Four UK Hotels -- Rooms and Bathrooms

A first-hand report on four three-star hotels in three places: Windermere, Carlisle and Edinburgh

We are near the end of a wonderful but dismayingly expensive trip to northern England and Edinburgh, Scotland. We tried to be thrifty, using trains, staying in three-star hotels, going for long walks, rationing our museum admissions and not going overboard for dinners. But with £1 = $1.90, everything is expensive. I think even backpackers' budgets must be strained.

We knew we wanted to spend a few days in the Lake District, but beyond that, we traveled free-form, going where the weather promised to be non-rainy. After the Lake District, when we were deciding whether to go north (English border towns, Scotland), we went north, and when we were deciding between Glasgow (west) and Edinburgh (east), we went east. We lucked out and experienced little rain, despite dreary Britain-wide forecasts, but traveling without much of a plan does carry its financial costs.

Just as a frame of reference for the modest hotel report that follows, five-star hotels are luxurious by international standards, and four-star properties are luxurious by most people's standards. Three-star hotels should be beyond basic and more than merely comfortable.

All our rooms have private bathrooms (called "en suite"). In all four hotels we stayed at, the plumbing was downright bizarre. Sometimes the hot water is on the right, cold on the left -- and sometimes vice versa. In virtually every hotel bathroom, it takes a turn or two of the handles or knobs for any water to come out of the faucet, Speaking of faucet, every sink has one hot and one cold. The British plumbing industry seemingly hasn't figured out that mixing hot and cold in the tap is a good idea so that people can adjust the water temperature on a cold to hot continuum.

Whether firm or semi-firm, every pillow on every bad was flat. Not lumpy, but flat. Some people ike 'em flat; some like 'em fluffy. Flat-pillow fans will be happy in Britain. Bed linens were generally smooth and seem to have a fairly high thread count. Hot-water heat prevailed, with individually adjustable radiators in all rooms we stayed in.

All properties included breakfast, and both English breakfasts and Scottish breakfasts, which are virtually interchangeable, can fuel a tourist well into the day. The whole cooked-to-order meal consists of eggs, bacon (like our Canadian bacon or grilled ham) and sausages, perhaps grilled tomatoes and mushrooms and toast, toast, toast. In addition to (or instead of) these hot breakfasts, every place offered fruit juice, two or three self-serve cereals with milk, sometimes yogurt and usually some kind of cooked, canned or sugared fruit.

Every room had a small television -- often with very few channels but always with good color and crisp picture. Every room comes with a very efficient electric pot for heating water coffee and tea, generally with small cellophane packets of cookies.

Generalities aside, here are some specifics about breakasts, details about our rooms and bathrooms, how much they cost and how we found the four places where we stayed:

The Famous Wild Boar Hotel, Windermere

Rambling country inn full of warmth and charm. Located on more than 70 acres with private walking paths, skeet shooting, pond and other amenities. Access to spa and pool at Low Wood, a sister property, several miles away. Acclaimed on-site restaurant and bar. Not convenient without a car. Several miles from Windermere and Bowness (£10+ and £6+ each respectively by taxi). The bus only runs past the inn two days a week -- at least at this time of year.

Breakfast: Real breakfast menu with good choice of hot items, plus cold buffet with self-serve juices, cereals, stewed fruits, cheese, pastries, sliced meat. Good selection of hot breakfasts, including English breakfast and other dishes. Toast. Coffee ( including espresso drinks) and tea.

Bedroom: Room 24 is a very small room dominated by a very large bed. Pretty garden view.

Bathroom: Long, skinny and windowless with a fan that made a terrible racket. Open the door, and there's the toilet, next to which is the only shelf in the room (that's where the liquid soap, bath gel and shampoo dispensers are inconveniently placed). Separate soaking tub and shower. When water is let out of the tub, however, it bubbles up through the shower drain. It could be worse. The hotel makes commendable efforts to be green and save water -- but requiring three or four flushes to get paper down is going too far. We used a toilet across the hall for anything more than paper. It didn't have such a restricted flush.

Booked through: Visit Cumbria.

Cost: Starting May 1 and running through the summer, rates for a "house room," which is what I think ours was, starts at £34 nightly per person. If ours was a "classic room," the per person nightly rate will soon start at £39. For anyone not on a B&B plan or not a hotel guest, breakfast is £10.75 additional per person.

Contact: Crook, near Windermere, Cumbria LA23 3NF; 08458 509 508 (reservations within the UK) or +44 (0) 1524 844822 (outside the UK).

Lakes Court Hotel, Carlisle

Great location in the center of town, right next to the railroad station. Gracious public spaces. Very expensive (30 minutes, £3) WiFi in lobby and bar only. Also, restaurant in hotel.

Breakfast: Crisply set tables. Self-serve juice, cereal, stewed fruit, packaged pastry. English breakfast. Toast. Coffee and tea.

Bedroom: Room 119 sized like a regular US motel room, but with long vestibule. Simply furnished. Front of hotel, so noisy on Saturday night when all of young Carlisle is out, about and loud. Promotional literature proclaims "romantic" hotel; our room not one of them.

Bathroom: Functional, but bizarre retrofit. Walk into the bathroom at bedroom floor level and step up onto a platform (about 12 inches high) to tub, sink and toilet. Potential booby trap that in the US would be lawsuit waiting to happen.

Booked through: Walked in.

Cost: Sign outside said "Rooms from £90." I asked while my husband waited with the bags and was told we could have a double for £70. We took it.

Contact: Court Square, Carlisle, Cumbria CA1 1QY; +44 (0) 1228 531951.

County Hotel, Carlisle

Old center-city hotel. Great location. Creaky, quirky and kind of shabby, but picturesque.

Breakfast: Self-serve juices, cereals, yogurt, stewed fruit. English breakfast. Coffee and tea.

Bedroom: Smile-enducing Room 112. Enormous and yet sparsely furnished in sort of a bordello style -- red velvet and all. Floors creak. Small distant TV and small refrigerator.

Bathroom: Booby prize. Inside bath room with neither window nor vent fan. Stale swampy-smelling air. Brackets for shelf over sink, but no shelf. Pretentious but ill-fitting mahagony panel fronting tub. Possibly the worst caulking job I have ever seen with thick, wavy line of bright white caulk between tub and dark red tiles. Do they allow kindergartners to caulk tubs in Britain?

Booked through: Walked in.

Cost: Double room, £50.

Contact: 9 Botchergate, Carlisle, CA1 1QP; +44 (0) 1228 531316.

Sonas Guest House, Edinburgh

Charming, whistle-clean B&B on a quiet south-side street, just a few doors from an arterial well served by many buses, including routes directly from the old city and the railroad station. Free WiFi.

Breakfast: Serve-yourself juices, cereals and (hooray!) fresh bananas and apples. White and brown toast. Selection of several hot breakfasts, including Scottish breakfast. Coffee and tea. Fresh flowers on the breakfast table.

Bedroom: Room 4 is lovely, bandbox near but very tiny (about 8x10), plus a small vestibule and a bathroom that is just about 5 feet square.

Bathroom: Tub/shower combination. Nicely tiled. Clean and modern. No window. Good, clearing tilting mirror that accommodates all heights. Vent fan a tad noisy.

Booked through: VisitScotland's Edinburgh tourist information office on Princes Street, above the railroad station.

Cost: "Special rate" of £27 nightly per person in a double. Booking agent said it's normall about £35. Booking fee of £4, but most convenient for afternoon arrival in a large city, where the only hotels near the railroad station are luxury leaders, way beyond our budget.

Contact: 3 East Mayfield, Edinburgh EH9 1SD; +44 (0) 131 667 2781.

Summary

Best Room: Sonas.
Smallest room: Sonas.
Biggest Room: County Hotel.
Best Ambiance: Famous Wild Boar.
Most Convenient: Lakes Court and County Hotels, both in the center of Carlisle, steps from the railroad station.
Least Convenient: Famous Wild Boar -- unless you have a car.

Conclusion

Three-star lodgings bring cost of a trip from the stratospheric to the affordable (with prices, if not plumbing, comparable to a high-end motor inn or even a good hotel booked via priceline.com or other discounter in the US).

Exploring Hadrian's Wall

Note: Because this is a walking as well as a travel topic, I have posted this same item on my Nordic Walking blog.

English prehistory is daunting. After all, it goes back to Neolithic times (from around 4,000 B.C.), Celts (800 B.C.), Romans (around 53 B.C. to 313 A.D.). Teutonic Anglo-Saxons (roughly 5th century to 7th century, by which time they had evolved into Englishmen), Vikings (beginning in 865 A.D.), Norman (beginning in 1066) and on through the reigning families: Plantagenet, Lancaster, York, Tudor, Stuart, Commonwealth & Protectorate, Restoration, Hanover, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Windsor – and in the north, the Scots. Of the cathedrals, castles and other landmarks from each era, from the Neolithic stone circles (think Stonehenge) to the Millennium Wheel (erected along the Thames for the Bicentennial), the one that most captivates walkers is Hadrian’s Wall.

The wall, begun in 122 A.D. under the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, was built to secure the northernmost reaches of the empire from the Scots. It runs 73 east-west miles parallel to the A69 highway between Carlisle and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Much of the wall was dismantled, the stones used by later peoples for other building purposes, but some remains – in various states of decay or restoration. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with public footpaths following much of it, including sections atop the wall itself in several places.

From the center of Carlisle, a border town (a small city, really) in northwestern England, we boarded the bus cleverly number AD122 (see above), also called the Hadrian’s Wall Country Bus that makes several multi-stop runs a day between Carlisle and Hexham plus a couple all the way to Newcastle. The Carlisle-Hexham route, in its entirety, takes more than two hours. You can pay per segment, or buy a £7.50 Day Rover ticket that permits travelers to get on and off at will. The first bus leaves Carlisle at 7:35 a.m. and the last returns 8:01 p.m., which leaves plenty of time for sightseeing and walking. A volunteer interpreter rides a couple of the morning buses to tell Hadrian’s story and point out later historic sites in villages en route.

The bus route passes through countryside that is so improbably green and pastoral that it takes imagination to envision it tromped by legionnaires and Scottish insurgents, sometimes running red with combatants’ blood. Stops are at historic sites (including five Roman ones) and in villages with such archetypically England names as Crosby, Brampton, Birdoswald, Gilsland and Haltwhistle.

The last is especially noteworthy for walkers, because the village is in the throes of the 11th annual Haltwhistle Walking Festival. The 2008 festival began on Saturday, April 26 and lasts through Monday, May 5. It includes nearly 20 guided walks of various lengths (1 ½ to 13 miles, including an assisted one of wheelchair users) and various interests (Hadrian’s Wall, woodland bird walk, renewable energy/energy independence and more). Costs range from £3 to £7.

For independent walkers, the two recommended stretches for walking Hadrian’s Wall are from Birdoswald to Gilsland and from Housesteads Roman Fort to Once Brewed, where the National Park headquarters and a large walker/biker-friendly hostel are located.

We encountered legions of other walkers – with one pole, two or none. These included a group on the Haltwhistle Walking Festival “Behind Hadrian’s Wall in Springtime” itinerary, numerous walkers on a British Heart Association fundraiser and so enormous a group of French students that it seemed like another Norman invasion.

The path itself has lots of steep ups and steep downs where it is close to the wall, but there are often milder options in the in the flatter valleys below. Surfaces include erosion-controlling, user-friendly stepping-stones on some of the longer steep sections, gravel, mud and grass. At one point, we followed a sign marked “Old Roman Road” rather than the main footpath and ended up walking through a cow pasture – complete with disinterested cows.

Interestingly to us, in dry Colorado, land administrators urge hikers to walk single file on narrow trails to avoid widening them. Here where it rains a lot, where there are no marked paths, walkers are asked not to walk single file, because regrowth is easier when there has not been much traffic.

One thing we did find is that the distances on told by the guide and even on the map seem to be crow-flight measures, not taking into account the turns in the route or the extra distance added by the ascents and descents. The Housesteads-Once Brewed is always given as 2½ miles. Both of our pedometers and, more significantly, the GPS calculated it to about 4 miles. Mathematical issues notwithstanding, the day was gray, cool and threatened rain that never came. It was a magical route into history almost two millennia ago.

Another option in this region are the Northern Railroad’s guided walks through the Dales and the Eden Valley several times a month from directly from railroad stations on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle line.

