Intelligent Travel

Proximity Goes Platinum

The Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina

A few months ago, we ran this fantastic video, produced by former researcher Alison Ogden and NG Channel Advanced Media Producer Chris Keener about the opening of the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the time, Alison interviewed hotel manager Dennis Quaintance about the steps he was taking to make the hotel achieve LEED platinum status for sustainable building design (recycled building materials, solar panels, and even waterless urinals were among the more inspired design elements). So we were pleased to hear that the U.S. Green Building Council recently awarded the platinum rating to the hotel, making it one of the greenest buildings in the country, and the first building in the hospitality industry to receive the platinum status.

This coincides well with a recent TripAdvisor survey, which found that Americans are increasingly interested in choosing green lodging options (and sustainable travel in general, in fact). So message to hotels: it's a smart idea to go green, let's see more of it soon.

Photo: courtesy of the Proximity Hotel

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Hotel Confidential: Women Only?

There was a time (25 years ago, to be exact) when women traveling alone could spend the night in hotels with female-only floors. Not surprisingly, this special treatment eventually came to be seen as sexist, and ceased to be—until now. The New York Times reports that the new Crowne Plaza Milwaukee-Wauwatosa hotel has turned its seventh floor into a Women’s Executive Level. Here women will have access to a variety of girlie amenities such as Victoria’s Secret bathrobes, blow dryers, and vanity mirrors. The great equalizing factor is that men can book rooms on this floor too—if they want to. The Times points out that, in a sense, the Women’s Executive Level is an answer to most hotels’ concierge or club floors, which have traditionally been aimed at men.

Bill DeForrest, president of Lane Hospitality (which oversees three Crowne Plazas), maintains that the “Women’s Level isn’t really an exclusive woman’s floor. It’s simply designed to cater to the needs of women travelers, who are growing faster in numbers than male travelers. One of the things we’ve changed is to keep our fitness facilities open 24/7. So much of what we do, by the way, is applicable to both men and women.”

Sleep Well in San Francisco

Traveler invited HotelChatter senior editor Juliana Shallcross to share her favorite San Francisco hotels in September's cover story, "Classic San Francisco."  Juliana revealed some gems, including the Hotel Vitale, which she describes as a "small but elegant 199-room property on the Embarcadero, the city's traditional waterfront." When booking, she says, request a room overlooking the water. "The Bay Bridge views are great. And there are free yoga classes, too."

Another reason to like the Vitale: It belongs to the Joie de Vivre hotel group, which aims to donate a minimum of $200 per guest room per year to community organizations. Hotel Vitale's philanthropic partner is the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, whose members and volunteers build trails, restore wetlands, propagate and plant thousands of native species, study hawk migration, and bring 15,000 schoolchildren to the Parks each year for educational programs. Hotel guests can help by donating one dollar of their total bill to Joie de Vivre's "You Can Make a Difference" program.

One more plus: The Hotel Vitale is located within walking distance of a wide variety of public transportation, including BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), the historic waterfront trolleys, ferries to the North and East Bay, cable cars and Muni (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency). 

Thanks for the tip, Juliana!

Photo:  Hotel Vitale

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Strange Planet: Landlocked Cruising

Want all of the perks of cruising but none of the guilt (in the form of high gas prices or that gut that you'll inevitably get from too many trips to the buffet)? We recently came across the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Göynük, Turkey, a 325-room "cruise ship" that is "docked" in the country's Antalya beach region. Completed last year to the price tag of $50 million, the nautical-themed hotel sits among a vast network of pools, allowing for all the pleasure of an ocean-side cabin, but without the seasickness. With its Turkish Bath and an amusement park, we're interested in coming aboard, but a word of warning: since opening, reviews have been mixed, so it seems as if it might be time for the hotel's owners to sink or swim...

Know of other hotels that should be on our Strange Planet radar? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo: via Deputy Dog

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Talking with The Hotel Whisperer

Our intrepid contributing editor Andrew Nelson recently caught the ear of Andrew Freeman, aka the Hotel Whisperer.

Andrew Freeman is a hotel whisperer. His San Francisco-based public relations and marketing company helps hostelries and restaurants identify current trends in the hospitality industry and capitalize on them.  Like lobbies, for instance. You may have noticed that your check-in experience is becoming more like "check it out" as reception areas are transformed into cocktail lounge-like spaces and hotels cart off stuffy furniture in favor of a low-slung, modern pieces. Why? It's all about real estate, says Freeman. If a city's price-per-square-foot is steep "having a lovely entry lobby is getting the owner more bang for your buck," he says. "For guests it produces an arrival 'experience' – you can get in the action if you want to, or navigate away from it." Though Freeman's company typically advises deep-pocketed clients, he agreed to murmur in Traveler's ear about what's hot in hotel trends.

