Big Donations and Big Weddings

This fourth posting of recent news to catch my eye.

On the subject of nonprofits, Toronto Star columnist Carol Goar explores the problems underlying the mega-donations that are increasingly popular these days, wondering if their rise is causing smaller donors--who are the backbones of most organizations--to cut back, feeling that their donations matter less.  Check out her thoughts at http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/846321--goar-mega-donations-pose-deep-questions

And for a different perspective...
Andrew Brown of the Guardian weighs in on the wedding controversy--no, not the gay-straight one, but the big religious versus small civil one.

The great point about completely impersonal ceremonies, whose form is the same for everyone, whether these are religious or entirely civil, is that they remind us that the problems and difficulties of marriage are universal. They come from being human. They can’t be dodged just by being our wonderful selves, even all dusted with unicorn sparkle. His comments were an Idea of the Day ( http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/the-trouble-with-weddings/).

Corporate Responsibility, Possible Money Grabs, and the ROI of Tutoring: News Stirring Thought about Workplace Learning

• Business owner Paul Downs wonders "Do I owe my employees a career path? Although he wants to retain employees and found that specialist workers are the most productive, he wonders what happens when workers "top out" on the career paths within his company.  He voices a concern that many employers feel--but concludes the value of supporting his workers outweighs the costs.  Read his thoughts at http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/do-i-owe-my-employees-a-career-path/?ref=business.
• Jeanne Meister and Karie Willyerd make 10 predictions about the future of training in a recent posting on ASTD's Learning Circuits.  Most of the post focuses on the of technology in the future of workplace learning.  But they present more of an enthusiastic rather than critical look at the technology. For example, they see 3-D applications as a low-cost alternative to labs, without addressing the sometimes considerable cost of developing the software-based simulations.  Similarly, they talk about the increasing role of mobile apps but fail to link it to the larger--and ongoing--conversation about supporting performance and transferring training, which is the real process by which these applications for mobile devices offer value to learning.

They also note the role that public policy plays in encouraging workplace learning, and talk about individual learning accounts that some jurisdictions are offering their taxpayers.  But once again, they fail to demonstrate critical thinking about these accounts.  Meister and Willyerd present the accounts as additional revenue sources for tuition for workplace learning.  Why should workers pay their own cash for training on proprietary skills and products that only benefit the employer, when they could invest those funds in a neutral third-party provider who would provide the worker with durable, transferable skills that would make the worker attractive to all employers?  

In terms of the future of trainers, Meister and Willyerd advocate for mostly clerical role: accrediting workers' skills, saying that workers won't necessarily demonstrate competency through courses but, rather, through on-the-job activities. Meister and Willyerd present that certification responsibility as an exciting role--and the primary viable option for trainers.  But they only partially describe exactly what that role is for trainers.  Reading between the lines, if this role is similar to the role that Meister saw for in-the-trenches trainers at corporate universities, one real possibility of this view is that primary role of in-the-trenches trainers under this vision is to serve as contract administrators and trainers of on-the-job coaches—kind of like a specialized purchasing team for training.  This is hardly the "strategic partner" who has a "seat at the corporate table"  view advocated by the trade press and actively explored by strategic HRD research and theory.

Read the full article at http://www.astd.org/LC/2010/0710_meister.htm.

• Although, ostensibly about parents purchasing tutoring services for their children (a booming industry, which grew 5 percent last year, despite the recession and cuts to schools), Paul Sullivan’s exploration of the “returns” on such tutoring offers some glimpses into the challenges of tallying the ROI of training.   For example, some parents come to tutoring with unrealistic expectations—that the only successful outcome is acceptan999ce to an Ivy League school. I was also surprised by the fees that some of the Manhattan-based tutors charge—as high as 8 times the rate of many contract instructional designers and technical writers. Check out Sullivan’s analysis at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/21/your-money/21wealth.html?hpw=&pagewanted=all. Visited August 21, 2010.

Scandals, Unnecessary Expenses, and $320K Kindergarten Teachers: News Roundup about Research, Schools and Higher Education

This second posting of news focuses about

• Research 
• Schools
• Higher education

New from the research front: The recent announcement about a test for Alzheimer's disease is one of the first fruits of an unprecedented willingness among researchers in government, universities and industry (including pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers) to share data immediately.  This limited the amount of unnecessary duplication in research, thus allowing researchers to act on findings more quickly.  Apparently, the next area on which researchers have agreed to share data is the fight against Parkinson's disease.  Another plug for the "open" movement.  Check out the entire story at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/health/research/13alzheimer.html?hp=&pagewanted=all.

News about  schools

• My former home town of Atlanta is giving high-stakes testing a whole new meaning.   Seems that the improvement in some of the public schools is too good to be believed, resulting in widely believed accusations of cheating on the standardized tests, with the superintendent of schools receiving the most of the blame.

An independent investigation has made significant inroads into clearing the superintendent of schools but that's not good enough for some.  A recent New York Times article provides an outsider's take on the situation: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/education/08atlanta.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all .

• On a brighter note, David Leonhardt reports on an economic analysis showing that the most effective kindergarten teachers have a strong--and quantifiable--long-term effect on their students.  In one long-term study of former kindergarteners from Tennessee, the research suggests that the impact is $320,000.  Read "The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers" at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/economy/28leonhardt.html?src=me&ref=business for details.

(Note to teachers:  Don't expect the pay raise any time soon.)

Meanwhile, higher education is taking quite a rap in the press.

• In his OpEd piece, Academic Bankruptcy, religion professor Mark C. Taylor explores the real cost of the high-cost, high-stakes game of competition in higher education.  I'm not sure that he gets at all of the issues driving up academic costs, but he certainly identifies some key ones.  Read the piece at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/opinion/15taylor.html?hp.  

Also check out readers’ responses to Taylor.  Most challenge his arguments based on their personal issues, rather than meaningfully extend it.  

• But a couple of authors are asking a more fundamental question: is a college education even worth the cost.
• Time author Ramesh Ponnuru wonders whether Society "should help more kids go to college — or that we should make it easier for people who didn't go to college to make a living?"  (Visit http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1967580,00.html for the complete argument.)
• New York Times reporter Kristi Oloffson suggests that an oversupply of college graduates exists on the job market--an oversupply that goes beyond the current recession--and many graduates face the real possibility of not being able to replay their student loans.  Certainly some Canadian research by the WALL team at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for the Study of Education suggests that many degreed people are over-educated for the jobs they have.  Read Oloffson's article at  http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1946088,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-sidebar.

