Topics Include:
This “Travel with Stephanie Abrams!” includes discussions of castle estates and aviation related topics in the show's first two hours. The last hour focuses specifically on destinations in New England.
Stephanie recommends that everyone see the film “the Quiet Man” filmed on the grounds of Ashford Castle in Cong, Ireland as well as on sets in Hollywood and in the town of Cong. A working replica of Pat Cohan's Pub was recently constructed in Cong to look just as it does in the film.
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Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort is an amazing castle estate in County Limerick, Ireland. It is easily accessible from Shannon Airport and is a great place to begin or end an Irish itinerary. Stephanie calls it a “dreamlike experience”, so breathtaking that words can't accurately describe experiencing the property. The resort spans 842 gorgeous acres. The Manor House (as it stands today) dates back to 1832. It was turned into a five star luxury hotel in 1987 when it was purchased by the current owners.
The resort is a good place to base yourself when exploring the surrounding area of western Ireland or to spend time in the quaint village of Adare. The town has only one main street but contains a total of four pubs and several award winning restaurants. At one end of Adare Manor's property is a pedestrian gate that is the entrance to the town. It is ten minutes distance from the actual hotel building but there is a 24 hour complimentary shuttle bus that guests can use to travel to the gate.
There are 62 rooms in the manor house and 2 other types of accommodations available on the grounds. There are self-catering (residential units) town homes that are a three minute walk from the manor house. These range from one, two or three bedrooms units all en-suite and containing a communal kitchen and dining area. In 2006 the proprietors also built three bedroom villas that are similar to the townhouses but more luxurious. Each villa is approximately 2,200 square feet and spans two levels.
Adare Manor hosts an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Senior. There is also a putting area and a driving range. The resort has hosted many tournaments. Its last most prestigious tournament to date was the Irish Open in 2007 and 2008. There is also laser clay target shooting, and real clay pigeon shooting, archery and horseback riding. The River Maigue flows through the property and Adare Manor's resident gillie (fly fishing attendant) leads fishing expeditions. There are spa treatment rooms, Irish whisky and wine tasting, Irish cookery demonstrations, Irish coffee making demonstrations, garden and historical tours and also treasure hunts all on site.
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Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=383
For more information visit http://www.adaremanor.com
Foynes, Ireland is the birthplace of Irish coffee and is also a historic center of aviation. On July 9th 1939, Pan American's luxury Flying Boat, the "Yankee Clipper" landed in Foynes. It was the first commercial passenger flight on a direct route from the USA to Europe. The Foynes Flying Boat Museum commemorates aviation history and the significance of the town of Foynes in the context of this. The museum is unique and differs greatly from the average visitor center experience.
The Foynes Flying Boat Museum focuses primarily on passenger travel and aims to tell a personal story about the extraordinary nature of travel in the 1930's and 1940's during the time of the Second World War. This was the beginning of commercial travel and it transformed Foynes, Ireland which became a hub for air traffic on the North Atlantic.
There is a Boeing Flying Boat at the museum which visitors can board or book to use for private events such as a weddings or conventions. Kids (and adults) are welcome to use the museum's flight simulator. Margaret O'Shaughnessy, Founder and Director of the Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Foynes states that “we must preserve what's behind us”, the stories and our understanding of history. Artifacts at the museum include passenger tickets, menus, uniforms, overnight bags, cocktail glasses, cutlery, and autographs of celebrities who flew through Foynes including Bob Hope, Ernest Hemmingway and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=384
For more information visit http://www.flyingboatmuseum.com
Developed family of web brands and put them under a bigger umbrella of the traveler411.com family. Community opportunity to share questions, remarks and information about destination. Contest online to promote this.
“Travel with Stephanie Abrams” listeners can enter to win lands stay in properties in the US and abroad. To be eligible for selection you have to be a registered user online at www.travelers411.com. The site will send you a confirmation email. You click the link within it and are now available to post messages in the forum community.
If you want to enter a contest, you need to start a new thread (as a Travlers411.com user) in the destination category that corresponds to the current contest. To find out what the current contest is visit the contest forum. The thread must have the title “I want to go to” and the title of the destination. Winners will be announced on air and online.
