D.C.’s African American Museum Tests a Change to Its Admissions Policy
Posted on 04/04/2018, 12:00 AM
The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. is trying out a new admissions practice this month.Each Wednesday in April, visitors can simply walk up to to the building on Constitution Avenue, get in line, and gain entry to the museum on a first-come, first-served basis, starting at 10am, when it opens. That might sound like standard museum-going procedure, but not...
Priceline Ends "Name Your Own Price" Car Rentals
Posted on 04/02/2018, 8:00 PM
Yet another core offering of Priceline has been carved away.The website, which made itself famous beginning in 1997 as a place where travelers could place low bids for various products without knowing in advance the brand of the seller, has ended its "Name Your Own Price" feature for rental cars. The website now only offers set prices for its brand-blind rental car inventory. Because of the site's ...
Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas Getting a Virgin Hotels Makeover
Posted on 04/02/2018, 11:00 AM
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is entering Virgin territory. The hotel—located just off the Strip on Paradise Road—has been acquired by the growing Virgin Hotels chain, which is giving the property a top-to-bottom overhaul. Virgin founder Richard Branson revealed the changeover at a press conference announcing that his company and other investors had made the purchase. The renovation...
TSA to Make You Remove Snacks from Your Carry-On—Except When It Won't
Posted on 03/29/2018, 11:00 AM
The next time you go through airport security, you could be asked to remove all food from your carry-on luggage, along with all the other stuff that gets removed—your shoes, your laptop, and, should you be selected for an invasive pat-down, your dignity. Then again, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) might let you keep that Snickers bar or bag of Cheetos in your bag as it slides along...
National Comedy Museum Opening This Summer in New York State
Posted on 03/27/2018, 8:15 PM
Baseball players have Cooperstown. Rock stars have their own hall of fame in Cleveland. Even androids, when they're not dreaming of electric sheep, can visualize themselves getting inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh.But what about the age-old, joy-bringing art of comedy? Why isn't there a national museum celebrating history's most important producers of yuks? Come August, you won't ...
Singapore Airport Named World's Best for Sixth Consecutive Year
Posted on 03/23/2018, 10:45 AM
In its well-regarded annual ranking of the world's best airports, Skytrax has named Singapore Changi Airport number one for the sixth time in a row. Relying on millions of customer surveys filled out by travelers around the globe, the terminal trackers found the Asian city-state's airport exceptional in its cleanliness, service, shopping, dining, security and customs processing, transit options, an...
Hotel on Skis Debuts in Finland for Northern Lights Viewing
Posted on 03/21/2018, 5:15 PM
A novel way of experiencing the Northern Lights has come to Finland. The new Aurora Wilderness Camp, located near the village of Kilpisjärvi, is comprised of three mobile cabins that have been mounted on skis so that they can be dragged into the remote reaches of the country's Lapland region. And because each unit has a glass roof, guests have a good chance of spotting the Northern Lights from the ...
Play the Casanova at New Museum in Venice
Posted on 03/19/2018, 7:30 PM
Giacomo Casanova belongs to the rare class of historical figures whose names became common nouns. Traitorous World War II-era Norwegian leader Vidkun Quisling and France's lecherous Marquis de Sade (lop off the "e" and add an -ism or an -istic) are in the same crew. It's a curious kind of superstardom where the legend outstrips the life to such an extent that the world often forgets there was ever ...
Makeup Mogul Bobbi Brown Opening Her Own Hotel in New Jersey
Posted on 03/16/2018, 8:30 AM
Makeup designer and skincare expert Bobbi Brown is going from fashionable boutiques to her own fashionable boutique hotel. Known for creating a popular line of understated cosmetics (she later sold the company to Estée Lauder), Brown has teamed up with her husband, developer Steven Plofker, to open The George, a 32-room inn "with modern style and historic bones." In other words, it sort of looks li...
Disney World Now Charges for Parking at Hotels, Decreasing Their Value
Posted on 03/14/2018, 12:00 PM
Update: Disney Parks finally rescinded fees for self-parking at Walt Disney World resorts in January 2023. Click here to read about that.It used to be one of the great courtesies of staying in a Walt Disney World resort hotel: You got free parking, and then you could take Disney transportation for free.It was touted as one of the perks and a big incentive to choose a Disney hotel over a room locate...