A Mixologist for your Marriott: Travelers know that hotels in Vegas and New York now have great restaurants, but there's still a lot of opportunity for mid-markets to have great restaurants as larger hotel chains have cottoned on to the fact they can keep guests on the property. Hotel brunches are going to get more creative, Freeman predicts. One example: The JW Marriott in San Francisco is introducing a "recovery" Sunday brunch featuring flights of Bloody Marys.

Value Now: During a recession you'll see hotels making more attempts to lure locals. "It's a 'staycation' in your own town. Look for happy hour programs and specials," Freeman says. In San Francisco, for example, Kimpton Hotels are doing complimentary evening wine hours. Also look for room rate add-ons, not price cuts. "Hotels are reluctant to cut prices, but may include a free room for the kids, a free meal or cooking classes for the price of a regular room."

Terrestrial Beings to Resort to Extremes

The Roswell UFO Festival has just ended, but that doesn't mean extraterrestrial-themed fun has to stop. Architect/designer Gene Frazier and businessman Thomas Armstrong are out to prove that indulging your inner exphile can be a year-round pleasure.

The pair have been working on Earth Station Roswell, a resort complex nestled in the famous city where a UFO allegedly crashed in 1947. Breaking the bank at $50 million, the saucer-shaped complex, scheduled to open in the summer of 2010, will feature a hotel and conference center with numerous attractions, including a nightly light show, a spa, an all-virtual-reality arcade, extensive grounds, and a UFO theme strong enough to make anyone want to believe.

"We really want this to be the touchstone for information about UFOs, extraterrestrials, crop circles, lost civilizations," says Armstrong, on the phone from his retail store Roswell Landing. "We want it to be the place where people can find out what’s going on in the world with these things—the latest archaeology, the latest research, the latest information."

Being pigeonholed as a tourist attraction may seem inevitable (that's what happens when you build a 75-foot-tall, 300-room hotel shaped like a spaceship), but Armstrong is passionate about the complex being a classy locus of knowledge and information.

Liverpool's First-Ever Beatles Day!

The Lennon Suite, Hard Days Night Hotel

As if anyone could ever have too much of the Beatles, the Fab Four's hometown recently announced that it is hosting the first-ever Beatles Day on July 10 (the 44th anniversary of the Beatles' return to Liverpool after touring the U.S. in 1964). Mop-top wigs will be on sale all around the city, radio stations will blare "All You Need is Love" and "Yellow Submarine," businesses will be encouraged to go all out with Beatles memorabilia, there will be a parade and, according to the ECHO, "organizers hope everyone from schoolchildren to TV presenters will spend the day as a mop-top."

Of course, anyone traveling for an authentic Beatles stay should look no further than the new Hard Days Night Hotel (from $335), which just opened in February in Liverpool.

The boutique four-star hotel, with 110 guest rooms (including the two McCartney and Lennon suites) and heaps of artwork (with works by Paul and Ringo), aim to tell the full story of the Beatles "from the basement to the roof." The hotel is located in an 1884 building in the "Beatles quarter" of the city.

The hotel has several dining options, such as Blakes restaurant, which serves desserts like "Knickerbocker glory," and the Brasserie, which serves up dishes like "black pudding with bubble and squeak, poached egg and grain mustard sauce." The Bar Four has creative cocktails like "Honey Can't Buy Me Love" (£9) – manuka honey vodka with amaretto and Mozart's milk chocolate liqueur – and "Fab Four" – four shots of Louis XIII cognac poured over brown sugar cubes and angostura bitters, with a bottle of Cristal champagne (this "fab" drink also has a "fab" price tag of £750). Of course, Beatles fans shouldn't miss a stop at the famous Cavern Club, which is adjacent to the hotel.

Photo: Ellie Laycock

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Hotel Confidential: Does "Green" Matter to You?

Last week, I attended a conference focusing on "Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry" and was impressed with the panelists assembled for the discussion. They ranged from the VPs of sustainability for major international hotel chains to the co-founder of the Lapa Rios Ecolodge, a 16-bungalow property that uses the methane created by pig waste to power their kitchen stoves. So it was obvious that they were going to have a variety of opinions on how best to direct the industry as it goes green. And while many of the hotels talked up their green initiatives, (from creating online models of "innovation hotels," to removing table linens from function rooms and measuring and cutting back their energy and water use) they admitted that these efforts were the "low-hanging fruit" for the industry and that much wider changes need to be made in order to really make a difference. (To that point: One panelist noted that there are more than 4.7 million hotel rooms in the country, and each of those rooms has its rugs torn up and replaced every seven years or so. That's a lot of landfills covered in carpet.)

But where they diverged was on how best to do it. The idea of creating federally regulated hotel sustainability certifications, or standards, was dismissed by some panelists as "regressing everyone to the mean." How can you have competitive distinction, they wondered, if you even the playing field and make everyone adopt the same sustainable practices? And more importantly to their bottom lines, why should they do it if it's not always what the customer wants? One panelist noted that while Whole Foods has a reputation as a sustainable company, very few people know (or care) whether their supermarket buildings are LEED certified (most aren't). And except for some rare examples, most hotel chains use their marketing budgets to highlight the comfort, amenities, and convenience of their properties, not whether they're overtly "green."  Ultimately, they said, the customer is concerned with whether the reservation is late or the room is dirty and until we customers actively seek out sustainable standards, the costs and benefits don't add up.

