During today's lesson you may get a bit choked up, find your body temperature rising and a shiver shooting down your spine. If you haven't guessed already, we're talking about Legionnaires disease, symptoms of which include coughing, high fever and chills.
Similar to pneumonia, Legionnaires was first identified in 1976 and got its name after a spate of guests at what is now the Park Hyatt Philadelphia--who happened to be attending an American Legion convention--contracted the disease. It was later discovered the bacteria spawned from the hotel's cooling tower.
Why should you care? Because Vermont's Cortina Inn & Resort was closed yesterday after water tests showed evidence of the bacteria, confirming it as a source of recent cases. It is not yet known when the hotel will reopen, thereby squashing any hopes hotel guests may have had of catching the last ski runs of the season.
Hotels without climate control systems are known breeding grounds for the disease, but lest you think quaint country inns like the Cortina are only susceptible (we're unawares if the hotel has climate control), the last reported outbreak of Legionnaires occurred as recently as last month, at a Quality Inn in Orlando.
Perhaps climate control could be the hot new amenity hotels can start touting?
Those hip city boutique hotels may be fun, but with the thermometer hitting 100F and the urban sidewalks being egg-frying temperature, it's a good time to get away to the mountains of Vermont.
The 99-room Inn at the Six Mountains, in Killington, Vermont, is offering an enticing Golf & Spa package through September 14. Rates start at $598 double for two nights, which includes two rounds of golf per person, a one-hour massage each, and breakfast both days (maple syrup anyone?). The golf is at two different courses even: Killington Golf Course and Green Mountain National.
You may look up longingly at those green ski runs and wish for snow as you hit your chip shot, but compared to sweating profusely after just a five-minute walk in the big city, the mountain air will still hit you like a cool breeze. And hey, there's an outdoor pool, which you don't see very often in these parts. To book, visit the "Hot Deals" section of the hotel's web site.
Everyone's been inspired by the Olympic Games to hit the slopes and tear up some powder or try out some McTwists and Fakeys on the half-pipe.
Hitting the slopes can be tiring so when you return to your hotel room, you'd like to be able to relax in the tub and park your tired butt on the couch.
The room smelled like a combination of feet and sweat-laden long underwear. The couch (futon) was so soiled that we chose to sit on the coffee tables...[T]he room didn't include ammenities such as a flushable toilet or a sink that drained. The advertised sauna was inoperative and the "gym" consisted of couple of rusty old pieces of equipment.
God, it's bad enough smelling our own long underwear and sweaty feet after a day in ski boots, let alone stranger's feet and underwear! We suggest you bring along aromatherapy candles and plug-in room fresheners if you plan on staying here.
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by jennm
