Hospitality Employees Waste 1.7 Million Hours Annually Creating Towel Origami

by Mike Barish on

According to a new study published in Terry Cloth Scientific, employees in the hospitality industry waste nearly two million hours a year folding towels into the shapes of animals and other figures. Employees at hotels, aboard cruise ships and at spas spend entire shifts at their places of business folding, rolling and tucking towels to resemble local and exotic wildlife. The study suggests that employee time would be better spent servicing customer needs. However, industry leaders believe that the practice will continue.Thad Fredericks, general manager of Moist Adventures, a small cruise operator based in Wichita, Kansas, said that he’s had his employees folding towels into animals for nearly three decades. “Towels hanging from a rod might help them dry, but they bring no life to the room. Our guests expect their rooms to match their surroundings and cruises are surrounded by water.” It is his belief that a wet towel shaped like a dolphin is a better offer to his passengers than a dry towel that looks like a towel.

Most of his contemporaries agree. Fiona Rappaport, a hospitality consultant, advises her clients in all aspects of guest services. “Towel animals create a whimsical ambiance and a child-like innocence,” she suggests. “Towels are inherently boring. The entire vacation experience hinges on the towel,” Ms. Rappaport said.

The study estimates that time spent folding towels costs the industry $7.8 billion dollars annually. That is significantly higher than losses incurred when employees spend personal time using the Internet.

Reed Basin, author of the Terry Cloth Scientific study, seemed resigned to the results. “The hospitality industry is in love with towel origami. Towel swans, towel turtles, towel hearts, towel bears. All people want are towels.”

The study also surveyed guests to gauge their interest in origami towels. Forty-eight million vacationers were asked their opinions on the anthropomorphic towels. “We found six people who liked them,” Mr. Basin said. “There were eight last year,” he continued, “but two died since then.”

Extreme Kayaker Prepares For The ‘Seven Plummets’

by Kraig Becker on

In mountaineering circles the Seven Summits refers to the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents and, over the past few decades, climbing those peaks has become quite the badge of honor in the adventure community. Now self-proclaimed extreme kayaker Bob “Gnarly” Goldstein has come up with a similar rite of passage for paddling sport that is equally challenging and dangerous. Goldstein says that he intends to paddle over the biggest waterfalls on each of the continents, an endeavor that he has dubbed “the Seven Plummets.”

Goldstein claims he first came up with the idea while in Base Camp on Mt. Everest last spring. He was there attempting to become the first person to ride a mountain bike to the summit of the world’s tallest peak – an attempt that ultimately ended in failure – when he heard other climbers discussing the Seven Summits. Intrigued with the concept, he never the less soon discovered that mountaineering might not be for him. “Turns out riding a bike up Everest is really hard,” he says without a hint of humor in his voice. “I learned pretty quickly that it is much easier going down than up.”

Defeated on the slopes of Everest, Bob returned home to Topeka, Kansas, where a new idea began to slowly germinate in his head. “I wanted to do something that combined my love for the outdoors with my natural talent for going down something,” he explains. “This seemed like an obvious way to combine those two things and I’m looking forward to having gravity work in my favor this time.”From that simple idea the concept of the Seven Plummets was born and Goldstein immediately began researching the biggest waterfalls on each of the continents. That list includes the massive Niagara Falls in North America, Iguazu Falls in South America and Victoria Falls in Africa. He also plans to take on Europe’s Langfoss Falls, Jog Falls in Asia and Sutherland Falls in Oceania. “For some reason I haven’t found the largest waterfall in Antarctica yet,” Bob says, “I think it’s because it hasn’t been completely explored yet.”

With his research complete, Bob set about gaining the skills that he would need for the successful completion of the Plummets. “I’d never even been in a kayak before,” he says. “So I enrolled in a class down at the YMCA and learned to paddle in the pool.” That led to some weekends out on the duck pond in his backyard where he further honed his abilities. “I’ve come a long way in a short time,” he says. “I’m now quite comfortable paddling Class II waters. Class III if the wind isn’t blowing too hard.”

