Los Angeles luxury at Santa Monica’s Oceana Hotel

by Grant Martin on

If you’re going to take the time to visit a great beach destination, it’s the always a good idea to stay in a boutique hotel. While it’s true that they may be a bit more expensive than a legacy hotel chain, boutique hotels often absorb the culture and gravity of their surroundings, providing a unique experience that envelops the guest in the environment.

Thus, you may not want to stay in a boutique hotel in Chechnya, but in a hot destination like Santa Monica, California, it should be a high priority.

Hotel Oceania on the northwest side of Santa Monica is a beautiful example. Recently renovated in 2007 with a new room designs and a fantastic courtyard with a swimming pool, the property boasts 70 rooms with 58 suites, 21 of which have an ocean view. Each room is appointed fantastically, with plush, high thread count sheets, Kiehls bath amenities and enough room to throw a Frisbee. That’s no small feat in the crowded quarters of this Los Angeles.

One of the best parts about the Oceana is also the location. The hardest thing about finding a good hotel in Los Angeles is picking where to stay — the city is a sprawling mess, stretching from the posh waterfront through the dry city center, deep into the rolling foothills. It’s hard to find a hotel in a good location, and once you do, it’s nearly impossible to find one with activities within walking distance.

And this is where Oceana has the advantage. With Palisades Park right outside of your doorstep and the Pacific Ocean a hop, skip and a jump past that, beach volleyball, surfing and sunbathing are and your disposal. Just to the south? Santa Monica’s legendary Third Street Promenade and more food, drinks and shopping than you can shake a stick at.

Rooms range from $395 – $1000 per night at the Santa Monica Oceana — but take it from this blogger, check in early, enjoy the room and stay late and your visit will be well worth it.

Orlando’s Art Hotels

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Okay, talk of Orlando triggers images of Mickey Mouse. Trappings of the Disney empire are unavoidable in the town that Walt built, but if you look hard, you’ll find a city that can stand on its own. For a touch of style, dash off to downtown Orlando and check out the city’s art-themed hotels. You’ll find dramatic expression without having to contend with Donald Duck’s refusals to be ignored.

The Grand Bohemian Hotel sits on Orange Ave, right in the heart of downtown Orlando, a short walk from the City Arts Factory. From the moment you step inside, you’re consumed by creative expression. “Aggressive design” is the only way to describe the lobby, and clear signs point you to an on-property art gallery that features Florida artists (who don’t suck).

The guestrooms continue the theme. Sleek design does not come at the expense of comfort, and any New Yorker would describe the rooms as palatial. The logical split between the sleeping and living area (with the bed) and the work area (with the desk) will appeal to business travelers who often crave a dividing line between the two while on the road – I know I always did.

But, it’s the art on the walls, even in the guestrooms, that grabs you.

Forget shitty sailboats and “happy little trees.” The Grand Bohemian offers variety within each room and still manages to make the entire aesthetic experience cohesive. Whether you’ve just finished cranking out work (as I had) or just want to unwind after hitting the town, it’s a nice diversion to sit back and soak in the creative efforts that line the walls.

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Most art-savvy hotels perform well in the lobby and the rooms, but they screw up the space in between. The hallways are easily forgotten, mere passageways from one destination to the next. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped from the elevator in the Grand Bohemian and wound my way to my home-for-a-night. Instead of blank walls – or, worse, careless choices – I was treated to a delightful jaunt through varied styles.

The Grand Bohemian is an antidote to the traditional chain hotel experiences in which you push through a consistent blandness to occupy a bed that isn’t your own. Your senses are rewarded with a care that is a rarity in any hotel … and is downright shocking in Orlando.

And, this isn’t your only option in Orlando.

