"Let's talk about hotels" is the cut line for the blog where Guillaume Thevenot reports on topics associated with hotels, b&bs, and travel-related businesses. Hotel Blogs provides links to travel professionals, services and websites, plus tips on social media marketing for the hospitality industry. A regular feature is Q&As with CEOs of companies like Hotel Tonight, a company that offers same-day hotel bookings on iPhones, online marketing consultant for hotels e-conceptory, and menumodo, a hosted content management tool for creating, updating and distributing restaurant menus.

Site: Hotel Blogs

Getting the best fares usually means visiting several often-overlapping sites, including those of the airlines servicing the route you're researching, to see who is reporting the lowest fares. As a place to begin, The Detourist usually starts its searches with Airfarewatchdog, an automated fare-comparison site that offers easy access to information about specific routes, destinations and sales.

One section, Top 50 Fares, tracks special, usually time-sensitive deals. This morning, for example, the top offers range from $18 round trip between Los Angeles and Las Vegas (LAX-LAS) on Spirit, the flying bus line (actually, this is an unfair comparison, since buses are roomier, now usually provide wireless access, and have no hidden charges) to $158 r/t flight between Baltimore and Austin (BWI-AUS) on Continental, American, Delta and United. As always, watch for surprise fees.

Airfarewatchdog, part of the company that owns BookingBuddy, OneTime, SmarterTravel and the flash-sale travel site Sniqueaway, was created by George Hobica, a travel journalist specializing in consumer issues.

Site: Airfarewatchdog.com

It's a small world after all.

Tucson:

After hearing a bezillion times how great it is, I made a detour to the The Grill at Hacienda del Sol. Except for the setting -- in the restored and renovated Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort that was once a Roaring 20s-era school for daughters of the super rich -- the restaurant was otherwise remindful of St. Estephe, the legendary Southwest Fusion eatery of the 1980s that was unaccountably cloistered in a Manhattan Beach mall. At a time when there were possibly six decent restaurants in all of L.A. County, St. Estephe concocted sometimes delicious, often fanciful, always outrageously priced creations that took Hispanic-American food to places it had never been before.

(You might have ordered "chips and salsa," for example, and been served a dinner plate with a thin layer of red and green sauces deployed in the pattern of the holism symbol and graced with a single taco chip in the form of a dove. This was before anyone knew what a "plate" was, so the place definitely was cutting-edge, but as admirable as its efforts may have been as art, they left something to be desired as, well, food. And it was damnably expensive. You'd wonder if the boys in the back got a bigger kick out of sending out their latest caprices or the bill.)

The Grill at Hacienda induced St. Estephe flashbacks. The menu is replete with components like shrimp chorizzo, parmesan foam, pancetta dust, micro egg yolk, jalapeno-blueberry jam, yam and smoked gouda gratin, charred tomatoes and, I kid you not, "heirloom" beans. Normally this kind of menu -- small portions, unusual tastes -- is right up my alley, but Hacienda del Sol's eclecticism just comes across as pretentious. I can't say the food overall is bad (although the chorizo con pappas was positively insulting), but it lived up to neither its aspirations nor its prices (and lets face it, when you're blown away by a meal you don't even notice how much it costs).

There are plenty of first-rate restaurants in Tucson. You needn't go out of your way for this one.

The specialized search engine Real Travel brings the benefits of social media aggregation to the work of finding hotel lodging. Combining real-time pricing and availability data, Facebook "likes," and hotel reviews from across the web, Real Travel simplifies hotel search. You'll find hotel ratings, an easy-to-use price comparison tool, property photos, location information, information about nearby attractions, and advice from fellow travelers about lodging and "things to do." Unquestionably one of the more useful travel tools.

Site: RealTravel.com

Los Angeles: Hip movie rental store starts a extension program

Next month, Vidiots, a venerable indie video outlet in Santa Monica, introduces a film studies program taught by industry pros, critics and academics. Register now for four-, five-, or six-week series ($128-$192) or for individual classes ($40) in the new Vidiots Annex, 302 Pico Boulevard, next to the store between Third and Fourth Streets across from the Santa Monica Civic parking lot. A Saturday night film club includes a discussion afterward. 310-392-8508; http://www.vidiotsannex.com.

