Southern California may be best known for red carpets and movie stars, but there’s more to see than celebrities, especially if you’re traveling with kids who aren’t unlikely to dazzled by the sight of fame in over-sized sunglasses and a trucker hat. Take advantage of a spring special from a beach-side hotel in Redondo Beach and take in larger-than-life sights of the sea.

Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach & Marina Hotel is a business class hotel in the small beach town of Redondo Beach west of Los Angeles. You’re unlikely to run into anyone famous in the lobby, but the clown fish in the aquarium by registration bears a striking resemblance to Nemo.

The Crowne Plaza doesn’t quite live up to its advertised “resort” title, but it is a comfortable hotel with spacious rooms and balconies overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Better still, access to that ocean requires just a short walk across the street and down the pier, making the hotel a perfect home base for a Pacific vacation.

Activities within walking distance include:

• Whale watching tours
• Paddle boat rentals
• Surfing
• Shopping on the pier
• Eating fresh caught seafood
• Swimming in a unique sea lagoon

Guests at Crowne Plaza can receive a discount on whale watching tours, as well as bike rentals and day passes to the Gold’s Gym next door. On site, enjoy a heated pool and Jacuzzi tub, perfect for cool spring nights.

Rooms at the Crowne Plaza in Redondo Beach start at $99 a night.

Hotel stays these days are increasingly hi-tech with all kinds of technology from smart phone door keys to tracking chips in towels. A lot of it isn’t really of much use to guests, but sometimes technology can be used to solve simple but important problems.

CP Snoring Absorption Room

A Crowne Plaza hotel in London is offering what it claims is a ‘snore absorption room.’ The technology is being tested at Crowne Plaza London – The City hotel for one week from 27 June to 1 July.

The hotel says they’re doing it because 50% of couples in the UK are complaining that their partner’s snoring is ruining their holidays, and three in ten couples have come close to splitting up because of uncontrollable snoring.

Tom Rowntree, spokesperson for Crowne Plaza, explains that “There’s nothing worse than being kept up all night and that’s why we’ve designed this specific snore absorption room to help give our guests a great night’s sleep.”

The technology includes egg box style foam on the walls to reduce the reverberation of your snore. The sound-proofed walls work in tandem with a sound absorbing head board to muffle the snore echo.

There’s also an anti-snoring bed wedge which acts as a body pillow, encouraging snoring guests to sleep on their sides or upright. The concept is that lying flat on your back makes the base of the tongue and soft palate collapse to the back wall of the throat, and this is what causes the snoring.

Even the pillow is a hi-tech anti-snore pillow that uses neodymium magnets to create natural magnetic fields which open the airways and stiffen the upper palate. If the snoring is still beyond control, then the room has a white noise machine which drowns out the snores and helps people relax.

Note that Crowne Plaza also has a comprehensive Sleep Advantage program to help to sleepless guests. It includes extra comfortable beds, guaranteed wake-up calls, quiet zone floors and sleep amenities. They also have their own sleep expert – one Dr Chris Idzikowski, who advises the chain on their sleep programs and helps them design the technology.

If you want to book the snore absorption room, call 0871-942 9190.

Photo – IHG

Related posts:
10 Tips for Getting a Good Night’s Sleep in a Hotel Room
Crowne Plaza’s Wakeup Call Puts You to Bed Early
Lodging in a pinch. How to sleep comfortably in your car

According to my two young children, the Crowne Plaza Hotel’s Downtown St. Louis property is “the best hotel in the whole world! Probably even the country!”

That’s high praise from five and ten year olds.

What makes the Crowne Plaza Hotel Downtown the best place to stay in St. Louis?

The hotel offers free wi-fi, fitness center and a full service health spa.  The guest rooms are spacious and the Crowne Plaza brand has a strong reputation of offering quality service and amenities; you won’t find threadbare linens on worn out mattresses here.  And of course the locations is excellent, offering guests easy access to the Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, and other fun things to do while on a St. Louis vacation.

But my children were not impressed by the high speed internet or clean bedding.  The best hotel in the world, apparently, needs exactly two things to hold on to its title:

1. A great view.

St. Louis Gateway Arch

This was the view from their hotel room, as captured by a cell phone.

2. A great pool.

Rooftop Pool at Crowne Plaze St Louis Downtown

The pool was “on the roof! So you can swim – ON THE ROOF!”

I don’t remember my children being impressed – or even interested in – the view outside a hotel room before, but it seems that the Gateway Arch, one of the Midwest’s most notable landmarks, is enough to amaze even the most cynical tourists.

Photos provided by Britt Reints and Crowne Plaza.

Crowne Plaza is testing out a new service – they’re calling it an alternative wake up call. But it’s more like a switch off call. They’ll call you at 7 pm with a reminder to turn off all the technology, so you can have sufficient time to wind down before you go to sleep.

Crowne Plaza Sleep Advantage

It’s all part of the push by Crowne Plaza and other IHG hotels to offer a better sleep experience. Admirable intent, but maybe they’re taking this Sleep Advantage thing a wee bit too far.

First they tore up all the bedding and put in new ones designed to relax and help you sleep, and threw in guaranteed wake-up calls and designated quiet zone floors.

Also night lights, drape clips and things like eye masks, ear plugs and lavender spray. So far so good and some people might even use all that stuff.

Then they come up with this switch off call. It’s still not as wacky as the Human Bed Warmers introduced by Crowne Plaza’s sister brand Holiday Inn.

Scientifically speaking, Crowne Plaza seems to have all their bases covered. They did their research, and have a Sleep expert and psychologist – Dr Chris Idzikowski, to explain why you need to power down at 7 pm.

Dr. Idzikowski explains that “Checking emails just before bed halts the production of sleep enhancing melatonin and has the same effect as drinking a double espresso. So it’s important to allow a good couple of hours to switch off from anything that can over-stimulate the mind before going to sleep.”

Makes sense, and research commissioned by Crowne Plaza across Europe and the Middle East seems to show that 60% of people agree that 7 pm is the best time to stop working. It’s your (alternative wake up) call.

Related posts:-
Holiday inn London includes Human Bed Warmers
10 Tips for Getting a Good Night’s Sleep in a Hotel Room
Pedal Your Way into a Free Meal at Crowne Plaza Copenhagen