Matador Network's Blog, page 168

Learning the Importance of Opening Up On a New Wellness Cruise That Partnered With Deepak Chopra

Not that long ago, as my wife and I watched the conclusion of an emotional TV series, I found myself sobbing. I was slightly embarrassed at what was happening. It’s a show for god’s sake, get a grip. I stopped myself by laughing, but I didn’t really want to stop, it was cathartic. The last time I cried like that was when I was going through a divorce 14 years ago. Perhaps kids are raised differently today, but men of my generation — Gen X — were told not to cry. It was weak and unmanly, and I was a man.

I got the chance to take a close look at this belief on a wellness cruise that started in Panama City, Panama, and ended in Acapulco, Mexico. Swan Hellenic, a boutique luxury small-cruise line, partnered with Chopra, a company founded by wellness figure Deepak Chopra, for its first Explore and Restore wellness retreat itinerary, which includes daily yoga and meditation and a workshop series focused on personal growth. I am used to wellness-inspired activities. In the small town where I live, meditation and yoga abound, as do shops where you can buy crystals and all-hemp clothing. I’m no stranger to introspection and self-examination. This combination of cruise and personal growth intrigued me and off I went with my wife to accompany me.

Yoga class on shore during the Chopra Swan Hellenic wellness cruise. Photo: Carlo Alcos

On day two, after spending less than 24 hours on the ship, cruise passengers were sharing intimate stories of their lives with complete strangers during the first of four workshops. These sessions were led by Jennifer Johnson, a highly skilled facilitator with over 20 years experience who brought ease and humor into the workshops. “I have a river of joy that flows through me for no damn good reason, it’s just there, and you have to be able to access that,” she told me later when I asked her why using humor was important for her.

Toward the end of that first workshop, when there was time for one last question, my hand shot up before I could stop it. The microphone was handed to me. I was one of three men in a room of about 25 and we’d so far only heard women speak. “I feel compelled to bring a male voice to this,” I started. I went on to say that this was a situation that I am very accustomed to, often being the only man among a group of women who are trying to better themselves. “Where are the men?” I wanted to know. And when it’s still men running this world, what does it mean that there are so few here?

Taking the mic during one of the personal growth workshops. Photo: Swan Hellenic/Linn HottgenrothPhoto: Carlo Alcos

Later at dinner, while we feasted on a gourmet five-course meal in the ship’s beautiful restaurant, other guests thanked me for speaking up. One of them said, “My husband is of your ilk.” But where was he and others like him? This was something I thought about, this lack of men, over the next six days. I thought about it during our daily yoga and meditation practices, sitting on the balcony of our stateroom, staring out at the ocean from a deck lounge chair.

Photo: Carlo Alcos

It wasn’t all I thought about, of course. We were, after all, on a cruise that stopped at locations in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Mexico. We did yoga on a beach and swam in the sea. We had cultural experiences, eating local food and witnessing traditions that have been passed down generation after generation. We snorkeled with brightly colored fish. From the boat we watched dolphins play, sea turtles come up for air, and whales skirt the ocean surface. The ship was immaculate, the food top notch and plentiful, and the service over-the-top and friendly. There wasn’t a moment where I didn’t feel an immense sense of gratitude for where I was and what I was experiencing.

But still I wondered what it would take to get more men to attend workshops like these. From my experience, the yoga classes that I would see more men at had names like “Yoga for Rock Climbers” or “Power and Strength Yoga.” Do we need to trick them? “I think they have to see more men,” Johnson says. “They have to feel like they’re not going to be the only male in the room.”

Representation is something that I can understand. As a visible minority, I know firsthand the power of representation — the “permission” one gets when they see someone they identify with in a space that doesn’t typically include people who look like them. “It used to be (that) men would come to the events that their wives brought them,” Johnson says. “Usually their wives didn’t tell them the whole story and they would drag them along. And then it became more and more that men were coming and they were identifying. I used to see one or two men in a group, now some of our events are 25 percent male. That’s a big shift.”

So there’s hope.

Photo: Carlo Alcos

I asked Johnson what this world might look like if more men led self-examined lives. “I don’t think there would be as much war, as much fighting if we could all have compassion and come together,” she says. “The most amazing men are men that can get vulnerable. They’re going to have the best relationships. They’re probably going to be great at their work or anything they decide to do because they can touch in and use that to be the catalyst for whatever their creation is.”

For my part, I will continue to show up. Maybe I’ll be the man that someone else sees, that makes them feel less awkward about being there. When I think about that man I was who forced himself to stop crying, I think about how much further he had to go to shed the ridiculous ideas of what it is to be a man. Experiences like this help; they are steps on the journey.

Beyond luxuriating in the comforts, the food, the onboard spa, and the wellness retreat, it was the relationships that I witnessed being formed among the guests that struck me the most. When it was time to say goodbye there were many hugs and tears between people who bonded over their shared humanity. I wondered if there was something special about offering a Chopra wellness retreat on a cruise because it seems an unlikely combination.