Smaller and tucked away about a mile from the middle of downtown, you’ll find the EO Inn. Once a youth hostel, it is now a boutique hotel with 17 rooms and two cozy balconies. Then entrance is hidden from sight. The front of the hotel is occupied by a Panera, and you have to go around back to reach the front desk, a situation that is actually more charming than inconvenient. The artwork begins in the lobby and stretches up the stairs and into the elevator. When you arrive at your floor, the hallways are dotted with adventurous creations.

I’ve always viewed the slog from the elevator to guestroom, however short, has as an annoyance (as you’ve probably figured out by now). It just seems like the painful passing of time for no good purpose. Careful design solves this problem, and EO excels. I found myself stopping periodically to enjoy what was showcased, and I purposefully passed my door on several occasions to see what was on display farther down the hall.

The rooms are a tad small – which is fine with me, given that I live in small – but are designed for enjoyment. The bed was soft without sacrificing firmness, and the bathroom was clean and serviceable (what else do you really want?). The absence of a desk drove me out onto the balcony, which turned out to be the perfect place to write, smoke and relax (and eat the cupcakes thoughtfully provided to me by ladies from the nearby bachelorette party – alas, the UPS guy did not make a “delivery”). Since the balconies are on the same side of the building as the hotel’s front door, you are spared the noise of passing traffic and can relax unmolested while not being isolated from civilization.

This is the Orlando that few realize exists. The Grand Bohemian and the EO hotel underscore a commitment to the arts that may be hidden by theme parks and conventions, but it is quite real. Forsake the 1,000-room cookie-cutter properties for an art-themed boutique, and get to know the Orlando that will make you want to return … without any nagging from your kids.

Study says: hotel guests want high-tech amenities

by Scott Carmichael on

Times are changing for hotels – for years, hotels were judged for the quality of their toiletries, or how many stars their restaurant managed to score, but hotel guests are increasingly paying attention to the high tech features at the hotel.

Reuters surveyed over 6300 people and asked them how they pick a hotel, and which features mean the most to them.

A whopping 47% of those interviewed said that they’ll only pick a hotel if it offers the technology they need.

What this means to the hospitality world is that hotels can no longer afford to only offer WiFi in the lobby, or dare charge $29.99 a day for wired Internet access (you’d be surprised how many hotels still do this).

Hotels that have not yet made the investment in up to date equipment will have to start playing catch up real soon, because the survey proves what I’ve known for years – being able to get online at your hotel is more important than the industry thinks.

And yes – there are still a lot of hotels out there that do not offer any kind of high tech amenities, and it isn’t in the expensive hotels where these services are lacking, surprisingly its mainly in the higher end chains.

You can check into a $69 Holiday Inn and find perfect speedy free WiFi access, then check into a $199 Marriot the next day and have to pay $14.95 for slow wired access.

The cheap hotels paid attention to the needs of their customers while the upscale properties assumed people who’d be willing to pay for their rooms wouldn’t mind an extra $100 a week just to get online.

As the economy changes, more and more people will prefer a low price room with free tech, over an expensive hotel with chique toiletries and paid Internet access.

(via: Switched)

In the top 10 of European hotels, Venice is the expensive winner

by Scott Carmichael on

European hotel booking site Trivago just released their April hotel price charts, and Venice was voted “most expensive city in Europe”.

At the bottom of the list is Budapest, where you can find a room for an average of 83 Euros a night.

The rest of the top 10 list is as follows:

  • Venice (€177)
  • Genèva (€174)
  • Paris (€149)
  • Oslo (€146)
  • Amsterdam (€144)
  • Rome (€144)
  • Copenhagen (€135)
  • Bruges (€133)
  • London (€131)
  • Florence (€130)

To me, these numbers mean that the poor economy has not yet had a big impact on hotel prices, and that most European cities are still insanely expensive for tourists. Of course, these prices are the average for April bookings, which means the summer prices will be even higher.

One thing to keep in mind, is that these numbers are put together based off hotels that participate in global reservation systems, which means that small hotels and hostels are not included in the research.

