The Cartoon Network Is Building Its First Hotel
Posted on 11/02/2018, 2:30 PM
Listen up, fans of Adventure Time, We Bare Bears, and The Powerpuff Girls: The Cartoon Network is getting its own hotel. Developed through a partnership between the animated cable channel and amusement park operators Palace Entertainment, the 165-room property is currently under construction on 9 acres in southern Pennsylvania's Lancaster County. The new hotel will stand right next to the Dutch ...
Colorful New St. Louis Hotel Wants to Give You the Blues (or Reds or Yellows)
Posted on 10/31/2018, 4:45 PM
"Got the St. Louis Blues," goes the old W.C. Handy song, "just as blue as I can be." Those lyrics take on new meaning at the Angad Arts Hotel, which opens this week amid the many galleries and performance venues of the Grand Center Arts District in St. Louis. Guests who book one of the hotel's 146 rooms or 38 suites don't just pick bed sizes but also a color to match one of four moods—red for pa...
You Can Stay in Ralphie’s House from ‘A Christmas Story’
Posted on 10/30/2018, 1:00 AM
Ultimate fans of the American holiday film classic A Christmas Story might already own a replica of the Major Award leg lamp, nightmarish bunny pajamas, or even a toy Red Ryder BB gun (warning: you may shoot your eye out). Yet, how many of them know that they can spend the night inside Ralphie Parker’s actual house? Located in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, the real-life house use...
I’m Now One of Those People: A Traveler with an Airbnb Horror Story
Posted on 10/18/2018, 3:00 PM
It didn’t happen because I’m a careless idiot, or a very picky, persnickity traveler. It happened because I’m a (bit) lazy. I was heading to Chicago for work and an unrelated convention had sent hotel prices through the roof. To save a great deal of money, I decided to book a room in the apartment of a friendly-looking lady who has cats. (OK, the real reason was the cats—yes, I’m that kind of mid...
Police Destroy Semi-Submerged Sculpture Park in the Maldives
Posted on 09/26/2018, 5:30 PM
Police officers wielding saws, pickaxes, and ropes have destroyed the world's first semi-submerged sculpture park. Located in the Maldives, Coralarium—which Frommer's covered this summer when the work opened to the public—was an over-/underwater project designed by British-born artist Jason deCaires Taylor to be explored by swimmers and snorkelers. It stood amid calm waters belonging to the luxe...
Arthur Frommer: Prosecution of Fake TripAdvisor Reviewer Raises Questions
Posted on 09/18/2018, 1:00 PM
The defendant, in a recent criminal prosecution brought in Italy, was a man who operated a company manufacturing fake hotel reviews. Presumably hiring excellent writers, he apparently sent hundreds of fake recommendations to TripAdvisor.com, claiming that particular hotels (at which the writers had never stayed) were outstanding in their service and facilities. For this work, the defendant was app...
WW2 Tower Converted to Vacation Rental in Channel Islands
Posted on 09/05/2018, 5:15 PM
During World War II, the Nazis occupied the Channel Islands, a string of isolated spots floating between England and France. Using forced labor, the Germans built concrete fortifications aimed at their British enemies, and many of these structures still stand to this day. Now, a local preservation group has converted one of them to a vacation rental. Standing on the southwestern tip of Jersey Is...
My Hotel Is Overbooked! What Did I Do Wrong?
It happens all the time. Guests with reservations are sent somewhere else because there are no more rooms. Here's how you can avoid getting bumped when a hotel is full.
Can We Talk About Those Ridiculous Game Show Vacation Prices?
When it comes to the cost of a vacation, the price is not right on TV game shows.
What You Need to Know About the (Likely) Cost of Travel in 2019
Posted on 07/25/2018, 4:45 PM
Will it be a happy new year for vacationers in 2019? Experts are predicting some price shifts. A number of factors should impact the cost of trips next year and beyond. If you’re planning on vacationing next year—and I hope you are!—here’s what to look out for. Airfares: “Up, up and away” is the price forecast from most industry watchers. Airfares, particularly from North America to Asia and Eu...
Two Atlantic City Casinos Reopen Under New Management
Posted on 07/02/2018, 5:30 PM
Not long ago, Atlantic City seemed in danger of becoming a ghost town. A string of casino closures—five in two years, according to the Associated Press—came as a consequence of events such as the economic downturn of 2008, the legalization of gambling elsewhere in the U.S. (meaning Nevada and Atlantic City are no longer your only legal gaming options), and the financial chicanery that's easier to...
New Great Wolf Lodge Water Park Opens in Chicago Burbs
Posted on 06/22/2018, 11:30 PM
Midwesterners in search of chlorinated fun have a new destination in the Chicago suburbs. Great Wolf Lodge Illinois, the 17th outpost in a chain of Northwoods-themed indoor water park resorts across North America, has opened in Gurnee, the same town (located about 40 miles north of downtown Chicago) where you'll find Six Flags Great America. The new Great Wolf occupies space once belonging to ...
Arthur Frommer: Universal Orlando Cuts Hotel Rates to Lure Visitors
Posted on 06/22/2018, 11:30 PM
For at least twenty years, Universal Orlando Resort has been on a hotel building spree. One after another, giant lodging has been squeezed onto its grounds, supplying close-at-hand rooms to would-be visitors. In hotels supplying thousands of rooms, Universal is approaching (though it obviously hasn’t yet reached) the number of hotels on the grounds of Disney’s parks, 15 minutes away by car. ...
Historic Luxury Resort Reborn in Arizona
Posted on 06/13/2018, 9:30 PM
For several decades starting in 1896, a remote Arizona resort located about 50 miles north of Phoenix played host to a steady stream of well-to-do vacationers, including Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Roosevelts, and other Gilded Age muckety-mucks. They were drawn to Castle Hot Springs for the seclusion, sunny weather, Southwestern pursuits like horseback riding, and the supposed restorative propert...
New Booking Site for Clothing-Optional Stays
Posted on 05/09/2018, 12:00 AM
We're strong believers in packing light—all that luggage will only slow you down—but the champions in that department have got to be those who are fond of vacationing in the nude. After all, once they reach their destinations, they don't need much more than towels and sunscreen (take that, airline baggage fees!). Those carefree and, we assume, frequently chilly travelers now have a new online res...
Hugely Popular European Destination Bans Apartment Rentals
Posted on 04/27/2018, 8:00 PM
Between 2015 and 2017, illegal vacation rentals, fueled by services such as Airbnb, shot up 50%. As a consequence, rent for locals skyrocketed 40%. For a small Mediterranean island without suburbs to expand to, what is there to do? If you're governing Majorca, an internationally beloved getaway in the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain, you impose a life-ruining fine of €400,000 (US $485,000...
Renowned Ocean Liner Reborn as Floating Hotel in Dubai
Posted on 04/19/2018, 12:00 AM
The retired Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner, which the Cunard Line operated from 1969 to 2008, has been transformed into a floating hotel in Dubai. Docked at the city's Port Rashid for a decade (the 2008 recession slowed down the remodeling project), the 13-deck ship has more than 200 contemporary rooms and suites, ranging from tiny cabins to opulent aeries with private verandas. The design, accor...
