Central Vietnam a tranquil treat

As we continue our whirlwind two-week tour of Vietnam, we bid a thankful farewell to the noise, chaos and pollution of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) as we fly to Danang in the Central part of country.

The ninety-minute flight transported us to a region vastly different from the south. Central Vietnam is much quieter, cleaner and verges on the tranquil.

Our delightful guide Tam met us at the airport and whisked us to a quaint hole-in-the-wall restaurant for a bowl of Pho (pronounced fir) soup before we embark on a two-hour, 30 km bike ride from Danang to the ancient city of Hoi An.

En route we pass lush rice fields, stunning beaches, mountains made of marble and delightfully friendly locals.

As time was restricted, we had to miss spending time on famed China Beach.

However, if even half the high-end resorts planned see completion, Danang and it's China Beach are destined to become Vietnam's Waikiki.

Hoi An lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Occupied by early western traders, Hoi An is a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century and was recently declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

Hoi An has a distinct Chinese atmosphere with low, tile-roofed houses and narrow streets; the original structure of some of these streets still remains almost intact.

All the houses were made of rare wood, decorated with lacquered boards and panels engraved with Chinese characters. Pillars were also carved with ornamental designs.

Must-see sites include relics of the Sa Huynh and Cham cultures while a visit to the local market is pure fun.

Tailor made garments can be whipped up in a matter of hours and one of the best 'factories' in town is Yali. Prices are very reasonable and the quality is acceptable.

We had the good fortune of staying at The Nam Hai-one of the world's most exclusive and exquisite resorts. Spectacular grounds, unparalleled accommodations and superb dining do not come cheap so The Nam Hai is not for the budget traveler.

November is supposedly the tail-end of the rainy season. Mother Nature was definetly having a spell as we ended up experiencing some of the heaviest rains the region had seen for years.

However, for we cold-blooded Calgarians, the rain proved a respite from searing heat and debilitating humidity.

Our next leg of the trip took us 108 km north to Hue (pronounced whey).

Hue, located on the northern bank of the Perfume River,is a quiet, relaxing city, big enough to be interesting but small enough to leisurely stroll around.

Steeped in history, the imperial city of Hue served as the country's political capital under the rule of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802-1945. It was then that Bao Dai, the last emperor, abdicated to the government of Ho Chi Minh.

The city was severely damaged in the 1968 Tet Offensive. House to house fighting lasted for weeks but blessedly, many of the city's historic sites still stand.

Must-sees while here include: the old Imperial complex; the Citadel and the Forbidden Purple City; 300 year-old pagodas; and the many tombs of the emperors which lie a few kms. south of the city. Each tomb is a walled compound containing temples, palaces, and lakes. Top of the list is surely the magnificent Khai Dinh tomb.

Accommodations in Hue are varied. If you can, stay at La Residence Hotel and Spa located on the banks of the Perfume River at 5 Le Loi Street.

Listed in 2007 Conde Nast Traveler's Hot List, La Residence a has a storied history-and a beautiful Art Deco vibe.

Once the private mansion of the colonial French Resident Superieure, 5 Le Loi Street has played host to all manner of guests from the Viet Cong to the military governor of Danang and his family.

For many years after the war ended in 1975, La Residence languished on it's heels as a three-star hotel.

The facility was renovated and re-opened in 2005.

The next leg of our Vietnam adventure takes us north Halong Bay.

Stay tuned.

TRIPS TIPS

- Tour Operators: Viet Orient Tours has hosted many Calgarians. Owner Nguyen Viet can customize any type of tour you wish from biking to hiking, shopping to sightseeing. Visit www.vietorienttours.com

- Getting there: Daily flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong. Overnight in Hong Kong. Vietnam Airlines flies directly to Danang.

- Visa: You must have a visa to get into Vietnam. You're advised to have the visa before arrival-however, you can purchase your visa at Saigon airport but this can be a challenge.

- Vaccinations: There are no requirements at present but ensure you take a general antibiotic with you just in case. Vaccinations against tuberculosis and hepatitis B are sometimes advised.

- Safety:Travel in Vietnam is generally safe and violent crime is uncommon.

