Chris Elliott Takes on Resort Fees

Where airline add-ons have gone, hotel fees have followed

Security surcharges. Fuel surcharges. Checked luggage fees. Inflight food and non-alcholic beverage fees. Surcharges for better seats. GR-R-R-R. About the only charge that has gone away is the fee for using the airplane's headset for inflight entertainment.

Some hotel fees really irk me. My top two are Internet and parking, which are free at most budget and mid-range hotel chains but often carry a hefty that charge in high-priced urban hotels. Of those, the Internet fee really frosts me. In a post called "Hotel Fees That Must Die -- and How to Kill Them," consumer advocate Chris Elliott has taken on the topic of hotel and resort surcharges. He points out that hotel occupancy has limping along through the recession. Too many properties use add-ons (sometimes automatic) to increase revenues. You would think that they would offer freebies as an incentive for guests. Occasionally, a hotel or resort will do so. A resort-style property south of Denver has a great Valentine's package that does just that.

Right now, I'm at the excellent Pines Lodge at Beaver Creek on a last-minute media rate. They had a cancelation on Friday afternoon, so my husband and I decided to stay overnight rather than fight the Saturday traffic on Interstate 70. The WiFi is free, which is the reason I'm posting this now rather than waiting until I return home later today. I don't yet know what the charge will be for mandatory valet parking.

So take Chris Elliott's advice, and question add-on fees, check your bill and complain to the manager if you need too. Hopefully, the lodging industry will get the message.

Chris Elliott Takes on Resort Fees

Fort Collins Wins Historic Preservation Honors

National Trust cites Fort Collins, Colorado's ninth honoree

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has selected Fort Collins as one of its 2010 America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations. This northern Colorado city is the state's eighth honoree since the list was established in 2000. Previous Colorado winners are Boulder, 2000; Silverton, 2001; Georgetown, 2003 (special recognition for the Hotel de Paris, now a museum); Glenwood Springs, CO, 2004; Durango, 2007; and Crested Butte, 2008.

This year, the National Trust gives the public an opportunity to vote for a People's Choice selection. The Dozen Distinctive Destination and contenders for top choice are Bastrop, Texas; Cedar Falls, Iowa; Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania; The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail; Fort Collins, Colorado; Huntsville, Alabama; Marquette, Michigan; Sitka, Alaska; Provincetown, Massachusetts; Rockland, Maine; Simsbury, Connecticut; and St. Louis, Missouri. Right now, Marquette and Rockland are leading the polling, each with nearly 25 percent of the votes.

Fort Collins was cited for "its leadership in protecting its historic places and promoting a walkable downtown," a characteristic it shares with previous honorees.

Fort Collins Wins Historic Preservation Honors

Rail Transportation's US Future

President's proposal for rail expansion would alter US travel

I love trains. When I travel abroad, it is my favorite mode of transportation., I love the energetic bustle of big-city railroad stations and the convenience of traveling from center-city to center-city, and I certainly prefer reaching small communities by train to clogging up roadways with a costly rental car. I wish we still had decent, punctual trains in this country, and maybe it will happen in my lifetime. I was cheered by President Obama's State of the Union message last Wednesday that included the intention of awarding $8 billion in stimulus funds for development of light-rail corridors around the country and new high-speed rail in Florida. It makes sense from all perspectives -- employment, traveler convenience, the environmental benefits of mass transit.

A number of US and Canadian cities already have light rail rapid transit -- surface trains, not subways, that unclog roadways. When I changed planes in Phoenix not long ago, I saw that the city's Valley Metro rail line reaches Skyharbor Airport from both east and west. Vancouver's new SkyTrain (upper right) connects the airport with the center city. Light rail lines in Denver, Salt Lake City and Calgary do not currently reach their respective airports but hopefully will in the future. Kansas City voters rejected a north-south light rail line, but the regional transportation district is planning on using diesel-driven trains on existing tracks -- perhaps similar to the Albuquerque-Santa Fe Railrunner (lower right). We'll see.

Elsewhere in the world, a rail link from major airports to the city and from there to national and international train networks is taken for granted. Once again, the US, which pretends to be so enlightened and so advanced, lags far behind. I just hope that Washington a-ginners who were fixating on deconstructing proposed health care/insurance reform don't get their talons into rail transportation improvements too.