“It’s just such an opportunity for connection in a different way,” Johnson says. “You’re allowing yourself to be taken care of, you’re allowing yourself to be vulnerable. There’s nothing else to do but just experience being alive.”

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More Than 30% of Flights Were Delayed on These Two Airlines in 2023

It seems like everyone had a horror story about flying last year. A recent analysis from NerdWallet, based on Bureau of Transportation (BTS) arrival data, confirms that air travel was something of a mess in 2023. Two domestic airlines, in particular, saw nearly one-third of their flights delayed last year: Frontier and JetBlue.

Both Frontier and JetBlue delayed more than 30 percent of their flights in 2023. Frontier delays were slightly more prevalent at 30.71 percent compared to JetBlue’s 30.4 percent. The two airlines also canceled the most flights last year at 2.13 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

Spirit Airlines saw the third highest number of flight complications in 2023, with 28.59 percent of its flights being delayed and 1.7 percent of its flights being canceled.

In order from most to least delays, Hawaiian, American, Southwest, and United saw between 25 and 20 percent of their flight times pushed back, while Alaska, SkyWest, Delta experienced the least number of delays, falling between 20 and 15 percent of flights.

According to the data, there’s no direct correlation between airlines that are likely to experience delays and airlines that are likely to cancel flights. Despite ranking seventh on the list of most delayed flights at 20.27 percent, United ranked fourth for flight cancellations at 1.4 percent. Hawaiian, by comparison, had the fourth highest number of delayed flights (23.41 percent) but canceled fewer flights than United (1.3 percent). Of the airlines analyzed, Alaska canceled the fewest flights in 2023 at 0.81 percent.

Overall, Delta had the highest percentage of on-time flights (82.61 percent) and one of the lowest percentages of canceled flights (1.02 percent).

Several factors can impact flight delays. According to the BTS, in 2023, late aircraft were the most common cause, followed by air carrier delays and National Aviation System (NAS) delays. Weather accounted for less than one percent of flight delays.

While flight disruptions are unpredictable, and perhaps inevitable, knowing which airlines are most likely to experience delays and cancellations can help you book smarter. The Department of Transportation (DOT) also has a few other tips for avoiding delays: prioritize early departure times and nonstop flights, fly out of less congested airports whenever possible, and call your airline before you leave for the airport to see if your flight is on time.

Of course, the DOT also recommends that air travelers know when they’re eligible for compensation in the event of an issue — whether that’s a delay, cancellation, baggage delay, or case of involuntary denied boarding.

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You Can Now Take a Fitness Class in the Louvre Before It Opens to the Public

The largest museum in the world, the louvre, likes to shake things up from time to time. Apparently not content with just being a world-class museum home to a collection of 500,000 art pieces and objects that more than 7 million people come to see every year, in 2005, the museum became a filming location for the movie The Da Vinci Code, and in 2018, it became the set for Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s ‘APES**T’ music video. In 2024, the year of the Paris Summer Olympic Games, the museum is turning into a fitness studio.

Starting today, April 24, and until May 31, the Louvre will host 90-minute fitness classes taught by renowned French dancers, choreographers, and sport coaches. The classes will take place within some of the most prestigious areas of the museums, including the immense Marly Courtyard with its glass ceiling, the Khorsabad Courtyard where the remains of an eighth-century-BC Assyrian city are kept, the Caryatids Room, used as an ornate reception room by the kings of France, and the underground chamber where the medieval origins of the louvre are preserved.

Marly Courtyard. Photo: Cesare Andrea Ferrari/ShutterstockKhorsabad Courtyard. Photo: jeafish Ping/ShutterstockCaryatids Room. Photo: nikolpetr/Shutterstock

The classes will include yoga, cardio, disco dance and dancehall-inspired workouts that will allow you to see some of the museum’s most precious items in a totally different context. The classes will start at 8 AM before the Louvre opens to the public, however, the museum will open its doors at 7:15 AM for those attending the classes.

The classes costs between $40.65 (38€) and $16 (15€) and will take place daily from April 24 to May 4 and from May 22 to May 31, except Tuesdays, Sundays, and holidays. Booking a fitness class gives you a free pass to visit the museum the same day. You can book a spot for one (or all) of the classes online.

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An Inspiring New Docuseries Is Changing the Narrative on Traveling on the Autism Spectrum

According to a study from Autism Travel, 87 percent of families with someone on the autism spectrum don’t travel. For most it’s not because of lack of desire, but because of a lack of sensory-friendly options. The new docuseries Traveling the Spectrum sheds a light on how choosing the right autism-friendly destination can make travel dreams a reality for those on the spectrum.

Certification programs like Autism Double Checked and Autism Travel are helping families navigate spectrum-friendly travel. Yet there’s still a long way to go when it comes to understanding what’s needed to make travel more accessible. With one study finding that 1 in 36 8-year-olds in the United States are on the spectrum, and the World Health Organization estimating that 1 in 100 children are on the spectrum worldwide, the more people can learn about the reality of traveling with autism the better.

