Before you Hit our Gym…

We have a great gym.  It’s not the biggest in the world but it does have everything to get a good sweat going!  Sometimes a good sweat session is just what the doctor ordered: Exercise has been shown to help ease menstrual cramps, joint pain, headaches, stress and depression, for starters. But if you’re not feeling up to your workout, your body might be trying to tell you that it needs a break. Here are five science-backed reasons to throw in the towel (for today).

Something hurts
There’s the good, normal kind of postworkout pain—the achy soreness you feel for a day or two after you’ve pushed your muscles a little harder than usual or tried something new—and the bad kind that feels like more of an ouch and lingers, explains SELF contributing expert Lisa Callahan, M.D., codirector of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. If a pain persists longer than 72 hours, causes swelling at the site, keeps you up at night or hurts more when you exercise, it’s time to sit on the sidelines and call your doc.

You’re sleep-deprived
Insufficient zzz’s could be as devastating to your well-being as lack of exercise, says James B. Maas, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. “Your body uses sleep to restore itself both physically and mentally, yet people continue to put it off as if it’s optional,” says Maas. If you’ve been falling short of the seven to eight hours of nightly shut-eye experts recommend and feel downright exhausted when your alarm goes off in the morning, hit snooze and leave your workout for another day. Bonus: The extra rest will give you more energy to punch through that last mile or set of reps when you do hit the gym again.

You feel dizzy, thirsty or clammy
These are signs of warm weather injuries like heatstroke and exhaustion, cases of which are up 133 percent in the past decade, a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine warns. Heatstroke can happen even on mild days, so always keep water handy, and if you start to feel the above symptoms, rest, drink up and call it quits for the day. Better safe than sorry!

Your stomach’s been feeling queasy
A little bit of indigestion is no biggie, but if you’re throwing up or experiencing severe diarrhea, you’re already on your way to dehydration and exercise will only make it worse. A 12-hour bug causes most upset stomachs, so you should be fine after a day in bed (or in the bathroom). Just be sure to drink plenty of clear fluids in the meantime.

You have a fever
If the thermometer reads above 100 and you feel exhausted or achy all over, you could have the flu, so trade your gym clothes for your PJ’s and get thee to bed! You’ll likely be too zonked to work up a non-fever-induced sweat anyway. Plus, you’re contagious a full day before you have any symptoms and for the first few days after symptoms strike, and I’m betting your fellow gymgoers don’t want the flu any more than you do. So rest up, drink plenty of fluids and don’t even think about those sneakers until your fever breaks and you’re feeling normal again.

Traveling with Children?

There’s nothing worse than a crying toddler or bored grumpy teenager to put a king-sized damper on family vacations.  Maybe these tips can help?

Don't forget the diapers

Why is it that the tiniest travelers require the most baggage? Baby Pack & Go supplies packing lists that you can customize for each child. It also sends reminders to ensure globe-trotting doesn't disrupt baby's routine: Ding! It's lunchtime. Ding! Naptime. $1. Download it: iPhone.

Bring storytime on the road

Dr. Seuss goes digital with iPhone- and iPad-ready versions of his best-selling stories. Let The Lorax app be your on-the-road babysitter: It reads the story aloud, and when you tap an illustration, the machine will speak its name ("Trees." "Grass." "Pond."). $5. Download it: Android, iPhone/iPad.

Color without crayons

The ultimate airplane toy for antsy tots, Dora the Explorer Coloring Adventures is a virtual coloring and sticker book for kids ages 2 to 6, with five scenes they can infinitely redesign. Here's to no more stray crayons under the seat! $5. Download it: iPad.

Scream for ice cream   

First, give yourself some elbow room. Then fire up Scoops, a highly addictive game even a technophobe could master. Your only goal is to position a virtual ice cream cone under colorful scoops that fall from the sky, using the phone's motion-sensitive accelerometer to direct the cone with a tilt of the wrist. Free. Download it: iPhone/iPad.

Is Cruisin’ Your Thing?

We are close to several ports that allow our guests the opportunity to stop with us before and/or after their cruise.  So if your looking to take a cruise here are some pointers I hope can help you decide which ship you sail with.

