travel

Treehotel - Sweden

2010-03-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Sweden's Treehotel, a set of six high-design suites suspended 15 feet above the subarctic forest floor, taking reservations now for its July 2010 opening.

One suite lets you shack up in a human-size bird's nest, surrounded by a layer of thatched sticks, riddled with snow, moss and whatever else falls out of the trees. Another does its best impression of a UFO, with a saucer shape and porthole lights. Another ditches walls entirely, letting you set up in a massive mirrored cube with panoramic forest views. If you stop by during the summer, also known as midnight-sun season, you might even catch a 360-degree sunset.

When you're done basking in the rustic tranquility, you can stop by the central inn for a sauna or a turn in the backyard hot tub, but the most important stuff will be coming from the kitchen: local delicacies like elk and reindeer steak, ferried out by a butler to whichever modernist marvel you happen to be staying in.

Treehotel
at Brittas Pensionat
Edeforsväg 2 A
960 24 Harads, Sweden
+46 928 10403
www.treehotel.se

9-Mile Sled Run in the Austrian Alps

2010-02-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

The world's longest illuminated toboggan run.

Wildkogel Rodelbahn
at Ski Arena Wildkogel
Neukirchen, Austria
+43 0 6565 6405
www.urlaubsarena-wildkogel.at

Possibly the best place in the world to sled down a mountain.
Wildkogel Rodelbahn, 8.7 miles of dedicated tobogganing bliss—complete with hairpin turns, a dedicated ski lift and an ale house along the way (so you can stop halfway through for a round or two at the slopeside tavern).

In short, it's the grown-up version of your 10-year-old self's biggest fantasy: hurtling down a mountain's worth of slopes on a runner sled just inches off the ground. On one side, you'll have a towering Alpine peak; on the other side, a frighteningly steep drop-off.

The full course can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on your ability and endurance.

Here is some home video I found on YouTube to give you a better idea:

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

2010-02-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

The Plitvice Lakes is a national park in Croati
in the mountainous region of Lika.

The mountain valley holds many large emerald lakes, each of which drains into the next in spectacular series of waterfalls.

Official Plitvicka Jezera National Park website

See more photos in the PHOTO GALLERY

L'Hotel - Paris

2009-11-19T17:58:00.000-08:00

L'Hotel's 20 rooms lead off the famous central stairwell. Each room has its own opulent style. The rooms are graded according to size, and in some cases view.

L'Hotel / 13 rue des Beaux Arts, 75006 Paris, France / www.l-hotel.com
- thanks @amyfabulous

Inis Meáin Restaurant & Suites

2009-09-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

www.InisMeain.com

Inis Meáin is one of the Aran Islands strewn across Galway Bay, 15 miles off the west coast of Ireland. It is just 3 miles across and supports 200 inhabitants. Ruairí de Blacam is a chef and a native of Inis Meáin. Ruairí’s wife, Marie-Thérèse, is from Cork and has a business and fashion background. Together they decided to create an exclusive design hotel on the island that would allow them to live in this special and unique place.

The project was set up with the aim of enhancing visitor’s appreciation of the island by providing a style of accommodation and dining that is complimentary to the location. The building was designed by de Blacam & Meagher architects and is inspired by the surrounding landscape. The suites are simple and understated in styling, with ample space and views. The restaurant serves good local food.

THE ISLAND
Inis Meáin is the middle island of the Aran Islands. The landscape is of terraced limestone and is unique in Europe. Over the centuries, limestone has been cleared from the land to make sheltered fields, most of them no more than half an acre in size. The result is hundreds of miles of dry stone walls rambling through the island. Old traditions in farming, fishing, sport, and music are a large part of daily life. Irish is the first language of the small community.
Being the least visited of the Aran Islands, Inis Meáin offers the most peaceful and genuine experience of this unique landscape and culture. It is unusual to encounter anyone on scenic cliff walks to the south of the island, even in July or August. There is just one pub on the island where locals and visitors gather. This tranquillity and simple way of living are what make Inis Meáin special.

