Just a quick note to share a recent NY Times Frugal Traveler article Sampling the Best of the Northwest’s Bounty (November 25, 2007). Author Matt Gross recounts his affordable weekend in Seattle, spending a total of $392.39 for accommodations, food and drink, taxi and bus fare. Matt says “The secret of a weekend on a budget: happy hour.”

Click on the link above to read the full article, including all the info on where Matt stayed, ate, drank, had fun, and shopped (he’s a guy, so only mentioned one store — the “garage” for discounted outdoor gear at REI’s flagship store).

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You may have noticed that Lipstick Getaways has several sections.

• Free Quickguide! (Up there in the top left corner)
  • If you sign up here, you’ll be able to download my freebie, How To Start Finding The Fun. You’ll also receive my newsletter, Big City Fun Times.
  • However, you do not have to sign up for anything. You can still help yourself to all the content here on Lipstick Getaways.
• Travel Planning Info
  • This is the “meat” of Lipstick Getaways. Think of it as a mini travel guide, specifically focused on helping women find the fun when traveling to a big city. I am spending most of my time on adding content here.
  • The organization for Travel Planning Info is pretty easy and straightforward – find the city, find the category (accommodations, dining, etc.) and see what I’ve put together so far.
  • If you don’t see the info you want, keep checking back. I’m adding as fast as I can!
  • And feel free to contact me to let me know what you need, and I’ll see what I can do.
• Notes from Carol (this is where you are now)
  • For those of you familiar with blogs, I guess this is the ‘bloggy’ part of Lipstick Getaways.
  • The content is organized into categories, and entries are displayed in reverse chronological order (most recent on top). The same entry (post) might be filed under several different categories. For example, a post on Best Boutiques in Chicago and Boston would appear under Shopping, Boston, and Chicago.
  • It’s a more informal way to communicate with you, and may include news on what’s going on here at Lipstick Getaways; interesting articles I want to share from other sources; links to cool sites; contributions and comments from my readers; and sometimes, random stuff that is completely unrelated to travel!
• Recently Posted
  The most recent several articles from any section are listed here. Handy way for frequent visitors to see what’s new.
• Management
  I’m not sure what this is yet. Guess I’d better ask the web guru. I don’t touch it.
• Search
  Doesn’t work right yet. Sorry. We’ll get to it.

Hope this helps you find your way around Lipstick Getaways! Go ahead, poke around, see what’s interesting … it’s all free, I don’t even have anything to sell yet!

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The November 2007 issue of Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel highlighted five reasonably-priced hotels in San Francisco: Hotel Tomo, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Hotel Beresford, Orchard Garden Hotel, and Galleria Park Hotel. Rates range from $89 to $189. (You can find a link to the Budget Travel article by clicking here.)

Before sharing them here with you, I thought I should did a little deeper. So I checked out the traveler’s reviews for each hotel on TripAdvisor and Expedia. Here’s what I found out:

BEST BETS
Of the five budget hotels mentioned in the article, Orchard Garden Hotel and Hotel Tomo (now Best Western Hotel Tomo) garnered the most consistently positive reviews.

Orchard Garden Hotel is a new, eco-friendly 86-room boutique hotel right next to Chinatown, near Union Square and the Financial District. It’s actually the second most popular SF hotel rated in TripAdivsor.

Best Western Hotel Tomo is a 125-room boutique hotel in Japantown (close to the Fillmore Street chic boutique shopping area) with a fun Japanese pop-culture vibe. Reviewers noted that it’s much nicer than you might expect from the Best Western brand.

LOOKS PRETTY GOOD
Reviews were mixed — but mostly positive — for the Galleria Park Hotel, an Art Nouveau property conveniently located in the Financial District/Union Square. This historic 177 room hotel has been fully restored and all rooms recently renovated.

A BIT MORE IFFY
Hotel Beresford and Sir Francis Drake Hotel both got decidedly mixed reviews.
Sir Francis Drake Hotel is an historic hotel in Union Square. While many reviewers were delighted with it’s charm, location, and cleanliness, quite a few others complained of tiny rooms, noise, and poor service. (To the Drake’s credit, the manager David Watkins reads and responds to most reviews.)
As for the Hotel Beresford, my biggest concern is it’s location right next to the seedy Tenderloin district. Many reviewers were uncomfortable with the numbers of homeless people near the hotel. On the other hand, many others were pleased with the location, cleanliness, and especially the price (the Beresford is the cheapest of the five hotels).

I can’t wait to get out to San Francisco to do my own research!
In the meantime, please feel free to share your favorite San Francisco accommodations — budget, mid-level, or luxury. Just type your comments in the box below (comments get sent to me and I review them before posting) or email me at carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

Filed under: Budget Accommodations, Budget Travel, General, San Francisco | No Comments »

As another busy holiday air travel season approaches, seems like I can’t open a newspaper or magazine, turn on the TV or radio, or surf the web without running into dire warnings about how dreadful air travel will be, along with helpful tips for easing the stress caused by long lines, delayed and canceled flights, and lost luggage.

We’ve all seen most of these tips before, but I for one can always use reminding. In that spirit, I’ve culled some favorite air travel tips to share with you.

