Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 51

The World's Cheapest Chain Hotel Is About to Enjoy a Major Expansion of Locations

They are called Tune Hotels ( www.tunehotels.com ), and I recently wrote about the one they've opened in London. But because a vast expansion in the number of Tune Hotels is about to occur, I thought I'd summarize their plans by way of reminder:

Tune currently has a dozen modern hotels in central locations of popular cities and tourist destinations -- nine in Malaysia, two on Bali (Kuta Beach and Legian), and one in London (across the Thames from Westminster Abbey). Each small but comfortable room comes with a five-star bed, contemporary furnishings, and a private bathroom.

Did I mention these rooms start at an amazing $5 in Malaysia, $14 on Bali, and $83 in London?

There is a catch, of course. Almost everything beyond the room, bed and shower is charged à la carte. Want a towel, shampoo, and soap? That's another $1.80-$2 (these are the Asian prices; everything the London property runs more). Air-conditioning? That's about $4.70 per 12-hour period. Breakfast is $2-$3, hair dryers cost 34¢, to turn on the TV costs $3.60, and Internet in your room is $4 (though there's often free WiFi in the lobby).

That said, early bookers can pretty much wipe out these add-on fees by buying a discounted room package: add TV and wifi for about 50¢; or A/C, towel, and toiletries for, again, ¢50.

However, if you travel with your own small towel and miniature toiletries, the only really essential add-on (in Southeast Asia) is the air-conditioning. If you only use that at night, the rooms still ring in under $10 in Malaysia and under $20 on Bali -- and that is a fabulous deal.

The chain is small now, but is expanding quickly, with partnerships to open 20 hotels in India and another 14 in the U.K., as well as franchises in Thailand, the Philippines, and soon China. I'll stay on this story on my blog.

An Enterprising Tour Operator Has Priced an African Safari at Less Than $2,100 -- with Airfare

It's a price that's offered nowhere else by any of the many operators of African Safaris. The company doing so? It's Friendly Planet ( www.friendlyplanet.com ), which has just put its basic, 8-day Kenya Safari Express package on sale for as little as $1,899 this coming fall -- so long as you book by July 27.

The trip includes round-trip airfare from New York City on Turkish Airlines, all transfers, six nights in Nairobi and at game lodges on Lake Naivasha and in the Masai Mara National Reserve, game drives, a boat safari on the lake, and most meals (breakfast, 3 lunches, 4 dinners).

Wonderfully, since the carrier is Turkish Airlines, you can add a three-night stopover at a first-class hotel in Istanbul for $499. But unfortunately, again because it's Turkish Airlines, New York is the only U.S. gateway; coming from anywhere else, you'd have to book your own airfare into JFK.

The $1,899 price is for departures in November and December. September and October departures charge between $2,099 and $2,399. To all those prices, add approximately $110 for taxes and government fees, and another $50 for the Kenya entry visa.

See a Museum for Less (or Free) this Wednesday

Wednesday, May 18, is International Museum Day, when more than 100 major museums in North America will offer free or reduced-price admission. If that's not broad enough for you, there are similar deals on Wednesday in more than 100 other countries (there's a full list here: http://icom.museum/what-we-do/activities/international-museum-day.html ).

The museums participating include the following well-known institutions: 

Art Institute of Chicago
Brandywine River Museum
Bronx Museum of Art
Carnegie Museum of Art
Columbus Museum of Art
Guggenheim Museum
Hammer Museum
High Museum of Art
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
J. Paul Getty Museum
Japan Society Gallery
Miami Art Museum
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Norman Rockwell Museum
Peabody Essex Museum
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Seattle Art Museum
Studio Museum in Harlem
The Menil Collection
The Noguchi Museum
The Phillips Collection
Wadsworth Atheneum
Yale University Art Gallery

The Sacremento Bee has a full list here. So Wednesday, May 18, is obviously a fine day to schedule a visit.

Accommodation Finder Airbnb Now Uses Facebook to Help You Find a Better Place to Stay

With its brilliant photographs of the apartments in which there's a spare room for you, and in the context of one of the most gorgeous websites you've ever seen, Airbnb (www.airbnb.com) -- less than four years old -- has scored a smashing success, and now provides accommodations in nearly 11,000 cities in 180 countries. Your digs, as earlier noted, are almost always a room in an apartment occupied by a host or host family.

What sets off this renewed attention to Airbnb is an announcement from its RPR firm that an auxiliary program called "Social Connections" has just been created in association with Facebook Connect. Using the giant Facebook, one can apparently discover whether friends or acquaintances of yours have used the apartment you are considering. "By utilizing Facebook Connect," says the press release, "travelers can filter their search results to see places their friends have reviewed as well as their connections to hosts through mutual friendships, direct friendships, and school affiliations."

