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Volume 5, Issue 38, September 18, 2007 |
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One in three Americans who died abroad in the last three years fell prey not to terrorism or crime, but to the most common danger to travelers: motor vehicle accidents. Worldwide, traffic accidents are on par with malaria and TB as a cause of death and injury, and after HIV/AIDS are the largest global killer of young men, according to Make Roads Safe, a nonprofit road safety campaign.
From 2004, when the U.S. State Dept. began keeping the statistics, through the end of 2006, 741 Americans died in road crashes (automobile, motorcycle or pedestrian) — more than the total of homicides and other accidents combined. In comparison, 264 Americans drowned, and only three died in bus or train accidents.
Of the traffic accidents, 73 percent involved passengers in automobiles (including taxis) and 12 percent motorcycles; 7 percent of those killed were pedestrians.
High-income countries have the best road systems, traffic systems and vehicle protections and account for the smallest percentage of accidents, according to a World Bank study. Almost 80 percent of the American fatalities occurred outside the “high-income” areas of Canada, Western Europe and the independent emirates of the Middle East. Download a PDF of the entire report here. 
Moscow now holds the title for most expensive hotel city in the world, according to the latest half-year study by Hogg Robinson Group. With average room rates of $475, Moscow hotel rooms are $160 a night more expensive than the average London guestroom, with New York City's hotel rooms, at $360 a night, coming in third. Dubai ranked fourth. Hotel rates in major European destinations grew between 10 percent and 18 percent for the first half of 2007, the HRG study showed, although Mumbai experienced the largest jump in rates, 30 percent. In comparison, average rates were up only 4 percent in New York, 8 percent in Houston, 5 percent in London and 18 percent in Barcelona.
In the "sort of, kind of" good news category, the U.S. State Dept. has announced that things are "back to normal" for processing U.S. passport applications. The system had been running as much as three months behind schedule since spring. However, "normal" seems to have changed since the introduction of the new electronic passports coincided with the requirement for passports for all travel outside the U.S. The new norms are a six-to-eight-week wait for standard applications (previously four to six weeks), and a three-week turnaround time for expedited applications (formerly two weeks).
From jail to Liberty — that’s the history behind Boston’s new Liberty Hotel, which incorporates the old Charles Street Jail on the Boston waterfront. After a $150 million acquisition, renovation and reconstruction project of the 1851 jail, which released its last prisoners in 1990, the hotel recently opened to travelers. The former jail now comprises the public spaces while an adjacent 16-story tower holds the majority of the guestrooms. The hotel is a deluxe property, as befits its Beacon Hill location, with 300 guestrooms including 10 riverview suites; the Alibi bar in an old cellblock; and two restaurants.
You may be able to find your dream vacation home in an online auction (and no, it’s not eBay). Grand Estates Auction Co. handles absolute auctions of luxury properties around the U.S., with virtual tours available online; final bidding is done in person or by phone. Million-dollar properties are the norm, and the well-designed site gives a really good look at the beautiful homes, views and settings available.
The long-awaited refurbishment of the upscale seafood restaurant One-O-One in the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel at 101 Knightsbridge in London has been accompanied by a menu revamp. Physically, the fine-dining venue now looks more like a restaurant and less like a hotel dining room, and now has its own bar (and its own restrooms), plus a beachy color scheme. Chef Pascal Proyart’s menu, always the strong suit, has also upscaled, with the addition of “petit plats” — small plates, along the line of tapas — that can be mixed and matched for quality grazing. Diners are advised to order three dishes, in order to leave room for some more small plates of cheeses and desserts.
Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort
400 Mandalay Ave.
Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
tel 727 461 3222; fax 727 461 0610
www.clearwaterbeachresort.com
Sometimes the locals are the last to know. Twice in the last couple of months, I’ve had calls from business associates flying into Tampa and was pleased to find that they were staying on Clearwater Beach, saving me the drive into the city from the beach town I live in. It makes sense, too — it’s a straight shot, and less than a half-hour’s drive, from Tampa International (TPA) to Clearwater Beach, and a direct view of the Gulf of Mexico makes it eminently worthwhile.
I knew that the Hilton Clearwater Beach was a great venue for conferences and local events, and I also knew it had recently changed hands and was undergoing renovation, so I took myself up the road to sample it firsthand for a few days. While the hotel was internally modernized within the last couple of years, the new more ambitious program is also bringing the exterior into the 21st century, with more glass, a white exterior, and prettier approaches plus an airier lobby.
The other good news is that, at least when I visited, renovations were minimally intrusive and discounted rates more than compensated for any inconvenience. Check-in is in a temporary, but fully functional, lobby one flight above the entrance, easily reached by elevator. The main bar and restaurant are currently operating in interior spaces while glass walls overlooking the Gulf are installed in their permanent spaces, but their ambience and menu quality are undisturbed.
My top-floor suite was a large open space with a glass wall opening to a patio overlooking the Gulf; a high proportion of rooms have at least partial Gulf view. A large separate workspace had a substantial desk, an office-type leather chair, and easy desktop access to electrical outlets; it was also fully wireless. In addition to the comfy Hilton-class bed and deluxe linens found throughout the hotel; my oversized accommodations also had a dining area and a living area with sofa and chairs for viewing the oversize TV. Flat-screen TVs, I was told, were en route, but I already had the cool new radio that allows for iPod plug-in.
I’ll go back to check the final renovation results, but meanwhile can easily recommend the hotel, mid-renovation or no. If you don’t need to be within sight of the airport, it’s more than worth the short ride to enjoy the pool, beach cabanas or simply the view.
Score: ••••• Mary Hunt
From Sept. 17 through Dec. 15, members of the InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards program can earn triple points or miles for all stays after a first qualifying stay. That means as many as 6,000 points per stay at an InterContinental or 30 points per dollar spent at a Crowne Plaza, for example. Participants must first register for the promotion.
US Helicopter, which plies the airways between Manhattan heliports and both John F. Kennedy International (JFK) and Newark Liberty International (EWR) airports, is having a fall sale that can save you almost $8 a minute. Instead of its usual $159-$169 one-way fares, the chopper line is charging $99 for its eight-minute flights, through Oct. 31. In addition to avoiding street traffic, the helicopter flights allow passengers to check through baggage and clear security at the heliport rather than at the airport if they are flying Delta (from JFK) or Continental (from EWR).
Priceline.com’s car rental service is holding a September sale through the end of the month, with discounts averaging 30 percent more than other online booking services offer. Rates start as low as $13 a day for participating rentals, typically Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz or National. Would-be renters go to Rentalcars.priceline.com and click the “name your own price” option; exact car details are provided after the price is confirmed.
The deluxe boutique La Bellasera Hotel & Suites, which opened last month in Paso Robles, California, is offering its introductory package throughout the fall. The Central Coast Getaway rate is $229 a night for one of the 60 oversized suites. The hotel also offers a spa, in-room spa treatments, fireside dining in its wine-themed restaurant, and a heated outdoor terrace.
If you can come up with a creative way to say “Go away, leave me alone,” you could win a four-day hotel stay in Waikiki, Mexico City, southern California, New York City or Washington, D.C. Embassy Suites is running a contest for clever new ways to say “Do not disturb” on its doorhangers, and the five best ideas win their creators the free accommodations. Entries will be judged on creativity, originality and humor, and the Web site provides several different design-template options; one submission per person only, by Oct. 31.