Inis Meáin on TabletHotels.com

Pádraic Connolly takes a trip to the Aran islands

Jaz Resorts & Hotels

2009-08-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

www.jaz.travel

do you think i'd be comped?

10 Cool Small Towns

2009-08-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

These towns all have fewer than 10,000 people—but they can rival larger cities when it comes to good food, culture, and quality of life.

Port Jervis, N.Y. Population: 9,161. Nearest City: New York, 93 miles.

• Port Jervis, N.Y.

• Manitou Springs, Colo.

• Yellow Springs, Ohio

• Mazomanie, Wis.

• Point Reyes Station, Calif.

• Belfast, Maine

• Catskill, N.Y.

• Truth or Consequences, N.M.

• White River Junction, Vt.

• Livingston, Mont.

Downtown Livingston, Mont., in the shadow of the Rockies. Population: 7,062. Nearest City: Bozeman, 25 miles.

Amazing Hotel Pools

2009-08-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

You can take small sailboats out on the saltwater pool at San Alfonso del Mar, in Algarrobo, Chile. The pool measures two thirds of a mile in length—Guinness World Records calls it the largest in the world.

See More Amazing Hotel Pools HERE

Weird Hotels

2009-08-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

On your next trip, check into a wine cask, a salvaged 727 airplane, or a room where the furniture defies the law of gravity.

See Photos of these weird hotels at BudgetTravel.com

By John Rambow

Your escape pod awaits

Colored bright-orange for easy visibility, the '70s-era escape pods that make up the Capsule Hotel once hung outside oil rigs, ready to be deployed in case of an evacuation. Recycled by self-proclaimed "garbage architect" Denis Oudendijk, the fleet of pods now rotates among different moorings in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. At the moment, two are in the western Dutch town of Vlissingen and another is in The Hague. For a kind of James Bond-meets-Barbarella twist, opt to book your pod with a disco ball and all the spy's movies on DVD. It's a super-kitschy nod to a similar pod's appearance in "The Spy Who Loved Me."

Upside-down stay

At Berlin's Propeller Island City Lodge, each of the 30 rooms is weird in its own way. The artist-owner, Lars Stroschen, has seen to that. One room, the first built, is made to look like a brightly painted medieval town, with an ultra-mini golf course surrounding the castle bed. Another has furniture attached to the ceiling, another has coffins for beds, and still another has lion cages on stilts (the website claims that kids "love to sleep" in them). Then there's the Freedom Room, which resembles a prison, complete with a toilet next to the bed—oh, that German humor!

A place to unwine'd

When they were owned by a Swiss château, the four enormous casks on the grounds of the Hotel De Vrouwe Van Stavoren in the Netherlands held the equivalent of 19,333 bottles of wine. Now, after some creative recycling, it's guests rather than booze that mellow out inside the casks. The richly worn and airtight oak barrels have two narrow beds, with a small sitting area outside. The grounds are quite close to tiny Stavoren's harbor, which was a major port in the Middle Ages.

Crazy kind of stay

The daughter of Ho Chi Minh's No. 2 masterminded the Hang Nga Guest House and Art Gallery in Da Lat, Vietnam, a complex that more than earns its local nickname, the Crazy House. The three main buildings are Gaudi-esque concrete treehouse-like growths that appear as if they flowed organically out of the ground. Inside, the walls seem to dissolve into the floor, and right angles are avoided entirely. Each guest room is built around a different animal theme: the Eagle Room has a big-beaked bird standing atop a huge egg, while another has arm-sized ants crawling up the wall. The animal theme continues outside — a large giraffe statue on the property contains a teahouse, and human-size "spider webs" are set up here and there.

In a league of its own

Hydrophobics should stay far from Jules' Undersea Lodge, named for novelist Jules Verne of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea fame. The 600-square-foot lodge, a former marine lab, is 21 feet underwater, close to the bottom of the mangrove-filled Emerald Lagoon, in Key Largo. You'll have to know how to scuba dive to reach your room, and guests without the mandatory certification must take a course at the hotel. Once you've reached the lodge, which sleeps up to six, you'll be close to angelfish, anemones, barracuda, oysters, and other creatures—each room is equipped with a 42-inch window, so you don't need to be suited up to keep an eye on the neighborhood.

Crash in a jet plane

Near a beach that's within Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica, the Hotel Costa Verde doesn't lack for great sights. But few are as amazing as its own 727 Fuselage Suite, a salvaged 1965 Boeing 727-100 that looks as if it's crashed into the Costa Rican jungle (it's actually mounted atop a 50-foot pillar and reached via a spiral staircase). The jet's interior was once able to hold up to 125 passengers, but there are few reminders left of its days in the service of South African Airways and Colombia's Avianca Airlines. The suite's two bedrooms, dining area, and sitting room are now covered over entirely in teak to match the surroundings. Guests can play "spot the toucan" on the small wood deck that sits on top of the right wing.

Where the penthouse is a trailer park

Cape Town's sleek Grand Daddy hotel has a surprise on its roof: a fleet of seven Airstream trailers, six of which were imported from the U.S. The aluminum-clad "rooms," which sleep two people, have been done in playful themes that incorporate icons like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (a blonde wig and a bear suit are available for dress-up), and John Lennon and Yoko Ono (the room's white-on-white furnishings include an enormous bed, natch). If you don't want to stray as far from the trailers' original looks, there's the Pleasantville model, an Eisenhower-era fantasia with chintz, harvest-gold curtains, and flower-covered throw pillows.

See More Weird Hotels

San Juan Islands, Washington

2009-08-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

The San Juan Islands were Featured in Esquire's
Great Places to Discover on a Last-Minute Summer Road Trip

San Juan Islands, Washington
Nearest highway: I-5
Suggested length of stay: Seven days

I can't stand the beach. Or, to hone the point, I can't stand the beach as most of America does it: overcrowded, oversexed, and bleached of its edge-of-another-world thrill by slatherings of zinc oxide and kitsch. When I crave honest salt air, I wait for winter and its empty shores. Or I sit back and dream of late summer in the San Juans. You take the ferry from Anacortes. You bring or don't bring your car. Doesn't matter. You get off at Lopez Island if you want a sleepy, small-town vibe — the MacKaye Harbor Inn is a gem — or, if you want something with a little more going on, head to Orcas Island. (Stay a night at the Inn at Ship Bay.) Then there's the last stop, Friday Harbor, which combines the sleepiness of Lopez and the goings-on of Orcas for something all its own. What makes the San Juans special isn't the water (though it's as clear as jewels), the backdrop of green forests and snowy mountains, the beachcombing, the whale watching, the kayaking, or the hiking. What makes them special is that they'd exist without you. The world's sea trade passes through here. The fishing fleets come and go. The place has a life of its own. It's another world, so it lets you step out of your own. —TIM HEFFERNAN

San Juan Islands Visitor Guide
http://www.visitsanjuans.com/

The San Juan Island Lodging, Activity, and Travel Guide
http://www.travelsanjuan.com/

Los Angeles, CA

2009-07-27T14:56:00.001-07:00

LA Overview:

See videos on LA Museums and Shopping in LA at DiscoverLosAngeles.com

InOcean Living

2009-06-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Angsana Velavaru, a set of luxury suites literally plunked down in the Indian Ocean, ready to officially liberate you from the tyranny of land-based living, opening July 1 in the Maldives (off the Southern Coast of India/Sri Lanka)

Have a look at the promotional video:

...and some real life footage (audio has been disabled)

Maldives on google maps

View Larger Map

Propeller Island City Lodge

2009-05-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Propeller Island City Lodge turns staying at a hotel into an art form. German artist Lars Stroschen, the owner, manager and designer, pours all his creative energies into the 30-room hotel, and each room is wildly unique, ranging from the surreal Upside-Down Room, where the handmade furnishings hang from the ceiling and guests sleep and sit in comfortable boxes hidden away under the floorboards, to the kaleidoscopelike Mirror Room, where mirrors cover every surface of the diamond-shaped space.

