10 Hotels Helping Guests Celebrate This Labor Day

by Jessica Festa on

Looking to travel at the end of the summer, but don’t want to miss out on the Labor Day festivities? Stay at one of these U.S. hotels offering packages, deals and parties.

Riverside Hotel
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Sometimes it pays to work overtime. The Riverside Hotel is offering perks to vacationers who put in the time. Basically, the longer you stay, the less you will pay. With their limited time “Stay More, Save More” package, visitors who stay one night will receive 10% off, visitors who stay two nights will receive 20% off and visitors who stay three nights or more will received 30% off. Other perks include:

  • 25% off at Echo Salon
  • 20% off dinner at Indigo restaurant
  • Buy one ice cream at Kilwin’s, get one free
  • 50% off beer, wine or cocktails at Golden Lyon Pub

Nightly rates start at $149 per night, before the discount. Package is valid until September 30, 2012. Click here to book.The Broadmoor
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Residing near the southern edge of the Rocky Mountains you’ll find The Broadmoor, a luxurious yet historical hotel, which first opened in 1918. This Labor Day, the property is helping families enjoy the holiday with their “Labor Day Family Escape” package, which includes:

  • Overnight accommodations
  • Bicycle and paddle boat rentals daily
  • One hour horseback trail ride or Garden of the Gods jeep tour for each person
  • Complimentary access to The BROADMOOR movie theater
  • 40% discount on adult tickets at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
  • 15% discount on select retail purchases
  • 40% discount on published suite rates

Package available August 30 through September 4. Rates start at $485 per couple for three nights. Click here for more information.

The Lodge At Tiburon
Tiburon, California

Located only steps away from the docks of the San Francisco Bay, The Lodge At Tiburon is a relaxing retreat nestled among the cafés, boutiques and galleries of Tiburon. To help guests enjoy the upcoming holiday, the property is offering a “Labor Day Escape” package. The offer includes 30% the nightly room rate, daily breakfast and dinner for two at the newly opened Tiburon Tavern, a local gastropub with a farm-to-table dining approach.

Package rates start at $168 per night, with a minimum two-night stay required. Click here for more information.

Lakeway Resort and Spa
Austin, Texas

Lakeway Resort and Spa is ideally located near wineries, marinas, restaurants, nightlife and championship golf courses and offers numerous leisure activities. To help guests celebrate Labor Day, the resort has put together an exciting lineup of activities for guests to take part in. Some of the weekend highlights include sporting events for children, complimentary happy hours, S’more making, live music, a swim up breakfast, pizza and pasta buffets and more.

Rates start at $229 during the holiday weekend, with a minimum two-night stay required. Click here for more information.

Windham Hill Inn
West Townshend, Vermont

For those looking to escape the city and unwind amongst the Green Mountains in Vermont, Windham Hill Inn is offering a “Labor Day Mountain Escape.” Along with getting the opportunity to explore over 160 acres of beautiful landscape, guests staying at the inn over the holiday weekend will receive:

  • 3-course daily breakfast
  • Afternoon tea and homemade scones
  • Evening Vermont cheese board
  • Use of binoculars for on-property bird watching
  • Use of tennis court and swimming pool
  • Private garden tour by kitchen team member

Moreover, for an additional cost, guests can arrange to have the kitchen prepare a special Labor Day picnic for them to enjoy on the grounds where it will be stocked with Labor Day favorites such as watermelon, fruit salad, a chocolate dessert and more.

Rates start at $255 per night based on double occupancy. Click here for more information.

The Grove Park Inn
Asheville, North Carolina

This Labor Day, The Grove Park Inn is featuring a festive lineup of activities. From August 31 to September 3, guests can take part in shag dance lessons, pool games, live music throughout the resort, a Coastal Seafood Buffet and much more. Additionally, the weekend package offer includes:

  • Two nights of resort accommodations in a Property View room
  • Breakfast daily at your choice of the Blue Ridge Dining Room’s lavish buffet or In-Room Dining
  • Dinner at the Blue Ridge Dining Room’s coastal seafood buffet on Sunday, September 2, 2012
  • Tickets to the summer kick-off concert on Sunday evening
  • Tickets to the Saturday concert featuring “The Band of Oz”
  • Tickets to the Sunday concert featuring “Chairmen of the Board”
  • Complimentary admission to many of the weekend’s events and activities

Package rates start at $659 per couple for two nights. Click here for more information.

