Intelligent Travel

Good Things Come in Green Packages

With Earth Day rapidly approaching (that's April 22nd), many hotels are now offering packages to take advantage of the day. Here's a roundup of some of the properties we've found that are doing their bit to help save, and celebrate, the Earth:

You can leave the car behind and save the Earth one step at a time with 70 Park Avenue Hotel's Eco Step Savings package, starting at $259 per night, through May 31. Guests at this midtown Manhattan hotel receive a pedometer to count your steps throughout the day, a walking map of the city, and a welcome organic chocolate and wine amenity.

Our friends at Hotel Chatter report that the J.W. Marriott in Desert Springs, California, now has a $399/night package that offers two date scrub spa treatments, an organic honey tasting, and free admission to the nearby Living Desert (with the exchange of a used cell phone). Ever wary of greenwashing we were glad to hear from HC that:

[T]he resort has a whole bunch of environmentally-friendly initiatives like electric-powered golf carts, a 50-million gallon lake that uses reclaimed water and is home to migrating birds, and green housekeeping cleaning products. Even better, ten percent of the proceeds from the package will be donated to the Living Desert Organization.

America's "Distinctive Destinations"

Every year since 2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has added 12 places to its list of "distinctive destinations" in the U.S. These destinations "offer an authentic visitor experience by combining dynamic downtowns, cultural diversity, attractive architecture, cultural landscapes, and a strong commitment to historic preservation and revitalization."

This year's destinations include: Aiken, South Carolina (for its varied history, from the first pottery made by Native Americans to being one of the first railroad towns); Apalachicola, Florida; Columbus, Mississippi; Crested Butte, Colorado; Fort Davis, Texas (for having no traffic lights or chain stores); Friday Harbor, Washington (pictured left); Portland, Oregon; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Red Wing, Minnesota; Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (for its French colonial architecture -- the most found in the U.S.); San Juan Bautista, California; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

How to Really "Backpack Europe"

For some of us here at IT, camping in tents was our first real introduction to travel. So our interest piqued when reading Arthur Frommer's interesting blog post about campsites situated on the outskirts of most European cities. The campsites are usually accessible via the city's public transportation system (like a subway or bus), and provide a cheap alternative to staying right in the heart of things.

He writes:

Did you know you could camp in Paris along the banks of the Seine River in the Bois de Boulogne park? How about a campsite with a view overlooking the domes and bell towers of Florence from a hillside terrace in the Oltrarno district? Venice even has a campground by the beach on the island next to the Lido, just a short ferry ride from St. Mark's Square. Some campgrounds are operated only in warm weather (roughly Easter through October or early November), but many stay open year-round.

The bill at a European campground can be a bit confusing, since you are usually charged an array of small fees – one for the site, another for each person, yet another for your vehicle -- but the total usually ends up around $17 to $26 for a couple in a tent, up to $40 in the most popular campgrounds in the summer high season. Forgot your tent? You can usually rent one for $10-$20.

Escape to Green Jamaica

It's still a bit cold here in D.C. (oh springtime, where art thou?), and I can't think of a better way to escape the rainy weather than by heading to the beach.

Half Moon resort in Jamaica has some great green options for travelers wanting a bit of sustainable luxury. Located on Jamaica's northern coast on a two-mile stretch of private beach, Half Moon is the first hotel to be listed in the Caribbean Hotel Association’s Green Hotel Hall of Fame, and for good reason. The resort uses nontoxic laundry detergents and fresh, local ingredients in products at its 68,000-square-foot Fern Tree Spa, and its staff is trained to ensure awareness of environmentally friendly practices. The restaurant has its own herb and vegetable garden (as well as fresh mangoes, lemons, and bananas), there's a "plant a tree" program for newlyweds, and the hotel has an extensive water treatment plant.

One of the unique things about the resort is its solid waste management program. Half Moon's own upholstery shop takes fabric scraps from old cushions, drapes, and furniture and makes them into dolls for the resort's Anancy Children's Village or into bedding for the Equestrian Centre.

I'll be on the next flight to Jamaica, and will bring my eco-friendly sunscreen, of course.

Photo: Half Moon Resort

Kangaroo Island's First Luxury Lodge

Kangaroo Island, off the South Australia coast near Adelaide, is most famous for its fuzzy inhabitants (from kangaroos to seals to wallabies to koalas). But the island, with 1/3 of the land national or conservation park and roughly seven times the size of Singapore, is also known for being one of the last unspoiled refuges (often called "Australia's Galapagos"), with little commercial development and no large-scale hotels. But last week, that changed.