Flying Bed Room
A room with a slanted floor which makes grandma's bed seem to fly. The wardrobe comes out of the wall, but table and chair have got to stay straight! In the rustic bathroom of natural stone you will find eggplant-coloured slate.

Symbol Room
Created entirely from square wooden plates, this black and white room excites the imagination to ponder the meaning of one symbol or another. There are 300 altogether, which guarantees more than enough food for thought. The very intense room is part of the artist's private area and it is available as foto/video location.

Upside-Down Room
The furnishings hang from the ceiling and you sleep and sit in comfortable boxes beneath the floorboards. Uncannily surreal! The only four-bed room. One of the most unique accomodations.

Mirror Room
One of City Lodge's highlights. The diamand-shaped room is completely laid out with mirrors and gives you the impression of living in a kaleidoscope.

...nothing has been bought, every single construction is a singular novelty, everything is authentic and everything has its own special function - nothing is fake, nothing is mere decoration. no plastic and no papier-mâché. many tourists have said the City Lodge was the highlight of their trip to berlin.

Propeller Island City Lodge / 58 Albrecht Achilles Strasse / Berlin, Germany 10709 / Tel: 49 30 891 9016 / www.propeller-island.com

Madonna Inn

2009-05-14T14:35:00.001-07:00

An historic landmark on California's Central Coast for over 50 years! The world-renowned Madonna Inn offers 109 rooms, uniquely decorated with a special theme and color scheme, no two are alike. The natural beauty of native rock and the romance of a bye-gone era welcome you at the Madonna Inn.

Click HERE for a complete list of rooms.
Some sample room photos below:

Caveman Room
The caveman is a popular prehistoric figure and a whimsical glimpse into his existence is revealed in this rustic den of solid rock! Animal prints, rock pond and stone-age clubs add to the primitive surroundings. A waterfall spills from overhead in the stone shower and water flows from the rocks into a stone sink basin in the cavern-style bathroom. Caveman has a king bed and will accommodate two primates.

Madonna Suite
A signature room with all the color, fun and flavor that captures the true essence of the Madonna Inn...including the custom “pink rose” carpet. The massive fireplace, the unique walk-in waterfall shower and the unusual bathroom sinks were designed and built from native rock. The interior furnishings were hand selected by Phyllis Madonna and all characteristics of the room play a part in making this fanciful hideaway a favorite with our guests. A stone pathway leads to the entrance of this secluded suite in the hilltop unit. King bed, fireplace, waterfall shower and sinks.

Traveler's Suite
Open the door to this handsome room graced with exquisite furnishings. An elaborate stone fireplace embraces the room and shares the open floor plan with two king beds. The spacious bathroom hosts a soaking tub for soothing both mind and body and is accompanied by a double sink vanity. The soft light from the hearth will lull you to sleep in this restful suite located in a secluded area off the sundeck on the 2nd floor of the hilltop unit

Madonna Inn / 100 Madonna Road / San Luis Obispo, California 93405 / Reservations Phone: (800) 543-9666 / General Information Phone: (805) 543-3000 / www.madonnainn.com

Wigwam Motel

2009-05-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Have You Slept in a Wigwam Lately?

There were once dozens of Wigwam Villages from Florida to California built between the 1930's and the 1950's but only a few remain. I stayed at the one in Holbrook, AZ located on historic Route 66 near several Native American Reservations.

