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November 2018

A new, welcoming lobby. Refreshed suites. And a remarkable new restaurant and bar with excellent food and an interior meant to mimic the inside of a whiskey bottle. Canada’s first St. Regis Hotel opened officially in Toronto on Wednesday, promising “world-renowned, bespoke service, signature rituals and exquisite culinary offerings.” The St. Regis Toronto is at Bay and Adelaide in the heart of the booming financial district, with access to public transit and major amenities, including the Eaton Centre and Roy Thomson Hall. It was formerly The Adelaide. Prior to that it served as the troubled Trump Hotel and Residences. St. Read more

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Two Canadian travel companies are offering great Cyber Monday deals. But you have to move fast. Sunwing today (Nov. 26) announced that it will be reducing prices by up to 40 per cent on a huge selection of all-inclusive vacation packages for Cyber Monday only. Air Canada Vacations, meanwhile, is offering 35 per cent on all new bookings of certain Las Vegas Flight & Hotel packages with MGM Resorts. shoppers can choose from more deals than ever before during the tour operator’s largest ever one day sale. Available on line and via travel agencies, vacationers can take advantage of unprecedented Read more

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Dealing with tourism boards is sometimes a funny business for a travel writer. Most of us who’ve been doing this job for years often attend mass meetings where we chat one-on-one with destination marketing organization types, such as Tourism Toronto or Visit Britain. Inevitably, at some point, I ask PR people what’s new. But I’ve discovered – slowly, for the fact is I’m not that bright – that it’s often the wrong question because the person I’m talking to automatically starts focussing on a new hotel or attraction. Which means they ignore the things that people have been visiting their Read more

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LUCKENBACH, TEXAS – Sometimes we travel writers research a destination too much. Then we get there and find it’s nice. But not as great as we had hoped. That wasn’t the case on my recent visit to Luckenbach, Texas. Hell, I didn’t know the place was a legend. I don’t have any Willie Nelson records, but I did buy a Waylon Jennings album long ago and I’m a big fan of Dwight Yoakam and cross-over country/rock artists like CCR and Linda Ronstadt. And I love the soothing soulful sound of a slide guitar. Still, I didn’t quite know what Luckenbach, Read more

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