BillyKnowsBest

The Best Compact Umbrella: ShedRain WindPro Jumbo Mini

My mom had one request for Hanukkah: A compact umbrella, with auto open/close and a wind vent in any color but black.  The one I found was so great, I ordered a second one for myself.  The ShedRain WindPro Auto Open/Close Jumbo Mini has all those features, plus a comfort-grip handle and a really big canopy, to keep you much drier than most other compact umbrellas.  It's available in "sand," which is really a dark grey - a perfectly elegant color that isn't black (and less likely to get "accidentally" switched out of a public umbrella stand.  It may very well be the perfect umbrella, sturdy enough to stick it out 'till the end.  Regularly $38, but often on sale at eBags.com .

The Best Atlas: National Geographic Atlas of the World

Thanks to my friend David at UprightAndStowed for this tip.  He says "Hands down the greatest hard-bound world atlas there is. My dad gave me an earlier version when I was 18, and I still use it. Hands down the greatest hard-bound world atlas there is. My dad gave me an earlier version when I was 18, and I still use it. Holidays are coming. You will make someone very VERY happy if you give them this."  And maybe someone should get David a new one.  The world's a very different place than it was back in the Middle Ages when he was 18.  Buy it for $93.56 at Buy.com .

Tumi Luggage at a 25% Discount

I'm not a huge fan of Tumi luggage, mostly because it's overpriced.  And it's really hard to ever find it on sale.  But during Neiman Marcus' one-day First Mark sale on Wednesday, November 7th, Tumi is all 25% off.  I'm not sure if the sale will be available online (I may be a loyal NM InCircle Member, but they won't let me join their online affiliate program), but it is available in store.  If you don't have a Neiman's near you, or can't get into the store, contact Neiman's personal shopper Duke Hagenburger in the Beverly Hills store. Call him direct at 310-975-4334, or email  duke_hagenburger@neimanmarcus.com, and tell him Billy sent you.

The Best Car Rental Rates: Dollar.com

If you compare renting a car to say, renting a tuxedo or rototiller, car rental is a bargain, no matter who you rent from.  But there is still huge variability between car rental rates. For many years, that variability corresponded directly to convenience.  Rent from Hertz, and you'd pay the most, but your car would be on an airport lot, and you wouldn't have to wait on an endless line.  But as large airports move their car rental lots to remote facilities, and technology allows the discount car rental firms to provide faster service, the price/convenience consideration isn't so cut and dry anymore. 

I've been renting from Dollar these days.  They generally have the lowest rates in the US, and by enrolling in their Dollar Express program, the time from shuttle to street is just a few minutes slower than my Hertz Gold service.  Use the BKB Corporate Discount code BR0719 for an additional 5% savings on most rates.

The Best Guide to Disney World: The Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World

My friend Sara asked me for some insider travel information for Walt Disney World.  Once upon a time when I was managing New Haven Travel/American Express, I had lots of specific recommendations, but now I have only two.  The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is filled with tips, advice, ratings and reviews for every aspect of a Disney trip, including tested, patented touring plans that allow you to beat the crowds and shorten your wait times.  Buy it for $11.96 at amazon.com.  Find additional information at their web home, touringplans.com. 

The Best Automotve GPS Systems: Magellan/Hertz Neverlost

The final recommendation for Road Warrior "Week" 2007 is from my friend Juan, who has been bugging me for months to recommend Hertz Neverlost.  Juan travels a lot for business, has used "all of the navigation systems" (he's a little prone to exaggeration), and swears that Neverlost is the best.  Given his frequent resemblance to an idiot-savant, he's probably a perfect judge of the technology.  (He could rattle off ten different considered reasons why he likes Neverlost, but probably couldn't tell you where his keys are right now.)  Although you can't buy Neverlost, the technology is provided by Magellan, whose Roadmate GPS products are available at amazon.com

The Best San Francisco Hotels

Yesterday I wrote about the St. Regis San Francisco, naming it the best hotel in San Francisco.  But if it doesn't fit in your budget, here are two other great options that might.

The Orchard Garden Hotel is California’s first hotel built to the nationally accepted standards for green buildings developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) –  in order to earn a coveted “Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design” (LEED®)  certification.  But what's most impressive is that you might not know this was a green hotel if they didn't tell you.  It's a great example of how green practices can be incorporated in a service and amenity-driven industry without compromising comfort, style and convenience.  Although the hotel was still installing some finishing touches while I was there last month, it is clearly ready for the modern traveler, with free Wi-Fi, Hi-Def LCD TVs, DVD players and iHome iPod docking station alarm clocks.  Not everything in the hotel is organic, but every design and operational decision is informed by a green consciousness.  And with rates starting at $153 including a European breakfast, you'll be saving more than just the environment when you stay there.