Keystone Lodge and Spa
Keystone, Colorado

For couples looking for a romantic mountain retreat this Labor Day, the AAA Four Diamond Award-winning Keystone Lodge and Spa is offering a “Labor Day Weekend Couples Lodging and Play for Free” package. This three-night package for two features:

  • Nine holes of golf on afternoon of arrival
  • Wagon ride dinner
  • Guided hiking tour
  • Four hour bike rentals
  • Mountain biking lift haul
  • 20% off lodging

Package rates start at $818.68 including tax, surcharge and resort fee. This is for two people for three nights. Available August 31 to September 3. Click here for more information.

MileNorth, A Chicago Hotel
Chicago, Illinois

MileNorth, A Chicago Hotel is located just a few blocks from Lake Michigan where guests can enjoy summer activities like riding bikes along the Lakefront Trail, Great Lake surfing and relaxing on dune-covered beaches. The newly branded property is inviting travelers to Celebrate Chicago this Labor Day. The offer includes:

  • Two cocktails at C-View, the 29th floor rooftop lounge with sweeping views of the city
  • A gift tin of Chicago’s signature Garret’s Popcorn
  • Four ride vouchers to explore Chicago’s largest outdoor playground, Navy Pier
  • $10 Chicago Transit Authority card to live like a local during your trip

Rates start $184 per night. Click here for more information.

W Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona

A luxurious yet comfortable hotel, the W Scottsdale is offering a variety of “pick your package” promotions to coincide with their end of summer Labor Day pool party. The event, which is scheduled for September 2, will take place on the hotel’s rooftop pool deck, WET. Moreover, guests can opt for special offers like:

  • “Road Trip”: Guests will receive a $35 gas card, complimentary overnight WHEELS valet parking, a W Scottsdale travel cup and accommodations in a Wonderful room.
  • “Vitamin W”: Labor Day sun worshippers will receive a W Scottsdale beach tote, Aloe Vera cooling spray, lip balm, a poolside pitcher of margaritas and accommodations in a Wonderful room.
  • “Feel the Music”: Beat lovers will get a $30 iTunes gift card, W Scottsdale ear phones, W Hotels music CD, two cool cocktails and accommodations in a Wonderful room.

Rates begin at $199 per night. Click here for more information.

The Liberty Hotel, A Luxury Collection Hotel
Boston, Massachusetts

This Labor Day, The Liberty Hotel, A Luxury Collection Hotel is giving guests the chance to end the summer in style with their “Farewell To Summer” package. Participating guests will receive overnight accommodations, daily breakfast for two at CLINK and free valet parking.

Package rates start at $299 per night, with a two-night minimum required. Valid August 31 to September 3. Click here for more information.

A Fresh Air Fiend’s Moments of Travel Bliss

by Dave Seminara on

Freedom. That’s the whole point of travel, right? Travel is about untethering yourself from your comfort zone to satisfy your curiosity about what’s around the corner, or around the world. Done right, it can be incredibly liberating. But in the U.S., and increasingly around the world, risk adverse corporations, trigger happy lawyers and Big Brother can sometimes take all the freedom and liberty out of our travel experiences.

In May, I had two experiences on FSE, a small regional train line in Italy that reminded me how joyful travel can be when you have the wind in your hair and there are seemingly no rules. The first blissful ride was a short trip from Lecce to Otranto, in Italy’s heel.
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FSE trains are shorter and narrower than full size ones, so you have the feeling of being on a mini-train. On this day, there were only a few other passengers on board the three- or four-car train and we had an entire car to ourselves. It was a warm afternoon, and we were passing through a lovely landscape dotted with olive groves, palm trees and tiny little train stations where bored young men used hand crank machinery to shift tracks for passing trains.There were ten windows and I went through the car and opened every one of them as far as I could. I wandered about the empty car, reveling in the life-affirming breeze, which was blowing the train curtains to and fro. I occasionally popped my head out the window, just for the hell of it and because no one was there to tell me not to.

