Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:25:36 GMT
citizenM concept hotels
citizenM is a new brand of concept hotels whose aim is to build a strong brand personality which is approachable, down to earth, friendly and worldly wise offering affordable luxury. The concept revolves around "a mobile citizen of the world", an independent, frequent traveller. At the moment there is only one hotel at Schipol in Amsterdam. The hotels are constructed in a modular form. I'm not sure I like the idea of the open plan bedroom with no separate bathroom but maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist.
Visitors are encouraged to sign up as citizenMs to receive special offers, contribute their favourite city tips and "proclaim themselves smart and adventurous" (I think that would be enough to put me off signing up). There are free rooms on offer if you sign up and if you submit a tip. I did notice that it won't only be citizens' tips which are included but there will be corporate contributions too. I think it would be better if it was only citizens, as that would give the impression of more authenticity than possible corporate sales blurb intermingled with citizens input.
I tried using the book a room facility to check out the prices but couldn't get availability and price to appear. The only clue to prices were 3 price bands displayed at the side, low up to 100 euros, medium 100 - 120 euros and high over 120 euros.
I think that the success of the brand will hinge greatly on the attitude of staff, whether they can embody the core values and enhance the guest experience. It also depends on adoption of the brand values by the citizens and I'm not convinced that travellers want to be branded, even to a supposedly hip, modern brand.
What's your opinion of the citizenM brand?
Posted by: Karen Bryan Read more Source
Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:58:45 GMT
Summer Fare Hikes
According to an article on MSNBC, this summer, travelers to Europe will be faced with fare increases, fuel cost surcharges and poor exchange rate on the euro. However, if you had your heart set on a European vacation, here are some strategies suggested by Farecast.com
1. Choose the right day for travel. Tuesday and Wednesday are the least expensive.
2. You can save up to $350 by traveling in May or September
3. Timing is everything! To get the best fares to Europe, either book three months in advance, or wait for late summer deals. These are usually announced in late July.
In the meantime, travel experts have found that airfare predictions by Farecast
have a 74% accuracy rate. Book this site for your future travel plans!
Meanwhile, your best proactive defense against the rising price of air travel is a Frequent Flyer Program
Posted by: Lisa Marie Mercer Read more Source
Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:47:28 GMT
Hostel: Carbisdale Castle
Are you in that backpacking phase of your life? Or are you looking for some cheap-but-not-so-gritty places to stay while you're around Europe? One perfect place to go is the Carbisdale Castle. A past home to top nobles including a duchess, a prince, and a king give you the double satisfaction of steeping yourself in history where you sleep. Unlike grottier hostels, the Carbisdale even hosts a bevy of cool facts, including the fact that there are 365 windows, one for each day of the year, and the castle itself is home to art dating back to 1680. Oh yeah, and it even has a secret door that could be opened via a hallway statue in the past.
Did I mention it's totally affordable, too?
Posted by: Meieli Sawyer Detoni Read more Source
Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:13:17 GMT
Hot Hotel: Bellevue, Dubrovnik
The view from Hotel Bellevue is to-die-for. If you're looking for a way to cliff-hang without the danger, get a room in the Bellevue, which miraculously manages to hang straight out over the Adriatic (and the crystal-clear ocean, mind you) and still be close to the city center and galleries, cafes, museums, and boutiques.
Take a chance to explore neighboring islands Lokrum and the Elaphiti with a private guide, and then lounge in your luxury room decorated with two featured artists, Fedor Džamonja and Željko Senečić. Resting after a hard day's sightseeing has never been so stylish.
Visit Hotel Bellevue's site for slick accommodations, dining & leisure features, and featured events.
Posted by: Meieli Sawyer Detoni Read more Source
Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:03:00 GMT
Notch
I knew that somewhere around the house there was an envelope of photos I had taken of the dam being built. These were in the (my) pre-digital age, but I knew they could be scanned and presented for your entertainment and edification. If only I could find them. I looked in all of the usual places, but they eluded me.
It so happened that when Rachel was here a few weeks ago, she and Libby started “scrapbooking” and brought up boxes of “scrap” from the basement. Then one morning I found an envelope beside my computer. Within it were the photos of the dam construction.