English Intermodality

Seamless rail and bus transportation makes UK travel a breeze

Last October, I rented a car when visiting Sussex. Ad I blogged then, I hated almost every moment of driving on the “wrong” side of the road, shifting with the “wrong” hand and attempting to be both navigator and driver. And filling up the tank, even of a small, economical car, was painful. My husband and I took advantage of United’s introductory Denver-London fare to come to the UK. We are current in the Lake District in Cumbria (northwestern England), and we decided to rely on public transportation. We traveled from there to here with a seamless chain of intermodel transportation (plane, train, bus, trains and then a taxi). This is how we got here:

1) Boulder to Denver International Airport by car.
2) DIA to London’s Heathrow Airport via United (nonstop). This flight operates on a wonderful schedule, departing from Denver at 8:30 p.m. and arriving the next day at 1:00 p.m. +/-, the variable being how many times the plane is ordered to circle Heathrow (we went around the air loop twice). In any case, early afternoon is a good time to arrive at LHR’s Terminal 3, because few international flights get in then, meaning there are no lines.
3) Heathrow to Paddington Station by Paddington Express train.
4) Paddington Station to Euston Station via #205 bus. The bus stop is a couple of minutes’ walk from Paddington at one end and directly in front of Euston on the other. The fare is £2.
5) Euston Station to Lancaster by on the West Coast line, operated Virgin Trains, a sister company to Virgin Airlines. Our first-class BritRail passes (good four days out of 60) are good on this train service -- and it is the only splurge we are planning for this trip. Complimentary coffee and tea are served (there I am, at right, bleary-eyed but happy with a comfortable seat and a cuppa). Food is available. And passengers are offered a free newspaper.
6) Lancaster to Windermere in the Lake District via Transpennine Express. We had 40 minutes between trains, so my husband stayed with our luggage and I took a quick walk around Lancaster Castle and the priory next door. They were just a few minutes from the Lancaster railroad station.
7) Windermere rail station to our hotel via taxi.

I can’t compliment the train service enough. Not only are the trains punctual but they are clean, the staff is accommodating and the cars well designed. The train even has lavatories spacious enough to accommodate wheelchair users and operated by push button. One button opens the door; two others close and then lock it. The flushing mechanism works, and the sink is equipped with automatic water tap, soap dispenser and hand dryer. How I wish Amtrak could be turned over to Sir Richard Branson or his American counterpart.

TSA Changes Shoe Rules

No, the Transportation Security Agency has not decided that walking through airport metal detectors while wearing shoes does not constitute a security threat. The agency has just tweaked the procedure again -- at Denver International Airport, anway. When I last flew out of here on April 3, passengers had to remove their shoes (of course) and place them in a plastic bin (presumably the one with the paper liner showing a pair of shoes). Today, passengers were instructed to put the shoes directly on the conveyor rather than in bins. This would have been against the rules just a few weeks ago -- maybe even yesterday. The reason, according to the TSAer, is "sanitation. People put food in the bins."

Overpackaged Travel Accessory -- on Earth Day

Bad enough to be in the air, leaving a carbon control, but extra waste galls

We're leaving soon for England and Scotland, feeling a twinge of guilt for flying and probably a pinch in the purse because of the dollar-to-pound exchange rate. To make the long Denver-London nonstop a tad more bearable, I just got new Sony MDR-NC40 noise-cancelling headphones that plug into a plane's sound system.

I can't swim or row to England, but because it's Earth Day, I'm particularly aware of the un-green packaging for these lightweight, made-in-China headphones. The cardboard box encasing the product and its protective plastic cocoon is about 10 by 6 1/2 by 4 inches. The black background means that in many places, the box cannot be recycled, and it appears not to have been made from recycled material either.

Inside, the headphones are encased in a plastic clamshell box secured with with one transparent plastic tape, with another compartmented plastic tray inside. Four strips of adhesive foam are on these plastic parts. I do not see a recycling code on anything. The bilingual instructions were printed and warranty -- seemingly not on recycled paper -- in Malaysia. I realize that an electronic gadget needs to be protected.

It might seem hypocritical or hair-splitting, given that they are designed for use on airplanes, but I do wish that my new headphones had left a smaller carbon footprint. Now, I'm going to have to toss all that packing material that could have been made from recycled materials and itself be recyclable.

Epic Ski Season Drawing to a Close

Saturday at Breckenridge was most likely my last day for 2007-08

I have a love/hate relationship with spring. The gardener and the gas bill payer in me love warm weather, sunshine and the end of the home heating season. I rejoice at the first crocuses, hyacinths, daffodils and tulips, but I'm never sorry when they are snowed upon. These early-season blossoms can take it. The skier and snowshoer rues the end of winter. Especially this winter, with great snow during much of the season across the North American and European snowbelt, the skiing and snowshoeing were great.

It rained in Boulder on Wednesday evening, April 16, but the high country experienced another wintry surge. Overnight, Breckenridge was blanketed with up to 10 inches of new snow. Powder in mid-April. Sweet! I met my son there a couple of days later. The powder, of course, was no more, but we enjoyed a great season-ender, skiing laps on the Mercury SuperChair that had to lines any time during the day. We started skiing with great spring conditions -- firm base with a surface was corning up in the course of the day. By mid-afternoon, the hot sun softened the snow still more, and it was time to hang 'em up for the season.

Sunday was Breckenridge's last day. In Colorado, the season has not quite ended at Loveland (May 4), Echo Mountain (May 4), Arapahoe Basin (June 8) and Silverton Mountain (April 27) that will run their lifts every day for a while, with Aspen Highlands and Wolf Creek operating for another weekend. Snowbasin, UT, is open until April 27 and Snowbird until May 26, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday operations only after May 1. In Oregon, Timberline on Mt. Hood is just cranking for its summer peak. Mammoth, CA, has a few weeks to go with skiing through May or beyond. Alpental, WA, at the Summit at Snowqualmie is operating weekends though May 5, ending with a Cinco de Mayo party on Monday the 5th.

Virtually every ski area that operates well into spring offers deals: buy next year's season pass and start using it at the end of this season, show a season pass from another mountain and ski free or at a discount, bargain daily lift tickets, even better deals on lift/lodging packages. Even as this season has ended for me, and I've done major spring yard cleanup, I'm already looking forward to 2008-09.

Move to Rename Eagle Country Airport

Possible rebranding of Colorado's third busiest airport (number two in winter)

Vail Resorts, Inc., whose marquee holdings are the Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts, has cleverly been marketing Eagle County Airport as Vail-Eagle Country Airport. Now, according to a report in coloradoconfidential.com, they want to make the marketing name the airport's real name. Vail's new ad agency, Genesis, is cooking up a scheme to rename the airport officially to tie it more closely to the resort brand. The misplaced MadAve minds at Denver's ad agency first came up with Colorado International Airport, and when that was which mercifully shot down, suggested Vail National or even Vail International.