Traveling the Spectrum focuses on three families who travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The six episodes are a window into the challenges and joys each family encounters. There’s 28-year-old Max Tilk from Michigan, who, along with his brother Jake, has built a following on social media for showing his day-to-day life. Brayden Gielink, 14, travels from Ohio with his family. The youngest person the docuseries follows is Mikko Hill, a 2-year-old girl from Texas whose family hasn’t previously had the opportunity to travel.

Each episode is unscripted for a behind-the-scenes look as each family visits accessible activities and accommodations in the Myrtle Beach area. As Mikko’s dad, a military veteran, says in the trailer, it’s easy to get stuck in the comfort zone, but the “comfort zone can be detrimental.” Comfort zones are pushed, but considering the Myrtle Beach area was the first autism-friendly certified destination by Champion Autism Network, there are plenty of opportunities for exploration.

The Hill family on a boat ride in Traveling the Spectrum. Photo: Traveling the Spectrum

The trailer was recently released for a preview of what’s to come. However, the series has yet to be picked up by a major streaming service to make it available to a wide audience. On the Traveling the Spectrum site, you can pledge your support to show that this is the type of content that people want to see on their streaming feeds as the producers work to find placement. Ultimately, the series aims to “help pave the way for a future where every journey is accessible, and affirm that the stories and experiences of these families are valuable and necessary.” Giving an inside look at the realities of traveling on the spectrum is an important step in wider understanding.

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Experience the Best of West Virginia Hospitality at the Tygart Hotel

The paintwork isn’t quite dry at this newly opened boutique hotel in downtown Elkins but the ribbon is cut and the bar is fully stocked. If you’re a Randolph County local or an old-timer at the Mountain State Forest Festival, you’ll recognize the fetching red-brick edifice. Setting out to capture the elegance and character of the 1906 building and inspire a new wave of travelers to linger in West Virginia, the Tygart Hotel by Ascend Hotel Collection is the result of a three-year reboot of the former Hotel Gassaway.

The hotly-anticipated renovation comprises 56 cozy guest rooms, a refined restaurant, and a fun cocktail lounge. An appealing location on Davis Street within walking distance of downtown attractions singles the Tygart Hotel out as the most convenient place to stay in the heart of the mountain state.

We hope you love the Tygart Hotel! Just so you know, Matador may collect a small commission from the links on this page if you decide to book a stay. Listed prices are accurate as of the time of publication.

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Elegant, boutique rooms at Tygart HotelPhoto: BookingPhoto: BookingPhoto: BookingPhoto: Booking

No two rooms at the Tygart Hotel are the same. All lodgings are classically appointed with tip-top upholstered beds that’ll see you right after a tough day on the trails or one too many craft beers. Regional artwork and custom fixtures add a personal touch while views scour either the Appalachian Mountains or peer over historic Elkins.

Traveling to West Virginia? Check out Matador’s West Virginia accommodations guides: 11 Airbnbs near New River Gorge National Park Perfect for Outdoor Adventure Where To Play, Eat, and Stay in Mercer County, West Virginia

Every amenity is accounted for, including a flat-screen television, a mini fridge, coffee-making facilities, and that all-important Wi-Fi for adventure planning. Each king room has a gleaming modern bathroom with a large walk-in shower and ADA-compliant units come with a tub. Suites accommodate up to four guests with a sleeper sofa for the kids. This pet-friendly hotel welcomes two furry friends per room for a reasonable fee.

A daily continental breakfast buffet is part and parcel of a stay at the Tygart Hotel. You’ll also benefit from free parking and complimentary bike storage on the premises.

Taste Appalachian cuisine and creative cocktails

 

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Comfort fare gets a glamorous makeover at Oxley House courtesy of the freshest mountain state ingredients and house-made dressings. The menu has launched with flavorful dips served with warm flatbread, crab cakes, and prime steaks dished up with seasonal greens. Lunch and dinner are served in the sun-soaked bistro accented with floral decor and pendant lighting. Make no mistake that this is the domain of business travelers and weary wayfarers: Tygart Hotel is a pillar of the community and you’ll be breaking bread in the company of local folk.

Punchy signature cocktails and mocktails cater to all palates at the Oxley House Cocktail Bar. Oxley Fashion is a rehash of the enduring old fashioned and Lemon Pound Cake is practically pudding. If you’re a mixologist in the making, you can put your skills to the rest and build your own mule or enroll in one of the ad hoc masterclasses. The bar hosts frequent music events on Fridays and Saturdays where you’ll mingle to a live soundtrack of guitarists and jazz artists.

The downtown setting on Davis Street makes it easy to explore other places to eat while your car stays in park. The storied C.J. Maggie’s is a two-minute walk from the hotel. This neighborhood grill is your one-stop shop for wood-fired pizza, chicken dinners, street-style tacos, and gourmet sandwiches. Big Timber Brewing Company is your nearest taproom serving flights of Mexican lager, IPA, and root beer.

