hotels articles

On a recent trip to Europe, me and the boys managed to miss both trains and planes, were beaten up by bouncers, thrown out of clubs and to top it off, we were almost killed by the Russian Mafia. Damn, this was a fun trip. Lots of kill skating, good people, and sick adventures. I made it my mission to pick up a postcard from every spot we stopped at and got everybody to write home about something or other that we experienced along the way.

Upon arrival at the Amsterdam airport where I had a connecting flight to reach Denmark, I bumped into two of the four people who would be touring with us: Jason Masse and Mike Crum. It was cool to bump into them at that particular moment, ’cause I had no idea where the fuck I was going, as I had no itinerary. This was no great surprise as I had just received my travel tickets by courier at 12:30 earlier that day and had to make the 2:00 international flight. There was no sign of Team Manager Dee-Bo or Neil Mims, who we were also to meet up with in Amsterdam. Mike asked me if I wanted a beer; I declined, saying “No thanks, I’m still tired from the flight.” He took off, while Masse and I talked about what to do when we got to Copenhagen. Mike came back with three beers and a “Here you go” as he handed one to me. Right then and there was the official start of Groundhog Day. I went to get my flight to Copenhagen; Mike and Jason would arrive at a later time. One hour later I get to Copenhagen and was stunned to s ee Mims and TM Dee-Bo’s bags on the conveyer belt, but there was no sign of them. “Shit, they were supposed to be on my flight.” I grab their shit and set up camp–it’s bad enough being stuck in an airport, but to have to watch over somebody else’s luggage; now that’s torture. Five tedious hours pass, Crum and Masse show up but still no sign of the others, who should have been there ages ago. Crum then spots a distributor who knows where we have to be, and what hotel we were at, so we leave the airport to go check in. As for TM Dee-Bo and Mims, PEACE OUT.

After a good night’s sleep and the arrival of TM Dee-Bo and Neil (who got held up at customs in Amsterdam) it was time to get rolling. For the next two weeks we were to hit three contests: One in Copenhagen, Dortmund, and finally Prague, so there were loads of skaters in town. I was stoked to meet Lance Mountain, Lance Jr., Richard Muldet, and Rodrigo TX, who were also staying at our hotel. We went and checked out Stallen Skatepark, Copenhagen’s biggest outdoor park, which was alright except for too many blades and bmxers roaching around. TP [*] caught a bike peg to the shin after only two minutes on the course. After Stallen we cruised to the Jammer Pads, Copenhagen’s #1 ledge spot. This spot was tight: it reminded me of Pier 7 back home in SF with ledges, manual pads, and gaps. We checked out some other spots but most of them were “good from far spots”–that’s when a spot looks good from far away but when you get close to check it out it’s far from good. The streets were all cobblecraze [**] so finding goo d spots was kinda hard, but not impossible. Later that day, me, Masse, and TP went to look into something we had seen earlier. I remember asking the cab driver if he spoke Denmarkian; he shot me a crazy look and snapped back with “You stupid American, we speak Danish! What the fuck is this Denmarkian shit?” After a few laughs (mostly at him), he told us of a magical place in Copenhagen called Christiania, a hippie community that’s fenced off from the rest of the city. This spot was like a mini Amsterdam. There were restaurants, coffee bars, shops, music, and of course lots of herbs, hash, and shrooms… A regular farmer’s market for the stoner type. Yeah, this was Hesh-dog Heaven. There was also a skatespot there. If you recall a Tom Penny ad, where he’s doing a f/s flip in a bowl, that’s the spot. This would become the spot to most likely find everybody chillin’.

