Ewww! Announcing TripAdvisor’s Dirtiest Hotels for 2010

Look out! TripAdvisor’s Dirtiest Hotels “awards” are back for 2010, and as disgusting as ever.

True to TripAdvisor’s promise to deliver the whole truth about travel – the good, the bad, and the ugly – TripAdvisor has identified the world’s most disturbingly dirty hotels, based on real reviews and photos by TripAdvisor travelers.

The “hall of shame” includes the ten filthiest hotels in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. From crusty carpets to broken fixtures, filthy bedding, unidentifiable stains, and bugs of every kind, what our members saw and smelled will shock you.

Check out the complete list, but be sure you’ve finished eating first. These hotels are not for the squeamish!

Get the dirt

Connect TravelPod to multiple Facebook accounts

Are you traveling as a group?

Are you traveling as a couple or a family?

You can now log into TravelPod using many different Facebook accounts.

This allows several people to update a single blog.

As an added bonus, when you send an entry notification, it will be sent to the Facebook friends of all the accounts associated with the blog.

Just click the blue “Sign in with Facebook” button and connect your Facebook account to your TravelPod account by following the prompts.

It’s that easy.

Costa Rica Local Expert: Lisa Valencia

Lisa Valencia packed up everything and moved to Costa Rica in 2007.

Since then she has been creating art and living life to the fullest in her favourite place in the world.

She’s one of TravelPod’s most recent additions to the Local Expert team.

I asked her a few questions about her new life and on being a TP Local Expert and here’s what she said:

Lisa Valencia drenched after a rainstorm in Costa Rica

Why did you become a Local Expert?

I love my life in Costa Rica and want to inspire others to follow their dreams, too.

What are the best and worst things about living in Costa Rica?

The best thing is that I can live cheaply, in a beautiful place, and enjoy a leisurely lifestyle. My life is so much simpler here than when I lived in the States. I have time to walk on the beach and have idle conversation with whoever I meet, time to exercise, time to write, time to just be.

The worst thing about living in Costa Rica has not to do with the country but with me. The worst thing about living here is that I am not fluent in Spanish. Life would be so much richer if I was. But I keep learning, every day. I can’t think of anything that bad about living here – Oh! Yes I can – the bathrooms. Public bathrooms are not kept nearly as clean in this country as in the United States.

What are the top five things for travelers to do in Costa Rica from your personal experiences?

1. Go to the Caribbean, play on the beach, get to know the people and do the following:
2. Take a guided jungle hike.
3. Ride a horse in the mountains.
4. Go to a Salsa Club and watch the amazing dancers.
5. Go to the waterfalls.

What are some of your best and worst travel experiences?

There are so many…… and they’re all in my book!
The worst was the night I spent in a cheap hotel – no – it was the time all my clothes were stolen.
The best is every new day!

What is your proudest accomplishment?

In life – the two great kids I raised.
In travel – creating exactly the life I want to live in a tropical paradise, all on my own.

What do you do with most of your time?

It really varies. I write. I sometimes travel to other parts of Costa Rica. I do art work, spend time with my daughter and my friends, ride my bike and on and on……

What’s a typical day like for you?

I get up, do my yoga, eat breakfast and work online answering emails and writing. Then I’ll go out to do errands – buy some groceries, talk to people I meet on the street. Or maybe I’ll go to the beach for a few hours. Sometimes I walk the beach, sometimes I lay in the sun and read a book. At the end of the day, just as the sun is beginning to set, I like to get some more exercise by running on the beach. In the evening I usually eat at home, but sometimes go out to one of the great restaurants here in Puerto Viejo. Then I’ll stop in to one of the four or five places that have live music. Life is good!

What’s your favourite part of the TravelPod forum?

My favorite part is making connections with new people who love traveling and are interested in Costa Rica. I like to share my adventures and learn about theirs.

Sort your entries to suit your needs

The List of Entries is the most used page by our bloggers. Since we launched the redesign last June, the list has been optimized for members that are already on their trip that add new entries as they go. We decided to order the list with your newest entries right at the top, so that you can quickly look over your last 10 entries and complete any drafts you needed to finish off.

However, this week it dawned on us that this ordering doesn’t make sense for someone who has just entered in a big itinerary for an upcoming trip. Clearly, you’re going to want your first entry (relatively the oldest) at the top when you start out on your trip.

Today we’re pleased to announce another small but helpful enhancement to the site: Sort your List of Entries by newest or oldest first!

It works exactly as you’d expect and we save your preference automatically.

TIP: You may like the “Oldest first” option when you first start your trip, but once you’ve crossed the half-way point, you’ll find that “Newest first” will be handy.

Let us know what you think in the comments below!

TravelPod blogger rebuilding Haiti featured on NBC Nightly News

Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I have been perusing recent blogs from the area.

The volunteer organization Hands On Disaster Response is a popular one for our bloggers.

John Hancock volunteered in October, 2008 with the organization and found himself on NBC Nightly News:

More recently, cmj helped rebuild the country with Hands on Disaster Response as well.

Follow along as he helps the Haitian people literally dig themselves out of the muck that fills their homes every hurricane season.

A couple of cmj's new friends working hard in Haiti

It’s brutal work but someone’s gotta do it.

Hats off to our members in Haiti and other areas of the world making a big difference in the lives of those less fortunate.

Also, keep an eye out for Marco, who is frightened, but alive after the disaster.