Tagged With "Room to Room"
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Re: Qantas eyes more UK-Oz nonstops
After sitting on an airplane seat for 12 hours it's an absolute pleasure to ride an exercise bike in Kuala Lumpur Airport - before my onward journey to Oz. Just for 20 mins so the lower part of my body regains the will to live. I thought a few minutes jogging would help me - until I realised I had presented myself as a moving target to the Airport Police. The thought of a 17 hour direct flight in cattle class is awful. Maybe travelling in business class - with room for my arteries to...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov 17, 2015: Mdina Gates, Malta
Mdina is one of the few places I've been that's, in my experience, unlike any other. I thought it so beautiful on my first visit that I booked a room in the closest hotel just outside this gate and spent several days exploring it and the adjacent town of Rabat. Lunch at the restaurant of, I believe, the only hotel in Mdina, the Xara Palace , was memorable, wonderful service and food and a small compensation for not staying in the 5 star hotel. Thanks for the memory, IslandMan.
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Re: Motel 6 freshens its rooms...and its image
The French AccorHotels owned them for a time and really made some great improvements, updating rooms and making new hotels. And those prices were the same price as their old rooms. I wonder what happened to Accors plans that they sold
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Re: Motel 6 freshens its rooms...and its image
I used to stay at Motel 6 when I was a poor starving medical student. But I abandoned the chain because of how inconsistent the different sites were. Some a offered a decent room. Others were dives. Hopefully along with the face lift there will be an greater effort to standardize their properties. For example, when I'm I stay at a Courtyard, I know exactly what to expect and am never disappointed.
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Re: Whitby - North Yorkshire Coastal Town
Camping on the pig farm beyond the abbey in the sixties �� But loved it. A fine wee nugget of a port town that never seems to lose its charm - there's no room, unlike sprawling cousins of Scarboro, Brid and Filey
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Re: Canters Deli and the Original Farmers Market, Los Angeles
My Cantor's story is one day in the late '80s while living in LA, I got a call from the manager of the restaurant. I had a wallpaper installation business and Cantor's wallcovering needed repairs. So I and my worktable spent an afternoon in the dining room, surrounded by people enjoying their sandwiches. I also have fond memories of the Farmer's Market, where I first went with my Aunt Ruth and many times thereafter. Thanks for the memories, Rob.
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Re: Starwood's Aloft brand previews voice-activated rooms
Definitely not a good idea for those who talk in their sleep. Lord knows what the room might to to them!
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Re: Sept 1, 2016: Wild Roses on the River Side.
WILD ROSES Wild Fruit - before the birds eat them ! I've been told by other walkers that further along you can only smell wild Jasmine. On the waters edge - where these grow - can best be described as a cool climate. With the onshore breeze off the river it rarely passes above 21c / 70f. So about the same climate as your Mountain rose. The smell really takes you by surprise - like walking into a small room holding a large "Women's Institute"meeting ! Perfume overload !
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Re: Istanbul: From Ottoman palace to grand hotel
In August 1995, after my brother, a friend and I sailed the Aegean for 2 weeks, traveled to Istanbul and stayed at the Ciragan Palace for a week. In addition to seeing the city, we spent time at the pool and watched ships sail pass. We ate 3 dinners in the hotel. I had never seen so much caviar loaded on my plate at one sitting. Here are some photos from the stay. View from the room, poolside, and a lobby photo. Forgot to mention, there were fireworks every night.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Mar. 26, 2014: A Window in Paris
Nothing like a room with a view!!
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Re: "Spotted On the Road": Everglades City, Florida
"excess baggage?" No, just baggage period! The T basically had room at the back for a few tools and maybe a lunch; there was also a wee bit of space behind the seats. I'm pretty sure there the C had space for an overnighter back there, just that and a spare tire.
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Free wi-fi is a nice perk that should be a part of the standard room fee. Years ago the introduction of coffee pots and coffee packets in the rooms were a big step in the right direction. Some chains offer a free breakfast, so why not wi-fi. Free wi-fi is just another step in the right direction.
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Good discussion! WiFi has for me become an indispensable part of traveling. It allows me to stay in touch with family easily and cheaply (remember how hard it was even 25 years ago -- a phone call could run you $5 a minute? And there was no email). It lets me spend evening hours clearing out a hefty email que, and doing research on what I am going to see tomorrow and the next day. And with "Gumbo on the Go", it lets me share my travels as they happen with fellow Gumboites! I echo PHeymont's...
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Free room wi-fi is one amenity that influences where we stay here or in Europe. We've noticed more and more Italian hotels and b&b's are offering this free service. In fact, we've seen free wi-fi zones in small Italian towns. Let's hope the expansion trend continues because it certainly makes attending to home and business much easier.
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Re: Should Wi-Fi be free in all hotels?
Originally Posted by JohnT: Maybe it's the old capitalist coming out in me, but I think "should" is a strong word. Free access to wi-fi certainly helps me determine where I'll stay, just like free breakfast is...but if a hotel has enough other amenities so that people are willing to pay for it's wi-fi then so be it...although it is easy enough to get free somewhere, I don't value it enough to pay for it. I agree with you John, that market forces will drive this. But the demand for "free"...
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Re: Renting an apartment in Europe
CICAK, may I suggest you encourage your wife to see the big picture. When you're in a hotel room you are not required to savage the minibar. When you're in an apartment you aren't required to cook. The kitchen just exists quietly should you desire it. What you're there for is to spread out, have privacy with all the comforts of home, possibly be in a more interesting neighborhood & surrounded by people who interest you and who may even be interested in you and any number of other...
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Re: Renting an apartment in Europe
Good tips about Google Maps street view. I guess I should have thought of it, like as a good way to scout out an area. But I guess I still don't know if that is a safe area. How can you see of a place is safe. PortMoresby has a good point. I like having space in a room and being able to spread out. That doesn't mean you have to cook.
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Re: Capital of Culture Series: Liverpool
In Europe, I have had good luck finding value accommodations at Booking.com and Europe-Stays. com. Those sites list hostels with their ratings and prices. A quick peek for June shows several promising choices for around $ 21 USD per bed per night. Unless you just want company, you might budget hotels pricing similar to the hostels. They often charge per person, not per room, which is a big help for the solo traveler. Tune Hotels will work for the London part of your trip, but they are not in...
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Re: The Tulou of Fujian Province
HistoryDigger, I'll explain. At the end of the first day of tulou visits, the large tour bus rendezvoused with a small van and it was indicated that I should bring my things and come with a young man. Since no one could explain, I had to simply trust and go along, an interesting sensation. I later realized that I was the only one who had opted for the second day. The young man drove me to a very basic village of mostly new buildings built, I suspect but of course don't know, for...
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Re: Sleeping with the fishes--an underwater hotel room!
I saw this featured on (I think) CNN yesterday. I thought, I hope the bedroom is above water, hyperventilated at the thought of sleeping below. I wouldn't mind going down for some awake time but don't think I could fall asleep. But if I could it would be a lovely place to wake up. I'd be interested to know what it sounds like in the room.
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Re: Mercado Centrale - Cadiz, Spain
Wonder if they'd sell me that fish head? Wouldn't mind stuffing it and putting it in my rec room. Would be a good conversation piece
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Re: Capital of Culture Series: Liverpool
No, not thinking of mills and chimneys, necessarily--note my very pre-Industrial Revolution examples--but certainly industrial, and by the nature of sizable cities with people living in close quarters and with the side-products of their industry, an argument can be made for dirty. It's not a slam...it's just the condition of cities that are alive. Here's a quotation, by the way, from the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: The industrial revolution in England had by the beginning...
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Re: Airbus Survey: 41% Willing to Pay for More Space
Good for Airbus! It seems the airline industry may have reached a tipping point where people will pay a little more for a little comfort. I hope that's the case and that they listen and provide options. I always look for a good airfare, but I also look at what kind of comfort that airfare buys me and am willing to pay a little more for a little more. 8-12 hours on a plane is not great fun, although I can divert my attention usually. But it's made infinitely more pleasant by a few extra...