Those of you for whom Facebook is a daily presence will probably be able to scout out the Airbnb connection -- and doing so may greatly enliven your use of Airbnb.

Add Detroit to the Roster of U.S. Cities Where Free-of-Charge Walking Tours are Offered to Visitors

To that small but important list of U.S. cities where tourists can easily obtain free-of-charge walking tours led by a volunteer resident of those cities -- New York, San Francisco and Chicago are most prominent among them -- you can now add Detroit. The brand-new, inexpensive ($25 a night) Hostel Detroit (tel. 313/451-0333; www.hosteldetroit.com ) in the centrally-located Corktown area of the city, within easy walking distance of the famous Slows Bar-B-Que Restaurant (honored by barbecue aficionados all over the nation), has enlisted a substantial number of "Ambassador" volunteers (well-informed citizens of Detroit) to offer such walking tours to visitors who may or may not be staying at the hostel.

[image error] Photo Caption: Detroit as seen from Canada. slim57/Frommers.com Community

Though many outlying residential districts have been abandoned in part by residents because of the city's declining economy, the downtown area (including Corktown) is regarded by many as a vital and interesting place with numerous museums and other attractions, good restaurants, bars and shops, a place that may now enjoy an upswing in prosperity because of the apparent recovery of the auto industry.

The U.S. State Department's Warning About Travel to 11 Mexican States Unfairly Questions the Safety of Visiting Key Resort Areas

A great deal of publicity (including a write-up in this blog) was given to the recent State Department summary of the 11 areas in Mexico which the U.S. government regards as affected by drug-related violence. Such Mexican states as Jalisco (in which Puerto Vallarta is found) were named among the places where the traveler must exercise a great deal of caution. The State Department release dealt a heavy blow to Mexican tourism.

[image error] Photo Caption: Whale-watching in Puerto Vallarta. Mr. Fred/Frommers.com Community

In fairness to Mexico, some qualifying comments should be made. The violence that has occurred in Jalisco has been almost entirely centered in the cities of Colotlan and Yahualica. Those locations are a full 300 miles away from the heavily-visited resort area of Puerto Vallarta.

The resorts of Puerto Vallarta are also 1,200 miles away from the border areas of Mexico where much drug-related violence has taken place. Twelve hundred miles is the distance between New York and Miami.

The same State Department press release which named the 11 troubled states of Mexico also went on to say that "millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year" and that "resort areas and tourist destinations generally do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region... "

In fairness to Mexico, these additional points should be noted.

China Focus and China Spree Are in a Price Skirmish That Will Benefit You

In recently relating how China Spree ( www.chinaspree.com ) has allegedly undercut China Focus Travel's ( www.chinafocustravel.com ) price for a one-week air-and-land package in late autumn to Beijing, charging $799 as compared to China Focus' $899, I neglected to point out -- I somehow didn't see it in the write-up -- that China Focus includes government fees and taxes in its price while China Spree adds $79 for those fees and taxes. Therefore, China Spree's real price is $878 versus China Focus' $899.

But that's not all. In a dramatic counter-attack, China Focus has now reduced the price for its one-week package to $875, and therefore claims to be cheaper than China Spree by $3.

[image error] Photo Caption: Temple of Heaven, Beijing. robwater/Frommers.com Community

And so it goes, to quote Kurt Vonnegut. All this was conveyed to me in a phone call I received yesterday afternoon from China Focus' operations director, Wanda Dow, who was perturbed that the world was led to believe (by me) that China Spree had undercut the former's prices. (I happen to believe there will be enough business to China this coming fall and winter to provide both companies with more than enough passengers.)

Ms. Dow also released the additional dates when China Focus' packages would continue to be offered at rock-bottom levels. "Simply Beijing," the package that flies you to the Chinese capital for a six-night stay there, will be priced at $875 (including taxes and fees) not simply in late November, but also for departures on January 3, 10, 17 and 24, February 7, 14, 21 and 28, and March 13.

As for China Focus' "signature tour" called Historic China, which takes you to spend nine nights in five Chinese cities, including round-trip air from San Francisco, for only $1,299, it will be priced at that level not only in late November, but for departures on January 5, 12, 19 and 26, February 9, 16 and 23, and March 6.

Click here for full details of China Focus' winter promotions. These air-and-land packages for $875 (six nights in Beijing) and $1,299 (nine nights in five cities) are a travel phenomenon. They are, as I have said before, the least expensive heavily-comprehensive tour programs in travel today, a remarkable adventure at a marvelous price.