Delmonte Market has you covered for trail mix, artisanal souvenirs, and coffee on the go.

Exploring Randolph County

Surrounded by the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, Elkins is a basecamp for outdoor adventures in West Virginia. Hiking, biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing on the Allegheny Highlands Trail is a highlight. This 26-mile multipurpose track follows the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway. The Monongahela National Forest is another popular destination for trout fishing, canoeing, and tubing.

Vintage steam and diesel locomotives operated by Mountain Rail West Virginia depart from the historic depot in downtown Elkins just two blocks from the Tygart Hotel. Shorter railroad excursions are designed for the whole family whereas the biannual Murder Mystery Wine Train outing is strictly for those over 21.

The Tygart Hotel is an ideal place to stay for the Mountain State Forest Festival. Held every fall, this week-long celebration is one of the oldest cultural events in West Virginia and sees a bonanza of parades, concerts, forestry exhibits, lumberjack contests, arts and crafts, amusement rides, and food.

To round off an energetic stay in Randolph County, you’ll receive a complimentary day pass for the Elkins YMCA fitness center and swimming pool when checking in at the Tygart Hotel.

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The 10 Most Popular Countries For Road Trips, and How Much Gas Costs in Each

We all enjoy a grumble, especially about the price of gas, but recent research by UK car financing company Moneybarn suggests that the US is one of the cheapest countries in the world for filling up a vehicle.

Moneybarn looked at various factors such as the availability of EV charging stations, road quality, and average price of fuel to paint a picture of how that differs by country. They also looked at the annual search volume on Google for “road trip” and brought us a list of the top ten nations in the world for driving.

It might come as a surprise that the US reigns supreme as the happiest place for drivers. The US has the highest car ownership rate globally, with an estimated 80 percent of the population having access to a vehicle. This widespread car ownership makes road trips and scenic drives highly accessible. The nation has a staggering almost four million miles of roads. This vast network offers us so many options for a road trip, from scenic byways to steep and thrilling routes and historic cross-country drives through ghost towns.

paulista/Shutterstock

The study also reveals that the average price of gas in the US sits at around $0.91 per liter, while diesel comes in slightly higher at $1.05 per liter. This translates to an average cost of $0.98 per liter. So you can drive happy this summer across many major road trip routes knowing that you’re getting one of the best deals compared to many other countries.

Moneybarn’s study also identified other countries that scored highly for driver happiness. Here’s the top ten:

1. United States ($0.98 per liter)2. Norway ($2.04 per liter)3. Japan ($1.06 per liter)4. Canada ($1.26 per liter)5. Iceland ($2.28 per liter)6. Australia ($1.15 per liter)7. Spain ($1.67 per liter)8. Sweden ($1.78 per liter)9. France ($1.94 per liter)10. Finland ($1.91 per liter)

Photo: Olena Tur/Shutterstock

Norway comes in second. The average price of gas and diesel is $2.04 per liter, but the breathtaking scenery and a focus on sustainable transportation solutions may play a role in Norway’s driver satisfaction.

Norway’s fjords were made for road trips. Some of the most popular routes take drivers through The Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, along The Atlantic Road on the west coast, known for its series of bridges that seem to defy gravity, and past The Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most beautiful fjords in Norway.

Coming in third was Japan. Efficiency and culture of courtesy on the roads could be contributing factors to Japan’s ranking, as well as epic routes along the Shimanami Kaidō with views of the Seto Inland Sea, the coast-to-coast across the entire island of Hokkaido, and the temple viewing road trip on the island of Shikoku.

Similar to the US, Canada has some of the best road trips in the world, but the average price of gas and diesel is higher, costing around $1.26.

Following Canada is Iceland. And while nothing is cheap in the country, including gas ($2.28 per liter), Iceland is a great place to explore by car. The island has a well-maintained main road, Route 1, also known as the Ring Road, that circles the entire country. This makes it easy to plan a road trip and see all the major sights.

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Google Will Soon Make Searching For Train Travel as Easy as Using Google Flights

Despite a recent report published in the New York Times showing that taking a cross-country trip on Amtrak is less sustainable than flying the same route, in general, riding the rails is a much cleaner way to get from A to B than air travel. (Greenpeace explains that the “overall climate impact of flying can be over 80 times worse than taking a train.”) That’s why countries like France are banning short-haul domestic flights when there are train alternatives of 2.5 hours or less. And that’s why Google will soon launch new features on Google Maps and Search that will help travelers find more sustainable alternatives to driving and flying.

For example, when looking for a driving route on Maps, travelers in 15 cities, including Rome, Sydney, London, Barcelona, and more, will soon be offered public transport and walking options that will require a similar amount of time. All in an effort to encourage people to opt for a more ecological way to move.

Photo: Google Blog

When looking at flights in Google Search, alongside flight options, travelers will also be offered long-distance train routes, so they can make a less carbon-hungry choice.

