The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Travel Freebees & The Londoner Hotel
Safe to say, everyone likes free stuff so on this week's podcast we're going to talk about free stuff. Travel Expert Onanta Forbes will join me to talk about the many free offers that are out there when you travel from free Wi-Fi to free cookies at hotels. Then speaking of hotels, we'll head to London England and visit the Londoner Hotel to learn about what it has to offer guests and a bit on exploring London itself.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveller Podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveller. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. Safe to say, everybody likes free stuff. So on this week's podcast, we're going to talk about free stuff. In a few seconds, travel expert Onanta Forbes will join us to talk about the many free offers that are out there when you travel, from free Wi-Fi when you're flying to free cookies at hotels. And then speaking of hotels, We'll head to London, England and visit the Londoner Hotel to learn all about what they have to offer their guests and a bit on exploring London itself. But first, let's kick things off chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to discuss some of the travel news and travel trends. You can follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook and X at Onanta Forbes. OnantaForbes.com is her website. Hi, Onanta.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, Randy. How are you?
SPEAKER_03:I'm good. Thank you. We're going to talk about free stuff. You know, it's kind of surprising. Because you kind of sent me a list and I go, wow, there is a lot of freebies out there if you know where to find them when you travel.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and free is good, isn't it? It
SPEAKER_03:is. Everyone likes free.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting because when you go to a destination, and I'm sure most people do this right now, is, you know, you kind of research what's going on, maybe that you'd want to check out while you're at the destination. But, yeah, it does take some time and effort on the travel. part or working with your travel advisor to see what's out there. So, you know, one of the it destinations right now is Japan for Canadians and the Japan National Tourism Organization is offering an exclusive offer with or for Canadians. So as of September 10th, travelers booking an international flight to Japan with Japan Airlines are eligible for a complimentary domestic flight to any destination within Japan. So this, you know, it's an advantage to, you know, explore maybe something lesser known as far as a destination, uniquely Japanese places, you know, the opportunity to experience local culture and fresh quality food, you know, like food's important too. So like, why not find out where you can go with this offer?
SPEAKER_03:Well, it is kind of interesting because it makes me wonder why more places don't do that, because some of the budgets for destinations offered up by government are pretty large and significant. And if you want to promote your destination, why not do something like that as a promotion to entice people to come visit, right?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. You know, and I think slowly and slowly this may be catching on, but yeah, it's It's a good opportunity if you know about it.
SPEAKER_03:And a lot of the freebies, well, the skeptic in me or any skeptic would say, well, they're not really free because they're part of the price. Like when you talk about hotels, they'll sometimes offer free cocktails for an hour, like between four and five. Or there's, you know, the free breakfast kind of thing, which is kind of built into the price. Or like you mentioned, too, on your list you sent me is free cookies at some places and free wine. Wi-Fi, those types of things. When you talk about free Wi-Fi and free parking, sometimes you have to be a member of their loyalty club, but that's free to sign up for. So why not sign up for it, right?
SPEAKER_01:Right, absolutely. And I was able to take advantage of that free cookie option at Doubletree when I was at a conference in Edmonton a week or so ago. So yeah, it's kind of nice to get these little perks. But you're right. If you do sign up for different loyalty programs like Marriott has one, Hilton has one, and various other chains. You could get free Wi-Fi. Sometimes you get free access to the gym and breakfast, as you mentioned, and sometimes even airport transfers. But again... Consider what you get. And also, it does take some research to see where you're going to get the best value for your membership or your loyalty. Because as we talked about in a previous show, there's always sometimes... the destination fee that you are charged that, oh, if you pay this destination fee, then you get free access to the gym or Wi-Fi or so on. So like you say, you know, what may be free, you may have already paid for in some aspect.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and I think sometimes we just kind of take it for granted until you start having to pay for it. You know, things like free Wi-Fi or use of the gym or anything like that. It's like, oh, I never had to pay for that before. So sometimes we don't even realize that it is free until we have to pay for it.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And then it starts to add up to your overall bill. Especially if it's in a different currency like US or Euros, that can really affect your budget.
SPEAKER_03:Is there anything like there's one story I did see and it was via rail. Now, this hasn't been finalized yet. And it was via rail saying this summer they're coming out with free ridership for people 17 and under. So for families want to take the train is a great offer, but it's still in the works. And it was a sort of a government thing that came down. And when we talk about government, well, it may or may not ever happen. So I'm kind of waiting for statistics. if that one comes out? Because that would be a big one, I think.