Life and Death of e-Mail and e-Books: Roundup of Recent News on Media and e-Books

The next few posts take a brief pause from the account of my sabbatical over the past year to report on some of the news that caught my eye over the past few weeks about:

• Media (general)
• e-Books

Then

• Research
• Schools
• Higher education

Next, workplace learning
And

• Nonprofits
• And a different perspective

News about media (general)
The blogosphere is chockablock with predictions of various technologies.

For example, a couple of months ago, Tim Young declared the death of e-mail on the Knowledge is Social blog (http://blog.socialcast.com/social-networks-spur-the-demise-of-email-in-the-workplace/).   On the one hand, he was accurately reading surveys saying that use of e-mail was declining, especially among younger people, who prefer instant messaging, texting, and social networks for communicating.

Over time, however, we in the media tend to love hyperbole about media.  The typical story goes like this: a new medium is going to “kill” an existing one.  Television was going to replace radio and movies.  Cable would kill broadcast television.  Computers will replace the classroom.

But as sociologist Neil Selwyn observed at the recent ED-MEDIA conference in Toronto, such hyperbole can, at times, sound “ridiculous” (he was specifically referring to a comment that social media will replace schools).

Steve Lohr puts the situation into a broader perspective in a recent analysis in the New York Times, observing that—in the long-run—media adapt.  Radio lost its primacy as an entertainment medium, but found new lives—first as background music, news and talk (which has taken a primary role in shaping political debate (my addition))—and later, through satellite radio with a  wide range of music and conversation.  Lohr even identifies podcast as a reinvention of the radio show.

Similarly, rather than lose to television, movies reinvented themselves, first with gimmicks like 3D (geez—and now television is trying the same thing) and, later, with a richer viewing experience not feasible through television.

E-mail?  That’s not dead either.  It’s just morphing in use as are telephone calls.  People may be calling less, but some evidence suggests that some of all of all that increased texting is used to schedule phone conversations.  Merely calling people to say hi unannounced is increasingly seen as an intrusion.

Check out Lohr’s analysis, Now Playing: Night of the Living Tech, at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/weekinreview/22lohr.html?ref=weekinreview.

News about e-books

• Michael Wolf declares that "e-Books Won the War." I didn't realize we were at war (at least, not over books).  From my perspective, the conversion from print to e-books is part of a larger, systemic conversion from print to online information, and the conversion is very much in process and likely to continue for the foreseeable future.  But, like most industry pundits, hyperbole is intended to drum up attention and, perhaps, business.  Read his comments at http://gigaom.com/2010/08/06/how-e-books-won-the-war/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%29&utm_content=Twitter.
• For a more fact-based account of the situation with e-books, check out the current issue of Spectrum, IEEE's magazine.  After providing a current assessment of the brutal market conditions for manufacturers of e-book readers, Spectrum's  editors report the results of their testing and ranking of all the e-readers out there, including obscure ones that no one ever hears about, like the Bookeen Cybook Opus and the Hanvon WISEreader.  Among the useful information in the reviews are the strengths and drawbacks to each reader, and a list of formats that the readers can display.  No format is universal (a problem), but the ePub and PDF formats seem extremely popular.  Read the article at http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/tools-toys/the-ipad-the-kindle-and-the-immutable-laws-of-the-marketplace/0

Travel Pet Peeves

Although I learned a lot from my travels, a lot of things bothered me while I was on the road.   


In this posting, I describe some of the little everyday things that irritated me. In the next several posts, I explore some of the systemic issues—specifically, the usability of airports, train stations, and metro systems.  

• Musicians on the Metro (as opposed to those in the Metro station, who usually have to go through an audition process).  Just as I would get into a meaningful conversation with my partner, or go into a deep thought, a not so quiet-nor-comforting concert (I’d hardly call it a serenade) would start.  Something upbeat, with an accordion or something similarly loud.   
• Panhandlers on the Metro.  They walk from car to car, cup in hand, yelling at people or parading disabled relatives, in a bid for passengers’ money.  Perhaps my irritation is cultural; in Atlanta—where I lived for a decade—the city has posted signs throughout the city advising people not to support panhandlers.  In contrast, the Parisians seem quite supportive of their panhandlers.  I felt bad for those on the train from the airport to the center of the city; most were stingy tourists like me. 
• Panhandlers in McDonald’s and Starbucks.  Same as on the Metro, but in a more stationary location.  One tried to hit us up just as we were sitting down to eat at McDonald’s.   
• Street signage—or lack thereof.  The older the city, the more invisible the signage, and the more challenging the task of finding a destination.  
• Mis-directions from locals.  Although well-intentioned, they’re often inaccurate.  For example, someone told me, “The metro station is just 5 minutes from here.”  I’m sure it was 5 minutes from here, but a different “here” than where we were.  In another place, someone said, “It’s just one block to the Metro.”  Then how do they explain the other two blocks?   
• Internet access fees in European hotels.  They’re over twice as expensive as in the few North American hotels that still charge for Internet access.  But at least the better hotels explain their fees.  One hotel failed to mention it, then tried to stick me with a 65 euro bill when we checked out.  
• Texting everywhere.  What’s annoying is that it slows people down when they walk, and they block the walkway.  
• People who have to yammer on their cell phones in a plane up until the minute the flight attendant announces that they must be turned off.  One time, I had to listen to some guy talking to his kid in graphic detail about her stomach ache.  
• People who have to yammer on their cell phones on a plane the second the flight attendant says that they can be used again.  It’s especially bizarre on cross-country, red eye flights that arrive on the east coast at 5:30 or 6 am.  Who’s awake to take the call?  
• People who yammer on their hand-held cell phones when they drive.  Even if they weren’t putting the safety of others at risk, on highways, they usually drive about 15 to 25 km slower than all of the other traffic, and selfishly cause traffic to back up.  
• People who text and drive.  One can look at the road or look at the screen of their phone, but it’s hard to do both at once.
• The lack of public information campaigns about talking on hand-helds, texting, and driving in states and provinces that have supposedly outlawed them.  As drivers need to be reminded about the speed limit, they also benefit from occasional reminders about the local mobile phone laws.  