Those who already know they don’t want to fly will also soon find it easier to see all the options at their disposal. By searching for “Boston to Philadelphia train”, for example, they’ll get a schedule of the train journeys available, the duration of each ride, the prices, and the links to where they can make a booking. The same goes for long bus routes. This new feature is already available for trains in 38 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, and Switzerland, and for long-distance bus routes in 15 countries, including the US, Mexico, France, Germany, and Ireland.

Photo: Google Blog

But if you want to know more about train travel options throughout the world, there are few better places that Matador Network, where all your most-pressing questions about popular train routes are answered in details, including sleeper trains between London and Scotland, cross-Canada trains, and the London to Paris Eurostar.

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How to Find Out if Your Hotel Is Actually Sustainable – and Four Beautiful Ones That Are

Determining whether or not a specific hotel operates in an environmentally sustainable manner can be tough. Greenwashing abounds throughout the travel industry, and a full-circle approach involves more than swapping styrofoam food containers for biodegradable ones. It’s getting easier to tell whether a hospitality provider lives by what it says, however, thanks to the increased adoption of third-party certification in vetting hotels’ and resorts’ sustainability efforts. One prime example is the “Sustainability Certification” badge posted on validated property’s listings at the online travel agency site Booking.com.

Look for this depiction atop Booking.com listings. Photo: Screenshot/Booking.com

Since 2021, Booking.com has recognized certified sustainable property through its Sustainble Travel Program. It has since published an Annual Sustainable Travel Report to monitor the importance of sustainability across the travel industry. Coming across an accommodation labeled as more sustainable is more appealing to almost half of travelers (45 percent), according to Booking.com’s 2024 Sustainable Travel Report, and consistency of certification standards is critical to identifying these options with 67 percent agreeing that all travel booking sites should use the same sustainable certifications or labels.

How to find out if your hotel is actually sustainable

Photo courtesy Booking.com

A few factors to look into when booking a hotel, if sustainability is top of mind for you:

Does the property offer electric vehicle chargers onsite?Does the property run on renewable energy, and/or does it produce any of its own power through an on-site array?Does the property offer recycling?Is the property located near public transit, and/or is it walkable to the activities you plan to do while visiting?Does it provide plastic-heavy disposable toiletries, or are they zero-waste?How does the hotel’s food service operation handle food waste, and critically, where does it get its food?

This last point is an important factor often overlooked or misinterpreted because it’s so easy to slap a label like “locally sourced produce” on a menu. Often, that can mean little more than a few heads of lettuce were bought at the farmers’ market when in season. A restaurant or food service operation doing this the right way incorporates vast sourcing from local purveyors including farms, ranches, and other producers. It minimizes food waste through composting and other efforts, and prepares food fresh to order rather than pre-packaging it. Of course, it’s tough to be full circle at all times in a commercial kitchen environment, but properties making a true effort are generally quick to point out what they’re doing.

Travel inevitably impacts the environment – why do our choices matter?

Photo courtesy Booking.com

The only way to truly not let travel increase your carbon footprint is to stay home. However, when done correctly, the net benefit of travel is a positive for the traveler, the destination, and the planet. There are two primary reasons for this. First, travel opens the mind to broader perspectives and increases cultural understanding, which can increase empathy and, at the very least, showcase why conserving places and resources beyond one’s backyard is important. The second reason is simpler and less subjective: travel stimulates local economies. It creates jobs, reduces poverty, and can provide a significant economic boost to the destination.

The Booking.com report found that 62 percent of travelers realize they are the best version of themselves when they make conscious travel choices. It’s easy to impact those you travel with when you insist on doing things the right way. It’s also easy to leave that mantra as your travel legacy – when you patronize businesses that prioritize sustainable business models, your dollar stands as a vote for that way of operating.

“Of those who adopted sustainable behaviors on their travels, it was seen as an enhancement for 96% who did tours or activities for authentic, local, and cultural experiences, 93% who shopped at small, independent stores, and 93% who planned their trips so that they could walk, bike, or take public transport,” the study notes.

How Booking.com determines if a hotel is operating ‘sustainably’

According to Booking.com’s sustainability report, 71 percent of travelers wish to leave the places they visit better off. Where they stay can play a big role in helping them accomplish this. That’s because hotels consume a lot of energy – the average hotel spends more than $2,000 per room on electricity each year. That’s a lot of power, and offsetting even some of its carbon footprint by incorporating renewable energy or cutting down on electricity use can really make a difference.

“While many travelers have retained a sense of optimism and a desire to have a more positive impact, there is a critical opportunity for the industry to accelerate efforts to make those choices easier for everyone,” says Danielle D’Silva, head of sustainability at Booking.com, in the sustainability report. “It’s important that we continue ensuring that more sustainable options are not only readily available, but also easy to trust and understand.”

Booking.com analyzes several key metrics to determine how “green” a hotel’s operations are. Primarily, the property must be certified by an approved certification body that has dated its efforts to reduce its impact on the environment. Factors like energy use and how that energy is generated, how the property handles waste collection and removal, recycling programs, and the use of EnergyStar appliances and LEED metrics (or similar for non-US properties), are considered. Because the site lists badged properties around the globe, enacting a layer of consistency in its badging is a necessity.

The company employs Travalyst, a third-party company to determine this to be more transparent and avoid conflicts of interest. The online travel agency also works with BeCause to measure the data collected by Travalyst to verify that it meets Booking.com’s sustainability standards. Once this process is complete, a lodging property becomes eligible to have the sustainability badge displayed on its property.

“It’s important that we continue ensuring that more sustainable options are not only readily available, but also easy to trust and understand,” D’Silva says. “That’s where we believe further education, clear and consistent standards and credible third-party certification of legitimate sustainable practices across the travel experience can really help. “

Some of the world’s most beautiful hotels have earned Booking.com’s Sustainable Travel badge

Fortunately for travelers looking to book a badged hotel, there’s no need to sacrifice stunning properties and excellent service. Booking.com’s 2024 Sustainability Report found that badged properties are often located in destinations that prize sustainability and conservation, such as Monterrey, California, and Utrecht, Netherlands. In addition to those two destinations, Baie Sainte Anne, Seychelles, and Akunal, Mexico, offer exceptionally high percentages of eco-friendly lodging properties.

We hope you love these sustainable hotels! Just so you know, Matador may collect a small commission from the links on this page if you decide to book a stay. Listed prices are accurate as of the time of publication.

Portola Hotel & Spa – Monterrey, California

Photo courtesy Booking.com

The Portola Hotel & Spa prides itself on being environmentally conscious. It was the first truly “green” hotel in Central California and holds a U.S. Green Building Council LEED® Certification. The property incorporates sustainable practices throughout the hotel, from guest rooms featuring low-flow fixtures and LED lighting to offering organic bath amenities and using recycled materials. It even has a program for reducing waste at conferences.

What this hotel does to encourage sustainable travel:

Water conservation: The hotel has installed low-flow faucets, showerheads, toilets, and urinals.Energy efficiency: Guest rooms boast LED lighting and Energy Star® certified televisions and mini-refrigerators, reducing energy consumption.Sustainable Materials: The hotel uses bath amenities made from renewable and biodegradable materials, and offer hypoallergenic and organic mattresses.Eco-friendly conferences: The hotel offers a special program for conferences and events that emphasizes using reusable materials, composting food scraps, and recommending eco-friendly vendors.

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Grand Hotel Karel V – Utrecht, Netherlands

Photo courtesy Booking.com

It’s tough to gain sustainability certification when located in a historic property. Grand Hotel Karel V in Utrecht, Netherlands, has done it by focusing on its operations management. occupies part of the impressive Duitse Huis complex, which includes a section of a 14th-century monastery of the Teutonic Knights. The hotel offers an expansive garden stretching across much of the property, a fitting feature for its Netherlands location that allows for the placement not only of flowers but of vegetation that thrives in the local environment. Most rooms reside in a meticulously restored 1823 military hospital, offering a unique blend of old and new. The hotel also features a Roman-themed health center and an on-site restaurant and bar.The Grand Hotel

What this hotel does to encourage sustainable travel:

Sustainable procurement: They prioritize using environmentally certified suppliers who adhere to a specific code of conduct.Green cleaning: The hotel utilizes biodegradable cleaning products throughout the establishment.Water & energy management: While extensive renovations for maximum energy efficiency are difficult in a historical building, it does make optimal choices in equipment and energy management.Waste reduction: The hotel practices maximum waste separation with a dedicated storage facility.Locally sourced produce: The hotel collaborates with Maarschalkerweerd, a nearby organic vegetable garden, to incorporate fresh, local ingredients into their restaurant menus.

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Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya – Akumal, Mexico

Photo courtesy Booking.com

Just north of the Tulum Archaeological Site, Akumal is a respite from the hustle of the busy city centers in Tulum and Puerto Escondido. Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya is adults-only and offers the typical amenities of a Riviera Maya beach resort, though with a focus on minimizing its environmental impact. The buffet is expansive, the pool is beautiful, and the beach is right there. Guests can take the hotel’s airport shuttle from Cancun and once on the property, don’t need to leave if they don’t wish to – unless it is to visit the ruins or head out for some street tacos in town.

What this hotel does to encourage sustainable travel:

Environmental certification: They’ve achieved certification by Preferred by Nature, a program aligned with the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. This demonstrates the hotel’s commitment to minimizing its impact on the environment.Wildlife protection: Being located in Akumal Bay, which means “place of the turtle” in Mayan, the hotel actively participates in the Akumal Bay Management Plan. This plan promotes responsible practices to safeguard the local sea turtle population.

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Fairmont Pacific Rim – Vancouver, Canada

Photo courtesy Booking.com

Not to stay at a Fairmont hotel is not to fully experience travel in Canada. Vancouver’s Fairmont Pacific Rim, located in the heart of downtown along the waterfront, features a rooftop pool and hot tub, a massive gym, and a raw bar featuring locally sourced seafood.

What this hotel does to encourage sustainable travel:

Eliminating single-use plastics: The hotel achieved a major milestone by becoming the first North American hotel to be certified plastic-free by GreenStep Solutions. This means it’s replaced non-essential single-use plastics in guest rooms, public areas, restaurants, and the spa with reusable or sustainable alternatives. Examples include replacing plastic keycards with wooden ones, installing refillable toiletry dispensers, and offering fiber-based takeout containers.Sustainable seafood: The hotel’s commitment extends to their culinary offerings. It prioritizes using sustainably sourced seafood in all their restaurants, ensuring responsible fishing practices and healthy ocean ecosystems. The hotel has also adopted the Orbisk Food Waste System, a technology that helps them manage food waste more effectively.

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Six Places in the US Where You Can See Real Dinosaur Footprints

Believe it or not (and despite the popular film Jurassic Park), Tyrannosaurus rex lived in the late Cretaceous Period, not the Jurassic Period (which was 200 to 145 million years ago, after the Triassic Period). And since the Cretaceous period ended just 66 million years ago, that means dinosaurs roamed the earth for way, way, way longer than modern animals like humans have been around.

Fortunately, us humans are lucky to have evidence of the many years of dinosaurs’ existence all around us, especially for people who live in North America. While fossils are what most people think of when studying dinosaurs, the massive creatures left behind something else you can find all over the continent: tracks. And some of the coolest museums and parks in the US have preserved and protected those dinosaur footprints, allowing visitors to literally walk in the path of dinosaurs (or at least very near it).

Here are six sites around the US to visit to see dinosaur footprints in their natural environments.

Silvershield Trail, Colorado

Photo: Drew Hoffman/AllTrails

Visitors to Ouray County in southwestern Colorado can now count on being able to see an impressive series of dinosaur footprints when they hike the Silvershield Trail, thanks to a recent acquisition by the US Forest Service. It purchased 27 acres, including a 106-yard-long track of footprints left by one animal, moving approximately .5 miles per hour. They were made by a large long-necked sauropod, like a brachiosaurus or apatosaurus, and include 134 separate dinosaur footprints. The USFS plans to maintain the trail and add informational signage near the footprints.

The to the dinosaur footprints is considered more difficult, gaining about 1,700 feet of elevation over two miles (making it a four-mile hike round trip). Interestingly, the footprints are currently the only example in the world of a dinosaur turning more than 180 degrees — this dinosaur made a full 270-degree turn, it seems.

Silvershield Trail: Starts near the intersection of N. Oak St. and Silver Shield Trail Road (latitude: N38.038, longitude: W-107.681).

Dinosaur State Park, Connecticut

Photo: Dinosaur State Park/CTParks

Connecticut’s Dinosaur State Park has just about everything a dinosaur fan could want for a day outing, including outdoor trails, an impressive museum, and a massive preserved floodplain that includes more than 2,000 dinosaur footprints. The museum has a raised walkway that crosses the floodplain, which eventually dried out, preserving the footprints of the dinosaurs who last crossed through. The footprints were made mostly in the Jurassic era and were first found in the 1960s.

Most of the floodplain has been covered to preserve the footprints for research, but a large sections is open to guests. Also available at the park are multiple exhibits on dinosaurs, a botanical garden with more than 250 species of plants from the Mesozoic Era, just like how it would have looked when dinosaurs roamed the planet. You can even make plaster casts of the dinosaur footprints to take home. It’s supposed to be for kids, sure, but it’s open to dinosaur fans of any age.

It’s open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 AM to 4:30 PM. Admission for adults is $6.

Dinosaur State Park: 400 West St, Rocky Hill, CT 06067

Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado

Photo: Danielle Beder/Shutterstock

Dinosaur Ridge, near Golden, Colorado, is a place rich in prehistoric history. Researchers have found more than 300 fossilized footprints at the site, representing various dinosaur species and even an ancient crocodile. It was discovered in 1876 and is known by paleontologists as a “dinosaur freeway” for the many prints left behind — it was obviously a popular route.

Millions of years ago, the area was a muddy shore line that became a geologic time capsule, preserving very detailed prints. The exposed rock face is open to the public, with multiple tracks. The size and depth of the footprints offer clues about the dinosaurs that roamed the area, from lumbering sauropods that left oversized “brontosaur bulges” to smaller tracks left by bipedal herbivores.

There are two ways to explore this Colorado dinosaur footprint park, in addition to a self-guided tour. Visitors can take a guided tour, or step up the educational factor by exploring the tracks alongside a geologist, who will explain everything from how the valley formed to what creatures lived there, how the fossils were made, and the site’s history as part of a massive interior sea that divided North America.

While most dinosaur attractions are targeted at kids, Dinosaur Ridge has plenty of programs for adults who want to learn more about the site and its history. Dinosaur Ridge runs adult multi-day trips that visit some of the areas top paleontological sites, plus evening programs. It also has multiple lectures every month on dinosaur-adjacent topics. They’re in person, but also available on Zoom, for dinosaur fans who don’t live in Colorado. The site is also the producer of the podcast “Fossil histories and paleo mysteries.”

