The Green Police

As a Motella exclusive we can reveal for the first time the training video that has inspired legions of earnest Qualmark inspectors to go forth and impose an environmental mantra on unsuspecting accommodation providers:


Hat tip: No Minister

The Green Police

The Hotel In The Sky

Moteliers that have invested in the concept of offering static guest rooms in single level sausage shaped blocks may be left behind if the latest vision for future accommodation takes off.

Design and innovation company, Seymourpowell has come up with a "hotel in the sky" concept they have called, Aircruise. They propose that a giant, vertical airship powered by natural energy will carry travellers in style and luxury.

We often wonder where you can sign on to become part of a working party that comes up with this wacky stuff!




Source: Click HERE

The Hotel In The Sky

Quicky Motels To Be Taxed More

The innovation and lengths that bureaucrats will go to in order to extract tax has no bounds.

With a reduction of the corporate income tax rate and income tax exemptions for minimum wage workers in Manila, The Bureau of Internal Revenue has been thinking outside the square and are targeting motels to provide additional income streams.

Motels in Manila not only pay income tax but are also charged a value-added tax based on 1.5% of their daily occupancy rate.

It seems that The Bureau of Internal Revenue are not satisfied that the motels are paying their due. They claim that many motel guest rooms have high daily turnover rates due to "trysting lovers" that only stay for a few hours and are not being accounted for in daily occupancy rates.

In order to patch up this anomaly, it is proposed that the value-added tax could be raised to 2-3% in time for Valentines Day.

If this is not accepted, other taxation schemes may be considered in Manila that could  include counting the number of towels and bedsheets used in motels on a daily basis!

Quicky Motels To Be Taxed More

Is the Recession For Tourism Over?

A great discussion topic over at the Tourism Industry Blog: 

We have seen some positive statistics released from Tourism New Zealand on Friday in their article “Optimism Up As Record Arrivals Kick-Start Summer” that show arrivals into New Zealand for December 2009 we up nearly 6% over December 2008 with our Australian VFR market contributing considerably towards that and even arrivals from the US market increased by over 11%.
There are mixed comments from the regions as to whether tourism operators have benefited, in this NZ Herald article numbers are still reported as “patchy” in the Auckland Region but a successful summer for tourism in Northland.

Do these numbers indicate we are out of the recession for the tourism industry?  

Read more....

Is the Recession For Tourism Over?

Lisa Lewis Checks-out

Lisa Lewis is a friend of the Motella Blog, a perennial user of motels AND has our support for her nomination in the 2010 Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award. 

We were looking forward to Lisa competing toe-to-toe with "mainstream" business woman nominees, however it has today been reported that she has sadly missed the cut.

We have yet to ascertain if any of the five successful finalists regularly use motels while pursuing their respective business careers?

Lisa Lewis Checks-out

Why tangi Day?

Are we the only ones feeling a tinge of cultural cringe?

Stolen from: Crusader Rabbit

Why tangi Day?

Telephone Answering Machine Message

One of our more innovative readers sent us the following telephone voice message that was allegedly used at Maroochydore High School in Queensland.

Hmmm...maybe the authenticity could be somewhat dubious, however it has been suggested that this could be easily amended for a motel telephone answering message:

Telephone Answering Machine Message

Indroducing The Tourism Industry Blog

While we are still busy with the day job, why not head over to a new blog that has amalgamated various commentary from the New Zealand tourism industry.

Our virtual friend, Michelle Ackers of ADEPT Marketing has launched a new blog, www.tourismindustryblog.co.nz that publishes ongoing online articles written by a variety of tourism industry contributors that provides an ideal platform for collective knowledge and discussion.

I'll see you over there soon...

Indroducing The Tourism Industry Blog

The Joy Of Travel

"It is better to travel well than to arrive."
  - Buddha  

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends."
  - Maya Angelou 

“All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.”
 - Samuel Johnson

 

Only goes to prove that cultures worlds apart can seemingly have some things in common;-)

 

The Joy Of Travel

We're back!

We are finally back at the motel and busy catching up...

Taking a regular break in this game is necessary for the sanity, however it takes a lot of planning before and some time after to attend to matters neatly piled up by our motel minders.

We often joke to our minders as we leave on holiday about the disasters that they may have to endure. Previously, while looking after our motel  they have experienced a major earthquake, storms that closed roads, a burst pipe that flooded unit, a commercial dryer imploding and even the threat of tsunamis. Luckily, the only disaster that occurred while we were away was a small fire in one of our units. One of our first jobs was to get the unit back into operation and prepare an insurance claim. I think the only disaster left that our hapless minders may have yet to contend with while looking after our motel is a plague of locusts. Watch this space!

Our household has lost the boisterous activities of my son, as he has been deposited back at his boarding school. My daughter has started intermediate school and seems to have been lucky by being assigned a good teacher in the lottery that is state education.

With the return of school, the rhythm of the motel has changed. This is the most popular month for our kiwi comfortable retirees that launch their highly polished Honda Civics on an impromptu road trip. Couples from overseas continue to travel and we welcome back with open arms our core rep market.