Italians hate open windows on a train, so I was well aware that someone might board the train and end my party at any moment. But it never happened, a few others joined us, but they left the windows open. I enjoyed the ride immensely; in fact, I didn’t really want it to end. But it also reminded me of how rare a commodity fresh air is in hotels, buses, trains and even some ferries these days.

Paul Theroux named one of his books “Fresh Air Fiend” and he could have been writing about me. Unless the weather is brutally hot, I love to be outside and I always want the windows open. But in the U.S., and other countries, it’s getting harder and harder to control one’s access to fresh air. Some hotels don’t let you open the window at all, and others let you open it just a crack.

This spring, I stayed at a Marriott in Zurich and our room had a dramatic view of the city with snow capped mountains as a backdrop. I called down to the front desk to ask them if I could have just one little photo op with the window open, but they wouldn’t budge.

“It’s for liability purposes,” the English speaker at the front desk said.

“But I won’t get that close to the open window,” I pleaded. “Look, you can even have someone hold my hands if you like.”

But it was no use – they refused to let me open the window, even to take a photo. At least in hotel rooms though, one can usually exert some measure of control over the room temperature, imperfect though those systems often are. On a sealed-shut train or bus with no ability to open the window, you are at the mercy of whatever the room temperature is. I’m always warm and my wife is usually cold.

The main reason I don’t like flying is the claustrophobia – there is limited space to move about and you obviously can’t open the windows to get some fresh air. But newer trains and buses are also becoming like flying coffins, where we are sealed shut and protected from both the elements and ourselves. In our cars, we can still put the windows down, at least for now, but the newer ones will squawk at you should you have the nerve to unbuckle your seatbelt, even for a moment.

You can almost always get some fresh air on a ferry ride, but even there you can occasionally be forced inside a sealed coffin. I was on a small ferry in very rough seas en route to the Greek island of Syros in June and the crew forced those of us who were on the deck to go inside when the going got particularly rough. I didn’t feel seasick on deck but inside the cabin with nothing but stagnant, warm air, my stomach started to churn.

And while the fresh air issue isn’t just a U.S. problem, we do seem to have more rules and regulations – many of them inspired by our lawsuit happy culture – that can make travel feel less spontaneous and fun.

I’m not a big drinker but when I visited the ancient Italian college town of Perugia this spring and saw all of the young and not-so-young people enjoying adult beverages in the squares, I wondered why we couldn’t allow the same here. We’re strict about public consumption of alcohol but our college students engage in more binge drinking than the Italians, who are free to drink from an earlier age and in public.

My second moment of travel bliss came on the same train, this time heading to Gallipoli. FSE conductors wear no uniforms, which gives the whole experience a rather casual vibe, and one of them invited my sons to come into his control room to blow the train whistle (see video).

My sons, ages 2 and 4, loved having an opportunity to push the button to blow the whistle and the conductor let them do it over and over again. But after they got bored with that, he actually let my 4-year-old take over the controls of the train for a minute or two (see video below). Now, he was obviously standing right there and could have taken over at any point if an emergency arose, but I just sat back laughing, thinking that there’s no chance that Amtrak would allow such fun and frivolity.

So here’s three cheers for hotels, trains and buses with windows that open, drinking in public and allowing 4-year-olds to drive trains. After all, these are the things that travel is all about.

Hotel News We Noted: August 10, 2012

by McLean Robbins on

It’s hot and sticky and, judging by the amount of traffic we’ve seen headed to the beaches, everyone is on vacation this week. Still, we truck along to bring you this week’s “Hotel News We Noted,” featuring the latest and greatest from the hospitality world.

As always, send news, notes and general complaints or well wishes via email.

App Awesomeness: The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas
The Venetian and The Palazzo in Las Vegas have finally grown wise to the idea that navigating their 16 million square foot resort and casino complex can sometimes be, well, a bit complicated. We’ve gotten lost more than once on the way from Barney’s to the blackjack table, and not just because we had a few complimentary drinks that fuzzed our non-existent sense of direction. A new VP Pocket Concierge app (available on Apple and Android both) mixes turn-by-turn directions inside the hotels with the ability to make reservations, enjoy Grazie rewards club perks and more. Useful – we wish more Vegas hotels offered this technology.

