Happy Halloween. It’s that fabulous day of the year when you can get dressed up like a freak, wear clothes far sluttier than you’d ever dare in real life and get totally smashed without remorse. Unless, of course, you’re a kid. In that case, it’s really all about the candy.

Today we check in with some of our favorite travel experts to get into the Halloween, uh, spirit. Instead of blithely regurgitating tales of haunted hotels, ghost towns and places of supposed supernatural import, Concierge.com editor-in-chief Peter Frank (that’s him in the picture) and his team at Conde Nast decided to put their heads together to create a different kind of Halloween story for the web site this year.

Says Frank, “I’ve seen my share of haunted hotels, but we wanted places that will actually creep you out a little bit, places that send chills down your spine.”

And so they have. The World’s Creepiest Places, written by Ralph Martin, follows the axiom that reality is always more frightening than fiction as it roves through 13 (yes, 13) destinations pretty much guaranteed to leave you feeling like you’re on a tour of Rod Serling’s favorite vacation spots.

At the TravelPost.com Insider, we’re constantly fascinated with how travel publications compile their round-ups and select editorial content, so we decided to check in with Frank to get some firsthand information on this seasonal feature from Concierge.com, a.k.a. the home of Conde Nast Traveler.

So why do travelers specifically seek out scary places?

“There are people out there who are just drawn to the slightly macabre…. [Places] where famous events from history happened – there’s just an inherent fascination,” Frank says.

Among the places deemed creepiest by Concierge.com are familiar tourist destinations like the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calif., a mysterious mansion built by the wealthy and, by all accounts, disturbed heiress to the Winchester gun fortune and known for features like fake doors and staircases with no destinations.

“Once you’ve heard the story, you go there and get this window into this woman’s mind,” Frank says.

Pause for a brief tangent: The home’s bizarre past becomes all the more intriguing if you imagine our favorite modern-day heiress, Paris Hilton, similarly plagued by voices that instructed her to build and modify the same hotel over and over again until her death. Now that would be cool. And really weird.

And with digital artist Jeremy Blake’s reported devolution into paranoia and subsequent suicide this year, the Winchester House has attained even more creepy cache by association. One of the late artist’s most famous works is entitled Winchester and involves a series of unearthly images based on the mansion’s gothic interiors.

There are other places near and dear to tourists’ hearts, like, say, the stomach-turning displays of anatomical oddities at the Philadelphia Mütter museum and Romania’s Bran Castle, once home to the legendary Vlad the Impaler (upon which the film Bram Stoker’s Dracula was based).

But many of the spots included in the list are remote destinations many travelers will never see. For example, the site of the infamous 1986 Chernobyl power plant explosion that ended the short, sweet life of Pripyat, Ukraine.

“You go there, and it’s a real ghost town. It’s deserted. And things are exactly as they were 20 years ago,” Frank recalls.

And then there is the remote Easter Island (a five+ hour flight from Chile), where heavy-browed moai sculptures are the only remains of the now-extinct Rapa Nui people who once inhabited the island. If that’s not ultra creepy, we don’t know what is. Just looking at the landscape gives us chills:

What you won’t find in this list are sites where crimes against humanity and gross human atrocities have occurred.

“We didn’t do anything that was too sensitive. We wanted to have places that were distant enough in the past,” Frank says of the few locations with devastating histories attached.

One ultra-creepy spot that didn’t make the list for that very reason?

According to Frank, “We almost did the Jonestown massacre, but we decided it was just too gruesome.”

Yup. And on top of that, in the years since the Jonestown Massacre, the nearby town of Port Kaituma, Guyana has not exactly rebounded into the next vacation hotspot. Today, in fact, it’s largely home to transient workers who come to the nearby jungles to hunt for gold.

And with that, we bid you adieu. It’s time to go put our face paint on. Be sure to check out all 13 of the World’s Creepiest Places on Concierge.com.

Insider It Gear 10.30.07

Getting Fleeced

Oh the cold winds are starting to blow, but that doesn’t mean we have to suffer the chilly temperatures in silence. Brookstone’s new ActiVHeat Jacket features a rechargeable internal heating system to keep you warm for up to five hours per charge. With its clean, simple design and non-bulky fit, the jacket means you can leave that extra sweater or layer you’re always carrying at home. A control panel fits into the pocket and starts warming action with the touch of a button. Three zones of ultra-thin, carbon fiber webbing concentrate heat on the chest and upper back, while a laminated layer of microfleece blocks wind from the outside. And because you can turn the jacket on or off at will, you’re free to add heat when you need it and do away with it when you don’t. The jacket is available in black for $179.95. The vest version costs $149.95. Sizes are unisex.

Slippers on the Go

When it comes to packing light, bulky slippers aren’t likely to make the cut. But when you’re away from home, it can be even more desirable to wrap your feet in warmth and protect your precious peds from whatever may be lurking in the fibers of your hotel room’s carpet. Luckily for those of us with slipper separation anxiety, Land’s End has just come out with a solution: Fleece Travel Slippers in their own little fleece bag. The streamlined, ballet-style (Sorry boys! These are clearly for the ladies) shape means they take up little space in your bag, while the suede sole give you traction on hardwood floors. Another perk? They’re machine washable. Cost: $25.

Crash Course

While we hope they never happen to any TravelPost.com Insider readers, we know that the vast majority of drivers have fender-benders sometime during their driving careers. The Collision.kit from Wishing Fish won’t prevent an accident or repair vehicular ailments that ensue, but it can help you remember to collect the right information when you’re totally stressed out and in crisis mode. The zippered kit includes pre-formatted pages for recording key information from drivers involved in the accident and the police responding to it, as well as a pen, clipboard and disposable flash camera to snap pics of damage on the scene. Stow it in the glove box, and all you have to do is remember to pull it out when road mishaps strike. If you can stand the oh brother eye-rolling, this would make a nice little gift for those cross-country road-tripping college kids in your life. Cost: $14.95

Surfin’ Safari

For the diehard surfers in your life, the Surf the World Board Game makes a fun gift that just might keep ‘em busy through cold, rainy weather. Think of it like Trivial Pursuit for surf bums or wannabes seeking a little solace until the weather turns. The game ushers players through eight of the world’s best surf spots and through trial and tribulations like couch crashing, lost boards, groin stitches (ouch!) and infected foot cuts. But play well and you might just get to hang ten, dude.

Native Charleston: The Charleston City Market

When you visit the Charleston City Market in downtown Charleston, SC, there are a few things you should know. First, do not call it a flea market. Despite their legendary Southern hospitality, few Charleston folk will abide their historic market sharing the same phrase as pint-sized pestilence. It just isn’t done, dahlings.

Second, you should know that you need at least an hour to see alpaca blankets, antique tin signs, knit scarves, hand woven baskets, one-of-a-kind jewelry and all manner of locally-made edibles lining tables in the market’s four long, narrow buildings. And if you don’t have at least an hour, you’ll wish you did (unless, of course, you’re my husband and you spend the entire outing staring longingly at the Crab Shack across the street).

And third, you should know that this is not just any conglomeration of artisans touting their wares to souvenir-hungry tourists. Mais non. The Charleston City Market is one of the long-running, oldest commercial venues in the United States. In fact, the market has been operating continuously (save for brief interruptions caused by pesky hurricanes, a major earthquake, fires, warfare and even the occasional tornado) since 1807.

Originally private property, the land on which the market stands was owned by Charles Cotsworth Pinckney, who gave the parcel to the City of Charleston in 1788 with the strict provision that it be used as a public market. Begun mainly as a marketplace selling meat, fish, poultry and dry goods to local residents, the market has evolved over the years to become one of the country’s best-known arts and crafts emporiums, as well as a one-stop shop for gifts, Southern edibles and unique local offerings like sweet-grass baskets, woven in the same method used by slaves brought to South Carolina from West Africa.

While some decry the increasing presence of cheesy t-shirts and cheap trinkets crowding out some of the local artisans and craftspeople, the market is still well-worth a long, slow stroll on a sunny fall afternoon.

To reach the 365-day-a-year market, start at the corner of Meeting Street and Market Street and follow Market to East Bay Street.

The TravelPost.com Insider Native City series is a regular feature highlighting unique, iconic or influential edibles, products and other creations found in some of the world’s most popular travel destinations.

Celebrity Travel News 10.26.07

No Love for Love

The five-star Claridges Hotel in London has reportedly refused Courtney Love as a guest. It’s not a surprising move on the part of the hotel management. The last time Love bunked in at the luxury hotel in London’s Mayfair neighborhood, she started a fire (allegedly from smoking a cigarette) in her $3,000-a-night suite. Worse, Love has a reputation for ruining hotel rooms. Earlier this year, you may recall reports of Love’s raucous birthday celebration at the Covent Garden Hotel, where she wrecked her $1,000-a-night suite. In slightly less shocking news, Love is still really scary looking.

