Boutique hotels aren’t a passing fad or a here-today-gone-tomorrow trend. They are a growing sector of the hospitality market.

When the first “boutique?hotel opened in New York in 1984, it caused a stir. Shedding tradition, its whole purpose was to turn a paid-for bedroom into a whole new travel experience. Since then, small, chic hotels have sprung up all over the world; some more successfully than others. Those who have followed the fundamental theme of design-led indiv…
boutique hotels, chic hotels, hip hotels
Boutique hotels aren’t a passing fad or a here-today-gone-tomorrow trend. They are a growing sector of the hospitality market.

When the first “boutique?hotel opened in New York in 1984, it caused a stir. Shedding tradition, its whole purpose was to turn a paid-for bedroom into a whole new travel experience. Since then, small, chic hotels have sprung up all over the world; some more successfully than others. Those who have followed the fundamental theme of design-led individuality have experienced incredible success and that in turn has spawned a new generation of these stylish hotels.

What are the essential characteristics of this type of hotel that will ensure its place in the industry?

Individuality ?boutique hotels are all different. Housed in a wide range of buildings, many of which weren’t intended as hotels or even houses originally, they use design and architecture to create entirely individual structures and spaces that catch the attention and stimulate the senses. Whatever theme or style has been chosen, you’ll never stay in a boutique hotel that’s exactly the same as the last one you stayed in.

Style ?personality and style matter to these hotels. It’s what gives them their intimate atmosphere; their air of authenticity. Boutique hotels go for style that’s deliberately introduced and followed through to the smallest of details, resulting in all-round quality that’s really appreciated by the guests.

Service ?many other parts of the service industry could learn from these small hotels. Their low guest numbers gives them the opportunity to shine when it comes to looking after residents, and their service is always discreet but immediate; helpful without pestering and always pleasant, never patronising.

Quality ?discerning guests know quality when they see it; from the finest bed linen to the freshest ingredients. A boutique hotel takes the time to source materials, furnishings, fabrics and accessories of the finest quality, ensuring that guests are always experiencing comfort and style.

Boutique hotels are here to stay because we like them. For not much more cost than an average high street hotel, they allow us to enjoy the experience of travelling. They give us good design, a high standard of decoration and fittings and outstanding service, reminding us that we often set our standards too low when we travel. They allow us to relax and spend our time exploring and enjoying our destination rather than sorting out problems with the accommodation. They remind us that where we stay is as important as where we go.

Coit Tower is a typical San Francisco landmark located on Telegraph Hill to the north side of the Financial District. Coit Tower could be seen from many places of the city, and is reachable via a steep road and from the usual walking path. Coit Tower stands 180 feet tall, and many visitors like to contact the top of the tower for eye-catching looks of San Francisco and the nearby areas.
San Francisco tours, San Francisco vacations, San Francisco sightseeing, san francisco shuttle tours, San Francisco bus tour.
Coit Tower is a typical San Francisco landmark located on Telegraph Hill to the north side of the Financial District. Coit Tower could be seen from many places of the city, and is reachable via a steep road and from the usual walking path. Coit Tower stands 180 feet tall, and many visitors like to contact the top of the tower for eye-catching looks of San Francisco and the nearby areas. Coit Tower as well features a series of murals painted in the Works Progress Administration, portraying local occupations and neighborhoods.

Coit Tower was built with funds provided by Elizabeth Wythe
Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who donated a third of her fortune upon her death during 1929 to smarten the city of San Francisco. Lillie Coit was a world voyager, and brought back many relics from her experiences, but in fact regarded San Francisco as her true home and desired to stay a permanent legacy to the city. The funds were used to build two memorials: Coit Tower, and a sculpture in Washington Square that depicts three firemen.

It is generally believed that Coit Tower was built as a memorial to the firemen of San Francisco, as Lillie Coit was a lifelong enthusiast of the fire department. However, in spite of the tower’s similarity to a fire nozzle, many historians agree that Coit Tower was just built to improve the beauty of the city. Coit Tower is as well surrounded by steep sceneries grounds which are as well pretty pleasant to be walked through.

Visitors to Coit Tower could take a pulley to the top, appreciating the mind blowing murals along the way. The murals have been reinstated and as well particularly treated so that they would always remain integral, and are considered a very vital part of the history of San Francisco. Among other things, the murals portray farmers in the fields, a bank robbery, and a view into the port, a busy city street, and a lot of variety of other scenes as well. San Francisco Shuttle Tours are accessible of Coit Tower in which the murals are explained in detail. The walk is extremely physically demanding, and space for cars is also limited. Getting to Coit Tower is well values the attempt, however, as visitors are content with a peaceful setting and the striking views of a beautiful city.

Here you can read about the history of the popular game bingo, which includes dried beans, stuttering girls and mad professors.
bingo, lottery game, chance game, beano, Edwin S. Lowe, bingo cards, history, entertainment
The origins of contemporary bingo go back to 16th century Italy, where the lottery game Lo Giuoco del Lotto dItalia was introduced. The popular chance game was introduced to North America in the late 1920s by the name of Beano. A toy salesperson of New York was responsible for changing the name of the game into Bingo and to the increase of its popularity throughout the US.

In the late 18th century, the original Italian lotto game made its way to France. Historical evidence shows that a game called Le Lotto was popular among the French high society who used to play the game in parties and social gatherings.

Le Lotto used to be played with special cards that were divided into three rows and nine columns. Each of the three columns consists of 10 numbers, while each column had five random number and four blank spaces in it. Each player had a different lotto card where he used to mark the number announced by the caller. The first player to cover one row won the game.

