Topics Include:
Bob Rauch, Managing Partner, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites Del Mar, San Diego, California, USA.
www.hiltondelmarcampus.com
www.hotelguru.com
Bob Rauch, Managing Partner of the Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites Del Mar in San Diego, California, visits the "Travelers411" Radio Show to share some San Diego sunshine with Travel Expert Stephanie Abrams. Stephanie calls San Diego "one of those seductive places where you might want to shop for real estate because it's so hard to leave." Bob, who is also known as the Hotel Guru, has lived in 11 U.S. cities and has been in San Diego—his favorite—for 21 years.
Why should travelers choose San Diego? Bob has an answer to go with every letter of the alphabet. A stands for attractions: Legoland, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, the Birch Aquarium, and the San Diego Botanical Garden. B stands for Coronado and Del Mar beaches, which Bob calls "about as nice as any." C is for climate, which offers "perfect weather every single day year round," Bob boasts. D is for the Del Mar Fair, which ends in July 2010 and is followed by the Del Mar Racetrack season. The Del Mar Fair began as a getaway for Bing Crosby and other Hollywood stars.
E stands for equestrian trails, which wind through the city's open spaces. F stands for farmers' market, which is a popular activity in nearby small towns. G stands not for golf, but for "God actually lives here." Bob's alphabet continues all the way to Z for talking zebra, a new exhibit in town. "It looks like a real zebra, so kids think they're talking to the real thing," Bob explains. "There's a guy inside, but he can move his body and answer questions." The combination of an ideal climate and a wide range of activities make San Diego popular with tourists, business visitors, and conventioneers alike.
The Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites Del Mar are owned and managed by Bob and family. "I think that all travelers desire to sleep well, so we have Garden Sleep System beds; eat well, so we have a few restaurants, including a New York-style deli; and stay in shape, so we have a 24-hour fitness center, personal training sessions free of charge for guests, and runs with the managing partner, where guests can run with me," he explains.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread:
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1754
For more information visit www.hiltondelmarcampus.com and www.hotelguru.com
Laura Donahue, Vice President of Advertising Public Affairs and Communications, CARMAX, USA.
www.carmax.com
Travel Expert Stephanie Abrams and the "Travelers411" Radio Show hit the road with Laura Donahue, Vice President of Advertising, Public Affairs, and Communications for CARMAX USA. CARMAX is the nation's largest used car retailer, with 103 stores across the country, including the two newest locations in Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio. "We have a wonderful car-buying experience for customers interested in late-model used cars," Laura says.
She adds that CARMAX offers great prices without haggling, guaranteed quality, a 5-day money-back guarantee, and a limited warranty for each car. "Every location has a tremendous selection—generally at least ten times more than the average dealer," Laura explains. "All our inventory is also listed on our website, so you can transfer cars from one location to another if you find one you like online." About 1/3 of cars sold by CARMAX are transferred between locations.
During summer 2010, CARMAX is encouraging family road trips with its LUV2DRV Summer Contest. "In May, we polled over 500 parents who were planning to travel with kids this summer, asking them what made for a successful trip," Laura explains. "We found that DVD players and navigation systems tied for the top must-have accessory and that parents really liked having books and music more than gaming systems. The longest summer drives on average were 8.5 hours each way, and 70% of parents were planning trips in either an SUV or a minivan."
CARMAX also created a Facebook contest for the LUV2DRV campaign. "You can find the contest on the LUV2DRV tab of our Facebook page and enter to win a $2500 gift card, one of five $250 gas cards, or one of five CARMAX trunk organizers," Laura says. "You can also download a summer road trip guide that we put together based on the survey results." The guide includes planning, money-saving, and car readiness tips, ideas for road trip movies and games, and classic road trip tunes you can download.
"We're also encouraging visitors to download a license plate tag, take pictures of themselves with the tag on vacation, and then upload and share their photos," she adds. Listeners on Facebook can enter the contest right away by clicking a button and allowing the application on their page. The contest will run from Memorial Day weekend through July 6, 2010, and Laura hopes they will be able to announce the winners shortly after July 14, 2010.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread:
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1755
Related Photo Galleries:
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/album.php?albumid=384
For more information visit www.carmax.com
Travel Tips:
Most protests and uprisings are limited to areas where tourists never go. For example, the recent protests in Jamaica were centered in Kingston; most tourists head for the beaches, not the city.
Fun Facts:
Sydney, Australia and South Africa have climates similar to San Diego's springlike weather.
Barbara Hutton, heir to the Woolworth fortune, wanted to build a getaway home in a place with an ideal climate. Her team of engineers offered three options: India, Hawaii, and Cuernavaca, Mexico. Since Mexico was closest to California, Barbara built her home in Cuernavaca. Today, it's the Camino Real hotel and restaurant.Guests Include:
Bob Rauch, Managing Partner, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites Del Mar, San Diego, California, USA.
www.hiltondelmarcampus.com
www.hotelguru.com
Laura Donahue, Vice President of Advertising Public Affairs and Communications, CARMAX, USA.
www.carmax.com
Topics Include:
Katherine Myers, Director of Marketing and PR, Mass MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, USA.
www.massmoca.org
Katherine Myers, Director of Marketing and PR for Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, visits Travel Expert Stephanie Abrams and the "Travelers411" Radio Show to talk about contemporary art exhibits in summer 2010. Mass MoCA stands for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The museum is open year-round, unlike some of its neighbors in the Berkshires.
