2013 › June

Hotel News We Noted: First Day of Summer Edition

by McLean Robbins on

Welcome everyone to the first official day of Summer and, of course, your weekly dose of Hotel News We Noted, where we track the best, the most buzzy and the downright oddest news of the hospitality industry. As always, send us a note or leave a comment below if you have a timely tidbit.

Las Vegas, Now Easier to Visit Than Ever
MGM Resorts in Las Vegas has really upped the ante with their loyalty program. The brand, which has more than 40,000 hotel rooms in Vegas across a dozen properties, has announced a new tie-in with Hyatt Gold Passport so that members can redeem their points at the brand’s properties in Las Vegas. This is on the heels of partnerships earlier this year with Southwest Airlines and Royal Caribbean cruises. Good news for savvy points hounds!

IHG Supports our Military with “Army Hotels”
It’s always nice to see a hotel brand giving back to our men and women in uniform. IHG is expanding their portfolio of Army Hotels, adding 18 more military installations to their portfolio, making more than 110,000 hotel rooms available on 39 military posts worldwide. The company also supports veterans through the , helping train veterans for hospitality careers, as well as the which donates “comfort homes” to families whose loved ones are being treated at far-away military medical centers, and (S2S) non-profit, a program that helps wounded service men and women overcome personal barriers.

Haute Hotel Suite: The Gwyneth Paltrow Penthouse
Stay at The Capri Palace Hotel & Spa and live like a movie star. That is, if you check into the hotel’s penthouse suite. Spanning 1,620 square feet on the top floor of the hotel, the penthouse combines Art Deco decor with historic elegance and features a special skylight above the bed as well as a separate rooftop garden that’s more than twice the size of the suite itself. The garden features a heated swimming pool with a panoramic view, enabling guests to admire the green slopes of Monte Solaro hill, the village of Anacapri, the islands of Ischia and Procida, as well as the enchanting bay of Naples. A smaller plunge pool is accessible from the second bedroom. We’re just wondering if organic food delivery comes standard with the room charge?

A Great Way to Celebrate Your Golden Anniversary
We love this fun hotel promo to celebrate the Waldorf Astoria property Rome Cavalieri. Check into the hotel at any point this month and five lucky guests will find that their room has been gift wrapped in gold embroidered linens. Those guests will find themselves upgraded to the hotel’s VIP Petronius or Penthouse Suite, both of which are furnished with incredible artwork (think original Andy Warhol pieces and a Karl Lagerfeld sofa) and impressive views. We’d love a Roman holiday, how about you?

Pet Passports Make For Easy Travel, Avoid Fines

by Chris Owen on

Having a pet passport can speed up and simplify traveling with animals between countries. A typical pet passport will have the microchip or tattoo number of the animal and a complete record of immunizations and vaccinations required for entrance into most countries. While airlines have inspected that document in the past, look for increased scrutiny going forward after one carrier received a hefty fine in a pet passport related incident.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has been fined £1,800 (about $2,800) by a UK court for carrying a cat found to be traveling on an invalid pet passport, reports Barry & District News. On top of that, KLM was ordered to pay costs of £3,000 and a victim surcharge of £120.

A pet passport is just one part of the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS), a system that enables animals to travel between member countries without undergoing quarantine. Started in the UK, the PETS program then rolled out to other European Union countries, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In the case of the KLM incident, the Mexican cat’s passport had discrepancies over its identification and, more importantly, its rabies vaccinations. “Without trading standards’ intervention, the possibility of a rabies outbreak could have been catastrophic,” said Principal trading standards officer Christina Roberts-Kinsey.While the PETS program is a step in the right direction, standardization between countries is still a work in progress. To fly, pets need a wellness exam, food in-transit and they, too, will have to go through security at the airport. Companies that specialize in transporting pets like PetRelocation.com have the most current and accurate information.

The PetRelocation.com approach designs a custom plan for each individual pet, satisfying or exceeding the entry requirements of countries around the world. Clients receive their pet‘s flight schedule the week before the flight detailing all of the flight numbers, departure and arrival airports along with the pet’s “Air Way Bill” (or ticket) number. These 24/7 flight tracking instructions keep pet owners informed.

Flying on United? A first-class lounge for pets recently opened at Chicago O’Hare.

Dolphin Dies After Tourists Make It Pose For Too Many Photos

by Libby Zay on

While waiting for professional rescuers to save an injured dolphin stranded on a popular beach in Sanya, China, tourists taking souvenir photos ended up killing the helpless animal.

Failing to think of the consequences of their behavior, the tourists picked the distressed dolphin up out of the water again and again for nearly 30 minutes to use it as a prop for photos, South China Morning Post reports. Lifeguards eventually intervened and guided the dolphin away to prevent further manhandling, but the poor animal ultimately died due to excessive bleeding from its tail fin.

An op-ed on Chinese news site rednet.cn scolded the snap-happy tourists, saying they ignored the dolphin’s weakness just so they could take smartphone photos to share with their friends. The Daily Mail says the tourists, whose photos have since gone viral on a Chinese social networking site Sina Weibo, may now face animal cruelty charges.

[via Grist]

Daredevil To Walk Tightrope Across Grand Canyon Live On TV

by Libby Zay on

Daredevil Nik Wallenda, descendent of the famed Flying Wallendas circus family, is planning to walk a tightrope strung across the Colorado River Gorge just outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park this Sunday, Associated Press reports.

Wallenda, who successfully walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope last year, will attempt to walk a third of a mile across a wire suspended 1,500 feet above the chasm. But unlike his Niagara Falls stunt, Wallenda will not be wearing a safety tether – and there won’t be a safety net, either.

The seventh-generation performer’s family has had its fair share of tragedy. Several of his family members have perished while performing, including his great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, who fell to his death while walking a tightrope between two towers of a hotel in Puerto Rico at the age of 73.

Wallenda estimates it will take him about 30 minutes to cross the gorge. Tune in on Sunday at 8 p.m ET to the Discovery Channel to watch the live stunt, or watch it online.

Investigators Say TWA 800 Crash Not An Accident

by Libby Zay on

It’s been almost 17 years since Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 exploded and crashed into waters off Long Island, New York, killing 230 people on board. A parallel investigation by the CIA and FBI deemed the root of the accident was a fuel tank explosion, but now, six former investigators have stepped forward claiming there was a cover up.

Yahoo! is reporting that an upcoming documentary on the accident claims to have proof that a missile caused the flight to crash. One investigator maintains that information provided by more than 750 witnesses was never shared with the FBI, while another says he was “physically removed” by CIA agents from a room when tests from the right wing of the plane came back positive for explosives.

According to the news outlet, the former investigators filed a petition with the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday that called for the case to be reopened, but none of them are speculating on who would have fired the missile or on any reasons for the alleged cover up. We’ll leave it up for readers to draw their own conclusions after watching the film, which premieres on EPIX on July 17, the anniversary of the disaster.