Fashionable Perk: Vivienne Tam Slippers from Hilton
Keep your feet looking fashion-forward when you visit Hilton Hotels this fall with a limited-edition slipper designed by Vivienne Tam for their Hilton Huanying program, offered at 70 of the brand’s properties in more than 20 countries. Guests of the program will get the slippers free, but you can also buy them online at HiltontoHome.com (use VTHILTON to save 20% through 9/30) or try to win them in a Twitter giveaway through @HiltonHotels. The blue slippers, which feature dragons, are pretty snazzy. Will you be getting a pair, or would you prefer to hold out for the Loubs below?

Hotel Openings: Fairmont Jaipur
Travelers headed to India now have another hotel option thanks to yesterday’s opening of the Fairmont Jaipur, the first of the brand’s properties in India. The 255-room hotel was designed to reflect a traditional Mughal palace. In keeping with Fairmont’s commitment to offer local experiences to guests, travelers to the hotel can enjoy elephant rides, village walks and more.

Fashion Love: Mandarin Oriental Washington DC Offers Brides Louboutin Shoes
Chances are, if you’re paying to host your wedding at the Mandarin Oriental, you know at least a thing or two about style and luxury. The brand’s DC property is sweetening the deal, however, by offering a $1,000 credit towards the purchase of famed designer Christian Louboutin’s shoes for brides planning a wedding at the property. Not only do you get the iconic red soles, but you’ll also get a personal shopping experience at Neiman Marcus, where a Mandarin rep waits on you hand and foot (literally) offering champagne, treats and more. The cost? A mere $50,000 or more for the wedding. A fun perk for sure, although we think we’d rather have a cheaper wedding and buy our own shoes!

Would You Sleep In A Converted Shipping Container?

by Jessica Festa on




Beginning in September, travelers visiting France will be able to book a hotel room in a converted shipping container (pictured above).

Located near the France-Belgian border, Deûle Insolite is featuring 20-foot-long steel boxes with amenities like a kitchenette and a balcony with views of the Deûle River. According to the Huffington Post, the “cabins” were created in partnership with HouseUP, which specializes in transforming large steel boxes into beautiful vacation homes.

The shipping container rooms are just one of the quirky options offered to guests. Deûle Insolite also offers camping trailers, an Airstream Sovereign and a Mongolian-style yurt.

Would you sleep in a shipping container?

Vagabond Tales: The Curious Case Of Indonesia’s Pulau Bintan

by Kyle Ellison on

Of course you’ve heard of Bali, but have you heard of Bintan?

Of the 18,000 or so islands, which make up the archipelago of Indonesia, the same five or six names invariably pop up when it comes to Indonesian tourism. Bali, the Gili Islands, Sulawesi, Java, Flores, Sumatra … but what about Bintan?

Believe it or not, in terms of overall visitor numbers, Pulau Bintan is actually one of the highest visited and most popular destinations in all of Indonesia. Located only 50 minutes by ferry from the urban metropolis of Singapore, Pulau Bintan is a favorite weekend getaway for Singapore businessmen and their families who are looking to leave the city behind and escape to Indonesia for a few days.

The only problem with this, however, is that Pulau Bintan isn’t really Indonesia. Well, part of it is, but then there’s a whole other part that simply, well, isn’t.

Just in the same way that the island of Hispaniola is divided into Haiti on one side and the Dominican Republic on the other, Pulau Bintan is likewise divided into Bintan Resorts on one side of the border and Indonesia on the other.

Wait. Did you say Bintan Resorts? That’s not a country.

%Gallery-161966%In what can only be dubbed a politically curious case of economic colonialism, Bintan Resorts is actually a sprawling, 57,000-acre mega-resort that is essentially an extension of Singapore. There is a direct ferry from Singapore, all transactions take place in Singapore dollars, and even the electrical outlets are wired to accept Singapore plugs.

The reason this is all very strange is that Bintan Resorts is not a part of Singapore. It’s a part of Indonesia. When you step off of the ferry from Singapore, you still need to pass through Indonesian customs and obtain an Indonesian visa. After that little diplomatic formality, however, everything reverts back to Singapore and Western modernity.