I have a feeling it's gonna be a great year! 

We're back!

Cuzzie Catch-Up

Blogging has been somewhat light due to our continued therapeutic break away from motel life.

The highlight of our North Island tour has landed us in Hawkes Bay where we have attended a family wedding. We will be also leaving our boy at his boarding school on Monday and for us this is always a sad moment.

The wedding held yesterday was a lavish affair and started off in rain as we boarded a bus in the Havelock Village to be taken to the service at the bride's old school chapel. The sun broke through after the ceremony in time for photos on the school grounds and were once again whisked away by bus, this time landing at the bride's family farm for the reception.

This wedding has been many months in the planning and the gardens and lawns surrounding the farm house were absolutely stunning. Despite an indifferent forecast the sun continued to shine as we paraded in our finery amongst family members on the immaculately prepared lawn. The bandstand that had been built many years before was finally press-ganged into service. Violin music provided a fitting background as we circulated catching up with long-lost rellies and hydrating ourselves with bubbles between plucking food from circulating trays.

We were soon shepherded into the huge marquee and enjoyed probably the best wedding fare we have ever had. The speeches were articulate, warm and heartfelt. There is always something quite strangely voyeuristic about mingling with relatives that share many of your own traits. The whole day was a stunning success.

Oh...and the accompaning photo? Well, this for me was one of the day's many highlights. I got to add to my stamp collection...

Cuzzie Catch-Up

Hotel Bed Warmers

I couldn't believe this at first, however it's on the Internet so it must be true!

Three Holiday Inn hotels in London have started offering a human bed-warming service. A hotel staff member will  fully enclose themselves in a fleece sleeper suit before slipping between the sheets and warming the bed up to a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius.

It is unclear why electric blankets or good old fashioned hot water bottles can not be used to appease Brits looking for warmth, however the hotel chain has managed to get a physician sleep expert to endorse the off the wall idea.

It has not been reported how popular this service has been.

Maybe in a round about sort of way we can attribute Al Gore for this innovative bed-warming procedure that has been in response to Britain's recent record breaking cold weather snap? The "Gore Effect" is a joke that keeps on giving.

Perhaps the real reason for introducing the human bed warming service is that Holiday Inn has also marked a milestone of launching 3,200 new Holiday Inns worldwide. Publicity from this amusing news story will no doubt assist raise public awareness of the brand.

Source: Click HERE

Hotel Bed Warmers

TripAdvisor's Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels

TripAdvisor has created some perennial surveys that are eagerly awaited. 

The Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels are based on TripAdvisor traveler reviews is perhaps the most widely distributed and commented on survey.

We have had a few conversations with accommodation industry folk that wonder why we at times focus on the more seedy side of commercial accommodation?

Well, our answer is simple. It amuses us and we believe that ANY conversation about the accommodation industry is positive.  The exposure to the light of unsavory accommodation options available takes away the mystery and in fact exposes that the majority of accommodation providers offer enriching experiences for the traveling public.

Sometimes you need to expose the extremes in order to appreciate the overwhelming positives.

Besides, all hotels that gained all top 10 positions in this survey are not surprisingly located in America. Worlds away from the array of fantastic accommodation options available in Kiwiland.

So without further ado, here's the top-10 list that accommodation owners would not wish to appear on:

• 1. Heritage Marina Hotel, San Francisco, California
• 2. Days Inn Eureka/Six Flags, Eureka, Missouri
• 3. Tropicana Resort Hotel, Virginia Beach, Virginia
• 4. Super 8 Virginia Beach/At the Ocean, Virginia Beach, Virginia
• 5. Quality Inn, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
• 6. New York Inn, New York City, New York
• 7. Parisian Hotel & Suites, Miami Beach, Florida
• 8. Capistrano Seaside Inn, Capistrano Beach, California
• 9. Desert Lodge, Palm Springs, California
• 10. Continental Oceanfront Hotel South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida

TripAdvisor's Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels

On The Road Again

It is a perennial question that moteliers often ask themselves - should we take a break away from the motel when it' quiet or when it is busy?

We'll wimp out on a definitive answer to this age-old question and sit on the fence by saying that there is probably logic in taking a break somewhere in between. However, we have decided to throw caution to the wind by taking a break during our busiest time of year and have left our able motel minders to it.

After spending the last several days ambling around the North Island, we have settled in a motel in Taupo and are happy to spend some time on the other side of the reception desk.

We will be continuing our voyeuristic journey from a motel guests' perspective until the beginning of February.

We may see you on the road;-)

Wowzio

grab this · travel blog

PS: Why not add this slideshow to your blog or website. Simply click HERE and follow the simple instructions.

On The Road Again

Excruciating "Romantic Weekend Getaway"

 

Meet  Chicago couple Duane and Edna Schumacher.

Like so many other longtime married Kiwi couples, the Schmachers have a long-established marital routine. So it came as an unwelcome surprise when their daughters gifted them a weekend at the FantasyLand Suites for their 30th anniversary.

Read more about the Schmachers unbearable motel ordeal from check-in, to check-out HERE

Excruciating "Romantic Weekend Getaway"