Here comes our annual winner in the cheesy-music-on-website hotel contest: the Ryan Mansion Inn in St John's, Newfoundland has a gentle instrumental rendition of the "My Heart Will Go On" Titanic theme song playing on its website, and what's worse, we totally can't find a mute button on the site.
You might well be wondering why a historic inn would be playing the Titanic music, but in fact it has some kind of reason for it.
Have you ever admitted to yourself that the only conceivable way you can let go of your Blackberry, Treo or iPhone is when your hands are cold and dead? For us PDA addicts, those babies are glued to our palms from the first e-mail check in the morning all the way to the last drunk text at night. It's a problem, actually.
Fairmontis here to help: the Fairmont Electronic Rehab package will take your PDA away and there is nothing you can do about it except enjoy your vacation. And probably cry a little bit.
According to the Calgary Herald, the package has launched in several hotels up North this summer - among them, Canadian faves like Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and Whistler - and is meant to help guests to truly relax and recharge (duh) without their gadgets.
Hey, stupid Americans: the French-Canadian folks are so sick of you traipsing around Montreal with your silly English language (and worthless U.S. dollars and ugly Abercrombie outfits) that they are offering to teach you how to speak French.
No, seriously:
A pair of Montreal hotels have partnered with Berlitz Canada to offer French lessons to guests. Hotel Nelligan and Le Place d'Armes Hotel & Suites - part of the Antonopoulos Group of boutique hotels and restaurants - are offering a package that includes five nights' accommodation and 18 hours of private French lessons designed for tourists.
Yeah, what's up now, Aloft Montreal? Let's see you give us a nice bed to sleep in AND teach us French. Yeah, we thought so.
The package starts at $3,494 CAD for two people; reservations can be made here.
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
This view from the Athabasca Hotel in Jasper, Canada, has a story attached: it was a killer view, and a relatively cheap one at that, but it was an anti-stay. The reason is simple, according to traveler appaloosa:
Not a bad view, eh? ... but then again, I should've paid better attention when the reservationist said "You might want to bring earplugs." Our room was right over the all-night, "live entertainment" Atha-B Pub. And if the boom, boom, boom reverberations of an electric bass don't keep you awake half the night, the revellers pouring out of the pub at 3:00AM will.
Or perhaps you could enjoy the view in the off, off season when nobody's there to visit the pub. Summer rates (which are almost double the winter rates) start from C$175 for single or C$395 for a suite for two.
The Cree Village Ecolodge near Moosonee, Ontario, has a nice story behind it. It opened up in 2000 as the first Indigenous-owned ecolodge in the northern hemisphere, and seems to have gone from strength to strength. It's still run by the MoCreebec people and they help visitors explore the James Bay sub-arctic region and the Tidewater Provincial Park.
The lodge has twenty guest rooms in total with some pretty environmental-sound features: for example, four of the rooms have Clivus Multrum composting toilets, which means they have no water but a lot of redwiggler worms that create organic fertilizer! So only request these rooms if you can really handle it.
There is also no air-conditioning, just carefully designed door, window and room positions to maximize the breeze in summer.
Room rates start at C$148 for the deluxe room, which sleeps up to four people in two double beds, and top of the line is the C$213-a-night Jacuzzi Suite. Meals are "Cree-inspired" and served in the Shaapuhtuwaan restaurant.
And if you're not convinced to try this one (those toilets could be a bit off-putting), then know that the Toronto Hilton once partnered up with Cree Village Ecolodge for a package deal--that's some kind of endorsement, at least.
Staying in the top of the trees is becoming a common enough accommodation choice, both for uniqueness and to feel at one with nature. But if you want to really feel green, then try renting one of the Free Spirit Spheres on Vancouver Island. These are definitely funky: to date there are two of them, laminated wood spheres that literally hang from the trees. The spheres each have a name: Eryn and Eve, and the accommodation for each varies:
Eryn has a double bed, cupboard space and counter, settee, sink, microwave and refrigerator. Eve is more spartan, with just a bed. Both have insulation, with bathrooms nearby.
And the longer-term plan is to hang up 15 of these spheres around the forest. For now, you can get Eve for C$100 a night and Eryn for C$150, and multiple-night stays attract a discount. Or if you get really keen and have a backyard with a big tree, you can just buy your own hanging sphere for $150,000.
What they do up in Canada never ceases to surprise us. Here's another oddity to add to their list: swimming with polar bears.
The New York Post is focusing on a little town called Cochrane, Ontario which is a grueling 10 hour train ride from Toronto. Sounds pretty terrible but apparently the reward of swimming with these beasts, albeit separated by a bulletproof wall, is well worth the trip. So we're wondering where the hell would one stay in such a place besides a tent? Slim pickings was the theme but we have decided on the Best Western Swan Castle Inn--kind of sounds like a fast food joint playground.
One reviewer was as leary as were we:
You know, I was staying in some pretty horrible motel/hotels in Northern Ontario and I wasn't expecting much from this hotel but I was surprised. They were very friendly and accomodating and had a continental breakfast. I enjoyed my stay here and would encourage anybody travelling through the area to stay here
The hotel has a slew of ways to keep you warm aside from their restaurant and bar, such as a hot tub and "cold weather plugs." Yep that's to plug in your car so it will start. The hotel has internet but not the rooms which is what we can expect of the North Pole. In the end, a chain motel and a swim with polar bears though and you can check that off your life to-do list. But go in the summer only.
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by amandak
What they do up in Canada never ceases to surprise us. Here's another oddity to add to their list: swimming with polar bears.
