Hotel - Traveling Thru History

Hampton Inn Seattle/Southcenter: Not the Best Stay

Erin — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 21:10:01 +0000

When staying in a hotel, you expect the room to be cleaned between guests. Our stay at Hampton Inn Seattle/Southcenter showed that is not always the case.

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GUEST POST: Top 7 Heritage Hotels in India

Erin — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 09:34:48 +0000

When selecting the perfect hotel for your stay in India, there are many places to choose from. If you prefer a more historic setting, heritage hotels are your best bet. Rohit Agarwal breaks down the top 7 heritage hotels from all around India to help travelers decide which will best meet their needs. #TBIN

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10 Reasons Toronto Should Be Next on Your Travel Bucket List

Erin — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 01:14:22 +0000

Whether you’re heading to the city for a weekend getaway with your partner or a family vacation, this is why Toronto should be next on your travel bucket list. #TBIN

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Visit Historic Las Vegas During Hotwire’s Million Dollar Sale!

Erin — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 02:42:01 +0000

EDIT: Thanks to a fantastic response, this deal is now sold out. Check back for more upcoming sales from Hotwire.com Growing up, I lived two hours away from Las Vegas and got to go there often. It was always so fun to go drive up and down the Strip on summer nights with the windows rolled down, listening to all the sounds and seeing all the flashing lights. Vegas has so many great things to see and it’s so exciting to be able to share this great opportunity with all of you. And what opportunity is that? Well, thanks to Hotwire.com, anyone can visit historic Las Vegas and enjoy a luxury trip all thanks to Hotwire’s Million Dollar Sale. And what is that, you ask? I’m so excited to tell you. Hotwire.com conducted some research* and discovered only about 24% of U.S. travelers have stayed in a 5-star property more than once in the last year. Probably because the cost is close to $400 a night. That can get a little spendy if you’re staying more than one night. But Hotwire.com has stepped in to give everyone the opportunity to experience a 5-star hotel in Fabulous Las Vegas. Starting now, anyone can book a room in a 5-star hotel in Las Vegas through Hotwire.com and only have to pay $50 per night. Yes, I’m totally serious. You can stay at a 5-star hotel in Las Vegas for $50 per night when you book through Hotwire.com and they will pay for the rest. The catch? Yeah, there’s a catch. Just a small one, though. Your travel dates have to be between December 8th through December 28th. You’d better hurry because once Hotwire.com reaches $1 Million in covered hotel costs, the sale will end. For a list of things to do in Las Vegas and a bit of history about the city, keep reading below. A Little History of Las Vegas Las Vegas was discovered by Native Americans over 10,000 years ago. While it is unknown what all tribes have lived in the area since it was first settled, we do know that Paiutes moved in around 700 AD. Sometime around 1820, Antonio Armijo led a trading party to Los Angeles and came across a valley Rafael Rivera named Las Vegas. This is Spanish for ‘The Meadows.’ Later, John C. Fremont took a group of scientists, scouts, and spies into Las Vegas in May 1844 to prepare for a possible war with Mexico. This group settled Las Vegas Springs and made a fort which was used for 10 years by travelers, mountain men, hungers, and traders. In 1855 a group of 29 Mormon missionaries moved into the Las Vegas valley and built an adobe fort to live in while they developed farmland in the area. Two years later, the Mormons abandoned the area and went back to Utah. These were the last American inhabitants of Las Vegas for 8 years. In 1865, Ovtavius Gass moved into the fort the Mormons had abandoned and began building up farmland. He named the area Las Vegas Rancho. This was the beginning of what is now Las Vegas. If you’ve never been to Las Vegas before and you’re wondering what kinds of things there are to do, well, let me help you with that: Historic Sites In or Around Las Vegas Springs Preserve This is where Las Vegas started! There are art exhibits, hiking trails, and shows 333 S Valley View Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort Historic Park Houses the first building ever built in Las Vegas Southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue $1.00 entrance fee Golden Gate Casino One of the first casinos in Las Vegas – opened 1906 1 Fremont St, Las Vegas Hoover Dam Concrete arch-gravity dam built in 1931 Largest reservoir in the US when full Located near Boulder City outside Las Vegas The Mob Museum National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement Open Daily 9:00am – 9:00pm $20.95 for adults, $13.95 for kids 11-17 300 Stewart Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada Floyd Lamb Park / Tule Spring Ranch Expansive park One of the best examples of Pleistocene paleontological sites in western North America Daily – 7:00am – 5:30pm $6 per vehicle of $1 per person, whichever is greater Located about 20 miles from the Strip off U.S. Highway 95 north past Ann Road Little Church of the West Opened in 1942 Replica of a typical pioneer town church 4617 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada Neon Museum A 2-acre exhibition of over 200 neon signs from Las Vegas’ history Day tours – $15-$19 Night Tours – $22-$28 Tours are every 20 minutes from 10:00am until 11:40pm 770 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Las Vegas, Nevada Fremont Street Experience Four neon blocks with 3 stages, dancing DJ’s, tribute bands, a zip-line overhead, shopping and bars Open 24 hours Free to walk around Various prices for different activities Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area Site of more than 300 petroglyphs with 1,700 individual design elements Visitors can hike, bike, and ride horses Open Daily 8:00am – 4:30pm South of Las Vegas, Nevada, access is available from Las Vegas Boulevard, near the Del Webb Anthem Free Things To Do on the Las Vegas Strip Bellagio Fountains – music and water show Monday – Friday 3:00pm- 8:00pm – every 1/2 hour 8:00pm – 12:00am – every 15 minutes Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays 12:00pm – 8:00pm – every 1/2 hour 8:00pm – 12:00am – every 15 minutes Treasure Island Sirens of TI – music and water show Daily – 7:00pm, 8:30pm, 10:00pm, and 11:30pm Caesars Palace Fall of Atlantis – animatronics show Daily – Every hour 11:00am – 10:00pm Mirage Volcano – water and fire show Daily – 7:00pm & 8:00pm Wynn Lake of Dreams – water, light, and music show Daily – Every half an hour starting at dusk until 12:30am Excalibur Knights Show Daily – Every hour from 6:00pm until 12:00am Court Jester Show Daily – Every 45 minutes starting at 10:00am until 11:00pm Circus Circus Clown Show Daily – 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 3:00pm, 4:00pm Friday & Saturday extra shows – 6:00pm, 7:00pm, 8:00pm, 9:00pm Carnival Circus Acts Sunday thru Thursday – Every 45 minutes from 11:15am until 11:45pm Friday & Saturday – Every half hour from 11:15am until 11:45pm Rio Masquerade Village Parade Thursday thru Monday – Every hours from 4:00pm until 10:00pm For more details on the Million Dollar Sale, or to book a five-star hotel room in Vegas for just $50, visit Hotwire.com. Once on the site, search for Las Vegas during the applicable dates – December 8-28 – and you’ll see the five-star rooms for $50. At checkout you will receive the name of your hotel – and almost all the premier properties in Vegas are participating in this promotion. Booking is already open – and will stay open until Hotwire spend $1 million. Who Are Hotwire Hotels? Hotwire has partnered with thousands of hotels, airlines and car rental companies to help sell their remaining airline seats, hotel rooms and rental cars since emerging in 2000. Hotwire regularly offers deals on travel inventory that would otherwise remain unsold meaning they get the some of the best rates in the industry, and can pass these savings along to you as their signature Hot Rates. Hot Rates—like this one for $50 five-star hotels—provide customers with the hotel rate and key destination details, such as neighborhood, hotel amenities, hotel star rating and both Hotwire and Trip Advisor reviews; the only thing not seen prior to booking is the hotel name. This feature allows Hotwire to partner with premium brand-name hotels that typically don’t offer discount pricing, meaning Hotwire is one of the only places you will find such outrageously low deals. *Research carried out by CITE Research This post was created in partnership with Hotwire.com.

