Articles for ‘Europe Vacation’ Category
Monday, August 24th, 2009
If you want to ditch the backyard bbq and have a travel adventure this Labor Day weekend, we have good news. Average hotel rates are lower than last year, so pack your bags and take advantage of the top 10 Labor Day travel deals.
Labor Day in Las Vegas
If you’d rather spend money on the slots than on a place to rest your head, rejoice in knowing that Las Vegas hotels are number one on the 2009 Orbitz Insider Index. The average Las Vegas hotel rate this Labor Day is $108, down $28 from last year.
Labor Day is just another excuse to party in Las Vegas. For the best in the club scene, check out PURE, LAX and Christian Audigier. Labor Day weekend is also jam packed with performances. Check out Zumanity, the “sensual side of Cirque du Soleil,” or Lance Burton, a Las Vegas master of magic.
Labor Day in New York City
With New York hotels an average of $54 cheaper than last year, New York City is a great place to spend Labor Day weekend. The first Labor Day Parade was held in New York City on September 5, 1882, and the parade tradition continues today. This year the parade will held on September 12, 2009, and will feature trade union members, high school bands, politicians, police and fire departments, and more.
Looking for other Labor Day weekend vacation ideas? The Orbitz Insider Index highlights the busiest destinations based on hotel bookings on Orbitz for September 4-7.
|
Destination |
Avg. Daily Rate 2009 |
| 1. |
Las Vegas, NV |
$108 |
| 2. |
New York, NY |
$191 |
| 3. |
Cancun, Mexico |
$151 |
| 4. |
Honolulu, HI |
$111 |
| 5. |
Chicago, IL |
$127 |
| 6. |
Atlanta, GA |
$121 |
| 7. |
San Francisco, CA |
$142 |
| 8. |
Seattle, WA |
$118 |
| 9. |
San Diego, CA |
$195 |
| 10. |
Paris, France |
$164 |
Related Orbitz resources:
Posted in Beach Vacation, California Vacation, Chicago Vacation, Europe Vacation, Family Travel, Hawaii Vacation, Holidays & Events, Las Vegas Vacation, Mexico Vacation, New York Vacation, Top 10 Lists | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
By Joe Brancatelli
THE EX FILES I
Falling Traffic Means International Flight Cuts: The unprecedented decline in traffic on international flights, especially in the premium classes, is leading to big reductions in overseas flying.
- After previously announcing a 10 percent cut, most of which would be frequency reductions, Delta Air Lines says it will trim 5 percent more than originally planned. And the larger cuts mean routes will disappear entirely. What’ll get the chop? Two international routes, to London/Gatwick and Frankfurt, from Delta’s shrinking Cincinnati hub. Nonstops to Seoul and Shanghai from Atlanta, Delta’s largest hub. And nonstops to Edinburgh from Delta’s international nexus at New York/Kennedy Airport.
- British Airways will also be in a slashing mode. Gone in October will be the daily nonstop between Kennedy and London/Gatwick, a route that BA launched last October. Also going will be at least one of BA’s seven daily Kennedy-London/Heathrow flights.
- Aer Lingus, which is suffering from the collapsed economy in Ireland as well as the recession in the United States, is chopping about 25 percent of its transatlantic capacity. It will kill its Chicago-Shannon flights on September 1, then drop its San Francisco-Dublin and Washington/Dulles-Dublin flights on October 25.
Related Orbitz resources:
Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a non-commercial Web site for business travelers. Copyright 2009 by Joe Brancatelli. Licensed by contract for Orbitz use.
Posted in Business Travel, Europe Vacation, Flights, International Vacations, On the Road, Travel News | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
A suite at The Wit in Chicago.
By Joe Brancatelli
HOTEL HOT SHEET
New Hotel Options Debut Around the World:
- A newly built Doubletree hotel, called The Wit, opened in Chicago just a half-block from the Chicago River. It has a rooftop bar that is already winning raves.
- After a $100 million renovation, The Pierre Hotel on Central Park has reopened in New York. The 189-room icon is now operated by Taj Hotels of India. Meanwhile, Desires Hotel has opened a 72-room boutique hotel in Manhattan. The Mave is located at Madison Avenue and East 27th Street.
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Posted in Business Travel, Chicago Vacation, Europe Vacation, International Vacations, New York Vacation, On the Road, Travel News | No Comments »
Monday, July 13th, 2009
Hotel Savoy (Courtesy: Anthony Grant)
By Anthony Grant
Few destinations evoke images of slowness and beauty the way Florence does. There’s something about the way this Italian city is cradled in the lush Tuscan hillsides and about the richness of its Renaissance past that’s still such a force here you can practically taste it. And art, art everywhere, beginning (or ending) with Michelangelo’s gleefully in the buff David: we’re talking hardcore gorgeousness here.
