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Thursday, January 30, 2020

The Langham London Hotel is Not Just a Pretty Face in London's West End

With history, comfort, luxury, service and fine dining, the Langham London is not just a pretty face: It provides a peaceful oasis to get away from the crowds of London.

 

While still glamorous, The Langham strives to maintain its contemporary reputation as it was in 1865, when it started life as Europe's grandest hotel. Back then it was famed for new-fangled innovations such as hydraulic lifts. Its roll-call of guests have included the writer Mark Twain, an exiled Napoleon III, the playwright Oscar Wilde and prime minister Winston Churchill.


The Langham London Hotel is Not Just a Pretty Face in London's West End

LTD had the opportunity to sit down with manager Susann Gruenberg and head concierge, Rashid Ali to discuss how The Langham Hotel would meet our goals of inspiring meaningful and healthy travel. What we learned allowed us to understand the history of this Grand Dame of Hotels, the local area, and how the staff impressed us as having a great relationship. Managers and colleagues speak to each other in a respectful, positive style that makes guest feel welcome. Service is unstuffy and staff take pride in the hotel.  

Susann was clearly proud of the emphasis placed on sustainability at the hotel.  We learned later that The Langham London was awarded the 2019 Cateys Award for Sustainable Hotel of the Year, awarded to recognize the hotel that has taken the most innovative steps to neutralize its impact on the environment. The hotel is monitored by EarthCheck.org, an accreditation body that monitors and reports on its sustainability performance.  We discussed some of the specifics of the sustainability with the manager and an amazing example is the use of the "ORCA" to reduce volume of waste from the hotel.  ORCA designs, manufactures and installs the leading technology in the food waste recycling industry. ORCA uses mostly air, along with water and microbiology to turn food waste into an environmentally safe liquid that goes down the drain and is disposed of using the existing sanitary sewer infrastructure.

She was also proud of the charity work emphasized by The Langham London.  Their annual community program enables employees to get involved in various volunteering and fundraising activities within the local community, with the main focus on supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and KIDS charity for disabled and disadvantaged children and young people. Employees are required to donate at least 1 hour per year to charity work of their choice or as supported by the hotel.

We spoke at length with Rashid about fitness opportunities in the area.  Of course as a luxury hotel, patrons are able to arrange specific outings as needed before arrival.  Examples of what might be asked for include, golf outings, tennis lessons or fly fishing, but many travelers are hoping to simply continue their fitness routines or training schedules even while traveling - running, yoga, cycling, swimming etc.  The concierge team was outstanding in providing us with information about fitness opportunities near the hotel such which we will detail in the Fitness section below.   The concierge team was amazing during our stay and we were delighted to spend time with Rashid!


1. Location


For visiting the London, there can't be a better location. Of course getting to London from Heathrow is one of the easier places to navigate, and you have many options depending on what is important to you:  comfort, ease, security, price or peace of mind.  We chose car service with Simply Airports which was easy and economical.  The immediate neighborhood, although only two blocks from Oxford and Regent Streets, is peaceful and calm, and it is hard to believe you are still in Central London!  

The Langham is located in the West End, meaning that you are ideally situated to catch a show while in London. You’ll also be close to some of the best shops in the country, as well as some of the best restaurants in the country. If you’re a culture lover, you can visit nearby museums and art galleries like the British Museum or the Wallace Collection, and if you fancy exploring some tourist destinations, Madame Tussauds and Buckingham Palace are within easy reach.  The Victoria & Albert museum is a couple of miles away but allows for a healthy walk through Hyde Park to get there.


The Langham London Hotel is Not Just a Pretty Face in London's West End


Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Hazard Ground with Mark Zinno and Matt Pascarella Interviews Colonel Patricia Collins on Their Podcast

What is Meaningful Travel?



The opportunity to meet amazing and inspirational individuals like our friend Colonel Patty Collins.  Her story is one of accomplishment, perseverance and trailblazing. 