In most parts of the industrialized world, the streets have been surrendered to motorized vehicles. Many municipalities in the United States make half-hearted efforts to support bicycles as transportation by providing bike lanes to nowhere and hanging signs admonishing the SUVs to "Share the Road" and a few -- downtown San Francisco; Boulder -- do considerably more, but nowhere have they gone as far as Flanders and the Netherlands at integrating pedestrians and non-powered vehicles into the traffic mix. The Dutch even have a name for it: A woonerf is a street that is not closed to cars and buses but one where pedestrians and cyclists have legal priority over motorists.
Here's how urban streets used to look:


As these wonderful movies show (the San Francisco trolley ride is from 1906), when automobiles first arrived on the scene they joined pedestrians, bicycles, horses, buggies and wagons, trolleys and buses in the busy streets. Not only was this mix of uses more pleasant, there is evidence (visit Linda Baker's Salon article for background) that it was also safer than the current surrender of the streets to motorized carnage.

Further reading: Why don't we do it in the road? A new school of traffic design says we should get rid of stop signs and red lights and let cars, bikes and people mingle together. It sounds insane, but it works by Linda Baker (Salon 2004-06-20)

"What gives with hotel WiFi?

"This is a ten-year-old technology that has improved in speed and quality nearly everywhere — in homes, in offices, in public spaces, in coffee shops, in airports — even on planes. You can even get free WiFi at Krystal, a fast food chain that’s on par with White Castle and sells hamburgers for less than $1 each. Over the past two years I’ve stayed at more than two-dozen hotels around the United States and the emerging world. I’ve noticed a trend that seems to fly in the face of basic economics and technology adoption: The pricier and fancier hotel, generally the worse quality the WiFi, if it exists at all."

The rest of the story: Hotel WiFi Should Be a Right, Not a Luxury by Sarah Lacy (TechCrunch 2010-01-01)

Unsuspecting travelers face an obstacle course of scams, cons, and rip-offs. Opportunistic thieves lie in wait. Strategists create their own opportunities. Devilish scams are designed to divert your attention, even against your will. In the places people love to visit most, pickpocketing, con games, credit card scams, and identity theft have increased dramatically. Thiefhunters offers a backdoor-perspective on the techniques of the most underhanded scoundrels. -- from Thiefhunters in Paradise.

More: Theft Thwarter Tips

You have to be pretty far off the beaten path these days not to have access to gourmet dining. Not that regional and ethnic food doesn't keep us well fed and happy, but it is reassuring to know that there is no longer a corner of the Union that doesn't have at least one place offering high quality cuisine and a decent wine list.

In Escondido, CA that place is Tango, a full service eatery, lounge and wine bar. Nationally acclaimed chef Rico Bartolome offers a constantly changing array of fusion dishes, on my last visit including tempura oysters (on arugula with a remoulade), a duck comfit (rhubarb jam, strawberries, goat cheese and candied pecans), and an amazing korean hot pot (miso-marinated sea bass, shrimp, kimchee, bok choy and assorted mushrooms in dashi). Applying classic European kitchen techniques to Pacific Rim-influenced dishes made of fresh seasonal ingredients results in offbeat creations from chorizo-wrapped loin of venison with chimichanga and mole through osso bucco with panang curry to pistachio duck schnitzel with sweet and sour cabbage. The wine list is always well-selected. Desserts change daily (think sugar pumpkin and mascarpone cheesecake with spiced whipped cream or crêpe stuffed with chocolate, banana fritter and banana ice cream), and last visit fresh pies to go were by the cashier. Lunch Monday to Friday and dinner every day. Monday to Thursday, $25 sunset prix fixe dinners are available. Happy hour 4-7 every day but Monday, when it's 4 to closing. Half price wine on Wednesdays. Events nightly in the lounge. There's a private dining room for parties of 10-30, and you can dine on the patio weather permitting. Despite the sometimes brutal desert heat, this is one place worthy of abandoning the comforts of the coast. Tango is at 417 W Grand Ave in Escondido; 760-747-5000; http://www.tangoongrand.com/.

