has a lifetime of experience as journalist -- as a magazine and newspaper writer and photographer, radio and television news producer and reporter, and guidebook author and editor, all focusing on travel, automotive, lifestyle, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
Nearly 900 Americas Best Value Inn and Canadas Best Value Inn hotels in North America will be putting soap, shampoo, body lotion and other guest amenities in biodegradable packaging. It’s a first for a hotel chain of this size, which is approximately 50,000 rooms total.
Each year, more than 3.5 billion bottles and caps go into landfills in the U.S. alone. Many of them are those little bathroom amenity bottles found in hotel and motel bathroom. It takes 450 years for a plastic bottle to break down in a landfill, and 95 percent of plastics are not recycled and wind up in landfills.
The goal is to do something about those few million, or few hundred million pretty little shampoo, conditioner and bath gel bottles. Vantage Hospitality — which operates the two hotel chains — has partnered with Concept Amenities, whose products include an organic enzyme called Eco Pure that allows the bottles to bio-degrade in a landfill in less than nine years, instead of taking centuries.
Americas Best Value Inn locations are phasing in the biodegradable packaging as their current amenity supplies are depleted.
So here’s a great big eco-green kiss for these green hotel rooms.
Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humor? Audi ads on the XLIV Super Bowl are a funny serious look at saving fuel and saving our natural resources. Green police go after the bag guys — the ones who use styrofoam cups and paper plates, and the ones who do not drive fuel efficient Audi cars, such as the 2010 Audi A3 TDI clean diesel, which has won both the 2010 Green Car of the Year award, and also the overall Car of the Year award.
The best things in life are free, the saying goes. And free is also a great way to get around in some of your favorite travel destinations, via free iPhone apps.
The first Monaco-specific mobile guide immerses savvy travelers in the local culture, cuisine and contacts to the famous principality on the Mediterranean. This Monaco iPhone app features up-to-date facts and figures for its legendary attractions, restaurants, bars, nightlife and casinos, hotels, shopping, spas, architecture and more, with phone numbers, addresses and websites. Also lots of photos and Google maps…. Coupled with stunning images, this uniquely Monaco guide lets you find local phone, address, email or web site details, and even launch Google maps to locate where you are!
Get the latest snow conditions on your iPhone from Ski Utah with a free app. You’ll get the latest news on everything from a dusting to what we downhill diehards refer to as a ‘monster dump’ of a foot or more of that fluffy stuff called Champagne Powder in a 24-hour period. The Ski Utah iPhone app includes daily and 48-hour snow totals, historical data, resort specific weather forecasts, and terrain park information. Download the app and you also are eligible to win a case of Monster beverage each time Utah receives a “Monster Dump”.
As a writer and editor of numerous of travel guidebooks, such free iPhone apps certainly impact the sale of travel guidebooks. But, I will admit that it is is easier to carry an iPhone than a guidebook, and somebody is writing these apps, even though it’s not me.
These Valentine’s Day packages from two top hotels are most certainly not bargains. But let’s take a moment and dream.
Grand Hyatt Denver Downtown has a $15,000 three-night Diamond Valentine’s Package for February 12, 13 and 14. For $5,000 a night, you and your significant other get a private catered dinner in the Pinnacle Club on the 38th floor, with a romantic sweeping view of the city, plus a string quartet to serenade you during dinner. Accommodations are in the hotel’s Presidential Suite, where you are welcomed with a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, caviar, and a dozen long-stem red roses. And if that’s not enough, a one carat diamond bracelet is part of the package, too. I guess that’s why the Grand Hyatt Denver is calling this the Diamond Valentine’s Package.
The Trump name is famous for over-the-top, and this package at the Trump International Tower and Hotel in Chicago is no exception. The Once in a Lifetime package pulls out all the stops with everything couples need to pop the question, including a diamond ring from Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry , and one night in a plush Grand Deluxe Lake View Suite. The price starts at $20,100, but that also includes limousine transport to and from the hotel, a welcome bottle of Champagne, an in-suite private chef dinner for two, two dozen red roses, a full day of spa treatments for two, and room service breakfast.
