Luxury Travel: Six Hotels To Spot The Rich And Famous

by McLean Robbins on




Over the next two weeks, celebrities galore are flocking from Hollywood and New York to Cannes, where they’ll be celebrating the industry’s biggest film festival of the year. Don’t have the money to anchor your mega yacht in the southern French waters? Don’t worry, neither do we.

Instead, we’ve gotten the inside scoop from Hotels.com on where the celebs like to hang out in the states, so you can enjoy a little luxe pampering of your own – without the price tag of a transcontinental flight.

Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles
Built in 1927, generations of artists, novelists and screenwriters have produced work within the hotel’s walls including: Hunter S. Thompson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tim Burton and Sofia Coppola. More recently, Emma Roberts, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, and Kirsten Dunst have been spotted lounging on the overstuffed couches and sipping cocktails at Bar Marmont. It’s even where Ashton Kutcher had his rumored affair.

Metropolitan Hotel, London
Contemporary, chic, and with stunning views of Hyde Park and the London skyline, the Metropolitan Hotel has hosted A-listers such as Madonna, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Tom Hanks and Cameron Diaz. Enjoy dinner at the Japanese-Peruvian, Michelin-starred restaurant, Nobu, then retreat for post-dinner cocktails at the exclusive Met Bar, which is open to hotel guests and members only.Soho Grand Hotel, New York City
Celebrities are commonplace at this luxury hotel. Lindsay Lohan, Heidi Klum, Kevin Spacey and even local Manhattanite Sarah Jessica Parker have been spotted at this trendy hotspot. Guests enjoy complimentary iPad and MacBook Pro access, top-notch service at Prive Salon, and can even adopt a pet goldfish during a stay.

Geejam,Jamaica
The trendy, uber luxury Geejam Hotel draws a mix of celebrities from actresses like Sharon Stone and Grace Jones to artists like Gwen Stefani and Bjork. Guests can enjoy state-of-the-art technology, Apple TV and a private beach. Upon arrival, guests are provided a cellphone to use throughout their stay – a perk we’d love to see more of.

Bacara Resort & Spa, Santa Barbara
Perched on the beach just north of Santa Barbara, this Spanish-influenced luxury resort features direct beach access and world-class golf. Fergie, Josh Duhamel and Jennie Garth are a few of the Hollywood stars to have relaxed at this oceanfront property. The resort has an array of leisure and recreational activities to please guests including four lighted tennis courts, three zero-edge swimming pools, four restaurants including the four-star Miro restaurant, the Spa at Bacara and much more.

The Little Nell, Aspen
The Little Nell, one of the legendary star-studded hotels in this mountain town, is internationally renowned as a glamorous playground for the famous and wealthy. This resort has hosted Hollywood idols such as: Jack Nicholson, Mariah Carey and Kate Hudson. Enjoy a variety of adventurous pursuits such as the Audi Test Drive Program and heli-skiing.

Cruise Line Builds Tropical Paradise, Again

by Chris Owen on

To many cruise travelers, “cruising” means “Caribbean” and a growing number have sailed to and around the warm blue waters there many times. Tiring of the same ports, those travelers want variety but don’t want to travel internationally. Cruise lines answer the call by literally “building” new destinations that add variety and help out local economies as well.

This week, Carnival Corporation, parent to a number of cruise lines, broke ground on the Amber Cove Cruise Center, a new $65 million facility in the Dominican Republic to be built exclusively for cruise ships.

“With this cruise terminal, tourism and economic activity in Puerto Plata and the north region will rise to occupy a pre-eminent regional position in the entire Caribbean,” said Dominican Republic president Leonel Fernandez Reyna in an article for Breaking Travel News.

The new two-berth Amber Cove Cruise Center will be able to accommodate up to 8,000 cruise passengers and 2,000 crew members daily. The facility is expected to host more than 250,000 cruise passengers in its first year of operation.

Amber Cove will feature a welcome center with a variety of retail offerings, including a marketplace for locally sourced Dominican crafts and souvenirs, as well as a wide range of themed restaurants and bars, water attractions and a transportation hub allowing visitors easy access by land and sea to the surrounding destinations and attractions.

