The year has barely begun and the 2012 golf season is underway. The top tournaments every year are the major championships hosted by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Professional Golfers Association (PGA). TheRealPlaces.com now has a guide to finding hotels near all upcoming major golf tournaments.
In 2012 the world’s best golfers will be visiting classic courses and top modern golfing venues. The 2012 U.S. Open (for men) will be held at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. It’ll be interesting to see how golfers respond to changes at Olympic – the speed and contours of the greens got out of control at the last Open held there in 1998.
The 2012 PGA Championship will be held at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, just outside of Charleston. Golf courses don’t get much more visually interesting than the Ocean Course, a real links style layout right on the Atlantic beachfront. Downtown Charleston is only about 15 miles away, so there shouldn’t be any problem finding a convenient place to stay if you’re going to the PGA.
It’s an even-numbered year, which means it’s time for another Ryder Cup competition. The 2012 Ryder Cup matches between the United States and Europe will be conducted at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. Medinah has previous been the site of three U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships (both won by Tiger Woods). Medinah is only 25 miles from downtown Chicago.
The 2012 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship is returning to a “modern classic”: the River Course at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin. The ladies also played there for their biggest title in 1998.
Posted in Hotels, Places, Stadiums and Arenas.
Tagged with 2012, hotels near golf tournaments, major golf tournaments, PGA, Ryder Cup, USGA.
By admin
– January 9, 2012
South Florida’s Major League Baseball team officially became the Miami Marlins yesterday. The team (formerly known as the Florida Marlins) had an appropriately glitzy unveiling of the new team name and logo, with some of the team’s players modeling their new uniforms. The name change comes as part of the deal that moved the team from Sun Life Stadium to their new ballpark in Miami.
The new Miami Marlins Ballpark is built on the site of the famous Orange Bowl stadium. It’s a very modern-looking stadium, with retractable roof to protect fans and players from Miami’s heat and frequent thunderstorms. It may be new, but it won’t be big: It’s one of the smallest stadiums in MLB, seating only 37,000. If you’ve been to a Marlins game in recent years, you know that’s still a lot more seats than they’ve needed. But the team expects much larger attendance starting in 2012 and plans on spending more money on hiring free agents to make the team more competitive.
While their old home was built for football, the new ballpark is all about baseball. Seats are closer to the field and aligned for watching a baseball game. Closest to the field are the 21,000 seats in the lower bowl. Up one level are the 4,500 seats on the “Legends Level”, including 50 private suites. The topmost level (10,000 seats) is called the “Vista Level”. 4,700 seats are in the outfield, most of them between center and right field.
The Marlins have also partnered with the The Clevelander, a classic South Miami Beach hotel to create a pool area in left field which will be called “The Clevelander”. It will hold up to 150 fans (in groups of 20 or more) and features a poolside bar and grill. The area will also be available for private events on non-game days.
If you’re planning a visit to Miami to see a Marlins game, TheRealPlaces.com has the web’s most popular guide to hotels near the new Miami Marlins Ballpark.
Posted in Hotels, Places, Stadiums and Arenas.
Tagged with ballpark, baseball stadium, Florida Marlins, Major League Baseball, Miami Marlins, Miami Marlins Ballpark, nearby hotels, new Miami baseball stadium.
By admin
– November 12, 2011
Regardless of which side of the political world you support, the period from August 27 to September 6, 2012 will probably be of interest to you: that’s when the 2012 presidential nomination conventions will be held. The Republicans will be meeting from August 27th through August 30th in Tampa, Florida, then the Democrats will gather in Charlotte, North Carolina from September 3rd through September 6th. Although the nominee selection process is usually completed before the conventions, they’re still important for generating enthusiasm among the party faithful.
The main events of the 2012 Republican National Convention will be held at The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. These days The Forum is busy hosting games of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and other events, but hockey season will be long over before the Republicans come to town in late August 2012. The arena is located on the waterfront on the south side of downtown Tampa. Proximity to downtown and Tampa’s convention center (only a block away) make it easy to find hotels near the 2012 Republican convention site.
A week later the most prominent members of the Democratic party will meet in Charlotte for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The convention’s main venue will be Time Warner Cable Arena (usually home of the Charlotte Bobcats – when the NBA decides to play games). Charlotte’s 20,000+ seat arena is located in the heart of downtown, making it very easy to find nearby hotels, restaurants and other places to spend your time when you’re not making noise on the convention floor.
The 2008 Republican National Convention was held at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Most of the events of the 2008 Democratic National Convention took place at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, with Barack Obama making his acceptance speech outdoors at Invesco Field.
Posted in Events, Hotels, Places.
Tagged with 2012 Democrat Convention, 2012 Republican Convention, Charlotte, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Time Warner Cable Arena.
By admin
– November 1, 2011
The oldest operating hotel in Oklahoma, The Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City, is celebrating its 100th birthday this week. The celebration includes a full week of events (October 16-21), closing with a Centennial Black-Tie Gala which will generate over $145,000 for local charities.
Currently a member of the Hilton hotel chain, The Skirvin Hilton is owned by Marcus Hotels & Resorts, who have made it a habit of restoring historic hotel properties to “their former glory”. The restoration of The Skirvin was completed in 2007 and included the addition of the Park Avenue Grill and Red Piano Bar. Despite the hotel’s age, the 225 guest rooms have all the usual modern hotel amenities including wired and wireless internet access, 42-inch plasma HDTV’s, and the “Hilton Serenity Collection” bedding (on either a king or two queen-size beds). Even more luxury can be found in one of the Skirvin’s 20 Rotunda Suites or the Presidential Suite.
The Skirvin Hilton has over 18,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, including the 6,120 square foot Grand Ballroom. Stay active during your stay with the on-site health club and indoor swimming pool.
The Skirvin Hilton is located in Oklahoma City’s business district, just one block north of the Cox Convention Center and two blocks north of the Ford Center Arena (home of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder – when the NBA chooses to actually play games). Access by auto is made easy by nearby exits off both I-40 and I-235.
You can find everything you need to know about Oklahoma City’s hotels at TheRealPlaces.com.
Posted in Hotels, Places, Stadiums and Arenas.
Tagged with centennial, Cox Convention Center, Ford Center Arena, historic hotel, Oklahoma City, Skirvin Hilton Hotel.
By admin
– October 19, 2011
Assuming the NBA’s players and owners come to an agreement before the 2012-2013 NBA season, the team currently known as the New Jersey Nets will be playing at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. We assume the team will be called the Brooklyn Nets by then.
Barclays Center is the “centerpiece” of a commercial and residential project called Atlantic Yards. The Barclays arena is being built in part on a platform above the Vanderbilt Yards rail yard. When Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the Nets in 2010 he alsotook on 45% ownership of the Barclays Center.
The two-day college “Coaches vs Cancer” college basketball tournament is scheduled to be played at the Barclays starting in November 2012.
There will be plenty of easy access to Barclays Center using public transportation. One of the key reasons for the location of the project is the proximity to the New York Subway’s Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street station (served by the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q and R trains) and the Long Island Railroad’s Atlantic Terminal, both about a block away from the arena.
At the moment there are no places to stay in the immediate neighborhood, but TheRealPlaces.com does have a guide to the hotels closest to Barclays Center in Brooklyn – future home of the Nets.
Posted in Hotels, Places.
Tagged with arena, Atlantic Yards, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, Mikhail Prokhorov, NBA, Nets, New Jersey Nets, Prospect Heights.
By admin
– September 20, 2011
Our process of upgrading and adding regional travel guides continues this week with enhancements added to one of our existing sites, TheRealVirginiaBeach.com, and the addition of a new site, TheRealSanDiego.com. Both sites feature a complete selection of hotels near hundreds of landmarks, including churches, hospitals, shopping centers, schools and other useful categories.
Our guide to hotels in Virginia Beach now includes information for travelers to the neighboring city of Norfolk, Virginia. The two cities (as big as counties in other places) share a long border and you’ll often find the most convenient hotel is in one city while your destination is in the other. When you think of Virginia Beach you probably think of the oceanfront “resort strip”, but that’s just a small part of the city. TheRealVirginiaBeach includes information about all of the hotels on the beach, but we also cover all the non-resort hotels in other parts of the city. You can quickly find the best hotels near Virginia Beach landmarks like the Virginia Marine Science Museum, schools like Regent University, Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital and hundreds of other buildings and places.
While there is no distance between the cities (they share a border), downtown Norfolk is on the banks of the Elizabeth River about 20 miles west of the Virginia Beach oceanfront. TheRealVirginiaBeach now includes handy guides to the closest hotels for Norfolk landmarks such as the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Virginia Zoological Park (aka the “Norfolk Zoo”), Harbor Park Stadium (home of the Norfolk Tides minor league baseball team) and many more.
The region covered by the newest addition to our family of regional hotel guides is San Diego. TheRealSanDiego includes lists of nearby hotels for hundreds of places throughout San Diego County. For instance, if you’re looking for hotels near San Diego’s Balboa Park, we provide a text list and a map of potential places to stay. Click on the name of a listed hotel – or on the hotel’s marker on the map – and you’ll be taken to the hotel’s page where you can find information about the hotel’s amenities and book your stay at several popular online sites.
Posted in Hotels, Places.
Tagged with nearby hotels, Norfolk, Virginia, Virginia Beach.
By admin
– September 6, 2011
The PGA of America is the country’s largest association of golf teaching professionals (as opposed to the PGA Tour, a separate organization comprising the touring pros you see on TV every week). In addition to certifying teaching pros, the PGA organizes the annual PGA Championship golf tournament and, jointly with the PGA European Tour, the biennial Ryder Cup Matches.
The PGA Championship is the last of the four “major” men’s golf tournaments held every year and is conducted at a wide variety of golf courses throughout the United States. The PGA schedules the tournament many years in advance.
The 2012 PGA Championship is scheduled for the beautiful Ocean Course on Kiawah Island in South Carolina. That “links style” course is located right on the Atlantic Ocean and was the site of the memorable Ryder Cup competition in 1991. The course was designed by Pete and Alice Dye and was used for the filming of the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance”.
The East Course at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York was designed by Donald Ross and has been the location of several national championships. In 2013 it’ll be the site of the 2013 PGA Championship.
The 2014 PGA Championship returns to the PGA-owned Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Valhalla was designed by Jack Nicklaus, opened in 1986 and has previously hosted the PGA in 1996 and 2000, as well as the Ryder Cup in 2008. Valhalla is located near the intersection of I-64 and I-265 about 19 miles east of downtown Louisville.
The PGA has selected Whistling Straits to host their annual championship for the third time in 2015. This is a spectacular links course on the shores of Lake Michigan in Kohler, Wisconsin.
The PGA has used Baltusrol Golf Club before and has chosen the Lower Course to be the site of the 2016 PGA Championship. Baltusrol was designed by A.W. Tillinghast and is located in Springfield, New Jersey – only 20 miles west of downtown Manhattan.
The Ryder Cup is held every other year (in even-numbered years since 2001) and rotates between sites in the United States and Europe. The match-play team competition features eight foursomes matches, eight fourball matches and 12 singles matches between American and European professional golfers. The PGA of America selects the site when the matches are held in the United States.
The 2012 Ryder Cup will be held at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. Medinah is just a few miles west of O’Hare airport and is approximately 27 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The 2012 team captains will be Davis Love III (United States) and Jose Maria Olazabal (Europe).
The Ryder Cup returns to the United States in 2016 and will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Hazeltine is a relatively young course for major championships, opened in 1962. It was designed by Robert Trent Jones and has already hosted several USGA events and two PGA Championships.
Everybody loves the aforementioned Whistling Straits, so the PGA has already scheduled it to be the site of the 2020 Ryder Cup.
Posted in Events, Hotels.
Tagged with Baltusrol Golf Club, Chaska, golf tournaments, Hazeltine National Golf Club, Illinois, Kentucky, Kiawah Island, Kohler, Louisville, Medinah, Medinah Country Club, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oak Hill Country Club, Ocean Course, PGA Championship, PGA of America, Rochester, Ryder Cup, South Carolina, Springfield, Valhalla Golf Club, Whistling Straits, Wisconsin.
By admin
– August 29, 2011
The schedule of cruises from Miami has been updated at MiamiCruiseGuide.com, including all the cruises offered by Celebrity Cruises between now and the middle of 2013. Celebrity currently limits their departures from Miami to the period between October and April, with four, five and seven day voyages to the Caribbean. There are also a couple of “repositioning cruises” from Miami available that can take you to Europe or through the Panama Canal to San Diego.
For the 2011-2012 season, Celebrity will have Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Eclipse based in Miami. Celebrity Eclipse was added to the fleet in 2010, the latest member of the “Solstice” class of cruise ships. Choose a cruise on Eclipse and you can enjoy unique amenities like the “rooftop” Lawn Club or the AquaClass staterooms. Eclipse starts making 7-night trips to the eastern Caribbean on November 12, 2011 and continues doing that every week through April 14, 2012. Eclipse’s last trip of the season with be a 13-night Transatlantic cruise from Miami to Southampton, England.
Celebrity Millennium will be making shorter 4- and 5-day trips from Miami to the western Caribbean during the 2011-2012 season. Starting on October 4, 2011 Millennium will alternate 4-night and 5-night cruises until April 16, 2012. Celebrity is moving Millennium to the West Coast next year – you can move with it on a 15-night Panama Canal cruise that departs Miami on May 12, 2012 headed to San Diego. Millennium will make the same Miami to San Diego trip again in the Fall of 2012, leaving Miami on October 7th.
When they start cruising again from Miami later in 2012, Celebrity will bring in two different ships – including the brand new Celebrity Reflection. Reflection is the last of the “Solstice” class ships to hit the waves, benefiting from some “last of the class” upgrades to the Solstice amenities. Reflection’s first couple of cruises will be in Europe, followed by a Transatlantic trip from Barcelona to Miami that sails on November 18, 2012. The first Celebrity Reflection cruise from Miami will be a short 3-night trip to the Bahamas, followed by a series of weekly 7-night eastern Caribbean cruises from December 8, 2012 through April 13, 2013.
Also departing from Miami in 2012-13 is Celebrity Constellation, taking over the 4- and 5-night voyages to the western Caribbean that include stops in Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. The first of Constellation’s 5-night western Caribbean trips from Miami leaves on December 5, 2012. The schedule alternates 4 and 5 day trips through April 11, 2013.
Posted in Cruises.
Tagged with Caribbean cruises, Celebrity Constellation, Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Millennium, Celebrity Reflection, Miami, Miami Transatlantic cruise, Panama Canal cruises.
By admin
– August 24, 2011
The PGA Tour starts their annual playoffs this week, with visits to golf courses in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois and Georgia over the next five weeks. Each week players are not only trying to win the tournament, they’re also trying to finish high enough in the FedEx Cup rankings to continue on to the next event. The purse each week is $8 million, with $1.35 million going to the tournament winner. The player ranked at the top at the end of the playoffs (not necessarily the winner of the final event) gets $10 million from the $35 million FedEx Cup bonus pool.
The top 125 ranked players of 2011 start things off this week (August 25-28) with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Plainfield, New Jersey. The main course at Plainfield is a Donald Ross designed layout that has been considered one of the top courses in New Jersey since opening in 1921. It’s all happening about 30 miles southwest of downtown New York City. TheRealPlaces.com can help you find a variety of hotels within five miles of Plainfield Country Club.
The second playoff stop in 2011 is the Deutsche Bank Championship on Labor Day weekend, September 2-5. That tournament will be played at TPC Boston, near the town of Norton, Massachusetts, about mid-way between Boston and Providence. The course opened in 2002 based on a design by Arnold Palmer. Only a few years later, 2007, the tour hired the team of Gil Hanse and Brad Faxon to do a redesign.
For some reason (probably not wanting to go up against the first weekend of the NFL season), the tour takes a week off before the third playoff event, the BMW Championship. For 2011 the BMW returns to the Dubsdread course at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. Cog Hill is about 28 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. You’ll find the hotels closest to Cog Hill Golf and Country Club are in the nearby towns of Willowbrook and Darien, along I-55.
The final event in the FedEx Cup playoffs is the Tour Championship, held every year at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Jim Furyk is the defending champion. As with every stop on the PGA Tour, TheRealPlaces.com is ready to help you find hotels near East Lake Golf Club.
Posted in Events, Hotels.
Tagged with 2011, Atlanta, BMW Championship, Cog Hill Golf and Country Club, Deutsche Bank Championship, Dubsdread, East Lake Golf Club, FedEx Cup, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, PGA Tour, Plainfield Country Club, playoffs, The Barclays, Tour Championship, TPC Boston.
By admin
– August 23, 2011
The biggest Galveston peak cruise season ever is only a few months away. Starting in November there will be at least 13 cruises departing each month through April 2012. Galveston is already seeing major growth as a cruise departure point and things will only get busier in 2012 – all thanks to the addition of some major new ships to the Texas cruise market.
The biggest attraction for the 2011-2012 season is the addition of the big new Carnival Magic cruise ship. Starting in November Magic will be based year-round in Galveston, leaving every Sunday on 7-day voyages to the western Caribbean or the Bahamas. This state-of-the-art cruise ship is proving to be very popular, so book soon if you want to get onboard any of Carnival Magic’s November 2011 cruises.
Beginning in November Carnival’s other ship sailing from Texas will be Carnival Triumph. This “veteran” ship (and beneficiary of multiple renovations) will have a two-week cycle of three cruises to the western Caribbean (lengths of 4 days, 5 days and 5 days).
The third ship departing from Galveston from November to April will be Norwegian Cruise Line’s Mariner of the Seas. It will be leaving every Sunday on 7-day trips to the western Caribbean, alternating two different itineraries: Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and Falmouth, Jamaica; or Roatan Island, Honduras; Belize City, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico. Mariner of the Seas has room for over 3,800 guests, so we’re pretty sure they’ll have a spot for you whenever you decide you’d like to take one of these great cruises.
And things will only get busier at the Galveston in 2012 when Disney Magic comes to town in September.
Posted in Cruises.
Tagged with Carnival Magic, Carnival Triumph, cruise schedule, Galveston, Galveston cruises, Mariner of the Seas, Norwegian Cruise Lines.
By admin
– August 11, 2011