Click here for the list of all contests available on http://www.travelers411.com
Guests Include:
Gillian Griffin, Sales & Marketing Manager, Adare Manor Hotel & Golf
Resort, Adare, County Limerick, Ireland.
www.adaremanor.com
Margaret O'Shaughnessy, Founder and Director, The Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland.
www.flyingboatmuseum.com
Dru Abrams, Creative Director, Travelers411 Family of Brands.
www.travelers411.com
www.sabrams.com
Topics Include:
Simon Talling-Smith, Executive Vice President of the Americas for British Airways, joins “Travel with Stephanie Abrams!” to discuss business related travel. British Airways was formerly the British Overseas Airway Corporation. They were one of the carriers to have flying boats travel into Foynes, Ireland. Today the aircrafts are different but some of the founding principles of the company are the same.
British Airways has launched a “Face to Face” campaign to highlight the importance of business trips. Many business travelers are cutting back on their budget and an unfortunate result of this is less face to face contact with their associates abroad. Many rely on information age communication via the internet and video conferencing to develop business relationships. British Airways did a survey in conjunction with the Harvard Business Review and asked over two thousand subscribers how they felt about forming business remote relationships. Ninety five percent of subscribers said that they felt you have to travel and be at a destination in person to build a business relationship. Eighty seven percent said “you have to be there to at least seal a deal”. Human presence and human interaction is vital.
To encourage this kind of face to face contact and help people grow their businesses British Airways has been flying business travelers in jumbo jets from New York City, Chicago, and LA for free. These planes travel to London and beyond and have already helped over a thousand businesses. British Airways has a new stage of the promotion that they are not yet revealing. Consumers will hear more news from British Airways in two weeks time. Breaking news can be found on their website and in national advertisements in the US.
Stephanie has been dismayed to hear executive branches of government refer to travel as an extravagance in recent months. She says that the serious business happens away from the distractions of the office. Making the account and establishing a relationship has to happen. This requires travel.
British Airways was the first airline to pioneer the lie-flat-bed in business class and red-eye flights. They also provide their customers the option to shower and have their suit and jackets pressed in the company's arrival lounge. British Airways flies to 19 gateways from the US and another 4 from Canada. They have 10 flights a day to New York airports and multiple frequencies into Miami, Chicago, Washington and LA. They are adding Las Vegas in October.
Business travelers can fly to every major business center in the world as part of British Airways's global network. People from the US regularly fly through London to any of the European capitals in addition to the secondary and tertiary cities. Flights also go to cities throughout Africa, the Middle East (including Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo. British Airways is also the biggest flier into the Indian subcontinent.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=495
For more information visit http://www.ba.com or http://www.britishairways.com
The Lough Rynn Castle, Estate and Gardens are situated on a 350 acre woodland estate surrounded by two lakes, Lough Rynn and Lough Allen, in County Leitrim, Ireland. Stephanie says that the property has the authentic feeling of a castle and not just a place that used to be a castle and was converted to a hotel. The main house was constructed in 1832 with additions done to the building in 1889. Those additions include the modern day property's Baronial Hall which looks out over the hotel's rolling lawns and Lough Rynn.
Lough Rynn Castle currently has 43 guestrooms but expects to undergo expansions within the next twelve months. All beds in guestrooms on the front end of the main house are positioned so that guests overlook the gorgeous lawn view. Leitrim is the smallest county in Ireland and has the smallest population per acre but it also has beautiful, unspoiled natural beauty. In addition to the hills and woodlands there are a number of loughs and waterfalls.
Travel Deal:
The Lough Rynn Castle Hotel is currently offering “friends and fans of Stephanie Abrams” a special discounted rate in November. Guests pay only €70 euros per room (double occupancy). The rate includes taxes and an authentic Irish breakfast.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=496
For more information visit http://www.loughrynn.ie
Stephanie is a proud member of the Boston chapter of SKAL an international organization comprised of leaders in the travel industry. SKAL works as a friendship organization aimed at making the experience of the traveler the best it can possibly be. It also acts as a global network invested in the travel industry. Hulya Aslantas, the World President for SKAL, is from Istanbul, Turkey and has been a member of the group for thirty three years. She joins “Travel with Stephanie Abrams!” to discuss Swine Flu and the travel industry's responsibility to promote awareness of health-related issues.
