“Aside from providing a free transfer service to Moscow’s main attractions, the hotel offers a unique opportunity to learn Russian and become closer to the Russian culture.

Every Tuesday at 6:30pm in the 7 Sisters Café, a professional Russian language tutor awaits the hotel guests. The instructor not only teaches the most important and popular Russian phrases, but also shares stories about great Russian traditions and customs. The teacher will find a special approach to every single student, regardless of his level of knowledge of the language.

The lesson is entirely free and lasts one hour.”

From www.breakingtravelnews.com

This is an excellent idea. If I was on a personal trip it would not make too much of a difference but on a business trip (i.e. reimbursed by the company) I’ll try to stay at this hotel.

Renaissance Moscow Olympic Hotel

“The hotel, located at the foot of Emei Mountain, in China’s Sichuan province, is the first panda-themed hotel in the world and will officially open in May with room rates from 300 to 500 yuan ($48 to $80) per night.”

“Dubai shipbuilder Drydocks World has inked a deal with Swiss-based BIG InvestConsult, on behalf of partner Deep Ocean Technology (DOT) to create Water Discus Hotel – a leisure facility with a structure that is partly above water and the rest underneath.”

A few more details from the Deep Ocean Technology site:

Going above and beyond all standards 
Water Discus Hotels comprise two discs – an underwater and above-water one. This combination will allow guests to admire the depths of the ocean while making the most of the warm climate.
The two parts of the structure are connected by five solid legs and a vertical shaft containing a lift and stairway. The size of each disc has been adjusted to local conditions.

The Surroundings
The complex is surrounded by a beautifully vibrant coral reef. This unique location will allow you to enjoy the tropical weather and the colourful underwater world, which is just within your reach and will engage all your senses.

Accommodation
The disc, located up to 30 metres beneath the surface of the sea, is composed of 21 hotel rooms adjacent to the underwater dive centre and a bar. Each room is integrated with the underwater world as closely as possible, offering a surprisingly direct, yet safe contact with the local flora and fauna.
Special lighting system of the area around the room and the miniature underwater vehicles which can be operated from inside will allow you to take a closer look at even the most microscopic underwater creatures using macro photography. We also ensure that our guests can protect their privacy whenever necessary. All rooms are sound-proof and have curtains of different levels of transparency.

London’s biggest hotelier, Travelodge has just opened Bethnal Green a 131-room hotel above a comedy club.

To mark the opening of the UK’s first comedy club hotel partnership, Travelodge has introduced “loo laughs” – a toilet roll which is printed with a selection of funny jokes and cartoons that is supposed “to keep customers entertained and laughing whilst visiting the loo“.

This is a good enough reason to stay at this hotel while in London,  a “jolly time” seems to be guaranteed either in the bathroom or going to the comedy club.

Transport links near London Bethnal Green Hotel

Bethnal Green Train Station – 0.2 miles

Bethnal Green Tube Station – 0.2 miles

London City Airport – 6.2 miles

Places to visit in and around

V&A Museum Of Childhood – 0.2 miles    View map

York Hall – 0.5 miles    View map

Spitalfields Market – 1.3 miles    View map

Bethnal Green Arts and Craft Markets – 1.4 miles    View map

Tower of London – 2 miles    View map

St Pauls Cathedral – 2.6 miles    View map

Olympic Stadium Stratford – 3.1 miles    View map

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre – 3.2 miles    View map

West Ham United FC – 5.9 miles    View map

O2 Arena – 6.1 miles    View map

Twitter @curbexcitement

I logged into my Aeroplan account to select ‘my privileges’ for the Air Canada Altitude program and there a message:

“Now you can vote for Air Canada Altitude as the Best Airline Elite Program for the Americas. …”

So why not, I thought, and I submitted my ballot choosing Air Canada and Aeroplan wherever I could.

So why I say the voting is flawed as it is now. I have mostly flown Air Canada so my vote should not be very relevant, someone who has been flying different airlines during the year (and a few times for each airline) would be more qualified than me to vote. Also, I have stayed most of the time at a Marriott, but someone who stayed at different hotels chains would again be more qualified than me to vote.
For example, my wife said that United Airlines was worse than Air Canada or British Airways for a transatlantic flight but she is not a frequent flier so again her vote would not be relevant (not that she cared to vote).

