Not single? Sorry, no room for you

by Abha Malpani on

With previous posts on tourism for debauchery, nudism and speed-dating, looks like I keep an eye out for naughty opportunities on the road. Truth is, with the increasing number of such “official” options, they are hard to miss. The opening of what is being called the “world’s first singles resort” in Austria, therefore, comes as no surprise.

Called Aviva Singles Resort and Spa, word is that if you have any sort of formal or informal attachment, you are not welcome. How do they check that? I’m guessing they take your word for it. Anyway, if you lie, it’s unlikely they care unless your “attachment” hunts you down and creates a scene in this new free-love hotel.

The website is only in German but long live Babelfish, which allowed me to figure out that the hotel has two selling points: 1) it is for those who want to escape from everything familiar and be alone, 2) it’s for those who are single and want to meet other singles. The resort offers the usual community facilities (gym, sports, bars, spa, restaurants), but the concept encourages mingling.Other than that, they have a singles club (details of which I couldn’t decipher) and a singles shuttle that drives guests coming from Vienna and Munich so the “mingling” can begin en route. The resort is located in St. Stephan am Walde.

The website could be that of any 4-star hotel. It looks very sophisticated and other than the photo gallery that pictures hot men and women interacting, it doesn’t really elude to a wild time; but perhaps the lure is in the subtlety of it all.

And, while we’re on the subject, here’s a list of Best Hotels for Singles as evaluated by Hotel Chatter.

Speed-dating at 35,000 feet in Europe

by Abha Malpani on

Catherine recently talked about finding love at the airport and the popularity of online social networking to meet someone while hauled-up at the airport.

But, if you want to skip the whole courage building process to approach the hottie you saw whilst boarding, or want immediate interaction with not one, but plenty of singles looking for in-flight spice, Central Europe’s low-budget airline Sky Europe will organize a speed-dating session for you mid-air. “Come with a bright smile and look forward to a great trip”, I had to laugh when I read that in its list of guidelines.

So far the Sky Dating service has been offered on Sky Europe flights to Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. It works like any other speed-dating service: you get 5-minutes with every person signed up and results are emailed 3 days post event. Unfortunately, you can’t sign-up for it on a spontaneous whim, you have to register for it in advance.

If you want to travel especially to meet someone, you can get the Sky Date package to a European capital. Trips are normally 1-3 days, your accommodation is taken care of and city tours will be organized, all with the idea of getting you hooked to someone on the trip. According to a recent article on MSNBC: on the last Sky Date flight – which combined speed-dating with overnight hotel stay and guided city tour, three couples were formed by the end of the trip.

Hmmm. Excuses for being single are running out way too fast! :)

Looking for love? Try the airport

by Catherine Bodry on

Pepper Schwartz, a sociology professor at the University of Washington, believes that a busy airport is a prime meeting place for singles looking for love or just a little conversation. And to meet that special someone, you won’t need to make eyes above your newspaper, or ask the ticket agent to seat you next to a single male ala the movie “Singles.” Instead, Schwartz advocates either the direct approach (“Hi! You’re the most handsome man in the airport and I thought I’d come over and say hello.”) or the subtle approach (sit next to the person and make small talk). And now there’s another way to meet folks at the airport: online.

With online social networking becoming more and more popular, it’s no surprise that there’s a site dedicated to airport interactions. Peter Shankman founded AirTroductions.com, a site that was originally intended for business travelers to register itineraries and information about themselves so that they might take advantage of layover time for professional networking. But the site naturally evolved into a meeting place for “folks seeking personal connections.” AirTroductions will be relaunched as Triplife.com this December, but you can always try other travel-related social networking sites such as Dopplr to meet like-minded travelers looking for a little love.

As with any situation where you might approach a stranger, remember your manners and be aware of their personal space. Just because you can barely keep your mitts off the handsome hottie next to you in the waiting area doesn’t mean that said hottie necessarily wants to be fondled.

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GADLING TAKE FIVE: Week of October 13-19

by Jamie Rhein on

If you missed that big things happened at Gadling this week, then all I have to say is, “Where have you been?” Gadling has a brand new look and we’re enjoying it. It’s kind of like a shiny new toy. Wow! What does this drop down menu do on the left? The information we used to have is all here, it’s just relocated and gussied up. Also, perhaps you’ve noticed the slight name change. Instead of the heading “Gadling: The traveler’s blog,” we’re “Gadling: go there.”

Here our some of the offerings we’ve dished up this week that hopefully will help you go there where ever that may be. Hey, and if you’re not going off on some huge whirlwind mega trip, that’s fine by us. Sometimes, it’s the close to home treasures that are worth writing home about.

Abha Malpani, who just joined our Gadling forces this week, has some ideas for the best places to hook up with someone if you are so inclined, while Catherine’s got you covered when it comes to avoiding tourist traps. Grant knows just where you can get your hands on some of the best street food in Europe, and if you have a sweet tooth craving, check out Martha’s top places in the U.S. for a sugar fix ideas. To help you gather a bunch of facts that might come in handy at a party, or on a bus, or on an airplane –or just to amuse yourself in the privacy of your own bathroom, pick up a copy of Take Me to Your Leader. Kelly’s always dishing up good finds with her One for the Road Series.

Okay, that’s five and I still haven’t mentioned Matthew’s wealth of Japan know-how this week. Lastly, don’t miss Neil’s post “Visiting an American embassy, Simpson’s style.” Perhaps, you can relate.

A more comfortable way to join the mile high club: double beds

by Gadling Staff on

The two double beds on Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 that finally was delivered earlier this week are not for hanky panky–but for sleeping. That’s the plan anyway. The Executive Director of Singapore Airlines said he doesn’t want the beds to give people any “racy” ideas. Since the Singaporean government has run campaigns in the past to promote dating [see article], he probably thinks this is a reasonable notion. Does he get out much?

The sliding doors to the two private suites where the beds are located do have a small screen at the bottom so the flight attendants can check on the passengers. I can just hear it now. Imagine, if you will, a flight attendant crouched with his or her ear close to the gap. “Hey!! What are you two doing in there? Stop that. This is a respectable airplane. Get a room. Oh, wait, you do have a room.”

If there isn’t supposed to be any “nudge, nudge, wink, wink,” funny business going on in the beds, then why aren’t the beds single beds like the kind that were used in 1950s sitcoms? Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz never got a double bed on “I Love Lucy” back then because you know what they would have done with it. That was the censors’ idea anyway. Also, when the plane was unveiled there were rose petals strewn all over the bed. Yeah, right. Isn’t that what all of us do to our beds when we want a good night sleep? [via USA. Today, October 15, 2007]