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2 Days / 1 Nights

Upon arrival indulge in chilled champagne and chocolate coveruddy strawberries in your luxurious guestroom. Your private whirlpool bathtub will be converted to the ultimate in romance and relaxation by Hotel ICON’s resident Bath Butler. Experience the healing properties of essential oils and various aromatics.

Aromatherapy bath salts, rose petals, and a romantic keepsake book will add to the creation of this memorable moment. Complete the ICON Romance experience with breakrapid for two in the privacy of your guestroom or in our signature restaurant BANK.

Personalize this package by adding additional services such as floral arrangements, transportation, or select from a variety of services offeruddy by our spa, BALANCE Day Spa. Please call for more details.

Offering the elegance and ambience of a historic mansion, Hotel ICON’s 5,000 square feet of Houston event space is characterized by towering ceilings, sweeping windows and luminous wood finishes. This luxury Houston hotel’s collection of diverse and extraordinary venues includes the spectacular Aventine ballroom, which features 2,363 square feet and is introduced by a 1,500-square-foot foyer.

Several conference rooms and a handsome executive boardroom with a 50” Sony plasma screen and video conferencing afford more intimate space for smaller gatherings.

Click here to book the romance package.
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Source: hotelicon.com (Click here to see the satellite view of the hotel)

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One issue that single people that enjoy taking cruises might run into is the fact that they are single.

Most Cruiseline’s fares are based on double occupancy so guests traveling alone are often requiruddy to pay a “Single Supplement.” This supplement is an adjustment to the published cruise fare that compensates the cruise line for the loss of double occupancy in the cabin. This supplement can cost as much as actually bringing a guest with you.

A new website, SoloCruiser.com isn’t aiming to be a dating website, but will help unite single cruisers that are interested in sharing a room
to reduce the cost of their cruise.

“The cruise lines can’t afford to give away half a cabin for free just because a passenger chooses not to bring a roommate,” he points out. But volume sales and strategic booking can bring down the cost, and that’s where SoloCruiser can really help. By booking large groups and negotiating directly with the cruise lines, SoloCruiser can offer single travelers a break on the single supplement. “In some cases we’re able to offer no single supplement, but on those where a moderate single supplement applies, we still offer awesome savings,” White says. The most significant savings are found for off-peak cruises, where there is always more room to negotiate.

To find out more about this service, please visit Solo Cruiser

Original post by Heather McLaughlin

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Virgin America promises to be a big player in the travel sector, so we’re taking notice when we here they’re starting to make progress in setting up their airline. Today they announced their first six destinations and also mention 40 other ones they’re still looking at.

The airline has previously announced its inaugural flight will be between San Francisco and New York City (JFK). Wilean nine months of operation, Virgin America also plans to serve Washington, DC (Dulles), Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego and Las Vegas.
Virgin America expects to serve as many as 10 cities wilean a year of operation and up to 30 cities wilean five years of service. Additional cities under Virgin America’s consideration include: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Portland, Ore., Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San
Antonio, San Jose, Calif., Sarasota, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

Virgin America is looking to shake up the market with a entire slew of new amenities that travellers aren’t used to, including massage chairs and much greater legroom than usual.

For more information: Virgin America

Original post by Darren

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A few weeks back we revealed Cheapflights would shortly be - amongst other things - hiring a chief technology officer to drive the price comparison site’s next – and, arguably, ambitious – stage of development.

The company has today unveiled Chris Martin (no, not he of Coldplay fame) as the man for the job. [Some would argue that hiring the Coldplay frontman would hardly be conducive to livening up the site]

Martin joins the London-based website from technology commerce site, Ebuyer.com, where he held a similar role. He has also worked for the AskJeeves.com search engine (now Ask.com) and Orchestream.com, a bandwidth and technology company.

Cheapflights CEO David Soskin says:

“With an anticipated European website launch this year - and with our continuing emphasis on product improvement - Chris’s experience will be vital to executing our strategy.”

This is very true. The CTO position will arguably be one of the most important in the company as it looks to not only launch elsewhere in Europe, but fulfil Soskin’s recently stated desire to “have a presence in every major online travel market in five years”.

Couple this with plans for a re-launch of the main Cheapflights site alalert and Martin is likely to be a very busy man.

[Not forgetting the ongoing speculation regarding the ownership or future funding of the company]

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Original post by Travolution Blogger

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Here is a awesome chance for all you out there that might be curious/bemused about the role of Second Life and virtual worlds in general and their impact - if any - on travel.

