Travel startup giving away three nights at the Wynn

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Want to score three nights at the Wynn Las Vegas? Travel startup company Off & Away wants to put you between those luxurious sheets.

Off & Away hasn’t even launched yet, but it’s willing to offer up a spectacular travel package to a lucky winner: three nights at the Wynn, tickets for two to La Reve, $200 a day in dining credits at the hotel, three days of spa access and a round of golf for two. You’ll also pick up access to the Penske Wynn Ferrari Museum, two 50-minute massages and entry to Blush Boutique Nightclub.

So, what is this company all about? It’s a new travel site (or, it will be) that will focus on “exceptional travel experiences.” Details are thin, but we’ll know more in a few weeks. So for now, take advantage of the contest.

“We are excited to offer this amazing experience with one of our key partners as a sneak preview into the types of experiences you can expect from Off & Away when we launch,” said Doug Aley, CEO and Co-Founder of Off & Away.

The contest is open through May 23, 2010 at Off & Away’s website. Spread the word via Facebook or Twitter, and you could score up to 10 extra chances to win. The winner will be announced on June 30, 2010.

UPDATE:

Having seen the comments left by our readers about the viruses, I contacted Off & Away to see what was happening. Following is the company’s reply:

For those who were affected by the virus earlier this morning, please be assured this is something we take very seriously and are taking all necessary precautions to ensure it does not happen again. Off & Away is founded and run by former Amazon.com, Expedia, Alaska Airlines, Orbitz, and Farecast.com employees. We always strive for excellence are committed to providing our customers with the best experiences possible. This was not one of them, and for that, we sincerely apologize.

The site promoting the sweepstakes was compromised. It appears to have started in our hosting environment. We’re still investigating with that firm. Malicious code was entered into our website causing a redirect to the suspicious page people encountered. Since discovering this, we’ve pulled down the sweepstakes on our site, and are rebuilding in a different environment and with a different, more secure host. The new host is the same one we will be using when we launch.

We expect the sweepstakes to be live again in the next few hours once this work is complete. Thanks to our customers for discovering this and for your patience.

Sincerely,

Doug Aley and Michael Walton

NYC tops U.S. list of most expensive cities

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s not exactly shocking to see that New York City is the most expensive city in the United States. Groceries, gasoline and other items tend to run a tad more than twice the national average. Whether you rent or buy, you’ll spend a fortune in this city, where the average price for a home is $1.1 million and an apartment, on average, will cost $3,400 a month.

So, how can so many bloggers live here? Remember: these are averages. That means someone has to be on the underside of them.

Housing prices were also among the reasons why San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. worked their way into top spots on the list. Average home prices shot past $600,000 in all four of these cities. In Austin, the average home price is a much more modest $226,998, and it’s even more comfortable in Nashville, at $201,020.

The measure used to determine the cost of leaving in each of the cities is based on expenses in six categories: groceries, housing (rent/mortgage), healthcare, utilities, transportation and miscellaneous items. The prices of 57 goods in these categories were used.Six of the most expensive cities in the country are in California, with four of them among the top 10. Texas has four – Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. Most of the costliest cities are on the two coasts, though Chicago (14), Las Vegas (18), Phoenix (25) and St. Louis (35) made the top 40.

The most surprising appearance on the list of most expensive places to live is Detroit. Even though it’s plagued by unemployment of 16.7 percent, utilities are expensive. Electricity costs an average of $243.56 a month, compared to a mere $141.64 in Atlanta.

The ten most expensive cities on the list are:

  1. New York City
  2. San Francisco
  3. San Jose
  4. Los Angeles
  5. Washington DC
  6. San Diego
  7. Boston
  8. Philadeplhia
  9. Seattle
  10. Baltimore

Check out the full list here.

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[Photo via MigrantBlogger]

Stripper truck stopped in Sin City

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Commercials don’t work any more, and print ads are all but dead. So, how do you get the word out? If you’re Larry Beard, you have a couple of girls grind in the back of a truck with clear plastic sides while driving around Las Vegas. This isn’t for everyone. After all, Beard is the marketing director at Deja Vu Showgirls — which is exactly what you’d think it is.

Now, he has to stop.

Sin City authorities made him stop toting the strippers around, but the club is ready to fight. His vehicle rolled up and down the strip from 10 PM to 2 AM. Strippers inside gave a taste of what goes on inside the club. And yes, in case you were wondering, the truck had poles for the ladies to work.

Some hotel futures at risk

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The number of hotels defaulting on their loans surged 125 percent in May and June this year. Travel is down (no shit), which has an obvious effect on the top line. When there’s no money coming in, it’s hard to send cash out to meet some pretty hefty obligations. So, if none comes in, none can go out … and defaults start to rise.

Some high-profile properties have defaulted already, including the Four Seasons and Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel – both in San Francisco – and the W Hotel in San Diego. Nobody’s safe in this market. Outside California, 13 hotel loans adding up to $596 million became delinquent in June alone. Most of the carnage came from Phoenix, Las Vegas and New York City.

Of course, the defaults don’t spell the end for these properties. There is always the chance that the loan terms can be changed or the hotels can be sold. There’s a long way between defaulting loans and closed doors.

The newest hidden cost in travel: taxes

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Cities and states are pumping up their coffers at the expense of visitors. Unemployment has led to a fall in income taxes, and with consumer spending off, sales taxes aren’t bring in what they did in the past. So, municipalities have had to look elsewhere.

And, travel is a great place to start!

How can a city or state raise money without incurring the wrath of its own voters? You guessed it – travel taxes. Hotels and rental cars are favorites, because the likelihood of nailing a resident with the tax is low. While you’d think that these additional fees would keep tourists away, it’s not likely. There are probably a handful of tax activists out there who’d rather dump tea in a harbor, but it’s unlikely to be the minority.

Last year, hotel room taxes brought in $14 billion, but the take is expected to fall this year, even with the higher rates proposed. After all, hotel occupancy rates are at their lowest levels since 1956 – a sluggish 55.5 percent – according to PKF Hospitality Research.

Who’s getting in on the action?

Hawaii: the hotel room tax hit 8.25 percent on July 1, 2009 (up from 7.25 percent) and will go up to 9.25% a year from now.

Nevada: Las Vegas is pushing the hotel room tax from 9 percent to an insanely high 12 percent! Why isn’t Reno‘s room tax being pushed to 12 percent? It can’t … because it already is 12 percent.

New Hampshire: the “Live Free or Die” state bumped its hotel room and restaurant tax to 9 percent (from 8 percent) and has stretched it to include recreational vehicles at campgrounds.

Massachusetts: look for the ol’ “Taxachusets” jokes to come back with a 50 percent increase in the hotel tax (from 4 percent to 6 percent) and an increase in the restaurant tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent. Cities can add another 0.75 percent to the latter if they like.

New York City: as if the March 1, 2009 hotel tax increase to 14.25 percent wasn’t enough, the city will hit internet reservations for a bit more tax revenue.