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Articles Tagged ‘miami’

Shoulder season deals at 4 popular travel hotspots

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Save big on a "shoulder season" trip to Colorado for perfect fall hiking. Credit: AlphaTangoBravo/Adam Baker.

By Jeanenne Tornatore

It’s no secret that fall can be one of the best travel seasons for the budget-minded.  It’s known as a ‘shoulder season’, named so to describe the window of time after the  crowds of summer vacationers have dwindled, but before the cold winter temps and hiked holiday prices.  An ideal time to find deals in some of summer’s more popular hotspots, here are four destinations where you’ll find some of the biggest savings this fall:

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Celebrate Miami Spice Aug. 1-Sept. 30

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Sarpetta at Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

Sarpetta at Fontainebleau Miami Beach

By Joanna Citarella

If you’re planning on taking a Miami Vacation this summer, and if you are a food lover like me, you won’t want to miss the 9th annual Miami Spice restaurant celebration, August 1 – September 30. An epicurean’s dream come true, Miami Spice features over 100 restaurants– many of them Miami’s hottest venue’s — offering up signature dishes prepared by word class chefs. And the best part: all of it comes at a great price, with three-course lunches at $22 and dinners at $35.

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New Miami hotel ups ante with boutique chic

Monday, December 15th, 2008

Miami hotels A new Miami hotel has arrived on the scene — upping the ante in the competition for cool.

EPIC Hotel is in downtown Miami, where the Miami River meets Biscayne Bay. It takes full advantage of its waterfront location, with a private marina and rooms that offer dazzling views of the water and the city.

EPIC, with 411 rooms and suites, bills itself as a cool boutique hotel with the amenities of a resort. And the list of amenities is long: Private balconies in all rooms, flatscreen TVs, hydrotherapy air bath tubs, Wi-Fi and a complimentary, 24-hour fitness center to name a few. Plus, the hotel features a full-service spa, and two outdoor pools with a 15,000-square-foot wraparound pool deck and private cabanas — all on the hotel’s 16th floor, with sweeping views.

EPIC has services and amenities for guests of all kinds. Business travelers can take advantage of the hotel’s 24-hour business center, full concierge and business assistant services. Families will appreciate that in-room safety kits (with outlet covers, etc.) and cribs are available during their stay, and that the hotel offers lists of kid-friendly activities and referrals for accredited babysitters. And if you’re a pet lover, bring your furry friend along. EPIC is a pet-friendly hotel and even offers some services and amenities for pets.

The EPIC Hotel’s downtown location makes it convenient to business and leisure destinations. And if you don’t want to make your own transportation arrangements, the hotel offers complimentary car service to Brickell Business District and South Beach.

More Miami hotel news:

It’s worth mentioning that the Fontainebleu Miami Beach has reopened after a $1 billion — yes, billion — renovation. What does that kind of money buy? The hotel now has 1,500 rooms and suites — including two new all-suite towers — and each room features a personal 20" iMac computer. There’s a 40,000-square-foot spa, restaurants by internationally-recognized chefs including Alfred Portale of New York’s Gotham Bar and Grill, and the pool area includes six pools and ultra-luxe private cabanas (Wi-Fi, flatscreen TV, butler service).

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New, renovated hotels open in Beverly Hills, Miami

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Beverly Hills hotels
By Joe Brancatelli

HOTEL HOT SHEET

Montage, a luxury resort in Laguna Beach, California, has opened a second property in Beverly Hills. The 201-room hotel is the first newly built property in Beverly Hills in more than a decade. … The Fontainebleau has reopened in Miami Beach after a $500 million renovation. The 22-acre resort, famous for its curvy, Morris Lapidus design and as one of the locations of Goldfinger, now has 1,500 rooms and a dozen restaurants and bars. … Among the baker’s dozen of new properties that Hampton Inn has opened in the last few weeks, the most notable are the 146-room property near the Empire State Building in Manhattan and a 119-room branch in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. … Holiday Inn Express has opened branches in Taichung City and Taoyuan, Taiwan. … Aloft, the newest brand from Starwood, has opened a 186-room outpost in the Haidain district of Beijing. … The Hotel Des Indes in The Hague, Netherlands, is now part of the Luxury Collection. … The once-prestigious Hotel Ambassador on the Boulevard Haussmann in Paris‘ 9th arrondissement, most recently known as the Millennium Opera, is switching to the Radisson flag. It becomes the Radisson Ambassador Hotel on December 31. … Hilton Garden Inn continues to grow in Italy. Its two newest properties are at Malpensa Airport in Milan and in the San Lazzaro di Savena district on the outskirts of Bologna. That makes five Garden Inns now open in Italy, with three more on the way in the next year

