Tipping in Japan? Not So Much a Thing
Why Japan doesn't go for gratuities—but why you still might have to pay extra fees for meals and accommodations
Tipping in Germany: A Gratuities Guide for Restaurants, Hotels, and Taxis
How to tip restaurant servers, cab drivers, and hotel staff in Germany—without overdoing it
Watchmaker Shinola Is Opening a Hotel in Downtown Detroit
Posted on 12/18/2018, 9:30 PM
Detroit-based Shinola, maker of watches, fancy bicycles, and other luxury goods, is expanding into the hotel business. The 129-room Shinola Hotel is set to open in the company's hometown on January 2. Developed in collaboration with local real estate firm Bedrock, the property encompasses three new buildings as well as two historic ones—the former homes of the T.B. Rayl Co. department store an...
What to Tip Waiters, Hotel Staff, and Taxi Drivers in France
Some pointers on how to pay gratuities—without overdoing it—in hotels, restaurants, and taxis in France
Pauline Frommer: Come Travel with Me in Vietnam this February
Posted on 12/11/2018, 12:00 AM
Every other year, I host a trip for listeners of the Frommer's radio shows and the readers of our guides. And these tours are, I must say, very special experiences. There's nothing like hitting the road with Frommer's fans. They're an intelligent, gregarious, open-hearted bunch, people who are deeply enamored with travel, and who have been broadened by their own wanderings. I'm also quite caref...
New Rules in Rome Target Rowdy, Boozy Tourists
Posted on 11/19/2018, 5:30 PM
Italy has just about had it with your nonsense. Straining under the burden of accommodating endless hordes of tourists and their accompanying noise, litter, rowdiness, and traffic gridlock, the country's most popular cities are rolling out strict behavioral regulations—with hefty fines—aimed at keeping visitors under control. Florence recently banned eating in the streets. Venice has outlawed ev...
In Japan You Can Build Your Own Kit Kat Now
Posted on 11/13/2018, 12:00 AM
Like compact cars and the band Cheap Trick, Kit Kat candy bars weren't born in Japan, but they sure went big there. The chocolate-covered wafers (a U.K. creation currently owned worldwide by Nestlé) are among Japan's best-selling sweets and they have appeared in hundreds of flavors, including strawberry cheesecake, green tea, purple sweet potato, wasabi, and sake. The country's latest innovati...
American Airlines Will Allow Early Boarding for Flyers with Nut Allergies
Posted on 11/08/2018, 12:00 AM
As if determined to undo their decades of peanut pushing, U.S. airlines continue to make concessions to passengers with nut allergies. Hardly any carriers serve those snacks on flights anymore—not even Southwest Airlines, which had once made its peanuts a core part of the company's brand identity. Now, American Airlines is going a step further for allergy sufferers. Starting December 12, they'...
New Foodie Arcade Opens on Paris’s Left Bank
Posted on 09/20/2018, 12:00 AM
Visitors to Paris have a new one-stop destination for gourmet delicacies from the city’s top chefs and food purveyors. Beaupassage, a refurbished historic passageway in the heart of the stylish Saint-Germain district, has opened on the Left Bank. Unveiled on August 25th, the vast 10,000-sq.-m (32,800 sq-ft.) space flows through three connecting pedestrian lanes built in 1703. By the mid-1850s...
Eat on Florence's Streets and You Could Be Fined $580
Posted on 09/06/2018, 4:00 PM
Lots of people choose to visit Italy because they respect the cuisine, but now, eating it with dignity is the law. On September 4, Florence instituted a new penalty for tourists who are caught loitering as they eat. On the narrow lanes of central Florence, local shopkeepers are fed up with visitors who linger in doorways and on stairwells to have a snack. The biggest complaint, it seems,...