The Wigwam Motel was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 2002

Wigwam Motel / 811 West Hope Drive / Holbrook, Arizona 86025 / 928.524.3048 / www.galerie-kokopelli.com/wigwam

Clift Hotel - San Francisco

2009-04-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

From the website:

Hotel Overview
An inspired fusion of old-world hotel elegance with distinctly contemporary energy and glamour, the nearly century-old Clift’s modern and daring sense of diversity perfectly captures the city’s spirit. Steps from Union Square shopping and the legendary Nob Hill, Clift is perfectly located for sightseeing, shopping and socializing. Clift’s classic stone exterior opens onto a glowing purple entryway that prepares guests for the wonderland within. Designed by Philippe Starck, the soaring lobby contains one of the most eclectic furniture collections in all of California, with chairs from Ray and Charles Eames, a coffee table by Salvador Dali, a surreal stool by Renee Marguerite, and a sculpture custom made by William Sawaya. The centerpiece is a thirty-five-foot fireplace with a Bronze chimney sculpture by Gerard Garouste. The thrilling monumental scale and fantastical furnishings create a dream-like composition that is the cornerstone of Clift’s magic.

Redwood Room
A cherished San Francisco landmark, Clift's famous and historic Redwood Room has been restored and reinvented as an elegant and modern San Francisco bar. The interior features the original redwood paneling and enormous bar, which, legend has, was carved from a single redwood tree, as well as Starck-designed lounge furniture and an ever-changing array of digital artwork displayed on plasma television screens hung throughout the room.

Clift / 495 Geary Street / San Francisco, CA 94102 / 415.775.4700 / www.clifthotel.com

Olympic Bobsled Course

2009-01-29T16:39:00.000-08:00

Olympic Bobsleder Ivan Radcliff, Joel, Emily and Molly video taping Me, Elwood and Pam pullin' 5 gees on turn 12 (of 15) on the Olympic Bobsled Course in Park City, Utah.

Ice Hotels

2009-01-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

The Concept: a temporary hotel made up entirely of snow and sculpted blocks of ice.

Ice Hotel Sweden: www.icehotel.com

ICEHOTEL
981 91 Jukkasjärvi
SWEDEN

Ice Hotel Canada: www.icehotel-canada.com

Hôtel de Glace
75, Montée de l’Auberge, Pavillon Ukiuk
Station touristique Duchesnay
Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier
Québec Canada G3N 2Y5

Handpresso - nomadic espresso

2008-09-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

Products designed to offer you an outstanding espresso wherever you go, whenever you want. Premium quality espresso – anywhere.

Official Handpresso Website

a real life test:

and another cheesy add:

Cheap Flight Sites

2008-08-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Ultimate Fares: http://www.ultimatefares.com/

Cheap Flights: http://www.cheapflights.com/

Booking Buddy: http://www.bookingbuddy.com/

Kayak: www.kayak.com

Farecast: http://farecast.live.com/

FlightStats: http://www.flightstats.com/
You can track your flights using flightstats.com—not just immediately before you take your flight, but before you even make your reservation. FlightStats offers a great historical picture of the yearly on-time performance of every scheduled flight. Obviously, a flight that is late 96 percent of the time—and unfortunately there are a lot of them—is one you don't want to book in the first place.

FareCompare: http://www.farecompare.com/
FareCompare is a great website that analyzes airfares (and changes in those fares).

Taprobane Island - Sri Lanka

2008-08-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

A private villa that sits on its own little island. The island is only about 200 yards off Sri Lanka's southern coast, so to reach it you just wade through the Indian Ocean. Or take an elephant.

The villa is big and colonial, with five large bedrooms, and every bedroom has its own terrace. Five people look after your every need, and there's a private chef who cooks these amazing meals—Sri Lankan cuisine like fish curry and spicy grilled eggplant, or fusion dishes like salt and pepper calamari, crispy roasted potatoes and coconut flan.