- Weather: July, August and September are the rainy months. Many areas experience severe flooding during this time. December, January and February are historically the driest months.

- Currency: the Dong is Vietnam's official currency. ATM's are common throughout Vietnam.


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10 ways to get hotel upgrades

When 24/7 Real Media chairman and founder David J. Moore arrived at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, it could have been one of the worst travel experiences of his life. His flight had been repeatedly delayed, it was 4 a.m. and he had to wake up early the next morning for a conference. Instead, he scored an upgrade to the best room in the hotel: the top executive suite, replete with mirrored ceilings and an enormous hot tub.

That was 15 years ago. These days, with fewer reservations on the books and less money changing hands, hotel upgrades are harder than ever to come by. But that doesn’t mean they’re impossible. Many seasoned travelers attribute their most impressive upgrades to a combination of luck and overbooking, but our insider, a front desk manager at a luxury Atlanta hotel, says there are a few measures you can take to put yourself in a more favorable position to be upgraded.

See our slideshow on Getting Hotel Upgrades.

“Staying only one night, coming in late and traveling when there’s a conference in town make it easier to give someone an upgrade,” he says. That’s because short stays and late arrivals free up the staff to move people around, and traveling during major events makes it more likely all of the smaller rooms will be occupied, allowing the management to offer the top suites as an alternative to relocating guests to another hotel. And while our insider concedes that the best upgrades are partially a function of luck, he says the front desk staff has more control than most patrons realize.

“We want to keep people happy,” he says. “We could be under-booked, and if someone comes up and is really pleasant, but obviously exhausted, I’ll give him a nicer view, or a bigger bed.”  

Even if you’re well rested, just starting a brief conversation with the staff about events you have planned on your vacation can confer benefits. Guests who are celebrating birthdays or anniversaries, or who just need extra room to work can often procure an upgrade by mentioning their situation to the front desk managers, says former Opus hotel manager Daniel Edward Craig.

Playing nice with the management is important for another reason as well: It will make them more likely to remember you, and hotels are big on loyalty. Quintin Payton, a New York City-based freelance stylist, has experienced the benefits of customer loyalty first-hand at the Savoy Hotel in Miami, where he regularly stays for both business and pleasure. “I’ve stayed there so often, even the maid recognizes me,” he says. “Now, when I go, they always give me the same room, no matter what I booked; I never have to pay for parking, which is supposed to be $30 a day; and they never charge me for the mini-bar.”  

So, if you’ve booked your favorite hotel during the 31,000-strong Society for Neuroscience conference, and have arrived haggard looking in the middle of the night, but no upgrades seem forthcoming? “Just ask,” says our informant. “If you’re nice and you act important, we’ll probably give you something.”

See our slideshow on Getting Hotel Upgrades.



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Europe on a shoestring

It's coined the students' rite of passage. I'm sure you're all familiar with the scenario -- a recent post-secondary graduate, with degree or diploma in hand and an itching to do just about anything to avoid the dreaded 9-5, bids farewell to familiar surroundings and hops a plane to the beginner backpacker's mecca: Europe.

It's an absolute cliche, but also an absolute must, so that's exactly what I did -- solo for a month.

With a pack stuffed with clothes and camera in hand, I hit my first destination -- Amsterdam -- and never looked back.

Starting my travels in a liberal city with a fairly fluent English speaking population served as a stepping-stone, a way to ease into the myriad languages and culture shocks I would no doubt encounter.

After settling into my hostel, I took to the streets to digest the vibrant Dutch culture awash with street performers, international cuisine, celebrated museums and an abundance of bicycles.

Before long, I overcame my lingering reservations about journeying solo and began to take pleasure in the sights and conversations with locals and fellow travellers. This changing cast of characters included two girls from Edmonton I spent the day with after meeting them in line at Anne Frank House, my Austrian roommates who spoke broken English, but loved Canada for its flag, and Erma, a local I met on a patio with whom I spent two hours talking about everything from Dutch healthcare to holiday traditions, while she blithely filled a page with names of restaurants I should consider.

I soaked up the sun in Rembrandt Square, unabashedly explored the red light district, went wild with the locals at the Heineken Music Hall, and got lost in Vondel Park.