My biggest pet peeve?  The way that traveling makes all of us irritable people who become so focused on our pet peeves, we forget the amazing opportunities that we’ve been given to see new places, meet new people, experience other cultures and, most significantly, stay in touch with people who would have otherwise left our lives.  


It's a situation in which the user experience is overlooked by everyone except the user, because the problems occur--as Rummler and Brache observe--in the "white space" between organizations.  Or more specifically, the black hole that's "not my fault" but isn't anyone else's either.  The next several posts explore three specific travel experiences that are ridden with black holes: airports, trains, and subways.  

Next post:  The Usability of Airports and Planes.  

Hotel Recommendations in Europe

In addition to opinions about the museums and attractions we visited (and have consumed this blog these past months), I also had opinions about the hotels where we stayed.


This post shares those opinions (which I’ve also posted on TripAdvisor.com), so people who are thinking about visiting these cities— 

• Berlin
• Barcelona
• Istanbul
• Madrid
• Paris
• Valencia 

can figure out if they, too, would like to stay in the same hotels.


But first, I describe the challenge of finding hotel rooms on the Internet.


Finding Hotel Rooms on the Internet: As I’ve aged, I’ve become pickier about the places where I sleep.  And because I was visiting new places on this trip—and visiting others where I still did not feel I knew the city well—I invested a fair amount of time in researching hotels.


At times, it felt like too much time.  I could spend hours checking out hotels in a single city looking for possible bargains, then comparing prices with other websites to see who offered the best deal.  (In most cases, it’s the hotel’s own website that offers the best prices.  Or, if the price is the same as another site, then the hotel’s site offers more flexibility (such as refundable hotel reservations.) (And if the search was conducted over several days, I had to verify rates, which could change daily or even more frequently.)


Once I found a hotel that had the right combination of features and prices, I wanted to check out its look—and checked out the photographs on the official and tourist websites.  But not trusting these, I also turned to reviews.  TripAdvisor.com became the most valued source.  It rates hotels numerically and provides written reviews. For 3-star hotels and up, I looked for hotels with an 8.5 rating or above; for 2-star hotels, 7.5 or above.


But I also paid attention to the number of reviews (for a hotel with just 5 reviews, one bad review can significantly lower the ratings) as well as the written comments (to determine whether the people who offered low ratings had a valid complaint or seemed like complainers with unrealistic expectations).


In the end, I was pleased with the advice TripAdvisor gave as I was generally pleased with all of the hotels I visited, except one. In that particular case, the concern had to do with the staff, not the hotel itself.


Barcelona—Hotel Europark:  The only difficult part of this hotel was checking out.  The process itself was easy; we didn’t want to leave.  This hotel pleased on every level.  The reservation process was easily handled online and we were able to easily change reservations online, too.  The website is easy to navigate and provides an accurate depiction of the hotel.  The hotel made a great first impression; it’s clean, attractive, handsomely furnished—with a black, white, and gray stripe motif that shows up everywhere, from the lobby to the sheets on the beds.


Because we arrived early in the day after an all-night train ride from Paris (around 9 am), we did not expect to be able to check in.  But we had no problem.  After a scary all-night train ride in coach (that included a brush with a scary looking stowaway and some possibly illegal immigrants), we would have been pleased with any room.  But this room was particularly appreciated—with those striped sheets, hardwood floors, clean lines, and comfortable bed.  Ours was the smaller double room but it was sufficiently large.  The bathroom was terrific—a large counter beside the sink with sufficient space for the toiletries of two people and a huge tiled shower.  The flat screen TV had a great choice of channels, including an Andalusian channel with an addictive soap opera late at night.  Free, wireless Internet is available in all rooms.


The only limited aspect of the room was the view—an interior courtyard with views of other windows and a brick wall.  Breakfast (extra, but a good deal if you purchase it with the reservation) is served in a pleasant room on the first floor.  The selection of food was large, without being gluttonous.  The orange juice was freshly squeezed and the coffee freshly brewed.  And it gave me a glimpse at the other guests.  In terms of looks, they seemed interesting.  In terms of other things, I have no idea.


The location is excellent.  It’s about a 10- to 15-minute walk to Passeij de Gracia, the main shopping street, another 10- 15-minute walk to the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, and a 5- to 10-minute walk to the Metro, which is 4 stops from the main strain station (which is not the one where trains from Paris arrive, but that’s an unrelated issue).


Berlin—Holiday Inn Express Berlin City Centre: In terms of basic facilities, this comfort-priced hotel is adequate. The room, while on the smaller side, has an OK bed, small desk, and a fine bathroom.  The TV was older and had a broken remote control, but did offer only 2 English channels (both news—but this is Germany, so any English language programming is appreciated).  Breakfast is standard (I still remember the days when it was standard at all European hotels, which is no longer the case) and, for a cold buffet, is more than adequate.  The highlight is the sophisticated coffee machines, which can make nearly every imaginable espresso drink.  Location is fine—about a 5-minute walk from an S-bahn station and 10-minute walk from Potsdamer Platz and its U-bahn station or Checkpoint Charlie (and its tourist spots).


My hesitation is with the staff, whose failings were numerous.  Because of a change in travel plans, I needed to change the arrival and departure dates (arriving a day earlier, leaving a day later).  I called the hotel and they changed the reservation. But when I checked the online record, the reservation had not been changed.  When I called the hotel to correct their error, the guy at the front desk gave me a hard time, until I pointed out that his colleague was the one who made the error, not me.


During the stay, the front desk staff provided inaccurate information about public transport. After convincing me to take a bus (I wanted to use the subways), they didn’t change my 20 euro note, saying that the bus driver would make change.  That was not correct—it seemed that correct change was needed, as is the case in North America.,


But the most serious problem occurred at checkout.  They tried to charge me for Internet use.  I was kind of taken aback; the website specifically mentions complimentary access.  Furthermore, when I connected to the net in my room, no splash page appeared warning of the charge, as is typical of all hotels.  The guy at the front desk said I was supposed to be told at check in.  I wasn’t.  When he said that he had to charge me for the service, I told him he could, and the first thing I would do is put the charge into dispute.  He relented.