Florence doesn’t have, and probably never will, a particularly hopping restaurant or nightlife scene, preferring to beat to its own, resolutely Renaissance, drum. In fact, for gay nightlife, aside from a few standbys like YAG B@R and Piccolo Caffe, it’s a non-scene, and Florentines looking for one take the one-hour train ride north to Bologna. You can too, but between the Uffizi Gallery, Pitti Palace and frescoed cathedrals, or just lingering in the lap of luxury at a well-located hotel like the Savoy, there’s plenty to keep you anchored in Florence for a few days or more.
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Posted in Europe Vacation, Food & Wine, Gay Travel, International Vacations, Nightlife, Romance, Spa Vacation | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
By Joe Brancatelli
AIRPORT REPORT
- The SkyTeam Alliance has opened the first part of its co-branded lounge at Terminal 4 of London/Heathrow airport. The lounge, opposite Gate 10, is open to first class, business class and SkyTeam Elite flyers.
- This is just what McCarran Airport in Las Vegas needed: an airport bar named after Sammy Hagar, the rock guitarist and singer. It’s the second location for Sammy’s Beach Bar and Grill; the first opened last year at Kahului Airport on Maui.
- Delta Rescinds Some of Its New Baggage Charge: Delta Air Lines last month announced it would charge coach passengers $50 to check a second bag on international flights. But now the airline has retracted some of the new fee, which went into effect on July 1. Now only second bags on U.S.-Europe routes will be subject to the fee. No other carrier has matched Delta’s fee.
- The former Novotel Hotel three miles from Toronto/Pearson airport has been converted to a 120-room Hotel Indigo.
- Pittsburgh finally has an international flight again. Delta Air Lines has launched nonstops to Paris/DeGaulle Airport, the first overseas flights since US Airways pulled its international service in 2004 as part of the closure of its once-large Pittsburgh hub.
DESIGN NOTEBOOK
Didn’t I Once Have a Flight on This Hotel Room? What’s all the rage in hotel design these days? Turning old aircraft into hotels.
- Down on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, the Hotel Costa Verde has just opened what it calls the 727 Fuselage Suite. It is what it claims to be: a hotel suite carved out of a 1960s-era Boeing 727 that once flew for South African Airways and Avianca Airlines.
- And just outside of Arlanda Airport in Stockholm is the Jumbo Hostel, which has carved 25 guest accommodations out of an old Boeing 747 that once flew for Singapore Airlines and Pan Am.
Related Orbitz resources:
Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a non-commercial Web site for business travelers. Copyright 2009 by Joe Brancatelli. Licensed by contract for Orbitz use.
Posted in Business Travel, Europe Vacation, Flights, Gambling Vacation, International Vacations, Las Vegas Vacation, On the Road, Travel News | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
Parades, cookouts, fireworks — however you like to celebrate, the Fourth of July is the holiday of summer, and with the 4th falling on a Saturday this year, it's a great opportunity for a short summer vacation. Before you book your flights and hotels, check out these top picks based on Orbitz bookings for travel July 3-6:
Top 10 Fourth of July Vacation Destinations for 2009
1. Las Vegas: Las Vegas hotels — with their glitzy shows and gourmet restaurants — are popular year 'round, and it's no surprise that Vegas celebrates the Fourth in a big way. Check out a virtual fireworks show on the Viva Vision canopy at the Fremont Street Experience, or see the real thing — times nine — as nine different Stations Casinos properties display fireworks simultaneously.
2. Chicago: The Fourth of July is a great time to plan a summer vacation in Chicago. Taste of Chicago is in full swing, and you can take full advantage of the lakefront beaches. Chicago's official Fourth of July fireworks take place on July 3 over the lake by Grant Park.
3. New York: Book your New York hotel now and plan to enjoy the Big Apple's Fourth of July fireworks display over the Hudson River. Here are the recommended spots for best views of the fireworks.
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Tags: flight, fourth of july, Hotel, summer vacation, travel
Posted in California Vacation, Caribbean Vacation, Chicago Vacation, Europe Vacation, Family Travel, Holidays & Events, International Vacations, Mexico Vacation, New York Vacation, Top 10 Lists, Travel News | No Comments »
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
By Joe Brancatelli
HOTEL HOT SHEET
Recession Be Damned. The New Properties Keep Opening: The number of new hotels opening would be overwhelming even if the economy were still roaring along. Now it just seems, well, chaotic. But here we go.
- Hilton has opened a new 175-suite Embassy Suites in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and a 135-room Hilton Garden Inn in Suffolk, Virginia.
- Marriott has opened a 118-room Fairfield Inn in Schertz, in suburban San Antonio.
