Howard Johnson Hotels Are Getting a Mid-Century Modern Makeover
Posted on 10/04/2019, 6:45 PM
Once-ubiquitous hotel chain Howard Johnson is getting its first major design makeover in 25 years. The refreshed look recalls HoJo's heyday in the 1950s and '60s, when the company was said to open a new motor lodge every two weeks and a new restaurant every nine days. The two halves of the business were eventually split, and hundreds of HoJo restaurants across the U.S. went kaput. The last hold...
No Men Allowed at This New Majorca Hotel
Posted on 10/01/2019, 11:00 PM
A hotel exclusively for women has opened on the Spanish island of Majorca. Located near Porto Cristo on the island's eastern coast, Som Dona Hotel has 39 rooms, a pool, a wellness spa, a rooftop terrace, and zero male guests (though you might see some men on staff, in keeping with Spain's laws against gender discrimination in employment). The modern property is reportedly the first of its ki...
New Bill in U.S. Congress Would Squash Hidden Resort Fees. Here's How to Help
Posted on 09/26/2019, 12:15 PM
A new bill introduced in Congress today will spell the end of hotel resort fees. Maybe. The Hotel Advertising Transparency Act of 2019 would classify the nondisclosure of resort fees (or "cleaning fees" or "urban fees" or any other mandatory fee) as "deceptive" advertising. Most of us would agree that's an accurate description—one that matters because the bill would allow the government to crac...
Free Parking in Las Vegas Returns As a Resort Breaks Ranks
Posted on 09/19/2019, 3:00 AM
For many years, the ability to park for free at most Las Vegas casino-resorts was a beloved perk, and it was one that made visiting the spread-out desert city much more affordable, practical, and welcoming. But in 2017, starting with MGM-owned resorts, that privilege was snatched from guests. Just to visit a restaurant or a shop, with a few minor exceptions (Treasure Island, Venetian-Palazzo) gue...
Key West Hotels Introduce "Underwater Library" with Waterproof Books
Posted on 08/26/2019, 5:00 PM
Reading while lounging next to bodies of water is so popular it spawned a whole literary genre. But here's the thing about beach reads: There's a very real chance you'll ruin the book if you get it wet. Two hotels in Key West, Florida, have devised a clever solution to this perennial vacation problem: waterproof books. The new "underwater library" is an aquarium tank stocked with fully submerge...
Vacation Rental Law Hits Hawaii Hard—How to Navigate Tough Rental Regulations
Posted on 08/14/2019, 6:00 PM
Long before Airbnb was a twinkle on founder Brian Chesky’s browser, New York State had a law severely limiting short-term rentals. Called the "Multiple Dwelling Law," it has, in its many iterations, banned short-term rentals of less than 30 days in the state, including New York City, since 1929. The law was strengthened in both 2011 and 2018; today, it applies to apartments in buildings with mo...
How to Figure Out the Name of That Anonymous Hotwire Hotel
No need to agonize over clues like Sherlock Holmes to deduce the name of a mystery hotel in Hotwire's Hot Rates. These elementary tricks are all you need.
London Gets Its First Hard Rock Hotel
Posted on 07/24/2019, 12:00 AM
The first Hard Rock Cafe opened in London in 1971. But the city has never had a Hard Rock Hotel—until now. The just-opened 900-room Hard Rock Hotel London occupies the building that previously housed the Cumberland Hotel near the northeast corner of Hyde Park. That's about a mile north—in almost a direct shot up Park Lane—of the first Hard Rock Cafe, which, by the way, is still in operation. ...
Yosemite's Historic Names Restored: Company Holding Them Hostage Relents
Posted on 07/19/2019, 12:00 AM
One of the most asinine instances of overlawyering in a genuinely asinine age has finally come to a resolution. In 2016, the year the National Park Service marked its centennial, California's Yosemite National Park reached the end of its contract with Delaware North, the vendor that had been running the onsite hotels and services. The company was not rehired. In a fit of legal pique, Delaware...
Find the Name of That Secret Priceline Hotel with This Canny Tool
Priceline hides the identities of its best hotel deals, but there's a browser extension that pinpoints the property you're bidding on before you buy.