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Myanmar Travel Guide

Erin — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 09:58:39 +0000

Years ago, people would have hardly ever considered Myanmar when listing off dream destinations, but since the country has opened itself up to the world, it has become more and more popular as a tourist destination. We really didn’t know what to expect when we went there, so I decided to share what I’ve learned to help other people prepare for their trip. Overall, Myanmar is a really great country. It’s not as developed as the Western world, but it’s still such a fantastic place to visit. As long as you’re prepared for some of the nuances of a less-developed country with a vastly different culture, you will have a wonderful time there. BEFORE YOU GO VISA – You will need a visa to get into Myanmar. A standard single-entry tourist visa costs USD $50, is valid for 90 days and allows a trip length of 28 days. Business visas cost USD $70, are valid for 90 days and allow a trip length of 70 days. Recently Myanmar began accepting online applications for evisas. The evisa application and list of countries who are allowed to apply online can be found here. BRING EXTRA OF ANY NECESSITIES – whether it be something you NEED or something you just prefer, bring extra because finding medical items or comfort/convenience items is not always easy and will sometimes be impossible. If there is an item you MUST have or something you just won’t be happy without, bring a spare just in case. MONEY CURRENCY – The local currency is called kyat (pronounced similar to ‘chat’) and since 2012, the government is pushing for that to be used more than USD. Even so, you will still find places that will accept USD. ATMS & CREDIT CARDS – Myanmar is slowly starting to accept credit cards, but it is not widespread. ATMs are plentiful and some larger business are starting to take credit cards, but still be prepared to pay cash since most smaller shops and street vendors won’t take credit cards. MAKE SURE USD IS PRISTINE – The government won’t allow shopkeepers to trade bills with tears, smudges, creases or any type of imperfection, so the vendors will, in turn, not accept anything except a bill in perfect condition. I took all of our USD and ironed them before going on the trip and that took care of the creases and folds. Also, make sure none of your bills are older than 2006. BRING HARD CASE FOR MONEY – In order to keep your bills in mint condition, be sure to bring a flat wallet or hard case to keep the bills flat and unbent. BILL DENOMINATIONS – For exchanging at local exchange shops, you’ll want larger bills. Those get the best exchange rates. Still bring smaller bills, though, to use for tips and purchases at small shops or eateries. WHILE YOU ARE THERE DON’T DRINK THE WATER! – The water in Myanmar is not suitable for drinking. Water bottles are roughly USD .20, so it’s not too bad to have to buy water. Plus, the three hotels we stayed in were really good about giving us extra water when we left for the day, so be sure to ask your hotel for a bottle or two before heading out. LIMITED INTERNET AND CELL SERVICE – There is no public wifi in Myanmar, so if you need cell or internet service, pick up a SIM card. SIM cards are available at the airport and train stations. If you go to Bagan, you won’t have service even if you buy a local SIM card. The infrastructure of the country is still developing, so only the major cities have semi-reliable cell service. We survived 5 days only having insanely slow wifi in hotel lobbies and not having cell service at all when we were in Bagan, so it’s not hard to get by without it. REMOVE SHOES (AND SOMETIMES SOCKS) AT RELIGIOUS SITES – This is just how it is, no way around it. If you try to wear your shoes, you will be asked to either leave or go back and take your shoes off. This is a pretty big one and some people will get quite offended if you don’t respect their culture and remove your shoes before entering temples and shrines. HAGGLING IS EXPECTED – Unless you are in an actual store with posted prices, the vendors will negotiate with you. Some will drop the price quite a bit and others will only drop it a little. The higher a quantity you buy, the bigger the discount will be. Also, the more friendly and companionable you are, the more willing most of the vendors will be to lower the price. If you’re at a tourist spot and the vendor won’t negotiate, there’s most likely another vendor with similar items nearby. POWER GOES OUT PERIODICALLY – This happened to us every day we were there. Sometimes it was in the afternoon and sometimes in the evening. It was a little disconcerting to have the power go off while I was taking a shower. You may want to bring a flashlight. Sometimes the power only went off for less than a minute and sometimes it was close to 10 minutes. INSIST ON RECEIVING CHANGE IN THE SAME CURRENCY YOU PAID WITH – Since the government is pushing for the exclusive use of kyat, this may not be an issue for much longer, but it still is at the moment. If you pay in USD, make sure you are given USD in change. If they give you kyat instead of USD, you will end up being shorted. US POWER PLUGS – Every hotel we stayed at in Myanmar had US power outlets, so if you are from the US, you don’t need an adapter. If you are not from the US, bring a US-type power adapter. RELIGIOUS SITE DRESS CODE – when you visit any of the temples or religious sites, you will need to wear a shirt with sleeves (cap