Find the right ship

With more than 12,000 itineraries on 20 cruise lines, the new Cruise Finder app by iCruise.com has one of the largest listings databases out there — plus plenty of other features to smooth your sailings. Want to preview your digs? Check out the detailed cabin photos and deck plans. Need help locating the port on departure day? The travel app provides step-by-step directions from your front door. Free, requires Wi-Fi (Cruise ships usually charge for Wi-Fi on board—expect to pay around 75¢ a minute). Download it: iPhone/iPad.

Set a budget

It's easy to lose track of all the scattershot incidental costs that add up over the course of a cruise. Typing daily expenses like tips, excursions, and that round of karaoke-lounge mai tais into the Cruise Card Control app each night helps ward off any sail's-end surprises at the purser's desk. Bonus: The app's running tally doesn't require Wi-Fi, so you can watch your spending without going overboard on data fees. $1. Download it: iPhone/iPad.
Get advice from fellow cruisers
There are several blogs where fellow cruisers go to give their advise and here are some blogs to keep your ear on:

The social-network-style Always Be Cruising app provides an instant entry point into the passionate community of die-hard cruisers: After creating a profile and sharing your itinerary, you can connect with other passengers — past, present, or future — and get advice on anything from where to book the best deal to which buffet to avoid to which cruise director doles out the most upgrades. Free, requires Wi-Fi (cruise ships usually charge for Wi-Fi on board — expect to pay around 75¢ a minute). Download it: iPhone/iPad.

Manage your time

The vast range of activities found on today's mega-ships can be overwhelming — Waterslides! Rock climbing! Casinos! — but Ship Mate makes managing your time a painless proposition. Set up a daily schedule (for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Costa, or MSC cruises — plus Disney Cruises on the Android version), peruse deck maps, and plan excursions using the app's guides, which include prices for each outing. $2 each. Download it: Android, iPhone/iPad.

Summer is Coming and so is Rising Gas Prices

As gas prices rise we see families looking at how they can conserve some money but still get out for a vacation.  We also know that when the rising prices back in 2008 that families reduced the distance they would travel due to those peaking prices.  So why wouldn’t we expect to see families do the same thing this year? 

This will be another year of local travel.  I think we’ll see more families keeping their overall travel down just like we saw in 2008.  The average distance traveled will be about 620 miles and average spending is expected to be $1,052 per family, AAA says.

Okay, what else will make your trip easier? Well I would suggest either having your vehicle checked over by a good mechanic or your husband if he knows how. Check the tires, filters, belts, brakes, change the oil etc.

Then the day before your trip get your vehicle cleaned really well, and fill up on gas. After that come home and pack what you will be taking with you into your vehicle, things like your overnight bags, travel pillows etc.  If you take extra blankets along these can be draped over the back of the seat so that they do not take up any additional room. And travel pillows can be placed next to whoever will be using them.

Money-saving strategies have even gone mobile. Apps like FuelFrog allow you to track your mileage to monitor gas prices in your city and your car’s gas efficiency over time. It’s one way that using a cell phone can actually improve your driving.

Whatever you decide to do I hope you have a great summer, and spend a lot of quality time with your children.

It's The Little Things

Sometimes you forget some of those small items that can make or break your business trip or at the very least ruin your positive outlook.  Believe me we’ve seen some people forget some off the wall items.  But hopefully at the end of the day we can help salvage what you’ve missed.  There are a lot of little things you may find with our front desk staff.  This list varies from hotel to hotel but when all else fails we have been known to provide some of these items:

Matches

Toothbush/ tooth paste/ mouthwash

 Shavers and shaving cream

Deodorant

Pantyhose

Combs

Universal cell phone chargers

We may not have all these items all the time but give us the chance and our friendly front desk staff maybe able to surprise you with what we can provide. 

Trends for Spring and Summer

As Miami weather starts to warm up and the stores have completed their switch from winter items to warmer weather items these are the typical trends to be aware of.  Our weather in Miami runs about 40 degrees to 70 degrees in the spring but about mid June we start to see temperatures averaging around 60 degrees up to 100 degrees.  Humidity is also a factor so if you plan to be outside you’ll want to keep this in mind when packing. 

Afraid to try the latest trends because you don’t have the body of an 18-year-old supermodel? Never fear! Many of this season’s hottest trends are wearable for all ages and body types. Trying a new trend can be scary! Don’t be shy - Try one at a time and mix them in to what you already own. Summer is a great time to try something new or with a splash of more color than you’re used too. Here’s a couple of spring and summer trends that just about anyone can pull off:

This season dresses, and skirts will remain must haves... But this season fashion designer's have also given us all kind of fun fashions, fashions that will offer wonderful vivid prints, stripes, and geometric prints... The main theme this spring is somewhat tailored, and classic, but with a touch of bold, and edgy.

