Gadlinks for Tuesday 8.18.09

by Jeremy Kressmann on


Hello and welcome to this Tuesday’s edition of Gadlinks. How does it work? The wise and ever-watchful writers of Gadling scour the best of the day’s travel news from around the Internet, summarizing it in one easy to read post. What caught our eye today? Read on below:

  • Frenchman Alexis de Toqueville might have been the first foreign visitor to write about his experiences in America, but he certainly wasn’t the last. Jaunted’s Brit “londontown” is on a cross country road trip from Los Angeles to New York. See what road trip tips he’s learned on his way. [Via Jaunted]
  • Heading to Amsterdam? Why not make your way over to the Herenstraat and Prinsenstraat corridor, two parallel streets that have filled in recent years with hopping bars, restaurants and quirky stores. [Via The New York Times]
  • Stephanie Carrie went to Saint Petersburg to brush up on her Russian language skills. All was going well until her encounter with the barrel of a police machine gun. What happened? Read the full story here. [Via World Hum]
  • Tired of seeing the same old elephants and zebras at the zoo? If you’re in search of something more exotic, head to these zoos which feature some downright bizarre looking creatures. How about some proboscis monkeys and mustached tamarins? [Via MSNBC]

More Gadlinks HERE.

Innovative hotel room folds up when not in use

by Scott Carmichael on

A Dutch design firm has invented an innovative way to bring affordable hotel rooms to pop concerts and other events where people are in need of a cheap room for the night.

The Flexotel is a folding, container hotel room that can be unpacked and furnished in about 10 minutes.

Each container houses 2 hotel rooms (one on each side), and a single truck can hold several rooms. A full setup includes a hostess unit, and facilities for providing breakfast in bed to Flexotel guests.

The first event to offer Flexotel rooms sold all their rooms in a couple of hours, offering rooms for about $100 per night. Of course, the simple design does mean you won’t get a bathroom, air conditioning, sink, shower, TV, minibar or desk.

The biggest advantage of the Flexotel is being able to bring accommodations to temporary events, especially for people who hate sleeping in a tent.

After the jump, a photo of a Flexotel room being assembled.

Dutch airport hotel for goldfish the newest victim of the recession

by Scott Carmichael on

Seriously, is nothing safe from the grasps of the crappy economy?

Even the goldfish hotel we wrote about back in June barely lasted 4 weeks before closing the lid of its tank.

Closing the “hotel” wasn’t too hard, because when its end came, there were no guests checked in, and no reservations lined up.

Of course, because the whole concept was sponsored by a travel agency, it is perfectly possible that the opening and subsequent closing were all one big PR stunt, but sources confirm that the hotel was real, and that several people actually arrived at Schiphol airport with a goldfish ready to be checked in for a week.

Still, I think 4 weeks is a record for the launch and failure of a hotel, even if it was only open to fish. Then again, in an era where pets get their own airline or hotel and dogs have sex toys, not much surprises me.

Amsterdam becoming the car tipping capital of the world?

by Scott Carmichael on

Ever seen one of those little Smart cars? They may be pretty rare in the US, but in Europe you’ll have a hard time not being able to find the little buggers. Especially in the major cities of Europe, the small cars are extremely popular, as they are a breeze to park. In fact, they are so easy to park, that many owners can fit two of them in a single parking spot.

Smart car owners in Amsterdam may be starting to have second thoughts about their little cars, because of an alarming new trend.

“Smart Smijten” is the Dutch name for it, and it translates to “Smart Tipping” – the “sport” of tipping the vehicle into a canal. If there is one thing Amsterdam has no shortage of, it is canals. And since many owners park their car with the rear facing the water, it is easy for a couple of drunk hooligans to pick the car up from the front, and dump it into the canal.

Of course, the cars are a total loss when they have been in the filthy water, and the crane required to lift them out probably doesn’t do them much good either.

Apparently, the Dutch police have known about he phenomenon for some time, but tried to keep it quiet, to prevent copy-cat criminals. It is probably only a matter of time till other cities try to compete. So, if you own or rent a Smart (or other small vehicle), keep it away from any canals when you park!

The high price of low cost airlines

by Scott Carmichael on

Low cost airlines are awesome – they have completely changed the way people fly, but they also helped redesign the entire aviation world, sending a powerful wakeup call to the legacy carriers.

There is however a nasty side to them – in their drive to cut costs and keep prices low, they have started to alienate customers and take on a very nasty attitude.

When flying with a low cost carrier, you need to pay very close attention to their rules, regulations and fees.

A good example of the inflexibility of the low cost carriers (Ryanair in particular) comes from The Netherlands. When Mrs. Raaijmakers and her family arrived at Weeze Niederrehin airport, she was told that since she had not checked in online, she’d have to pay a EUR160 airport check-in fee (about $230). Since she did not have that kind of cash, the airline simply told her that her family could not fly with them, and departed without her.

Now in the defense of Ryanair, these rules are spelled out quite clearly, and are published right on the main page at Ryanair.com. That said – to tell a passenger that they can either pay, or miss their flight seems quite rude. A Ryanair spokesperson said that the airline is “sick and tired of people who don’t read the rules”, and that “not paying means not flying”.

Because Mrs. Raaijmakers will arrive later at her destination, she and her husband are going to lose their jobs (in a bar). When confronted with this, Ryanair said “that is not our problem”.

I’m not one to blame the consumer, and it doesn’t seem right to blame Ryanair for this either, but it really should be a valuable lesson for anyone trying to save some money by picking a low cost carrier – the hidden cost is that not paying attention will cost you a lot more in the long run. Things that make sense on legacy carriers (like checking in at the airport) do not work with the low cost carriers, so be sure to read their site and check up on user experiences on aviation web sites before clicking “buy now”.
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