New Study Reveals Cities With The Highest And Lowest Taxes For Travelers

by Dave Seminara on

On a recent road trip, I stopped for the night in suburban Indianapolis and was happy to find a nice hotel room for just $91 per night. But in the morning, when I saw the receipt that was slipped under the door and noticed a total bill of $106.47, I thought that there was some mistake.

In huge cities like New York and Chicago you expect punitive taxes on travel related expenses, but could the hotel tax rate really be 17% in the Hoosier State? A stroll down to the front desk confirmed that there was no mistake and according to a newly released report from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), Indy has one of the highest hotel tax rates in the country.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m planning a trip, I don’t think much about taxes, but I probably should because in some places they can really drive up the cost. I tend to look at the room rate or the rental car rate itself, and by the time I get to the confirm page where you see the taxes, I’ve more or less already made my decision and somehow I think I’m paying $91 for the room in Indy, rather than the $106.47 it will come to with taxes.Since the start of the Global Recession, politicians in cash strapped municipalities all over the country have been looking for ways to make up for budget shortfalls and hitting out-of-towners is a convenient way to escape the wrath of local voters. According to the GBTA’s fifth annual report, “discriminatory travel taxes and fees enacted on travel-related services impose an average increased cost on visitors of 57% over general sales tax.”

So what are the most and least taxing cities for travelers? It should come as no surprise to see New York and Chicago on the taxing list, but why are Portland, Oregon, and a few places in California in the least taxing column? Portland actually shows up in the top ten least taxing list because Oregon has no sales tax, but it also shows up in the top most discriminatory taxes list (which doesn’t count taxes that apply to everyone, just those that apply to travelers) because it has a very high rental car tax rate.

A number of municipalities in California lowered their sales tax rate in 2011 and made the least taxing list based on that. The biggest surprise for me is the fact that Honolulu made the least taxing list.

Highest Overall Tax Burden for Travelers

The following figures reveal how much a traveler would pay in taxes for one day of travel, including a $103.45 hotel room, a $55.99 rental car and $91.22 in meals at restaurants. Chicago hits the trifecta with crippling taxes on hotels and rental cars plus a high sales tax rate, giving it the overall tax crown.

Chicago- $40.33
New York- $37.98
Boston- $34.83
Kansas City- $34.58
Seattle- $34.43
Minneapolis- $34.32
Cleveland- $34.22
Indianapolis- $34.19
Nashville- $34.13
Houston- $33.51

Lowest Overall Tax Burden for Travelers

Ft. Lauderdale, FL- $22.21
Ft. Myers, FL- $22.21
West Palm Beach, FL- $22.21
Detroit, MI- $22.37
Portland, OR- $22.45
Orange County, CA- 22.79
Burbank, CA- $23.74
Ontario, CA- $24.08
Honolulu, HI- $24.38
Orlando, FL- $24.50

New York City has the highest hotel tax rate, followed by Nashville, Indianapolis and Houston. Chicago has the highest rental car tax rate, followed by Boston, Las Vegas, and Minneapolis.

One might ask what these cities are doing with the tax revenues they collect from travelers. Are they using the money to promote their destination or to enhance the tourism infrastructure? The answer varies from place to place, but looking at Chicago, for example, just 1% of the 16% hotel tax goes toward tourism promotion, according to the study.

In most European countries, prices for hotels, rental cars, meals and almost everything else already include the applicable taxes. As a consumer, I find this very straightforward in that you know exactly what you’ll pay, but it also masks where your money is going. You might think that 100€ you’re paying for a hotel room is pricey, but you may not be aware that the hotel is losing a large chunk of that revenue to the tax collector.

Do you pay attention to the tax rates when planning travel, or are they just an afterthought? If the city has a high hotel tax rate, will you choose a less expensive hotel or go to a different city altogether? Would you like to see hotels and rental car companies display or explain the tax rates in a more transparent way when you book through the Internet or over the phone?

[Photo by 401K 2012 on Flickr]

Global Street Food Celebrated In Recipes And Stories In New Book

by Laurel Miller on

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the reign of the “Two Hot Tamales,” Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken were the badass female chefs/restaurateurs of the ’80s and ’90s, and the darlings of the Food Network in its infancy (read: when it was good). They helped to put world and regional Mexican cuisine on the radar in the United States with their L.A. restaurants CITY, City Cafe, and the Border Grill, and subsequent TV shows and cookbooks.

Today, they’re still at it. Feniger competed on “Top Chef Masters” last year, and also has her first solo restaurant, STREET, in Hollywood. The menu is dedicated to one of her enduring passions, which is global street food. In July, “Susan Feniger’s Street Food: Irresistibly Crispy, Creamy, Crunchy, Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Recipes” (Clarkson Potter), hit the shelves: a lively collection of recipes adapted from her favorite street foods worldwide.

In June, I caught Feniger doing a pre-release-inspired cooking demo, “Irresistible Street Food,” at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. I’ve attended a lot of cooking demos in my day, and she’s without doubt one of the most engaging, down-to-earth chefs I’ve ever seen, and not just because I’m piggishly besotted with street food.

Caught up in sharing the travel stories behind the recipes she was preparing (the book is packed with anecdotes from her trips to places like India, Turkey, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Singapore), Feniger was reminiscent of a modern-day Julia Child. “Oh! Salt. Forgot the salt. Oh well, let’s add some more gin!” she said of her Honeydew Cucumber Cooler. In her defense, I, along with the rest of the audience, was suffering a classic Food & Wine Classic hangover right along with her. The weekend’s motto should be, “You play, you pay.”

Feniger also prepared Indian Puffed Rice Salad, and Egyptian Bus Stop Kushary (a lentil dish), in between anecdotes. Whether you’re an armchair traveler or a street food-obsessed adventurer, her book will leave you inspired, intrigued, and hungry for a taste of what the world’s back alleys have to offer.

If you’re in the Bay Area, catch Feniger at a “Cooks with Books” event sponsored by Book Passage, featuring a meal made from the book’s recipes. She’ll also be doing a signing at Omnivore Books in San Francisco on September 21, and at the Book Passage in the San Francisco Ferry Building on September 22.

Cortland, Illinois: The Small Town That Claims To Be Big

by Dave Seminara on

Small towns all over America attempt to find novel ways to market themselves to outsiders. You see these efforts, some of them logical, some boastful, others ridiculous, on signs all over the country. America’s friendliest town! A Great Place to Live! Boyhood Home of Rutherford B. Hayes! Home of the Little League World Series Quarterfinalists, The Screaming Owls!

The most common tactics for small towns are attaching themselves to sports teams or famous people, touting obscure awards or distinctions the town received from organizations no one has ever heard of, or simply making a claim that no one can argue with, i.e., we’re nice. I’ve long been enamored of these claims, but the oddest town boast I’ve ever seen is in the small town of Cortland, Illinois, about 60 miles west of Chicago.

Cortland is a small town with lots of farms and just a few businesses on its main street, including a laundromat, a gas station, an upholstery business, a dollar store and a diner. My wife grew up there and her family still lives in the town. The first time I went to visit them, back in 1998, I was puzzled after coming across a sign, placed on a street with nothing but cornfields advertising the place as “The Third Largest Town in Illinois.”

At the time, the town’s population was about 1,500 (it has since grown to more than 4,000 thanks to some recently built subdivisions) so I was puzzled. Of all the different ways this small community could market itself, it had decided to say to the world, “We’re big.”

When I arrived at my wife’s family home, we sat out in her backyard, which at that time featured a pleasing view of nothing but farmland as far as the eye could see.

“So I saw the sign about this being the third largest town,” I said. “How could that be?”

“Well, it’s kind of a technicality,” my wife said, laughing knowingly as she eyed her mom and sister. “There aren’t very many towns in Illinois.”

As it turns out, nearly every community in Illinois is incorporated as either a village or a city so the only incorporated “towns” in the state that are larger than Cortland are Normal and Cicero. The “third largest town” claim to fame is the town’s brand – check out the town website and you’ll see the slogan emblazoned right underneath the town name. So there you have it: Cortland, the small town that claims to be quite large, if only on a technicality.

8 Places For A True Taste Of Cleveland

by Libby Zay on

Cleveland is a culinary town. From a roving army of food trucks to a collection of upscale restaurants run by Cleveland-born Iron Chef Michael Symon, this city has something to please any appetite. Drawing on the culinary traditions of immigrant groups who came to the city, there are a few foods visitors simply must try when in town. Among them are the Polish Boy, a sandwich invented in Cleveland that consists of sausage covered with fries, and Lake Erie perch, a blue-collar staple found at neighborhood bars and churches throughout the city at Friday night fish fries. Whether you are spending some time in Cleveland or just passing through, here are eight of the best places to get a meal.

Sokolowski’s University Inn
Neighborhood: Tremont
Nearby Attractions: A Christmas Story House, Cleveland Zoo
Established in 1923, Sokolowski’s University Inn is a cafeteria-style restaurant serving old school Polish foods. On any given day you can order up hearty servings of chicken paprikash, pierogies, stuffed cabbage, salisbury steak, bratwurst, beef stroganoff or other Eastern European dishes. Although it proves difficult, be sure to take your focus off your plate and survey Sokolowski’s walls – this place is part Cleveland shrine, part history lesson.Melt Bar and Grilled
Neighborhood: Lakewood
Nearby Attractions: Edgewater Park
Melt Bar and Grilled takes simple bread and cheese to a whole new level. The bar is known for two things: 1) an eating challenge that requires consuming a monster sandwich with 13 different cheeses and 2) giving a 25% discount (for life) to anyone who gets a tattoo of their logo (also for life). But you don’t need to potentially suffer heart disease or permanently scar your body to enjoy all Melt has to offer. You will, however, probably have to wait in line for your sandwich. Still, this is one place that lives up to the hype.

Happy Dog
Neighborhood: Gordon Square Arts District
Nearby Attractions: Capitol Theatre, Cleveland public Theater, Detroit Shoreway
Five dollars might seem a little steep for a hot dog, until you realize you can smother it in as many toppings as you’d like from a list of 50. From picnic-inspired toppings like pimento macaroni and cheese, garbanzo bean chili and bourbon baked beans to more exotic selections, like garlicky escarole, Brazilian chimichurri and vegetable chow mein, the combinations are limitless. Whip up your own concoction or use Happy Dog’s list of “suggestive weiners,” but whatever you do don’t miss out on a side order of tater tots (also with limitless toppings). As for the ambiance, Happy Dog is a true neighborhood spot with stools lining an oval wood bar. From polka to punk rock, this place has live music most nights, more than 75 beers, and an additional downstairs bar with pinball machines and shuffleboard.

Corky & Lenny’s
Neighborhood: Woodmere Village
Nearby Attractions: Bridges to the Future Children’s Museum, University Circle, Little Italy
This family-owned deli has been serving up overstuffed corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, potato pancakes, lox and bagels, matzo ball soup, kosher pickles and other Jewish favorites for more than 55 years. Some patrons liken Corky & Lenny’s to a New York-style deli, but ordering up a sandwich from this place is an authentic Cleveland experience. Give it a shot, and you might discover a new Jewish deli to compare all other Jewish delis to.

Trattoria on the Hill
Neighborhood: Little Italy
Nearby Attractions: The Cleveland Museum of Art and Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Lined with art galleries, churches, bakeries, pizzerias and restaurants, Cleveland’s Little Italy consistently ranks high amongst Italian enclaves across the nation. There’s a lot of competition along Little Italy’s main drag, Mayfield Road, but Trattoria on the Hill is a standout. The secret here seems to be in their sauce: get it over pasta, on pizza, or over eggplant and you won’t be disappointed. Nearby to Little Italy is University Circle, where you’ll find many world class museums – among them The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Botanical Garden, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum.

Slyman’s Deli
Neighborhood: Goodrich – Kirtland Park
Nearby Attractions: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, Cleveland Science Center
This always popular diner has been voted as the best place to get a corned beef sandwich by a number of local and national outlets, including accolades from Esquire magazine and Rachael Ray. Although Slyman’s menu does include things other than corned beef, roast beef and pastrami, there’s no reason for you to look beyond these mile-high sandwiches. Just don’t try to stop in on the weekends, cause this place is closed Saturdays and Sundays.

Tommy’s Restaurant
Neighborhood: Coventry Village
Nearby Attractions: Lake View Cemetery, Little Italy
When Tommy Fello opened up a soda fountain in the 1970s, it was a one man show: he took the orders, made the food, cashed people out and washed the dishes. As regulars started coming in and making up their own sandwiches, Tommy jotted down their names or initials. As the restaurant grew, this is how the menu took shape – each item is named after its creator. Today, the menu is 21 pages long with sandwiches, pizzas, salads and soups, as well as the shakes and malts that helped Tommy make his mark. While there, take some time to stroll around Coventry Village, Cleveland’s version of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury with book stores, a rock club, a retro toy store, a record store, taverns and Phoenix Coffee, a local coffeehouse.

Great Lakes Brewing Company
Neighborhood: Ohio City
Nearby Attractions: West Side Market, Playhouse Square
Great Lakes Brewing Company has pushed their suds into 13 neighboring states, but the best place to knock one back is in their hometown. Luckily, the company’s namesake brewpub is also the perfect place to get a taste of Cleveland. From bratwurst and pierogi to reubens, each of the menu options are paired with one of the company’s brews.

Video Of The Day: St. Louis In 4 Minutes

by Libby Zay on

The city of St. Louis, Missouri, doesn’t make the top of many travel bucket lists, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t. From funky neighborhoods like “the Loop,” where Chuck Berry’s famous Blueberry Hill is located, to the City Museum, a former shoe warehouse turned into a playground for adults and children, there are plenty of things to see and do (need I mention the Gateway Arch or the Spirit of St. Louis?). The video above gives a four-minute snapshot of the city, including the various people and personalities who make it a special place.