VANCOUVER – A classic restaurant and a newly-old classic hotel. I spent the first couple days of this week in one of the world’s favourite cities, eating and drinking and checking out some great locations. Topping the list has to be the Rosewood Hotel Georgia , a 1927 beauty that was given a five-year renovation and re-opened in 2011. I’d seen it before but hadn’t stayed the night until this trip. And I’m happy to report it’s just as sexy and seductive and luxurious as it looks. I love hotels with a real sense of style and arrival, and that’s Read more
February 2014
GIVEAWAY! The good folks at the remodeled and sleekly designed Eaton Chelsea Hotel, one of Canada’s top properties and probably the best family hotel in the country, are offering a fabulous deal for a spring getaway in Toronto. Simply by sending me an email to enter the contest and answering three skill-testing questions, you can win a one-night stay for four people in Deluxe Double Accommodations at this terrific property in downtown Toronto, anytime between now and Aug. 15, 2014. Not only that, you’ll get a dinner for four people in their signature restaurant, Bb33 Bistro and Brasserie, as well Read more
Welcome Rewards, the Hotels.com loyalty program, has just reached 10 million members and has redeemed more than one million free nights since its launch in 2008. In the program, customers can earn a free night at more than 100,000 hotels across the world for every 10 nights stayed, with no blackout dates. They issued a list today of where Canadians are using their points. And it’s mostly to stay close to home. Here’s the list of the top 10 redeemed destinations for Canadians in 2013: 1. Toronto, 2. Montreal, 3. Niagara Falls, 4. Edmonton, 5. Calgary, 6. New York City, Read more
A province for all seasons. And one that absolutely LOVES Ontario. The folks from Quebec Tourism threw a fabulous cocktail reception at a cool gallery in Toronto’s Distillery District on Tuesday, talking up the fabulous, year-round destinations they have to offer. It’s pretty remarkable when you think about it. They have awesome cities like Montreal with great festivals like Montreal en Lumiere, which started today and goes to March 2. They also have Carnival in Quebec City, which just wrapped up another fabulous season. They also have some of North America’s best skiing and snowboarding in places like Tremblant, Mont Read more
They were calling it “the lost decade.” Tourism officials gathered in Toronto last week for the annual Canadian Tourism Marketing Summit. And it wasn’t pretty talk. This country is in desperate need of a new tourism strategy. So far, the Harper government in Ottawa seems oblivious. We thought we were perhaps riding high after the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. But the statistics tell a very sad story. In 2002, Canada ranked eighth in the world in international tourist arrivals, with 19.6 million visitors. That was good for number eight in the world. By 2011, the year after the Vancouver Games, Read more