I went back and checked the web page—in bold face type, it says, “Complimentary Internet access” and in non-bold type (almost guaranteed to be missed), it then says, “in the lobby.”  Furthermore, the site never specifically mentions there’s a charge for access in rooms.  This—coupled with the failure of the staff to mention this at check-in and the lack of a splash screen warning that every other hotel (including all of the other ones in the Intercontinental chain)—makes me believe that this is a scam to scrounge up a few extra euros from clueless travelers.

Istanbul—Crowne Plaza Istanbul Old City: I strongly recommend this hotel.  In terms of service, it was great.  The staff was responsive, even with the oddest request (we wanted a knife delivered to our room to eat some cheese and crackers we had bought).

The room was large, had great TV service, and great bathroom, and made for a comfortable trip. The bed was excellent—I think it had memory foam mattress (but I didn’t check).

The location was excellent, too—an easy walk to the tramway, and a slightly longer walk to the Metro station.  (It’s about 5 blocks.)  On a decent day, it’s easy to walk to most of the major sites like the Grand Bazaar (about 5 to 10 minutes), Topkapi Palace and the Archeology Museum (about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your pace), Great service. Responsive staff.  Great location.  Use the trams—convenient.  The Metro is fine, too—but a little further away.  The hotel also offers free Internet—not just wireless access in the room, but also use of a free station in the business centre.

The only hassle is traffic—the poor taxi driver seemed to have to solve the Rubik’s cube puzzle to get through to the hotel, because the streets nearby are so narrow and crowded.  But if it’s your first trip to Istanbul, I’d still recommend getting a taxi from the airport to the hotel.   That said, once you become familiar with the public transit system, it’s faster and easier—less than half the time.  But as I said, this is a minor issue and not a reflection of the hotel.


Madrid—Ibis Madrid Centro:  I didn’t like this hotel at first.  It was impossible to find when getting out of the Metro.  Admittedly, that’s partly my fault, because I didn’t print the map.  But it’s just as much the Ibis Hotels’ fault.  The map on one of their official websites did not name the Metro stop, much less mention which of the six exits to choose.  When traveling with a now frustrated partner, and you both have heavy luggage that must be carried up a flight and a half of stairs to get out of the station, that’s key information.  Worse, one of those six exits is half of a block from the hotel.


Few people we asked knew about the hotel, it’s not marked on any of the maps in the Metro station, and when we finally did get near the hotel, its entrance is nearly impossible to find.  Unlike most hotels, this hotel has a simple, single door underneath the vertical sign—defiinitely not a typical hotel entrance.  Furthermore, the street entrance is one level below the registration desk, and there’s only a stair and a tiny freight elevator to reach it.


So I wasn’t exactly a happy traveler when I checked in.  But the perky front desk agent got past my admittedly sour attitude, and the room—while basic (especially in contrast to our rooms in Barcelona and Valencia)—was comfortable, had a great bathroom, and had free Internet.


After we recovered our happy moods, we went exploring and realized that the hotel was in a good location, about a 20-minute walk from the Gran Via, and another 10- to 15-minute walk from the historic Plaza Mayor, a half of a block from the Metro station, and had a number of restaurants nearby, including a terrific Peruvian restaurant and a local chain restaurant we liked—Vips (whom we learned owns the Starbucks operation in Spain and Portugal).


One drawback to the location is that a theater is on the lower levels of the building and there are lots of clubs and restaurants nearby.  That results, in turn, in a lot of street noise late at night.  We had no difficulty sleeping, but we did hear the noise.


Although we didn’t purchase it with our room, we took the ample and reasonably priced breakfast buffet each day. Though less extensive than in Barcelona and Valencia, our expectations were also changed because the Ibis is a tourist class hotel, not a boutique or luxury class one as the other two hotels were.  The buffet actually compared favorably to the one at the Holiday Inn Express in Berlin.


The guests, too, seemed like nice people from all over Europe and the UK.


Although the lobby and breakfast area on the entry level seemed a bit compact, the staff had room to store our luggage on the last day of our visit, when we had to check out by noon but were not leaving for the train station until 5 pm.


In fact, the staff was always kind and helpful, and provided knowledgeable tourist information about the sites and the Metro system whenever we asked for it.


I’ve not been an Ibis fan in the past.  But I am now.  All in all, this hotel offered  a pleasant tourist class experience.


Paris—Crowne Plaza Paris—Republique: Excellent hotel—strongly recommend.  In terms of the staff and service, they’re superb.  Greeted warmly and promptly each time I visited the front desk.  They even humored me by speaking with me in my broken French, even though we were all capable of conducting the transactions in my native English.


Rooms were a bit on the small side, but still excellent and comfortable.  I thought the bed was comfortable but my partner felt otherwise.   When I requested a wake-up call, it was signaled both by phone and through the TV.


One thing to note about the room: it has a digital mini-bar.  We didn’t buy anything, but did use the refrigerator for food and drinks that we stored. There’s a miniscule personal area in it (about enough for a candy bar and a small can of Coke).  And if you move anything in the mini-bar, it automatically charges the purchase to the room.  The staff is excellent about taking the charge off of the bill.


The hotel does not provide free Internet. By North American standards, it’s ridiculously pricey.  But there’s free Internet access nearby in the McDonald’s and Quick fast food restaurants.


In terms of location, it’s less than a block from the Republique Metro stop, which is served by 5 lines (which, according to an informational sign in the station, represents one line for each of the five republics).


The Republique area is well-located—lots of restaurants on the beautiful square, as well as some cool shops.  And if you’re looking to control food costs, there’s a small urban grocery (Monop) a half of a block from the hotel (as well as two other similar markets within one-half-block of the Republique square).  And within a 5- to 20-minute walk are many of the boutique museums in the city (like the Musee des Arts et Metiers and the new Chocolate Museum), and as well as the stores of the Grand Boulevard (a bit more of a hike).


Valencia—SH Valencia Palace: Because the conference I attended in Valencia was housed at the SH Valencia Palace, I stayed there.  Frankly, the process of making the reservations online only raised concerns about the hotel.  Rather than make reservations through a secure website (as is typical of most hotels these days), I had to complete a form offline (with my credit card number), scan it in, and send it un-encrypted to the hotel. They responded quickly and confirmed my reservation, but with my guard always up, I had concerns all the same.


But the speed and friendliness the staff showed in responding to my request for a reservation was backed up by a hearty greeting when I arrived at the hotel.  In fact, trying to practice my Spanish, I spoke with them in Spanish and they humored me (initially responding in English, but I asked to practice).  Check-in went quickly, and we soon entered our phenomenally spacious room (had to be at least 20 feet long, plus a 12-foot bathroom, with a separate room for the toilet and bidet).


But I understood the reservation process after seeing the hotel; it is an elegant hotel, but it is somewhat dated, perhaps 20 years old. And, despite having flat screen TVs in all of the rooms, it is probably ready for a major renovation giving it a contemporary look—and a website giving it contemporary reservation capabilities.


But that’s no complaint about the hotel.  The staff was always ready to help, offered accurate tourist information, and always offered a friendly hello.  More importantly, they were one of the few staffs who remembered us from day to day.


Breakfast was included in our room fee, and the buffet was easily the most bountiful of all of the hotels we visited.  It was the only hotel with a large hot display—made-to-order omelettes, as well as an extensive selection of meats and salads, a wide array of fresh fruit, fresh squeezed orange juice, and tempting sweets (doughnuts, pastries, and pies).  The display even included crackers and cereal bars.  The selection of breads, however, seemed limited and getting coffee seemed to be an effort. (Most days, they served, but were not always around; but one day, it was self-serve.)


The location of the hotel was good: a 5 euro cab ride from the  train station and an easy walk to the Metro, the historic center of the city, and the architecturally eye-grabbing City of Arts and Science. Directly across the street from the hotel is an ancient river that has since run dry—and the city has turned into a lush park, whose orange trees were full of oranges when we visited.


Although the hotel offers Internet access, it’s not free nor cheap.  


But the huge bed, excellent views from the window, and kind hotel staff are included in the room rate.  All in all, a great hotel.

Next Post: Travel Pet Peeves.

How Travel Has Changed Since1973 (When I First Started Traveling)

This post begins a series of posts that explore the general experience of traveling.  The first few posts provide some general insights, then I offer hotel recommendations, and then present several posts that explore the usability of air, rail, and Metro (subway) travel experiences.


But this first post waxes nostalgic: how travel has changed since I first started traveling.


I’ll start by dating myself: I took my first major trip in 1973; a bus tour across the USA on a bus with 46 fourteen- to seventeen-year-olds, and 4 chaperones. We traveled the Interstate system and stayed in hotels for most of the 50 nights of the trip. That trip launched an odyssey that continues to this day and has taken me to all but one state in the US, 7 Canadian provinces, all continents except Antarctica, and 25 countries.


The travel experience has significantly changed in the ensuing decades.  Off the top of my head, here are some of the major ones:


McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Dunkin Donuts have replaced Stuckeys as the roadside stop. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Stuckey’s is a chain of roadside convenience stores with gas stations and limited counter service. Their advertised specialty was pralines, but I liked their sesame chips.  When I took that first road trip in 1973, it seemed like we could find a Stuckey’s at every exit.  I hardly every see them; I ran across one on the Florida panhandle a couple of years ago.


Starbucks, Nathans, and Roy Rogers have replaced Howard Johnsons as the rest stop restaurant.  On the east coast, Howard Johnson’s was the leading family restaurant, and the restaurant at nearly every rest stop on every state turnpike.  They had clean wash rooms, acceptable food, and great salt water taffy. By the mid-1980s, Roy Rogers replaced many of the Howard Johnson’s at rest stops.  More recently, Starbucks and a resurgent Nathan’s have taken up shop at these rest stops.    


Fewer toll booths exist and the ones that do have gone electronic.  For example, the Connecticut Turnpike seemed to have toll booths nearly every 20 or 30 miles—complete with the wreckage of a car to warn drivers to be careful, and most bridges and tunnels required both coming and going drivers to pay tolls.  Connecticut dismantled its toll booths (I don’t know why; I’ve heard that they were road hazards but also heard that they found other sources of revenue) and most bridges and tunnels have converted to requiring tolls in just one direction.  And in the past ten years, most states have offered drivers the opportunity to buy an electronic transponder, which electronically charges the toll to the car.  More than that, many adjacent states with toll roads have collaborated so that they share a transponder system.


Heck, there's even one toll road near Toronto that has no humans working at the toll booths.  Instead, they they take a photo of the license plate and send a bill later--along with a processing fee.


People don’t dress as formally when they fly.  As late as the early 1990s, people looked like they carefully planned what they would wear on the plane.  But since planes became flying buses, the dress code has relaxed.


Loyalty programs have arisen and taken on lives of their own.  Frequent flyer programs seem as much a part of travel today as the ride, but they came into prominence in the early 1980s.  Hotels and car rental companies followed suit.  At first, travelers had to earn miles the old fashioned way—by actually flying them.  With time, though, members of loyalty programs could earn miles through credit cards, flying with partner airlines, eating at partner restaurants, making online purchases through the airline’s website, and even through inconvenience (a slight delay is sometimes worth 500 miles).  As the myriad ways of earning points rose, the number of points awarded for flying diminished.  For example, Air Canada now only awards full mileage credit for passengers paying full fare.  So much for loyalty.


Airports have been converted to shopping malls.  Need a shirt?  Try Brooks Bros.  Did your computer case break?  Check out Wilson’s Leather.  Need a museum momento as a gift (even if you didn’t visit the museum)?  Check out the Museum Store.  The Hong Kong, Pittsburgh, and Amsterdam airports have trend setting shopping opportunities, but don’t write off other airports.  Heck, I once purposely booked a flight through Detroit because I wanted to buy a watch at its Pangborn design store.  


Low-end hotels often have more desirable amenities than high end ones, like free Internet and breakfast.  Marriott and Renaissance both charge about $10 a night for Internet, but their sister hotels—Courtyard and Fairfield—both offer it for free.  Fairfield also serves breakfast—at first it was defrosted Sara Lee-like items but now it features hot foods.  Even the Motel 6 is offering 400-count  cotton sheets.  But watch out.  As these hotels upscale the services, they also upscale the prices.  Hampton Inns and Courtyard by Marriott used to be moderately priced hotels, but their prices often compete with those of their higher end siblings, Hilton and Marriott.  


While European hotels have dropped their free breakfasts, American hotels have added them. One of the things that I remember the most about my first trip to Europe in 1980 was the free breakfasts at all of the hotels.  More than free, they were good: freshly made cappuccinos and straight-from-the-oven croissant.  What made these free breakfasts seem all the more special was that few American hotels offered anything like it.  So flash forward 30 years, when my Hampton Inn and Fairfield stays culminated in free breakfasts, while my European hotels wanted to charge as much as $26 for the meal.


Airlines have eliminated leg room. I’m a short person. So when I complain about a lack of legroom, that means a problem exists.  


Most rental cars now come with unlimited mileage.  When I first rented a car in 1981, I paid extra for the privilege of having unlimited mileage. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time that was a concern.  All rental cars seem to come with unlimited mileage these days.  


Rental car companies now let you gamble with gas prices.  One of the most frightening parts of any car rental experience was returning the car without going to the gas station first, and watching what they would charge to refill the tank.  Now, car rental companies let you avoid that by pre-paying for a refill.  But you have to figure out, first, whether you will drive the car enough to warrant pre-paying for that refill.  And that, in turn, has become the modern gamble.


Hotels provided, then stopped, free newspaper delivery.  As a courtesy to guests, most hotels provided free delivery of newspapers to all guest rooms.  In the past few years, I’ve noticed that’s declined.  At first, they only delivered the newspapers to the rooms of people who achieved status with a frequent guest plan.  Then many hotels stopped delivering the papers altogether, instead leaving a pile of them at the front desk. On the one hand, I rarely read that paper and they usually just piled until I left, when I threw them away.  On the other hand, I liked the service they represented.


Check out has become an increasingly unnecessary stop on the way out of the hotel, thanks to the bill mysteriously appearing under the door the night before you check out.  All you need to do is call the front desk and say thank you.  In some cases, the call goes to voice mail.  When it goes to a human, I often get the feeling it doesn’t matter whether I call or not, as long as I leave the room.


Humans rarely give wake up calls any more.  With the invention of voice response units, machines do it.  That’s not so bad, but many hotels don’t record even a rudimentary message.  I often wake up wondering whether I received a wake up or suspicious phone call.


People who work in gas stations can’t give directions.  When gas station attendants pumped gas instead of making coffee and sandwiches, a lost traveler could ask the attendant for directions and receive reasonably good ones.  Increasingly, however, gas station attendants answer the question, “Where is…” with “I dunno.”


Pay phones are an endangered species.  As cell phone usage rises, finding a pay phone becomes an increasing challenge. Many airports, hotels, and malls seem to have dropped them altogether.  They’re even hard to find at highway rest stops.  I prefer pay phones; at $2 per minute in the US, my Canadian cell phone is almost too expensive for emergencies.


Drivers increasingly focus on everything but the highway.  Although the occasional slow driver is elderly, these days, most slow drivers are texting or on their cell phones, even in states and provinces where they’re required to use hands-free equipment for voice calls and ignore text ones.  But in some cases, drivers have more important tasks that speaking on the phone, like the woman driving through Delaware on Interstate 95, with a Biggie Coffee in one hand and her Dunkin Donuts bagel and cream cheese in the other.  And yes, she was in the driver’s seat and better yet, driving at 75 miles an hour.  


No one checks luggage anymore.  On trains, the service doesn’t seem to exist.  (In fact, one of the surprising characteristics of intercity trains in Europe is that they don’t have room for luggage in the rail cars.) But no one wants to use the service on planes.  If slow unloading and delivery of luggage to the baggage claim area and the high likelihood of lost luggage weren’t enough of a deterrent, the checked baggage fees have sealed the deal.  One problem: Most planes are flying full and don’t have enough room for all of the carry on luggage.  Oh—and another problem.  At least 10 percent of those with carry-on luggage have luggage that’s too overstuffed to fit in the overhead bins.


One more thing: the number of travel writers advising us of these changes and how to deal with them has significantly increased in the past 4 decades.

Next post:  Hotel Recommendations in Europe.  

Shopping Trip 3: The Meaning of Shopping

In an article that started as a joke many years ago, I explored the links between the designs of shopping malls and websites.  I was going to speak about the links between the designs of museum exhibits and web sites as part of a visiting professorship in Hong Kong.  My host said that Hong Kongers weren’t really into museums; they preferred shopping.  So I took up the challenge. 

As I was preparing the presentation—and realized the craziness of what I had agreed to—I decided to write out the speech word-for-word (the only time I’ve ever done that) to make sure I really had something to say.  Not only was the speech well-received, but I had an article for publication afterwards.  


But I’m not going to write about that link again, because that’s a one-trick pony I’ve already ridden.  


No, what makes shopping important is its role as a reflection on the local culture. My aunt and uncle, who often traveled internationally before it became fashionable, commented that they liked to visit supermarkets in the cities they visited because they often learned more about the local culture there than they did in museums and other tourist attractions.  


To be honest, one only need visit a few branches of the same supermarket chain to learn that lesson.  When I lived in Atlanta, I frequented three Kroger stores, affectionately named the Kombat Kroger, Kruisy Kroger, and Kosher Kroger.  The Kosher Kroger served a large Jewish population and had a complete Kosher meat section and an expansive kosher food selection.  Because it also served families, the Kosher Kroger had huge selections of packaged breads, milk, and diapers.  


The Kruisy Kroger was in the heart of Atlanta’s mid-town area, with a large gay population.  It earned its nickname because patrons would cruise one another. Serving a population of people who were primarily single or living in childless households, this Kroger had an expansive wine selection and prepared foods section, but a measly shelf of Manischewitz kosher products.  


The Kombat Kroger was in the heart of a transitional neighborhood—half urban poor, half urban gentrification in process.  Someone had been murdered at that Kroger, so they posted a full time security guard at the door to raise feelings of security.  Because its target customer was less affluent than those of the other two Krogers, the merchandise selection was reduced, but instructions for using food stamps were more visible.  