Memory is a funny thing. In my memory I had taken impressive pix showing in instructive detail all of the important stages of the dam construction. Perhaps I should have continued to live in my memory.
Not only are there fewer of these pix than I remembered, but they are all pretty miserable as photos. Take that down a generation or two as they go from print to scan to pdf to jpeg to here and you get a sad reduction in quality.
Still, this photo will give you some sense of the construction of the dam. I took this shot standing in what would become the pecan plantation. I’m looking to the west, and what you see is the notch in the dam before it was filled in. This notch was a route the dozer man used to go in and out of the lake bed. It is also where he laid the drain pipe so that it would be at the lowest part of the lake bed before he buried it with the rest of the dam atop it. Curiously, this part of the dam is water tight. I would have expected it to leak, but I suppose the part of the dam built here is no different from the other parts of the dam (well, expect for the parts that do leak).
You can see one of the burn piles to the right. That’s all gone; I have a photo of it I will share with you that merits a little discussion.
Missouri calendar:
- Voles and mice feed on grass and seeds under the snow.
Posted by: Roundrockjournal Read more Source
Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:10:54 GMT
Night on the Town
Friday night a couple of friends and I received an after-hours tour of one of my favorite places in the world, the American Museum of Natural History. It''s really nice to tour the museum when there are no screaming kids running around. One of the highlights was a trip to the roof where we had a view much like the one above (I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera). The other highlight was viewing the hominan phylogeny now including the purported newest member, Homo floresiensis in the Hall of Human Origins. Since the first Hall of Human Origins of the little man; Hall of Human Originsome have suggested that it is a clear cut case of microcephaly and over-eager anthropologists. There has been a lot of back and forth on this hypothesis, but if in fact the skull is that of a new human species, it doesn''t look anything like that of the more recent hominids. Actually you have to go back to Australopithecus before you really see something that looks similar to H. floresiensis. Now wouldn''t that be stunning; a new genus of hominids contemporaneous with Homo ~20k years ago!
John Hawks has a superb series of Hall of Human Originson H. floresiensis.
Top photo by Hall of Human Origins.
Posted by: Dennehy Read more Source
November 6, 2007, 7:03 PM CT
The Pictures Speak For Themselves
It seemed like a crazy thing to even consider this late in our trip. Here we had spent almost 5 months straight in Europe and the surrounding area and were getting on a plane to head as far south in Africa as we could get. As we left our hotel in Barcelona, at 6pm on Tuesday, I wondered how I had let Kel talk me into a crazy trip a quarter of the way around the world.
Really, she can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be. After five years of marriage you know someone pretty well and know their weak spots. If aimed correctly, an argument, for or against something, can really knock a person over if their defenses are breached, and breach my defenses she did.
Back when we were in Croatia, Kel had brought up the African Safari Argument for, I believe, the third time. Unlike the other times she was greatly successful. Previous to this infamous discussion, Kel's attempts at getting me on the long flight to South Africa had been complete failures. This time was completely different because of one key argument:........
Posted by: JoAnn Read more Source
Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:53:33 GMT
13 Beautiful Gardens From Around The World
They may not be the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but they sure are an amazing sight.
13 Beautiful Gardens from Around the World.
(via corsinet)
Posted by: Gerard Read more Source
Sun, 28 Oct 2007 14:06:11 GMT
The Louis Vuitton Mumbai Travel Notebook
Price: $85
Posted by: Jennifer Read more Source
Sun, 28 Oct 2007 03:28:19 GMT
Travel light
This was the bed of my truck in the pre-dawn of our last (overnight) trip to Roundrock. Here’s the breakdown:
- yellow bag - sleeping bags and blankets
- white boxes - books to donate to the local library
- red cooler - edibles
- tools - various
- long green bag - cot
- long black bags - tables
- gray bag - tent
And here is the view from the other direction:
- orange cooler - potables
- white jugs - fire suppression system
I don’t think we carried a single thing we didn’t need, which is unlike our early days going to the woods when the bed would be twice as full just for a day trip.
I will confess that the back seat of the truck was filled as well, but that was mostly with spare clothes and other soft items.
Missouri calendar:
Posted by: Roundrockjournal Read more Source
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