As the days ran on and my appetite for all things grew, so did my debt. Not even a week into a month-long trip and I was overwrought with anxiety and afraid I would run out of money.

So I hopped a flight to Prague, Czech Republic, determined to be a true backpacker by adopting a frugal lifestyle. I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter.

Once I'd found my hostel, I tossed my bags -- which alarmingly had already reached full capacity from unwise spending -- in my room and immediately befriended a girl from Chicago in the hostel's common area.

Being on a budget, we raided the nearby supermarket and made use of the hostel kitchen before navigating the confusing cobblestone streets in search of an outdoor market. Our excursion led us to many of the city's famed attractions including Powder Tower, a gateway to the Old Town and Charles Bridge; Wenceslas Square, Prague's central boulevard; and Charles University, the oldest in Central Europe, founded in 1348.

Determined to see the rest of the city after we parted, but wary of the winding, maze-like streets, several days later I joined a free walking tour, which led our group to the Old Town, Lesser Quarter and Prague Castle. Our guide gave a remarkably detailed history of the city and sights, which included the Czech parliament, Franz Kafka's house, and John Lennon's wall, an expanse of wall formerly covered in anti-communist graffiti in the '80s, now filled with positive messages, artwork and poems.

With two cities mastered and my confidence boosted, I took to the skies with Ibiza in sight.

Going directly from an historical, inland city to an island paradise is an exceptional change, but a welcome one. I stumbled into a problem almost immediately, though. The tiny island off the eastern coast of Spain is teeming with couples, families and friends on vacation -- it's not exactly a hot spot for lone travellers.

My family friendly hotel was hardly the best place to strike up conversations and the public transit left something to be desired, so I resigned myself to wandering the strip and enjoying a sun-soaked getaway. A vacation from my vacation if you will.

Fate, however, is a funny thing. Soon after I sat down to dinner the first night, a young woman walked in, also looking for a table. Also on vacation. Also alone. She was perhaps the only other single traveller on the island, and we had somehow managed to cross paths.

In an instant, my week of lying on the beach turned into a week of exploring. As luck would have it, she had rented a car. Together we discovered Ibiza's tiny towns, lounged on a handful of the island's beautiful beaches, and sauntered through crowded, tourist-ridden San Antonio. We went kayaking in the Mediterranean, caught the world renowned sunset at Cala Moli beach, and took in the DJs at night at some of the world's most famous -- and biggest -- clubs.

I had made a lifelong friend in an instant and agreed to meet her in Paris, where she was working, before I flew home.

My sights were set next on Barcelona, a stone's throw from Ibiza. I arrived at the hostel after a bit of confusion on the subway -- nothing a friendly Catalan couldn't help with -- and was immediately invited by my new roommates, all from New Zealand, to go on a bike tour of the city.

The four-hour ride took us through Barcelona's most central park -- Parc de la Ciutadella -- showed us modernist architect Antoni Gaudi's amazing work throughout the city -- including his breathtaking masterpiece Sagrada Familia -- and explained the significance of Barcelona's only bullfighting arena (the only one in Spain where people come to protest the sport).

I spent the rest of the visit traversing the city on foot with friends from the hostel and watching the entertainment erupt each evening along Las Ramblas, one of Barcelona's major boulevards.

Originally, the trip was to end in Lisbon, Portugal, but my plans took a turn. I cancelled my hostel in Portugal and booked a flight to Paris, where I met my new friend from Ibiza. She graciously shared her apartment with me for the week, showed me all over the city, and provided unforgettable adventures and conversation.

I flew home with a sense of accomplishment -- and a lot more money than I had expected. The trip cost a meager $3,500, including the gifts I brought home.

My return flight to Europe ran about $1,400 when all was said and done, and accommodations totalled $1,000, keeping in mind the five-night stay at a hotel in Ibiza accounted for about half of that. The average price of a hostel can run anywhere from $20 per night and up, depending on its location, the time of year, the type of accommodation requested and availability.

The remaining money was spent on additional transporation, food and drink, entertainment and mementos from each city.

Embarking on this trip with nothing but a backpack, a smile, and an open mind, I'd say I fared pretty well.