I re-learned the lesson of grocery stores when I was teaching at Bentley College.  I sent students to different Shaw’s markets, when it was in the process of rebranding itself from the Star Market name.  One store was in relatively well-off Arlington, recently remodeled, and featured a sumptuous display of fresh and freshly prepared foods.  The entire store had been rebranded as a Shaws.  


After visiting that store, some of my students next went to the Star Market in Waltham.  The only part of the rebranding that had been completed was in the plastic bags, which all bore the Shaw’s name (and no sign of the Star name).  That store was small with narrow aisles.  The floors suffered not only from waxy yellow buildup that had been accumulating since the store was probably last remodeled in the late 1970s, but from an accumulation of dust that didn’t seem to have been swept in the past 24 hours (always a reassuring sign in a supermarket).  Merchandise selection was limited and the produce was downright unappetizing.  


My students came back to class appalled.  One refused to ever shop in Shaw’s/Star again, concerned that the store had discriminated against its  lower income clientele.  


Given that, what cultural insights did we glean from the shopping experiences in Europe and South American?  First, what’s on offer at the stores reflects local tastes and preferences.  If the insights gleaned from grocery stores didn’t fully make the point, the absence of Chinese food stalls in the Turkish food court and the presence of Peruvian chains in the food courts of Peruvian malls did.  


Second, shopping hours say a lot about what’s important in a culture.  In Europe—and here in Quebec—stores are only open two evenings a week (Thursday and Friday).  In most European countries, stores are also closed Sundays.  In contrast, stores in Lima are open until 10 or 11 at night, seven days a week, including Christmas (though they were closed on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day). As a developing nation where a large percentage of the populace lives below the poverty line, I can certainly understand why retailers want to make effort to earn a living.  But the hours are the same in most of Canada and the US, a trend explained by an interest in serving consumers when they want to be consumed.  (The only difference is that stores close early on Sunday evenings, but even those hours have slowly and quietly expanded over the years, from a sharp closing at 5 pm to 7 pm for malls and 10 or 11 pm for some big box stores.)  




Third, there’s an aspirational quality to merchandising. Merchandising was probably strongest in the developing economy of Peru and the rising economy of Turkey.  In both places, the provision of merchandise seems to communicate the message, “Announce to everyone that you’ve arrived.”   In contrast, the less meticulous merchandising observed in France suggests that they’re past that aspirational phase.  


Admittedly, this theory does not explain the superb merchandising in Germany—according to many, the wealthiest country in Europe—or the lax merchandising in Spain—which, until the worldwide recession, was a country on the rise.  


Fourth, shopping helps us understand our boundaries. What are our spending limits?  Do the limits we really observe match the ones we thought we would observe?  For example, if we thought we would not spend over a certain amount for an item, and find ourselves buying that item for much more, why is that?  Or is there something we did not think we needed, but when we see it at an attractive price, buy it anyway?  Conversely, is there an item we thought we really wanted but when we saw it, we chose not to buy it? Was it the price?  Did we reassess the need?  Did emotions kick in?  


Fifth, globalization is bridging some differences in shopping cultures.  Certain stores are available all over, like Tommy Hilfiger, McDonald’s, the Apple Store, Zara, and Hugo Boss.  Certain brands are available all over, like Polo by Ralph Lauren, Samsonite, and Samsung.  


Brands I had first noticed this winter in Europe seem to have arrived in North America, like Camper shoes and Desiqual fashions.  


But last, differences continue to exist.  More similarities exist within regions rather than across them.  Stores like Ripley, Saga, and Casa y Ideas just operate in South America.  Stores like el Corte Ingles and Monoprix only operate within one or two  European countries.  National and regional borders do preserve some elements of the economy.


Some brands have different reputations in different parts of the world.  Some brands thatseem to have lost their lustre in the US still have some shine in Peru, like Jean Nate and Helena Rubinstein.  


And each country seemed to have something unique about its shopping culture that other countries could not easily duplicate: el Mercado in Lima, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and the Christmas market in Germany.  

Next post:  How Travel Has Changed.  

Shopping Trip 2: Malls, Malls, Malls

We didn’t limit our shopping to department stores, but that was the only class of shopping we did in nearly every city we visited.  Otherwise, our shopping experiences varied among cities.

• In some, we visited malls.
• In others, we visited shopping districts.
• In all, we noticed the brands (marcas in Spanish) that appeared—and didn’t appear—in the stores.
• And because we noticed the same brands, of course we compared merchandise.  

Malls
A highlight of our visits to Lima, Istanbul and Paris were visits to the malls.  Yes, I know that’s tres Americain, but hey, that’s what I am.  We like malls because, in addition to shopping, they offer free air conditioning or heat (depending on the season) and, occasionally, other unique benefits. 


Larcomar, Lima:  In Lima, we visited three malls.  Of the three, tourists are probably most familiar with Larcomar, a mall located at the edge of the tony Miraflores district and dramatically built into a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  In fact, it’s barely visible at street level because it is built below a city park.  Larcomar is situated across the street from a J.W. Marriott hotel and within an easy walk of several others, and caters to teens and tourists with loose change in their pockets.  The highlights of the mall are its food court (a little larger than most, with breath taking views of the beach and beyond) and adjacent restaurants, a few high-end tourist shops selling local wares of gold, silver, and alpaca wool, and several fashion shops aimed at teens and young adults.  To keep an eye on those teens from the moment they come near the mall, security guards are visibly stationed at the entry and throughout the mall.  Rather than traditional anchor stores, the mall has four “cultural” anchors:  a movie theatre, a restaurant that features a Peruvian dance show, a theater, and a branch of the Museum of Gold (it’s one of those rare instances in which the branch is significantly more impressive than the main location).   During my first, brief visit to Lima in 2008, we visited Larcomar a few times.  During this extended visit, we only visited once.  