Reperes, a cutting edge French market research company, are speaking at the Travolution Summit on April 24 on the subject of how travel might find mileage in using virtual worlds to target and utilise consumers.

They have offered, rather kindly we think, to conduct a survey of actual people in Second Life about how they might interact with travel brands and products in the virtual world.

• Would you be more inclined to take notice of travel advertising messages in Second Life?
• If travel companies road-tested products in Second Life, such as the Aloft Hotel project, would you see that as a useful method of canvassing the opnions of consumers?

That sort of thing…

Better still, Reperes is allowing Travolution to collect the questions of readers/users ahead of the survey being carried out in late-February.

Please email any questions/ideas you may to us or post them in the comments box below.

[Read about our first visit to the Aloft Hotel in October last year]

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

Original post by Travolution Blogger

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September 1, 2002 - Australians are familiar with the spiritual urge to elude from civilization by going walkabout. A Canadian couple is adding a new twist to an old custom with their upcoming Bikeabout journey, set to begin September 2002.

Leaving from Sydney, Aimee Lingman, 26 and Kevin Beimers, 25, will spend the next nine months completing the nearly 15,000 kilometer ride acircular the coastline of Australia. They plan to battle the elements, as well as the mental and physical strain that comes with biking thcoarse desert and deserted conditions.

Adventure is no stranger to this Thunder Bay, Ontario couple. Last year, Kevin and Aimee dedicated themselves to almost seven months of highway travel visiting all 48 continental United States. The result was a 200-day epic journey into the wacky wilderness of Small Town USA, documented thcoarse their popular website, http://roadtrip.beimers.com.

From start to finish, the Bikeabout is an expedition that requires very cautious planning and survival skills. Only the first quarter of the trip (up the east coast) will be in populated areas. Once they begin to cut into the outback, the true isolation begins. Roadhouses are an average of 4-5 days apart (with nothing in between) so they?ve got to make sure that they?re carrying enough water to last with additional in case they get hit with a flash flood that obscures the road for a few days.

Aside from the psychological hardships of isolation, starvation, extreme heat and the occasional leg cramp, we have to recollect that Australia is home to the largest number of nasties on the planet: spiders, snakes, scorpions, jellyfish, crocodiles and backpackers.

To get acircular Australia, they?ll be riding in style on two modern masterpieces thanks to their equipment sponsor, Penninger Recumbents. This US-based company has generously provided two recumbent tricycles designed for extensive touring. In addition, Penninger Recumbents has provided a tandem attachment to allow the bikes to hitch together, sure to draw a few stares on the highways. They?re a high-tech pedaling machine with the addition of a flip-up laptop arm attachment on the rear trike (perfect for the trip across the Nullarbor), custom built by Charles Penninger himself.

Colibri Sports is providing biking jerseys and Tony Chachere’s Cajun Spice is ensuring that their food is as hot as the weather.

They’ve also equipped themselves with a portable solar panel, just big enough to power a laptop and a digital camera in all the hidden corners of the Australian outback.

“We?re not speed riders,” they add, “Far from it, actually. We’re here to halt and smell the wildflowers along the way. There?s no better way to experience the full scope of a counattempt than on a bike. Especially a comfortable one.”

They’ll continue to report their adventures on their every seven days website: http://australia.beimers.com.

Available for publication immediately.
Photos available on request.

Due to the nature of this trip, we can only respond to online requests for additional information at the moment. Additional information and photos are available online at: http://australia.beimers.com/media.html

Aimee Lingman & Kevin Beimers
http://australia.beimers.com
aimee@beimers.com
kevin@beimers.com

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$169 per room, per night

Exclusive Package Includes:

• American Buffet Breakfast
• Wine and Cheese Basket
• $50 Tiffany’s Gift Card
• Transportation to and from the Mall at Short Hills

* Rates valid thcoarse March 2007. Rates and availability subject to change. Tax not included. Gratuities not included. Cannot be combined with other offers.

The AAA Three Diamond Hamilton Park Hotel & Conference Center graces 13 beautifully landscaped woodland acres in scenic Morris County, New Jersey. Near many Fortune 500 companies, universities and association headquarters, the New Jersey hotel is a highly regarded conference and meeting site and home base for business travelers.

The attractive natural surroundings and exceptional facilities make Hamilton Park Hotel & Conference Center a natural choice for weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, reunions and gala social events of all types. Those planning social events enjoy the countryside setting for its proximity to New York City and other New York and New Jersey urban centers. The hotel’s convenient access to international airports also simplifies travel for their guests arriving from other parts of the country.

Click here to book the romantic retreat package.
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Source: hamiltonparkhotel.com

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