Luxury doesn’t come cheap. And sometimes, neither does romance.
Talk about sustainable energy — recharge your electric car with solar power. There are a handful of solar-powered charging stations around the world where drivers can juice up their EV vehicles, and one of them has just opened in New York City.
Solar power to recharge EV cars could be a game-changer, and especially this concept design, since it combines both solar power and recycling.
This solar-powered EV charging station is near the headquarters of Beautiful Earth Group, a sustainable energy company, on the Brooklyn waterfront. The solar power system is built out of old steel shipping containers, and entirely powered by state-of-the-art Sharp 235 watt photovoltaic panels.
The solar-powered EV charging station is being used to charge the plug-in electric MINI E being tested by Beautiful Earth Group. There are about 500 electric MINI E vehicles, but this is the only one to run exclusively on solar power.
Your car does not want flowers, balloons, or even candy this Valentine’s Day. It just wants a little love in the form of tender loving care, such as an oil change and tune-up.
There’s no debating the value of preventive maintenance to keep Old Breakdown from living up to its name, and to help you drive safely on your real Valentine’s Day date, These care care tips from the Car Care Council are loving and caring year-round, not just on Valentine’s Day:
Change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles or three months, or whatever your owner’s manual recommends. That will help keep your engine clean on the inside.
Check the tire pressure at least monthly, including the spare. Your car’s tires affect its ride, handling, traction and safety.
Schedule an annual tune-up to keep your vehicle at top performance. Think of it as the four-wheel version of the annual medical check-up you have for your own body. A well-tuned engine delivers the best balance of power and fuel economy and produces the lowest level of emissions.
You can’t get any fresher fruits and vegetables than fresh-picked from your own backyard. When your backyard is The cuisine atRaffles Canouan in the Grenadines is fresher than ever, thanks to a new hydroponic farm on the resort property. The farm is managed by Sabrina Murphy, who has advanced degrees in both Agronomy and Agroecology, and it is thriving and producing high-density crops simply from efficient use of water and key nutrients.
Each day, ripe vegetables are transported to the resort’s beach bar and restaurants. Guests can create their own salad with seven variations of lettuce, arugula, watercress, cherry or beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, and a variety of herbs. Growing plans (sorry — that’s a pun I couldn’t resist) include melons and mint.
Raffles Canouan is located on Canouan Island in the heart of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean. The resort is situated on 300 acres of a 1,200-acre private estate, and includes Tahiti-like thatched roof cottages over the water. It feature 88 suites, a Raffles Amrita Spa, the 18-hole Trump International Golf Club, and the Trump Club Privee Casino. Canouan Island is accessed through Barbados International Airport.
The centerpiece of the exhibit is Diana’s storybook wedding gown and 25-foot train, seen by more than 750 million television viewers on her wedding day in 1981. The exhibit also includes Spencer family jewels and artwork; childhood home movies; family photo albums and her tiny toy car; 28 outfits from Versace, Valentino and other top designers; tributes by Sir Elton John; and two diamond tiaras.
Hotel and exhibit packages begin at $229. In addition to two VIP tickets to the show, the package includes an audio tour narrated by Charles Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana; overnight valet parking; and roundtrip transportation to the Atlantic Civic Center.
If you are a fan of Vincent Van Gogh, then head to the elegant Hotel Chesterfield in the equally elegant Mayfair section of London, for the special fast-track VIP ticket package to the show at the Royal Academy of Arts.
The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters, is a landmark exhibition including more than 35 original letters, which are rarely exhibited because they are so fragile. There also are nearly 100 Van Gogh paintings and drawings that express the principal themes found within the correspondence.
We’ve all heard about the worldwide recall of top Toyota models for a gas pedal that can stick and jam into an unsafe speed. Toyota has stopped sales of eight top models, including the best-selling Camry and Corolla, and is trying to fix the problem.
