WanderingJustin.com Rotating Header Image

Hotels/Accomodations

7 Recycled Airplanes that Still Thrill

Apr 29th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

These days, recycling is cool. And so are airplanes – even the Honda Civic of the skies that is the 737.
That makes recycling airplanes an off-the-charts, Ricardo Montalban-level of cool. I’m not talking about turning Cessnas into aluminum cans. I’m talking about turning Boeing jumbo jets into backpacker hostels, or shady old military cargo planes into jungle restaurants.
Here are a few really cool places where you can eat, sleep and/or drink in a recycled airplane. The small but vibrant Costa Rican town of Manuel San Antonio seems to have the largest number, per capita, of such projects. (NOTE: If you know of any others, e-mail me and I’ll include them in a future post).

Not So High-Flying in Costa Rica
El Avion (Manuel San Antonio)

This Fairchild C-123 is linked to the Iran-Contra Affair – but these days, it’s as benign as a glassful of house-made sangria. You’ll find ticos and touristas side-by-side chomping bar food and downing cans of Imperial. And enjoying an unmatched ambience – perched on a cliff, with the occassional monkey cruising by (especially if there’s an unattended trash can nearby). El Avion has history, scenery and a low price. Some of these aircraft carry a hefty price to enter, but at El Avion, a few colones for a pint is all you need. Last Visited – 2003
Hotel Costa Verde (Manuel San Antonio)
Most of the Hotel Costa Verde is pretty typical upscale jungle fare. Unless you book passage in the 727 suite. This room is not only cool for [...]

Rating 7 Hotels in New Zealand

Mar 10th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

You’re not supposed to feed him, but he’s hard to resist. Woodlyn Park    From nz2

Booking a hotel on the other side of the planet is a lot easier thanks to the Internet. But really, you still don’t know what you’re going to get until you step inside a room. And Lonely Planet guidebooks can only tell you so much.
These are the hotels I stayed at during my two weeks in New Zealand, so you’re getting the straight stuff. Each selection varies – if you must have a huge plasma screen in your room, some of these won’t make you happy. But at all points of the price spectrum, they were great deals, especially with the U.S. dollar stacking up so strong against the New Zealand dollar. In fact, I will say that you will not find hotels anywhere near this nice for an equivalent price in the U.S., not even in the bleakest depths of the off-seasons.
Parnell City Lodge
– I had originally booked a room at the Parnell Inn. Shortly before our trip, I got an e-mail from the Parnell Inn staff saying they’d overbooked. Rather than leaving us on our own, they arranged a similar room at the nearby Parnell City Lodge. Rather nice of them, really.

From nz3

Our flight from Los Angeles arrived at 6 a.m., which put us at the Parnell City Lodge way before check-in time. But the staff provided us a safe place to stash our bags while we wandered the city. The office [...]

Update from Wellington Airport

Feb 28th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

Well … it’s been some time the past few days. Waitomo has some awesome caving, and the glow worms inhabiting them are a pretty incredible sight. Waitomo itself … as my new friend Billy Black says, “it’s a two-horse town, and one horse has died.”
That adds up to a lot of quiet, fresh air and clothes that reek of musty caves. The drive to Wellington took us past our old friend, Tongariro National Park. It was good to get a final glimpse of Mt. Ngaurahoe again. Lots of cool little towns between there and Wellington. I have a boatload of photos to share, so stick with me.

Update from Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Feb 24th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
No comments yet

The weather at Tongariro National Park can -and does- change quickly. Rain gear is a must!
Water might be essential, but it’s better to drink it out of a bottle than get soaked in sheets of it falling from the sky. Still, the scenery here is awesome. I have expect to see Bruce Campbell and Kevin Sorbo re-enacting scenes from “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.”
But here’s a preview of the advice to come later: Don’t count on stocking up on energy bars and drinks at the park. Stop in Taupo to load up. Much smarter. I learned this the hard way. Mars Bars are not – I repeat, not- good hiking snacks.

The world’s coolest hotel … and one of the coldest!