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Re: Do you Like these Hotel Tipping Tips ?
Before I retired, I traveled quite a bit on business, both inside the U.S. and abroad. I still travel frequently to racing and club events, but almost all are in the U.S. or Canada. That said, here’s my take on tipping: Restaurants – According to the sources I checked, in the U.S. the Federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13. Most states have set higher amounts, but food service workers are still generally paid much lower wages that other ‘minimum wage’ employees. Unless the...
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Re: Do you Like these Hotel Tipping Tips ?
I certainly understand GarryRF's comments completely. A guest has a right to expect a good quality meal with good service. That should be part of the dining experience. That said, because I was raised and have lived in Canada/USA my life, I have a sensitivity to food service employees not being paid well and being stressed by their employers. So I tend to follow Dave B's guidelines (thanks for outlining these, Dave!) If I see a waitress is trying hard, I'll leave the 15% tip (and don't come...
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Re: Airline Seats Shrink While Passengers Expand
Anyone who has flown for awhile knows sitting room is getting smaller and smaller. Seats are narrower and you have less legroom.
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Re: Tour in a BMW Isetta?
Uh oh. They had to put the door of that car in the front because the back end is missing. If you hired a guided Isetta. would there only be room for you and the driver ? Cozy
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Re: Share Your Budget Tablet and Laptop Picks
As Kermit the Frog says, It's not easy being green ! I like products in bright colors. It keeps me from losing things, especially when I travel. Hard to miss a bright green tablet, even in the gloomy corner of a budget hotel room or tucked into a dark airplane seat pocket. It is good to read about these bargain tablets. They can only get cheaper during the upcoming holiday sales.
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Re: World's most expensive city
Those times I've traveled there I've used hotel points for a "free room". A decent way to use these things.
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Re: Dutch mill village calls 'Enough!"
Don't bite the hand that feeds you. You don't know where your next "Wiener Schnitzel " will come from. For 4.3 Million they can take photos as they walk through my living room. "They doth protest too much, methinks" is a line from the c. 1600 play Hamlet by William Shakespeare
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Re: Is JetBlue thinking of Europe?
As cross Atlantic fares remain excessive then there's still plenty of room for the new kid on the block to make a good living.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo #180?
Having come through the passage in yesterday's clue and through a gate we find a building with this room
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#128)
Had no idea who John Portman was and now discover that I stayed in his first atrium hotel, the Atlanta Hyatt Regency, within a year of it's opening '67 or '68. Then at the one at Chicago O'Hare, which I assume was his too, in 1971. I sat in front of a window in our room in one of the silos, which looked out over the runways, amusing myself counting the planes back to infinity as they lined up to land, while I cared for my infant son. Thanks for the memories, John.
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Re: Madrid's Electric Bike Share Tops 50,000 Sign Ups
Given the weight and size restrictions on luggage, I think it’s more likely that we’ll see these for rent in a lot more places, rather than people taking their own along. Folding sounds nice…you can just take it to your room at night. Electric folding would be even better!
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline
I think that's very similar to American Airlines carry-on allowance. A lot better than EasyJets etc. Whether my bag was over, I can't say. My original bag was lost by Megabus, if you can believe it, so I had a different bag and clothes than what I was planning on The thing about the 787 is there's actually room for the carry-on. in the overhead.
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Re: Prague's Jewish Quarter: An Emotional and Educational Journey
I also visited the Old Jewish Cemetery during my first road trip to Prague shortly after the Soviets departed. I stayed with a local family in their spare room where I learned some of their customs and foods. Many of the historical sites were still not available for viewing at that time, but fortunately Marilyn provided some exquisite photos and historical context.