(*.) TP: Trevor Prescott, filmer dude

(**.) Cobblecraze: Cobblestone

TRANS. PLANES AND RENTAL VANS

When the Copenhagen contest was over we hooked up with our German connection at the hotel. They were to take us to Hamburg but didn’t have enough room in the van for everyone, so we told them to take our bags and meet us there. Everyone was happy with that decision, so with the T-dogs on their way to Hamburg with our shit, we jumped in a cab and headed for the train station. Once there we were accompanied by Gailea Momolu, Louie Barletta, Andy Bautista, Robert, and 411 Mike. We boarded the train ready for action with 12-pack in hand and boom box blasting. The trains are dope out here; so much fun. Who wants to be cramped up in a van when you can run wild on a train and piss off funny-hat-wearing-weinerschnitzel-eating old farts, drink beer, and take as many pisses as you want without having to say “Yo!! Pull over at the next stop!” Good thing the border dogs had colds that day, or we would have been assed-out.

Northwest Airlines and Malev Hungarian Airlines have signed a codeshare and frequent flyer programme agreement. Under the agreement, which is effective immediately, Northwest Airlines will put its flight code on Malev’s scheduled service between Amsterdam and Budapest.

Under a new deal between US carrier Continental Airlines and new Mexican operation Lineas Aereas Azteca, Azteca will take part in Continental’s frequent flyer programme, Onepass, beginning in December 2001, reported El Economista.

Delta Air Lines has launched a US-wide promotion to revitalise and encourage travel to New York. The airline has launched ‘Delta Loves New York’ which offers customers the opportunity to win 10,000 tickets to New York City. Many of the 10,000 ticket packages will be awarded through radio station promotions and will include accommodations provided by Delta SkyMiles partners Crowne Plaza and Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts.

United Airlines will expand its presence in Asia by introducing a codeshare service to Vietnam through its Star Alliance partner Thai Airways from 17 November 2001. United Airlines will place its code on the Thai Airways-operated flights between Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City five times a week.

Alaska Airlines has joined travel web site Orbitz as a Charter Associate. Orbitz has always supplied travellers with Alaska’s lowest published fares, however Orbitz customers will now be able to search and buy Alaska’s web-only fares as well.

Northwest Airlines is offering Canada 3000 customers the opportunity to purchase the lowest applicable published fares, without having to comply with advance purchase requirements. The offer is valid for holders of Canada 3000 tickets issued on or before 8 November 2001.

NEW YORK — Sure, air travel is a hassle. And no, the U.S. dollar doesn’t go very far in Paris or London. But none of that is keeping Americans away from Europe.

Nearly 13 million Americans visited Europe in 2006, a 4 percent increase from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Travel & Tourism Industries. The European Travel Commission expects those numbers will increase another 2 or 3 percent this year.

SHORT TRIPS AND BYWAYS: Now that you need a passport just to visit the Caribbean, some Americans — especially those already on the East Coast — are opting to spend a few more hours in the air to take a long weekend in Western Europe, according to Conrad Van Tiggelen, chairman of the European Travel Commission, www.visiteurope.com. “Traditional destinations like Paris and London are really going through the roof for short breaks,” he said.

Another trend is “combining the known and the unknown” by visiting landmarks in a major city, then heading off to the countryside, said Van Tiggelen.

“Seeing the Eiffel Tower is still a great thrill, as is going to the Vatican. But there is a subset of more sophisticated travelers yearning to see a more authentic side of Europe,” said Pauline Frommer, the travel writer and editor.

In Italy, a program called agriturismo allows travelers to “stay in a farmhouse set up for tourism and take part in the daily life and the making of particular products like cheese and wine,” according to Cosmo Frasca, spokesman for the Italian Government Tourist Board in New York. In Amsterdam, take a ferry across the Amstel River, rent a bike and “after 10 minutes, you’re in 17th- and 18th-century villages,” said Van Tiggelen, who is also the Netherlands tourism director.

Americans are also increasingly taking “experiential vacations,” said Peter Frank, editor of Concierge.com. “They want to engage in an activity — windsurfing in Croatia, hiking the pilgrim’s trail to Santiago de Compostela (in Spain) or taking a cookery class in Italy.”

For city visits, here’s a money-saving tip: Stay in an apartment instead of a hotel. The new “Pauline Frommer’s London” guidebook lists agencies that can set “you up in a room in someone’s apartment for 20 pounds a night,” with a private bathroom, said Frommer. “It makes Europe affordable again.”