---

TRIP TIPS

- Don't book your entire trip in advance. Play it by ear while travelling as plans can, do, and will change.

- Do some research before leaving to see if any events or festivals are going on during your stay.

- Keep in mind currency conversions when making purchases.

- Don't overpack! Remember, you have to carry your bags everywhere you go.

- Look for hostels that have common areas, kitchens, and whenever possible, laundry facilities. Common areas are a great place to meet new people, hostel kitchens help save you money by giving the option of cooking your own food, and on-site laundry facilities are a bonus when living out of a backpack.

- Rent a bicycle. They're cheap and in most places can be picked up and dropped off at various bike hubs around the city. Some hostels offer bike rentals as well.

- Keep an eye out for brochures in and around your hostel advertising free walking tours. A decent tip to your guide at the end ensures the sightseeing programs stay up and running for others to experience.

- Avoid taxis whenever possible -- they're a cash guzzler -- and rely on public transit, biking or walking to get around.

- Be open to just about everything on your travels -- if you don't try, you'll never know!


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War site oasis of peace

LEWISTON, N.Y. -- During the War of 1812, American soldiers used Lewiston as a staging area for the Battle of Queenston Heights. Their cannons sat on Barton Hill aimed at British troops across the great Niagara gorge. After nearly 200 years of peace, there's still plenty of cross-border activity, but now it's to shop, attend theatre and tour local wineries.

And Barton Hill is now the name of a delightful place to stay while in the area. Located just 15 minutes from the Falls and overlooking the Niagara Gorge, Barton Hill Hotel & Spa offers luxurious accommodations at reasonable rates.

DAY OF PAMPERING

For a bit of indulgence with your special person, try "The Barton Embrace," a day of spa pampering for two provided within the privacy of your own hotel room. Change into a bathrobe in your own room, and then move through the connecting door into the adjacent spa suite, where therapists and aestheticians are ready to pamper you into a puddle with a five-hour session of your choice of three spa services. Rates vary and additional services, plus an in-suite gourmet spa lunch may be added if you wish.

You don't have to "check in" at a spa reception desk, leave your room or wander the halls in your bathrobe to get to the spa. The spa comes to you. Choose from a menu of services that includes massage therapy such as hot stone, Swedish, deep tissue as well as beauty services such as facials, pedicures and manicures.

This in-suite option is in addition to services available at Barton Hill's day spa, located in a building next to the hotel. It offers a full menu that includes body treatments, cellulite therapies, cosmetic treatments, hydrotherapy, reflexology, salon services, aromatherapy and perfume blending.

Barton Hill also offers wellness programs for men, women and children that focus on achieving a healthy balance of mind, body and spirit. There are yoga and Pilates classes.

Guest rooms at Barton Hill are as inviting and cozy as they are elegant with features that include a canopy bed, fireplace, Italian linen, flat panel hi-definition television and many with a sweeping view of the Niagara Gorge.

DINING PLEASURE

Dining is a pleasure at Barton Hill and under the culinary direction of Chef Richard Lepree. The new wine list showcases the wonderful offerings of the Niagara Region.

If you can manage to pull yourself from the cozy ambience of the hotel, stroll the charming town of Lewiston with its historic homes, shops, galleries and museum; delve into the past at Old Fort Niagara; take in a concert at Artpark, the performance arts centre with its exceptional indoor and outdoor venues; or cruise the Gorge on Whirlpool Jet Boats.

And there's always shopping. There's exceptional outlet shopping on both sides of the border. Canada One Factory Outlet Mall on Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls includes 40 stores such as Ecco Shoes, Escada, Jones New York and Sony. On the New York side, there's Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls with more than 150 brand name stores including Polo Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.

---

THE PRICE OF RELAXATION

Barton Hill Hotel & Spa: 100 Center St., Lewiston; NY, 716-754-9070, 1-800-718-1812; bartonhillhotel.com.

Hotel rates change from low season to high season June 1.

Low season, double occupancy rates from $169 for a weeknight Portage retreat to $284 for a weekend Sunset retreat.

High season, double occupancy rates range from $199 to $319 per night.

The Ultimate Dinner Date available until the end of March is $149 for two people for a one night stay and dinner for two, midweek.

