F4 COMING&GOING
Fee fury, a reason to check bags and hotel discounts
Not gonna take it anymore Are you mad as hell about
airline fees?Well, now there’s a Web site where you can tell the world exactly how mad you are. And it’s called, appropriately enough, Madashellabouthidden
fees.com. Launched last week by the
Consumer Travel Alliance, the Business Travel Coalition and the American Society of Travel Agents, the site offers a forum where travelers can tell their hidden-fee stories, create YouTube videos and sign a petition urging theU.S. Department of Transportation to require airlines to do a better job of disclosing fees. The three groups have also
declared Sept. 23 to be “Mad as Hell Day!” and plan to deliver the petition to the Transportation Department on that date. Travelers “are tired of
arriving at the airport and finding huge unexpected costs for travel services they thought were part of the ticket price,” said KevinMitchell, chairman of the Business Traveler Coalition, in a written statement. “It’s time for consumers, corporate travel managers and travel agents to stand up and say, ‘We’re not going to take this anymore!’ ” In a survey conducted by
the groups during the two weeks before Labor Day, 66 percent of 1,396 respondents said they had been surprised at the airport by fees for services such as checking bags, requesting a seat assignment, getting extra legroom or flying standby.Nearly all—99 percent—said they think that airlines should be required to disclose all their fees in advance on everyWeb site that sells airline tickets. Those travelers could
eventually get their way. The Transportation Department is considering newrules that would require disclosure of baggage fees as well as more transparent fare advertising.
Checked bag rewards If you’re not a fan of
packing light, consider a stay at an InterContinental Hotels Group property. From now until Dec. 30,
guests staying two consecutive weekend nights will be reimbursed for checked-bag fees, as long as the reservation was booked with a valid Visa card. Don’t expect it to come out of your room bill, though. The reimbursement will be in the form of a prepaid Visa card. The maximum reward per stay is $50, but you can accumulate up to $850 before the promotion ends. The company’s brands
include InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo and Candlewood Suites. Read all the fine print at
www.ihg.com/freebag.
Sneak away for less Move over, JetSetter and
TabletHotels. TripAdvisor and Smarter Travel have launched a private saleWeb site that will let members book hotel rooms at a discount. The first sale on
Sniqueaway.com will take place Sept. 20 (among the featured hotels: the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs,W.Va.). All hotels must have earned
a minimum four-star rating classification on TripAdvisor, and corresponding hotel reviews will be shown alongside each offer. Each week, members will
receive e-mail notifications of three newsales, which will increase over time. Offers will be on a first-come, first-served basis and will be available for up to seven days or until sold out. Joining is free, though newmembers must be invited by friends (and if you invite a friend who books a room, you get a $25 credit).
Travel Ticker The fifth annual Newport
MansionsWine&Food Festival is Sept. 24-26 at the Rosecliff andMarbleHouse in Newport, R.I. Tickets for seminars led by industry experts are $20 and can be purchased online at
www.newportmansions
wineandfood.org or by calling 401-847-1000, Ext. 140. Special pricing is available on tickets purchased before Sept. 17.
Reporting: Becky Krystal, Nancy Trejos. Help feed CoGo. Send travel news to:
cogo@washpost.com. Bymail: CoGo,Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.
FallingWaters’Waterfall Yurt, whose occupant, a regular camper, says, “It’s nice to have a roof over your head, with nice sheets.” Right, SteveHerman hikes the waterfall trail. PHOTOS BY REBECCA D'ANGELO FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
TheGorge Yurt, left and above, features a deck overlooking Fontana Lake. (The Lake Yurt overlooks a pond, but whatev.)
DETAILS
GETTING THERE Bryson City, N.C., is 530 miles from Washington. Take I-66 west to I-81 south to I-26 east to I-240 west to I-40 west to US-74 west.