Compliments of Rutgers Magazine


LTD has a Mission to “Make Meaningful and Healthy Travel Happen”, but what is meaningful travel?  In this case, “Meaningful” is meeting amazing individuals like Patty Collins, who despite having had a portion of her leg amputated, persevered to become a champion in the grueling Ironman competition and a participant in the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

What makes her so inspirational besides her magnetic personality????  Six weeks after U.S. Army Colonel Patricia Collins returned home from a deployment in Iraq, she was struck by a car while riding her bicycle to work at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina. Ten grueling months later, at the age of 38, she made the decision to have her damaged left leg amputated below the knee. At the time, Collins LC’91 was mainly concerned with learning to walk with a prosthetic leg. Breaking a world record in the triathlon was not exactly a top priority.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Xtrainerz Waterproof Bone Conduction headphones: A Flop or a Victory for AfterShokz?

The new AfterShokz Xtrainerz headphones are designed for swimmers and triathletes who spend time in the water in mind, but these earphones can be used for so much more. 

We will admit that we are huge fans of the brand AfterShokz.  It’s the one brand that has met all of our expectations for quality of sound, battery life, safety and fit.  Traditionally we have used Treks Titanium by Aftershokz for all of our running, cycling and traveling.  And We are DELIGHTED to review these Xtainerz.




Although true wireless earbuds have been hogging the limelight over the last few years, there’s another type of specialized wireless earphones that are relatively unknown: bone conduction headphones. While they may give you the impression that they are strange, bone conduction headphones have deep-seated roots in the hearing aid industry.  Maybe you have seen things like the AfteShokz Trekz Titanium on big box store shelves, there are some who consider it to be a gimmick while others find them to be invaluable.

How do bone conducting headphones work?


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The Pink Sale is Underway for the Island of Bermuda! Save 50% with special offers!

2020 UPDATE:

The Pink Sale is an Annual even and is on for 2020:


Save up to 50% off hotel or resort stays during the Bermuda Pink Sale. The sale includes a wide range of resorts, including Royal Palms, Coral Beach, Grotto Bay Beach Resort, and Elbow Beach. Sale prices are valid for stays through April 30 or from September 1 through December 31, 2020.




Sample per night rates for 2020 include:

From $129.50, Grotto Bay Beach Resort & Spa, Hamilton Parish
From $150, Greenbank Guesthouse & Cottages, Paget
From $167.50, Coco Reef Resort, Paget
From $175, Coral Beach & Tennis Club, Paget
From $189, Fairmont Southampton with continental breakfast
From $199, The Reefs Resort & Club, Southampton
From $199, Cambridge Beaches Resort & Spa, Sandys

This is a great summer dress to be in style in Bermuda.  It travels well and fits great!  Please click on the link below to learn more at Amazon and support our blog!  Thank you so much for your support!


Book a stay by January 21 at GoToBermuda.com

Island adventures are calling. Save up to 50% when you book your room by January 22 and travel between January 2 – April 30 and September 1 – December 31, 2019. Nightly rates start at around $125.





Saturday, January 11, 2020

Deal Alert for New York City: Deals on NYC Broadway Week, Restaurant Week and Must-See Week 2020

NYC & Company is offering three signature promotional programs to save in the Big Apple — NYC Broadway Week, NYC Restaurant Week and NYC Must-See Week. All offers are valid January 21-February 9 with tickets and reservations accepted online now.


There’s nothing like live theater—and no place for it like Broadway. NYC Broadway Week invites you to experience the magic firsthand with 2-for-1 tickets to some of the most spectacular performances on stage right now.


Deal Alert for New York City: Deals on NYC Broadway Week, Restaurant Week and Must-See Week 2020


NYC Broadway Week: Purchase 2-for-1 Broadway tickets to as many as 21 shows are included this year, including a handful of Tony Award winners and at least eight that are new to the program. Aladin, Beetlejuice, The Book of Mormon and Frozen are among the marquee shows available this winter.

NYC Restaurant Week is a celebration of NYC’s most fabulous pastime: dining out. With hundreds of restaurants throughout the City rolling out special prix-fixe menus for a limited time, this is your chance to revel without a cause.


28th Annual NYC Restaurant Week: Reservations are now open with more than 350 restaurants participating. Explore vibrant neighborhoods across the five boroughs and the diverse culinary experiences at a terrific value. Enjoy two-course prix-fixe lunches and brunches from $26 per person and three-course prix-fixe dinners for $42. Bonus: Pay your dining tab with your Mastercard and get a $10 statement credit when you spend $65 or more during NYC Restaurant Week. Advance registration required.