sleeves are fine) and longer shorts. It is offensive for you to go to their religious sites or enter their temples wearing anything that shows your shoulders or knees (men and women). Some places have cover-ups that you can purchase that are lightweight and have very pretty designs or you could bring something lightweight to throw on before going inside. SUPER DUSTY AND SMOKY – No matter where we went, it was either dusty or smoky. Or both. The locals burn weeds and other things, so you’ll smell a lot of smoke along with all the dust from it being so dry there. The rural areas are the worse, though you’ll still find the smoke and dust in the cities sometimes. If you have asthma or a breathing condition, bring an extra inhaler and/or whatever else you need to manage your condition. Face masks are a good idea, too. We wore ours several times when the dust got really bad. WEATHER – Myanmar has three seasons: hot, not too hot and hot & rainy. The best times to visit are between November and February. Those are the coolest months. We were there at the end of January and it was hot, but not too bad. Rainy season goes from May to October and the super hot time of year is March through May. COSTS FOOD – Food is so cheap there. Tourist hotspots will cost you a several dollars for a meal, but if you go to the smaller restaurants or street vendors, you can get a meal for $1-2. Bottled water is about .20 per bottle. HOTELS – Hotels vary. We got a cheap hotel in Yangon for $25 and it was okay, but the entire place reeked of cigarette smoke. We looked around town and found a place for $40 a night that was really nice and didn’t smell bad at all. In Bagan, we paid $25 a night and were happy with our hotel. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was comfortable and the staff was really nice. TAXIS – Taxis are pretty cheap. Some use meters and some don’t, but it shouldn’t cost more than $3 to cross the entire town. If the taxi doesn’t want to use a meter, don’t agree to pay more than $3 or 3700 kyat. SOUVENIRS – It depends on the site and the vendor. Some will charge less than $1 for some items while another vendor will charge $1-2 for the same item. Sand paintings are really cool (factory-made) and cost anywhere from $8-16, though if you buy several they’ll give you a discount. BUSES – You can ask your hotel to book a bus for you and arrange for you to be picked up from the hotel or somewhere nearby. Buses that the locals ride are adequate for short distances, but for the longer-distance trips, you’ll want to splurge for the ‘VIP’ bus. That can vary from $15-20 for a 12-hour trip, but it’s worth it. The ‘VIP’ bus comes with reclining seats, televisions, blankets, AC and complimentary meals. FYI MOST SOUVENIR PAINTINGS ARE FACTORY-MADE, NOT HANDMADE – Vendors like to tell people all the paintings are hand-made, but you will find the same ones at every temple. The ones that really are hand-made will be the ones that are unique and the ones where you can see the artists painting them. PAY FOR PICTURES – One of the things we found in Myanmar was that many people who you photograph will ask for money afterwards, even if you ask for permission before. We didn’t understand this at first and a lady yelled at us when we started walking away. Once we figured out what she was upset about, we gave her some money and she was happy. Not everyone will ask for money after you take a photo, but it does happen, especially in more touristy areas. SOMEONE WATCHES YOUR SHOES, THEY EXPECT YOU TO BUY SOMETHING – When visiting temples, it is required for you to take your shoes off. Sometimes vendors will offer to watch your shoes and when you come back, they’ll insist you purchase something since they watched your shoes and kept them safe. SOMEONE GUIDES YOU SOMEWHERE, THEY WILL EXPECT YOU TO BUY/PAY/DONATE – Periodically, someone will offer to show you something ‘really cool’ at whatever tourist place you are currently at and then take you to see it. Vendors want you to purchase something from them. Kids or teens will then try to get you to donate for their schooling or some ‘official’ charity thing that they have a form for. Random adults just want you to pay them for their service. If you have money to spare, go for it. If you are on a tighter budget, it’s best to just decline their offer and say you want to look around on your own. NO NON-SMOKING ROOMS IN THE CHEAP HOTELS – Myanmar doesn’t quite have the same bad view of smoking as the US does. Even though we reserved a non-smoking room in Yangon, we ended up with a heavily smoked in room and the front desk said all their rooms smelled like that when we went to inquire about changing rooms. We found the same response at all the cheaper hotels we contacted. It wasn’t until we contacted some of the mid-range hotels that we were able to find a true non-smoking room. If you absolutely require a non-smoking room, be sure to verify with the hotel that they do indeed have non-smoking rooms. TIPS BRING WET WIPES – the floors in public buildings can be quite dirty, so if you’re in a place where you have to also take your socks off, you will probably want to wipe your feet off before putting your socks and shoes back on. Plus, it’s really hot and dusty there and the wet wipes can be a periodic refresher during the day. WEAR EASILY REMOVED SHOES OR STURDY SANDALS – Pretty much every temple you go to will require you to remove your shoes before entering, so if you plan on going...

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