LISBON – A glam resort feel minutes from the centre of a great city. The four-star Lisbon Marriott offers a “best of both worlds” approach to visiting one of Europe’s great cities; a place that is both close to the heart of the action and a relaxing spot where you can swim and work on your tan. Not to mention a boutique feel and snazzy bar area populated by attractive locals and visitors alike. The lobby creates an immediate impression in any hotel, and this one is a lovely cross between a modern business hotel and something with a more Read more
Marriott
There’s a new app in town, and it makes easier than ever to book that trip you’ve always dreamed of. Aeroplan recently unveiled a new (and free) app that makes it dead simple to book flight rewards using your Aeroplan miles. Customers with iOS, Android and Blackberry mobile phones (still lots of folks using Blackberry) may now download the app from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and the Blackberry App World. “We know it’s increasingly important for our members to have useful travel tools when they’re on the go, and making our app available for flight reward bookings Read more
It started small and has mushroomed into a massive, mid-winter occasion that leaves some folks jubilant and others horribly confused. The “wave season” in the cruise travel business sounds a lot like the Super Bowl, but in this case it’s about saving money on a great vacation. Wave season started as a one-day cruise sale a couple decades ago and is now a weeks-long bonanza featuring hundreds of deals, discounts and extras ranging from free Wi-Fi to on-board spa treatments. “Wave season is sort of the Black Friday or Cyber Monday of the cruise space,” said Jason Sarracini, chief operating Read more
GRAVENHURST, ONTARIO – It’s intermission, and members of the band Pretzel Logic are standing on a patio outside a Gravenhurst concert venue called Peter’s Players. There’s nothing unusual about that, perhaps, but in this case they’re mingling with members of the audience on a perfect late spring night in Muskoka. A couple band members are drinking from bottles water. One is nursing a beer. But they’re all chatting with audience members about their favourite songs or about music in general. One of the singers is trying to rustle up a fishing trip for the next day. A few feet away, Read more
I wrote this blog for the Toronto Star last year after a nice visit to Buffalo. From what I hear, things have improved even more since I was last in town… BUFFALO, NEW YORK – Mea Culpa. For years, as I recall, the head of media/public relations for Buffalo Tourism had been bugging me to come on down and check things out. I envisioned cool architecture and chicken wings and a nice Frank Lloyd Wright building Ihad heard about. I covered the Buffalo Bills off and on for the Star’s sports section in the early 2000’s, but I didn’t have Read more