WHERE TO STAY FallingWaters Adventure Resort 10345 U.S. Hwy. 74W 800-451-9972
www.fallingwatersresort.com Next to the Nantahala River Gorge. Offers eight yurts, each one a circular tent-style structure 16 feet in diameter with an outdoor deck, a skylight, French doors, windows, a ceiling fan, a queen bed, a refrigerator, a stereo-CD player and a coffee maker. Rates from $84.
WHERE TO EAT Guayabitos Mexican Restaurant 236 Hwy. 19 S 828-488-1336 In the Valley Village Shopping Center, with an a la carte menu and dinners starting at $5.
Living like a khan in the North Carolina mountains
glamping from F1
room tent at the Resort at Paws Up inMontana, for instance, will run you $725 a night in the fall— to comfy for both body and wal- let: A two-bed teepee at theWig- wamVillage Inn in Cave City, Ky., costs from$60 to $65 a night.
I didn’t do much camping
growing up inQueens. In fact, I’d been camping only once, with relatives inWisconsinwhenIwas 13.Mymother had forcedme into it, andmy onlymemory of it was fighting offmosquitoes. Rebecca, a Jersey girl, also had limited camping experience. Now here we were, in our 30s, two city slickerswilling to relive our teen- age camping days, but not so much that we would give up the comforts of home. Falling Waters, right up
against the Tennessee border in North Carolina, is known for its comfortable yurts and abun- dance of outdoor activities. We’d snaked through the Great Smoky Mountains to get there, marvel- ing at the beautiful tapestry of trees and feeling the stress of the citymelt away.Nearour camp,we saw a sign for Nantahala Village, which advertised a day spa. (“Spa!” we exclaimed in unison.) Therewas also a restaurant and a general store. Itwasgoodtoknow we would have easy access to modern-day comforts. The bed in our one-room yurt
was swathed in pillows and a tasteful caramel-colored com-
forter. Rugs covered the pine floor. Therewas a ceiling fan, but we never needed it: A nicemoun- tain breeze blew in through the threewindowsandthe skylight.A small fridge held bottled water, and there was a coffee maker. Nearbywas aCDplayer. Each yurt had a theme: safari,
country, orchard and so on.We’d chosen Yurt 5, which was named the Lake Yurt, though it turned out tobeonasmallpond.Reallyit seemed more country; there was a cowboyhathanging ononewall and a statue of a cowboy on a bookshelf. The lampshades and tables reminded me of the furni- tureyoucanbuyatWorldMarket. Call itWorldMarket chic. The one drawback: We didn’t
have our own bathroom. But there were shared locking bath- roomsafewyardsaway,eachwith a shower and plenty of toiletries. On my way there before bed, I noticed that three late-night rev- elers had taken over the hot tub. Exhausted after the nine-hour
drive from Washington, we locked our French doors and got into bed, the sound of crickets lulling us to sleep. Yurt sweet yurt.
Wewereupby7:
30a.m.andset
off on amorning hike, taking one of the two trails that started near the stairs to Yurt 7, the Waterfall Yurt.We suffered a spasmof yurt envy, seeing the occupants drink- ing coffee on their deck while gazingoutat themountains. (Our pond view wasn’t nearly so spec-
tacular.)Wehikeddownthe steep trail, climbing over fallen tree limbs,not knowing exactlywhere wewereheading. “This isgoingto be a pain going up,”Rebecca said. The hike was worth it once we
reached Fontana Lake. With the trees reflected in the water, it looked like a scene Bob Ross wouldhavepaintedin“The Joy of Painting.” Then a speedboat raced by, creating waves that dis- torted the trees’ reflection. Itwas hypnotic. We retraced our steps to Yurt 7
(yes, it was a pain going up) and searched for the waterfall trail. A sign warned: “Danger. Cliffs Ahead. Stay on the path.” I led Rebecca down another
steep hill to what I thought was the waterfall trail. Little did I know that I was leading her off the path. We could hear the wa- terfall.We just couldn’t find it. We did find Colleen McDaniel
and Jamieson Lee, the occupants ofYurt 7,whohaddecampedfrom their deck and were building a fire ina pitnear their yurt to cook breakfast. ColleenandJamiesonareregu-
lar campers, as we could tell by the ease with which they were snapping branches and creating flames, something Rebecca and I would never attempt to do. (We drove into Bryson City and got bagel sandwiches at a cafe.) But on this trip, they hadn’t wanted “the hassle of building a tent,” Colleen said. “It’s nice to have a roof over your head, with nice sheets.”Amen to that. We resumed our search for the
Mountain Perks Espresso Bar&Cafe 9 Depot St. 828-488-9561
www.mtnperks.com Coffeehouse with sandwiches, wraps and salads. Bagel and croissant sandwiches start at $3.25, salads at $4.25 and wraps at $7.