The Southern Ocean Lodge is the island's first luxury resort. The resort features 21 "eco-chic" suites and a spa with Australia-made Li'Tya products and Aboriginal-inspired treatments.

I'm relieved to know that the the Lodge is blending local culture and the natural landscape with its "luxury" tag, but for $900 (about US $825) per night per person, I'd rather stay at one of Kangaroo Island's local bed-and-breakfasts for a more authentic experience.

Is the Southern Ocean Lodge just the beginning in the over-development of Kangaroo Island? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Photo: Australian sea lion on Kangaroo Island; Stuart Reynolds via Flickr

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Introducing the Stay List

Equally as important as answering the question, "Where should I go on my next vacation?" is "Where should I stay on my next vacation?" Where you sleep can make or break any holiday, be it a long weekend away from the office, a family trip with the kids, or a romantic getaway for two. Sure, Motel 6 is cheap, and places like Holiday Inn have frequent-sleeper rewards, but nights spent at these stays tend to be forgettable (not to offend you, Motel 6: I can't count the times I've been on a road trip pleading to the highway gods for the next exit sign to read "Motel 6, next right").

But for those who are looking for a hotel that incorporates the destination's history, culture, and community, Traveler's got the ultimate guide to authentic getaways in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean: The Stay List.

We sent detailed surveys to some 600 properties and, thanks to our hardworking research staff, narrowed down the list to the top 150 hotels. These Stay List-worthy hotels embrace authenticity, location-inspired architecture, eco-stewardship, and giving back to their community. While I can't obviously feature all 150 hotels in this post alone (you'll have to check out the April 2008 issue for that), I'd like to highlight a few of my favorites.

Checking In: The Hotel Hershey Turns 75

Associate Editor Susan O'Keefe caught up with Brian O'Day, the general manager of The Hotel Hershey, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and is still as sweet as ever.

    

The Hotel Hershey when it opened in 1933, and the hotel today.

Hi Brian, Congratulations on Hershey Hotel's 75th anniversary. We've all heard Hershey Pennsylvania is the "sweetest place on Earth." Is it really true?

Absolutely! It's a great place to live, work and raise a family. There's always plenty to do here, yet it still maintains its small-town flavor and feel.

What's the story behind The Hotel Hershey?

The hotel had long been a dream that Milton Hershey and his wife Kitty shared. Mr. Hershey built his hotel in the 1930s, right in the midst of the Great Depression. It was his goal to ensure that nobody in town was unemployed during that time. He created 600 construction jobs, and the projects he developed are now called his "Great Building Campaign." The campaign was about building structures, obviously, but also about building hope that the country would recover and life would go on. The hotel is built on the highest point in the area—on top of what's called "Pat's Hill"—so it has the most spectacular view of the town below.

Can you tell us about Mr. Hershey, the inspirational man behind the brand? I understand he started a boy's school that continues to serve kids in the area?

It's an amazing success story. He gave his entire fortune (when he was still alive!) to establish a school for disadvantaged children. He built the entire town as an idyllic community. It's wonderful working for the hotel, because we're owned by the trust that Mr. Hershey established. So we're all working for a "higher purpose," as our profits are returned to the trust to help perpetuate the Milton Hershey School. Today there are 1,700 boys and girls living and learning in Hershey because of Mr. Hershey's generosity and foresight.

In what ways is chocolate used at the hotel?

We're very creative in our use of chocolate and try to incorporate it into our menus, themes and retail offerings. (Have you heard about our chocolate diamonds or chocolate pearls, which we sell at our Jeweler?) Naturally we use chocolate in our culinary programs; chocolate desserts are a natural. However, Ken Gladysz, our executive chef, also incorporates it into savory dishes and entrees. He uses it as a rub or in sauces. One of the most popular dishes in our Circular Dining Room is our Cocoa-Seared Scallops. We also serve chocolate butter (as well as sweet cream butter) to accompany our chocolate cherry bread.  And at breakfast you can't miss our famous chocolate bread pudding. I'm getting hungry just talking about it!

So what does a guest received at turndown?

Naturally...a goodnight Kiss!

Barcelona: Be Green, Be Cheap

Planning an España getaway this summer? If you're headed to Barcelona, be sure to check out the new Barcelona Urbany (opening June 1), which claims to be the country's first eco-friendly hostel.

