What good is the key to your hotel room if you can't find your hotel?
Two words aim to solve this potential problem: key packets. About 20 to 30 hotels nationwide, primarily in Denver and Chicago, have begun giving guests miniature packets that hold swipe-style key cards while doubling as pullout city maps.
"The packets are great," says Jason Pohlonski, assistant general manager for the Hotel Burnham in Chicago. "They're convenient for guests since they fit right in their pockets."
Three years ago, Darren Gorman, national sales manager for Vista Publications, a printing company, began marketing the idea of giving bank customers maps showing ATM locations while having a sleeve to hold a debit card. Since then, Gorman has been working to get the hotel industry to try the concept with city maps.
Several months ago, Hotel Monaco in Denver was one of the first to try the packets. Now there are seven hotels in the Denver area using the maps, which cost hotels anywhere from 8 cents to 15 cents per packet, Gorman said.
The maps are also available in the Atlanta and Boston areas, Gorman added, and he hopes that within the year they will attract the attention of large hotel chains.
"It will catch on," he predicted. "The hotel industry knows when something good comes along."
MUSEUM WILL SCORE HIGH WITH HOOPS FANS
Hoops fans have something to cheer about. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., reopened recently as a $45 million high-tech museum.
The striking new building, with a nine-story spherical dome lighted by hundreds of colored bulbs, is about twice as big as the previous one, spokesman Howie Davis said. It's part of a $100 million redevelopment of the Connecticut Riverfront area.
Besides viewing tributes to more than 200 Hall of Famers, visitors can shoot baskets, play sportscaster (and record their play-by-play narratives), match wits with professional coaches' calls and learn about the history of the game.
Among more than 900 artifacts in the museum is an 1891 list of basketball rules with handwritten notes by James Naismith, who is credited with inventing the sport that year.
The museum, a half-hour drive north of Hartford, Conn., and two hours from Boston, is open daily; hours vary. Admis-sion is $15 for adults, $10 for ages 5-15, free for children younger than 5. For more information, call 877-446-6752, or visit online at www.hoophall.com.
Consumer Reports offers tips on tipping
How much is the right amount to tip while traveling? It depends on whom you ask, of course, and where you are. But here's what Consumer Reports Travel Letter suggests:
For stays at U.S. hotels:
* Housekeeper: $2 per person per night in upscale hotels; $1 per person per night in less expensive places.
* Concierge: $2 to $10, depending on how complex the service; 10 percent of the cost of hard-to-get theater tickets.
* Doorman: $1 for a taxi, or $2 to $3 if it's raining or it's hard to find a taxi.
* Parking valet: $1 to $2.
* Porter: $2 to $3 for deliveries to your room.
* Bellhop: $1 per bag at least; more if the bags are heavy.
* Room service: If there is no service charge on the tab, 15 percent or at least $2 per delivery.
Among other types of service workers travelers encounter in the United States, taxi drivers get 15 percent to 20 percent of the fare; waiters, 15 percent to 20 percent before tax; sommelier, 10 percent of the cost of the wine, in cash; bartenders, 15 percent of the bar bill; restroom attendants, $1; restaurant valet parking, $1 in smaller cities, $2 in large cities; and airport skycaps, $1 to $2 per bag.
Dreaming of a stream?
For many people, the image of a waterside cabin in the mountains holds great appeal, and the publishers of the Colorado Directory know it. This annually updated guide has a "By Water" index that identifies cabins, lodges and resorts located on a stream, river or lake. In all, the guide describes 474 properties, 20 percent of which border water.
The 56-page guide can be ordered at no charge by calling 888-222-4641 or online at www.fishing-colorado.com.
-- From wire reports