An Animal Rescue Group Is Opening Its Own Hotel—Humans Allowed
Posted on 06/17/2019, 9:30 PM
An animal rescue organization is opening its own hotel, which won't just be pet-friendly—it'll be "pet-centric," according to a news release. Set to welcome two- and four-legged guests as of August 15, Best Friends Roadhouse and Mercantile is a new, 40-room property with a desert-modern look in Kanab, Utah. The hotel is owned and operated by Best Friends Animal Society, a nonprofit no-kill resc...
Arthur Frommer: It's Smart to Make Sure Your Airbnb Host is at Home
Posted on 06/11/2019, 8:00 AM
A massive battle is being waged in courtrooms all over the world between supporters of short-term apartment rentals and cities wanting to put an end to those uses. The cities claim that such companies as Airbnb are worsening the availability of housing for permanent residents; that these permanent residents are unable to stay in a growing number of apartments illegally rented by landlord...
You Can Now Stay at a French Castle That Hosted Mozart and Voltaire
Posted on 06/04/2019, 12:00 PM
Some of the biggest stars in 18th-century European culture—including Mozart as well as Age of Enlightenment thinkers Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Denis Diderot—spent time at the estate of Baron Jacques Pineau de Viennay in the castle-packed Loire Valley southwest of Paris. Now you can stay there, too. Following a meticulous renovation, the baron's summer residence has been reopened as ...
A Website Called Fairbnb Has Flung an "Ethical" Challenge to Airbnb
Posted on 06/04/2019, 8:00 AM
Although it has successfully helped millions of travelers to find overnight accommodations in an apartment or home, Airbnb is still mired in controversy and fending off attacks. It has been challenged by (and remains embattled against) numerous city governments which claim that Airbnb has worsened the housing situation in their jurisdictions and reduced the available accommodations for p...
An App That (Almost) Guarantees the Lowest Hotel Rates
Posted on 05/31/2019, 7:00 AM
It’s said there are no guarantees in life. But does that apply to travel? For hotels, a relatively new app may offer the closest thing to a guaranteed low price that I’ve seen. It’s called Pruvo, and it promises that if you tell it your hotel price, you won’t be undercut. Here’s how it works. The consumer goes hotel shopping, using any online travel agency they like—Booking.com, Expedi...
A Bizarre Guitar-Shaped Hotel Rises in South Florida
Posted on 05/30/2019, 12:30 PM
Music lovers can soon live out any rock-and-roll accommodation fantasies they may have as the world’s first Guitar Hotel—a 450-foot-tall guitar-shaped building with luxury guest rooms—nears completion. The massive Guitar Hotel is part of a $1.5-billion expansion plan at the 15-year-old Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, which was previously most famous as the pla...
A Movie Studio’s Former Headquarters Is the Coolest New Hotel in Town
Posted on 05/06/2019, 6:45 PM
A historic, copper-topped building that once housed the Australian headquarters of Paramount Pictures has been turned into a boutique hotel in one of the hippest parts of Sydney. The 29-room Paramount House Hotel, which opened this spring, occupies space that was used for the studio's offices and film storage. Incorporating the building's original features with new touches, the interior has expos...
Arthur Frommer: Travel in Europe is Getting Harder, Yet Still We Must
Posted on 05/06/2019, 9:00 AM
Let’s be frank: Traveling to Europe this summer will be more difficult than in recent years. Which is all the more reason to consider, and then overcome, a number of obstacles. What has resulted in these problems? First, the initial cost of flying to various European capitals will undoubtedly be higher than before. That major champion of low-cost transatlantic air travel, WOW Ai...
This Website Gets You Free Room and Board in Many Countries, Says Arthur Frommer
Posted on 04/22/2019, 10:00 AM
When I first learned that a granddaughter of mine was planning to spend three months in Japan earning her room and board through work performed as a volunteer, I was concerned and suspicious. It was only after we had heard from previous volunteers of this sort that I grew calm about this partial use of her “gap year” from college. The organization that plans such volunteer work in countrie...
