooms. The tasting rooms a

Read more…
5hotel-housekeeping-400ds062.jpg
From NMT Images

Pssst! Don't Change Your Sheets, And Earn Some Money

Usually my hotel room doesn't need regular cleaning, and my sheets don't need changing daily. And when I tell the housekeeping staff to skip my room, they reward me with a hand to the small of their backs, and a thanks for making their day a little easier.

Besides, they often come to clean just when I most want them not to!

So I wasn't too surprised to learn that when Best Western conducted a pilot program designed to help train
Read more…

Are you tired of dragging your luggage through the airport? Frustrated that it tips over and won't turn when it's supposed to? Does it irk you when you have to stuff your carry-on in the overhead bin by pushing and shoving?


Well, if so, maybe it's time for a Nakation. Yep, you got it, a naked vacation. Just think, you'll never have to pack again! You won't have to worry about baggage charges or airport security - you'll be free in more ways than one!

The American Association of Nude Recreation (AA
Read more…

Sticking to the on site restaurants within your hotel does not always make for a wise dining itinerary. Chances are the price point is setfor unwitting tourists and the food may not represent the region’s bestofferings. I recently joined a blogger group on a sponsored visit toVegas’ Monte Carlo Hotel resolved to challenge thisconventional bit of wisdom. After all, the hotel wasn’t oversellingtheir restaurants as “best on the strip” but simply presented the venuesand let you decide. I was impress

Read more…

Small Lot Wines

You‘ve probably heard the term “small lot wines” and took a guess that it refers to wine produced in limited quantities. You would of course be right, but there’s more to it than that. A small lot wine can be produced at a very large winery or a very small winery, or anything in between. As you can imagine, a wine that is made in small quantities is special. Obviously not everyone can have it because not a lot is made, and it generally sells out fast. From either small or large wineries, the end

Read more…
Comments: 0
HuffingtonPost-Logo.jpg
From NMT Images

Huffington Post Launches Travel Section


In saying that some of her happiest moments as well her most "enriching and enlightening moments have come through travel," Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of the Huffington Post, announced late last week that the Huffington Post launched a new travel section, HuffPost Travel.
The new on line feature will be headed by Kate Auletta, daughter of well-known New Yorker writer and author, Ken Auletta

The site is good, as far as it goes. It's ful
Read more…
225px-Screaming_kid.jpg
From NMT Images

Screaming Child Bursts Passenger's Ear Drum. Airline Sued

Well (pun intended) now we've heard it all.
A 67 year old American passenger traveling from Alice Springs to Darwin, Australia, on Qantas Airlines was stunned when a child screamed in her ear. The passenger, Jean Barnard, claims her eardrum was ruptured, and blamed the airline for "failing to take necessary precautions to prevent the accident."

The passenger, says Travel Trends, claimed the injury was so severe blood erupted
Read more…
Andrew, a traveller who has recently booked a responsible tourism holiday to Cameroon through the West Africa Discovery website, suggested that we post his story about his journey through Senegal and the Gambia in order to raise awareness to the rich experiences that can be had in West Africa. Of course,without hesitation, we agreed! So, without further ado, sit back with a cup of tea (or coffee, as you prefer) and enjoy the following recount of what seems like an unforgettable experience.

Every
Read more…

Seduced By The Cayman Island Sisters




Seduced By The Cayman Islands


Most any novel or movie about corporate bad guys somehow always has shady types furtively wiring funds off shore to the Cayman Islands.

Truth is, the three islands that make up the Cayman archipelago are so much more than temples of high finance, regardless of John Gresham's books.

Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are specks of places about a 45 minute puddle jumping ride in a 12 seater that feels more like flying on an Avatar bird than a plane.

Little known, and less t
Read more…

Why Travel Public Relations Must Change

pr.jpg
From NMT Images

Why Travel Public Relations Has to Change

In his very successful book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, social media guru David Meerman Scott sounds the death knell for public relations as we have known it in the last hundred or so years.

In fact, until the advent of social media, public relations hasn't changed much since the 18th century when its use was first recorded. The term actually appeared in 1897 in the Year Book of Railway Literature.

Then and mostly now, PR professiona
Read more…

By Roy Heale

One of the most beautiful journeys by car in Argentina is the Seven Lakes' road. Starting in San Carlos de Bariloche the road connects to Villa La Angostura and San Martin de Los Andes for a full day excursion. Along the route are the seven lakes: Machónico, Falkner---where there is a 20meter waterfall---Villarino, Escondido, Correntoso, Espejo and Nahuel Huapi. Plus at the end of the journey the eighth lake is Lacar where San Martin de los Andes is situated on the shore. The road al

Read more…

Dogs Die On Airline Flights

english_bulldog_96716.jpg
From NMT Images
Dogs Die On Airline Flights

A couple of things surprised me in the just-released AP/USA Travel Department of Transportation (DOT) report that 122 dogs died on airplanes since May 2005.