Bringing Hang-Ups Back

According to local news sources, radio personalities in Brisbane, Australia discovered the hotel where Justin Timberlake is staying while he’s in town for concerts this weekend. Giddy with their nugget of celebrity information, the radio peeps attempted to prank call Justin Timberlake and sucker him into speaking on-air by calling the Stamford Hotel where the singer is staying under an alias. They identified themselves to hotel staff as high-ranking recording executive Denis Handlin, who, as you might guess, was mighty p.o.’d when he found out lowly radio personalities were using his name to bother JT. The gullible staff put the call through to Timberlake, who hung up as soon as he realized that on-air pranksters, and not the president of Sony BMG Australia, were on the other end of the line. Still, people with too much time on their hands are listening to the recording of the incident. If you are someone with too much time on your hands, you can also listen to the recording here.

But what we’re really wondering is whether Justin is staying in the hotel’s Stamford Suite, located on the top floor of the hotel. The posh digs offer a living room outfitted with a baby grand piano, gold-plated fixtures in the bathroom and a spa area with views of the Brisbane River and Kangaroo Point Cliffs.

Britney Takes Drugs

In Britney news, a few shocking developments. First, X17 scored photographs of prescription medicine Provigil peaking from Britney’s handbag as she headed to the Beverly Hills Hotel to meet up with ex K-Fed for parenting classes the pair were ordered by the court to attend. Gasp! The girl takes medicine she got from a doctor. Really, I’m happy to hear the girl’s taking something. Better to turn to the doctor’s orders than shave your head in public again. Jesus.

But what’s more interesting is that the Britney and Kevin chose to hold their parenting classes at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the first place. For someone who looks so depressed and annoyed every time the paparazzi appear, you’d think she could have opted for a lower-profile location. Like the parenting counselor’s office.

Up in Smoke

Celebs are fleeing the California wildfires and heading to high-end hotels, reports the Associated Press (story: Fires Disrupt Hollywood Lives, Work). Hollywood bigwig David Geffen was in a charitable mood and reportedly offered rescue workers and firefighters free rooms at his stylish Malibu Beach Inn.

Luxe lodging like Shutters on the Beach, the Viceroy Santa Monica, Chateau Marmont, the Four Seasons Beverly Hills and the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel told reporters they are completely booked this week with evacuees.

Other Stuff We Only Sort of Care About

Speaking of the Chateau Marmont, we hear that Scarlett Johansson celebrated boyfriend Ryan Reynolds’ birthday there earlier this week by presenting him with a necklace made out of one of her wisdom teeth (that can’t possibly be true… or can it?).

In who really cares anyway news, Lindsay Lohan was photographed leaving the Beverly Hills Hotel on Tuesday. Now, if she had run into Britney and they had both fallen off the wagon together at the hotel and then gone clubbing, we would have cared.

London Calling

Far from the flames ravaging Southern California, actor Josh Hartnett was spotted attending a screening of his new film 30 Days of Night held at London’s Soho Hotel, where swanky private screening rooms can accommodate up to 100 guests and feature red leather and cow print seats by Poltona Frau. We love!

We recently learned that Temptation Resort & Spa will open on Dec. 21, 2007 in Cancun, Mexico, but when we went to learn more about the tropical getaway spot, we were accosted by the image of a middle-aged couple of sub-par attractiveness about to swap spit right before our very impressionable eyes. Suddenly, in the middle of our otherwise ordinary day, we felt like we were spying against our will on our former high school math teacher about to make out with the super lame, balding coach of the JV basketball squad. Our only relief from this shocking pictorial? Cheesy dudes with budding man-boobs and a woman sporting an obvious lady wedgie. Needless to say, at first glance, temptation was the last thing on our minds.

But being the curious Georges that we are, we delved deeper. And guess what? On the Accommodations Page, we met up with the math teacher and JV coach again, and this time, things seemed to be getting seriously steamy. Then we started to feel ashamed and decided to check out the Nightly Entertainment page, only to learn that “sensual fitness” is just one of the many fun activities in which guests may partake (preferably, it seems, while wearing ill-fitting pleather outfits and g-strings bedecked in fake feathers).

We will say that the Restaurants & Bars page looked okay. Until a photograph of the women from the “sensual fitness” experience popped up, and we once again became uncomfortable.

Is this an adults-only Caribbean oasis where fantasy and reality compete for equal space on the dance floor and people successfully pull off impersonations of Pam Anderson and Kid Rock? Or merely a swingers resort in sheep’s clothing? Ponder as you click through the pages.