- Starwood has opened side-by-side properties in Arundel Mills, Maryland. One is a 147-room Element and the other is a 142-room Aloft hotel. It has also added a 91-room W Hotel in Doha, Qatar.
- Overseas, citizenM, a prefab, high-tech hotel concept, has opened its second property. The 215-room hotel in Amsterdam's financial district complements the original citizenM, located within walking distance of the passenger terminals at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
- Kempinski has opened a 98-room lakefront resort in the High Tatras Mountains of Slovakia.
- Marriott has opened a 118-room Renaissance hotel in Paris near the Eiffel Tower.
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Tags: Flights, Hotel
Posted in Business Travel, Caribbean Vacation, Europe Vacation, Flights, International Vacations, Mexico Vacation, On the Road, Travel News | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
By Joe Brancatelli
BIG-CITY BEAT
Southwest Airlines Decides It Can Make It in New York: It's the reverse of that song New York, New York: Having already made it anywhere, Southwest Airlines is hoping to make it "there," meaning New York. The 800-pound gorilla of discounters and the nation's only consistently profitable airline, Southwest adds New York's LaGuardia Airport to its route map on June 28. The initial schedule includes five nonstops a day to Chicago's Midway Airport and three nonstops to Baltimore/Washington. Although Southwest is trimming its total capacity this year, the LaGuardia launch is part of the carrier's push into big cities that it once shunned. In March, Southwest began flying from Minneapolis-St. Paul; it began with flights to Midway and adds three MSP-Denver flights on May 26. The carrier also launches flights at Boston's Logan Airport in the fall. About the only major metropolitan area still off the Southwest route map now is Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport.
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Tags: Flights, Hotel
Posted in Business Travel, Europe Vacation, Flights, International Vacations, New York Vacation, On the Road, Travel News | No Comments »
Friday, May 8th, 2009
By Anthony Grant
That word “amazing” is so overused today that to call Venice amazing would be like saying well, it’s “okay plus.” Hardly: Venice is phenomenal — a city built on water that can’t help but seduce. Like most cities, what you get out of a Venice vacation depends partly on what you put into it, and on my trip there this past winter that meant a lot of footsteps, which brought me down dark alleyways to cool addresses like the Palazzo Barbarigo, a sexy mama of a hotel whose front door opens to the Grand Canal. Even if you don’t stay in one of the hotel’s 18 plush rooms or suites, you can enjoy a cocktail in the Bond-flick-sleek bar.
Now, lots of tourists flock to the Piazza San Marco’s outdoor cafés, but you don’t want to be one of them. Instead, try one of the more authentic cafes on the Zattere, a promenade in the Dorsoduro that looks out onto the Guidecca Canal.
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Tags: Venice vacation
Posted in Europe Vacation, Food & Wine, International Vacations, Nightlife, Romance, Travel Tips | No Comments »
Friday, April 17th, 2009
By Anthony Grant
Museums are great — and probably an almost mandatory part of any Paris vacation — but I have to confess that sometimes my favorite part is the gift shop. It’s like you get all the museum’s greatest hits in one little space, and you can buy them, too. The same principle applies to museum restaurants. Granted, you’re not going to find Michelin-starred cuisine at the places on my list, but so what? It’s absolument fabuleux to spend a few hours taking in cultural treats and then eat some too — even a humble café-style restaurant takes things to the next level in Paris. Check these out:
1. Musée d’Orsay restaurant. Probably my favorite. In an ornately gilded room squarely located on the museum’s middle level, you’ll find a great menu du jour and service that is just charming. Don’t forget the museum is closed on Mondays.
2. Musée des Arts Decoratif: Le Saut du Loup. This is the very non-traditional restaurant of a museum that is located in a wing of the Louvre but is officially separate from it. Translated, it’s “the wolf’s jump,” and the space is chic and sober. Expect creative cookin’ and save room for the “Confusion of Meaning” dessert: a marvelous mélange of rose and pistachio ice creams, citronelle and raspberry sorbets and Chantilly whipped cream.
3. Musée des Arts et Métiers: Café des Techniques. The Musée des Arts et Métiers is Paris’ museum of science and industry, an off-the-radar museum that’s nevertheless worth a visit during your Paris vacation. The heart of it is a deconsecrated cathedral in which vintage airplanes are suspended from the Gothic ceiling. As if that wasn’t cool enough, there’s a great restaurant with a focus on steamed cuisine (a nod to industrial history) and a killer brunch, which in warm weather you can have out on a huge enclosed courtyard. Open Tues.-Sun 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., 51 rue Réamur.
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Tags: Paris vacation
Posted in Europe Vacation, Food & Wine, International Vacations, Top 10 Lists, Travel Tips | 1 Comment »