The travel community first learned about swine flu approximately seven months ago. It has since become apparent that both the northern and southern hemispheres are still at risk and there is the possibility that a second wave could happen come autumn. It is at this time classified as a pandemic by world health organizations.
Aslantas emphasizes the importance of being proactive. She and other SKAL members are working to educate travelers. SKAL International is working alongside Johnson Diversey, “A leading global provider of commercial cleaning and hygiene solutions”. They have developed a website designed for members of SKAL and the tourism Industry to learn about the latest information related to influenza. The website is www.skalagainstinfluenza.com. It is available in 14 languages and provides useful information about preventative measures that can be taken against influenza. There is a hygiene checklist consisting of important bullet listed headlines. Aslantas states that it is important to be prepared and take precautions.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=499
For more information visit http://www.skal.org and http://www.skalagainstinfluenza.com
“Travelers411” listeners can enter to win land stays in properties in the US and abroad. To be eligible for selection you have to be a registered user online at Travelers411.com. Users need to start a new thread in the destination category that corresponds to the current contest. To find out what the current contest is visit the contest forum. The thread must have the title “I want to go to” and the name of the destination's city. Making this thread automatically enters you to win. The online editors will choose winners based on their submissions. These winners will then be announced on air and online.
Click here for the list of all contests.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=497
For more information visit http://www.travelers411.com
Guests Include:
Simon Talling-Smith, Executive Vice President for the Americas, British Airways.
www.ba.com
Ciaran Reidy, General Manager, Lough Rynn Castle, Estate and Gardens, Mohill, County Leitrim, Ireland.
www.loughrynn.ie
Hulya Aslantas,World President, SKAL International Association of Travel and Tourism Professionals.
www.skal.org
www.skalagainstinfluenza.com
Dru Abrams, Creative Director, Travelers411 Family of Brands.
www.travelers411.com
www.sabrams.com
Topics Include:
This hour focuses on two New England destinations, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut and the Bostonian Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. Foxwoods is located almost midpoint between New York City and Boston in New London County, Connecticut. It is approximately two and a half hours by car from New York City and an hour and forty five minutes from Boston. Guests can also take the train to New London or Mystic, Connecticut and taxi to the resort. By car visitors should take exit 92 off of I-95 and follow route 2 along a beautiful forested landscape to the resort. Foxwoods opened in 1992 and has since become North America's largest casino and resort property.
Foxwoods has a total of 4 hotels, 34 restaurants, and a concourse that extends the entire length of the resort for almost three miles. The property totals 6.7 million square feet. There are two theaters on site, the Fox and MGM. The Fox Theater has 1,400 seats and the MGM Theater 4,000. There are also spas, salons, seven casinos and over 2,500 hotel rooms that range from budget accommodations to AAA 4 Diamond suites. Lori Potter, Director of Public Relations for the Foxwoods Resort Casino, recommends the Grand Pequot Tower suites which contain beautifully appointed whirlpool tubs and panoramic views of the forest.
The indoor concourse that spans the entire property is a convenient way to get around at the resort. Guests can go from the theater to the meeting and convention areas, visit the spa, restaurants, and retail areas or go to the casino. There are shuttles that will take you from one section of the property to another. Foxwoods Casino offers a wide range of gaming opportunities with over 500 table games featuring 17 different varieties of games. There are also 8,500 slot machines property wide. Foxwoods hosts the only World Poker Tournament poker room in New England. It is open 24 hours a day with 98 tables to choose from.
Foxwoods differs from the casino resorts found in Las Vegas in that it has windows everywhere. These look out into the surrounding woodlands. Its 34 restaurants range from fast food options to the most refined gourmet dining including restaurants by celebrity chefs. Foxwoods has the only branch of Brooklyn New York's Junior's Most Fabulous Cheesecake and Desserts. Currently running at the Fox Theater is “Legends in Concert”, the longest running tribute show featuring live recreations of yesterday's and today's superstars. Performances are every Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm with matinees Tuesday and Sunday at 2pm and 4pm.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498
For more information visit http://www.foxwoods.com
Cirque Productions is an American entertainment company that combines European cirque-style performance art with American circus arts and Broadway theatrics. Their production “Illumination by Cirque Dreams” is currently at the MGM Theater at Foxwoods. One of the show's performers, saxophonist Andrew Beal, received national attention for his performance on the television series America's Got Talent. A producer for the Cirque show scouted Beal online after seeing his television performance on YouTube. Beal dances and plays his instrument at the same time. He states, “I love dance and I love music”. He claims to have drawn inspiration from Michael Jackson and fictional cartoon character Lisa Simpson.