My third choice for SF's best hotels is the Ramada Plaza Hotel, where rooms are often available at $89.  Built as the Hotel Whitcomb in 1916, the early 20th-Century design of the hotel lobby is surprisingly opulent, if dated, but the modest rooms are clean and comfortable, and offer free Wi-Fi access. The hotel's location at Market and 8th Streets can be a little sketchy, with a high concentration of homelessness and run-down buildings in the immediate few blocks around it.  But it's also extremely convenient to public transportation, including the Civic Center stop of the efficient BART train from SFO or Oakland airports, and literally just three or four blocks from many of the city's more gentrified attractions. 

The Best Hotel in San Francisco: The St. Regis

Travel perfectly illustrates the subjectiveness of "best." Someone who's accustomed to staying at the Travelodge might check into a Hyatt and think "this is a great hotel." Someone accustomed to staying at the Four Seasons might do the same and think "what a dump." And most travel writing is done by poor writers on sponsored press junkets, for media reliant on advertising dollars, which explains why so much of it is effusive fluff. As a professional travel writer and editor for more than ten years, I learned that the best travel writing provides the "decision empowering" details that lets readers figure out whether a hotel, destination or experience is right for them. 

I met Lilian Wagner when she was the Director of Sales & Marketing for the Park Hyatt San Francisco, now Le Meridian.  The hotel was my top recommendation at the time, and Lilian became a good friend. 
She's now the DoS&M at the St. Regis San Francisco, and issued a standing invitation for me to visit.  Lilian knows that a comped stay would not deter me from writing honestly about the property (a lesson hard learned by the DoS of the former Regent Hotel in Sydney). I knew her confidence level was as high as my expectation of perfection.

The hotel wasn't perfect. Upon arrival, there were three things wrong with my room. The phone handset on the "integrated room control," the electronic "do not disturb" button, and the  DVD player remote  were not working.  Now, no hotel can keep its electronics 100% functional. What sets a hotel like the St. Regis apart is that they were all fixed, with one call to guest services, in the hour that I went down to the spa for a swim.  Other imperfections: the Sony Dream Machine stereo/DVD player and its speakers are behind a closet door that must remain open in order to fast forward or hear sound through the system instead of the inferior flat panel TV speakers.  And there was only one accessible power outlet in the room. With my computer plugged in it at the desk, my phone had to charge in the bathroom.  Now, I know my butler would have shown up with a power strip in five minutes, had I paged him, but really, these are inexcusable design flaws for a year-old, new build hotel. Matt Ouimet, are you reading this? Let me know when you've fixed them. 

I wouldn't ordinarily start a hotel review by listing flaws. But in this case it lends credibility to my proclamation of the St. Regis as undoubtedly the best hotel in San Francisco.  The design is stunning, from lobby to rooms, with a stylish aesthetic that's modern and surprising, yet still inviting and comfortable. The service is efficient, gracious and pervasive without being stuffy or overbearing. The Remède spa is great, including separate male and female saunas, steamrooms and hot tubs with the strongest therapeutic jets I've ever encountered at a spa. Remède also supplies the in-room bath amenities, which are among the best this product snob has ever found at a hotel. (When I packed these away on my first night so I could take them home, the housekeeper left a double set the next day... That's great service!) Add two great restaurants, a happening bar/lounge scene, impressive views and a perfect SoMa location, and it's easy to understand my enthusiastic recommendation, despite the few flaws.

Now, it's also easy to recommend hotels with room rates that start at $400/night.  But recognizing that price figures into most everyone's determination of "best," tomorrow I'll post two other recommendations that cover a broad spectrum of affordability.

The Best Travel Pillow: Eagle Creek Comfort Neck Pillow

Comfort amenities are some of the major differences between the front and the back of the plane.  But bringing your own helps bridge the gap when you're stuck on the wrong side of the curtain. Start with the Eagle Creek Comfort Neck Pillow.  The curved shape fits around your neck, creating a cradle that keeps your head comfortably supported. A micro fleece cover makes it softer than most inflatable plastic versions, and a high-tech valve makes inflation and deflation super easy.  $18.50 from eBags.com.

Best International Travel Plug Adapter: Kensington International All-in-One Travel Plug Adapter

Although most business-class hotels offer 110v outlets and outlet adapters from the concierge desk, I've always found it helpful to carry a plug adapter of my own, so that I can plug in my laptop in airports, budget hotels and local homes.  I used to travel with a bag full of plugs, but now just one.  By sliding out the appopriate blades, this plug adapter works in 130 different countries.  Remember, it's not a voltage converter, but since most laptop power supplies work from 110v-220v, you may not need one. $12.99 from Amazon.com. (FYI, when referring to a device, either adaptor or adapter is correct.  When referring to a person, adapter is the correct spelling.)