The 3 Rs of Romance package includes one night stay, dinner for two and couples massage starting at $419.

For information on the area, see historiclewiston.org and townoflewiston.us.


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Most stunning city skylines

What makes a skyline great? It has to be more than merely memorable, it must have some exceptional characteristics: It not only should be instantly recognizable but, from the traveler’s perspective particularly, it should be an enticing view of great buildings and monuments. If it’s really special, you want to be a part of it.  So we’ve asked a group of star architects to help us make the choices.

It’s no surprise that New York’s skyline is mentioned the most often—and this despite the dolorous replacement of the Twin Towers with Ground Zero. A single iconic building can make a skyline stand out, as can geography, and New York City is a case study for both. According to Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat, partners in Stamberg Aferiat Architecture in New York, the city’s great skyline “is partly a result of Manhattan being a long narrow island, maximizing the impact. And the agglomeration of New York skyscrapers has as its centerpiece the Empire State Building, which is such an iconic romantic building, and through the accidents of economics and zoning, it stands alone.”

See our slideshow of World's Most Stunning City Skylines.

They architects also cite Chicago as a city of great architectural monuments and major iconic skyscrapers like the Sears Tower. But while the great race for height in which Chicago and New York were longtime contestants has largely shifted overseas, the vertical element in skylines still figures prominently across the board. “The image of a city in the 21st century still depends on the skyscraper idea,” says Andres Lepik, architecture and design curator at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City and author of the book Skyscrapers. “City governments know that the economy is pushing forward to gave high-rise buildings in city centers.” Examples? Lepik says London and Frankfurt are standouts.

Still, high-rises are not a prerequisite for a great skyline. “City skylines aren’t necessarily defined by skyscrapers,” say Aferiat and Stamberg. “There’s Sydney with its Opera House, for example, which defines the city, St. Louis with the arch,” they add,  “and Seattle has the Space Needle.” For that matter, we’ll always have Paris, which thanks to its concentration of historic slate gray-roofed six and seven-story buildings, many of which date from the mid-19th century and before, has a remarkably uniform and distinct skyline.

Most architects would agree that a great skyline takes time to develop.  “A skyline is something that comes up and comes together and somehow it’s unplanned,” Lepik says. “If you go to Shanghai right now, there are hundreds of skycrapers but they don’t form any really beautiful skyline,” he adds. By contrast, he says, “New York had a certain slow development, which sped up in the 1920s and ‘30s with the Art Deco skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building and Empire State—but it took 30 years to get the coherent skyline.”

See our slideshow of World's Most Stunning City Skylines.

What of a future-forward  city like Dubai? “I wouldn’t call Dubai’s skyline beautiful,” says Lepik,  “because it has grown too fast, without a general idea of what they’re trying to achieve.” But if there is beauty in boldness, Dubai has an incontestably sensational skyline in progress: It started with the erection of the 1,053-foot-tall Burj al Arab Hotel in 1999, a “seven-star” hotel on an artificial island and complete with helicopter landing pad.  And soon it will have the tallest skyscraper in the world: the 1,900-foot Burj  Dubai tower. Financial crisis or not, more brash towers are in the works for the desert sheikdom.

It’s hard to beat Asian tigers like Hong Kong for urban audacity, but our round-up of great skylines holds some surprises, such as… Pittsburgh? Indeed. The city is “right at the intersection of three fairly large rivers, and you approach it through a mountain tunnel, so you arrive completely deprived of a view—and then you’re on a bridge looking at the city,” say Stamberg and Aferiat. “It’s very beautifully proportioned the way it starts fairly low at the river and then climbs to the U.S. Steel building, which is the tallest one there.”

As for Europe, it’s not just about historical aesthetics—modernity is moving in. In his book on skyscrapers, Lepik features two Frankfurt towers, one designed by Norman Foster. Cities like London and Paris increasingly represent a mixture of old and new in which traditional icons mingle memorably with new visions of star architects like Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano. By accident or by design, the result is urban landscapes even more compelling for today’s travelers to discover and explore.



