12 Cyber Monday hotel deals you won’t want to miss

by Melanie Nayer on

There are two types of Thanksgiving deal finders: Those who take a quick cat nap after Thanksgiving dinner so they can be in line super early for Black Friday shopping, and those who wait out the weekend then pounce on Cyber Monday sales. In the retail world, we call this power of purchase. In the hotels world, this type of consumer behavior is known as impulse shopping, and the hotels are more than happy to aid to your impulse.

Cyber Monday deals are no secret to smart shoppers, but we wrangled up 12 of the best hotel Cyber Monday deals you won’t want to miss. From New York to Costa Rica, get your fingers ready (and your credit card out) for some fast bookings:

1. Copley Square Hotel: This little boutique hotel in Boston just received it’s four-stars and is planning to celebrate with a Cyber Monday special. Book a boutique room for $129 for a Boutique Room or a Deluxe Room for $149. The deal is valid from Nov. 29, 2010 – March 31, 2011, for all dates except New Year’s Eve.

2. Westin St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands: Starwood’s Cyber Monday Sale is a brand-wide event, but we like this one in particular for its location. Head to St. John from Jan. 1- April 30, 2011, and stay a t the Westin St. John for $289 per night – a 35% discount off regular starting rates. For reservations use rate code CYBERLTO.

3. The Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club: The historic 85-year old resort in St. Petersburg, FL, will offer a discount of 30% off the best available rate for those who book online on Cyber Monday (Nov. 29, 2010) using booking code DOD. The offer is valid for stays through Jan. 8, 2011. Rates start at $112 per night.4. Broadway Hotel & Hostel, New York City: Book rooms at 15% off the best available rate on the property’s private and semi-private guest rooms. Using rate code CYBER, the offer is valid for booking Nov. 29 – Dec. 3 for stays through March 31, 2011.

5. Marrakech Hotel, New York: Guests who book two or three nights at the Marrakech Hotel, a Moroccan-themed hotel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, will save 15% off best available rates when booking with rate code CYBER. Those who stay four nights or more can enjoy a 20% discount using the special Cyber Monday code. Booking is available Nov. 29 – Dec. 3, 2010 for visits Dec. 19, 2010 – March 31, 2011.

6. Portland Square Hotel, New York: Currently undergoing renovations to become the four-star Sanctuary Hotel, the Portland Square Hotel in Times Square will offer a 20.10% discount on best available rates to guests booking on Nov. 29 with rate code CYBER. This offer applies for stays through March 31, 2011.

7. Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, Aruba: Buy two nights at the leisure rate and get two nights free. Rates start at $294/night and are valid for travel from April 26 – December 22, 2011. Book online and request Promo Code D52.

8. San Juan Marriott Resort, Puerto Rico: Follow @SanJuanMarriott on Twitter and any time on CyberMonday tweet “I want to book a #CyberMonday vacation at @SanJuanMarriott” to receive a reply DM with an exclusive booking code and details for a special offer. Once you receive your offer code, head to www.marriottsanjuan.com and use your twitter provided promotional code to book your room.

9. Kura Hulanda Resorts, Curacao: Buy two nights get third night free at Hotel Kura Hulanda or Lodge Kura Hulanda. Valid on all nightly room rates starting at $130/night. Travel from now until Dec 23, 2010 and Jan 03 – April 16, 2011. Make sure to mention CyberMonday when you call or email for reservations [877-264-3106 or email reservations@kurahulanda.com]

10. Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Costa Rica: Book your 2011 vacation on CyberMonday and receive $99-$119 nightly rate at Costa Rica Marriott Hotel San Jose (deluxe room), Courtyard San Jose Escazu (standard room), Residence Inn San Jose Escazu (studio); and $119.00 plus tax per room/night at Los Suenos Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort (standard room). Valid for Travel: January 1 – December 19, 2011and request promo code PR5.

11. Cuisinart Resort & Spa, Anguilla: Book seven nights but only pay for five with this CyberMonday deal at the Cuisinart Resort & Spa. Plus, you’ll receive an additional $250 food and beverage credit. With promotion, pro-rated nightly rates start at $580 per night. (Savings of $235 per night). The rates are valid for travel from January 3 – April 2, 2011.

12. Colonnade Hotel, Boston: Celebrating the hotel’s 30 percent reduction in energy usage, the Colonnade Hotel is offering 30% off select room rates through Feb. 2011 on Cyber Monday.

Scratch and sniff cannabis cards distributed by Dutch police

by Sean McLachlan on

The new government of The Netherlands has been cracking down on marijuana-serving coffee shops lately, and now it’s setting its sights on marijuana cultivation.

Police are distributing 30,000 scratch and sniff cards to homes in Rotterdam and The Hague to help people identify the smell of cannabis. That’s right, many Dutch people apparently don’t know what pot smells like. Just because something’s decriminalized doesn’t mean everyone does it.

While possession of up to five grams of pot and the cultivation of up to five plants is decriminalized, large-scale growing is illegal and authorities consider it a problem. The cops are hoping people will scratch the cards, take a good whiff, and then sniff around near their neighbors’ backyards and narc on them if they turn out to be growing something they shouldn’t be.

The cards also ask citizens to be vigilant in noticing if their neighbors keep their blinds closed, have ventilators running all the time, or use a lot of electricity.

This latest move appears to be attacking coffee shops from another direction. While some localities are closing shops down or making them members-only to keep out the tourists, the authorities recognize that illegal farms (up to 40,000 in the entire country, they estimate) are needed to supply the shops with weed.

[Photo courtesy user Bastique via Wikimedia Commons]

Daily gear deals: $18 MP3 player, $4 iPhone battery pack and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Monday November 15, 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today’s first deal is for a Sandisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 player. This highly rated little player features 2GB memory, a MicroSD card slot, FM radio and a voice recorder. On sale for $18 at 1saleaday.