Cuba Libre: High-end hotels and money in Havana

by Brenda Yun on

So the Melia Habana Resort. We were not aware such luxurious resorts were available for just $50 a night! Had I not come with Lora there would be no chance to stay in such a place. Regardless, we pretty much decided to stay in Havana for the entire week.

We arrived at 1 p.m. and were already pretty spent from such early wake-up time, so Lora and I spent the day tanning and resting the immense pool. At around 5:30 p.m. a synchronized swimming team came by to practice in the pool. We took that as our cue to prep for dinner, which we had in the hotel’s Italian restaurant. There are a network restaurants in the basement, all situated around the waterfalls and pleasant, lagoon-like courtyard. There’s also a cigar room, which we intended to try out at some point during our stay.

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Lora and I collectively paid an extra $10 per night for a view of the ocean and were quite pleased with it. Our “twin” beds were actually double beds. We had a little patio, along with couches in our tiny lounge space. Our marble bathroom even had a badet (that weird toilet you use to wipe your butt). I was eager to see what kinds of television programs were available on TV, and was quite surprised to discover half of our 40 channels were American. I got excited when I flipped past a Spanish-dubbed episode of “Alias.” (I also watched “Alias” in Spanish when I was in Villa de Leyva, Colombia – go Sydney Bristow!). About ten channels are in English. There are also French and Chinese stations. I paused briefly when I saw an advertisement of some sort that depicted the Cuban flag in chains and locked by the United States flag. Interesting…

I do not want to be misleading, however. The Melia Habana is one of the nicest hotels in the city, and we were fortunate to score a great package deal. If you are not vacationing in Cuba and do not plan your trip through a travel agent, you will likely find yourself in a casa particular, which I will describe in a later post. For a general differentiation between hotels and casas particulares, please read the “Where to stay” section of my Travel Guide to Cuba.

Now, a word on changing money in Cuba. I was warned that there are two currencies here in Cuba and that one is practically useless to tourists. This is indeed true: tourists use “convertibles” (or CUC); locals use “pesos” (or Nationales). I was SHOCKED to find that the conversion from convertible to Western currencies QUITE steep here (not in our favor, either) – particularly at the Melia hotel in which we stayed, where I’ve exchanged $400 Canadian dollars for $280 convertibles. When I researched it online before my departure, it seemed the convertible was roughly equal to the U.S. dollar, but upon arrival, one will find the conversion is very askew! One convertible is 80 U.S. cents – and 70 Canadian cents here at the Melia. I was much better off (as I had suspected) spending my Canadian money first before my U.S. dollars, as the Cuba-Canada money conversion is far more favorable.

I have a feeling the Melia hotel (or the Cuban government) is raking in a significant amount for exchange transactions. Exchanging money is an unfortunate but necessary for most travelers. Whether they do it at the bank, via an ATM, or through a hotel, the conversion is the same. This is a very frightening thought, and I still don’t fully understand how Cuba runs on a dual currency, but the reality is that Cuba is finding a way to reap the benefits of being under-commercialized and anti-capitalist. Exchanging money with a vendor or independent changer on the street is pretty much unheard of (because it is extremely illegal) and also not reliable for tourists. On the bright side, at least they accept U.S. dollars, as Cuba could (as it should if it were fully adhering to the embargo) not allow the exchange of U.S. currency at all.

I brought a total of $1000 U.S. dollars to Cuba, and basically resolved to spend $40 convertibles (about U.S.$48) a day while traveling with Lora, Peter, and Frank, and $80 (U.S.$96) when I’m on my own. As I said before, this means Cuba is NOT a cheap travel destination by any means! I had been so used to traveling in developing countries for less than $50 a day, and while that had been my initial goal, I spent roughly on average U.S.$25 per day for bus transport and U.S.$25 for accommodations at casas particulares each night, which already comes to $50 a day. Add food and other expenses, and it is easy to find yourself over budget and out of cash.

For a complete listing of my Cuba Libre posts, please click HERE.