Room rates at this all-inclusive resort range from $139 to $206, based on double occupancy. The resort is now taking reservations for stays after Dec. 21, 2007. How tempted are you?

If I had to guess, I’d say the Boeing 747s of the world are sulking today. As the International Herald Tribune notes (Story: Singapore Airlines’ superjumbo A380 leaves on maiden voyage to Sydney), the inaugural commercial flight for the Airbus A380 marks the end of the jumbo jet’s 37 years of supremacy in sky.

There’s been a lot of hype about the double-decker airplane, and its first flight with paying passengers on board has been eagerly awaited by aviation enthusiasts (some of whom paid enormous sums to sit in one of the plane’s 471 seats today). But when you think about the fact that the A380 really signifies the first major innovation in air travel in the last four decades, the attention given to an otherwise normal passenger flight seems all the more understandable. Not only is the plane larger than any that has gone before it, but manufacturer Airbus SAS says it’s quieter than any other passenger jet on the market and offers better fuel efficiency, to boot.

TravelPost.com Insider It Gear Report

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Enjoy the irony of rolling Orla Kiely’s Big Car Print Wheelie Bag in green through an airport or train terminal this fall. At $408, this roll-aboard bag is pricey, no doubt about it. But at least your worldly goods will be cruising into the overhead compartment in style.

Kids on the Streets

Here’s one way to battle childhood obesity through travel: the new City Walks with Kids series from Chronicle Books. Editions for San Francisco and New York ($14.95) are out now and include 50 adventures parents and kids can enjoy together. Each “book” is actually a boxed set of sturdy cards.

For each walk, there’s a corresponding card printed with an illustrated map on one side and a description of the key sights, contact information and helpful hints (like where bathrooms are for pit stops along the way). Instead of toting a whole book with you, just take a pocket-sized card.

Ruff Stuff

Traveling with a pet often means carrying bulky bowls and food containers or opting for flimsy portable vessels. But with Dog Like Nature’s Travel-Trainer, you get two bowls and one plastic storage container in one nice package for $14.95. The blue plastic food and water bowls attach to each end of the clear storage container, while a handle snaps in to make this little accessory easy to carry. Each bowl holds a quart of liquid, and, in the storage container, there’s enough room for at least a weekend’s worth of food for most pets.

Total Flake Fest

Anyone who skis or snowboards knows how cumbersome boots and helmets and goggles (oh my!) become the minute you disembark from the slopes and sidle into apres ski mode. And while I normally hesitate to buy winter gear in the fall (when prices are usually highest), the Snow Country Ski Luggage, Alpine Boot Bag at L.L. Bean is a steal at $39 (and shipping is free right now, too). The bag has separate zippered sections for each boot, a main compartment that can fit a helmet and other gear and mesh outer pockets for snow-soaked hats and gloves.

Insider It Gear is a regular series from TravelPost.com that showcases new travel gear, products and accessories that today’s active traveler simply can’t live without. Okay, maybe you can, but we’re having a hard time. Got ideas for an upcoming edition of Insider It Gear? Contact Us. We won’t bite. Often.

With a history dotted with famous patrons who holed up behind its pink walls in hopes of escaping the pressures of show business, La Valencia Hotel might very well have been the Chateau Marmont of the 1930s. Today, the La Jolla hotel is hardly the shiniest, slickest place around, but the combination of its near-ideal location and long history in the area make it an enduring choice for San Diego lodging.

Lined up alongside tony shops and destinations like George’s at the Cove, you’d never guess La Valencia first opened its doors in 1928 (don’t worry, the rooms were renovated in 2005) or that, for decades, this hotel was a quiet hideaway far from the buzz of urban life. Today of course, the quiet atmosphere still exists in the hotel’s courtyard patio and in the stately rooms, though just outside the entrance, the sidewalks are filled with bodies exploring La Jolla’s shops, art galleries and pristine waterfront landscape.

Atop the hotel, the Sky Room restaurant boasts Executive Chef Vaughan Mabee’s fresh take on California cuisine and over 1,000 wines. The famous Whaling Bar & Grill is a local dining institution. For an authentic experience, order up the house drink, appropriately named the Whaler. On Sundays, the Champagne brunch on the hotel’s Tropical Patio rivals any in the area.