Since Mass MoCA has both museum and performance space, it hosts live events each week. On July 31, 2010, Leonard Nimoy's "Secret Selves" exhibition will open at Mass MoCA. The museum also recently opened two new exhibitions: Petah Coyne's Everything That Rises Must Converge and Material World, a group exhibition. "Material World is a bunch of artists who all make huge installations, environments you kind of walk into, out of really commonplace materials," Katherine says. "One artist uses rope, another paper, and another aluminum foil. So it's really fun, good for kids and families." Museum visitors can also currently see a Sol Lewitt retrospective, which Katherine promises will be around for a while.
Mass MoCA is located in North Adams, which Stephanie describes as a quintessential New England town. It's often called the Steeple City for its many downtown churches. The city is also host to DownStreet Art, in which gallery spaces both temporary and permanent are set up in storefronts along the main street. The exhibition will run from July through October's foliage season in 2010. Stephanie encourages listeners to explore the area's cultural offerings, which also include a food festival and the more lighthearted Beach Day in August.
What is it like to visit Mass MoCA? "It's very different from your usual museum experience," Katherine says. "We're really big—we're in an old factory that's over 110 years old and use the factory spaces as galleries. So we have big open spaces, which gives us the ability to put in different kinds of art that you might not see in other museums." Mass MoCA is committed to working with living artists, so most of its works were either designed specifically for the museum or installed by the artist. The museum also offers a co-ticket with the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, so visitors can save money.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread:
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1753
For more information visit www.massmoca.org, www.clarkart.edu and www.nrm.org
Alex Randall, Radio Show Host of "The Good News Guy", Station WSTA, Professor and Department Head of Communications Department of University of US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, USVI.
www.water-island.com
www.vinow.com/podcast
Alex Randall, Radio Show Host of "The Good News Guy" and Professor and Department Head of Communications at the University of U.S. Virgin Islands, brings some island sunshine to Travel Expert Stephanie Abrams and the "Travelers411" Radio Show. "The Good News Guy" broadcasts on WSTA St. Thomas, a radio station founded by the father of Addie Ottley, a friend of Stephanie's and a radio host himself. Although the USVI belong to the U.S., Stephanie doesn't think that they get the attention they deserve from American tourists.
Alex first visited the USVI as a child, when his father sailed around St. Thomas and declared it the best sailing he'd ever seen. "Over time, we got bigger and bigger boats until my mother said she wanted a shower and bought a cottage on the shore of Water Island," he says. Today, Alex lives on Water Island, which is a short ferry ride from St. Thomas. Although Stephanie describes the island as "an experience out of the Australian outback," Alex insists that Water Island's lack of cars is part of what makes it special.
There is only one civic building on Water Island, which houses the post office, lending library, and bulletin board, and which Stephanie describes as "a lean-to with poles supporting a roof." This is not unusual; most buildings on the USVI have screens and louvers instead of windows and doors, thanks to the warm climate. And Alex emphasizes that the post office is still the U.S. Postal Service. "We're still in the USA, flying the same flag," he says. "You can use American dollars, you don't need a passport to visit, and there's no Montezuma's revenge. It's a paradise that's part of the USA, which is the magic of living here."
The U.S. originally purchased the USVI as a submarine base; then-President Woodrow Wilson wanted to keep Bismarck's navy from taking over the Panama Canal. Today, the waters are a bit safer; Alex says he swims every day and hasn't missed a day since he moved there 15 years ago. "No place on Earth quite matches the collection of things that make the USVI so perfect," he says. "It's still the USA, your passport and dollars work, you have the security of the same federal government, it's a paradise of perfect weather, and the locals are charming and pleasant."
For a real beachcombing experience, Stephanie recommends Bolongo Bay; for a luxury experience, Stephanie suggests the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas. Most importantly, she urges listeners to visit the USVI. She's confident that if more people visited, more tourism dollars (instead of funding from the federal government) could go towards upkeep of the islands. Alex agrees, but points out that it's an expensive place to maintain. "Things rust faster here because it's the tropics!" he explains.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread:
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1756
For more information visit www.water-island.com and www.vinow.com/podcast
Fun Facts:
North Adams is the smallest city in the state of Massachusetts.
Guests Include:
Katherine Myers, Director of Marketing and PR, Mass MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, USA.
www.massmoca.org
Alex Randall, Radio Show Host of "The Good News Guy", Station WSTA, Professor and Department Head of Communications Department of University of US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, USVI.
www.water-island.com
www.vinow.com/podcast