The airport, which can handle aircraft as large as 757s in what the Colorado Confidential website calls "all kinds of weather," is operated by Eagle County. It has become the state's second busiest in winter after Denver International and third-busiest year-round after DIA and Colorado Springs. In addition to some 250,000 commercial passengers annually, it sees "a robust private aviation business." Much of that traffic is to and from Vail and Beaver Creek and ancillary resort developments that cater also to golfers and vacation-home owners, but it is also the airport of choice for many people heading to Aspen, the booming Roaring Fork Valley, Glenwood Springs and to communities beyond. It is located just south of Interstate 70 between Eagle and Gypsum.

I wouldn't be taking bets against the name change, because Vail Resorts, really the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, has publicly stated that it hopes rebranding (I mean the name change) is approved soon so that it can be marketed for next winter. Also, The county is clearly proud of the airport's gateway status to the mountains. The country website introduces it as, "Just minutes from Vail and the best skiing in North America, Eagle County Airport (EGE) gets you directly to the heart of the Colorado Rockies, year round. Trade the long drives, snowy passes and airport delays, for friendly, world class service and ASAP access to your favorite outdoor activities."

While Vail Resorts is promoting an official airport name that shares its brand, you can bet that the Aspen Skiing Company would be less thrilled. Aspen's own airport, formerly called Sardy Field, is now Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE), mirroring the current marketing moniker for Vail/Eagle County Airport (EGE). ASE has the benefit of being right outside of town but the drawback of being more weather-vulnerable than EGE, which is 35 miles from Vail and 25 from Avon/Beaver Creek.

Then again, I wouldn't bet on it either, even though many Eagle County officials and residents who are not tied to the resort company are not in favor of having another aspect of their identity lost. County commissioners, who have to vote on it, are aware of sentimental attachment to the old name and sometimes dig their heels in when confronted by pressure from the ski company. "There's also an emotional attachment, and it's really important to a lot of people because they fear the loss of identity of Eagle and Gypsum," county Peter Runyon was quoted as saying. "It's just as legitimate to market and give some brand-name identity to Eagle as it is to Vail. If I felt there was a compelling and overwhelming reason [to change the name], if skier numbers were down and the county was having other problems, I might look at this differently, but we have an incredibly robust tourism economy."

Stay tuned.

Still More Seven Wonders

The world offers more than seven times seven wonders to visit

If you've vowed to see the components of various seven wonders of the world lists as Wikipedia has with a plan to see them all, you've got quite a challenge. Consider: the seven wonders of the world, the seven natural wonders of the world, the seven wonders of the medieval world, the new seven wonders of the world, USA Today's version of the new seven wonders, the seven wonders of the industrial world, the seven wonders of the underwater world and both man-made and seven natural travel wonders, you'll never be able to see them all. Those alone are nine different versions of not-to-be-missed seven wonders.

Conde Nast Traveler's current issue presents another list of new wonders, thanks to 15 pages of artsy photos of the publication's choice seven architectural wonders. Some are interesting and perhaps even wonderful, IMHO, while others look downright ugly or at least misplaced. The editors call the article, beauitfully photographed by Raymond Meier, "The New Seven Wonders." Where have we heard that before?

In any case, pick up a copy for a full description, but here at least is the magazine's list:

• Cumulus Building, Danfoss Universe, Nordborg, Denmark
• Burj Dubai, Dubai
• Wembley Stadium, London
• New Museum, New York
• Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
• Red Ribbon, Tanghe River Park, Qinhuangdao, China
• Michael Lee Chin Crystal, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Compensation for Bumped Passengers to Increase

Penalties for overbooking a boon to passengers but could hurt ailing airlines

The US Department of Transportation has announced an upward revision of passenger compensation for being bumped from overbooked flights. After something like 25 or 30 years, the government has now doubled the amount that airlines will have to pay passengers who are bumped from flights. Our air travel system is broken. This won't fix it. The timing sucks.

The new amounts are $400 for passengers who arrive within two hours of their original planned arrival schedule on domestic flights or within four hours on international flights (up from $200). Passengers who don't arrive at their destination within those windows would receive up to $800 (up from $400). The compensation will be remain in the form of credit toward future flights. The precise compensation per passenger seems to depend on "fair ticket value," which does not reflect the among a passenger paid -- discount vacation ticket or full fare paid by a business traveler.

It seems like a half-baked "solution" to airline problems and passenger complaints. Some things that come to mind that perhaps have been addressed with the new rules and perhaps not:

• With skyrocketing jet fuel prices, many airlines are already cash strapped, cutting corners and in several recent high-profile incidents, going out of business. Requiring ailing airlines to hand out freebies does not address those problems.
• Airliners burn that expensive fuel while waiting for permission to take off at congested airports with chronic delays, which affected 26 percent of all flights last year. Antiquated airports, inadequate runway and taxiway systems, an over-burdened air control system are a major issue. Chicago's O'Hare, New York's Newark and LaGuardia, Boston's Logan and San Francisco, especially in fog season, are among those that immediately come to mind when the topic is delays. LaGuardia has operated under the same capacity since 1968 (that's 40 years, friends), which the government is proposing to modify by tinkering with takeoff and landing slots allocated to individual carriers.
• When airlines hold loaded aircraft at the gate in order to save fuel, passengers are trapped in planes sometimes for hours. Ventilation systems designed to operate in the air often perform poorly on the ground. Passengers stuck, often without water or, of course, anything to nibble on become cranky. Predictably and appropriately complaints mount. Perhaps instead of a new bump rule, the government should be trying to solve the current major air-travel problem. (As a side note, New York State passed a passenger bill of rights requiring airlines to provide water, food, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers trapped in delayed planes, but a federal appeals court struck it down down in March, saying it was a federal not a state issue. In 2007, the US House of Representatives passed a similar bill, but the Senate has not yet taken it up. Even if Congress does pass a passenger bill of rights, it is unclear whether that new rule would have an penalties for airlines that did not comply.)
• With the prevalent hub-and-spoke system in the US, delays in one part of the country can impact passengers with connections hundreds of miles away. Airlines will have to balance reassigning passengers from incoming flights with those originating at hub airports, and what was not initially an overbooked flight can suddenly become one.
• How do weather delays (rain, fog, tornado activity, snowstorms, etc.) somewhere on a route system or mechanical delays on a particular aircraft play into this picture? Permission for aircraft impacted in flight by thunderstorms has now been obtained for American planes to detour into Canadian airspace, which does begin to address the weather issue -- at least in places like the Northeast.
• What about airline crew members? Do they get still get some kind of priority to reach their own next flights, or will airlines not board them in favor of passengers to avoid the higher bump penalties? Airplanes have only so many jump seats for dead-heading crew.
• According to reports, the new rules seem to be one-size-fits all, whether on a capacious Airbus, MD-80 or even 747 or small commuter aircraft carrying 30 or more passengers flown by regional or feeder airline, which seems unreasonable. The old rules applied to planes carrying 60 or more passengers.
• The only bright spot I see in all this is the possibility -- not probability, but possibility -- that standby passengers might have a better show at getting a seat than previously.

IMHO, instead of addressing real problems that would cost the government money (i.e., fixing the antiquated air-traffic control system) and or ones that would hurt the deep pocketed and influential oil industry (putting some tough controls on soaring fuel prices, implementing policies that mandate an increase in overall fuel efficiency and seriously investing in alternative energy for uses where oil is an option, not a requirement), the feds have shifted responsibility -- this time to the airlines.

Demystifying Grand Valley Addresses

Visiting farms, orchards and wineries around Grand Junction and Palisade? You need this info

The fruit trees in western Colorado's Grand Valley are blooming. Apricot and a couple of peach species might already be a bit past their peak. Look for the bing cherry, prune, plum and pear trees to be in flower this week and next, followed by tart cherries and finally the apple trees early in May. Farmers are beginning to harvest early produce. And winery tasting rooms are polishing glasses for spring road-trippers, cyclists and art lovers (see below). (Photo courtesy of Grand Junction Visitors & Convention Bureau)

If you've got a specific farm or winery in mind, however, you might be as flummoxed as I long was by addresses, which are an A to Z mystery. How does one find Alida's fruits at 3402 C 1/2 Road or Z's Orchard at 315 33 3/4 Road? The placemat-like Orchard Farm, Farm & Coffee Roastery map issued by the Palisade Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Junction Visitor & Convention Bureau provides an explanation that I have paraphrased here:

Roads Unraveled

Numbered roads run north-south and are numbered east to west in crow-flight miles from the Colorado-Utah state line. That means lower numbers are on the west and higher ones on the east. Lettered roads run east-west and are one mile apart, starting with A at Orchard Mesa on the south end and ending with G just before I-70 on the north. Because both the lettered and numbered roads are one mile apart, many roads between them have fractions or tenths (e.g., 33 3/4 Road, G 7/10 or alternatively G .7 Road). Just to make navigating even trickier, not all roads go through -- and some in rural areas switch from pavement to dirt somewhere along the way. However, in this charmed landscape, getting lost can lead to pleasurable discoveries until you reorient yourself.

Other useful information: G Road in Palisade is also called Front Street, while G 7/10 Road is also North River Road. US Highway 6 between Palisade and Grand Junction runs on a slight diagonal linking Front Street/G Road and F Road. 32 Road is also US Highway 141, beginning at I-70's business loop and heading south through Clifton. In Grand Junction proper, agricultural land is interspersed with growing suburbia, whose street names do not follow the letter/number pattern. Have fun exploring! I sure did a few weeks ago.

Peach Blossom Art Show

If the beautiful image above and the enticement of decoding Grand Valley address inspires you to head there this weekend, be sure to take in the Palisade Art Lover's (PALS) 28th Annual Peach Blossom Art Show in the Community Center at Palisade Memorial Park. Some 125 artists' works will be shown -- many with spring and/or western Colorado themes. The show takes place Thursday, April 17 through Sunday, April 20. The show is free and open to the publicbetween 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. In this recessinary time, it's good know that almost everyone can afford original art, because a bargain room will display works selling for $100 or less. For more information, call 970-255-1553, 970-434-6191 or 970-464-7458,

US Rolls Out the Unwelcome Mat

American policies make it tough on visitors, weak dollar notwithstanding

I have several Sunday newspaper rituals: the lead story 'Weddings & Celebrations' story in the New York Times, the travel sections of several newspapers (astonishingly, the Denver Post's lead travel stories were about winter in Yellowstone National Park and about nearby Grand Targhee, WY, published during the last weekend of the ski season) and the current exchange rate for the US dollar versus other currencies. The latter is relevant right now, because my husband and I are planning a short trip to England and Scotland, and the dollar now buys only a hair over 50 pence, which is motivating us to seek inexpensive options once we are there.

Meanwhile, with the pathetic dollar, you'd think at least the US would welcome deep-pocketed foreigners to visit and spend here, shoring up our miserable balance of payments. Not so. According to reports, only residents of a small fraction the world's 195 nations may visit the US without a visa issued in advance. (For the record, these are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Visa Waiver program might also be extended -- or perhaps already has been -- to Hungary, Lithuania and Latvia.)

Despite the favorable (to most everyone else) exchange rate, arrivals of overseas visitors to our shores have declined, even though global travel continues to increase. According to figures released at the 2007 Travel Industry Association PowWow, inbound visitation has been declining from Asia and South America and increasing only marginally from Europe.

Back in January, the Times of London wrote, "We would like to apologise for a terrible omission in last Sunday’s feature 10 Steps to a Stress-Free Summer. We forgot to include 'Don’t go to the USA'." Times reporter Matt Rudd went on to detail some of the hoops overseas guests need to jump through and unpleasantness they often have to endure:

"A preflight e-interrogation, epic queues at immigration, thin-lipped questioning from aggressive border guards, and an outside chance of a rubber-gloved rectal rummage are all part of the fun. So, if [Department of Homeland Security chief Michael] Chertoff and co want to tighten Fortress America further, it’s time we considered other more welcoming holiday options. Such as Iran or North Korea. Here are a few sunny alternatives to consider before you book your flight, take your shoes off and try to convince our friends stateside that you’re not intent on the destruction of America, you’ve just come for the hamburgers." Rudd went on to make suggestions for such alternatives: Hong Kong instead of New York, EuroDisney in France instead of RealDisney in California or Florida, Spain's Extremadura instead of the American West, Macao instead of Last Vegas, Australia's Great Ocean Road instead of California's Route 1.

Alert about just this topic, WorldHum has noted that, thanks to our national fear-driven inhospitality, "Humanity is staying away from the United States in droves—overseas arrivals in the U.S. have declined 11 percent this decade, from 26 million in 2000 to 23 million in 2007. This, while travel booms worldwide: It’s the world’s largest industry, worth $5 trillion, growing 6 percent a year, employing almost a quarter-billion people, projected to reach $9 trillion by 2015, when it will be 11 percent of the world’s economy. With the U.S. dollar becoming confetti, you’d think more overseas visitors would be headed this way to spend their pounds, euros and other currencies. Worldwide, international arrivals grew by 52 million in 2007. Not here."