Bob is quick to point out that he is taking his training much more seriously than he did last year when he was preparing for Everest. Not only has he been spending time in his kayak, he’s also hitting the gym at least two or three times a month and watching a lot of paddling videos on YouTube. “I’ve even switched to light beer!” he declares proudly.

In May, Goldstein will travel to upstate New York for his first challenge, the 165-foot drop over Niagara Falls. That’s just a tuneup for what comes next, however. If he survives Niagara, he plans to go to Africa in June and take on Victoria Falls. That will be a staggering 355-foot drop. More than twice as high as the previous record kayak drop.

“It’s going to be Gnarly!” Bob says confidently. “Now I just need to learn how to swim.”

[Photo credit via Lake Fong/Post-Gazette]

Seven Star Alliance launches new standards for ultra-luxury hotels

by McLean Robbins on

Move over, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Aman and Banyan Tree. You’ve been outdone. A new level of travel award, launched today, has declared a new level of recognition. The Seven Star Alliance is awarding hotels a new level of recognition to ultra-luxury hotels.

“Today’s luxury traveler is seeking a higher level of service and customized experience than is typically found in today’s five-star hotels and resorts,” says Branson Smythson Winters IV, chairman of Seven Star Alliance. “We seek to cater to the traveler who, when tired of their private island in the Maldives, says ‘I want to go somewhere really special.'”

All of Seven Star Alliance’s properties must meet the following criterion:

  • Private landing strip on property available for private aircraft of an size, dockage for 100’+ yachts if waterfront
  • Personal concierge service at a 1-1 minimum staff-to-guest ratio
  • All-suite facility, maximum 50 rooms
  • Michelin four star or James Beard award-winning chef(s)
  • Championship golf, tennis, equestrian, skiing or yachting facilities on-site
  • Luxury spa with 75+ treatment option menu

The guide has thus far recognized that no hotels have yet to meet their criteria, but several are slated to open within the next year in Asia.

[Flickr via ThisIsDuffy]

Russia breeds petite lap giraffes

by Meg Nesterov on

Allergic to cats? Can’t commit to walking a dog several times a day? The petite lap giraffe may be for you. Developed and bred on a farm outside Krasnodar in Southern Russia, these little longnecks are perfect for people with pet allergies, small children, or just a taste for tiny opulence.

The lap giraffes need a diet of bonsai tree leaves and filtered water, and prefer to be inside with air conditioning. They are ideal for travelers as they are under 11 pounds, under the weight requirement for many airlines. Plus, think of the adventure you’ll have traveling to Sokoblovsky Farms near the Black Sea! Click here to get on the waiting list for your own little Vladimir or Svetlana and happy travels with your petite lap giraffe!

Blogger accepts press trip to Great Pacific Garbage Patch, lost at sea for seven weeks

by Grant Martin on

Steve Zorio, staff blogger for travel blog upstart hipjaunter is not a happy person. The wayward travel blogger, just back from seven weeks at sea has just returned from what he calls “a totally lame” press trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the 15,000,000 square kilometer island of trash slowly circling through the world’s largest ocean.

After being air dropped out of a sea-plane into the center of the swirling mass of diapers and plastic bags, Mr. Zorio spent a whole two hours waiting for happy hour and a massage until he got suspicious about the whole way that this press trip was going to shake out.

Three days into his affair, he was able to fashion a raft out of orange peels, boarding passes and his comped Delsey Platinum edition ultra-fit four robolaser roll-a-board and set sail for the west coast of North America, where he washed ashore earlier this week.

We were able to reach Mr. Zorio for comment at LAX where he was waiting to board his flight back to New York City:

Dude, I thought GPGP was the acronym for Galapagos or some shit. My contact at Clampet International PR said that this place was totally going to be on the New York Times hotlist for 2012 and I wanted to make sure that I filed all of the first Yelp reviews.

I don’t know. I saw “You’re Invited” in the title line of the message from CIPR and just kind of blacked out.

Asked about whether or not a visit to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch had changed his life or whether his visit had any impact on his opinion of the region he replied:

Where? I don’t know, I’m already on my way to check out a boutique spa in Barbados. I’ll probably just paste the press release that I got into a blog article and try to sneak it past my editor. I don’t give a shit about what he thinks anyway.