I was a bit miffed by overtly corporate subtext to the sustainable conversation (mind you, not all of the panelists held this perspective, and several were quick to respond in support of certifications and standards) but the idea I left with was, well, do people really want their hotels to be green? If you knew that a certification existed, would you seek out hotel chains that adopted earth-friendly practices? I'm interested in hearing your opinions, please share them in the comments below.

Image: The Innovation Hotel website from the InterContinental Hotels Group.

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A Winning Pair: Green Bungalows and Cold Beer

A few days of serious lazing in the tiny coastal village of Troncones, Mexico, confirmed for me a couple of truisms we subscribe to at IT: Low-impact lodging can, indeed, be comfortable, and escaping the urban concrete jungle to spend some quality time in nature is an invaluable refresher, even for the most devout city lover.

Plus, very few hotel amenities—heck, very few things in life—can top a beer-filled fridge parked next to a pool facing the Pacific Ocean. (OK, so that last one may be one of my own, personal truisms.)

I first discovered Casa Viva happenstance while tracking a story lead for this very blog about the owners' new eco-friendly resort, Playa Viva, in nearby Zihuatanejo, set to open in early 2009. Attracted by the sustainable mantra of the owners and bummed that Playa Viva wouldn't be open in time for my own trip, I was thrilled to read that their already-open property, Casa Viva, consists of three palm-thatched (and solar-paneled) bungalows designed by organic architects and built by local Mexican craftsmen with natural building materials (wood, stone, palm, clay, sand). And really, all the convincing I needed to book the place can be summed up in six incredible words: "all the beer you can drink"—listed absentmindedly among the amenities included in the room rate. 

Just Back: Club Med, Ixtapa, Mexico

Even we at Traveler realize that staying in remote eco-lodges isn't all that easy when you're traveling with kids. So when Associate editor Susan O'Keefe recently traveled with her family for some fun in the sun at Club Med, Ixtapa, located on Mexico's Pacific coast, she was glad to see how the resort chain is doing more to offer authentic experiences for guests...

Uncovering Culture: As much as a resort experience can offer culture, Club Med introduced an authentic taste of Mexico. Kid's activities included making pinatas and masks, and painting clay sculptures. Evening entertainment featured costumed traditional folk dancers and live mariachi music. One evening, vendors from Zihuatanejo set up an open-air market and sold wooden saints, mosaics, papier-mache puppets, wooden toys, and hand-embroidered dresses. In the dining room, Mexican cuisine was prepared fresh daily. We tried dishes such as chilaquiles (an egg and chicken casserole with green salsa), chiles rellenos (stuffed peppers), huachinango (grilled red snapper), homemade tortillas, tortas (sandwiches), and salsas made from tomatillos and local guavas.

Bye-bye beads: Less is no longer more when it comes to amenities at Club Med. Gone are the days of unlocked guest rooms and exchanging beads for a cerveza. New to the scene are spacious family rooms with kid-high, built-in desk areas (perfect for coloring during pre-dawn wake-ups), flat-screen TVs (though they don't really need them), and hair dryers, thick robes, and slippers. The showers are equipped with an extra handheld nozzle, which is great for getting shampoo rinsed off little ones. Club Med Ixtapa's $20-million makeover also included spruced-up outdoor sitting areas, with chic chocolate brown rattan furniture topped with salmon-colored pillows. Around the pool, kids and adults can snooze and get shelter from the strong midday sun on large, canopied daybeds—they seem more SoBe than Club Med, but somehow are really practical in the setting. The property is a kid haven: Facilities include a circus trapeze area, a restaurant just for kids with petite tables and chairs, extra pools to accommodate toddlers and new swimmers, an in-line skating area, miniature golf, and tennis courts. On the water, a fleet of sailboats, catamarans, and sea kayaks are available to use daily. Adults will like the new spa with its outdoor chaise lounge terrace—perfect for taking in the wide ocean views and sipping tea before your treatment.

Can you leave to explore? Of course you can, and we did for a day in Zihuatanejo, an authentic fishing village about ten miles away. The taxi ride from the hotel cost $14. We went to the large outdoor market that is just off the waterfront and bought handmade leather sandals and local sea salt, vanilla, and coffee to bring home. Go early to catch the fishermen bringing in their morning haul. At noon, several food vendors along the waterfront grill the fresh catch and sell delicious fish tacos and bocadillos (little sandwiches). Club Med has programs for visitors to see local endangered turtles and baby crocs. They also offer horseback riding on a local beach, deep sea fishing (where my husband and son spotted humpback whales and sea turtles), and boat excursions to a few nearby islands.