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Most stunning city skylines

What makes a skyline great? It has to be more than merely memorable, it must have some exceptional characteristics: It not only should be instantly recognizable but, from the traveler’s perspective particularly, it should be an enticing view of great buildings and monuments. If it’s really special, you want to be a part of it.  So we’ve asked a group of star architects to help us make the choices.

It’s no surprise that New York’s skyline is mentioned the most often—and this despite the dolorous replacement of the Twin Towers with Ground Zero. A single iconic building can make a skyline stand out, as can geography, and New York City is a case study for both. According to Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat, partners in Stamberg Aferiat Architecture in New York, the city’s great skyline “is partly a result of Manhattan being a long narrow island, maximizing the impact. And the agglomeration of New York skyscrapers has as its centerpiece the Empire State Building, which is such an iconic romantic building, and through the accidents of economics and zoning, it stands alone.”

See our slideshow of World's Most Stunning City Skylines.

They architects also cite Chicago as a city of great architectural monuments and major iconic skyscrapers like the Sears Tower. But while the great race for height in which Chicago and New York were longtime contestants has largely shifted overseas, the vertical element in skylines still figures prominently across the board. “The image of a city in the 21st century still depends on the skyscraper idea,” says Andres Lepik, architecture and design curator at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City and author of the book Skyscrapers. “City governments know that the economy is pushing forward to gave high-rise buildings in city centers.” Examples? Lepik says London and Frankfurt are standouts.

Still, high-rises are not a prerequisite for a great skyline. “City skylines aren’t necessarily defined by skyscrapers,” say Aferiat and Stamberg. “There’s Sydney with its Opera House, for example, which defines the city, St. Louis with the arch,” they add,  “and Seattle has the Space Needle.” For that matter, we’ll always have Paris, which thanks to its concentration of historic slate gray-roofed six and seven-story buildings, many of which date from the mid-19th century and before, has a remarkably uniform and distinct skyline.

Most architects would agree that a great skyline takes time to develop.  “A skyline is something that comes up and comes together and somehow it’s unplanned,” Lepik says. “If you go to Shanghai right now, there are hundreds of skycrapers but they don’t form any really beautiful skyline,” he adds. By contrast, he says, “New York had a certain slow development, which sped up in the 1920s and ‘30s with the Art Deco skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building and Empire State—but it took 30 years to get the coherent skyline.”

See our slideshow of World's Most Stunning City Skylines.

What of a future-forward  city like Dubai? “I wouldn’t call Dubai’s skyline beautiful,” says Lepik,  “because it has grown too fast, without a general idea of what they’re trying to achieve.” But if there is beauty in boldness, Dubai has an incontestably sensational skyline in progress: It started with the erection of the 1,053-foot-tall Burj al Arab Hotel in 1999, a “seven-star” hotel on an artificial island and complete with helicopter landing pad.  And soon it will have the tallest skyscraper in the world: the 1,900-foot Burj  Dubai tower. Financial crisis or not, more brash towers are in the works for the desert sheikdom.

It’s hard to beat Asian tigers like Hong Kong for urban audacity, but our round-up of great skylines holds some surprises, such as… Pittsburgh? Indeed. The city is “right at the intersection of three fairly large rivers, and you approach it through a mountain tunnel, so you arrive completely deprived of a view—and then you’re on a bridge looking at the city,” say Stamberg and Aferiat. “It’s very beautifully proportioned the way it starts fairly low at the river and then climbs to the U.S. Steel building, which is the tallest one there.”

As for Europe, it’s not just about historical aesthetics—modernity is moving in. In his book on skyscrapers, Lepik features two Frankfurt towers, one designed by Norman Foster. Cities like London and Paris increasingly represent a mixture of old and new in which traditional icons mingle memorably with new visions of star architects like Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano. By accident or by design, the result is urban landscapes even more compelling for today’s travelers to discover and explore.



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Tiny hotel fits shrunken budgets

A New York hotel with luxury sheets and state-of-the-art audio for less than $100 a night? All you have to sacrifice is a bit of privacy and a little — well, a lot — of space.

Moving beyond budget accommodations to an idea that borrows from a ship’s berth or a train’s sleeper car, developers are gambling that in tough times travelers looking for a little pampering at lower prices will embrace micro-hotels.