ITALY: The United Kingdom and France each gets more tourists from the United States than Italy does, according to Commerce Department statistics. Nonetheless, many travel experts say Italy is the country American travelers are most interested in learning about.

“Italy with a capital I, that’s where the action is,” said Mike Weingart, a Carlson Wagonlit travel agent in Houston.

AAA Travel booked more trips to Italy this year than any other destination in Western Europe, with a 9 percent growth over last year and a whopping 34 percent of all AAA bookings to the region.

“One of the top questions we have been getting is, ‘Where in Italy do I go?”‘ said Frommer, who hosts a radio show with her father Arthur. “It seems to be very popular among first-time visitors.”

Fodor’s has just come out with a new guide called “Essential Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice & The Top Spots In Between.” “The inspiration for the book came from just looking at our Web site and the reader comment boards,” said “Essential Italy” editor Matthew Lombardi. “There were all these little headers saying, ‘Rome, Florence, Venice, help me plan my itinerary.’”

Americans are “more savvy now about the pleasures of contemporary Italian culture,” Lombardi added. “They can go and see the Pantheon, but they also realize that great Italian food is not spaghetti and meatballs.” They want to sample regional identities, cuisine and villages in places like Tuscany and Umbria.

EASTERN EUROPE: “People keep heading east,” said Concierge.com’s Frank. “People who’ve done Paris and Rome and Florence and Madrid, they want to see what else is out there.”

Publishers are responding with a slew of new books, like Frommer’s “Eastern Europe,” out April 2, and new DK Eyewitness Travel guides on the “Czech & Slovak Republics,” “Cracow” and a “Top 10 Dubrovnik & the Dalmatian Coast.”

“There’s still a curiosity about the former Communist countries and what they are really like,” said Douglas Amrine, DK Eyewitness Travel publisher. Yet with so many of these countries now in the European Union, travelers rightly perceive that “the infrastructure will be there” in terms of hotels, restaurants and customer service to accommodate them, Amrine added.

For bargain-hunters, the U.S. dollar goes further in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. But high-end travelers will also feel at home in a spate of new luxury hotels, from the Mandarin Oriental Prague to a Four Seasons in Budapest to the high-tech Domina Grand in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Frank said.

And while the number of Americans visiting places like Croatia is still relatively small –154,000 in 2006 compared to more than 2 million to Italy — growth is strong, up from 115,289 Americans who visited in 2005 and more than 200,000 expected in 2007, according to the Croatian National Tourist Office. AAA’s bookings to Croatia increased an astounding 440 percent this year over last.

– THE SANTA FE INDIAN MARKET will be Aug.18, 7 a.m.-5 p.m., and AUG. 19, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Santa Fe Plaza. It is free and open to the public. This is one of the most prestigious and longest- running American Indian art shows in the country. Information: www.swaia.org.

– THE VISIT SALT LAKE CONNECT PASS lets locals and visitors alike experience 12 of Salt Lake’s top tourist attractions for one low price. Each person must have a pass and may visit any of the participating attractions one time each throughout the day of activation. The pass is sold online at www.visitsaltlake.com, in the visitors center at the Salt Palace Convention Center and at participating hotels. It comes in the form of a scannable plastic card that may be used at the holder’s leisure. Scannable paper versions of Connect Passes are also downloadable online. A one-day pass is $18 adults, $14 children and $16 seniors
Participating attractions include: Children’s Museum of Utah, Red Butte Garden, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort (scenic foot passenger tram ride only), Thanksgiving Point Gardens and the Museum of Ancient Life, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah Museum of Natural History, Utah Olympic Park, Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Lion House Pantry Restaurant, Living Planet Aquarium, Clark Planetarium and This is the Place Heritage Park.
To further entice would-be vacationers, the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, which created the pass, is including two complimentary 3-day Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes with each vacation booking of at least three nights at participating hotel properties. Three-night Salt Lake packages start at $165 per room, double occupancy. The Visit Salt Lake Connect Pass promotion runs through July 31 and travel must be completed by Sept. 30. Promotion packages must be booked online at www.visitsaltlake.com or www.travelocity.com or by calling 877-SLC-4FUN.