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Re: Alitalia: No money, but new uniforms
I'd suggest that, designer duds aside, Alitalia has arrived at this point in the company history because someone, or someones, has their head you know where. I was on an Alitalia flight this past Thursday and for those hours I was unable to put my knees together, so stingy was the leg room (aka "pitch") for my steerage-class seat. I had to place my feet on either side of the seat-back pocket and there they stayed. I'm a mere 5'6" in height and I felt for the tall guy next to me who was...
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Re: June 23, 2017: The Shortest River in the World!
A few times on road trips to Italy from my US Army base in Augsburg Germany, we stayed a few days at Lake Garda. Just a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the many local wines ... our favorite was Bardolino. Each time we stayed at a small family run pension in a lakefront room in the town of Sirmione which is perched on small sliver of a peninsula jutting out into the southern portion of the lake. Owners were very friendly and engaging. We enjoyed walking the old town and having a delicious...
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Re: Touring Historic B&Bs in Charming Havre de Grace
I like the Russian Room and all the outdoor seating areas. Thanks for the terrific article and colorful photographs.
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Re: Leadville, Colorado. One of many attractive older buildings in town
The Delaware Hotel! We stayed there overnight in 2007, and carelessly ignored the sign in our room warning us that the effects of alcohol could be magnified at high altitude. Half of my cocktail at dinner was enough to make me tipsy!
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? #78
This WITW has been fairly quiet, so I think it's time to start rolling out more clues.... To get into this building Gumbo has to walk through this door.... ....and enters this domed room. Does this help you find where Gumbo is?
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Re: El Rancho Hotel - Gallup NM
The bed was comfortable, the room was.clean and the technology was up to date.
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Re: Gallery: City of Balconies
They seem to be at about the depth that's sometimes referred to as a "Juliet balcony," just deep enough to step out of a stuffy room into the fresh air and hope for a suitable suitor to serenade you from below...
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Re: Marriott to offer free wi-fi to all its Rewards member
I think you're exactly right, PortMoresby. For quite some time, we've looked mostly at the inexpensive chains precisely because they offer clear and valuable perks: Free breakfast, free parking, free WiFi. Our occasional high-end hotels through Priceline have sometimes moved the per-room fee down to a lower tier, but after you've paid $20/day for parking, $11.99 a day for WiFi...not so lower! The two-tier WiFi issue is becoming a bug for me, too. I recently stayed at a DoubleTree by Hilton...
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Re: Marriott to offer free wi-fi to all its Rewards member
The main clients of larger upscale hotels are business travelers, not mom and pop travelers. These are the same travelers that pay 10x what we pay to fly at the back of the plane for the privilege of a slightly larger seat and being able to get out 4 minutes before I do. Most don't care about wifi charges because their businesses pick them up. I think Marriott's action is a step in the right direction and they should be applauded for it. I've been a premier Marriott member for years so I get...
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Re: Marriott to offer free wi-fi to all its Rewards member
And let us not forget the dreaded "resort fees". Defined as meaning anything the hotel wants it to mean. And charged whether we use the facilities it's said to cover, or not. Look in the dictionary for the definition of "chicken shit" and you'll find "resort fees". If everyone must pay it, it should rightly be included in the room rate. Even my favorite, AirBnB, makes options available for hosts - cleaning fee, security deposit, a charge for more than 1 person and even possibilities for...
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Re: Virgin Hotels Promises No Nickel and Diming
If they keep their room rates reasonable, they will be very successful. Especially important to fight that "resort fee" that's creeping up everywhere.
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Re: Hotel rooms for Millennials
I have seen the future. And the future has hotel rooms that are 90% bed (by surface area), 9% flat screen tv, 1% room for walking. No room for anything else. Except for the TV part, it could have ben Caligula's design.
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Re: Visiting Patagonia. 1) El Calafate, Argentina
Incredible! Can't wait to see more! The bar and dining room look like a really good movie prop of an old mining town. Really cool!
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Re: View of Mt. Rundle, Bow River and golf course from Tunnel Mountain
I taught at Canmore Collegiate HS. Mt. Rundle was the view outside my classroom window. The Three Sisters was the view out of my living room window.