Orders for “diet water” and a $1,600 hamburger. And a warning about naked guests accepting room service orders at their hotel room door. Hotels.com® has revealed its inaugural Room Service Report, which surveyed hotel partners around the world to uncover what’s considered “in” when it comes to in-room dining, from the most popular to the most unusual orders. It also touched on etiquette, and proper attire for folks answering the door when room service orders are delivered. Hint: clothing is preferred. Hotels revealed their most unusual guest requests including “diet” water, melted ice cream, blowfish and a raw fish caught Read more

For my next “Canada Shorts” item, here’s a brief look at a truly amazing and inspiring outdoor art gallery near Peterborough, Ontario that displays Zimbabwean stone carvings. Truly magnificent, and so unexpected. One of the truly amazing attractions in O ntario is the Zim Art Rice Lake Gallery in Bailieboro, south of Peterborough. I was asked to check it out a few years ago and had no idea what to expect. I turned down a shady, quiet country road not much bigger than a standard SUV and there it was, a lush green lawn filled with polished, black sculptures of Read more

Bad enough that we’re getting squeezed into airplanes. Now consumers around the world are facing skyrocketing airline prices. Bloomberg reports that corporate travel manager American Express Global Business Travel analyzed tens of thousands of client transactions on international flights to and from Asian destinations and found some serious inflation at work. A typical New York-to-Hong Kong flight in economy class cost more than twice as much this year as in 2019, and almost a third more than last year. “Fares have been bolstered by tight capacity going into travel’s peak season and customers are eager to book, often upgrading to Read more

Since we all seem a little short on time, I’ve begun a series of brief travel items called “Canada Shorts.” Today I take a not-too-time-consuming look at Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta. Waterton Lakes National Park might be the most under-appreciated national park in Canada. Located only three hours south of Calgary, Waterton simply took my breath away when I was there, with an outrageously beautiful lake and several smaller ones nearby, towering, snow-clad mountains, spectacular canyon drives, gushing waterfalls and a very laid-back feel to the main town, which is so small it makes Banff look like a Read more

Canadians have new ways to visit three cool U.S. destinations. WestJet on Friday celebrated the start of its nonstop flights between Calgary and Washington D.C., as well commencement of its nonstop service between Edmonton and Minneapolis. Air Canada today (Saturday) will begin service between Toronto and the California capital of Sacramento. WestJet celebrated the launch of its first-ever service between Calgary and Washington D.C., on June 2 with the departure of WS1618 at 11:30 a.m. MST. With the inclusion of Washington D.C. to WestJet’s Calgary network along with new service to Detroit and the restoration of service to an expansive Read more

The good news is that the new Air Canada lounge at the Toronto Island Airport is a beauty. The really good news is that Canada’s largest airlines plans “top to bottom” changes to some of its other lounges, including domestic lounges at Toronto Pearson, Montreal Trudeau and Vancouver International. Minutes after the doors opened to the newest Air Canada lounge, and the only one at YTZ/Billy Bishop Airport, airline officials were talking about major improvements to existing lounges at a variety of airports. “Over the next five years you can expect us to go into all of our largest club Read more