Rail Transportation's US Future

Lake Tahoe: Ski Areas by the Dozen (Plus)

Magnificent alpine lake with concentration of ski areas unsurpassed in North America

Here's the census of ski areas in an arc on the north end of Lake Tahoe and also along Interstate 70: Alpine Meadows, Boreal, Diamond Peak, Donner Ski Ranch, Granlibakken, Homewood, Mt. Rose (within sight of Reno), Northstar-at-Tahoe, Royal Gorge (cross-country), Sugar Bowl and Squaw Valley (host of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games). At and near the south end of the lake: Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra-at-Tahoe. Seven of the largest ski/snowboard areas (Alpine, Heavenly, Kirkwood, Mt. Rose, Northstar, Sierra-at-Tahoe and Squaw) market themselves as Ski Lake Tahoe and offer an interchangeable multi-day lift ticket.

In addition to 14 (or more if I'm missing something) places to ski, the Tahoe Basin is scenically stunning and incredibly conplex (two states, five counties with five county seats outside of the basin, one incorporated city and numerous smaller communities and a hefty local, state and federal jurisdictions).

I've just returned from a Society of American Travel Writers confab at Lake Tahoe, and with a full schedule and travel time too, I managed to ski just three days of sliding on snow -- one each at Northstar (on a Saturday following the first heavy snowstorm in weeks -- not recommended, one at Heavenly and one at Kirkwood. Reports to follow.

Lake Tahoe: Ski Areas by the Dozen (Plus)

Marooned at Machu Picchu

Heavy rains triggered mudslides that cut off Cuzco-Machu Picchu land connections

In the great scheme of recently world catastrophes, Tuesday's mudslides between Cuzco and Machu Picchu are small potatoes. After all, compared with tens of thousands of fatalities, grave injuries, wildspread hunger and a capital city destroyed in Haiti's earthquake two weeks ago, the suspension of train service, the five to 10 deaths (reportedly including one guide and one tourist) and somewhere between 800 and 2,000 stranded tourists are no big deal. Record rains have fallen in this region.

Despite heavy weather, helicopters evacuated hundreds of marooned tourists near the famous Inca ruins at Machu Picchu. Beyond the tourist impact, Preuvian authorities estimate that 10,000 people have been affected by the rain and some 2,000 homes destroyed in and around Machu Picchu.

I've been wanting to see Machu Picchu for years, but I can't say that I'm sorry not to be there right now.

Marooned at Machu Picchu

Patagonian Luxury Resort Offers February Value Packages

Remota's 4-for-3 and 7-for-4 packages offered during the Southern Hemisphere summer

I am in the Lake Tahoe area right now, reveling in abundant snow. But if I wanted to go to South America, now would be the time. Remota, a specatular luxury resort lodge on the outskirts of Porta Natales near Chile's even more spectacular Torres del Paine National Park, is offering February specials at hard-to-beat prices -- especially considering that this is during the summer season. En route to the national park in 2006, I visited Remota just for a look at this breathtaking place with a philosophy of luxury and comfort against a design backfrop of Zen-like simplicity and some of the best scenery on the planet.

I don't know whether it is a slowdown in the world economy that instigated such a generous, last-minute offer, but guests can get four nights at Remota for the price of three (US $1,548, regularly $1,980 per person, double occupancy) or seven for the price of four ($1,980, regularly $2,988) for lodging, meals and daily excursions. Hurry up, because this value deal is valid for travel during February 2010. The fine print: "subject to availability upon booking" and "some restrictions may apply."

If you've got a lot of frequent flyer miles, now might be the time to try to use them up. LAN Chile Airlines is a partner on American Airlines' OneWorld frequent flyer program. Current roundtip air fares to Punta Arenas start at $1,363 from Los Angeles, $1,468 from New York and $1,486 fom Miami.lus taxes. It's counter-intuitive that fares would be higher from New York than from Miami, but in this age of yield management, LAN probably has more passengers from Florida. If you're traveling that far, check about a stopover in Santiago, Chile's fascinating capital.

In the unlikely event that you want to write to Remota, the address is Ruta 9 Norte, km. 1.5, Huerto 279 / Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile. You are more likely to contact them or book online or even more likely, to call their tollfree number, 866-431-0519.