The voting should be only for qualified travelers, the super-voters, if I might call them like that, travelers who have been using different airlines and hotels.

So these are my suggestions for a better voting system – not that anyone asked for my opinion – but I cannot help it:

• The user registers on a website, enters the membership cards and allows the website to retrieve information from their loyalty programs (in exchange for their time they get an entry in a draw for some prizes).

• Based on a certain algorithm (for example at least 20 flights with 3 different airlines and at least 50 nights with 3 different hotel chains) the ‘qualified’ voters are selected.

• “All users are equal but some are more equal than others”; someone’s ballot who spent at least 150 nights at different hotels would be more important than of a traveller who spent 70 nights only, etc.

I know it would be more complicated and it take some work to set-up this system but it will be fairer for all parties involved and the awards will be more meaningful.

Twitter @curbexcitement

Of course it had to be such a list and it was voted by the Travel + Leisure readers. However, the prices were not in the article so being (too) curious I checked them out (the prices are from the hotels’ websites or from boooking.com).

No. 1 Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, Australia

All prices quoted in Australian dollars and inclusive of 10% GST, 1 AUD = $1,02

No. 2 Discovery Shores Boracay, Boracay, Philippines – their site is terrible, the price is only in Philippine Pesos (PHP) only and I don’t know what ‘++’ stands for, I suppose it is for ‘expect to pay much more than the displayed price’   1,000 PHP = $24.6

No. 3 Lizard Island Resort, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

No. 4 Hotel Santa Caterina, Amalfi, Italy

Arrival: 31 Mar 13 Departure: 07 Apr 13 / 1 room, 2 guests

No. 5 Live Aqua, Cancún, Mexico

No. 6 Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

No. 7 Four Seasons Resort, Hualalai, Big Island, Hawaii

March 31 – April 07, 2013  /  1 Room, 2 Adults

No. 8 Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora, Bora-Bora, French Polynesia

March 31 – April 07, 2013  /  1 Room, 2 Adults

No. 9 Palazzo Avino, Ravello, Italy

No. 10 Lodge at Doonbeg, County Clare, Ireland

Full article World’s best beach hotels

Twitter @curbexcitement

This was the title of a promotional email from Radisson Blu Edwardian, London. Wow, that’s novel (for me), get tickets to his concert by booking a hotel room so none of the hassle of ordering tickets online that very likely sell out long time in advance.However, at a closer reading there is no concert but a pair of tickets to the exhibition “David Bowie Is” at Victoria and Albert Museum.

“The exhibition explores the broad range of Bowie’s collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art and film. Alongside this there will be more personal items on display, such as never-before-seen storyboards, handwritten set lists and lyrics as well as some of Bowie’s own sketches, musical scores and diary entries, revealing the evolution of his creative ideas.

For full details visit www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/david-bowie-is

Included in the package for stays between 23rd March 2013 and 28th July 2013

• Overnight accommodation
• Full English Breakfast
• A pair of tickets to the V&A’s David Bowie Is exhibition* (2 tickets per stay)
• Free WiFi throughout your hotel”

David Bowie – Let’s Dance

https://twitter.com/curbexcitement

Most luxurious hotel had been Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Vancouver (see the post here) until I stayed at Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Switzerland.

Of course, I found hair on the carpet, took a few photos but I am not going to upload them. Nothing new here, it seems it does not matter how expensive the hotel is, I have to find it.

Also, what I didn’t like is they had on a screen in a lobby ’Follow us on Facebook’. To mention Facebook in such a place seemed so mundane, it seemed to detract from the beauty of the place.

However, it is the most luxurious hotel I have ever stayed at and I will go there again.

Fairmont Le Montreux Palace resort hotel is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, overlooking the Alps. Built in 1906, this Jewel of Belle-Époque architecture offers a traditional and elegant atmosphere, and personalized and attentive service in true Swiss style. Fairmont Le Montreux Palace is a unique five-star luxury hotel in Switzerland; member of Leading Hotels of the World and Suisse Deluxe Hotels.

In addition to being one of the most prestigious Switzerland hotels, Fairmont le Montreux Palace is one of the largest hotels in the Swiss Riviera region. The Montreux Hotel has 236 rooms and suites that are luxuriously furnished, designed with five star standards and amenities and equipped with the latest technology.

More about my trip to Switzerland here: Last (but not least) about Switzerland trip

They offer a courtesy Bentley car service within 5 km in the downtown area. The car was available and I thought of asking to drive to a McDonald’s drive in, but I didn’t .

