Cool Hotels

Shout Out and Link Love

So, the good people at Celebpulp.com made a lovely mention of Cool Hotels, so I am giving them a shout out. Check them out!

Travel Mythbusting!

So, yahoo posted an awesome article debunking some travel myths. I'm not sure which of the debunkings was my favorite - the one that says that recirculated air on a flight won't make you sick or the one that says that it's neither illegal or dangerous to use a cell phone when you fly.

Except for one thing, cell phones are annoying. Can you imagine a planeload of people on an airplane chatting on their phones for the whole flight? It would be worse than a New Jersey transit train. My theory? The airlines keep the bogus rule to keep people from annoying each other or giving out too much information.

Eco-Confession Time

I've been thinking more about greenwashing, and while I can't do much about hotel green exaggeration and outright fraud, I can look at my own behavior and make things better. And I can look back fondly at some stuff I will probably never do again.

1) I will never use all the towels in the room, just because.
2) I will never fill the specially designed bathtub at Loft 523 all the way to my chin. Nor will I request the room with the special double shower heads.
3) I will never turn the in-room thermostat down to 60 degrees, especially in Tuscon.
4) I will never take every shampoo, conditioner, lotion and little soap home, only to have them collect dust in my bathroom drawer.

So, anyone else want to confess something?

Greenwashing Hotels

I love traveling, and I just love a fun, interesting hotel. I wouldn't run this blog if I didn't. I also love my Prius, my canvas shopping bags, my stainless steel reusable coffee mug and my recycle bin. And I know very well that hotels are almost never green enterprises, despite the appearance of eco-friendly shampoo/conditioning products and little placards telling one to reuse towels. Even the most tony eco-resorts have been busted for making sham claims about their greenness - because we all know it sells. Just check out this article.

However, that's doesn't mean I hate hotels or I think that they are all liars or that eco-programs should be scrapped on the basis of hypocrisy alone. But I do think hotel executives and owners need to take a hard look at their claims and what's realistic for them to actually do, and guests need to make themselves more responsible. Drink water in a reusable glass. Reuse the towel. Don't take a three hour shower just because you can. And believe me, I've been guilty of using ten towels in the past...just because I could. Because isn't that part of the pleasure of a hotel? I'm not knocking pleasure, but I am saying shift that pleasure to the lovely "I'm doing the right thing for the earth" feeling that has become so marketable in the last few years. Because you can't be sure those sheets are really organic cotton.

The Sexiest Hotels

Well, we know magazines loves lists. And Forbes Traveler is no different. They've got a list of the sexiest hotels in America, all luxury properties, natch. Nonetheless, I think it's a good list - albeit with some vague criterion. After all, sexy is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe you'd prefer creole sexy or modern sexy or maybe cozy sexy. Who knows? Maybe you think sexy is that suite Clark and Lois had to share in Superman II?