TripAdvisor is plagued with fake reviews. Why? As I wrote about yesterday, the problem of review fraud is two-fold: Intense competition in the travel industry, greatly exacerbated by the state of our economy, has caused hotels and other travel providers to artificially manipulate review rankings in order to achieve increased bookings and revenue. Inherent conflict of interest exists between […]
On reflection, TripAdvisor may at first appear to be a benevolent site where regular people share their honest travel opinions. Dig beneath the surface, however, and you will find something quite the opposite is happening at TripAdvisor. This is big business and the going is rough in today’s economic climate. There are over twenty million reviews on TripAdvisor. I […]
Has this ever happened to you? After a long flight to Hawaii you rush down to the beach only to see Jellyfish warning signs. This let down can be avoided with proper planning. Tip: Check the full moon calendar when planning your vacation and add 8 days. This will give you the approximate date jellyfish arrive on south facing […]
Off the beaten track, on the rural island of Lanai, sits a small hotel that’s undergone big changes lately. When I stayed at Hotel Lanai two years ago, it needed a good touch up both inside and out. Hawaii travel icon, Mary Charles, came to its rescue as the new owner. She went to work immediately on upgrading the […]
We recently tried these northwest Big Island restaurants and came away surprised. Bamboo is in the quaint town of Hawi, while Daniel Thiebault and Merriman’s are in Waimea (Kamuela). 1. Bamboo. We came here with perhaps the lowest expectations, and to our surprise, enjoyed the best food. While it is simple, in a bamboo coffee shop sort of way, […]
A centipede sting is like that of a wasp. How to avoid and what to do if this happens.
When you arrive in Hawaii, or any destination for that matter, you don’t want to get stuck trying to find your luggage when many bags look alike. Plus, similar looking bags have a higher chance of being taken by mistake. To make my luggage stand out, I’ve been custom labeling it for years. Above is an example of what […]
Food costs here in Hawaii can be very high (or not). I’m often amazed by visitors fresh from the plane buying hundreds of dollars of overpriced food at the grocery store. If you’re going to be here for a week or so, just a little extra planning could put hundreds of dollars of savings in your pocket. Enough to […]
Saving money, helping the environment and being healthy can sometimes all easily come together. Apparently, I’m not alone in my thinking. The Environmental Working Group reports that, “Kleen Kanteen,” a California company which produces stainless steel water bottles, did $2.5 million in sales last year and projects $15 million in 2008. I researched then purchased a pair of these […]
I’ve been very fortunate to spend the majority of my life’s flying time in the front of the plane. It started decades ago and I’ve rarely flown in economy since. One of those rarities is pictured above when we made the mistake of flying economy from LAX to Bangkok. I’m not sure however that the photo does justice to […]