SPEAKER_01:I think so. You know, and Via Rail offers the opportunity to see our own country. And... There are different little perks that you can get. Like I know on Canada Day, all national parks within Canada are free. So it's a wonderful opportunity. And we have, what, three in Alberta that you can take advantage of depending on where you live. For youth, 17 and under, as well as active members and veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and their immediate family, you can also enjoy that perk. There's also a mobile app called Canoe, and it helps newcomers to Canada and new Canadian citizens experience Canada through the arts, culture, and the outdoors. And they enjoy free admission to all places administered by Parks Canada across the country for one full year. I thought that was really quite a nice feature, especially, you know, you come from somewhere that doesn't have our beautiful mountains or the lakes or, you know, the different opportunities. that we have here for green space. So that was a new one to me, actually. So I thought that was good to enjoy as well.
SPEAKER_03:And then, too, you might want to research, depending on the destination you're at as far as cities go, because I can use an example here in Calgary during the Stampede. City Transit offers free service downtown with the street C trains. And it only runs through the downtown. But if you're staying downtown and you want a free ride to Stampede Park, that's being offered. So there might be other little freebies depending on the destination you go to.
SPEAKER_01:Right, you know, and there are, for an example, when you go to Europe, there's there's always an opportunity to see a museum, but it's even nicer when it's free. So a couple of examples of that is the British Museum in London. And this offers free admission to all its galleries, including the collections of Egyptian antiquities and ancient Greek and Roman art, and also most European art. museums offer free admission on the first Sunday of each month. And it's a common practice in cities like Paris, where most museums are free as such. And then the Oxford University Museum of National History. So, you know, You know, you go to those countries because you're interested in their culture and they're interested in their history. So it's a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of that as well.
SPEAKER_03:That being said to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., there's a number of museums there. They're all free and they're amazing. You could spend a whole week just going to see all the Smithsonian museums there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And I know you like anything to do with airplanes. So it does feature like the history of flight and space travel. So, you know, that's interesting in itself. So lots of things to do. And, you know, it's kind of fun too, not that you have to wait for a rainy day, but sometimes having this in your back pocket is good to go to on a rainy day at your destination.
SPEAKER_03:Any other freebies you can think of?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know, free shows that you kind of take for granted, like the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace in London and at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. And they're, you know, really time-honored traditions and symbols of royal pageantry. And it draws crowds on a daily basis. The same can be said of the 11 a.m. chiming of the Glockenstein in Munich. So it's kind of fun to see these things because it's part of it. are aligned to their smart devices. So free travel apps like GasBuddy, and this allows you to type in your city or zip code and find a list of local gas stations offering the lowest prices. So that helps you save on gas if you have rented a car. One I use a lot is Google Translate, and this allows you to translate text, pictures, or speech into more than 200 languages. This one's new to me. It's called HipCamp, and this app allows you to find, and if needed book a camping spot for the night, whether it's in a tent, RV, cabin, or tree house.
SPEAKER_03:So there's lots of freebies out there. You just have to do a little research and you could save yourself some money, which everyone likes to do.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. And in this day and age, saving money is good.
SPEAKER_03:Every dollar counts. Onanta Forbes is a travel expert. You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and X at Onanta Forbes. And her website is onantaforbes.com. Always fun chatting, Onanta. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Have a good week. Take care.
SPEAKER_03:This is the Informed Traveller podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformedtraveller.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You can also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at theinformedtraveller.org. And if you want to get up-to-date travel info through the week or just see a few amusing travel stories and links, you can like us on Facebook at facebook.com slash informedtraveller on Instagram at at informedtraveller or on X at informedtraveller. Plus, you can now sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our May issue is available now. Just go to our website, theinformedtraveller.org. Click on the newsletter button. It'll take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox. So continuing with our podcast now, let's head to London, England and visit the Londoner hotel to learn all about what it has to offer its guests and a bit on exploring London itself. To help us out, we're joined now by Patrick Katzenberg. He's the general manager guest experience of the Londoner Hotel. The website is thelondoner.com. Hi, Patrick. Hi, Randy. Thanks for having me today. Well, I am excited to learn about the Londoner. It looks like it's at a fabulous location right in the heart of London. So before we get into that, just give me some background on the Londoner. How long has it been part of It's
SPEAKER_00:been part of London since 2021. So we've opened, we started building about 12 years ago is when we acquired the site. The family who owned the hotel had a small property here and we then slowly afterwards started building, getting the planning permission and then finally opened in 2021. So it's in our fourth year now.
SPEAKER_03:Nice. Well, I'll have to say I haven't been to London, but I do have the sort of idea that there's not a lot of space in London, so I kind of manage it's a huge hotel.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. It's quite a special place. Obviously, also building a property and a legacy property at that right on Leicester Square is something that is quite special. So if you look at the map of London, Leicester Square is right and the hotel is right where if you would connect all of the points of a compass, this is where you'll find a hotel. To the north, you've got Soho, Chinatown, Regent's Park. To the west, you've got Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street. South, just behind the hotel, you've got Trafalgar Square. And east, you've got Covent Garden. So in terms of location, you're right in the centre of London.