By the 19th century, the lotto game spread around Europe and started to serve as a didactic childrens game. In the 1850s, several educational lotto games had entered the German toys market. The lotto games purpose was to teach children how to spell words, how to multiply numbers, etc.

By 1920s, a similar version to the lotto game, known as beano was popular at county fairs throughout the US. In beano, the players placed beans on their cards to mark the called out number. The first player who completed a full row on his card, used to yell out Beano!, until one night in December 1929, when a New Yorker toys salesperson by the name of Edwin S. Lowe visited a country fair outside Jacksonville, Georgia.

On his way back to New York, Lowe had purchased beano equipment including dried beans, a rubber numbering stamp and cardboard. At his New York home, Lowe has been hosting friendly beano games. During one game, one excited winner who had managed to complete a full row stuttered out Bingo, instead of Beano. Listening to the excited stuttering girl, Edwin S. Lowe thoughts went away. Lowe decided to develop a new game that would be called Bingo.

While Lowe’s Bingo game was making its first steps in the market, a Pennsylvanian priest asked Lowe to use the game for charity purpose. After a short tryout period, the priest had found out that the bingo game causes the churches to lose money. Since the variety of bingo cards was limited, each bingo game ended up in more than five winners.

In order to develop the game and to lower the probabilities of winning, Lowe approached Prof. Carl Leffler, a mathematician from Columbia University. Leffler was asked to create bigger variety of bingo cards that each of them will have unique combination of numbers. By 1930, Lowe had 6,000 bingo cards and Prof. Leffler went insane.

Since then, the popularity of the bingo game as a fundraiser continued to grow. In less than five years, about 10,000 weekly bingo games took place throughout North America. Lowe’s company grew to employ several thousands of employees and to occupy more than 60 presses 24 hours a day.

Now, bingo is one of the most popular chance games in the world. It is played in churches, schools, local bingo halls and land based casinos in the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world.

Have the vacation of a lifetime at the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, by knowing the Attractions to see – Best times to visit – Places to stay, and more.
travel,vacation,buffalo bill dam,wyoming
Just six miles west of Cody, Wyoming, is the Buffalo Bill Dam. It is the perfect place to stop off if you are on your way to the Yellowstone National Park as it is just past the tunnels. The park opened in May 1993 as a rest area and visitor center and was converted into the Buffalo Bill Dam Park.

The exhibits and displays are enjoyable and interesting and they will certainly provide some historical information worth knowing. The park is just a few minutes away from the Buffalo Bill Historical Center that is home of the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, The Plains Indian Museum, and also the Draper Museum of Natural History.

Most people don’t make Buffalo Bill Dam their target for a vacation; however it is a great place to visit when you are already in the area to go to Yellowstone National Park. There are a lot of great places like that which are close to another vacation destination but since they aren’t as popular they don’t get as much attention. So, next time you are on vacation consider what’s around you other than the place you are visiting because you just might notice that you have been missing out on a lot!

The Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming is open Monday through Saturday from 8 am until 6 pm and Sunday 10 am until 6 pm the months of May and September and during the months of June, July, and August it is open Monday through Friday 8 am until 8 pm, Saturday 8 am until 6 pm and Sunday 10 am until 6 pm.

Pretty much any time you are driving through the tunnels on your way to or home from Yellowstone national Park you can take a break to see what Buffalo Bill Dam has to offer. If not, you can always come back another day. It won’t take too much time and it is certainly not out of the way, but it is worth checking out when you are in this part of Wyoming .

There is a website that has great information on USA Vacations and Unique Travel Spots Listed State By State and Season, the website is called: Seasonal Vacation Spots, and can be found at this url:

http://www.seasonalvacationspots.com

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright ?2007

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

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Cambodia has seen far more than its fair share of tragedy and misery. The blind masseuses offer a glimpse of the true Cambodian heart and will to carry on.
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Cambodia has seen far more than its fair share of tragedy and misery. The blind masseuses offer a glimpse of the true Cambodian heart and will to carry on.

Seeing Hands Massage

With the onset of the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia took a serious turn for the worse from the late 1970s through the early eighties. When the Khmer Rouge were finished killing or starving as much as twenty percent of the population and finally thrown out of power, the land turned into a lawless morass with all that implies. During this time, numerous people were left disabled. A particularly significant disability was blindness, which arose from torture or muggings undertaken by throwing battery acid in the face of victims.

As the country recovers, a unique and heartening development has occurred with Cambodians that are blind. The Association for the Blind in Cambodia, along with international backers, has been training the blind to be masseuses. Their motto is, “The blind can see with there hands.?

Members of the association travel the country to find potential masseuses. The individuals are then trained until they are masters of the art of massage. The Association has even gone one step further. In Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, the Association for the Blind has opened massage businesses known as “Seeing Hands,?which solely employee the blind masseuses.

I heartily and enthusiastically recommend you get a massage at Seeing Hands if you’re traveling in Cambodia. Driving anywhere in Cambodia is a bone jarring experience. There is no better way to get out the knots than one of these massages. The masseuses are friendly and seem to be able to find every little knot. I guarantee you’ll feel like a new man or woman after getting one.

Each Seeing Hands location has slightly different prices, but all are cheap as is typical for Cambodia. You can expect to spend between three to five dollars for the best one-hour massage you’ve ever had.

On top of it, you’ll feel good to know you’re helping people help themselves. In fact, many of the masseuses make more money a month than people who can see!

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