What makes this hostel eco-savvy? It will recycle and reuse 50 percent of the water and use a rainwater harvesting system. It will also use low-consumption lamps and "more environmentally friendly and less aggressive materials." Sounds pretty good to us.

But just because Urbany is greening its quarters doesn't mean it is lacking in 21st-century amenities. Not only will the hostel have a swimming pool, BBQ area, free guest kitchen, and spa facilities, it will also offer breakfast and Wi-Fi free to guests.

The 13-story hostel will include about 400 beds in both mixed and female shared rooms, as well as individual and double rooms for those not wanting to put up with snoring strangers (you can check out some current construction photos here). And all rooms also have en suite bathrooms, which is the definition of hostel luxury.

Read more: IT got the goods on some U.K. hostels' efforts to go upscale, and on an eco-savvy hostel-on-wheels.

Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/bcnbits via Flickr

A Chocolate Hotel Room for Two... Oh My!

Please: do not lick your computer screen...

We have a lot of favorite things. Sleeping (in cool places, of course) and sweets being among them. But we just heard that Godiva is creating a hotel room decked out entirely in chocolate. That got us just a tad excited, so we had to get the scoop.

Godiva and The Bryant Park Hotel in New York are teaming up to create a chocolate hotel room, available only to one (very lucky) couple for an Ultimate Chocolate Fantasy weekend. It's the Grand Prize of this year's Godiva Valentine's Day Promotion. Shoppers purchasing special Valentine's Day gift boxes of $23 or more (before February 29, 2008) will be entered in the contest.

The room will feature wall-to-wall chocolate (literally), from a chocolate mosaic dining room table to a chocolate interpretation of Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss." And since they probably wouldn't want them gnawing on the furniture, the room will have plenty of chocolate truffles that the guests can actually eat. The winners will also get a chocolate spa experience and a private chocolate tasting with Godiva Executive Chef Chocolatier Thierry Muret (Muret will just be at the chocolate tasting, not the spa).

Unfortunately, the room will be deconstructed after the winners' Chocolate Fantasy Weekend is over. But this might inspire the chocolatier and hotelier in all of us to get a little creative.

(And on the record, we've mentioned chocolate 14 times in this post, and we're getting hungry. Yum.)

Photos: courtesy Bryant Park Hotel

Backcountry Bliss

Traveler Associate Editor Susan O'Keefe shares her favorite rustic version of a getaway ski weekend.

About this time every year, I long for a getaway that embraces winter and all its offerings. Snowshoe Mountain ski resort in West Virginia (about a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Washington, D.C.) has all the trappings a snow-lover could desire: dozens of ski slopes (14 are open for night skiing), a snow-tubing hill, marked trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, guided evening snowmobiling tours, and several hot tubs and indoor pools to take off the winter chill.

Accommodations at Snowshoe range from hotel guest rooms to mountaintop chalets, but I recommend the remote Sunrise Backcountry Hut for a stay that, personally, takes me back to my childhood winters in Indiana where the snow drifts would reach ten feet and school would be canceled. Tucked away two miles out on the Cheat Mountain Ridge Trail beneath towering spruce trees, the Backcountry Hut is a rustic, cozy cabin featuring a wood-burning stove, plenty of windows to gaze out at the nature wonderland around you, and light wood furnishings.

There's also a full kitchen, but don't bother lugging provisions for dinner. Instead just sit back with a glass of wine while your personal "hutmaster" prepares a gourmet four-course dinner for you (and up to seven friends) that includes entrées such as New York strip steak, glazed salmon, and duck a l'orange, paired with homemade soups, baked bread, and followed by a comforting dessert and after-dinner drinks. After a night of playing board games and running outside in your boots and pj's to stargaze, you'll tuck in under thick quilts only to wake up to the smells of breakfast—eggs, bacon, muffins, fresh juice—being whipped up by the hutmaster. Fortified, you can forgo the ride in the antique military ambulance back to the main ski area and instead snowshoe back.

Prices for the Backcountry Hut are $999 per night for lodging up to eight people. Transportation to the hut departs at 6 p.m. and returns at 10 a.m. the following day. Hut rental includes lodging, dinner, breakfast, and transportation to and from the Hut (though you may also snowmobile, snowshoe, or cross-country ski in, weather permitting). For reservations visit online or call 877-441-4FUN.