There's not a whole lot to do at the villa, but that's what's great about it. You sit and relax, drink wine, sunbathe, read. There's an infinity pool to cool off in. You look out at the Indian Ocean, and there's nothing between you and the South Pole…

Taprobane Island / Weligama Bay, Sri Lanka, +94 91 4380275 / www.taprobaneisland.com

Hotell Fabriken Furillen

2008-08-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

A midcentury abandoned limestone quarry turned into one of Sweden's most fascinating hotels.
In the 18-room main building, austere meets upscale—minimalist décor, Bang & Olufsen DVD players. But beyond the guestrooms, Furillen goes to both extremes. Austere? Spend the night out on the crushed-rock landscape in a tiny "hermit cabin," made from recycled barn wood, with no electricity or running water. Upscale? Right in the factory, Gotland's finest restaurant features destination-worthy meals sourced from local produce. And arriving later this year, comes the piece de resistance: a floating sauna.

Gotland is an extraordinarily beautiful island in the middle of the Baltic Sea. It is one of the sunniest places in Sweden and a holiday paradise. The ever-shifting light, sandy beaches and fields of wild flowers made photographer Johan Hellström with family decide they wanted to live here permanently. In 1999 they left the west coast city of Gothenburg for Gotland and their recently purchased limestone quarry on the four square kilometer island of Furillen off the north-eastern coast. The Hellströms bought the property from cement company Cementa AB. They decided to build a guest house and ended up creating an 18-room hotel with a restaurant. Johan Hellström is the main designer and he has combined industrial shades of gray with Scandinavian design. The result is austere and luxurious and unique. - http://livinginandyland.blogspot.com/2007/07/fabriken-furillen.html

Hotell Fabriken Furillen / 624 58 Lärbro, Gotland, Sweden, +46 498 22 30 40 / www.furillen.nu

Google 4-1-1

2006-11-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

TEXT Services:

Text message your search query to 466453 ('GOOGLE' on most devices) and they'll text message back results.

Local Listings, Movie Listings, Weather, Stock Quotes and Driving Directions are just a few of the services offered.

For Local Listings:
Just enter what you want to find and include a city and state, or zip (ex: pizza 10013 -or- Blockbuster boston ma).

http://www.google.com/mobile/sms/

NEW VOICE Services: Google 4-1-1

Dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) for local business numbers
Google Voice Local Search works just like 411: call with your listing and it'll read and/or text you the address and phone number, then connect you automatically for no charge whatsoever. So really it's nothing like 411.

http://labs.google.com/goog411/

Anish Kapoor Installations

2006-10-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Sky Mirror in NYC:

Anish Kapoor's Sky Mirror is a breathtaking, 35-foot-diameter concave mirror made of polished stainless steel. Standing nearly three stories tall at the Fifth Avenue entrance to the Channel Gardens at Rockefeller Center, Sky Mirror offers a dazzling experience of light and architecture, presenting viewers with a vivid inversion of the skyline featuring the historic landmark building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Sky Mirror is on view, free and open to the public, from September 19th through October 27th, 2006.

Sky Mirror @ publicartfund.org

Sky Mirror - Website

Chicago's Cloud Gate:

www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/cloud_gate.html

Road Trip USA

2006-06-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

www.roadtripusa.com

In the ten years since it was published, Jamie Jensen's Road Trip USA has become the go-to source for road travelers.

The book details mile-by-mile highlights celebrating the best of Americana, including roadside curiosities, parks, and the local history and personalities that make each town and city unique.

Opus Hotel in Vancouver

2006-06-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Opus Hotel - 322 Davie Street
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 5Z6
www.opushotel.com

Voted 'Best of the Best' One of the World's Top 100 Hotels
- Condé Nast Traveler 2005 Magazine

Voted one of the Best 500 Hotels in the World
- Travel and Leisure Magazine 2006

One of Vancouver's coolest hangouts.
- Wallpaper Magazine

Some photos from my stay @ Opus: