Argophilia

Αργοφιλία: For the love of the journey.

End of Summer Eastern European Spots to Hit

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Luxuriant, unique, and just downright fascinating, aren’t these ideas you would love to enjoy for end Summer 2012? Argo Travel News sought out three gems for your beach getaway to end all beach getaways. It’ll be Fall again in a bit, time to jet off to “the other Europe” East of the all too familiar. Turkey to the Austrian border lands and back to Montenegro, here are some five star spots you HAVE to visit.

Big OTAs and Big Hotels in Price Fixing Lawsuit

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A federal lawsuit naming the likes of Expedia, Orbitz, Booking.com, Travelocity, Trump International Hotels Management, Intercontinental, Kimpton, Sabre Holdings, Priceline, Marriott, Starwood, and Hilton alleges the companies conspired to fix hotel room prices. According to the news from Reuters, the suit claims the travel giants did so in an effort to fend off competition from smaller online retailers.

Digital Marketing System buuteeq Looking Up

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News from budding marketing marvel buuteeq suggests their dital marketing system (DMS) for independent hotels is gaining momentum. Powering online reservartions online, on mobile, and via social media, the startup launched back in 2011 is now engaging hoteliers across 15 countries.

Lodging in Amsterdam: Steingenberger Hotel Group Expands in Amsterdam

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Steingenberger Hotel Group has just announced having added Amsterdam to their list of high end accommodations in Europe. According to the news, the Frankfurt based company will take over operation of the Four Star Superior Hotel there, a property with 440 rooms near Schiphol International Airport.

The Collection by Liz McGrath, Luxury of the Unexpected

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Anyone reading this article might be a bit surprised on learning about South African hospitality surpassing even European standards. Surprise being an ethereal part of wonder, imagine discovering old world charm and traditional luxury blended with 21st Century “wired”. The Liz McGrath’s Collection of three 5 star hotels is not your typical visitation on exclusive, not by a long shot.

Andermatt Swiss Alps: A Wonderland Coming Soon

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Searching exclusive destinations for an end of Summer rush we ran across Andermatt Swiss Alps, situated in a village so often associated with skiing and alpine Winter sports. This legendary destination at the foot of the Gotthard Massif in Switzerland, will soon welcome a year round holiday, property, and sports Mecca of both proportion and uniqueness, we thought you would like to discover.

Treovi Opens: Just Book!

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A couple of weeks ago we announced hotels could load their inventory onto Treovi. Yesterday the Swiss startup announced having opened their beta doors to guests, inviting the world to not only search desired destination hotels, but to just plain “book!” This niche of travel booking entities is growing pretty fast, but Treovi thinks their model is the only truly free one.

Three Great Hotels That Could Use A Website

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One of the most crucial aspects of any online business is the landing page of the website. Nowhere is this more crucial than for any hospitality company, and in particular hoteliers. We have typed ourselves to bloody fingers, talked ourselves blue in the face, but still even wonderfully lavish hotels offer up hamburger to their prime rib consuming visitors.

Lifestyle Hotels & Other Booking Filters

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Are you looking for something or someone to filter your digital world? Argo Travel News takes a look at another travel accommodation filtering channel, Lifestyle Hotels, with mentions of a few others. If ever there were a need for good suggestion engines, the travel space is in dire need. How do you decide where to go, where to stay, what to do? Let’s look at regional players in travel booking.

Tuscany Suggestion: Hotel Castello di Casole

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For those of you headed to Tuscany this Summer, the 41-suite boutique Hotel Castello di Casole is one option that should not be overlooked. Located on a most picturesque 4,200-acre estate, the hotel offers not only a wellness center and superb regional cuisine, but incomparable vineyards and a wondrous game reserve too. Timbers Resort’s announced the grand […]

Wish They All Could Beat Eastern Europe Girls

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Today’s Argo discovery takes us to Facebook and a search for all things beautiful. In today’s case, models and actresses you may have, but probably did not know before. Legendary for many things, Eastern Europe is, if anything marvelous at all, home of some of the world’s most beautiful women. Let’s show off some of them from Facebook’s profiles, shall we?

Qatar Airlines Chief Vs Lufthansa Crybabies

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Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, looks like a straight shooter in an industry full of corporate “yes men” these days. Speaking at a Guild of Travel Management Companies’ (GTMC) conference, the five star airline’s boss called BS on Lufthansa and other European airlines. With many air carriers suffering during this current recession, name calling has broken out in earnest now.

The Curious Case of Room Key

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A news release yesterday via Business Wire tells of conglomerate hotel booking site Room Key’s coming out of Beta status. What’s curious about this news is not so much the fluffy nature of it, but claims of millions having flocked to the startup to book their hotel rooms. At least this is the feel of the announcement. A bit of one of those “non-event” specialties creative PR agencies excel at perhaps? What’s the real story?

Triposo Mechanized

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Triposo, the brainchild travel startup from ex-Googler’s Jon Tirsen and Douwe Osinga, just announced their new iOS app, the story arriving via TechCrunch. So, Argo Travel News decided to take a look under the hood of this fascinating new travel guide/suggestion engine.

California Fitness, Food, and Fun 2012

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Fitness spas, ranches, resorts, and getaways California, all the rage these days. How come? Well, Spring and Summer in California is pretty marvelous. Hotels and other venues there wait to help guests get fit, fed, and entertained, so Argo Travel News offers this slight preview.