While the hotel’s restaurants are ample, be aware that some of the rooms do not share that distinction. The smallest on the property start at a very European 246-square-feet. Mirrored walls and balconies off some rooms remedy the cozy room size, if only psychologically. Luckily, the views from the ocean-facing rooms do the trick.

You know how some destination restaurants say they have the best view or the best location or the best outdoor dining in the area or the best something or other, and you’re never quite sure whether you completely agree, because maybe part of you is agreeing just to be agreeable and maybe part of you doesn’t know any better because you’re a tourist?

Well, let me tell you about one restaurant that claims “best-i-ness” and actually, no doubt about it, deserves that distinction. George’s at the Cove in La Jolla, Calif., purports to have “the region’s best rooftop dining,” and once you’ve dined there, you will agree that, really, the view and overall ambiance could not be any better, especially on a sunny weekend afternoon in October, one of California’s most beautiful months. The menu is casual, with souped-up SoCal takes on fish tacos, burgers and pasta dishes. The food is good, nothing to fall down and die over, but good. And it doesn’t matter that the daytime menu falls short of life-altering, aria-producing culinary genius. Because what matters here is the experience of dining in what feels like a pristine, white box seat hung out over the Pacific blue just for you, the sort of place that reminds you how sweet life can be when you’re on vacation and you don’t mind spending $11 on a burger decadently enhanced with blue cheese or a glass of full-bodied California red long before the cocktail hour begins.

Go for the view on a sunny day or book a table at night in the lower level George’s California Modern restaurant below, where the sleek modern interiors and ocean views are irresistible on clear nights when the stars are out.

George’s on the Cove
1250 Prospect Street
La Jolla, CA
858-454-4244

Celebrity Travel for the Week of Oct. 19, 2007

Lourdes Luxuriates

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very nice place to start. Waaay back on Sunday, super mom Madonna reportedly celebrated daughter Lourdes’s 11th birthday by treating the budding fashionista to six hours of spa madness at One Spa at Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica.

After perusing the One Spa menu, we’re wondering whether little Lourdes had the spa’s signature Nature Baby treatment, the Golden Fingers manicure, the Shutters Tan or all three and then some!

Judging from all the images we’ve seen, Lourdes looks more freaked out than relaxed after her visit.

Oh Yes It’s Ladies’ Night

Monday night, celebs turned up in droves for Elle magazine’s 14th annual Women in Hollywood event at the Four Seasons Hotel Beverly Hills. Among the attendees honored for their contribution to film were Scarlett Johansson, Lauren Bacall, Kate Bosworth and Diane Lane. What? No Jessica Simpson? What an outrage. But we’ll bring you up to date on her exciting activities a little later.

Michigan to See More Seymour

Fabulous Jane Seymour is causing quite a buzz around Michigan this month now that the news is out that she’ll be attending Mackinac Island’s annual “Somewhere in Time” weekend held Oct. 24-30th at the Grand Hotel. For the uninitiated, the weekend commemorates the eponymous film starring Seymour and Christopher Reeves, whose characters are lovers living in different time periods. The movie was filmed at the Grand Hotel and at various other locations around the tiny island, which virtually shuts down each winter but becomes a tourist hotspot known for its Victorian-era charm and excellent fudge during warmer months.

Worried About Wilson

We love Owen Wilson, so we’re are not at all convinced that the onlookers claiming he got crap-canned drunk at Santa Monica’s Viceroy Hotel recently are telling the truth. And even if the troubled star did slam vodka like Orlando Bloom slams cars, we’d rather he be out and drinking with friends than alone at home contemplating another suicide attempt.

In the Bag

And no, we’re not still talking about Owen, but rather the This Old Bag fund raising auction being held tonight at the W Hotel San Francisco. The annual affair will have the Bay Area’s movers and shakers salivating over handbags up for auction from celebs, including Brooke Shields, Christina Aguilera and Rita Wilson. All handbags will be auctioned off during the event. Proceeds benefit the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund. Plenty of local celebrities will be in attendance (think District Attorney Kamala Harris and designer Wilkes Bashford).

Elsewhere….

In shocking news, Jessica Simpson flies first class, wears sunglasses indoors and carries her dog in a piece of luggage that’s worth more than my car. Here, we see her snapped at Los Angeles International Airport earlier this week.

Also at Los Angeles International Airport this week (along with about 6 million other people), Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima went through airport security, which is one of our personal favorite experiences. We can see she also enjoyed it.

And Lindsay Lohan reportedly visited both the Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills Hotel and the Chateau Marmont in one evening. Oh MY God. Could it be?