Applying for a tourist visa is an exercise in perseverance. The applicant must visit a US embassy or consulate in person, plunk down $131 Per person and submit to a consular official's “interview,” designed to eliminate potential terrorists or revolutionaries from the mix. The guidelines appear to be fuzzy, and in keeping with its lack of transparency in other areas of our government, as WorldHum put it, "you don’t get your money back if you apply for a visa and are rejected. Why are people rejected? Scruffiness, unsuitability, past contributions to Greenpeace or general uncollateralized ickiness. Read the State Department guidelines—visitors must satisfy consular officers that they deserve to enter. But consular officials do not have to explain reasons for rejection, and they don’t."

Once a visitor actually has arrived in the US, Department of Homeland Security officers take the visitors' picture and fingerprints -- just as if they had been arrested for something more severe than a speeding violation. In other words, America treats the rest of the world's citizens as if they were criminals. Embarrassing, isn't it? My husband and I will get on a plane in Denver, disembark in London and spend a bit over a week trying to stretch our pathetic dollars. But we aren't going to be photographed, fingerprinted or put on the UK's most-unwanted list.

Frontier Files for Chapter 11

Denver-based carrier still flying, but...who knows? Plus, what to do if your airline goes under

Frontier Airlines has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act. It is currently still flying, paying its employees and vowing that it will emerge "stronger than ever." Well, maybe. That's what Aloha claimed for a few days just before it ceased operations.

The carrier is saying that First Data, which processes credit cards for tickets, is withholding an excessive amount (to Frontier anyway) of money, resulting in cash-flow problems. Frontier, like other carriers -- is already strapped with a recessionary economy, rising jet-fuel prices and passengers' expectations of low fares. With this scenario, something has got to give, and as it did for three American carriers within a week, it is an airline's viability. Frontier operates more than 20 percent of the flights at Denver International Airport, and 5,000 out of its 6,000 employees are based here.

Protective Measures

Meanwhile, people who paid for airline tickets by credit card have been assuming that the card issuer will refund the cost of unused tickets. This could become a less reliable fallback too. As claims increase to credit card companies for services paid for but never rendered, those refunds could become harder and harder to obtain. Experts advise travelers to dispute charges and file claims immediately.

Meanwhile, also read your travel insurance policies -- if you buy them -- closely to be sure that such contingencies are covered. If your flights are booked as part of a tour package or cruise, the operator or cruise line should be handling arrangements for you. And some savvy travelers are returning to travel agents to make airline reservations, even if a handling fee is involved, because agents have a more direct line and more clout with airlines than do individual passengers

In addition, passengers who are when an airline on which they are ticketed suddenly ceases operating could be really stuck. Once upon a time, federal laws (Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, Section 145) mandated that airlines carry stranded passengers on a space-available basis, but the same feds who passed the law in '01 did not bother to renew it when it expired in 2006. Now, it is technically up the goodwill of remaining carriers to help stranded flyers. With the aforementioned higher fuel prices, their own high load factors and probably no assurance of remuneration, airlines' motivation to help out will likely erode.

Greyhound anyone?

Flying in the Near Future? Expect Delays

Aircraft reinspections continuing to cause flight cancellations

"You know what FAA stands for? Find Another Airline," Jay Leno quipped last night. His comedy writers must have been Los Angeles International Airport -- or some airport -- yesterday, when American Airlines canceled a thousand or so flights, a number that might be approached today.

I was at LAX myself, saved from the worst of the chaos because I was returning to Denver on United and because I shared a cab with my friend Laura Daily, a freelance travel journalist who specializes in consumer and service articles and who, in her own travels, has mastered the strategies and tactics for finding the quickest, the easiest, the least expensive, the most hassle-free -- and who should be writing a blog herself to share her secrets.

Laura had somehow found out that although we were heading for Terminal 7, the security lines were much shorter at Terminal 6. The two are connected and just a short walk apart. We breezed through security, but once inside, heard horror stories about the security line we didn't stand in. Her flight and mine were both full, and from other nearby gates, I heard United calling for volunteers to take a bump in exchange for a free roundtrip ticket for a future flight. United was carrying some American passengers, as well as ferrying their own and American crew.

The television news and newspapers across the land have reported on this latest cause for travel delays and frustrations. According to the New York Times:

"Air travelers, whose plans have already been disrupted by thousands of
canceled flights recently, may face continued chaos in coming weeks as the
Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines expand their scrutiny of
passenger planes.

"The groundings at airlines like American, Alaska, Delta and Southwest
resulted from a broader round of inspections, ordered by the F.A.A.,
to determine whether the airlines have complied with past directives to check
airplane structures, wires, electronics and other components.

"A second wave of audits began on March 30 and will continue through June
30. Laura J. Brown, a spokeswoman for the F.A.A., said it could not rule out
further groundings. 'We don’t know,” she said. “We find what we find.'

"That will do little to reassure travelers, who face difficulties
switching to other flights because planes are generally flying full on popular
routes.

"The agency turned up new problems Monday, when nine MD-80 jets operated by
American failed an F.A.A. check, prompting American to ground 300 planes.
American canceled more than 1,000 flights on Wednesday, on top of 430
cancellations on Tuesday, while its fleet of MD-80s was inspected.

"American Airlines canceled more than 900 flights Thursday to fix faulty
wiring in hundreds of jets, The Associated Press reported, and Daniel Garton, an
executive vice president of American, said that cancellations could extend into
Friday.

"Airports hit hardest by the canceled flights were Dallas-Fort Worth
International, O’Hare in Chicago and La Guardia."

There's no traveler on the planet who wouldn't rather be delayed than dead due to the crash of a plane that timely inspections and proper maintenance of critical systems could have prevented. Hopefully the wiring on the audio system of two of the three planes I flew on my latest Denver-Las Vegas-Los Angeles-Denver flight itinerary was no indication of the more important wires. On one flight, I got no audio at all. On another, the impossible-to-adjust volume of my seatmate's audio was so high that it blared through his headphone jack and could be heard across the aisle -- and his was the window seat.

The FAA's mandated inspections added to several bankrupt airlines (Aloha, ATA, SkyBus -- so far), high jet fuel prices, travelers' expectations of discount air fares that no longer come close to covering most airlines' operating costs and a deepening recession, do not bode well for air travel in the near future.