Feb 1st, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
7 comments

About a year ago, I talked to a teenager who made an awesome visit to Sweden. He went there to stay at the ICEHOTEL, up in the very far north part of the country. He was a very clever guy who works part time as an architectural draftsman, so he was really fascinated about the idea of a hotel carved each year from ice and snow. He first learned about the ICEHOTEL in a documentary on The Discovery Channel.
It was also his first time traveling out of the country, so I have to give him a lot of credit for being bold enough to spent the better part of 24 straight hours in the air. And even better … from the airport, it was something like 30 miles by dogsled to get to the ICEHOTEL!
Here’s a bit more about the hotel:
It has some permanent, heated rooms. But the really awesome rooms are cold rooms, which workers build each year using blocks of ice from the nearby River Torne. The rooms stay at temperatures from 28 to 40 degrees F.
Each room, according to my source, had a “serene blue glow” from LEDs in the icy walls; the hotel’s silence added to the serenity. He slept on a bed made from ice covered in reindeer fur. The staff wakes guests up each day with a steaming cup of lingonberry juice, which is supposed to do wonders for keeping you warm.
There are some expeditions you can arrange from the hotel. Jukkasjärvi [...]

Photos of Toilets and Rental Cars – Funny Travel Rituals

Jan 20th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
No comments yet

I’m the youngest of three brothers. It’s pretty much a scientific fact that the middle brother is the odd duck of the bunch. Here’s one example why: He travels extensively for business, and takes a photo of each rental car he drives.
That wouldn’t be that odd if he didn’t obviously think other people share this fetish of his: He forced my wife and me to endure a complete slideshow of his rental cars. Though we fired off numerous wisecracks during the show that most people would take to mean “hey, I don’t think they’re into this,” he soldiered on with a grin on his face. Either that or he was just trying to torment us.
I’ve decided that my new travel ritual will be to photograph every toilet in every hotel room, hostel, hut and B & B, and then force him to enjoy a narrated slideshow.
This brings me to the true point of this post, though: Do any of you all have funny travel rituals?

New Zealand plans taking shape

Jan 6th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

Well, the plans for the New Zealand adventure are coming together nicely. I’ve booked a bunch of accommodations on the North Island; Sarah will handle most of the South Island plans.
We’re mostly booking smaller, locally owned hotels. They operate a bit differently than an international chain, where you visit the Web site, enter your dates, pick your room and you’re done. With the smaller places in New Zealand (and in Australia, Costa Rica and Belize, too), you often have to send an inquiry to the hotel with your dates. The staff then gets back to you to confirm, and that’s when you get down to the credit card number business. It takes a bit more time, but it’s worth it. So far, the New Zealand hotels have been super-fast and friendly.
One of the more interesting places we’re staying will be Woodlyn Park. We’ve reserved a room in the tail section of the airplane, which should be all sorts of cool. The New Zealand Department of Conservation was also exceptionally friendly and helpful in giving me the lowdown on how to get hut passes in the Tongariro area.
For me, hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing will be one of the key points of this trip. Obviously, the New Zealand government is really clued in about how to make a hike even better … throughout its parks, you’ll find huts that can range from barely a lean-to to fully heated and enclosed affairs. And they’re pretty inexpensive for a night. That frees up [...]

The Humpiest Hotel Ever?

Jan 1st, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
3 comments

Ahhhhh! There are some things in this world that are simply dripping in cool factor. No, this is marinated in cool, so much that the awesomeness infuses every morsel.
I’m talking about the 747 that’s been turned into a hotel! I know some people might think “hey, why would I want to spend more time on an airplane?” Well, I just happen to love airplanes and flying, so half the fun is getting there. And I can think of little that’s cooler than smartly reusing something.
My buddies over at SpotCoolStuff.com dug this one up, and what a stellar find it is.
As I mentioned in a response to their blog entry, I live in Arizona. We have two massive airplane graveyards (The AMARC in Tucson and Pinal Air Park) and a third smaller one in Goodyear. Each has its share of civilian heavies, C141s and even B-52s. Can you imagine the possibilities if we stopped cutting them up and started doing something really cool with them? In many cases, they’re only getting cut up enough to be rendered unflyable. Here’s a way better way to do that!
Several people have also turned retired 727s into homes. How cool!

Newer Posts →
Subscribe in a reader

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Dont want to go to the cinema? Watch Movies.