waterfall,makingourwaydowna steep trail, holding on to trees to keep from falling, and finally ar- rivedat adeckoverlooking apret- ty, though not very big,waterfall. Because water was the camp’s
big draw, we signed up for a speedboat ride on Fontana Lake. Nick Williams, owner of Smoky Mountain Jet Boats, drove the neon green boat very slowly at first, telling us that the lake is drained by about 50 feet every year to prevent flooding. He pointed to Clingman’s Dome, the third-highest point on the East Coast, andsuggestedthatwehike MountMitchell, the highest peak east of theMississippi. Then he said, “I think we’re
warmed up enough,” and hit the accelerator.We raced around the lake,Nick occasionally spinning the boat around as water splashed all over us. He showedusBirdFalls,which
made the waterfall we had hiked to look like thedripfroma faucet. Then we entered the beautiful Nantahala River Gorge. After a few more spins, including one during which it looked as if we might hit a tree, Nick took us on “the real estate portion” of the tour, pointing out some of the most prized lakefront houses. Not yet sick of the outdoors,
Rebecca and I headed next to SmokemontRiding Stables inthe nearby town of Cherokee. With time to kill,we stopped along the way for some shopping in down- town Cherokee. (Wewere glamp- ing, after all.) At the stable, Ray Cook helped
TENN. KY.
85 Atlanta GA. S.C. 95 0 MILES LARIS KARKLIS/THE WASHINGTON POST
WHAT TO DO Smoky Mountain Jet Boats 22 Needmore Rd. 888-900-9091
www.needmore.com A 35- to 40-minute jet-boat ride on Fontana Lake or a combination hike and jet-boat ride. Jet-boat rides are $31 adults, $18 children. The hike-and-ride combo is $68 adults, $53 children.
Smokemont Riding Stables 135 Smokemont Riding Stable Rd., Cherokee 828-497-2373
www.smokemontridingstable.com Guided horseback riding in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hour-long rides are $25 a person.
INFORMATION Swain County Chamber of Commerce
www.greatsmokies.com
—N.T.
us onto our mounts. Mine was Pearl, a 16-year-old with an inde- pendent streak. “Pearl does any- thing she wants to do,” Ray said. Rebecca got Taywah, also in his teens,who stoppedwhenever the terrain got rough. “Taywah is the lazy one,”Ray explained. We crossed over old Highway
441, forded a small river, then rode up and down hills beneath a mesmerizing canopy of trees. It would have been relaxing had Pearl not stopped to graze on leaves every few minutes. And at onepoint,Taywahdecidedto give Rebeccaagoodscarebytakingoff at a run. “Pearl is hungry, and Taywah is
done,”Rebecca said. Back at our yurt, we got ready
to grill burgers. But our grill looked nothing like mine at home, where all I have to do is openmy propane tank and turn a knob. I hadn’t even thought to pick up charcoal or lighter fluid. We had exhausted our camp-
ing abilities andheadedbackinto Bryson City for some Mexican fare. Like Taywah,wewere done.
trejosn@washpost.com
onwashingtonpost.com 6
For more images of camping in North
Carolina, visit
washingtonpost.com/travel. 120
EZ EE
KLMNO
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2010
OHIO
Falling Waters Adventure Resort
81 40 VA.
D.C. 95
Richmond N.C.
Raleigh MD.
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