Tina from Mexico was listening to classical music and wanted to talk about Canadian politics as she drove us to dinner one night. Mohammed was blasting out hurtin’ tunes on a country music radio station as he shepherded us from an evening meal. And a young guy whose name I forget was bopping away to Marvin Gaye and other soul artists from the 1960s and 1970s as he drove us to the Museum of Latin American Art. During a three-day visit to Long Beach, California, I found some of the nicest and most interesting rideshare drivers that I’ve met in Read more
Fairmont Hotels
Major awards for three Canadian airports. A nice Air Canada sale. New hotels for Maui. Turkish Airlines becomes third busiest in the world. A new marketing plan for Fort Lauderdale. And a spiffy new Fairmont hotel/resort in Spain. Today’s blog post covers a lot of ground! TORONTO, VICTORIA AND ST. JOHN’S AIRPORT AWARDS Toronto Pearson Airport, along with airports in Victoria, B.C. and St. John’s, have won awards from Airports Council International (ACI). As part of ACI’s annual Airport Service Quality awards, The Montreal-based group handed out three “Best Airport Awards” for North American facilities that serve Read more
White Lotus is spurring Canadian searches for hotels in Thailand, the price of a NEXUS travel pass is going WAY up, and Canada Jetlines Announces flights between Toronto and Miami. WHITE LOTUS FILMING SPURS SEARCHES FOR THAILAND HOTELS Queue the White Lotus theme song—KAYAK data shows Canadian searches for five-star hotels in Thailand are up 62 per cent year-over-year since the show’s season three location was released on Instagram, along with an eight per cent drop in hotel prices year-over-year. The most popular resort destinations for Canadians include Bangkok (avg. $113/night), Pattaya (avg. $80/night), Phuket City (avg. $123/night), Read more
The Hawaiian government has asked visitors to stay away from West Maui until October 8 so it can deal with the terrible damage from the Lahaina fire. But it’s encouraging visitors to head to other areas of the island and support businesses that rely on tourist dollars. That’s especially so for smaller, independent shops versus the Costco’s and Starbucks of the world. Besides dining or shopping, there are tons of great nature spots to see and enjoy. West Maui definitely needs time to heal. But the area that’s closed for tourism is a tiny fraction of the island of Maui, Read more
There’s always something new in San Francisco. This year they’re celebrating some things that are rather old as well. I recently spent a few days in the City by the Bay checking out things both old and new. Okay, and a few things in between. Here’s a look at some of the highlights. SOME THINGS NEW HOTELS Hyatt Regency SoMa The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Downtown SoMa, previously known as the Park Central hotel, reopened last year after a full, $70 million renovation/reimagination. We had a 23rd floor suite in cool shades of grey and black, with brown and Read more