Photo: Showshoe Mountain Ski Resort

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This is Your Brain on Vacation

Some of us like to give our brains a break while on vacation. Then there are those people who might want to take their downtime to bulk up on their mental acuity. Associate Editor Susan O'Keefe reports on a new trend in "brain fitness" programs for people on the go.

Do you Sudoku? Crave crosswords? Thrive on mind teasers? Banking on the fact that mental fitness might be on your mind, hotels and resorts are jumping on the brain fitness bandwagon and offering guests programs to help them clear the mental cobwebs and relax while on the road.

"Everyone should take a brain fitness vacation or adapt their regular vacations to include aspects of brain health," says Alvaro Fernandez, CEO and co-founder of SharpBrains, a company that works with cruise lines, hotels, and  other organizations to define and prepare activities for brain fitness. "Travelers should arrange for experiences on the road that address the aspects of good brain fitness: mental exercises, physical fitness, good nutrition, and stress management." (You can read about Fernandez's own brain fitness vacation to Europe here.)

Offering up games, quizzes, and coaching sessions, these hotels are helping to make this a trend:

• Westin Hotels & Resorts starts the new year with the BrainBody Fitness program. Upon check-in, each guest at their 150 properties will be given a selection of simple brain exercises to do each morning, afternoon, and evening for the duration of their stay to aid in memory, focus, and performance. Westin's mental mind-benders have been developed by brain scientist Dr. Gary Small, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA and a leading physician/scientist in the fields of memory and longevity. The brain fitness regimen is coupled with a physical fitness exercises developed by fitness guru David Kirsch, who has helped celebs, like Heidi Klum and Liv Tyler get back to their pre-pregnancy shape. "Stimulating your mind and body together positively affects brain power and makes people feel happier and more energized than just doing physical exercises alone," says Dr. Small.

• Canyon Ranch Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, will host a brain science retreat from January 17-21, 2008. Guests will learn how to keep their minds sharp and their memories strong through a series of presentations with brain experts, relaxation techniques, and diet and exercise.

Is Your Hotel Green?

Best Green Hotels offerings in Maine

We've done a fair share of writing about specific hotels that are promoting environmentally-friendly practices, so the Chicago Tribune piqued our interest with their piece about a rise in government oversight committees working to help institute more widespread changes. States like Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, and California already have created tourism boards that offer lists of ranked "green hotels" and soon, Rhode Island and Illinois will join them. It seems like they're catching on just in time, given some of the stats the Tribune reporter offered up:

An average-sized hotel purchases more products in a week than 100 families will in a year, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, generating as much as 30 pounds of waste per room per day. The lodging industry in California also generates 112,000 tons of food waste, 2 percent of the state's total. To wash one pound of room linen takes approximately two gallons of water, according to Hilton Hotels Corp., and a typical occupied room uses 11.5 pounds of linens per day. A single large, fully occupied hotel with a typical stay of two nights can use more than 34,000 gallons just for laundering room linens.

For those of you looking to stay in a hotel that's not in one of those states, there are some online tools to help you suss out the eco-details. Best Green Hotels ranks and maps green hotels state by state, and has a database of over 2,800 properties. The Green Hotels Association has a list of member hotels available on their site, but as the Tribune reported, membership is self-selective and not vetted. For more places to find green hotels, internationally and in the U.S., check out the Washington Post's list of web resources.

A Room at the Inn

We gotta hand it to the folks at Travelodge, (the people behind the naked sleepwalking study we wrote about in October, and who now offer a "Cuddillow" pillow to solitary travelers). To get into the holiday spirit, they're offering free rooms at their properties to UK couples who are named Mary and Joseph. We have to appreciate their tongue-in-cheek appraisal of the hotel industry:

The 'gift' of a free night's stay is to make up for the hotel industry not having any rooms left on Christmas Eve over 2000 years ago when the original 'Mary and Joseph' had to settle for the night in a stable.

Today's Mary and Joseph will stay in a spacious Travelodge family room which can also cater for a baby and a manger. A free car-parking space will be provided for the donkey and there are plenty of £29 rooms available for the Shepherds and Wise Men to book. The couple can stay anytime from Christmas Eve to the Twelfth Night.

Travelodge says the promotion applies to all 322 hotels, but be wary, as it is currently up for debate in Ireland, where it has upset people in the past. Rules specify that couples must be UK residents and show valid marriage licenses. Registration for rooms ends December 17.

