Celebrate Earth Day with a volunteer vacation!

by Kraig Becker on

2010 will mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of Earth Day. Originally conceived by Senator Gaylord Nelson, the event was meant to remind us to stop and think about the amazing, yet fragile, planet on which we live, and possibly consider the ways that we can work to protect the environment around us. Today, that message is as important and relevant as ever, and Earth Day is celebrated across the globe in a number of cultures and countries.

This year, Earth Day falls on Thursday, April 22nd, and to celebrate Lake Quinault Lodge and Kalaloch Lodge, both located on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, are offering environmentally conscious travelers a chance to do their part to protect the environment while on a volunteer vacation. Visitors can join the Washington CoastSavers on Saturday, April 17th, as they work to clean up the beaches at Kalaloch, and then celebrate with a barbeque afterwards. A week later, on Saturday April 24th, volunteers have the opportunity to join the park service in restoring Kestner Homestead, a family cabin that was built back in 1862 and is now part of Olympic National Park.
To show their appreciation for the efforts of the volunteers, the two lodges are offering an online only discount for those who choose to stay with them. These Earth Day Volunteer Vacation deals allow guests who particpate in the beach clean up to stay in a Seacrest room at Kalaloch Lodge for just $99 or a log cabin for $109. The special rate is available for a single day between April 15-18, and includes entry to the CoastSavers barbeque as well. Volunteers who elect to stay at the Lake Quinault Lodge can get a one night stay on April 23, in either a Lakeside or Main Lodge room beginning at just $109. That rate includes two box lunches to take to Olympic National Park the following day.

This is the third year that the resorts have offered these volunteer vacation deals, and to further show their commitment to the environment, they’ll throw in a $15 gift certificate for anyone that arrives in or on a “green” vehicle. The gift certificates are redeemable in the lodges’ stores, restaurants, and giftshops, and is another reward for guests looking to further reduce their carbon footprint.

To take advantage of one of these deals simply book online at www.VisitLakeQuinault.com or www.VisitKalaloch.com.

Photo of the Day (3.2.10)

by Stephen Greenwood on
Today’s Photo of the Day comes from Flickr user twoeightnine. Taken just north of San Simeon, California, this great landscape shot captures the beautiful combination of mist, pines, and rocky coastline that Northern California is famous for.

If you’ve never thought about driving California’s Pacific Coast Highway, you can read up about it here to see why it’s one of the best road trips that the United States has to offer.


Got a great shot from a road trip that you’ve been on? Submit it to our Gadling Flickr pool and it could be selected as our Photo of the Day!

Yotel hotel pods coming to New York

by Melanie Nayer on

Hotels come in all shapes and sizes. From luxury suites to standard rooms to hostels, there’s a hotel room for all sizes and budgets. Now, for those needing a quick nap on a dime, one more hotel type makes its way to the states: the pod.

The Yotel – a brand of sleeping pod hotels – will open a 669-room in New York City in 2011. The pod hotel will be located 42nd street and 10th and rooms will go for $200- to $250-per-night. According to a press release, the room are almost twice the size as its U.K. counterparts and will be called “cabins” instead of “pods.” The purpose, however, remains the same.

Yotel was established by YO! Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe and his partner Gerard Greene. Popular in the U.K., the Yotel charges £25 for 4-hour stays in their hotel cabins in Europe, as they are made to be a resting place for travelers who are waiting for flights.

But is it a good deal? At $200-$250 a night you could easily find another hotel room in New York, but location will be your concern. If you’re looking for midtown or Times Square, but don’t want a hostel, the Yotel might work. A press release said the Yotel cabins will have “relaxing purple mood lighting, rejuvenating monsoon rain showers, luxury bedding, complimentary Wi-Fi and a flat screen television.” There will also be a restaurant and bar, an outside terrace and business lounges at the hotel.

Before you go, be sure to check out Gadling’s Travel Talk TV!

Museum attendance surged in 2009

by Tom Johansmeyer on

What did you do instead of travel last year? Well, according to the American Association of Museums, you probably caught an art, science or historical exhibit. Museum attendance shot up last year, according to a survey of 481 of them, with more than 57 percent of them reporting gains in attendance. More than 40 percent sustained “significant increases” of 5 percent to more than 20 percent year-over-year. Science and technology museums were most likely to see the upside.

The reason cited for the change in visitorship shouldn’t surprise you: the recession. With wallets being squeezed mercilessly by the economic climate we’ve endured since the September 2008 financial crisis, fewer people have been going out on the road, even despite the deep discounts being offered by airlines and hotels. More people are staying home – and visiting museums. This is consistent with past recessions, when museum attendance grew.

Yet, not all museums benefitted: 23 were forced to close their doors.

Business travelers will take upgrades over free food and web

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you were traveling on business, which would you prefer: free in-room internet access, frequent room upgrades or complimentary breakfast? According to a poll of Hilton’s HHonors program, the room upgrade hit #1, followed by the free grub and finally comp’ed web access. Barbara De Lollis, of USA Today‘s Hotel Check-In column, speculates that this is because business travelers want comfort and can convince their companies and clients to pick up the tab.

Reading this article made me think back to my years on the road as a management consultant, and to my surprise, my behavior aligned with the survey results. Room upgrades mattered most. I’d get a bit more elbow room. It wasn’t about status, importance or even being able to run laps around my temporary living room. Larger guestrooms – and suites, especially – allowed me to put more physical space between where I lived and where I worked while on the road. When workdays stretch past 16 hours, it’s important to have any coping mechanism you can grasp, and being able to segment off the work space sure helped.

While I personally detest the hotel practice of charging for web access, it’s never an issue when I’m traveling on business. The companies and clients for which I’ve worked have picked up the tab without a second thought. When on vacation, I regularly had my companies pick up my internet tab, as well, a small price for them to pay to have access to me while I was away. Likewise, clients and employers pay for food. And personally, I’m rarely thrilled with the food offered at free hotel breakfasts and when I travel on my own, I usually pay for a good meal than suffer through a free one. Also, I never really ate breakfast during my road warrior days, and I know I wasn’talone. So, a free breakfast is really … well … worthless.

What’s missing from the survey, unfortunately, is club-level access. When I was on the road all the time, this was my favorite amenity. It gave me a place to go other than my room, where I could get a drink, grab a snack and unwind. Hiltons definitely delivered best on club lounges, with the two most memorable for me being the Hilton Embassy Row in Washington, DC and the Hilton in London, Ontario. The former was comfortable and great for networking, and the latter had the best club-level service I’ve ever experienced.