Andrew Beal placed in the top twenty of performers for the second season of America's Got Talent. 200 people were originally selected. Judges then narrowed that number down to 80 and than 20 and 10. Beal says that much of the audition work of performers is not shown on national television.
Beal plays the saxophone from the beginning to end of “Illumination by Cirque Dreams” and has featured solos.
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For more information visit http://andrewbeallive.com and http://www.cirqueproductions.com
Robert Muraine was also discovered by “Illumination by Cirque Dreams” producers after he appeared on national television. Muraine was featured on “So You Think You Can Dance”. He is a “popper”, an evolved west coast style of the robot dance. Muraine was originally against auditioning but was continually encouraged by a friend to do so. His audition exploded virally online with 26 million views in the first week. He only appeared on the first round of the show. When he got to Vegas the producers asked that he do hip-hop choreography. Muraine refused and quit but has since been very successful with his performance work.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500
For more information visit http://www.robertmuraine.com and http://www.cirqueproductions.com
The Millennium Bostonian Hotel is surrounded by the history and charm of Boston, Massachusetts. The hotel is located on North Street at the mouth of Faneuil Hall in close proximity to the financial center, the government center and on the freedom trail, two blocks from the north end. Dominique Marty, General Manager of the Millennium Bostonian Hotel states that the foot traffic in front of the hotel averages 20 million people per year.
The north end area is lively and colorful and the hotel itself is a European style brick building with an inner courtyard. The hotel is anything but a cookie cutter brand. Its balconies have flower boxes containing geraniums and each one of its guestrooms differs in layout. The hotel is a collection of three buildings. The entire hotel was recently redone with $25 million USD invested in full renovations and refurbishments. Hoteliers also added a new restaurant called North 26.
The Millennium Bostonian Hotel has an ideal location that allows for ease of commuting to and from the hotel. Corporate visitors find it especially convenient. It is a seven minute drive from the hotel to the terminal at Logan Airport. Guests will drive into the hotel's courtyard which has a fountain imported from California. Its lobby has a modern look and clean lines, elegant, darker colors and woods, large abstract paintings, a fireplace and a sitting area that looks like a residential living room with a large library.
The Millennium Bostonian Hotel can comfortably accommodate up to 150 people for events such as weddings and conventions. There are three different meetings room at the hotel. The lunch/meeting space “Seasons” is located atop one of the buildings. It is a totally glass enclosed space.
Chef Brian Flagg joins Stephanie to discuss the food at the Millennium. He states that the hotel tries to source out as much local fresh product as possible. The hotel gets its seafood from the North Atlantic and much of the produce is obtained locally during the growing season. They also use local cheese makers, honey harvesters and dairy farmers. Flagg states that the closer you can be to the source of the product the better the food you make is.
Each guest's specific needs are significant at the hotel. The Millennium Bostonian Hotel honors many special requests due to allergies or dietary restrictions. Stephanie is always looking for a chef who will make her bacon and eggs at any hour of the day.
The menu at the Millennium Bostonian Hotel changes seasonally.
Related Galleries:
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread
http://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=487
For more information visit http://www.millenniumhotels.com/millenniumboston
Fun Facts:
The robot dance originated in the late 1960's with performer Charles Washington, also known as "Charles Robot".
Guests Include:
Lori Potter, Director of Public Relations, Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Connecticut.
www.foxwoods.com
Andrew Beal, Saxophonist, "Illumination by Cirque Dreams", Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Connecticut.
www.andrewbeallive.com
www.cirqueproductions.com
Robert Muraine, Professional Dancer (Popper), "Illumination by Cirque Dreams", Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Connecticut.
www.robertmuraine.com
www.cirqueproductions.com
Dominique Marty, General Manager, Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA), Millennium Bostonian Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts.
www.millenniumhotels.com
Brian Flagg, Chef, Millennium Bostonian Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts.
www.millenniumhotels.com
