Maui Fails To Make List Of Top 100 Beaches
Ever since 1991 when the legendary “Dr. Beach” started ranking the best beaches in America, the island of Maui has had four different beaches take home the coveted title.
What’s more, noted early travel scribes such as Mark Twain and James Michener referred to Hamoa Bay on the island’s east shore (which is pictured here) as the one the nicest beaches of anywhere in the world.
In a new article by CNN which boldly ranks the top 100 beaches in the world, however, there isn’t a single beach from the island of Maui to be found anywhere on the list. The state of Hawaii makes an appearance on the list twice (with the black sand beach at Punalu’u on the Big Island of Hawaii and Hanalei Bay on the island of Kauai taking home numbers 70 and 27, respectively), but perennial favorites such as Hamoa, Ka’anapali, Wailea, Napili, Fleming, and Kapalua have been scrapped from the list.
In their place, selections of beaches from Lampedua (Rabbit Beach, #2) to Little Corn (#53) populate the international list, but there is no mention of the island which has been voted by Conde Naste readers as the “best island in the world” an astonishing 19 years in a row. Places with beaches making the list also include everywhere from Malawi to Oregon and Northern Ireland to Denmark, but yet again, no Maui.
I’ve personally visited 22 out of the 100, and while are definitely some worthy selections, I question the decision to omit a stalwart in lieu of an international novelty.
What do you think? Should Maui have a selection among the world’s top 100 beaches?
Travel App Upgrades Add Value, Reduce Frustration
Taking the skeptical point of view on travel apps can be dangerous. But with so many apps from a variety of sources doing their rendition of the technology du jour, it is easy to dismiss the lot of them as more of the same. Sometimes though, tiny updates to existing apps can make them a valuable addition to our soft travel gear.
Travel Plans In One Place, Now With Ground Options
Subscribers to TripIt, the intelligent travel plan organizer, now have access to a new feature that might make the service more valuable. Already, TripIt users create a trip by defining a travel window period of time in which it occurs. Filling in the details can be as easy as forwarding an email copy of airline, hotel and/or rental car reservations to Plans@TripIt.com, which reads and understands your plans with a high degree of accuracy.
Now, new TripIt feature Groundlink enables users to add ground transportation, coordinated with existing travel plans, from a smartphone. The app has a Track Your Ride feature that Glympse users will feel comfortable with. Groundlink users will pick their drop-off point from a map generated by Groundlink using nearby venues, addresses, ride history or airports. Already armed with up-to-date details of user flight plans, Groundlink will monitor user travels and advise ground transportation services if it looks like their ride might be delayed. Right now, Groundlink is offering 20 percent off rides booked via the TripIt Mobile App.
Connectivity Worldwide Now With Easy Payment
Boingo, worldwide connectivity company with over 600,000 hotspots worldwide, announced recently that iOS users can now use their secure iTunes account to buy a Boingo subscription. Making the app easier to use than ever, users can activate the new plan on multiple iOS devices, allowing customers to quickly connect to unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi without entering account information.
Behind The Scenes Update For A Better Experience
Airbnb is an online service that allows “hosts” to rent unoccupied living space and other short-term lodging to guests. Testing the service here at Gadling has had mixed results. In the article “Important Warning For Anyone Using Airbnb,” Gadling’s Kyle Ellison warned, “if you plan on renting out a room or serving as a host, be sure you’re aware of the local laws, lest you receive a knock on the door that isn’t from a paying guest,” after discovering that many localities do not allow subletting. In “Airbnb Reconsidered,” Gadling writer Alex Robertson Textor highlights some communication problems inherent with the service that can be problematic.
In response to these concerns and others, Airbnb released a new update reported in techcrunch aimed not at users but at those who host them. One new feature will allow hosts to better communicate with potential users by pre-approving, denying, or requesting more information from guests. The hope is that the new features will increase the speed with which bookings can happen. Another feature will give hosts improved ability to update calendar listings, ensuring that the most current inventory can be seen by users.
Not Just Your Air, What You See Below
Delta Airlines, like most other carriers, has an app that will check you in, track your frequent flier program miles and more. Nothing really exciting there. But Delta’s Glass Bottom Jet is a unique app for iPad that brings users a bird’s-eye view of locations they are flying over. Users can explore the area with photos, landmarks and Wikipedia pages and tell you which Facebook friends you’re flying over. Check this video for more on Delta’s Glass Bottom Jet:
[Photo credit – Flickr user kamshots]
‘Snap Your Stay,’ A New Way To Review Your Hotel Experience
We’ve talked in the past about last-minute booking application HotelTonight, which allows travelers to book discounted, same-night hotel stays in major cities across the country. It’s a well thought out application and we generally find that the prices are pretty competitive as well.
The application is back with its newest redesigned version, offering a Price Guarantee functionality that ensures the rates are the same or better than competitors. If you find a lower price elsewhere, HotelTonight offers a booking credit equal to the difference in fare.
But we’re most excited about the “Snap Your Stay” feature, which allows users to upload a series of live photos of the hotel bed, bathroom, view, lobby and exterior, plus one cool feature of their choice to the app. Guests get $5 future booking credit ($10 if their photos are good enough to be featured) as incentive. The app isn’t the first to showcase live photos to assist in a travel review – TripAdvisor has a similar functionality, but it is the first to do so in a consistent manner (meaning travelers will see all pertinent parts of their stay) as well as in such a way that incentivizes travelers to share.
We’d love to see a live view of the hotel, and hopefully this new feature can help us make our booking decisions even easier.
What do you think? Are you more likely to book a hotel if current photos are live in the app, or are you most concerned with price?
#OnTheRoad On Instagram: Paris And Italy
This week on the Gadling Instagram feed, we were so inspired by Anna Brones’ week of photos from Paris, France, that we decided to go back.
Actually, pulling a page from the itinerary of a backpacking college student, we’ll only be stopping in Paris for a day while en route to the cities and hamlets of Italy. Expect a week full of photos that range from ruins and relics to hidden restaurants where there will be more than a few shots of pizza and wine. From the hilltop villages of Tuscany to the fabled coastline of Cinque Terre, follow the #OntheRoad Instagram feed for a peek into where our travels have managed to take us.
[Photo Credit: Kyle Ellison]