Brooklyn gets its groove on with new Hotel BPM

by Melanie Nayer on

Brooklyn is becoming the new hot-spot for New York hotels. Starwood is set to open its 50th Aloft hotel in Brooklyn on June 1, and now comes word that a new boutique hotel, Hotel BPM, will open later this summer.

Hotel BPM, named for the music term “beats per minute,” is the brainchild behind hip-hop deejay DJ Bijal. The boutique-style property will feature 75 guest rooms, environmentally-conscious amenities and a DJ Bijal-selected soundtrack that will stream through the hotel’s public spaces.

“As a deejay, I’ve had the opportunity to travel often,” says DJ Bijal, Visionary and Founder of Hotel BPM, in a statement. “This hotel is the culmination of the best hotels I visited when I was on the road: BPM will offer great value, great comfort, and great style.”

Guests of Hotel BPM will find environmentally-friendly amenities including Gilchrist & Soames BeeKind bath products. Each room has 40-inch HDTVs; laptop-size safes; personal Keurig coffeemakers and free Wi-Fi. A lounge off the lobby area will serve lite-bites and cocktails, and there is also guest parking and a fitness center for use.

The price for a room at Hotel BPM start at $160 per night for a King room and $180 per night for Doubles. In comparison, the new Starwood Aloft Brooklyn offers room rates from $195 this summer.

The verdict: New York travelers wanting a bit of cost savings without compromising room quality and comfort might consider trekking it over the bridge to trendy Brooklyn for a night.

Virgin America’s flight for Chicago challenge

by Justin Delaney on

In May, Virgin America will begin flying to Chicago O’Hare from Los Angeles and San Francisco. To celebrate their service to an airport traditionally dominated by legacy carriers, Virgin is rolling out a social media contest to entice travelers to “put the smack down on everyday air travel.”

The contest invites Chicagoans to submit a photo or video via the Virgin America Facebook fan page that will be voted on by fellow Facebookers. Entrants will receive a two for one offer on the new routes, but the top ten vote-champions will receive a whole lot more.

The votes will be tallied to crown the top five videos and top five pictures. The winners of the vote will receive complimentary air travel for two from Chicago to Los Angeles or San Francisco on a competitor airline and return airfare on Virgin America’s inaugural flight to Chicago. The winners will be challenged to contrast the stale environs in the legacy cabins of the competition to Virgin’s neon aesthetics, clean lines, and personal touch screens.The winners will also be put up for three nights at either the posh Mondrian hotel in Los Angeles or the modern Clift hotel in San Francisco. For the cherry on top, Sir Richard Branson will welcome the winners on the red carpet for their return to Chicago O’Hare airport.

So get creative and upload some shots. Who knows, maybe come May you will be soaking in the pool at L.A.’s Mondrian wondering just how your life got so sweet. The contest ends on May 11. Virgin America will donate $5 per entry to Stand up for Cancer.

Here’s why it’s time to buy a private jet

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Getting your own private jet has never been easier. If you’ve had sticker shock in the past, it’s time to start shopping again. Prices have dropped severely, which means you now have a chance to travel without the rabble.

The latest from FT.com is that “[p]rices of some of the world’s best known business jets have plunged to remarkable lows as the stumbling global economic recovery puts a brake on spending by even the wealthy.” The implication, of course, is that you can make someone else’s loss your gain.

So, what do you want? A Learjet? You can score one that’s a year old for a mere $8 million – as opposed to the $13 million price tag hanging on a new one. How about a Cessna Citation XLS? You’re looking at a cost savings of around $4 million.

If you were on the fence about shelling out for a private jet, it’s pretty clear that the market is sending you a message right now.

Annual bloggers cruise features new ship, old host

by Chris Owen on





John Heald, the popular senior cruise director for Carnival Cruise Lines, is doing it again hosting for the fifth time his John Heald Bloggers Cruise. Fans of the unflappable John Heald’s blog with over 10 million views since it’s launch in 2007, will sail on the new Carnival Magic in March 2012.

The seven-day western Caribbean voyage will sail round-trip from Galveston, Texas, March 4-11, 2012, visiting Montego Bay, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico.

Like other theme cruises, this one gives up-close and personal time with a celebrity.

Unlike other theme cruises, that celebrity is John Heald.

I met Heald almost 10 years ago on the then-almost-new Carnival Victory and have no trouble imagining him as the big draw for a theme cruise. His easy-going demeanor and quick wit are party-pleasers that I can see many enjoying.

The new 3,690-passenger Carnival Magic brings together fans of the senior cruise director for a week full of fun activities, exclusive giveaways and receptions plus a boat load of memories. Sure, Kid Rock, he is not, but expect a whole lot of fun and some surprises along the way too.


Gadling will be on board Carnival Magic for the ships inaugural sailing May 1, less than a week from now. Stay tuned for all the details on what makes Carnival Magic a great new ship as well as some featured posts off the ship when we go ashore.

Flickr photo by jonworth

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Space shuttle workers may have short trip to new jobs

by Chris Owen on

When the U.S. space shuttle program finally shuts down and the final launch is complete, space workers are going to need a job and they may not have to travel far to find one. Some may end up working in a related field, maybe building the next generation of flight vehicles with a private contractor. But for many workers at Florida‘s Kennedy Space Center, the future had been uncertain at best until now. Now workers are seeing at least one possible option from an unlikely source.

Carnival Cruise Lines recently announced they were moving 2,052-passenger Carnival Ecstasy from Galveston, Texas to Port Canaveral, just down the street from where space workers have been making a living for decades.

Along with Carnival Ecstasy comes hundreds if not thousands of jobs building a new $30 million cruise terminal, dock and more.

No, we’re probably not going to see one of the astronauts or flight directors in the construction process, but for 8,000 space workers who will lose their jobs, this adds one choice to a very short list of options.

Another possible job for space shuttle workers, ironically tech-related is in the health information technology field. As doctors and hospitals make the transition from paper to electronic records jobs there are plentiful but that sure doesn’t sound as exciting as being a part of space travel.

Look for displaced space workers to find other jobs in aerospace too as aviation companies are drawn to the area. Aviation companies soon to break ground at new facilities in Florida include AAR Corp and MidairUSA who noted that the skilled work force was a big advantage over other communities they were considering.

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