Patagonian Luxury Resort Offers February Value Packages

Travel Thumbnail: Cal-Neva Lodge

Tour the retro resort at Lake Tahoe was Rat Pack haunt

The Place: Cal-Neva Resort, Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada

The Story: Cal-Neva at Crystal Bay, a Lake Tahoe North Shore landmark once owed by Frank Sinatra, offers great historic tour -- an amnity few casino-hotels have the history to provide. By Nevada casino standards, it low-key and restrained in appearance, but its history is as wild as anyplace in Las Vegas. The Washoe Indians once had a summer camp on the site, and the first resort, a large log lodge built in 1917 to promote real estate sales, burned to the ground 10 years later and was quickly rebuilt as a self-contained resort west of Reno. The building supplies were already at nearby Tahoe City, and reconstruction took 100 men just 40 days to complete. I'm just sayin'.

Glamour, celebrities, mob ties, suicidal owners, a little jewel of a showroom and an underground tunnel linking the main lodge with cabins on the property are part of the lore that Cynthia Langhof talked about on a historic tour given weekends, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Her mother dove to Tahoe from Idaho n a Model T Ford in 1931. She tells tales of mob connections, intrigue and mysteries. Marilyn Monroe ODed at Cal-Neva less that a week before her final, fatal overdose in Los Angeles. With a string of liaisons, some believe that she knew too much for mob comfort.

The Cal-Neva lies directly on the California-Nevada border. It was Nevada's first licensed casino and remains the oldest continuously operating casino in the US. The Indian Room just off the lobby is wood-paneled, decorated with hides and heads. It straddles the state line, and when federal agents came to inspect it, all the gaming tables were rolled to the Nevada side of the room. It was the resort's show room in the 1930s and '40s, hosted banquets and special events, and has a great dance floor. The huge stone fireplace shows the state line, but it is actually off by a bit.

Frank Sinatra bought the Cal-Neva in 1960, fronting for his Mafioso pal and partner Sam Giancana. The Rat Pack and assorted other celebs performed or visited there in those days. Those who didn't want to be seen could land at the rooftop helipad and sneak into the resort. When Sinatra owned the Cal-Neva, he had a wonderful small showroom built, because he didn't like the way his voice sounded in the Indian Room. When he was watching a show rather than performing, he either sat at a large table against the back wall or a private room one level up. The Nevada Gaming Control Board pulled Sinatra's gaming license after Sam Giancana visited the resort after he had been banned from the casino, and he sold it in 1963. Photographs of headliners of those heady days line the corridor from the casino to the showroom, and wonderful original artwork of world entertainment adorns the side walls of the showroom, used today for concerts, plays and special events.

 

An underground tunnel connects the main lodge with some of the 56 cabins, some of which are still rented out in the summer. Number 5 was Sinatra's. Marilyn Monroe stayed in number 3. The unadorned tunnel has two curiosities, one a faux grave for mob-connected union boss Jimmy Hoffa and the initials of Ava Gardener, reputedly the great love of Sinatra's life, on a retaining wall. Cynthia tells the backstory during the tour. There are, of course, ghost stories, and travelers who seek paranormal experiences visit as well.

Currently, Cal-Neva is for sale. The 219-room resort on almost 14 acres with such a history with Hollywood star and the political elite, especially in the Sinatra era, is owned by Canyon Capital which took over in April through a nonmarketed foreclosure. It is rumored that Brad Pitt and George Clooney were/are interested in buying and restoring it -- perhaps replacing the sore-thumb nine-story tower built in the '60s. Would that be a kick?

Cost: The Tunnel Tour costs $8 per person; reserve by calling 775-298-3160. You can take a look for free on your own, have a drink at the Round Bar under a leaded glass ceiling made with more than 7,000 pieces of German glass, poke your head into the Indian Room or look at the artifacts and memorabilia. Of course, you can play the slots or park at the tables if that's your desire. You can stay there at astonishingly inexpensive winter packages.

Information: Cal Neva Resort, 2 Stateline Road, Crystal Bay, NV 89402; 800-CAL-NEVA.

Travel Thumbnail: Cal-Neva Lodge