Next up is a neat laptop bag / workstation gizmo. The bag has room for all the items you need on the road, and unfolds into a full mobile office. On sale for $14.95 at Yugster.com.

Today’s third deal is for the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 noise canceling headphones. These in-ear active noise canceling headphones are much lighter than the larger on-ear models, and at just under $60, they are also much cheaper. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today’s lineup is a budget friendly iPhone/iPod backup battery pack. Simply plug this into the dock connector of your device, and it’ll keep it going for a few more hours. On sale for $3.95. Click here for this deal.

Human castles may make UNESCO World Heritage list

by Sean McLachlan on

You gotta love Spain. Not only do they like having giant tomato fights and getting chased through the streets by bulls, but they build giant castles out of people.

That’s right. Not content with having some of the best castles in Europe, the Spaniards like constructing living towers up to ten people high. Called a castell, the tradition originated in the region of Catalonia in the 18th century.

A bunch of strong, big castellars make up the pinya (base) and support their teammates as they create level upon level with progressively fewer (and lighter) people. Once a level is complete, the people who make up the next one climb up the backs of the others and take their place. Then the top person, called an enxaneta (rider) climbs all the way to the very top and, supported by only two people, raises a hand with four fingers up to symbolize the Catalan flag. The enxaneta and the very top levels are often made up of children to lighten the load on the bottom levels. Then the castell disassembles itself from the top down by each level climbing back to the ground. Only when everyone is safely back on the ground is the castell considered a success.

It’s an unusual tradition and now the castellars are applying to get their art on UNESCO’s list of “intangible world heritage”. The list includes examples of rare cultural practices that are relatively unknown and unpracticed outside a certain region. Check out the website for more bizarre and amazing practices around the world.

Galley Gossip: Can a mother of two young kids become a flight attendant?

by Heather Poole on
My name is Stephanie and I am thinking of becoming a flight attendant. My only concern is my two boys ages 5 and almost 2. How can I have time to be a mom and work? I love to travel and I hear benefits are good. Can I work flights after bedtime? But when will I come back?

The most difficult thing for a flight attendant, Stephanie, is being flexible in terms of scheduling. Making long term plans is next to impossible when you never know what you’ll be working month to month – or even day to day if you’re on reserve! Even if you are able to hold a schedule, that schedule can always change at the last minute and the only thing you can do about it is continue on with the trip or quit! Keep in mind if you do quit mid-sequence, you’ll have to figure out how to get home as you’ll no longer have travel benefits.

Two years ago I had a trip that was scheduled to land on Christmas Eve. With thirteen years as a flight attendant, I was finally able to hold Christmas off! I couldn’t believe my luck. But on Christmas Eve the final leg of our trip canceled. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the entire crew got reassigned, which meant none of us would make it back in time to celebrate the holiday! I wound up in Toronto at an airport hotel when I should have been at home with my family eating turkey and dressing like everyone else.

Unless you have an amazing support system twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for the kids, this may not be the job for you – at least not right now! It’s why so many flight attendants start working at an early age or later on in life after the kids are grown. Trust me it ain’t easy juggling the job with family, especially when you’re brand spankin new with little to no seniority.

SENIORITY – Refers to a flight attendants years of experience. Years of experience with an airline is based on date of hire. Seniority is everything at an airline. It determines what trips a flight attendant can “hold” and whether or not a flight attendant will serve reserve. Basically it determines whether you’ll be working days, nights, weekends, and holidays, as well as where you’re going and how long you’ll be gone. So there’s no telling when – or if – you’ll make it back home.

Here are a few more things to consider…

THE PAY: No one becomes a flight attendant for the money. While the benefits are good, the pay is not. Most flight attendants that work for major U.S. carriers make less than $20,000 annually their first year. Smaller airlines pay even less than that! I know a flight attendant that works for a regional carrier and she makes $14,000 a year! AND she works holidays without incentive pay.

WEEKS OF TRAINING: The majority of airlines provide their own training. (This is why it doesn’t make sense to go to one of those “flight attendant schools.”) My airline required seven and a half weeks of unpaid training at a facility near the airlines corporate headquarters. Years ago I worked for a low cost carrier called Sun Jet International Airlines that only required two weeks of unpaid training. It was conducted at a hotel in Houston. Can you handle being away from your children for weeks at a time in order to earn your wings.

CREW BASES: Most airlines have crew bases in a handful of cities. That doesn’t mean you’ll be able to work out of the city of your choice. In order to be based in a certain city, there must first be an opening at the base. Crew bases are awarded by seniority. At my airline New York is the most junior base in the system, so it was no surprise that the majority of my classmates in training wound up there – myself included. New York is where I’m still based, even though I live in California. That makes me a commuter.

RESERVE: Flight attendants on reserve have no life. At my airline we bid for a schedule of days off only. We get twelve of them. The rest of themonth we’re on call. This means we must be ready to go to the airport at anytime – day or night. We’re given at least two hours from the time crew schedule calls us with a trip to the time we have to sign in at the airport. One night I ordered Chinese delivery and was out the door and on my way to the airport to work a flight to London before the food even arrived!

NOTE: How the reserve system works varies at different airlines, but most flight attendants serve straight reserve. This means they’re on reserve until they have enough seniority to hold off. If the airline is in a hiring frenzy, you may not have to be on reserve for very long as newer flight attendants will bump you off. But if you’re hired at the end of a massive hiring streak, you could get stuck on reserve for a very long time. I’ve been working at my airline now for fifteen years, I’m based at the most junior base in the system, and even I am still on reserve!

Photo courtesy of Santheo and Tawheed Manzoor