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September 13, 2011 In Land, travel finds

Pousada Vila Kalango : Ceara, Brazil

If you stumble over the name Jericoacoara — or if you’ve never even heard of the place — you’re not alone. The idyllic stretch of sand and sea is located far, far away from Rio and Buzios on the quiet northern coast of Brazil; twenty-odd years ago, this mellow fishing village didn’t even have electricity. After the government declared the region a national park in 2002, Jericoacoara became something of a windsurfers’ mecca, but the place still feels stuck in a dreamy past of sand-covered lanes and swaying hammocks.Pousada Vila Kalango fits easily into the natural landscape. Comprised of stilted houses and private bungalows made from eucalytpus, mud bricks, straw and locally sourced timber, the pousada sits squarely on the village’s main beach. The look is stylish but down-to-earth: wide-plank wood floors, exposed brick, colorful tapestries woven by native artisans, four-poster beds canopied with romantic (and very practical) mosquito nets. Guests can opt for modern comforts like air conditioning and wifi, or go au naturel with a sea breeze and a great book. (If the lack of flat-screen TVs and in-room telephones is any indication, the owners clearly encourage the latter.)There’s a kitesurfing school, a spa, and a rustic open-air restaurant where fresh fish is served by candlelight. The terrace pool is a magnet at sunset; kick back in a wooden chaise for the house speciality, a frozen caipirinha. After a couple of those, the name Jericoacoara might even roll off your tongue. If not, just call it Jeri — the locals are too relaxed to notice or care.

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September 13, 2011 In Land, travel news

Cast your vote for America’s best restroom

Courtesy of the Renaissance Arlington Capital View

The loo at Renaissance Arlington Capital View is worth more than a quick visit, Mirrors feature bird silhouettes that are lit and when a guest turns on the faucet, water flows in a sparkling red stream if it’s hot, and a blue stream if it’s cool, thanks to lighting within the fixtures.

 

By Harriet Baskas, msnbc.com contributor

Whether sightseeing or heading down the road to visit a new town, finding a clean place to “go” when you’re on the go can be a traveler’s most urgent challenge.

That’s why word gets around when a hotel, restaurant, museum, ballpark or other venue goes out of its way to provide bathrooms that are not just sanitary, but distinctive, inviting and somewhat eccentric.

There’s even an annual award for America’s Best Restroom. For this year’s choice, people can cast their vote online through Sept. 19.

The contest is hosted by bathroom supply company Cintas Corp., which gathers restroom recommendations through the year and then invites the public to help flush out the best loo in the land from a list of 10 finalists.

The 2010 winner was The Fountain on Locust, a vintage ice-cream parlor in St. Louis, Mo., where the bathrooms have hand-painted murals, luxury fixtures and designer mirrors.

This year’s nominees include the dragon- and gargoyle-themed restrooms at the Castello Di Amorosa Winery in Calistoga, Calif., and the loos at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, Va., where bird silhouettes on the mirrors light up when the faucets are turned on.

Restrooms on the ground floor of Chicago’s Field Museum have also been nominated. “They’re large and family friendly, with changing stations and sinks set low enough for kids to easily wash their hands,” said museum spokeswoman Nancy O’Shea. “Our housekeeping staff does a great job of keeping those restrooms clean, and we are just delighted to be in the running.”

Other nominees this year include the restrooms at the Main Street Casino in Las Vegas, where urinals hang on a graffiti-covered slab of the Berlin Wall, and Ninja New York, a restaurant where the décor is 15th-century Japan (complete with ninja-dressed wait staff), but the up-to-date restrooms sport built-in seat warmers, water sprayers, deodorizers and driers for the derriere.

There’s even a posh portable potty on the list. Created for President Obama’s 2009 inauguration-day festivities, Don’s Johns DJ5000LX Presidential Luxury Restroom Trailer has granite counters and shelves, heat and air conditioning, an audio system and, for those waiting their turn, a 37-inch exterior-mounted flat screen TV. It’s available for rent by any organization interested in an outstanding outhouse.


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September 13, 2011 In Air, Airlines, airports, Land, travel news

Terminal technology: a look back, a look ahead

By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

Reporting from the Future Travel Experience 2011 in Vancouver, B.C.

The future – it’s not what it used to be.

In travel, as in so many areas of modern life, things are now changing so quickly that it’s almost impossible to predict what getting from Point A to Point B will look like in 10 or 20 years.

Which keeps Rohit Talwar, CEO of Fastfuture.com, a very busy man. As the keynote speaker at this year’s Future Travel Experience (FTE) conference, he pointed to changes in demographics, geo-politics and technology that will present opportunities and challenges to travelers and travel providers alike.

Amid that volatile environment, however, one thing is certain. When it comes to travel, Talwar told msnbc.com, “People will expect seamless processes, instant updates of key information and the ability to maximize their time while minimizing disruption.”

Given FTE’s focus – the event’s theme is “Innovation to enhance the passenger experience on the ground” – most of the sessions and working groups dealt with the airport experience. From check-in to security to boarding, technology providers showcased the latest developments in bag-tagging, biometrics and identity verification.

But even as industry suppliers continue to roll out new scanners, kiosks and other capital-intensive systems, they’re dealing with a customer base that’s increasingly carrying its own cutting-edge technology. Smartphones, especially next-generation ones equipped with Near Field Communications (NFC) chips that will combine location-based services, payment options and other as-yet-undetermined capabilities, promise to remake the airport experience all over again.

“Technology will be central to our lives and we’ll expect travel providers to make use of our technology and provide information, services, rewards and purchasing opportunities through our devices,” said Talwar. “We won’t want to have multiple checkpoints in the airport – once we’ve signed in with our NFC-enabled devices, we’ll expect that to be enough to navigate us through the airport.”

Whether the industry is up to the task comes down to companies’ commitment, their capital budgets and the always-challenging interplay between airlines, airports and government authorities.

Ultimately, the air-travel industry is on the cusp of major change and it’s too early to tell how it will play out for individual airlines and airports. But technology – both in the industry and in travelers’ pockets – will only play a larger role as time goes on.

A lot of the current focus is on self-service boarding, bag-tagging, etc., said Talwar, but he believes that’s only the beginning: “I think the process will accelerate and the industry will feel real customer pressure to accelerate the pace of innovation.”


Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

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September 13, 2011 In Air, Airlines, airports, Business Travel, Land, travel news

Self-service kiosks simplify the airport experience

Not only can travelers access concourse maps on self-service kiosks, but they can scan a two-dimensional barcode and get the map in the palm of their hands.

By Joe Myxter, travel editor

Reporting from Future Travel Experience 2011 in Vancouver, B.C.

Welcome to the airport. Now, go stand in line at the ticket counter to get your boarding pass. Once you’re through security, you’ll want to stop and check the departure board to make sure your flight is on schedule. Then, go find a map of the concourse so you can navigate your way to the gate, hunt for a café where you can score a decent cup of coffee, and try to find free Wi-Fi so you can double check the weather at your destination.

Or you can use a kiosk that can help you with all of those tasks.

IBM Multichannel Self Service Solutions’ kiosk allows air travelers to check in, determine wait times for security and customs, check the time and weather forecasts, get a layout of the airport – including detailed directions – and find nearby restrooms, restaurants, lounges and coffee shops.

Smartphone users can scan a barcode and get the airport’s layout and directions on their mobile device.

And while it has not yet taken off in the U.S. – primarily due to TSA regulations – the kiosk is capable of printing out baggage tags for self-tagging.

IBM is displaying its latest kiosk at the Future Travel Experience 2011, but the company already operates nearly 6,000 airline kiosks and about 2,000 airport kiosks around the world. Many of the kiosks are capable of offering the aforementioned services.

IBM is also showcasing a “Q card” reader that Qantas Airways has unveiled as part of its next-generation check-in program.

The carrier’s system has found success among domestic flights in Australia. Qantas frequent fliers swipe their chip-embedded cards. The readers use near-field communication (NFC) technology, and the system takes as little as five seconds to check-in travelers without bags, and about 55 seconds for travelers with bags, according to Gabriella D’Alessandro, head of IT for Qantas Airways Operations.

Qantas launched its “faster, smarter check-in” initiative in June 2011. No other airlines have yet followed the airline’s lead.

But Simon Rucker, solution manager for IBM Global Business Services, anticipates travelers will continue to embrace high-tech options that make trips through the airport more efficient. “Adoption has been tremendous.”

Joe Myxter has been running msnbc.com’s Travel section since 2006. Follow him on Twitter.

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September 13, 2011 In Land, travel finds

Santorini, Cyclades, Greece

 

Chromata is open seasonally, April through October.High above the sea, at the highest point of Santorini’s volcanic caldera, Chromata would be remarkable enough for the view alone. Some of Santorini’s hotels attempt to compete with this natural spectacle, perhaps not realizing that any attempts at arresting interior design would be overshadowed by the natural beauty of the place.This is not the case here, however. Chromata draws all of its color in from the outside, its rooms and suites a blank white canvas, or a frame for the deep blue of the sea just outside. Clean-lined modern furnishings recede into the background, and the bathrooms, however indulgent, are as sleek as can be.The pool is as stunning as you can imagine, offering swimmers and sunbathers unparalleled views of the caldera from Chromata’s vertiginous cliffside perch. A poolside restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, and a more intimate two-table venue sits on a glass deck above the pool, serving candlelit Mediterranean dinners.As for sightseeing, if you can tear yourself away from the caldera view, the village of Imerovigli is just steps from the hotel, and the capital city of Fira is a ten-minute drive away. One practical note on the location: Chromata’s cliffside situation means that for safety reasons, families with children under thirteen will have to look elsewhere. 

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