Cactus Language Training Will Tell You How to Acquire a Foreign Language for Travel

Whether you have simply a smattering of a foreign language, or are fluent in it, you will surely admit that the ability to understand or to be understood in a foreign language is often the key to extensive, profound or meaningful travel. In fact, the study of foreign languages is so associated with travel that I'm amazed I had not earlier heard of Cactus Language Training ( www.cactuslanguagetraining.com ).

It collects under one website dozens upon dozens of language-learning courses -- from one-on-one lessons to groups to schools -- all across the world -- 30 languages in 500 destinations spread over 60 countries.  While the site focuses on the five major European languages, if you will click on "Study Abroad" and dig a bit, you'll discover you can learn Mandarin, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Japanese, Russian, Quechua... you name it. And the price for doing so seems entirely reasonable, although those costs vary sharply according to the language, place, and school or course you choose.

The site also has a great deal of related information: what to see and do in the destinations, how to choose accommodations, what the different kinds of courses are like, and what each offers. I'm impressed with Cactus.

An Independent Trip to Cairo Is Both a Bargain and a Memorable Travel Opportunity

Fly between New York City and Cairo, Egypt, during the month of May and you'll pay as little as $966 for the round-trip flight, including all fees and taxes. Go in June, and you'll pay only slightly more ($1,171) for the trip, again including all those fees and taxes. Go to that feisty aggregator of airfares called Momondo ( www.momondo.com ), and you'll find confirmation of these excellent prices offered by airlines (like British Midland) hungry to fill up their flights on that route.

Once in Cairo, you'll be able to choose from any number of outstanding hotels in every price range, at a rate that will usually reflect at least a 60% discount off the normal prices of the hotel. Not only is it presently "off-season" in Cairo, but the city is almost empty of tourists. Journalists who have recently visited report that although the normal, non-touristic aspects of Cairo are as vital and dynamic as ever -- markets jammed with shoppers, traffic heavy, men crowding into coffee, tea and waterpipe cafes -- the city is almost devoid of tourists. A reporter (Kathy Lally) from the Washington Post recently wrote of appearing at renowned attractions and finding only an occasional tourist nearby. She confirms that all the businesses that cater to tourists -- hotels, shops, restaurants, tours -- are willing to give enormous discounts as a means of enjoying some income.

Even before the recent political upheaval, Cairo was one of the least expensive world capitals. It is also a riveting experience, constantly fascinating, a place that every person should at some point visit. You could never find a better time than now to do so.

Extending Air/Land Packages Let You Enjoy Bali's Paradise for Less

When I last visited the island of Bali several years ago, I formed the definite impression that here was a place where $5-a-day living was still -- almost -- possible. Bali's price structure is unusually reasonable, and a great many travelers report obtaining guesthouse rooms, for two people, costing as little as $10 a night.

To learn whether this is still the case, I placed a phone call to Roe Gruber of Escapes Limited ( www.escapesltd.com ), the foremost operator of air-and-land packages from North America to Bali. She offers trips using either Cathay Pacific Airlines (flying to Bali via Hong Kong) or Singapore Airlines (going there via Singapore), but immediately advised me that Cathay Pacific's fuel surcharge is $300 round-trip, whereas Singapore Airlines charges $500 for fuel surcharge, round-trip.

Using Cathay Pacific, one of her packages to Bali costs $1,399 for round-trip air from the U.S. west coast (Los Angeles or San Francisco) and five nights in your choice of a number of Balinese hotels. (By paying $100 more, you can also enjoy a stopover of two hotel nights in Hong Kong en route). Many of her clients, she reports, extend their stay way beyond five nights, and simply advise her of the date on which they wish to return (she then makes the air reservations accordingly). She is able to accommodate those requests, as long as the total stay is no more than 45 days.

So what does Roe Gruber say is the probable extra cost of extending your stay in a lodging which you yourself choose, at a price that you yourself negotiate on the spot in Bali? If it's in the Ubud area, in the central highlands of Bali (which I enthusiastically recommend), it is easily possible, she states, to find good quality rooms costing no more than $25 a night per room. (Persons who have left comments on forums maintained by Frommers.com report that they have on occasion been able to negotiate rates of only $10 a night per room). And how much for meals? At a good restaurant in the Ubud area, for an excellent three-course meal, you can pay as little as $10 a person, reports Ms. Gruber.

So here's a chance to enjoy a lengthy vacation in the Indian Ocean (adjoining the South Pacific) for very little money. Bali is sheer fascination, and the Ubud area of Bali places you right in the center of a very authentic, unpretentious form of Balinese life. For $1,399, plus the additional cost of additional nights, you can enjoy the dream of a long stay in an idyllic tropical paradise.