AIRPORT REPORT

New Runways, New Hotels, New Dining Options: Alaska Airlines says it will add a Portland (Oregon)-Long Beach route on February 8. … Mexican food fans take note: La Casita, the much-admired tamale house in Denver, has opened a branch in the Concourse C Food Court at Denver International. … Free, advertising-supported WiFi service is now available at Oakland Airport. … Just in time for the plunge in traffic, new runways opened at Seattle-Tacoma, Chicago/O’Hare and Washington/Dulles airports. … Meanwhile, a $10 million renovation has converted the former Four Points at Newark Airport into the Crowne Plaza Newark Airport. … American Airlines now offers boarding passes on mobile devices. The paperless trial begins at its Chicago/O’Hare hub as well as Los Angeles and John Wayne/Orange County airports.

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Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a non-commercial Web site for business travelers. Copyright 2008 by Joe Brancatelli. Licensed by contract for Orbitz use.

Top 10 travel destinations for Christmas

Monday, November 17th, 2008

Las vegas hotels
Big cities and sunny destinations top the list of popular travel destinations for Christmas 2008.

Orbitz travelers booked more rooms in Las Vegas hotels this Christmas season than in any other city, making Sin City the top spot for holiday travel. And while New York hotels and Chicago hotels also are popular this season, our list shows that many travelers prefer warm-weather destinations in California, Florida and Hawaii.

This year’s list of most popular travel destinations is based on hotel reservations and vacation packages booked on Orbitz for stays from December 20-29.

Top 10 destinations for Christmas travel
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Orlando, FL
3. New York, NY
4. Honolulu, HI
5. Chicago, IL
6. San Francisco, CA
7. San Diego, CA
8. Anaheim, CA
9. Lahaina, HI
10. Miami, FL

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Hotel resources:

Orbitz Insider Index: Busiest airports for Thanksgiving travel

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

If you’ve booked your flights and are planning to travel this Thanksgiving, here’s some information to help you stay in the know and on time when you go.

The Orbitz Insider Index has identified the airports expected to be the busiest this Thanksgiving, based on airline ticket sales for travel between November 22-30. Las Vegas McCarran International Airport has taken the top spot, pushing former number-one Chicago O’Hare down the list. And it looks like more people have booked Thanksgiving flights to Miami and Seattle; this is the first year those cities’ airports are on our busiest list.

Top 10 busiest airports for Thanksgiving 2008
1.Las Vegas, NV — McCarran International Airport (LAS)
2.New York, NY — LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
3.Chicago, IL — Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
4.Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
5.San Francisco, CA — San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
6.Dallas, TX — Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport(DFW)
7.Newark, NJ — New York Newark International Airport (EWR)
8.Miami, FL — Miami International Airport (MIA)
9.Denver, CO — Denver International Airport (DEN)
10.Seattle, WA — Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

As for the best days to travel, here’s our list:

Least busy:

  • Tuesday, November 25
  • Monday, November 24
  • Saturday, November 29

Busiest:

  • Sunday, November 30
  • Wednesday, November 26
  • Sunday, November 23

No matter when you travel, trust OrbitzTLC to keep you up to date with travel news and flight delays. You can sign up for Orbitz TLC Alerts to have information delivered directly to your phone, computer or PDA. And Orbitz Traveler Update
has parking and transportation tips — even up-to-the-minute
information about security wait times — from fellow travelers to help make your trip easier.

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