Avoiding and dealing with delayed or canceled flights:

• Try to book an early morning departure. Afternoon and evening flights are more likely to be delayed or canceled.
• If possible, avoid the following airports, which account for 70% of the nation’s delays: Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Houston, Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark, and Philadelphia.
• To check on-time records for specific flights:
  • Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Government site, official but confusing. Or instead, try:
  • FlightStats.com. Easier-to-find, easier-to-understand star ratings.
• Check in and get your seat assignment online before you leave home (less likely to get bumped).
• Before you leave for the airport, call the airline or check online to verify that your flight is on time.
• Program the airline reservations phone number into your cell phone (and your travel agent’s number if you used one). If your flight is canceled, you can call the airline right away to rebook — faster than standing in line. (Some airports also have phones for just that purpose.) Also program number of your hotel so you can notify them of the delay.
• Be prepared: have on hand snacks, bottled water (if it gets late, the airport concessions might close), books, diapers, feminine supplies, a toothbrush, etc.
• If problems arise, be nice to the gate agent. For one thing, it’s just right. Plus the nasty, yelling customers will (and should) will the worst service and the worst seats.

Avoiding and dealing with lost luggage

• Almost goes without saying — Pack light, use a carry-on, and don’t check you bags! But assuming you need to check ‘em:
• At least pack your essentials (medicines, valuables) in your carry-on, plus anything you really need the first day or so.
• When traveling with family members, “cross-pack” a little — i.e., don’t have each person have all their stuff in one bag. That way, if one bag gets lost, that person doesn’t lose everything.
• Get to the airport early. Late check-in is a major cause of lost luggage.
• Consider shipping your bags ahead, via services like FedEx, Luggage Concierge, or Sports Express. It can be costly ($50 per bag and up) but sometimes the convenience is well worth it.
• Put your name and address, and include a copy of your itinerary, on the inside of your bag.
  
• Tie a ribbon or something distinctive on your checked bags, to help avoid mix-ups at baggage claim.
• Take a digital-camera or cell-phone photo of the contents of your packed bag before you check it. When you claim your luggage at your destination, open the suitcase and compare what you see with your picture. If anything is missing, file a complaint immediately at the baggage claim office.
• If you do need to file a complaint for lost baggage or theft, get the phone number of that specific claim office (not just an 800 number) and the name of the agent who helped you … then follow up frequently.
• Remember to leave any gifts unwrapped.

Getting through security: Don’t be the clueless idiot who holds up the line for the rest of us! (ahem, my dear good friend who did this, you know who you are!)

• Check with tsa.gov or your airline’s website for the latest regulations. For now, the liquids thing is: 3-oz containers of liquids (yes, toothpaste and lipgloss counts, solid deoderant does not) packed (not crammed) into a 1-quart, zip-top plastic bag, one bag per customer. Liquid medications (inhalers, eye drops, etc.) do not count toward the maximum — put them in a separate 1-quart zip-top bag.
• Before you get in line, have handy all the stuff you need to remove. No last minute fumbling! Take out your zip-top bag of liquids, be ready to get at your laptop.
• Try to dress for quick screening – slip-on shoes, easy layers, no big metal buckles or jewelry, including body jewelry.
  
• Have your freakin’ ID and boarding pass handy (but secure, like in a handy zippered pocket) fer cryin’ out loud! Who doesn’t know this by now?

I’ll bet I missed some great air travel tips — please feel free to share yours! Just type in the comment box below (they go to me, I approve them, then they get posted) or email me, carol@lipstickgetaways.com.

Now … Go (try to) Have Fun!

Carol

Filed under: General, Travel Tips | No Comments »

Wouldn’t you know, I just posted several pages on Chicago shopping in Lipstick Getaways’ Trip Planning section … then I just came across a terrific Chicago “Shopping Report” by Gigi Guerra in the November 2007 issue of Lucky magazine!

Lucky highlighted some cool Chicago shopping neighborhoods* and found plenty of fun boutiques in each. I wanted to give you a link to the article, but it doesn’t seem to be archived on the luckymag website. So instead, I’ll list some of the neighborhoods covered in the magazine, and include the luckymag.com links where you can find info on their favorite shops AND download their handy printable maps.

FIVE COOL CHICAGO SHOPPING NEIGHBORHOODS
Excerpted from the November 2007 issue of Lucky Magazine.

OLD TOWN
Charming small historic district just northwest of the Mag Mile/Gold Coast. Most of the shops, restaurants, and bars are on Wells St. Note that on the luckymag website, Old Town is grouped together with Gold Coast and River North, which means there are a lot of shops listed.
Click here for Old Town/Gold Coast/River North shops and maps from luckymag.
The four Old Town shops which were featured in the actual magazine article were Greer, Handle With Care, Josephine, and Uri Boutique.

WEST LOOP
Former warehouse and meatpacking district, near or just west of the Chicago river. Looks like most of the shops are on Lake St.
Click here for West Loop shops and maps from luckymag.
When I go back to Chicago, I’m going to try to check out featured boutique Bess & Loie for small-label handbags and accessories.

BUCKTOWN and WICKER PARK
These two adjacent hip, funky neighborhoods, west of the Chicago river, are full of independent boutiques, trendy bars and restaurants.
UKRAINIAN VILLAGE
Small ‘next-new-thing’ neighborhood next to Wicker Park.
Click here for Bucktown/Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village shops and maps from luckymag.

LAKEVIEW
Fun young professionals neighborhood just north of Lincoln Park. Trendy shopping as well as plentiful and diverse nightclubs and restaurants.
Click here for Lakeview shops and map from luckymag.

*Confession time
There were several other neighborhoods covered in the Lucky article … but the thing is, I was reading it while waiting for my son at the orthodontist. These 5 were the ones covered on the few pages I photocopied. (More proof that Lipstick Getaways is put together by a real mom who can only do so much!)

You can find tons more shopping info and maps, for Chicago and other cities, in the City Guides at luckymag.com. It’s a fun resource!

Filed under: Chicago, Shopping | No Comments »