According to many fashion experts, super tight denim (commonly called ‘jeggings’) are a thing of the past. Instead, opt for wide-leg and trouser-cut silhouettes, which are flattering on all body types! Another trend making a comeback is flare jeans. If you have a curvy figure, flares are your best bet. They balance out a fuller top nicely and will make you look slimmer.

Hope this helps you as you plan on what to pack coming into our city.  See you here!

Is Using questionnaires to measure guest satisfaction is waste of money?

It's a dilemma, if they are to complex and comprehensive guests don't complete them, if they are to simple, the information gained is meaningless.  We Think, when used well, that questionnaires are one of the best ways to measure the guests’ satisfactions, or to measure any packages, promotions and impact with our guests. It is widely used in many areas like restaurants or hotels …… specially online, keeping the results is a good reference for future questionnaires.

Cards have been very useful in the rooms for comments, however the use and use of cards has been antiquated to some degree.  Some hotels have installed an iPad at their desk for guest comments.  It has given them some very good feedback and guest like it better than the comment cards. The format is quick and easy for the guest, all they have to do is insert their room number and all of their info is there along with what they liked as well as what they did not. There is an option to remove their info if they so choose to do so.  Problems encountered are sent to each department for critique and then fixed and usually emailed back to guest with a comment from the General Manager.

I think questionnaires provide good feedback overall, and more than anything, I think it gives the client the opportunity to provide useful feedback. However as they are so widely used, clients are often bored or ¨just don’t bother¨. So always useful to link these to a ¨reason to fill it in¨ i.e. because they know it is going to be read - I think it is always important to follow this up, even if with just a ¨thank you¨. The fact that they give you an email provides you also with a great marketing tool. This gives them more credibility. In the past we have always contacted the client with a problem, BEFORE leaving the establishment. That way the client provides further feedback, and doesn’t leave ¨disgruntled¨. Often a questionnaire just gets filled in as a complaint - encourage clients to also praise - i.e. Can link into employee of the month scheme. Also very important at the time of creating a questionnaire that these are configured to provide useful information, so as to get the maximum affectivity from this. They must divide Fact from Opinion. It is also a useful training tool - set departmental budgets for customer satisfaction in percentages as part of your Quality Management Systems. Works more often than not as a great, and free, motivator. So back to the original question, they are useful, if you manage them well, make them work for you and make the staff participate actively in their use.

I'm convinced that using guest feedbacks to improve our services, to discover the feelings of our guests is the best long-term solution to improve quality & loyalty. What do you think?

Disaster Readiness

As a parent and family member, one of the jobs you do best is to provide a healthy, safe

and secure world for your family. But if you are like many other parents some issues feel

overwhelming and you would rather not worry about them. The prospect of a disaster is one

of those issues. However, there are special resources to help you protect your family in

case of a disaster. And all of us can prepare. 

A few simple steps will help us to protect our families, assure that our children feel safe, and

make it easier to recover if and when we have to go through a disaster.  Disasters are familiar to

us all. Hurricanes, floods, forest fires, tornadoes, earthquakes and human caused disasters can affect anyone in the United States.

Pre-disaster planning and emergency readiness is a complex issue.  Different types of disasters may require different knowledge and skills. Although each family needs to prepare in its own way, it is important that all members, parents and children and others, are provided with information that will help them handle a disaster.  As you travel it is a fair question that you can ask your airline, hotel or any other service what kinds of plans they have if a disaster strikes.

We know how important it is for you to protect your family. We know that by providing some easy to use  information you can be truly prepared to manage the difficulties that you may encounter if you experience a disaster. That’s why took the time to provide these tips.

People tend to think, “Oh this won’t happen to me” when it comes to disasters. 95% of people in the United States believe just that. In fact, 60% of the population has been affected. Each year, hundreds of thousands  of United States citizens go through some type of disaster. A disaster can occur in your community. It can  happen to you.  However, knowing some basic information about the different types of disasters and what you can do in general to get ready will help to make this feel less frightening and overwhelming.

Click HERE to get some great in depth information on how to keep you family safe!