Travel Apps :: Fairmont

Those who peruse this blog more often than not know my love of Fairmont is fairly obvious, as is my healthy obsession with travel apps. So you can imagine my excitement upon learning that Fairmont Hotels & Resorts just launched their first iphone app! Finally! {For our third Travel Beauty Month contest, win some fab travel-sized Tarte products by engaging with our Facebook group.  Details Here. Contest ends this friday.}

Providing access to booking, reservations, hotel information, packages, destination recommendations, social sharing and President's Club (Fairmont's loyalty program); this app effectively, but not overwhelmingly, provides an easy way to plan, book and research your upcoming trip on-the-go.

Fairmont describes the app as a "concierge in your pocket." I couldn't agree more.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts App Details

• free
• works with iPhone, iTouch and iPad.
• according to their twitter account, Fairmont is looking into developing the app for Blackberry and Android which would be a smart move since I suspect most of their target market are Blackberry users. Just sayin'... For now, other smartphone users can peruse Fairmont's mobile site (which will display automatically when browsing Fairmont on a mobile)
• uses GPS technology to learn about the area around your hotel (requires wifi or data plan)
• upload photos you take to Fairmont's Everyone's an Original network
• find restaurants, events, shopping and more
• provides exact directions whether you’re walking or driving

Other Travel Apps we’ve Reviewed

• Disneyland Apps
• Ultraviolet Rays
• Wine Touring in BC
• Air Canada
• BC Ferries Tracker
• 6 Free Camping Apps
• Epicurious
• BorderWait
• OpenWays
• TripIt
• Trip Advisor
• StayHIP
• Trip Journal
• Bug Spray
• CameraBag
• Convert Everything
• GateGuru
• Kindle for iPhone
• Packing Pro
• Skype
• World Fact Book
• AAA/CAA Savings
• Royal Caribbean
• Medical Concierge
• Near Me BC
• Postman Postcard
• 2010 Guide
• Nat’l Geo World Atlas
• hostelworld.com
• kayak first class
• flight control (game)

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Travel Beauty Cheats

Look fabulous and feel better even when your journey involves lots of layovers and flights...

{For our third Travel Beauty Month contest, win some fab travel-sized Tarte products by engaging with our Facebook group.  Details Here. Contest ends this friday.}

Let's be honest. The rigors of traveling can wreak havoc on your appearance. Last year after a flight from Milan to London, a sweaty run through Heathrow, London to Istanbul, and finally Istanbul to Nairobi, I remember arriving in Nairobi tired, sick and run-down. Upon arrival at 1am, I asked my husband if I looked presentable and he tactfully replied, "you're not at your best."  AKA - i looked like I'd been travelling, or perhaps slightly alien-like.  If I'd spent only 2 mins in the airport bathroom 'freshening up,' that conversation would have not occurred.  And so...

For our third Travel Beauty Month post, we’re featuring travel beauty secrets and cheats so you can arrive fresh-faced to your next destination! Thanks to my friend and flight attendant for helping with the below tips!

Pre-Travel

• Drink emergen-c to ensure your body's at its best and you stay alert.
• Moisturize like you've never moisturized before. Recycled plane air does nothing for the skin.
• Drink lots of water. Bring an empty water bottle with you through security and fill it up after. This one is <duh> obvious, but even though you'll be that person getting up to #1 all the time, try to sit in an aisle and rejoice that your hydrated skin will be more plump than your non-peeing neighbors'.
• Eat a good meal and bring a healthy snack onboard. Airplane food is high in sodium (= bloating).
• Resist the urge to pile on the make-up. More make-up = more fussing and more opportunity for raccoon eyes or make-up-stained pillow.
• If you are going to wear eye make-up, use a sheer, slightly shimmery neutral tone like this Nars Duo Cream Eyeshadow to brighten your eyes.
• Trip Styler Tip: forget mascara, and tint your lashes and eye brows. You'll look alert and pack one less item!

During Travel

• A moisturizing spritz like this Evian travel-sized spritzer is your friend. Use often. Not only will it refresh your complexion, but a quick spray when you land will ensure you'll walk into the airport with a glow.
• Every time the drink cart comes down the aisle, get one or two waters. Hydrating and avoiding salty plane food will help keep swelling in your extremities down.
• Dab a small amount of vaseline on your lips and contours of your eyes to keep them ultra moisturized.
• On a multi-leg flight schedule?  Bring dry shampoo to add a day or two onto your coif.
• Get your shimmer on. Try Benefit's Realness of Concealness kit packed with their bestsellers like eye brightener and lip plumper to give you that natural I just look this good all the time look.
• Colour me.  The perfect size for travel, Tarte's Bronze to Go provides just the right amount of bronze to make it seem like you were in St. Tropez for a week, in which case, I'd be jealous.

Post Travel

• Do a little impromptu stretching to get the bloodflow back!
• Wash and moisturize hands. The dry air, as well as airplane bathroom soap always dries out the skin.
• Have another emergen-c drink.
• Brush your teeth, like a shower, it'll immediately refresh you!
• Spritz again, or wash your face...
• Expand your eyes. When it's time to hit the town and your post-flight cat-nap just didn't cut it, turn to Tarte's travel-sized High Definition Eyes with an ingenious eye-liner that actually sticks to your inner rims and a natural mascara that increases lash volume by a whopping 424%!

Related Content Travel Beauty Month :: Dry Shampoos Travel Beauty Month :: Minis

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Travel Beauty Month :: Tarte Giveaway

August is Travel Beauty Month at Trip Styler. Since we already know you're beautiful on the inside, we're featuring posts devoted to helping you maintain and enhance your outer allure---which can *sometimes* show hints of travel's time-zone hopping and lack of H2O.

All month we'll be doing travel beauty-themed giveaways for products that take the edge off of jet-setting.

Our first post focused how to add mileage to your coif while away, our second post featured our fave travel-sized beauty minis and our third post shares tried-and-true travel beauty cheats!

Week of August 23 Tarte Giveaway Contest Details 1) One lucky winner will score Tarte travel-sized: -  High Definition Eyes: A deluxe kit of tarte's best-selling EmphasEYES™ inner rim eye liner and clinically proven natural mascara. - Bronze To Go: A deluxe kit of tarte's best-selling Mineral Powder Bronzer in Park Ave Princess with a Glam on the Go Kabuki Brush! 2) How to win: - if you haven't already, "like" us on Facebook.com/TripStyler, and - suggest Trip Styler on Facebook to your friends, or share a Trip Styler facebook post on your wall, and - then write on our wall telling us you've liked, and suggested or shared us! 3) Contest begins Monday August 23rd, is open to residents of Canada and the US and closes Friday, August 27th. 4) The winner will be selected via random.org, announced and contacted following August 27th.

Good luck! Don't forget to tell your friends.

Update: congrats to Nicole S for winning! Thank you to all those who entered!

Low Key Laguna

[trip style = beach + sun]

Laguna is the kind of place where people walk into the neighborhood Whole Foods grocery store with I-just-went-swimming-in-the-Pacific kinda hair, wearing only a bathing suit, mini cover-up and flip flips.

{more pics below}

Only an hour away from LA, Laguna feels the opposite of glitzy. Its low key vibe, coupled with the constant rhythm of waves lapping---and occasionally crashing---into shore sooths your mind, body and spirit into a slower pace of life.

With beaches that go for miles and lifeguard stations regularly dotting the shoreline, Laguna is a quintessential California Beach town with a few surprises up its sleeve.

On a five-day trip to Cali, we stayed in Newport for the first three and Laguna for the second two. The slower and less flashy pace of life Laguna offered was an excellent way to unwind and cap-off our California visit.

