Meet Tank. He's a French Bulldog weighing about 26.3 pounds with a mild shedding problem, a regular oral fixation for rawhide and a tendency to pee during the night. Guess what? He's sleeping in your hotel room!
Last week, we were invited with our canine companion to test out the "Paws and Claws" package at the Wydnham Hotel Costa Mesa in Orange County, just across from the shopping mecca South Coast Plaza. While we have never traveled with our pet before this hotel stay, we always loved it when hotels offered pet-friendly services. Yet actually staying in a hotel room with a pet was not quite how we imagined it to be.
If you've got a well-behaved dog, you probably wouldn't think twice about traveling together. The Wyndham laid out the red carpet for Tank to prance along, offering loads of attention, tons of treats and even a special doggy turndown.
But we were quite horrified by Tank's lack of social graces. He streaked a cocktail hour naked, he chewed a "Chewgar" on the bed (we later placed a towel under him) and he barked at the door several times. That's right. Someone's going to the kennel on the next trip we take.
Mardi Gras is fast approaching. If you think it's too much trouble to fill out an application form to stay at the Inn on Bourbon, then you can try the confusingly-similarly named Bourbon Orleans, which has balconies overlooking both Bourbon Street and Orleans Street. It's decorated a-la France in the 1800s (with a few modern touches, luckily), and until 1964 the hotel building was actually a kind of convent. But things have changed.
These days the Bourbon Orleans has its own Mardi Gras deal and they say they still have some rooms available--although the weekend of February 2 to February 4 is fully booked. For the rest of Mardi Gras you can get rooms starting at $239 and you'll be right in the heart of the parade. But there are definitely not many rooms left, so get a reservation in before you miss out and are left to pitch your tent on the pavement. (We don't think this is actually allowed so don't tell anyone we said this).
We're always on the lookout for the next big thing in hotel room furniture, and although we're not sure if this is it, it did at least catch our attention. We're talking about the Smart Chair from the Wyndham Hotels chain, due to be in place across all Wyndhams by the end of 2008.
Wyndham is no stranger to amenities promotions and they're hoping that their Smart Chair will be a big hit. It's the kind of chair that means you don't need to get up too often. With two pivoting tables to provide options for eating, writing or using a laptop, there is also a built in plug for your appliances and an internet port. There are plenty of pockets for books or newspapers and hotels will install the chairs with a variety of coverings, including both fabric and leather, so you can check how special they think you are as a guest by seeing which fabric they choose for your room's Smart Chair.
We were hoping that a Smart Chair might also help make us smarter, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of that yet. If you want to try one yourself, they are already in use at Wyndham Hotels in Atlanta and Princeton, with more on the way.
Until recently we thought hotel loyalty programs were for Account Executives rolling their business travel points into a family vacation at a bland resort every year or two. However, funny thing happened when we started investigating these programs -- we found some of them are downright useful if you know how to cut through the red tape. This series is meant as a jumping off point to full fledged discussions on each loyalty program we feature. So comment, contribute, question, and cajole here.
The name of Wyndham Hotels loyalty program bothers us--Wyndham By Request. The name sort of implies that you have to ask for your rewards. But nevertheless, Wyndham has over 6,000 hotels so if you are a fan of Wyndham then you should have plenty of places to use your rewards.
[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same destination and decide which one most deserves your hard-earned benjamins. Rates quoted here were captured on September 4, 2007 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]
Wingate Inn's name recently changed to Wingate by Wyndham, but this is not just a logo makeover. The chain is firing a serious shot across the bow of rivals, offering free wi-fi, breakfast, photocopies, faxes, and local calls. Plus they promise not to charge you a long distance access fee to use your own calling card from the room.
All impressive on its own, but we especially like this "Park & Fly" package they're running at the Wingate Sandston in Virginia, near the Richmond airport. After paying rates starting at $109 a night to stay, you get to leave your car for a week in their parking lot while you jet around elsewhere. Throw in a free airport shuttle and you're saving a bundle. You can opt to spend $20 more for your stay and leave the car two weeks instead--still far cheaper than the airport lots. You might have to phone them to get the advertised rate though: on the website we couldn't get a rate below $123 (before tax) to come up for this package.
We're not sure why this deal is one of only two on their website for the whole chain. (The other is a Crayola factory tour package in Allentown, Pennsylvania.) Hopefully more to come as they rev up the new moniker.
When Wyndham Hotels recently announced plans to kick up their amenities and rework their spa concept to "appeal to Gen X and Boomer travelers," we were not so excited.
In most hotels, this generally means having some sort of iPod docking station and introducing weird packages for divorcees.
But then we heard burgers and wine were involved in this Wyndham stuff, so we investigated.
In American Airlines' weird attempt for getting more women customers, could their partnership with Wyndham hotels be enacting an anti-gay policy? A tipster thinks so. Here he writes into us to say that the spa policy of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts in conjunction with American Airlines is discriminatory against gay men, although not against gay women. Here he writes:
Specifically, in conjunction with AA.com/women, a 20% discount is being offered on Wyndham's "Special Spa Offers" -- and GAY MEN DO NOT QUALIFY. (Lesbians, however, do qualify.) Here is the specific language of the promotion, on the Wyndham Web site:
"To enhance Wyndham's commitment to women travelers, Wyndham is offering you a 20% Discount and Special Spa Offers through AA.com/women. Simply fly with American and stay with Wyndham now through December 31, 2007. Reserve your Wyndham stay online then present your American Airlines boarding pass at check in to receive your discount. And don't forget to sign up for Wyndham ByRequestSM to personalize your stay with special member benefits."
I called the Wyndham toll-free reservation line to ask whether I could qualify for the discount anyway. The agent didn't know, and she put me on hold. After about 10 minutes of waiting, my call was disconnected.
Here is a link to the Wyndham Web site where you can read the terms of the offer
Caught in the act right--um, highly doubtful. This offer can't really classified as anti-gay men because it's apparently anti-men in general, regardless of their sexual orientation. This is because both Wyndham and AA are trying to better understand the needs of female business travelers. So they probably just guessed that some spa discounts should help. That and a pink booking site.
Either way, we're pretty sure that Wyndham is not trying to be anti-gay with this policy. Consider the Wyndham Palm Springs which hosts the famous White Party every year.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, my call was disconnected.
That does however sound very anti-customer service...
The Wyndham Nassau Resort in the Bahamas would be considered a large hotel if it weren't dwarfed by the mega-magnet Atlantis a few miles away. It has 850 rooms spread over several towers: intimate it is not. This is the real hub of activity on New Providence Island itself, mainly due to its hopping 24-hour casino. College kids psyched to be getting legal (and free) cocktails mix it up at the craps tables with grizzled commercial construction tycoons from New York and Miami.
The Wyndham has a symbiotic relationship with its two neighbors: the Cable Beach Hotel on one side and the Radisson Resort on the other(see yesterday's Good Rate--Bad Rate), with the three siblings sharing facilities and the beach. This works well for all concerned: the Wyndham has the best restaurants by far, but it has the worst beach by far. In fact there isn't much of a beach there at all--just a seawall and a tiny crescent of sand. Thankfully the Radisson has a great beach just a few steps away.
There are plenty of beach chairs all around, so no chair hog fears here. We were intrigued by this pictured roped-off area for Gold and Platinum members of Wyndham's frequent guest club though. Do these elite members feel all smug and superior when they're the only ones with a hammock? Or does it feel like being in a fishbowl, surrounded by curious onlookers? I guess we could have asked, but that would have meant getting up from our own comfy spot under a palapa and trying to converse over a white rope with someone on the other side.
When it comes time to book your room here, you will probably want to pony up the extra dough to get an ocean view room. Some listed as "island view" would definitely qualify as an "anti view" room. Go for the all-inclusive plan as well. Prices in the Bahamas are high all around and this hotel is no exception. Restaurant and bar prices are high, plus the 15 percent gratuity included on everything you order results in service that is wildly inconsistent. Paying as you go is going to cost you more unless you're a tea-totaler on a diet.
6 Comments - Add Yours
by juliana
Until recently we thought hotel loyalty programs were for Account Executives rolling their business travel points into a family vacation at a bland resort every year or two. However, funny thing happened when we started investigating these programs -- we found some of them are downright useful if you know how to cut through the red tape. 
