The Big Country

Harping About the Crillion

Looks like the Hotel de Crillion, in Paris, is about to become a luxury worldwide brand, thanks to the ex-Starwood Chief Barry Sternlicht. (WSJ, so registration required).

I have mixed feeling about this one. I am not the biggest fan of Starwood's vanilla-hip properties, and the Crillion's fustiness and anachronistic feeling was what made it enjoyable. Also, it had choice bathroom location in Paris, for those whow were properly dressed and looked like they belonged. The need for another "obscenely rich" hotel is beside the point; surely it will do just fine. Won't anyone tap the market in New York between Holiday Inn and 60 Thompson?

One can only assume that the Crillion in New York will not have a harpist, as they do in Paris.

Talinn, So Much to Answer For

Coverage in the Times this weekend nomiating Talinn as a "party capital of Europe". Like Scandinavian cities, Baltic countries are party towns mostly for the purposes of staving off depression and suicidal thoughts; getting dark so early in the day can't hurt, either. That said, the article focused mostly on drunk Finns and Brits.

The article also mentions a British company named Prague Pissup, a company that books British stag parties to cities in Central and Eastern Europe, including Talinn. These people must be stopped. Prague continues to have huge problems with this type of tourist, although that hasn't stopped the Czechs from parting them from their money. Didn't Britain extend their drinking hours to keep these people drunk at home?

Non-Arable Land

Kevin Raub tries hard to sell Palm Springs as a hot destination. Toasty? Yes. Fashionable? Hip? No.

One, anywhere that people from L.A. consider a getaway is not to be trusted.

Two, the biggest selling point is the proximity to Joshua Tree. That makes Joshua Tree interesting, not Palm Springs, or Palm Desert.

Three, while Palm Springs has a huge gay population, which, by rights, should make it an awesome place to visit, it's a lot closer to being the Boca Raton of the West Coast than South Beach.

So, if Big Pink opens a branch there, I'll consider it again. Otherwise, I'll just buy a few cacti and call it a day.

C U L8R

Coverage in the Prague Post about Czech soccer team Sparta Praha's woes this season. The highlight is how in a dispute between the team captain and the head coach, the captain complained, resigned as captain, and was then informed he was out the door by text message. He got traded the next day.

Sparta Praha is usually at the top of the league, so it's quite a scandal when they are basement dwellers, as they are this year.

Airport Annexation

Not a good way to ingratiate oneself in Central Europe, to be sure. Anything smacking of Munich 1938, even in airport business deals, will be killed.

Enplaned has the details, but Vienna airport was beginning the process of purchasing Bratislava's airport as it privatized, just across the Danube. The Slovaks have put the kibosh on the deal for the time being.

Prague's Ruzyne, which is crazy busy these days, as well as Bratislava's airport and the recently pruchased Budapest airport, are natural hubs for Europe. Prague is dead center in the European continent--draw an "X" on a map, and Prague is right there in the middle-- and by virtue of being 1.5 to 2.5 hours from everywhere else by plane, it's a natural fit. Hence the massive growth in airports in the region.

The Czechs are ready, having recently upgraded their Becherovka and sausage snack selection in the Duty-Free shops.