It’s open daily, 9 AM to 5 PM (4 PM in the winter). Admission starts at $18 for adults.

Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado: 16831 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison, CO 80465

St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site, Utah

 

 

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The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site is a popular draw for dinosaur enthusiasts thanks to thousands of fossilized dinosaur footprints, preserved where they were made nearly 200 million years ago. But the footprints were on private land and were only discovered in the year 2000, when the owner was doing yard work and uncovered what turned out to be the oldest dinosaur footprint site in Utah.

There are 17 distinct tracks at the site, many of which are incredibly well preserved in detail and depth. They’re all from the Jurassic period, and include dinosaur footprints from species including dilophosaurus, a dimorphodon (similar to a pterodactyl), and a protosuchus (similar to a crocodile).

The museum is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM, with an entry fee of $10 per adult and $5 for children.

St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm: 2180 E Riverside Dr, St. George, UT 84790

Dinosaur Footprints Reservation, Massachusetts

Photo: AllTrails/Joan Blaustein

The Dinosaur Footprints Reservation is a small wilderness area in Holyoke, Massachusetts, managed by a private organization but with assistance from the Massachusetts  Department of Conservation & Recreation. It has some of the first known dinosaur footprints in North America, found back in 1836.

The dinosaur tracks are visitors today, preserved in sandstone. They’re from the early Jurassic Period and there are hundreds of viewable footprints, all easy to access via the center’s short walk (only .2 miles long). It’s to find the dinosaur tracks, some of which were likely made by T. Rex itself. There are also fossilized plants from a similar period, as well as ripple marks from an ancient pool.

The reservation is free to visit and open daily sunrise to sunset from April 1 to the end of November. It’s closed in winter due to icy road conditions.

Dinosaur Footprints Reservation: 099 US-5, Holyoke, MA 01040

Clayton Lake State Park, New Mexico

Photo: Clayton Lake State Park and Dinosaur Trackway

Clayton Lake State Park in northern New Mexico has one of the most extensive dinosaur trackways in North America, with more than 500 dinosaur footprints from at least eight different species. These tracks were left behind on in the mud about 100 million years ago, back when this area was part of a sandy ocean bed that dried up over time. The dinosaur footprints were found in the 1950s when they built the Clayton Lake Dam.

The largest dinosaur footprints are likely from an Iguanodon or a close relative. Some are quite small, made by dinosaurs no longer than a foot long, while some come from creatures that were likely around 30 feet long. There’s educational signage along the long walkway to help visitors imagine the prehistoric creatures that once roamed the area.

The park is open daily with no entrance fee.

Clayton Lake State Park: 141 Clayton Lake Rd, Clayton, NM 88415

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Rome’s Newest Historical Attraction Is Mussolini’s Underground Bunker

Rome is chock-full of significant historical attractions. Chief among them the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, all of which have been there for several centuries. The city’s newest tourism spot, Mussolini’s underground bunker, has only been there for about 80 years, but it’s one visitors to the Eternal City would be remiss to pass on.

In 1929, Italy’s fascist leader Benito Mussolini, along with his wife and five children, moved to Villa Torlonia, a large property consisting of multiple buildings and surrounded by an immense garden located in Rome’s Nomentano neighborhood. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, when Italy entered the Second World War, flighting on the side of the Axis, Mussolini thought it wise to protect himself from Allies air raids. He had several underground air raid shelters built: one under his office in Piazza Venezia, one in the EUR district, and multiple ones under his private residence, Villa Torlonia.

In Villa Torlonia, Mussolini’s protection system consists of three underground armored air raid shelters all built at different time during the Second World War. The first one, Cantina Shelter, was built in 1940 and equipped with an anti-gas system; the second, Casino Nobile Shelter, was built in 1941 and had 47-inch thick reinforced concrete walls; the third, the bunker, which was started in 1942 but never finished, has 13-foot thick walls and is located over 21 foot underground.

Photo: MUSEI DI VILLA TORLONIAPhoto: MUSEI DI VILLA TORLONIA

Two of Villa Torlonia’s underground shelters are now open to the public: the Casino Nobile Shelter and the 1942 bunker. English-speaking guided tours take place every Saturday at 11 AM and cost $12.85 (12€) and tickets can be purchased on site.

While Villa Torlonia’s underground shelters were open in the past (in 2006 for a short period of time), they had to close due to high levels of radon. Remediation efforts have made the site safe for visitors and multimedia displays now allow for an immersive experience, showing Mussolini’s life at Villa Torlonia and taking visitors back to when Rome was the target of aerial bombardments by the Allied Forces.

Photo: Enzoartinphotography/ShutterstockPhoto: DedMityay/ShutterstockPhoto: Only Fabrizio/Shutterstock

Beyond the underground shelters, extensive parts of Villa Torlonia, home to three museums, are also open to the public, including the property’s lush park.

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