The world’s most famous city sign is turning 100 years old. The iconic letters for the Hollywood Sign have stood as an American landmark for 100 years, perched atop the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking the City of Los Angeles. The sign is synonymous with the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown and emblematic of a century’s worth of Hollywood history, from the notable to the notorious. Today, the sign is an enduring symbol of Los Angeles, beckoning travelers to come experience a place where magic is possible and dreams come true. “From the Golden Age of Hollywood to the beating heart Read more
Canada
Forbes Travel Guide, the only independent, global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants and spa, today unveiled its 2023 Star Awards. The hotel ratings expanded into new destinations, including Athens, Bodrum, Capri, Copenhagen, Cusco, Cyprus, Oslo, Sicily, Stockholm and Tunis. The 65th annual list features 360 Five-Star, 585 Four-Star and 433 Recommended hotels; 79 Five-Star, 113 Four-Star and 67 Recommended restaurants; and 119 Five-Star and 195 Four-Star spas worldwide. In Canada, five stars were awarded to nine hotels: The St. Regis Toronto, The Shangri-La Toronto, The Shangri-La Vancouver, Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, The Ritz-Carlton Toronto, The Hazelton Hotel in Toronto, The Four Seasons Toronto, The Four Seasons Read more
Two travel groups have come up with different lists of the most romantic cities in Europe for Valentine’s Day. Research by Catamaran Charter Croatia ranked Europe’s capital cities based on their number of romantic restaurants (as described on TripAdvisor) and hotels per million residents. A Canadian travel company, redtag.ca, also listed five top romantic cities in Europe and came up with somewhat different results. Here’s the top 10 from Catamaran Charter Croatia: Lisbon Monaco Paris San Marino Rome Andorra La Vella, Andorra Amsterdam Athens Prague Reykjavik, Iceland I’m not so sure about San Marino or Andorra as I’ve never been. Read more
WestJet today revealed significantly increased transborder connectivity from Edmonton International Airport, with new routes from Edmonton to London, Ontario Moncton, Charlottetown and the resumption of nonstop flights to Ottawa, Montreal, Nanaimo and Penticton. The airline also announced non-stop service from Edmonton to Minneapolis, Minnesota and Seattle, Washington as part of its 2023 summer schedule. WestJet’s renewed commitment to Edmonton will see the airline’s service increase by almost 50% this summer when compared to 2022. Additionally, today’s announcement underpins WestJet’s strategic ambitions to grow its presence across Western Canada and further strengthens Canada’s east to west connectivity. “Since our first day Read more
This was not my most pleasant air experience, so forgive me if I’m a little cranky. I got up at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday of this week for a flight from Toronto to San Francisco. Terminal One at Toronto Pearson was having baggage issues and there was a big line-up at the check-in counter. I wasn’t in a great mood on the flight, I admit. But I read a book for a couple hours and tried to sleep, or at least rest comfortably. That, however, was pretty much impossible as a couple across the aisle from me played some kind Read more