I was surprised that DOT only required reporting the death of dogs in transport since 2005. What took them so long? Did dog deaths not matter much?

And candidly I was surprised by some of the callous comments made on an MSNBC web page by readers.
One asked if there were "Any volunteers to ship your sma
Read more…
IPad%20PC%282%29.JPG
From NMT Images

Twitter Follow

Forget The Mint: Fairmont Offers An iPad in Every Room

Fairmont's flag ship property, The Plaza (NY) still offers its signature turn-down service, skips the mint, but offers the "sweetest" touch of all: an iPad in every guest room.

Starting September 2010, The Plaza will offer iPads in all guest rooms and suites, and they'll be loaded with Fairmont's proprietary program, the '"virtual concierge application," driven by software from Orlando-based Intelity called ICE, f
Read more…

Who Took The "Sexy" Out Of Hotel Stays?

sexyhotel.jpg
From NMT Images

In search of romantic couples or at least couples seeking a sexy stay, hotels promoted “intimacy kits” in their mini bars just a few years ago
Happily, the Thompson Hotel in New York still stocks its mini bars with condoms, cinnamon mints, scented cloths, personal lubricants and feather ticklers for libidinous couples.
But a spokesperson cooly downplayed their availability by telling me they don’t promote the kits any more, not the way they used to. “They’re just there for the clie
Read more…
Mexican cuisine may be one of America's favorite "ethnics," and Miami may be the single most Latino city in the United States (not to mention an increasingly foodie town in many ways) -- but until recently, Miami has sucked soggy jalapeños when it came to high-quality, authentic fare from the land of tacos and tequila.

Instead, we had to make do with the same chains the rest of the country does: Baja Fresh, Chipotle Grill, Qdoba, On the Border, yada yada, along with an also so-so local mini-chai
Read more…
RichardBeach2%281%29.jpg
From NMT Images

Where The Oil Is And Is Not, And How Can You Tell?

It's as much a matter of perception as it is of oil.

Michelle Horne, VP of Nature and Tourism Communications in Corpus Christi tells me me that they have "65 miles of beaches waiting for travelers," and Corpus Christi and Padres Islands have "NOT" been affected by the oil spill. "Texas tourism," her release says, "reassures travelers not to cancel plans to visit the Lone Star State."

Meanwhile Mississippi reports the spill could co
Read more…

There’s nothing better than good wine. Then again, there’s really nothing more inspiring than great art. But if you think about it, what could be better than an amazing hotel near the beach and amazing places to eat? Luckily, in my search for the most unique wine venues in America, I got to experience it all in Laguna Beach, California.

I decided to visit Laguna Beach when I heard the theme for this year’s Pageant of the Masters was “Eat, Drink & Be Merry!” Hey, I thought this was strictly an ar

Read more…

Hotel Lungomare, sits in the heart of Rimini, Marina Centro. The fantastic location means you can be on the beach within a few steps, or amid the shops, bars and restaurants as you exit the hotel.


The hotel itself is designed to be relaxing and reenergizing for holiday makers and business traveler’s alike. The sky blues and white design of the hotel emanate calm and coolness.


'Sunrise on the Lungomare balcony' by Emma Henderson


Hotel Lungomare boasts spacious, air conditioned rooms which come with

Read more…

Maria the Diva in Ecuador

On their quest to find out more about the birds of Ecuador, Adios Adventure Travel arranged for the Virginia BeachFriends School 4th & 5th grade girls get up at 4 am to arrive atthe La Paz reserve, near Mindo, Ecuador, just to see the famous Andean Cock of the Rock. After glimpsing thecolorfully red bird, they continued their march through the jungle wherethey saw an even more rare bird, thegiant antpitta. These birds are rarely seen and our girls saw“Maria” who was coaxed out of the forest by a
Read more…

The good guys are volunteering and working overtime to undo the damage of the BP oil spill, the worst environmental disaster US history. Beware of frauds. The bad guys are out there scamming instead of skimming.

Job scams — One fraud is asking you to pay up front for a job helping clean up the mess. Jobs available directly with BP are posted on the BP website. Or register for a job on the official websites of the states of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas or Mississippi. If you have been recrui

Read more…