More on US and International Baggage Fees

A recent eFlyer newsletter published more on airline current baggage policies, which are now spreading from "pioneering" United and US Airways into the international arena. Here is what they found:

• Delta, which considers a bag of 50 pounds or more to be overweight (standard for US carriers), has raised its fee for overweight bags between 50 and 70 pounds from $50 to $80, and over 70 pounds charges "standard" extra-weight fees.
• Singapore Airways lowered its weight limits for flights to and from the US from 70 to 50 pounds in all classes of service, but the two-bag allowance, regardless of class, remains. Intra-Asia excess-weight charges vary by distance flown.
• China Airlines also lowered its for economy passengers to and from North America from 70 to 50 pounds. Front-cabin passengers still can check bags up 70 pounds each without incurring extra charges.
• Bahamasair lowered its international baggage allowance from 70 to 60 pounds and chargers $100 to $125 for additional bags.
• Malaysia Airlines now has a maximum weight per bag of 70 pounds, and passengers who are checking in heavier bags must must repack it into smaller, lighter bags but without penalty.
• Discount Jetstar Airways and Virgin Blue allow 44 free pounds and charge only $1 and $3 per extra pound.
• Discount Tiger Airways allows 33 just pounds of free baggage per passenger and charges $5 a pound thereafter.

The bottom line, eFlyer notes, is, "The 50-pound limit that is becoming an international standard means you should take a good look at your luggage. If you’re bumping up against weight restrictions, a new generation of light but sturdy bags may give you more leeway. Also, remember that 'wheelie' bags tend to have heavy metal frameworks for their expanding handle; can you use a trolley instead? When packing more than one bag you intend to check, divide the heavy items equally among them to avoid incurring excess in any one bag.

Addendum - May 9, 2008

Exactly one month after I wrote this post, the New York Times tackled the topic of surcharges in a piece called "Air Travelers Need to Pack More Money." Meanwhile, American Airlines has also begun charging $25 for a second checked bag. As for surcharges, when my husband and booked our Denver-London tickets on the "bargain" United inaugural fare of $249 each way, surcharges added approximately $300 to each ticket. Internationally, United does include one main meal and one light meal on this long flight (plus one snack on the westbound trip) but charges $5 for a split of wine, which European carriers flying transatlantic routes do not do -- at least in my recent experience.

Molokai Ranch Closes -- Including Molokai Lodge

Elegant lodge and other ranch properties on Hawaii's most laid-back island to cease operations

Less than a year ago, we visited Molokai, home to roughly 7,500 people, and stayed at a lovely inn on Molokai Ranch, which sprawls across 60,000 acres (roughly one-third of the island). You can read my overview here. We saw plans by Molokai Properties Ltd., a subsidiary of Guoco Group, to set aside 50,000 acres in a conservation easement and develop 500 beachfront acres at La'au Point into a luxurious subdivision for up to 200 mansions -- hardly in keeping with Moloka'i's quiet, spiritual side but offering the promise of jobs to the island with Hawaii's highest unemployment rate.

Locals, with a personal interest in their island, of course also saw the plans, and even after some 150 public hearings, many didn't like what they saw as the ruination of their quiet, non-materialistic way of life. Others would have welcomed the expansive second homes as providing employment (many islanders currently commute to nearby Maui to work in tourism there).

Thinking about the McMansions, Prairie Palaces and gated communities in Colorado and elsewhere on the mainland, I felt sad that a developer was now eyeing lovely Moloka'i for an over-the-top subdivision. According to an Associated Press report, "Molokai Ranch submitted an environmental impact statement to the state Land Use Commission for approval in October. But commissioners said the study inadequately addressed water treatment, potential environmental hazards to Hawaiian monk seals and other issues. The ranch withdrew the study but had said it planned to prepare another one."

It appears that the company has changed its collective mind. The ranch owners recently announced the closing of the Molokai Lodge (room shown at right), Kaupoa Beach Village, the Kaluakoi Golf Course, the Maunaloa gas station, the Maunaloa Tri-Plex theater, the colony of casual, economical Tentalows near the beach and oddly, a cattle-rearing business -- and public access to private ranch property will now be denied. According to reports, the owning company, Guoco Leisure's Peter Nichols issued a statement saying that "unacceptable delays caused by continued opposition...means we are unable to fund continued normal company operations."

Tourism Blackmail

It seems as if this international, cross-border corporation is putting the screws on Moloka'i by shutting down the biggest enterprise on the island and directly cutting off some of the few employment opportunities that exist, and then via the ripple effect, hurting small business as well. I feel terribly sorry for the locals like the ebuillient Rudy Dela Cruz , who shepherded us around Moloka'i. Many people indeed have staked their dreams on the infusion of money that they foresaw for their island. Still, I don't get the warm fuzzies about GuocoLeisure, which was established in Hong Kong, is based in Singapore, was once called BIL International, is listed on the Hong Kong stock exhange but incorporated in Bermuda. "In pursuit of prime value" appears to be the company slogan.

"The Group's principal activities are operating the 'Thistle' chain of hotels in the United Kingdom and developing land and properties on Fijian and Hawaiian islands for residential and tourism purposes. These properties include the Molokai Properties and the Denarau Properties. The Group operates in Australasia, Asia, the United States of America, and United Kingdom," according to an online profile. In the six months that ended on December 31, 2007, the company reported HK$1,021,000,000 in earnings, up 36 percent from the previous year. That doesn't give much credibility to Nichols's contention that they can't afford to keep Molokai Ranch going unless they are allowed to create an exclusive, expensive subdivision.

"Molokai, Hawaii's sleepiest major island, is getting sleepier," wrote Jane Engle in the Los Angeles Times. That, depending on which position one agrees with, is either good news or bad news. But in either case, it was big news on this small island.

My Death Valley Travels -- and Airlines' Death Rattles

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but I've been traveling.

I was in Death Valley National Park for several days, staying at the historic Furnace Creek Inn, which will have Internet access next season (this inn closes during the summer) but does not at this time. I'll post a longer report about Death Valley's history and natural wonders when I can.

But meanwhile, as a teaser, I'll just note that the park is phenomenal and fascinating: famous as the continent's hottest, driest, lowest-elevation place, but its 3 million acres also include stark desertscape of salt flats, mineral deposits, sand dunes and multicolored rock layers, surrounded by mountains some of which still are capped with the last of winter's snow. This has been a good -- not a great, but a good -- wildflower year, and I caught just the tail end. The beautiful flower here is called the Desert Five-Spot, which looks a bit like a lavender Japanese lantern whose rounded petals surround five bright red spots in the center.