– KUDOS FOR AMSTERDAM’S SCHIPHOL AIRPORT. At a ceremony in Zurich, Switz., it was named ACI Europe’s Best Airport for facilities that handle over 25 million passengers per year. The airports were judged on retail, security, facilities, environmental awareness and service, among other things. We can personally vouch for Schiphol’s incredible array of shopping (within the terminals as well as in the mall adjoining the terminals), the on-site hotel, art museum and restaurants. And the chairs. Did we mention the chairs? Unlike most airports, the chairs here are designed to be comfortable enough for dozing.

– SUMMER AT PARK CITY MOUNTAIN RESORT. The ski resort’s summer side is open for business with the Alpine Coaster, an elevated track that winds and bends and loops through the mountain scenery; and the Alpine Slide, ZipRider, climbing wall and lift-served mountain biking and hiking, not to mention lift service access to Main Street.

OH, THE ‘HORROR’

When I was young and foolish, I more than once threw toast and rice around during movie-hall screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” It seemed like the thing to do at the time. (Anyone so young and ignorant of classical culture as to be puzzled by that statement should ask an old person, that is, anyone of my generation, for elucidation.)

I mention this now because who turned up at a midnight showing in New York last weekend, toast in hand, but Jack Robbins, the son of Susan Sarandon, who was a supernaturally attractive 28-year-old when she starred in the film in 1975. Somebody recognized Jack, who’s 18 now, and, the N.Y. Daily News reports the emcee hauled him up onstage. Jack told the crowd that he was looking forward to seeing the whole movie, because until then his mom had never let him watch “the naughty parts.”
BIEL BOUNCES BACK

Recently I reported that Justin Timberlake sent Jessica Biel home after his Manchester, England, gig, to avoid being distracted. He did his Paris gig without her, but guess who turned up unexpectedly - - at least by me — this week at his Amsterdam and Stockholm hotels. Freakily enough, he also has his mother on tour with him, People mag reports. JT is 26. JB is 25. Mom isn’t saying.

BABY OFF BOARD?

Tom Cruise’s agent denied the rumors that he and Katie Holmes are expecting another TomKitten. The Sun and the Daily Mail both printed pics of Katie looking rather round, and stopped barely short of reporting a pregnancy as a fact. Katie is 28.

Britain’s most notorious drugs trafficker, and the only one to feature on The Sunday Times Rich List, has returned to the country a free man.

Curtis “Cocky” Warren amassed a [pound]85m fortune from the drugs trade before he was jailed in Holland in 1996. Last week, he was released after a successful court appeal.

On Thursday evening, Warren, 44, stepped off the ferry at Harwich, in Essex, looking fit and well and every bit as “cocky” as his nickname suggests. He was met by two men. After a 245-mile drive back to Liverpool, Warren popped in to see his mother, who has been unwell, then checked into a city-centre hotel at 3am.
But his journey home had not been plain sailing: Warren had attempted to book on an easyJet flight from Amsterdam to Liverpool, but the budget airline refused to carry him.

Warren had been expected to remain in prison until 2012, for organising a [pound]125m drug-smuggling operation. Jailed for 12 years, “Cocky” had an extra four years added to his sentenced for manslaughter after he killed a fellow inmate in a prison yard brawl. “Head-butting Curtis is a bit like head-butting a brick wall,” his solicitor Keith Dyson observed dryly at the time. Warren, brought up in Liverpool’s notorious Toxteth area, pleaded self-defence, but was found to have used excessive force in the fight. He appealed against the extra sentence.
Mr Dyson said yesterday: “The grounds for the appeal was that the evidence that was available didn’t really support the charges.” After speaking to his client as he arrived at Harwich, Mr Dyson said Warren wants to “get on with his life in a positive way”. Peter Walsh, co-author of Warren’s biography, Cocky, said: “News of Warren’s freedom will bring a new and very unwanted headache to a police force already involved in keeping the lid on a highly- volatile situation. Everyone knows how significant Merseyside and its criminals are in not only the national, but the international drugs trade, and here you have one of the most significant narcotics figures of the past 20 years coming home.”