SPEAKER_03:Well, you can't beat that, as the realtors always say, location, location, location.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely is the case
SPEAKER_03:here. I am looking at your website, thelendener.com. Some brilliant video on there. So give me, I don't know, a virtual tour or I guess an audio tour of the hotel. I
SPEAKER_00:think we sort of came up with this term, the world's first super boutique hotel. It's very much... an urban resort where the hotel is 16 stories right in the center of London. As we said, it's got a blend of different spaces from event spaces all the way to six restaurants and bars from our rooftop bar to the stage, our champagne bar, right when you enter the hotel to our French Mediterranean restaurant with our Berkeley Cote Harris. So there's a lot of spaces to explore within the hotel.
SPEAKER_03:Well, let's explore some of those spaces. Tell me about some of the amenities. Expand on maybe the places you can grab a bite to eat and a cocktail.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. I think starting at the rooftop, I think, one of the fantastic spaces up there is Eight, our rooftop bar. It's on the eighth floor, overlooking Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, and it's very much a taste of Japan. And the weather's turned very nice just now, so we've been able to take the roof off. So it's a very exciting space for a cocktail and some exceptional bar bites. Then We have our French Mediterranean restaurant with the Berkeley Co-Terrace. It's right on the square. It's great for people watching, fantastic food. Also, when you enter the hotel, you enter almost like the West End. We've got our champagne bar. It's called The Stage, where we've got the first, in the morning, we're starting off with breakfast. Our second act in the afternoon is the afternoon tea. Then the third and fourth act is on the encore in the evening, we We've got a live band performing. So you've got your afternoon teas. You've got your bites and snacks throughout the day. But then, of course, we also have, not to forget, is our own pub, our Gin Bar or Joshua's Tavern, as we call it, or JT's, which is right connected next to the National Gallery at the hotel. So it's offering something for everyone. If you just want to grab a beer, Joshua's Tavern is for you. If you would like to have a glass of champagne, the stage or the rooftop bar. So loads of different spaces. in the hotel there
SPEAKER_03:I'm thinking I might want to do as you say and start at the rooftop bar have a drink there and then go people watch and then have a beer in the pub absolutely
SPEAKER_00:I mean there's also another couple of spaces there's so much to explore here one thing I haven't really talked about is our residence which is our you would call it maybe a club lounge this is an extension to our guest bedroom so we've got another three wonderful Thank you. Or if you're really interested, we've got a little speakeasy bar. It's the Whiskey Room. So some of the rarest and most complex whiskeys in the world that we've got there. So again, this is only for residents of the hotel. So again, it's nice and buzzing outside Leicester Square, but we do have the residence, three wonderful spaces where guests can just relax. And it's just for hotel guests, almost an extension to the bedroom.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I was going to say it is a perfect place or it sounds like a Some of the highlights of London were basically you can step out the door and visit all those sites that you mentioned.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Or never leave the hotel for the whole weekend. Even
SPEAKER_03:better. Let's talk about your spa as well if you wanted to relax there.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, the retreat, again, is a wonderful space. I've sort of talked about it. It's 16 stories. So the retreat is actually 30 meters under Leicester Square. So it's quite a special place. It's got one of the largest hotel pools within London. It's got a hydro pool, sauna, steam room. It's a whole world in itself down there. You've got a gentleman's barber. Joe Vipant. You've got Refuel, another bar with all of the healthy snacks and drinks that come with that. We've got a hairdresser. We've got our drip hydration, which is coming very soon. So a little IV drip if you've had a long flight coming over to London and you'll get refreshed and set to go. So it's again, it's another space for guests to just enjoy. You can just book a Kambana when you check in with us certain times and enjoy a bit of pool time. Like
SPEAKER_03:I said, I've never been to London. How easy is it to get to London Heathrow if that's where you're flying into, getting down to the Londoner?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, not just because I have to sell the hotel, but it's actually really easy. There's a couple of ways that I personally actually do it. First of all, you've got Leicester Square, the underground stations right outside the hotel. You can take the Big Adelie line. You cannot get lost. It takes you straight to all the terminals right from the hotel. You also have the Elizabeth line, which is the latest line that has just opened, which will take you straight to Tottenham Court Road. So I think I can make it from 45 minutes door to door or door to desk up to Heathrow Air. airport, which is very, very good. Of course, we can speak to our concierge team. Tom is our head concierge. Always do reach out to Tom. He'll always make sure that a car is waiting for you at the airport as well. So of course, we can organize that as well. But one of the most convenient ways is really the connectivity to get to the hotel.