Another Airline Bites the Dust

While I've been unconnected to the on-line world, big news in travel is the continuing (and worsening) litany of airline woes. Two scheduled and one charter carrier recently folded. Late last week, Columbus, OH-based SkyBus went under. Aloha Airlines, which declared bankruptcy some 10 days ago was 61 years old. SkyBus, a discount carrier with 11 destinations and big dreams, had not yet celebrated its first anniversary. Delta, United, American and others have announced various cost-saving measures. Just when the leaner and meaner aviation industry had returned to profitability, literally and figuratively sky-high jet-fuel costs have killed off some carriers and weakened others. Major media will continue to report on rumored or planned airline mergers or deaths of the biggies, but in this blog, I am concerned with the impact on travelers.

Travel Insurance Tips

I received the following message from QuoteWright, and online travel insurance provider. These tips are worth paying attention to when you plan your next travels:

In the past several days 3 airlines have suddenly ceased
business. Travelers can use travel insurance to help protect
themselves but there are a few things they should know before buying:

1. Buy travel insurance from an independent source rather than from the travel provider. Travel Insurance policies offered by tour operators, cruise lines, or airlines either don’t cover their own financial default or they exclude the financial default of the company from whom you purchase your coverage.
2. Check the insurance plan to see if they have a list of airlines or travel companies that they either will or will not cover. One company, Access America, provides a list of companies they will cover while two other companies, Travel Guard and Travelex, provide a list of companies they will not cover.
3. Buy travel insurance very soon after they make a deposit. Default protection is only available if you purchase your travel insurance within 10 to 21 days of your initial deposit. The time period varies with each company and plan so our advice is to do it within 10 days to ensure that you have the maximum flexibility.
4. Review the coverage carefully. Some plans will have a “waiting period” after the coverage is purchased before the default coverage goes into effect. In some cases this is 14 days after you buy the insurance. Another reason to buy coverage early.
5. Buy your trip or airline ticket through a travel agent. Some insurance plans exclude coverage if you have purchase your trip directly with the travel company. Most travel insurance plans will not, however, to have the maximum flexibility you should purchase your trip through a travel agent, whether locally or online, rather than buying direct.
6. Always use a credit card for the payment of your ticket or trip. In the event of a default you might be able to dispute your charge and have the credit card company remove it from your billing. This is fine if it happens prior to your trip but doesn’t help much if you are traveling at the time of the default. If that happens other airlines might offer you an alternative flight on a standby basis but it can still result in delays and additional expenses that would be covered by many travel insurance policies.

These are all ways that a consumer can minimize their risks. You can never
eliminate all risks but you can take prudent measures to minimize them before
you travel.”

Two More Airlines Grounded

One charter and one more scheduled airline join Aloha on the grounded list

I'm uncofmortably seated on the floor of the B Concourse at Denver International Airport, grateful that there's now free WiFi here but wishing there were more electrical outlets so that I wouldn't be leaning against a round stainless-steel pillar next to a trash can to post this. I am also grateful that I am not flying ATA. My E-mail inbox contained a message with an Elliott.org with the following news:

"First it was Aloha Airlines. Then it was charter carrier Champion Air.
Today it’s ATA. Within a week, three airlines have been grounded, leaving
thousands of passengers stranded.
What now?"

Read Elliott's precautions (e.g., do an airline "health check" before booking, always pay for your ticket by credit car) and possible remedies (e.g., the refund rules) if you are flying soon. It would be nice not to need this advice, but unfortunately, the airline industry is so fragile these days that one never knows.

La Posada de Albuquerque to Be Reborn as Andaluz

New name for total makeover of historic downtown hotel

Just a few days ago, in a post about Historic Hotels of the Rockies, I postulated that La Posada de Albquerque could qualify for membership when its renovation/restoration is complete. Now comes the word that the historic La Posada de Albuquerque will not reopen this spring under that name after all, but is now scheduled to open "later this year" as the Hotel Andaluz. The new name for the old hotel is, of course, derived from the Spanish region of Andalucía, which inspired the motif for the hotel's original designed for Conrad Hilton by Anton F. Korn in the 1930’s. The hotel's logo, an adaptation of a classic Andalucían tile, represents four interlocking A’s.

“We selected Andaluz as the new name of this legendary property because it honors Albuquerque’s rich Spanish heritage and reflects the hotel’s architectural and interior design,” said Yancy Sturgeon, general manager of Andaluz. “The entire property will have a Mediterranean style and vibe, and we believe that the name Andaluz embodies this essence.”

The hotel, which opened in 1939 as the Hilton Hotel, was the first hotel in the state constructed by New Mexico native. Conrad Hilton. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2005, Gary Goodman of Historic Hotels, LLC purchased it and got the $30 million makeover moving. The décor incorporates Moroccan and Spanish colonial influence, and its restaurant will service Mediterranean cuisine. Additional features are a mezzanine-level cultural center honoring New Mexico’s museums, cultural institutions, performing arts groups, and other culturally significant organizations, a rooftop lounge and a lobby bar featuring live weekly entertainment.

The Andaluz is at 125 Second Street NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102. I'll post a phone number and a website when I find out abount them.

RIP, David Parrish

Gifted student with a bright travel photojournalist future gunned down in Mexico

Have you ever heard of David Parrish? Neither had I -- until his mugging/murder in Puerto Vallarta made headlines in the Boulder Camera. That's because Parrish, 21, was a graduate of Boulder High School and a geography major at the University of Colorado, where his mother, Janet Graaff, teaches engineering. Mother and son, who were spring breaking in the popular coastal tourist resort, were mugged after visiting an ATM. According to reports, the assailants tried to grab Graaff's purse. Parrish tried to stop them and was shot in the stomach. He died later in a hospital. The two assailants were caught and jailed, but at least one of them escaped. A Mexican judge, his secretary and two jail employees are suspected accomplices in the jailbreak.

The reason you might have heard of Parrish in the years to come, had he lived, was through his evocative words and images. He was "passionate about photography, geography and mending cultures friends say," wrote Camera staff writer Vanessa Miller in a front page feature honoring his short life. The piece also related last year's spring semester, which he spent in Morocco, living in a village and documenting his experiences with remarkable clarity for one so young. You can read the "Remembering David Parish" story here and see three of his images and read the captions from his Morocco experience here.

The wider world never got to see what this promising talent might have produced. Beyond that, an upright son and a fine young man gone because of the actions of two thugs and a gun. Tragic indeed.