Some of Las Vegas' best dining establishments are hidden from visitors in strip malls, on side streets and in neighborhood centers. On an extremely hot summer afternoon a couple of years ago I found one that has become among my favorite Vegas eateries. Moments after I thought, I need for some protein, I spotted, stretched across the facade of a nondescript cinder block building on a low-end commercial block on Spring Mountain Road, a hand-made banner announcing "Hot and Juicy Crawfish." It goes without saying that spicy food and hot weather go hand and hand, and in the high desert heat ice cold beer sounded good.

Inside the modest building, aside perhaps for the fact that the staff appeared to have blown in from Vietnam rather than Arcadie, you'd have been forgiven for thinking you'd crossed from Nevada into Louisiana. Every table in the small establishment was stripped bare except for a heavy plastic sheet cover, lobster bibs, and a role of paper towels. The crawdads -- your choice: hot, hotter and scorching -- delivered by the pound in steaming plastic bags -- no utensils: this is not a place where you eat without getting your hands dirty -- were perfect, at least in the garlic and cajun versions with the spice level dialed up to volcanic. Order two pounds or more, and corn on the cob and potatoes are tossed in the bag with the creatures. I don't want to think about the impact of all the plastic on the environment, but from an operational standpoint this restaurant is a model of efficiency: at the end of the meal, the staff balls up the plastic table cloth -- shells, paper towels, styrofoam cups, et al, and carts it off. Talk about no fuss, no muss.

"Hot n Juicy Crawfish" -- that's it's name as well as it's game -- had only been open a couple of weeks and its menu was limited, if that's the proper word, to crawfish. Since then, besides adding some equally fine steamed shrimp, the menu has expanded unnecessarily to include crab, catfish, calamari, chicken wings and raw oysters, as well an étouffé that is unexpectedly tasty this far from a bayou. The seasonings are described as Louisiana Style, Juicy Cajun, Garlic Butter, Lemon Pepper, and Hot N Juicy Special, and the spice level now runs from mild through medium and spicy to extra spicy (you will be flagged off extra spicy because of the danger of third degree burns; pay the warnings no heed: have another beer and dig in). Hot n Juicy Crawfish, 4810 Spring Mountain Rd, Las Vegas, NV; 702-891-8889.

Tip: Although Las Vegas has a bus system and lots of cabs, the only way to really explore the town is by car. If you didn't drive in, don't forget that the best budget car rental companies, Advantage and Fox, both have shops at McCarren Airport; in general, McCarren is probably the easiest airport in the country to rent a car.

By the way, a hot new documentary on chile peppers, written, co-produced, and hosted by the Pope of Peppers, Dave DeWitt, and shot on location in Mexico, Guatemala, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Florida, perfectly presents people's powerful passion for peppers.
Heat up Your Life - Peppers and People (YouTube)

When I first came to Los Angeles, there were maybe six gourmet restaurants in the entire town. Now there are more than that just on Ocean Avenue, and they're about to joined by another. Jean-Francois Meteigner of La Cachette in Century City will start serving patrons at La Cachette Bistro on Saturday in preparation for a full-blown opening in a couple weeks. La Cachette Bistro, 1733 Ocean Ave (between Pico Blvd and the Santa Monica Pier), Santa Monica; 310-434-9509.

The pages of The New Yorker should change color when they're read. Sky blue would be nice. That way, when it's time to head for the summer house, it won't be necessary to schlep the whole pile, just those with pages that are still mostly white.

The best way to experience Las Vegas is to get off the Strip. The unusual makeup of the town's populace -- heavy on entertainment workers and retirees wealthy enough to move there from somewhere else -- spawns local restaurant, nightlife and arts scenes that exceed those in most other burgs its size.

For example, a recent round of gallery hopping during one of Vegas' monthly First Friday street fairs was eye-opening. The Las Vegas arts district is housed in a few blocks of industrial spaces and ratty storefronts set just  the beyond the north end of the Strip, within walking distance -- if you like a good walk -- of the Stratosphere and old downtown. With the streets closed to traffic for the evening, a First Friday stroll amid food carts, street vendors and live bands would be fun even if the art was ordinary.

It's not. Recent visitors -- regulars at Thursday nights in Manhattan's Chelsea gallery district, Chicago's art Fridays and Los Angeles' scattered weekend openings -- were impressed by the vibrancy of Vegas' compact arts community. There may not be as much work on display in Vegas, but what's there is universally competent and intermittently thrilling. Vegas are holds its own against its bigger rivals.

Between the lively street scene and the usually perfect weather, you may not be inclined to go indoors, but there are a several display spaces that are not-to-miss. The Arts Factory (101-109 E Charleston Blvd) houses a dozen or so galleries and studios, including the Contemporary Arts Center, an established non-profits artists' collective, and the soon-to-open Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe & Lounge. Other essential stops includes the artists' lofts in the former Holsum Bread Factory and Commerce Street Studios (corner of Utah and Commerce) and Naomi Arin Contemporary Art (formerly Dust Gallery; 900 S Las Vegas Blvd - Suite 120B; by appointment: 702.324.5868).

Like any city in the southwest, good eating in Vegas is spread all over town. Fortunately for First Friday-goers, one of the local Vegas eateries worth a visit is in the arts district: Tinoco's Bistro (103 E Charleston Blvd; 702-464-5008), in the arts factory building itself, is a friendly Italian place, with low ceilings, tables shaped like artists' palettes, and lots of art on the walls. In a town where millions of dollars are spent creating ambience, Tinoco's stands out for its feeling of authenticity. By the comparison to the Strip, the prices are low, low and low for both lunch and dinner, and the food's terrific.

Most of the other eateries in the area are Latin-flavored. At Casa Don Juan (1204 S Main Street; 702-384-8070) an authentic enchilada platter will cost you less than a movie ticket and huge overstuffed tacos packed with carne asada and guacamole can be had for the price of a bag of theater popcorn (their claim to the title "Best Margarita in Las Vegas" would be hard to challenge). As you travel back toward the Strip  on South Las Vegas Blvd, you'll come upon a Howard Johnson's that holds a surprise: the  Florida Cafe Cuban Bar & Grill (1401 S Las Vegas Blvd; 702-385-3013 ) attracts a mostly Spanish-speaking crowd for downhome Cuban specialties like ropa vieja and classic Cubano sandwiches (one of the steaming, cheesy foot-long creations could feed a small village in the Sierra Maestra).

Other art district hangs: the pricier, more Vegas-ie Ice House Lounge (650 S Main Street; 702-315-2570) is a good place to hear live local music; on the other hand, so is Dino's (1516 S Las Vegas Blvd; 702-382-3894), calling itself "the last neighborhood bar in Las Vegas," the sort of dive where you might expect to find a (pretty good) polish sausage to go with your karaoke.

Like countless Bohemian communities before it, the Vegas art district is a fragile thing. Great galleries and clubs have already come and gone and experience shows developers love art scenes to death. Now is probably the time to visit, before it goes the way of the Soho, Wicker Park, Venice Beach and countless other artists' havens that have been abandoned to the bourgeoisie. It won't be as much fun after the artists are forced to move to the corner of Nellis and Lake Mead (or wherever) to find affordable space.

If you happen to be passing through Concord, New Hampshire, you can drop off books you're finished with and pick up something new to read at the local Starbucks.

A good idea you usually see only in independent coffee houses. Hope it's picked up by every Starbucks (and Peet's and Coffee Bean) in the universe. Starbucks, 242 Louden Road, Concord, NH; 603-223-2395.

My first few trips on Virgin America -- Los Angeles to New York, the Bay Area, and Boston -- gave me hope that domestic air travel might become more consumer-friendly. Virgin America's prices, the convenient facilities, the online amenities...many of them only promises at that stage, but still, things as simple as being able to order something beyond Cheez-Its and to plug a laptop into an electrical outlet far exceed the usual Greyhound Bus-style services offered by most American carriers. The passenger experience on Virgin America is more like what you are likely to enjoy on a Scandinavian or Asian airline than on Delta or United. Wouldn't Virgin America's reasonable pricing and quality service force other companies to improve their operations, at least on the routes they have in common, if only to remain competitive?

Since May, however, much has changed. Now when you book on VA, you have to keep in mind that, depending on the ticket you select, you may be hit with a $15 per item charge for every piece of luggage you check in. If you're traveling light, this is no great hardship; as long as you don't forget to follow the TSA rules about toothpaste and pocket knives, you can still store one carry-on bag in the overhead compartment for free. If you have luggage to check, however, the fees can add up. When comparing your $99 fare on Virgin with a similarly priced ticket on, say, Southwest, you may find that you are paying more than you intended to enjoy Virgin's mood lighting.

Similarly, Virgin's much-ballyhooed wireless access (also available on American, Delta, United, and Air Canada) is less than promised. For one thing, what they don't tell you until you're on board is that it's pricey -- $12.95 for coast-to-coast flights; $9.95 for trips under three hours. Like most high-priced hotels and some airports, Virgin America hasn't realized that clients get irritated when overcharged for an essential service. Also, at least on the Los Angeles-Boston flight that I'm currently on, the wireless doesn't work. Although the instructions call for you to "Click Buy to get started," there is no "Buy" to click (the best site navigation moment comes on a page that says only "purchase a Gogo Pass" and "The page you attempted to view cannot be accessed until you purchase service"). According to the cockpit, the problem isn't with equipment on the aircraft, but is a "system wide" outage by the provider, Airtel's Gogo Inflight Internet. Oh, well. Email will just have to wait until I'm back on the ground in Beantown.

One other thing. When I attempted to listen on the plane's "interactive environment" to Cassandra Wilson's superb new album, Loverly, it sounded like someone was in the studio with her crumpling paper sacks in front of the microphone. The next cut I tried, from Diana Krall's Look of Love collection, worked better, although the sound quality on VA's branded earphones was that of an AM portable radio circa 1958. After I switched to my laptop's Phillips earbuds everything was rosy, though, even Cassandra Wilson (and it was a pleasure to discover tracks by Sun Ra amid the more lcd offerings in the jazz section). I know you get what you pay for, but why bother to install "3000 mp3s" and then provide crappy headset to listen with? Bottom line: if you're flying Virgin America, skip the $2 earpieces and pack your own listening devices.

Still, in VA's defense, it has to be said that the few inches of extra space throughout the cabin make a huge difference: a little more leg room, less banging into people and hardware when walking the aisle, room to turn around in the lav. And there's no denying that hummus, baba ganoush and veggies are a vast improvement on pretzels and dry-roasted peanuts.

From the monthly newsletter of Library Alehouse on Main Street in Santa Monica:

‘In the ever continuing quest by Stone Brewing to appeal to the masses….’ No, scratch that. Hmm, let’s try ‘Stone Brewing's new release destined for trendy appeal….’ Nope. Hardly. OK, how about ‘New brew from Stone Brewing likely to be a hit amongst light beer fans….’ Ouch. Way off base. Nowhere even close.

The real lead-in line should of course read ‘Stone Brewing, experts in pushing the limits of the IPA style, brews up another winner.’ And a winner it is. Patterned after the famous Stone Anniversary IPAs, this new brew is born. Weighing in at massive 100+ IBUs (International Bitterness Units) and 7.7% alc/vol, this baby is a screamer!

”And the name? Stone Ruination IPA. So named, the bottle's label states, ‘because of the immediate ruinous effect on your palate….’ “

The nattering above conveys a taste of the potions (and the marketing) cooked up by Stone Brewing of San Marcos. Ruination was the first new year-round release from the brewer after the introduction of its infamous Arrogant Bastard Ale more than four and a half years before. Stone employs an extreme brewing style that uses natural ingredients – barley, hops, water and yeast – to produce quaffs of strong and distinctive character. Initially, Library Alehouse was attracted by the brewer’s promise of “No Additives, No Chemical Preservatives, No Pasteurization No Adjuncts,” but it is the phenomenal taste that makes us proud to include both beverages in our menu of stellar beers and ales.

Not a drink for the faint of palate, Arrogant Bastard won’t be a regular or casual choice even among those for whom the hop flower is mother’s milk. This ale pours with a dark caramel color, an unpresumptuous orange-brown head and modest levels of carbonation. The nose is sugary, with a scent of molasses laced with slightly floral and woody notes that causes the sharp aftertaste to come with an element of surprise. The finish is extended, with a sustained bitter attack that prolongs the experience.

Ruination is intense India Pale informed by an imposing amount of hop bitterness stemming from the application of huge amounts of hops to the brewing and two weeks of dry hopping to the aftermath (dry hopping is a flavor-intensifying technique in which a small quantity of cone hops is added to finished beer before it is shipped). Ruination pours with a clear, dark gold color and an enduring crown of beige-colored foam. Hops dominate the taste, but there is a hint of dry grass and floor-of-the-forest woodsiness to the finish. This ale is imposing, sugary and tart.

Stone’s creations, despite their crisp and breezy qualities, have a moldy rain-forest sourness that persists on the tongue. In a less conformist world, these are tipples of the sort that would be enjoyed in good company with pungent cigars. http://www.stonebrew.com/

Shari Robins (former chef at James Beach and Canal Club) has opened a Balducci-esque market on North Venice, offering such Good Life-essentials as Petrossian smoked salmon, local farmers' markets favorite Kenter Canyon Farms produce and Giorgio Baldi’s pasta sauces, cheek-to-jowel with bodega-staples like Goldfish and Kettle chips and where-are-they-when-you-need-'em household items like kitty litter, paper towels and window spray. Robins Nest Quality Convenience Market, 68 North Venice Boulevard (at Pacific), Venice CA, 310-821-7281. http://www.robinsnestmarket.com/

A new study by a University of Scranton professor, Jon Vinson, has found that coffee is the best natural source of the antioxidants that help protect cells in the body from damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Among other harms, free radicals may cause cancer.

Along with other good news -- that red wine improves cardiovascular health and life expectancy and wards off the common cold; that dark chocolate helps prevent diabetes and lowers blood pressure; that virgin olive oil is not only good for the heart, but fights cancer, diabetes, asthma and arthritis, and obesity, and that garlic, the staff of life, will cure everything from cardiovascular disease to the plague -- I feel blessed to have spent so many years doing the right thing.

Given what she was told, your mother was doing the best she could when she tried to get you to eat your broccoli, but she might have done better to have poured a little vino on your Cocopops.

For it to turn out that java is superior in the antioxidant department to foods such as carrots, collard greens, wheat germ and kale that we have been made to feel guilty our whole lives for not eating is sweet revenge. It only remains for someone to document the incontrovertable health benefits of Häagen-Dazs coffee & almond crunch....

(originally posted to Impractical Proposals 2005-08-30)

It's late. After twelve hours on the road, we're exhausted and famished. Somewhere on Route 1A, a beaten-up stretch of highway that meanders through the North Shore parallel to the real Rte. 1 and the harbor, seeking a signal from the elusive ATT Wireless, we pull into a parking lot on what looks in the dark like landfill at the edge of a marsh in front of a dejected-looking building that might be dedicated to processing fish lips into cat food. We call our hotel for directions, but we've been through so many detours and roundabouts that we can't tell the innkeeper whether we're headed north or south. "We're in the parking lot of something called The Wharf," we say, and that wins us incredible and, as it turns out, fanciful you-can't-get-here-from-there-style directions that include a "right turn down the alley behind the Cathedral."

Satisfied for the moment that we won't be sleeping in the car, our attention immediately reverts back to our stomachs. All the long day, expecting to alight by dinnertime in the land of the shoah dinnah, we have been limiting our intake to light snacks, leaving room for the lobsters and steamers that are to be our reward. Sensing that we're talking to a local, we ask the hotelier for "the best place for lobster" in the Saugus-Revere area. "Yoah theah," comes the reply. "The Whaff is excellent!"

And you know what, it is. A rambling multi-roomed roadhouse that probably started its life 30 years ago selling the day's catch off the back of a wagon, Mt Vernon At The Wharf, as it is officially named, is comfortable, friendly and dim. Since it was so late and a school night, we were the only customers, save a couple of locals watching ESPN in the distant bar.

Too young to afford us a wine recommendation and too inexperienced to provide real service (she had to be sent back for things like napkins and butter), our waitress was nonetheless cheerful and solicitous; before heading home for the night, the proprietor herself stopped by to make sure all was well. Two large, plump lobsters, steamed veggies and baked potato, plus ever-dependable Guinness (better safe than sorry), and we were out the door for less than $35. We passed on the steamers because of the hour, but we'll be headed back. For one thing, we'd like to be in the joint on a Friday or Saturday night. Bet it's really cookin' (Mt Vernon At The Wharf, 543 North Shore Road, Revere, Massachusetts, 617-289-0885).