The concept of an entire hotel room the size of a suburban bathroom has spread across Europe in recent years. And as the U.S. economy deteriorates, interest in the idea has grown, especially in high-priced markets like New York City — where there are fewer options for budget travelers.

“It’s certainly the right product for the times,” said Tom Botts, a specialist in the hotel and travel industry at Hudson Crossing, a strategic advisory firm.

The trick, says Sean MacPherson, co-developer of The Jane hotel, is to make its 150 tiny single rooms — about 7 feet wide by 8 feet long — feel “charming and special” rather than simply cramped.

With no room for extra furniture, guests at The Jane — which is opening in stages between now and the end of the summer — stash suitcases and clothing in storage spaces above and below the narrow bed. A large mirror and a small window help stave off potential claustrophobia.

The “micro-luxury” touches at what was originally, in 1908, a hotel that rented cabin-like rooms to sailors for just 25 cents a night include 350-thread count sheets, a 23-inch flat-screen LCD television, DVD player, iPod dock and free wireless Internet.

“If you stay at a hotel at any price, you have to have a sense of hospitality and luxury,” MacPherson said. That’s especially true in this economy, he added, when people are looking to get the most bang for their buck.

So, the bathroom? Alas, you’ll likely have to share two public bathrooms on each floor, which each contain a pair of tiled shower stalls and toilets. The hotel also has 150 larger — and higher-priced — “captain’s cabins” that include private bathrooms and offer a view of the Hudson River.

U.S. interest in the micro-hotel model has intensified as the economy weakens, said Bjorn Hanson, a hotel expert with New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management.

Expensive cities and airports are the prime locations for the concept. But Hanson said but some suburban locations near industrial or research centers might also work.

Botts was skeptical that micro-hotels would work in markets besides the very largest U.S. cities and questioned if the model will be worth the investment for the biggest hotel chains. “It might be a lot of work for not a lot of payback,” he said.

Choice Hotels International Inc., a franchisor of lower-priced chains like Econo Lodge and Sleep Inn, has researched the micro-hotel model and visited some of them. The company has no plans to move into the market right now, said spokeswoman Heather Soule, but is not ruling it out.

And hotel developer Richard Born, who is involved with The Jane and a similar hotel in midtown Manhattan called The Pod, said he and his partner have been approached by more than one national hotel chain looking to expand the micro-hotel concept in the United States.

European micro-hotels owned by the easyHotel chain, saw a steady rise in demand last year that accelerated in the second half as the economy deteriorated, said commercial director Calum Russell. Occupancy at easyHotel’s London properties surged to 81 percent in January, from 65 percent in the same month a year earlier.

Russell said the company has also noticed more business travelers at its hotels as companies scale back on their corporate travel spending.

“People are more budget-conscious,” said Gerard Greene, the chief executive of British-based Yotel, which books pod-like rooms at its airport locations for as little as 25 pounds — about $35 — for a four-hour stay so people can nap during a layover. “The extra 10 pounds, it makes a difference to people.”

In the midtown neighborhood near the United Nations, the Pod’s occupancy levels are hovering near 90 percent as some other once-bustling NYC hotels sit half-empty.

The hotel, which opened in January 2007, has lowered its rates. A bunk-bed room with no bathroom, which peaked at $190 at the height of the market, are now going for $89 a night.

The 350-room hotel’s design is more bare-bones than The Jane’s, and the bed linens are less luxurious. But it, too, offers amenities like flat-screen TVs.

While the prime candidates to stay at micro-hotels tend to be younger international travelers, Born said he has been surprised by the variety of guests who stay at the Pod, including older Americans looking to save money during a trip to the city.

The small space and the shared bathrooms didn’t faze two mother-daughter pairs who stayed at The Pod for two nights during a sightseeing and shopping vacation in New York.

Fifteen-year-old Kate D’Orsi of Hanover, N.H., stayed in a bunk bed room with pal Annie Dade of Norwich, Vt., while their moms stayed in another bunk bed room.

“It feels kind of European in a way,” said Erika Dade, 52. The room, she said, was “a little smaller than I thought it would be, but it’s fun and fine and great for the price.”

There was one catch, she added with a laugh: “My husband wouldn’t (have) fit.”


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