Archive for the ‘opinion’ Category

The Best Arizona Hotels

February 9th
2010
by Becky Youman
posted in:
U.S. West destinations opinion

Last month the Arizona Republic hosted a vote for what readers consider the Best Arizona Hotels in a number of different categories. The online polling was open for a few weeks, with the results being tallied and published in last Sunday’s travel section of the paper. While my own personal favorites line up with some of the category winners, they don’t jibe with all of them.

Travelers to the state are lucky that there are so many great Arizona hotels to choose from. Here is a list of both the winners as chosen by the readers of the Arizona Republic as well as my own personal favorites for some of the different categories. Consult it before you head out on your next Arizona vacation.

Best Historic Hotel

Arizona Republic Winner: Hassayampa Inn
Dating from 1927, this historic Prescott property is on the National Register of Historic Places. My bet is that it got so many votes because of its resident ghost named Faith. According to legend, Faith was left by her husband while they were honeymooning at the hotel. After waiting for him for a few days, she hung herself in the honeymoon suite. Since then her ghost, clad in a pink robe, is said to wander the hallways.

My First Pick: La Posada Hotel
Back in the day when travel by railroad was the best way to go, elegant hotels were built along the route to continue the first class experience after travelers left the rail. Winslow’s La Posada, a hacienda designed by famed architect Mary Colter, is one of those hotels. Recently restored to its 1930s grandeur, La Posada is a delightful place to spend a weekend.
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El Salvador: Top 2010 Destination

January 4th
2010
by Becky Youman
posted in:
Central America beaches destinations opinion

el salvadorThe beginning of a new year is a good time to look at the map and decide where your travels might take you over the next 12 months. My husband and I sat down over the Christmas break and planned a week in Guatemala, a couple of Mexico vacations, and a wild-card week where we will look for last minute travel packages to Europe, Asia, and Latin America and jump on the one that looks the most interesting.

The Lonely Planet guidebook series knows that people seek inspiration when determining their travel destinations, so each year for the past five years they have published a book called Best in Travel. Best in Travel 2010 highlights their editor’s top ten picks for countries, regions, and cities to visit in 2010.

At the head of their top ten countries to visit list is El Salvador. El Salvador just happens to be the country that I most enjoyed visiting in 2009, so I couldn’t agree more with their pick. As readers of my previous El Salvador posts know, I found it to be a country full of wonderful surprises. With lush rain forests, high mountain lakes, miles of undeveloped coastline, and bubbling volcanoes, the natural wonders of El Salvador rival those of its more famous neighbor Costa Rica. And while the tourist infrastructure is relatively new, there are no lack of delightfully inviting El Salvador hotels, fascinating cities, and artfully created handicrafts to enjoy. (more…)

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Mexico Beach Reads

November 11th
2009
by Becky Youman
posted in:
Mexico destinations opinion

liquid mexicoIn today’s economic climate, hotels have to think of truly creative ways to differentiate themselves and attract vacationers. Even though fantastic bargains are available on Cabo hotels right now, that is not always enough to seal the deal. That’s why one luxury hotel, Ventanas al Paraiso, is trying a new tactic. It is offering guests advance copies of novels by popular authors to read while they lounge on the beach or at the pool. This program, called “Hot Type” offers guests copies of novels that are six months to six weeks from being released.

According to the hotel’s managing director, guests feel like they are inside some sort of exclusive literary circle when they get to read an advance copy of a book. The resort is able to offer this service through agreements with a number of U.S. publishing houses. The list of authors includes names like Azadeh Moaveni, Kitty Sewell, and Keith Donohue.

This news got me thinking about books that I would like to be reading on the beach in Cabo right now. I like my poolside literature to be on the lighter side, but also prefer to read books set in whatever country I am visiting. With that in mind, here are some of the titles that I would recommend for your next Cabo vacation. This list is certainly not inclusive of all the great works written about Mexico, but rather some of my favorite easy reads.
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Why You Absolutely Must Go To Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

October 2nd
2009
by Robin Bruns Worona
posted in:
U.S. Midwest activities destinations family music opinion

RockHallmorningLargeAs I write this, I’m rockin’ out to The Uplift Mofo Party Plan by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I haven’t listened to this album in years and the reason I’m listening to it now is a typical example of how my brain works. If you can bear with me for a moment, I’ll tell you how, in mere minutes, I went from listening to NPR talk about the discovery of Ardi to listening to vintage Chili Peppers and why it means that you should find yourself a nice Cleveland hotel room and make the pilgrimage to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

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It all started when I learned that Ardi had replaced Lucy as the oldest human ancestor. It always makes me a little sad when something I learned in school becomes outdated. Then, NPR informed me that Lucy was named after the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” because that’s what her discovers were rockin’ out to the night they celebrated their historical find. (Guess they didn’t teach me that in school.) That made me start thinking about all the recent Beatle Mania, what with the new Beatles Rock Band and the remastered box sets, and how music is funny that way, the cycles of popularity it goes through. I know, many would argue The Beatles are a constant and that’s true to a degree, but this is a whole new wave.
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Mind Your Vacation Manners

September 17th
2009
by Matt Wilson
posted in:
opinion tips

sticking out tongueThere’s all kinds of rude going around these days. Whether it’s yelling at the president during a speech (or throwing shoes at him), threatening to stuff a tennis ball down the throat of a line judge, offering a sucker punch instead of a post-game hand shake, if your name is Kayne, or the guy that wouldn’t let me over into his lane on the freeway this afternoon as my exit was rapidly approaching. All of these instances would make Emily Post roll her eyes in disgust (though truth-be-told, she probably wouldn’t because that’s rude too), but they’re not alone as lack of etiquette is everywhere—even when traveling.