Laguna Surprises

• Bohemian vs High-Brow. Yes, it’s arty and bohemian, but there’s also an ire of expectation seeing as the beachfront properties range from $2.5 million for a 1000sf condo to $31 million for a custom 5-room mansion. With beach entrances throughout the swanky beachfront neighborhoods, parking police lie and wait for people who mis-park in these neighborhoods.
• Whaling Wall. Wyland, the 54-year old artist who found fame painting whales on canvas and buildings takes up residence in Laguna.  His home/gallery are on the ocean side of the PCH. No wonder he keeps on doing ocean-inspired art, the Pacific is right in front of him!
• Artsy Fartsy. The Art scene in Laguna is budding to say the least. With galleries on every street corner, there's a piece for everyone's taste.
• Catch a Wave. Just down from the main beach is where the surfers, skimboarders and stand-up paddle boarders congregate---right in front of a string of beachfront condos and homes that make you wish you grew up in the OC. Surprisingly, these activities aren’t reserved for the young---people of all ages share and ride the waves.
• Eating Out.  Here are some of my favorite locations:
  • Breakfast - Occupying a home built in 1917, the cute Cottage Restaurant has been serving food for the last 35 years. Expect fast, efficient service and decent food in a lovely outdoor setting. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  • Coffee/Snack - Just off the beach, C'est La Vie had the biggest chocolate and cinnamon pastry twists I'd ever seen! The pastry and desert selection was seriously decadent!  Coffee wasn't too shabby either.
  • Lunch - We usually skipped lunch or snacked on items from Whole Foods.
  • Happy Hour - I don't think there's a tourist or local who leaves Laguna without eating or drinking at Las Brisas.  With one of the best restaurant views in all of Laguna, this giant mexican restaurant always seemed busy. Always.  Sit on the patio at 4pm to soak-up the views and enjoy top-shelf margaritas, and chips and guacamole.  The guac is to die for.
  • Dinner - Finish off your day at 230 Forest.  This funky eatery and martini bar is right in the centre of town. Look out, the crab cakes were surprisingly filling.
• The Beach. One refreshing feeling in Laguna is how the locals are just as excited---if not moreso---about the beach than tourists. Locals and tourists co-exist on the same beaches and do so in harmony.  Laguna is welcoming no matter where you go.
• The Little Hotel that Could.  Yep, there's the brood of high-end hotels like the St. Regis, Montage and The Ritz within 15 mins of laguna, but why not stay at  a locally run hotel?  I'm already planning on returning to The Tides.  Located one street up from the beach on the PCH, this simple hotel is well maintained and its owners are more than accommodating and helpful.  Spend time at the pool, the Inn's BBQ bar area or roast marshmallows and hotdogs in the outdoor fireplace.  See my review here.

Pictures {The coast}

{Beach right in front of town, not all of Laguna's beaches were this busy}

{Wyland Gallery}

{The Cottage Restaurant}

{C'est La Vie Restaurant and Cafe's giant baked goods}

{Las Brisas Restaurant's ummmm guac}

{230 Forest}

{Tides BBQ bar}

{Tides pool}

{Tides fireplace}

It Never Hurts to Ask

It slightly pains me to write this post because I strongly dislike asking for things, but if I've learned anything in my travels (for my travels) it's that sometimes you need to speak up--gently and cordially of course! After reading a Wall Street Journal article written about a hotel executive on how to get good service in a hotel, something in it struck me and inspired me to write this post---especially as a used-to-be-timid-but-becoming-assertive traveler.

This hotel executive, the global brand leader at St. Regis Hotels and Resorts, said "It never hurts to ask if you have a special need in mind while checking in, whether it's a specific view, a larger sofa, a mini refrigerator (not all hotels provide them), or a room on the executive floor. It's surprising how much a hotel generally can do and can provide for you once you get there."  All this coming from someone in the industry!

Take-Aways Here are some of my best practices for asking from the referenced article, as well as my personal experience at hotels or with Airlines. Hopefully these will help next time you ask for...

1. Hotels {almost} expect you to ask. The article points to hotels often being capable of handling specific requests, so why not try, they have the expertise to help with your request, especially if you're a loyal customer.
2. Do so with grace and class. I firmly believe in the The Power of Nice a book which nicely packages my philosophy on how to interact with people, clients and coworkers. Hotel and airline staff are human too and appreciate it when a question or request is made kindly.  Case in point: last friday at Disneyland, the Blue Bayou restaurant was fully booked, but when I inquired at the right time about getting a table---and was really nice about it---the host conceded. As we waited, I saw her turn away over 10 people who didn't ask as nicely!
3. It doesn't hurt to try. When checking into the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in early July, the front desk agent was going to put us in a standard room, but when I kindly asked him about the hotel's occupancy and suggested an upgrade given our loyalty to Fairmont, he put us in an incredible room overlooking the Parliament Buildings on one side and Rideau river on the other.
4. Make a personal connection. Boomers are really good at making connections with travel industry folk. I've watched it happen right in front of my eyes more times than I can count. Their conversational nature seems to comfort and disarm the hotel or airline staff they are dealing with, making them much more likely to get a yes, to whatever question they ask--even if it's a little over the top.
5. Always give a reason why you're asking. Although too much information (TMI) is overkill, providing a breif explanation for your request sometimes does the math for the person to whom you're making a request.
6. Look the part. This one is almost self-explanatory, but if you want something, dress for success!
7. Properly acknowledge those who helped you. If you've made a few requests to a hotel's concierge, consider leaving them a tip the day-of or upon departure.  In addition to a simple thank you, this will confirm your gratefulness for their assistance.

[photo by citta-vita]