Plaza San Miguel,  Lima:  A second mall we visited was Plaza San Miguel–a compact, open air, recently remodeled mall in a densely populated lower middle class section of Lima, not too far from the airport.  All of the major local chains had stores there: stylish Chilean department stores Saga Fallabella (which was once Sears in the 1960s, but was sold off years ago) and Ripley, a number of local clothing chains, a small food court, and an outbuilding with a 2-story Bembos, the popular Peruvian hamburger chain whose Choco-Bembo (a soft ice cream cone dipped in chocolate) is among my favorite taste treats on earth.  


Jockey Plaza, Lima:  But the mall we visited most regularly—partly because it is closest to where we stayed and partly because it is, without question, the nicest mall in Lima—was Jockey Plaza (so named because it’s next to a race track).  Jockey Plaza had nearly all of the same stores as Plaza San Miguel, but the store sizes were slightly larger, the merchandise selection slightly enhanced and, being enclosed, slightly more comfortable.  For example, both malls had Chilean home retailer Casa y Ideas (kind of like the Crate & Barrel of South America), but the Casa y Ideas at Jockey Plaza was larger and seemed to have a slightly larger selection of merchandise.  Plus Jockey Plaza had additional stores, like an Ace Home Center, the Plaza Vea hypermarket, and a flagship Tommy Hilfiger Store.  


I later learned that, because Peru has fewer malls per capita than almost any other country in South America, real estate developers have aggressive plans to build them.  


Forum Istanbul:  But we didn’t limit our mall shopping to Lima.  One of the highlights of our trip to Istanbul was a visit to the relatively new Forum Mall, a mall so large that it’s earned not only also its own subway station but also the title of the largest of mall in Europe.  And it’s big enough that I believe it—certainly felt as cavernous as the Mall of America and the West Edmonton Mall, but a lot warmer in fell in than the Mall of America and not in desperate need of remodeling like the West Edmonton Mall.  


Security at the mall was the tightest I saw anywhere in Istanbul; we had to go through a metal detector when we entered the mall.  The corridors were more expansive than those in Jockey Plaza (or any other mall we visited), both in terms of width and height, only adding to the feeling that the mall is huge (as do the presence of an IKEA store and a full-fledged hypermarket).  


The mall was relatively empty, not surprising for a Monday night in February, and to entice what little traffic was there, nearly every store had a sale.  And the merchandise was worth exploring; stylish shoes and clothes, housewares, and electronics.  We visited a large furniture store selling Mediterranean chic chests, sofas, and tables.  


Among the surprises (besides extensive use of wood, curving lines, and varied ceiling and roof lines to give the place a chic, warm, engaging look) was the lack of a Chinese food stall in the food court (I had always thought that was  prerequisite) and the lack of a traditional department store (what anchors the mall?).  


Grand Bazaar, Istanbul:  Forum Istanbul contrasted sharply with the other mall we visited in Istanbul: the Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest indoor malls in the world (though it does not bill itself that way).  A fixture in central Istanbul for over 400 years, the bazaar features hundreds of small shops (maybe 3 by 4 meters) grouped around themes: jewelry, leather, clothing, and so on.  The Bazaar is so huge that many vendors have more than one shop.  I realized this when I saw two that sold antique Judaica and, upon closer inspection, realized both have the same name.  


Unlike Forum Istanbul, the Grand Bazaar was teeming with activity all the time.  And, in sharp contrast to the decorum of sticker-based pricing in the Forum, all prices in the Grand Bazaar were negotiable.  In fact, negotiating them is half the fun of being there.  


One of the most interesting traditions we observed there was the delivery of afternoon tea.  A young guy would walk around with a tray that contained several glass cups filled with tea, and deliver them to the shopkeepers.  Instead of going out for a coffee break, shopkeepers had their tea break come to them.     


Underground Mall at the Louvre, Paris: The only other city where we visited malls was Paris.  We saw two there.  One is the mall underneaeth the glass pyramid underneath the Louve.  The only thing notable about this mall was how un-notable it is.  Take away the choice location—underground next to one of the most visited art museums in the world—and its overpriced washrooms (to be honest, I have a strong belief that people have the right to pee for free)—with a McDonald’s, Virgin Megastore, and similar chain shops, most shoppers would be hard pressed to distinguish this mall from any other mall in the universe.  


Quatre Saisons, Paris:  The last mall we visited was the Quatre Saisons (Four Seasons) Mall at La Defense, a new section just off of the island of Paris.  The mall had recently been remodeled.  It lacked the spaciousness of the Forum Istanbul or, for that matter, Jockey Plaza, but we enjoyed it all the same.  Like the Forum Istanbul, this mall had no department store as its anchor.  Instead, it had a two-story hypermarket and a French version of Home Depot as the anchors. The mall was huge and its target demographic seemed to be middle-middle class and some latter day YUPPIES. It featured the classy Paul’s bakery (which I would later learn is a chain and kind of over-priced), a Zara Home store (which we don’t have in North America and, to be honest, was a major let down; I thought the merchandise was a bit fru-fru in look and hi-hi in price), and Muji, the Japanese design chain hawking well-designed, deceptively simple housewares and clothing.  Among my favorite items at Muji are its tiny kits—clear plastic boxes that contain miniature sewing kits, office supply kits, and so on.  The mall also had two Monops (if I remember correctly) and the best looking McDonald’s I’ve ever seen in my life.  


One other thing about this mall: it was the only place Parisians can shop on Sundays.  Not all of the stores participate, but it is the first to open on Sundays.  


Shopping Districts
Although we didn’t visit shopping malls in other cities, we did visit well-traveled shopping districts, including the area near KaDeWe in Berlin, Gran Via in Madrid, and Bareclona’s Passeig Gracia   Of the districts, the Passeig Gracia was easily our favorite; an exceptionally wide street with Gaudi-designed street lights and benches, and a first-class selection of stores combine to create the type of shopping experience one would expect from a design capital of the world.   


Merchandise 
On our shopping adventures, we noticed some of the same merchandise but not necessarily at the same prices.  For example, we saw a clock with knives, spoons, and forks in Lima and Paris.  In Lima, the clock cost between 35 and 50 soles ($12 to $17.50) depending on size.  The same clock cost between 26 and 39 euros in France ($39 to $59). 


We also encountered brands that we had not noticed in North America, including Camper shoes, Desiqual jeans, and Quick burgers.  

Next post:  Shopping Trip 3: The Meaning of Shopping