Photo: Donkey Parking Available; moschos via Flickr

Climb Inside Amsterdam

When Intelligent Travel contributing writer Cathy Healy decided it was time to divulge her favorite hotel—and hotelier—in Amsterdam, we leaped at hearing the scoop...

Long, lanky Mark Bakker is dangling out of the window of my room, helping hang the repainted Hotel Prinsenhof sign. I'm in the south-facing breakfast room with its wall of windows bright with silvery November light. Do I look like a Vermeer painting as I read my e-mail? 

The rippled glass in the tall panes of the hotel windows are from the 1820s. Vermeers hang in the Rijksmuseum, alongside the Rembrandts and other Dutch masters, about a ten-minute walk to the left. The Van Gogh Museum is three minutes beyond. The Amstel River flows two minutes to the right. Straight ahead, across the Prinsen Canal (Prinsengracht), is Rembrandt Square, a heart in a multi-hearted city that is a masterwork itself.

A former radio journalist, Mark is my interpreter of Amsterdam and the Dutch. He is the manager of the one-star hotel which has ten rooms, some of which overlook the canal, some with bathrooms down the hall. I have a canal view and a bathroom in my room. Price: 84 Euros.

Sleeping in Airports

Two stranded fliers catch some posh shut-eye in Hong Kong's airport

It's not something we like to think about as we begin to pack our bags for our Thanksgiving travel, but it's better to be prepared for the worst. And willingly or not, we've all done it: used a bulky sweater as a blanket, a backpack as a pillow, and curled up in the seemingly least-disgusting corner of an airport to catch a little shut-eye while waiting for a flight.

The Budget Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports shares our sympathies.This site is dedicated to travelers' tips and reviews (over 5,100 reviews in 800 cities) of how to sleep in an airport, whether by choice or by bad weather delays.

Worth a look are the "Airport Funnies" page and "The Airport Diaries" blog. The site has other cool features like the Top 10 - Best and Worst lists. The current most hated airport is Paris Charles de Gaulle. Out of the top ten worst airports, three U.S. cities made the list (in case you couldn't guess, they were New York's JFK and LGA, and California's LAX). Asian airports dominated the most recent favorite list, including Singapore, Hong Kong (pictured above), Seoul Incheon, and Kuala Lumpur.

Eco-friendly Beer Brewed By Monks? Bottoms Up!

Beer probably isn’t the first thing you’d associate with a monastery, but for the fellows at Chimay, beer and cheese making is a spiritual labor of love.  The whole enterprise began in 1862, when the Trappist monks of Chimay, Belgium, wanted to create jobs for their community and earn some needed funds to run the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont. Their solution? Beer! The monks shifted their focus from farming to brewing. Once the brewery was up and running, they handed its administration over to local businesses to bolster the town’s economy.

As you might expect from monks, the Trappists adhere to the old adage, “waste not, want not.” Water for the beer is drawn from wells on abbey grounds. Grain husks leftover from brewing are donated to Chimay dairy farms to feed the cattle. Extra yeast produced in the fermenting process is resold as yeast tablets. And waste water from the brewery is purified right there at the Chimay purification plant and reused in the area.

The rigorous brewing process results in three ales: Chimay Triple, Chimay Red, and Chimay Blue. Blue is the strongest at 9% alc. vol., while Red and Triple have slightly fruity aromas and flavors. Chimay also offers four locally-made cheeses.

Creepy Sleeping

Personally, we prefer to get a little shut-eye when we stay at any hotel. But some hotels just beg to be haunted. If you're planning  to stay at any of these ghastly quarters, you won't even need your own ghost stories. To these ghosts, it doesn't matter if it's Halloween.

Construction of the Victorian-style Ocean Edge Resort began in 1907, when banker Samuel Nickerson decided to replace the site’s original home, which had burned down a year earlier. Nickerson completed the Cape Cod mansion—which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places-- in 1912 for his son Roland, who died before the new house was completed. But his wife, Addie, seems to have loved the place so much, she can still be seen roaming the halls today (she is said to be looking for her husband). About two hours away is the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem (also haunted - but then again, what house in Salem isn't?), which hosts an annual Halloween Costume Ball.