The bathroom was huge and initially I panicked that I didn’t see a WC, but it was enclosed. There was a stall shower with overhead ceiling tile shower head (4 tiles grouped together), I didn’t like it at all as I felt it was raining on me.

The spare toilet roll !!!

 The scale didn’t work, and I am not so heavy .

They even had a flashlight in the room (first time I have seen one in a hotel). It was Made in U.S.A.  (I would have bet it was from China), is this a sign of the revival of the American manufacturing industry?

And the flashlight didn’t work; the batteries might have been discharged. I suppose no one bothered to check them.

“Please place this card on your pillow if you do not wish to have your sheets laundered today.” No, No! It should have been the other way around: “Please place this card on your pillow if you wish to have your sheets laundered today.” It needs to be very easy to save resources (i.e. clients should not do anything) and more difficult not to (i.e. clients have to make an extra effort; they need to take the card out and place it on the pillow).

Nice touch, this clock.

Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to make the Nespresso machine work.

The place is Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Vancouver.

I think it was around 6 AM and the room was literally shaking. Initially I thought it was an earthquake, but Manitoba is not California, so it couldn’t be an earthquake I reasoned.

Then I realized, it was a freight train going by. It was like that scene from ‘My Cousin Vinnie’ when Joe Pesci wakes up in the middle of the night because of the train.

The hotel is Fairfield by Marriot in Winnipeg and truth is that I stayed a few more times on that side of the hotel and the train didn’t bother me except with this occasion. Either I sleept too deep or no train passed by.

At least this is what comes up after a search on Google.

HotelTonight is an hotel booking app, designed for same-day bookings and promises savings up to 70 percent off. I don’t know about the biggest innovation but I was curious whether it is the best app to use for last minute (literally) hotel booking.

So I have compared HotelTonight with the Expedia and Priceline apps and roomkey.com (“Founded by a group of leading hotel companies, Room Key’s mission is simple: offer travelers direct access to a broad network of hotels around the globe, ..”) . Roomkey is an interesting concept, and I will write about it in a future post. They don’t have an app yet (how difficult would it be? they seem to have the resources) but they have poetry.

But I have started to digress, let’s go back to the price comparison. I searched for a room in downtown Vancouver, and no other criteria has been used (stars, ratings, etc., I suppose when one has to book last-minute, any hotel – to a certain degree – would do). And without further ado: only once did HotelTonight offer the best price, and there was a tie between Priceline and Roomkey (5 days each with the best price).

However, HotelTonight offered a better price for the same hotel and perhaps this is the discount up to 70% they promise. I assume when HotelTonight makes a deal with a hotel they (i.e. the hotels) have to offer them the best price and by a quite sizeable margin.
Example:
Friday 27 July, The Listel Hotel
HotelTonight – $165
Expedia – $199
Priceline – $196

Sunday 29 July, Moda Hotel
HotelTonight – $119
Expedia – $169
Priceline – $168

Monday 30 July, Granville Island Hotel
HotelTonight – $159
Priceline- $208

Of course comparing the same hotel, ‘our’ app (bad literary style to repeat the same word one after each other so this is the reason I didn’t use HotelTonight) comes on top.
“In the seven instances HotelTonight competed with Expedia, it beat Expedia six times and tied once. In the eight times HotelTonight competed with the hotels’ own websites, it beat them seven times and lost once ..”, from an ABC News page ‘Using HotelTonight For a Hotel Tonight’.

So I fail to see what’s so revolutionary about this app. And how many people book on the same day they need a hotel room? The only firsthand case I know is of my work colleagues who got their flights cancelled because of bad weather and they had to find a hotel room; they would have cared less about the price as they were going to be reimbursed anyway.
And we might have the odd case of a millionaire who does this kind of things and again he would care less of the price and go to the most expensive available hotel. 

However, who am I to say this? Hotel Tonight is backed by top investors (Battery Ventures, Accel Partners and First Round Capital). Everyone who works there, even if they have not slept and eaten for 3 days, is still 10 times smarter than me (100 times under the same circumstances). Accel for example invested in Facebook, made lots of money with the IPO, and what about me, I lost money as I bought the IPO.

So they must know something I don’t.

Monday 30th of July

HotelTonight

Expedia

Priceline

Roomkey