In the meantime, what do you do if your accelerator sticks and forces your vehicle into what is officially called “unintended acceleration”? Jam on the brakes? Throw the transmission into neutral? Turn the ignition off entirely? Yes, no, maybe. It depends what make you are driving.
I’m a great believer in practicing emergency situations, because an emergency is not the time to learn how. Whether you drive a Toyota or any other brand of vehicle, watch this video from Edmunds.com, then drive yourself to an parking lot at a school or corporate campus on the weekend when it’s empty, and practice emergency stops.
It’s not too late to book your trip to Miami and join the national celebration that is Super Bowl XLIV, on Sunday February 7, 2010. Hotels and resorts across Greater Miami and Beaches still have packages and deals at a variety of prices. Book soon, before these discount package deals are gone. Here are some suggestions -
The South Beach Group is offering VIP South Beach Super Bowl packages from $219 a night. The group’s hotels include the Catalina, Metropole and Riviera.
Doral Golf Resort & Spa, a Marriott Resort, has rates starting at $399 per night with a three-night minimum during Super Bowl weekend, February 5-7, 2010. The Doral is also famous for its golf course, so you can hit the links before or after the big game.
Sonesta Bayfront Hotel Coconut Grove is a stunning boutique property, with great waterfront views, in the artist community of Coconut Grove. Book four nights during Super Bowl weekend and the rate includes a full American breakfast daily for two. Be sure to use promo code SB2010.
South Beach Marriott is offering a Football Fan Fantasy Escape packge at $2,731. That’s for a four-nite stay and includes lunch on Feb. 7, 2010 with former quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, Jim Kelly. Use the promotional code QZP.
Beacon Hotel at South Beach is offering a delux room with limo transportation to and from the airport and the Super Bowl game for $609 a night. Oceanfront rooms are $40 more.
Expedia has teamed up with NFL On Location to lock in special hotel deals and ticket packages. For as low as $3,591 per person, the package includes roundtrip airfare, four-night hotel accommodations, Super Bowl XLIV game ticket, $50 in-stadium Super Bowl XLIV merchandise coupon, a souvenir lanyard with ticket sleeve, game program and VIP access to the stadium and parking. Book before Feb. 1 for travel from Feb. 4th-8th.
Nearly 900 Americas Best Value Inn and Canadas Best Value Inn hotels in North America will be putting soap, shampoo, body lotion and other guest amenities in biodegradable packaging. It’s a first for a hotel chain of this size, which is approximately 50,000 rooms total.
The first Monaco-specific mobile guide immerses savvy travelers in the local culture, cuisine and contacts to the famous principality on the Mediterranean. This 
Get the latest snow conditions on your iPhone from 
These Valentine’s Day packages from two top hotels are most certainly not bargains. But let’s take a moment and dream.
Your car does not want flowers, balloons, or even candy this Valentine’s Day. It just wants a little love in the form of tender loving care, such as an oil change and tune-up.
You can’t get any fresher fruits and vegetables than fresh-picked from your own backyard. When your backyard is The cuisine at 
Raffles Canouan is located on Canouan Island in the heart of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean. The resort is situated on 300 acres of a 1,200-acre private estate, and includes Tahiti-like thatched roof cottages over the water. It feature 88 suites, a 
Here’s a way to get into a blockbuster art show — stay at a nearby hotel and get a fast track VIP ticket.
Hotel and exhibit packages begin at $229. In addition to two VIP tickets to the show, the package includes an audio tour narrated by Charles Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana; overnight valet parking; and roundtrip transportation to the Atlantic Civic Center.
It’s not too late to book your trip to Miami and join the national celebration that is Super Bowl XLIV, on Sunday February 7, 2010. Hotels and resorts across Greater Miami and Beaches still have packages and deals at a variety of prices. Book soon, before these discount package deals are gone. Here are some suggestions -