New Mexico: An old Sante Fe Trail outpost (which is linked to Jesse James and Billy the Kid), the St. James Hotel reportedly still sees visitors from the Wild West. One Trip Advisor traveler attests to hearing a scream at 3 a.m., and to seeing a ghost vortex through a camera lense. Even if you can't find any ghosts, every few months the hotel hosts "Murder Mystery Weekends," a two-night event where guests become Annie Oakley or Doc Holliday and try to solve their own murder mystery.

Explora New Place

The tour outfitter explora has crafted a series of remote yet luxurious lodges in Chile's inspired places that get IT feeling dreamy: you can sleep among the Atacama oases or alongside a placid lake in Patagonia. This December, they'll add another to their roster when they open a property on Easter Island.

The newest lodge will be the Posada de Mike Rapu (named for the company’s co-owner), and is the first LEED-certified hotel in South America. (This of course is a tad ironic, seeing as how Easter Island is located 2,360 miles from the continent, but it's a start.) The lodge’s eco-friendly design and architectural attributes include passive energy designs, thermal retention for energy storage, low-flow water fixtures, renewable building materials, and a commitment to being a low-waste resort.

Home (Away From) Home on the Range

A beach-and-theme-park vacation is much too tame for resident family travel expert Norie Quintos. This year, for part of her summer vacation with her two sons, she headed out to Wyoming:

What parent hasn’t read the Dangerous Book for Boys? Okay, I haven’t, but I’ve read all about it. Here’s the gist: What our overprotected, over-teched, overscheduled suburban sons really need to blossom is the freedom to climb trees and get muddy and learn Morse code. Well, I’ve believed and lived it all along, and the kids and I recently returned from a vacation that hits the spirit if not the actual suggestions on the book’s list.

We squished our toes in the mud of a creek.
We fed leftovers to a black lab named Twister.
We threw tomahawks.
We played cards.
We heard cowboy poetry.
We canoed in a lake with loons.
We fell asleep to the howls of a coyote.
We threw lassos.
We read by the light of a lantern.
We searched for signs of bear.
We whittled.
We absorbed U.S. history by listening to a cowboy tell tales of Butch Cassidy, Wyatt Earp, and the Donner Party around a campfire at night.
We traveled by covered wagon.

This Little Piggy Saved the Planet

IT loves green hotels. IT loves animals. So what could be better than putting animals to use to help sustain eco-lodges? Not a whole lot. EndangeredPlaces.com recently reported on one Costa Rican eco-lodge that is doing just that.

Lapa Rios Ecolodge is nestled on a 1,000-acre private nature reserve in Costa Rica’s last remaining lowland tropical rain forest. Its owners, John and Karen Lewis, are going above and beyond the forest canopy to make sure that their eco-lodgings are sustainable: They've installed solar panels; only hire local workers (currently they employ more than 50 people); and help fund the Carbonera School, which provides educational facilities in a very rural area that previously had little sense of community. Their lodge serves as a protective barrier to the flora- and fauna-rich Corcovado National Park (it raises money to fund park rangers to patrol the park), they only use biodegradable products for guests and employees, and renewable materials were used (about 70%) to build the bungalows. But perhaps most intriguingly, they have an extensive waste management system that employs its pigs to make renewable energy.

Sleep Wright

Calling all architecture enthusiasts: Your Frank Lloyd Wright dreams have come true. The 1957 Usonian-style Duncan House in Pennsylvania is now taking reservations, making it the sixth Wright home in the U.S. available for overnight stays.

Unlike Wright’s nearby Fallingwater, which only offers tours, guests at the Duncan House in Polymath Park Resort (which is also home to the Wright-inspired Blum House and Balter House) can fully experience life in a Wright home, from relaxing on the couch to eating in the sunny breakfast nook. In 2002, the 2,200-square-foot, three-bedroom Duncan House was moved from its original location in Lisle, Illinois, to Acme, Pennsylvania, and put in storage until 2006. The Cherokee red-and-beige-striped house was then reassembled, but remains true to Wright’s original construction. Duncan House sits on 125 wooded acres with hiking trails and a reflecting pond.

Quirky Quarters

Since IT is always on the lookout for unique places to stay, we were pleased to stumble upon TripAdvisor's list of the top ten world’s quirkiest hotels. From canine quarters to deep cave dwellings, here are a few of our favorites.

Fur ‘n’ Feathers Rainforest Tree Houses, near Cairns, Australia
This wacky, four-star establishment is made up of five tree houses and has received the highest rating by Australia’s Eco Certification Program. In spite of its location on a 100-acre private wildlife sanctuary in the Cairns Highlands, the getaway prides itself on having “no mosquitoes, flies, or crocodiles." More likely sightings are the tree kangaroos, endangered cassowaries, and wallabies that hang out around the tree houses; and the hosts offer a complimentary platypus watching tour. Fur ‘n’ Feathers starts at $159 for two nights off-season double occupancy.

Couch Surfing: A New Wave in Travel

We’ve all done it - crashed on a friend's couch after a memorable night of chatting, laughing, and drinking cheap wine. Now some travelers have taken this universal custom a step further and founded the CouchSurfing Project—a worldwide network of people offering free accommodations (in the form of comfy couches) to travelers looking to cut costs and make new friends.

Here’s how it works: Set up a profile on CouchSurfing.com. Once you have travel plans, you can search for couches in the cities you're planning to visit. You'll then receive a list of hosts in the areas you've specified whom you can go ahead and contact. The hosts will get back to you if they have a couch available on the dates you need. And after you decide which couch suits you best—voila!—you’ve got a free place to stay and a new friend who most likely knows the city better than any hotel concierge.

This idea was formed a few years ago by New Hampshire native Casey Fenton, who e-mailed 1,500 students from the University of Iceland asking them if he could crash on their couches. The responses he received were overwhelming. After spending an amazing weekend exploring Reykjavik with his Icelandic rhythm-and-blues-singing host, Fenton decided he would never stay in a hotel again.

WWOOF-ing ’Round the World

We here at IT know it all too well, but let's face it - traveling is an expensive hobby. From plane tickets and lodging to food and extracurriculars, wanting to see the world can put a big hole in your pocket.  But in 1971, organic farm supporter Sue Coppard got sick of not being able to afford to see the countryside, so she started a work-exchange program that has been going strong - and saving travelers money - ever since.

Originally called "Working Weekends on Organic Farms," WWOOF began as a weekend-long program in the U.K., allowing WWOOF members to work on organic farms for a couple of days in exchange for free room and board. After WWOOFers (as these volunteers are officially called) decided a weekend was not nearly long enough to suit their travel needs, the organization became "Willing Workers on Organic Farms" and eventually, expanding beyond the U.K., "World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms."

It's Not Easy Bein' Green

Many luxury hotels and tour companies are facing a big problem: How can they continue to offer the services their customers desire (helicopter rides and fishing in twin-engine boats), while simultaneously erasing the carbon footprint luxury travel often leaves? Asking guests to make sacrifices in order to “save the planet” can mean losing such guests, as they turn elsewhere for their sumptuous needs. And vice versa: some eco-consious guests are shirking from certain companies, whose practices are potentially earth-damaging. Green travel can be a dilemma for both provider and customer; luckily, some companies are stepping in to help both sides.

Sustainable Travel International recently launched its “Travel Green” program, which allows participating hotels to sell emission offsets to guests. According to the WSJ, “each offset represents money paid to bankroll a project somewhere else that reduces 34 pounds of CO2 emissions – the amount estimated to be produced by the average one-night hotel stay.” The hotel pays STI $1 for each offset “mini green tag” and then sells the tag to hotel guests for the same price.  STI then reinvests 52.4 cents of each dollar to buy renewable-energy certificates or to fund projects in developing countries. The remaining 47.6 cents pays for educational and marketing material for the participating hotels.

Green Hotel Wish List

IT has a confession: All of this eco-travel research has just made us want to travel more. Lucky for Mother Earth, we can't afford it. So when it's pay day and time for a weekend getaway (or a week-long getaway to the Outback), we'll have to consult our ever-growing (and eco-friendly!) wish list.

Here are a few that have caught our eyes recently:

Mohonk Mountain House
Who would've thought that this secluded, green oasis existed just an hour and a half from the Big Apple? The Mohonk Mountain House isn't your average hotel. In fact, it's a 265-room castle built on Shawangunk Ridge overlooking Lake Mohonk. Since its unveiling in 1869, the hotel has continued its commitment to environmental initiatives. For instance, a geothermal heating and cooling system using the constant temperature of the earth is used to heat and cool the new 30,000-square-foot spa (plus it's emission- and noise-free.) The spa also has a green roof which helps insulate the building, reduces energy use and runoff, and provides a habitat for birds and butterflies, as well as a venue for yoga and meditation. The prices are a little steep (the lowest for single occupancy start at $275), but the beautiful setting, sleek accommodations and perks—like a solarium, culinary classes, and a nine-hole golf course—might have you saving your pennies.


Hotel Green
This itsy-bitsy Nantucket boutique hotel has paired both style and sustainability. Set in a historic 1847 building in Nantucket Town, the hotel has just ten uniquely decorated rooms. Shoe designer and hotel owner Vanessa Noel uses energy-efficient lightbulbs, all-natural bed linens, organic hemp towels, and chemical-free cleaning supplies. Plus guests can get organic wine at her in-house café.

Sleeping Green

We're not exactly sure what "being green" means, but we associate it with Priuses, Whole Foods, and An Inconvenient Truth thanks to its use in a bombardment of marketing campaigns over the last two years.

The problem is that this undefined and overused buzzword has migrated unregulated to the hotel industry. Hotel owners can change a few lightbulbs, adopt a recycling plan, and call themselves "green" while still washing towels daily and using toxic cleaners on bathroom countertops.

In "How to Find a Hotel That’s Truly Fit for the Eco-Friendly," Washington Post writer Gary Lee interviews Glenn Hasek, editor and publisher of Green Lodging News, who has been working to define what "green" should really mean in the hotel industry. An excerpt for your consideration:

Solar, So Good

Three cheers for Marriott's Residence Inn West Orange in New Jersey!  It claims to be the first solar powered hotel in New Jersey. Says TravelPost.com:

Installed on the inn's southward-facing rooftops, the solar electric system produces power that meets about one-fifth of the hotel's total electricity needs. Over the next 30 years, the hotel's setup will reduce carbon emissions by 3,000 tons, says the Solar Center, an energy company that designed the system. That's the equivalent of planting about 43 acres of trees.

The hotel is also non-smoking, a decision we heartily applaud.  Here's hoping more hotels follow in their carbon footprints.

In the Navy: A Night on the New Jersey

Need a hotel in Philly? "Try a decommissioned warship in New Jersey," suggests senior editor Norie Quintos, who recently returned from a trip with her kids. She explains:

I never was a Girl Scout. Not much of a joiner, I guess, or maybe the cookie quota demanded too much capitalist enterprise. However, a part of me always envied the gals in green who got to go on field trips and earn those merit badges. Well, I sort of got my wish last weekend, when I, my two tween-aged sons, and about a dozen scouting troops boarded the permanently docked Battleship New Jersey (in Camden, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia) for an overnight encampment. After seeing service in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and other sundry international battles, the massive warship—eventually made obsolete by smaller, nimbler vessels—retired and became a floating museum. Think of it as a cruise, but without the chocolates on the pillow, yoga on the pool deck, or midnight buffet.

Anchorage Away!

IT asked former Traveler staffer Meghan Aftosmis (who currently works in PR) to ask her Alaskan colleagues for their favorite wintry things to do in Big Wild Life  (a.k.a. Anchorage) besides watching the start of the Iditarod or viewing the Northern Lights. Here's what she came up with:

The Chugach Mountains tower over the Anchorage skyline and are hardly a secret. In winter, trailheads are accessible, views are unbelievable and options are limitless. Try the multi-purpose Powerline Pass trail from the Glen Alps Trailhead high above Anchorage. It leads to views of the city and the seemingly never-ending Chugach Range. Enjoy the trail and surroundings on Nordic skis or snowshoes.

It's never too cold to go ice skating in the city's outdoor rink on Town Square with its beautifully colored and lit ice sculptures. Or try the ice on Westchester Lagoon, a pond known to attract local skaters.

Holiday House Swap

National Geographic Traveler magazine covered the trend months ago in our "Trading Places" article (April 2006), but only now is Hollywood tackling house swapping, in Sony Pictures' recently released film The Holiday. The movie tells the story of two women—played by Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz—who swap their homes in England and Los Angeles as a way to take a break from their faltering romantic relationships. As luck would have it, they both find new men (and true love) in their temporary homes.

While IT can't promise such happiness (we've had both good and bad experiences in others' homes—none of which included romance), we do think house swapping is an interesting and generally inexpensive way to travel. The characters in the movie coordinate their swap using Home Exchange (see below), but what other companies offer such services? Here we post Ingrid Ahlgren's profiles of seven leading agencies—originally printed in last April's print issue:

Rooms with a Muse: Traveler Inspires a Hotel

IT was intrigued to read a recent Advertising Age article (thanks to a tip from