The hotel Novotel Vaugirard Montparnasse makes the headlines in November 2011 with the inauguration of a hi-tech room with Microsoft using this showcase to display their skills.Philippe Wang
Travel news from around the globe
In the room
It's being promoted as the room of the future by the Accor hotel chain. Room 3120 at the Hotel Novotel Vaugirard Montparnasse in Paris was designed jointly with Microsoft, with an adult area equipped with a foldout bed to make room for interactive gaming using Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Kinect. Other screens can be used for private gaming or accessing news and information, and a separate children's zone has another games console and roll-up beds. The rate, until Feb. 14, is about $272 a night.
At the tomb
It's still okay to kiss Ireland's Blarney Stone. But the Paris tomb of Irish dramatist Oscar Wilde is now off limits to smoochers. For decades admirers touched their lips to the monument in Père Lachaise cemetery without incident. Then lipstick kisses started appearing in the late 1990s, accompanied by a rash of red graffiti. Finally the Irish government paid for a thorough cleaning and degreasing. It also installed a glass barrier to keep Wilde wooers from puckering up.
On the ground
The world may look up to Canada, but it doesn't rate its cities as highly. In September Canada ranked No. 1 for reputation on a list of 50 world countries surveyed by the Reputation Institute. Now the results for cities are out and Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal were rated No. 10, 17 and 18 respectively. The urban darling is London, according to results from more than 35,000 respondents in 15 countries. The study measures public trust, esteem, admiration and good feelings.
Sources: Relaxnews, The Guardian, Reputation Institute
Special to The Globe and Mail