Cruise line cruise centers have been gaining in popularity with Mahogany Bay Cruise Center in Honduras, another Carnival-sponsored destination, welcoming over one million cruise passengers since opening in 2009. The Roatan, Honduras, location is on 20 acres of waterfront property and is an attractive area for guests of Carnival Cruise Lines and also host to sister-lines Seabourn, Princess Cruises, Holland America, Costa Cruises and P&O Cruises, as well as non-Carnival Corporation vessels.

The Amber Cove Cruise Center opens in 2014.


Photo: Chris Owen

US Service Members Now Get Free Entry To National Parks

by Kraig Becker on

Earlier this week the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that all active U.S. service members, and their dependents, will now be eligible to receive a free annual pass to national parks. This new military version of the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Annual Pass will be available starting tomorrow, just in time for Armed Forces Day.

The new pass grants members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as activated members of the National Guard and Reserves, fee-free entry to over 2,000 national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests and other public lands across the U.S. The pass is available at any park or wildlife refuge that currently charges an entry fee, and of course a valid military ID is required. A complete list of sites where the pass is available can be found by clicking here.

The new national park pass grants free entry to its owner and accompanying passengers in a single, private, non-commercial vehicle at all sites that currently charge a per-vehicle fee. At sites that collect per-person entrance fees, it covers the pass owner and three accompanying adults age 16 and older. There is no entry fee for children 15 and under.

The creation of this new benefit for active military personal comes from the Joining Forces Initiative, which was launched last year by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. The purpose of the organization is to rally all sectors of American society to find new ways to support service members and their families, particularly in these challenging times. So far the JFI has helped thousands of veterans to find jobs, worked with schools to improve educational opportunities for military children and connected with the medical community to improve healthcare for military families as well.

Delta Flies Rangers Fans For Free On 17-minute Flight To Devils Game

by Libby Zay on

Delta Air Lines is giving Rangers fans a free lift to game three of the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday. The catch, however, is that the game is in northern New Jersey – meaning the free flight from LaGuardia Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport is far more trouble than it’s worth.

Any fan that does take Delta up on the offer must first take the time to go through airport security at LaGuardia to board a 10 a.m. charter flight. Once it takes off, the flight should only last somewhere around 17 minutes – but according to Delta it will be a short but sweet flight featuring prizes and Rangers legends Ron Duguay and Rod Gilbert. The trip includes free transportation from the airport to the Prudential Center for the game, and when it’s over fans will be brought back to LaGuardia on a returning flight.

The two airports are separated by just over 20 miles, a distance that (without traffic) should take about 38 minutes to drive. Fans also have the option of train travel, which is estimated to take about 20 minutes from Madison Square Garden to the Prudential Center.

If you seriously want to take Delta up on the offer – and we’re not really sure why you would – fill out a form on the Rangers website by 5 p.m. EST today to be entered in the promotion. Fans must already have tickets to the game and be able to present valid identification.

[Flickr photo via redlegsfan21]

Flying To Mars From New York City

by Sean McLachlan on


The first astronauts are landing on Mars this week. . .at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.

Installation artist Tom Sachs is running his “SPACE PROGRAM: MARS,” a four-week spaceflight involving a crew of actors and elaborate sets made from common materials bought in a hardware store. The sets cover every detail of the mission including getting into space suits, provisions of food and launching Mars rovers.

There will be several liftoffs so visitors don’t miss one of the most popular parts of any space mission.

As this preview clip shows, Tom Sachs isn’t about to put NASA out of business. I kind of like the hokeyness of the whole thing, though. It gives the exhibition a childlike feel that brings back all those fond ’80s memories of watching the Space Shuttle missions. Tom Sachs has tapped into the fact that we all got inspired by space when we were kids, and many of us still look to the stars and planets with a childlike sense of wonder.

Tom Sachs’ “SPACE PROGRAM: MARS” runs from May 16 to June 17.