Warren, who moved to the Netherlands in 1995 after a year on remand in Leeds until a drugs case was dropped, invested his ill- gotten gains in many countries in banks, property and casinos, a total believed to be about [pound]85m. He apparently has a photographic memory and can memorise bank account numbers.

He was said at one point to own almost 300 properties in Liverpool, hotels and petrol stations in Turkey, mansions in Merseyside and Holland and a Bulgarian winery.

British financial investigators were able to identify only a small part of his hidden wealth. In 2004, a High Court judge ordered a record [pound]3.5m of drug-smuggling money, which Warren claimed belonged to him, must be confiscated.

A former Customs chief, David Raynes, said: “This is one where you would think the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Inland Revenue and Customs will see what more they can do. Accountants and other people around Warren should be aware that if they sell property or investments on his behalf they may be open to criminal proceedings.”

CITIES

pounds 153 FOLLOW in the steps of England fans to trendy Tallinn in Estonia for a short break, where two nights from July 17 start at pounds 153pp. Depart from Stansted for B&B at the two-star Stroomi Hotel.

pounds 195 RELAX in four-star luxury in Amsterdam, where two nights from June 22 cost just pounds 195pp including accommodation in a choice of four-star hotels and return flights from Edinburgh.

pounds 199 FLY to Prague with Airline Network, which is offering four nights at the five-star Hilton for pounds 199pp including return flights with Czech Airlines from Stansted between July 14 and August 21.

LONG HAUL

pounds 289 BAG a real bargain with a seven-night holiday to Orlando departing Manchester on June 14. Price includes return flights and room-only accommodation at the Ramada Inn Eastgate.

SHORT HAUL

pounds 109 SPEND seven nights selfcatering at Aquasol Village Apartments in Cyprus from pounds 109pp. Flights depart from Bristol on June 20. Details: 0871 664 7625, www.airtours.co.uk

pounds 241 SAVE pounds 142pp on a seven-night holiday to Sharm El Sheikh, leaving June 17. Included in the price are return flights from Gatwick, transfers and B&B at the three-star Ocean Bay Hotel.

Business Editors/Travel Writers

SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 1, 2004

Acquisition of MyCall by STSN Expands Global Network,

Creates Europe’s Largest Provider of Secure Wired

and Wireless Broadband Services

STSN, the world’s leading provider of secure, managed broadband services for the hospitality industry, today announced the acquisition of MyCall, an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based provider of high-speed Internet access to hotels across Europe. The acquisition confirms STSN as the leader in broadband services for business travelers in Europe, and increases the availability of STSN’s iBAHN(TM) wireless connectivity to key venue partners throughout Europe. With this acquisition, STSN’s secure broadband solutions will be available in approximately 1,000 partner hotels in Europe with a footprint extending across 13 countries including Germany, Benelux and the United Kingdom. STSN installs, supports and manages secure wired and wireless broadband applications, managed conference technology services and secure Internet terminals at 1,900 hotels worldwide.

“In the past 12 months, business travelers’ need for secure managed broadband services in Europe has exploded,” said Graeme Powell, managing director, STSN Europe. “The acquisition of MyCall, with their well-established partner and client base, allows STSN to meet the growing demands of business travelers quickly and effectively by offering secure broadband connectivity, wherever they travel, even if they are not carrying a laptop.”
“Like MyCall, STSN focuses on the needs of business travelers, thus this acquisition is a win for both hoteliers and their guests,” explained Michael Hagens, chairman and CEO of MyCall. “We’re pleased that this acquisition will provide STSN’s unmatched service and reliability to MyCall’s installed base of partner hotels, providing a competitive advantage that will drive business travelers and corporate meeting planners to STSN-supported properties.”

STSN also acquires MyCall’s sales force and technical staff, doubling its number of European-based employees in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain, to serve hotel partners and business travelers.