Shuttles transport you from one luxurious beach resort to the next. Infinity-style swimming pools lap calmly next to thatched hut bungalows. Waiters offer to bring you a wildly overpriced can of Bintang beer, all the staff speaks English, and there are golf courses, a Club Med, and no fewer than 12 separate day spas.

Ok, so that’s not that weird, lots of islands have overpriced resort districts. What’s your point?

My point is that Bintan Resorts also has a fence around it. That’s right. A fence.

There is a massive fence surrounding the entire Bintan Resorts complex, which separates the high-paying tourists from the low-income locals. There are checkpoints when leaving the resort complex, which are akin to a border crossing. There are guards, there is a guardhouse, and there is a fence.

You know where else has a fence? The border of the United States and Mexico. Fences are not welcoming. They are divisive, and they are meant to keep people out.

Granted, putting a fence around private property is not exactly a strange thing to do. What’s strange about the fence around Bintan Resorts is that it almost seems to have nationalistic indications. While the fence inarguably draws a line in the socio-economic sand, it also appears to draw a line between two nations: Singapore on one side of the line, Indonesia on the other.

What gives me trouble is that I’m not sure if the fence is meant to keep Singapore in, or rather, to keep Indonesia out.

Again, this is all very strange, because despite there being a border on most maps, which delineates Pulau Bintan into two distinct regions, the entire island is, after all, sovereign territory of Indonesia.

So while relaxing by the infinity pool was nice for about a day, I’m not the type of explorer who is content to sit and lounge. I traveled to Indonesia to see Indonesia. I wanted to see what was on the other side of the fence.

Three days later, in the island’s capital of Tanjung Pinang, as the 5 a.m. call to prayer exploded from the minaret of the local mosque, I suddenly knew I wasn’t in Bintan Resorts anymore.

Having already spent two days outside of Bintan Resorts on the muddy beaches of the island’s eastern shore, I now found myself in the frenetic capital of 200,000 people being woken in darkness to a city already teeming with activity. A motorcycle buzzed beneath my window, the muezzin seemed only to get louder, and my hungry stomach actively growled.

It may not be the beachside massage table from four days earlier, but Tanjung Pinang was a living, breathing, Indonesian city, and I was none too happy to go out and explore it.

Ambling to the waterfront amidst a constant swarm of motorbikes, I shouldered up to a food stall for a breakfast paid for with a fistful of rupiah. Despite still being half asleep, I was awake enough to notice the sideways glances and curious stares. There isn’t much Western tourism in Tanjung Pinang, and after having spent 30 minutes on the street I still hadn’t seen another foreign face.

While waiting for my food in a red plastic chair, I was approached by a man with minimal English who simply wanted to say hello. Through the broken words and awkward pauses, I came to understand that I was the first white person he had ever spoken to.

Ever.

Nervous but thankful, after a three-minute exchange, which could barely qualify as a conversation, the man thanked me for my time and continued about his day. The rest of the morning provided much of the same.

Squeezing my way down the motorbike-clogged streets, groups of local children would giggle and yell a “hello!” in my direction.

Men waved. A few took photos. Sure, there were festering garbage heaps in the alleyways, stray cats, clouds of cigarette smoke, a foul stench, the perfect combination of diesel fumes and fish, and a cacophony of motorbike mufflers, which provided an overall soundtrack to the squalor. All in all, however, this was still a port town with some charm.

Hours before needing to catch my ferry back to Singapore and modernity, I was lucky enough to watch local teams participate in dragon boat races down by the harbor. Expertly navigating their lightweight craft, crowds cheered as a different boat took the lead and groups of schoolchildren played on the rocks. A live band performed traditional music to an appreciative crowd of local passersby as a barefoot merchant did his best to hawk a bucket full of dried fish.

Sitting back and examining the scene, I realized that here, on the other side of the fence, I was finally nothing more than a fly on the wall examining the whirlwind culture of everyday Indonesia.

Maybe, it seemed that fence around Bintan Resorts serves a different purpose; it keeps the manicured luxury of Singapore out, and the authenticity of Indonesia in.

Want more travel stories? Read the rest of the “Vagabond Tales” over here.