When on vacation, we have a tendency to let things go—after all, we’re escaping reality and leaving all its worries behind. But even if you’re headed for a New York vacation, or checking into a Miami hotel room (two places—justifiably or not—people often associate with rudeness), that doesn’t mean you should forget to pack your manners for the trip as well. The hospitality industry certainly caters to travelers, but it doesn’t give tourists the right to demand whatever they want or act any way they choose. Doing so can make vacationing miserable for employees and also ruin it for those around you.

So to help prevent Joe/Serena/Lagarrette/Kayne/the dude on the Downtown Connector-type actions from occurring while on holiday or business travel, please consider these twelve ways to mind your traveling manners—and thanks for reading:
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7 Things Airlines Can Do for Passengers Stuck on Tarmac

August 10th
2009
by Rachel Berg
posted in:
news opinion

runwayAs something of a self-styled travel news junkie, I’ve been reading all the articles today about the poor passenger jet that got stuck on the runway for six middle-of-the-night hours due to what sounds like mass confusion and incompetency.

Even if you’re not prone to claustrophobia, six hours stuck in an unmoving plane seems a daunting prospect—I don’t care what kind of cheap flight deal you found. Throw in screaming infants, a lack of clear information, and–to put it nicely–steadily increasing odors emanating from the dirty bathrooms, and it’s enough to get anyone’s blood to boil.

I won’t go into all the details of how and why this happened–you can read it here and here. And I’m not here to assign blame. I’m here to come up with some ideas about how the airline and authorities could have eased this experience for the passengers involved.

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Cancun’s Best Hotel Beaches

August 7th
2009
by Becky Youman
posted in:
Mexico beaches destinations news opinion

cancun-beachEverybody loves the soft, white, powdered-sugar beaches of Cancun, but one hotel recently took that love of sand to an extreme. According to news reports, the beach in front of the Gran Caribe Real Hotel in Cancun was barricaded off with crime scene tape by Mexican Federal authorities last week because of some shady — or make that sandy — dealings.

Apparently the hotel built a non-approved breakwater to try to retain sand, which everybody knows has a reputation for shifting. The hotel is also accused of illegally using pumps to move sand from the ocean floor to its section of beach out front. The Mexican attorney general for environmental protection called it “ill-gotten, illegally accumulated sand.” How dastardly.

This got me thinking about Cancun hotels and which ones are known to have the best beaches. If I were to jump on one of the cheap flights being offered to Cancun right now and were looking for the best stretches of ivory beach, I would head to one of the following five hotels: (more…)

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18 Reasons why Mexico is the Most Underrated Travel Destination in the World

July 29th
2009
by Becky Youman
posted in:
Mexico activities destinations opinion

Swine Flu is really not that big a deal

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Yes, people have died, and for their families it is more than horrible – it sucks. But, let’s put things in perspective. The “regular” flu kills about 36,000 people in the US annually. H1N1 has killed 263 people here to date. Besides, H1N1 has spread all over the world now, so you can get it just as easily in Manhattan as in Mexico City.

Swine Flu was “planted” anyway

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Rumors swirled around Mexico City when the outbreak started that swine flu was part of a global plot to distract people from the international economic crisis. My favorite was one claimed that the whole thing was planned at the Global London Summit in April. Ummm – right.

Your dollar goes further

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For most of 2008 you could get about 10 Mexican pesos for $1 US. Now that same $1 US gets you 13 to 15 pesos depending on the day. Meaning, that 350 peso bottle of Herradura Tequila  doesn’t cost $35 USD anymore, it’s only $23 USD. Cha-ching.

 

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Travel Incentives

July 23rd
2009
by Becky Youman
posted in:
news opinion

planeWhat kind of travel perks would compel you to book a trip right now? With demand for travel down due to current economic conditions, hotel and air providers find themselves needing to offer travel deals to get people out of stay-cation mode.

I read an article last week in the Arizona Daily Sun citing the results of a recent study from TNS, a private market research firm, about the incentives it takes to induce people to buy travel right now. The most compelling and obvious incentive is steep discounts, but there are some other offerings that vacationers find attractive.

The article stated that package deals are also luring potential customers to travel. The most popular extras mentioned in the study were free extra room nights, room upgrades, gift cards, admission to area sights, and the chance to earn extra frequent flier miles. These are all great, but I’ve come up with some other perks that would really be popular. (more…)

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The 13 Worst Possible Airline Passengers in the Seat Next to You

June 25th
2009
by Matt Wilson
posted in:
opinion

vacations-crowded-cabinSomeone I know recently boarded a plane for a 14-hour flight to Africa. As she found her seat, half of it was occupied by a rather large woman who spilled over from her own (this has actually been a topic of debate here regarding ticket purchases). As she wedged into her own aisle seat, the other woman (who had the window seat) informed my friend that she was on her way to the funeral of a close relative, and that they had had a very troubled relationship. My friend felt very sorry for her, and braced for an emotionally turbulent ride. Then she told my friend that she was a chronic diarrheatic. My friend then felt incredibly sorry for herself.

Even if you’re on your way to a Hawaii vacation or European getaway, 14 hours of feeling like Dr. Phil and dealing with untrustworthy digestive systems because of who’s sitting next to you makes for a miserable flight… And it got me thinking: Who’s the absolute last person you’d want sitting next to you on a very long plane ride? Here are 13 that immediately came to mind:

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