About STSN

Founded in 1998, STSN is the leading global provider of secure broadband-to-go for business at premium locations such as hotels and conference centers. STSN’s premium iBAHN(TM) wired and wireless solutions provide increased productivity and connectivity options to business travelers and meeting planners worldwide with secure, reliable, easy-to-use, broadband connections in more than 1,900 hotels in North America, Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, including more than 265,000 guestrooms and hotel meeting rooms.

– THE SANTA FE INDIAN MARKET will be Aug.18, 7 a.m.-5 p.m., and AUG. 19, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Santa Fe Plaza. It is free and open to the public. This is one of the most prestigious and longest- running American Indian art shows in the country. Information: www.swaia.org.

– THE VISIT SALT LAKE CONNECT PASS lets locals and visitors alike experience 12 of Salt Lake’s top tourist attractions for one low price. Each person must have a pass and may visit any of the participating attractions one time each throughout the day of activation. The pass is sold online at www.visitsaltlake.com, in the visitors center at the Salt Palace Convention Center and at participating hotels. It comes in the form of a scannable plastic card that may be used at the holder’s leisure. Scannable paper versions of Connect Passes are also downloadable online. A one-day pass is $18 adults, $14 children and $16 seniors
Participating attractions include: Children’s Museum of Utah, Red Butte Garden, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort (scenic foot passenger tram ride only), Thanksgiving Point Gardens and the Museum of Ancient Life, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah Museum of Natural History, Utah Olympic Park, Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Lion House Pantry Restaurant, Living Planet Aquarium, Clark Planetarium and This is the Place Heritage Park.
To further entice would-be vacationers, the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, which created the pass, is including two complimentary 3-day Visit Salt Lake Connect Passes with each vacation booking of at least three nights at participating hotel properties. Three-night Salt Lake packages start at $165 per room, double occupancy. The Visit Salt Lake Connect Pass promotion runs through July 31 and travel must be completed by Sept. 30. Promotion packages must be booked online at www.visitsaltlake.com or www.travelocity.com or by calling 877-SLC-4FUN.

– KUDOS FOR AMSTERDAM’S SCHIPHOL AIRPORT. At a ceremony in Zurich, Switz., it was named ACI Europe’s Best Airport for facilities that handle over 25 million passengers per year. The airports were judged on retail, security, facilities, environmental awareness and service, among other things. We can personally vouch for Schiphol’s incredible array of shopping (within the terminals as well as in the mall adjoining the terminals), the on-site hotel, art museum and restaurants. And the chairs. Did we mention the chairs? Unlike most airports, the chairs here are designed to be comfortable enough for dozing.

When I was young and foolish, I more than once threw toast and rice around during movie-hall screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” It seemed like the thing to do at the time. (Anyone so young and ignorant of classical culture as to be puzzled by that statement should ask an old person, that is, anyone of my generation, for elucidation.)

I mention this now because who turned up at a midnight showing in New York last weekend, toast in hand, but Jack Robbins, the son of Susan Sarandon, who was a supernaturally attractive 28-year-old when she starred in the film in 1975. Somebody recognized Jack, who’s 18 now, and, the N.Y. Daily News reports the emcee hauled him up onstage. Jack told the crowd that he was looking forward to seeing the whole movie, because until then his mom had never let him watch “the naughty parts.”
BIEL BOUNCES BACK

Recently I reported that Justin Timberlake sent Jessica Biel home after his Manchester, England, gig, to avoid being distracted. He did his Paris gig without her, but guess who turned up unexpectedly - - at least by me — this week at his Amsterdam and Stockholm hotels. Freakily enough, he also has his mother on tour with him, People mag reports. JT is 26. JB is 25. Mom isn’t saying.

BABY OFF BOARD?

Tom Cruise’s agent denied the rumors that he and Katie Holmes are expecting another TomKitten. The Sun and the Daily Mail both printed pics of Katie looking rather round, and stopped barely short of reporting a pregnancy as a fact. Katie is 28.