SPEAKER_03:I like the car idea. Speaking of concierge, if I wanted to explore some of the sites of London, can they help me out too?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, definitely. I think one of the beautiful things here with the Londoner, and obviously it is named the Londoner, it's all the connection that we have with the various galleries, theatres and the West End. We've got, for example, right next to it, I mentioned it earlier on, you've got the National Gallery. Currently it's the Siena exhibition. It's the rise of the paintings, paintings from the 1300s. I took guests after breakfast just last week and it was just a wonderful experience to have a private viewing through the National Gallery. The Portrait Gallery is just next to it. You've got Edvard Munch's paintings currently going on. You've got some amazing... theaters next to the hotel. One of my personal favorites, the Donmar Warehouse, very intimate theater, but excellent cast always, where we've got tickets as well. So if you dine in one of the restaurants, some of the packages include tickets there, which is excellent. Then currently it's the dealer's choice. I'm about to see it next week. So which is excellent. We had a wonderful relationship with one of the theaters where Tom Hiddleston just finished his Much Ado About Nothing, a bit of Shakespeare there. We've got Evita coming. And we do have a lot of partnerships with these galleries and theatres where we can then get you access, whether it is some of the sold-out exhibitions. Always do speak to Tom, Alex and the team, and I'm sure they'll get you in. Well, it sounds exciting. It
SPEAKER_03:always seems like there's something to do in London. There's never downtime, as they say. Never
SPEAKER_00:gets boring in London, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:What is a good time to visit? I know summer is coming up soon, and that's usually a busier, busier time. But would fall if you wanted to escape the crowds a bit and see some of London?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I think London is a destination that you can visit all year round. Me personally, I just love the summer months with what the British do very well. All the sporting events we've got start with Henley, Ascot, the horse races, Wimbledon coming up, Chelsea Flower Show right here in May. It creates such a nice buzz in the city and London is made up of all different villages and it's just nice to explore all these different villages that really make London and every area is very different. So The summer is a beautiful area. However, going into the latter part of the year, Christmas, I mean, London is busy. It's guests visiting from all over the world, and it just creates a wonderful atmosphere with all the lights, especially Aborigines Street. When I leave work in the evening and all the lights on, it's just magical.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it sounds like it. We haven't discussed the rooms. What are the rooms like?
SPEAKER_00:So rooms, we've got from your king rooms, all rooms are a minimum of king beds, which is wonderful. You've got all the way up to the capital suites. I'm currently in one of them that overlooks Leicester Square. We're very fortunate that the building is right on the square, so it overlooks the green. It's very nice here when we do also have film premieres. It's great for people spotting the rooms overlooked, the square that are facing the front towards the National Gallery site. All of the rooms on the higher floors overlook sort of Big Ben and, as I said, London Eye. You do have some of the signature suites, which are probably my favorite, Horatio and the Trafalgar Suite, which are just very special. Located on the seventh floor, the space that these two suites have and the views that really make these two quite special.
SPEAKER_03:So who is your typical guest? Is it couples on a weekend? Is it international guests that are the losers? using London as a base to explore the rest of the UK. Who was the typical guest you would find there?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think based on the amenities that we offer here at the Londoner, I think it is very attractive to couples, pleasure travellers, your theatre guests. We've got a lot of, as I've mentioned before, film premieres taking place. So you often... The stage is a great place for people spotting during the premieres. It's great for first-time visitors, for people that have not experienced London in such a large city. Because it is pedestrianized, it's easy to walk everywhere. So it's great for first-time visitors as well.
SPEAKER_03:Well, you can't beat the location, like you said. You just step out the door and everything's within walking distance. Most of the sites that makes London famous, right? Yes, absolutely. Anything I've missed that you might want to add?
SPEAKER_00:No, I think do have a look. Give us a call. Speak to our concierge. Give us an email. Pick up the phone to us. We've got great room packages coming up, whether it's with Evita, the musical that's coming up. As I said, some of the theatre package or the Cartier exhibition at the V&A, if you're interested in that. So there's a lot of things happening in London over the next few months. I think it will be quite an exciting time to be here.
SPEAKER_03:Always a good time to visit London, right? Absolutely. Patrick Katzenberg is the general manager guest experience of the Londoner. TheLondoner.com was the website where you can check out all the beautiful images in the video and find out more information. Appreciate your time, Patrick. Thanks. It was great chatting with you.
SPEAKER_00:Likewise. We'll hope to see you here in London soon.
SPEAKER_03:And that is our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is randy at theinformedtraveller.org. And if you like what you heard, tell a friend. You can check out our website too at theinformedtraveller.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveller.