As the tragedy in Boston earlier this week has taught us, travel to any location can involve unexpected danger. The incident served to illustrate that travelers visiting any location should be sure that their trip planning involves basic travel precautions both standard and new.

Warren Chang, Vice President and General Manager of Fly.com, has helped us develop this list of travel precautions.

Pre-Travel

• Read State Department travel alerts and warnings. Remember that alerts relate to short-term events and warnings are more long-term concerns. While warnings and alerts are issued countrywide, it may not necessarily mean that an entire area is unsafe for travel.
• Inform the State Department of your travel itinerary via the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program when you are traveling internationally.
• Consider planning your trip with a travel agency or tour company if you are visiting a foreign country where you do not speak the language or if your travel has many destinations.
• Remember to refill your prescriptions and other medical necessities pre-trip.
• Activate your phone for international calling and data, or purchase a pre-paid phone for travel.
• Consider travel or medical insurance for overseas visits, if necessary.
• Make a copy of your passport and travel documents, leaving them in your hotel room or a reliable party back home.

It's tax day, which, for many Americans, marks their least favorite day of the year – unless, of course, you're Uncle Sam. Whether your wallet is hurting or you're flush with a little bit of cash from an unexpected refund, we've got a list of hotels and resorts around the country that are offering special deals and packages designed around the "holiday."

Get A Deal in DC
The JW Marriott, Renaissance and Marriott hotels of Washington, DC are offering a tax day discount. Guests who book by April 22 will receive 25 percent off best available weekend rates for stays May 2 through September 9, 2013, using code SPJ at booking on Marriott.com.

A Room With A View in Chicago
C-View, an outdoor rooftop terrace and indoor lounge located on MileNorth, A Chicago Hotel's 29th floor, is offering 15 percent off tabs of $15 or more during the entire month of April. Filers can also enjoy the refreshing "Taxed" libation mixed with Crown Royal, Peach Tree, Red Bull and a splash of cranberry juice.

Life's a Beach in Nassau
The Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort & Casino's "1040 De-Stresser" offers some post-taxation relaxation. Book four nights from April 5 through April 30, 2013, and enjoy a one-time rate of $1040 for four nights (inclusive of tax and resort fee), a half-day dolphin encounter for two and a guaranteed upgrade to an ocean-view room. Book online with code SN1040.

Nice Deal in NoLA
Sheraton New Orleans is offering two tax-themed cocktails for those looking to relax and unwind after filing their returns. Available on April 15 at the hotel's Pelican Bar, travelers can enjoy a Tax Revolution or Show your W9...I'll Show Mine cocktail, complete with Mardi Gras beads, for only $10.40 each (specially priced after the 1040 form). As an added perk, those willing to show their W9 will receive one of these fun cocktails free.

Welcome to spring, "Hotel News We Noted" readers. If you live on the East Coast like we do, you've been experiencing downright balmy weather and it's making us crave summer resort escapes, ocean breezes and open-air roof terraces. Lucky for you, we have lots of that kind of info in this week's column. This week, as always, we round up the best, the worst and the most interesting news in the hotel industry, tracking resort openings, pampering packages and other reportings from our travels - which this week includes a recap of our recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Have a hotel we must visit or a tip you can't wait to share? We welcome your feedback and comments, so feel free to shoot us an email or leave a note below with ideas and thoughts.

Over-The-Top Hotel Package: Viceroy's $500,000 Once-In-A-Lifetime Wedding
Television and magazines have shown us that a wedding can certainly be a lavish affair. But by just about anyone's standards, a $500k wedding package is over the top. As part of a celebration of their new experiential video, Viceroy Hotels and Resorts is offering a Destination Wedding Package for just that price. But what do you get for half a million? The package includes:
· A Marchesa bridal gown
· Fitting and alterations by exclusive couture tailor Madame Paulette in New York
· A complete Marchesa for Lenox china set (12 settings)
· A three-night destination wedding for up to 75 guests at the Viceroy Hotel or Resort of your choice, which includes a Welcome Reception, Rehearsal Dinner and Wedding Ceremony and Reception
· 60 Guestrooms at any Viceroy Hotels and Resorts property for the three nights of the wedding

While this package seems quite expensive, it does include an all-expenses paid wedding for you and 75 guests, plus your gown and china. What do you think? Would you buy this once-in-a-lifetime offer, or get a house instead?

Flash sale site Gilt Groupe has unloaded its lagging travel brand Jetsetter, which was quickly snapped up by TripAdvisor, news outlets reported this week.

Despite offering a well-respected reputation in the industry for decent flash sale deals for consumers interested in luxury travel experiences and recent advancements in its mobile application with tonight-only deals, Jetsetter has not been a strong revenue driver for the company, with some estimates putting the site as low as 10% of the Gilt Groupe's overall revenue. In recent months, the site was losing as much as $2 million annually, Skift estimated.

This isn't a shock – the founder and CEO of Jetsetter, Drew Patterson, was fired stepped down last year. He is now running another travel start up, Room 77.

This isn't, of course, indicative that Gilt Groupe, which primarily deals with fashion, had a lack of experience in the travel space. The company CEO, Michelle Peluso, was the former CEO at Travelocity.

TripAdvisor announced on Tuesday that it was purchasing the site for an undisclosed amount, although rumor has it that the site was on the market for somewhere between $30 and $50 million.

"Jetsetter is an outstanding brand and I am absolutely delighted to welcome the Jetsetter team to the TripAdvisor family," said Steve Kaufer, co-founder and CEO TripAdvisor, Inc. in a release. "We are excited by the opportunities this provides to continually help drive amazing value for our travelers staying at some of the world's most highly-rated hotels."

What will this mean for travelers? We're not sure. TripAdvisor also owns SniqueAway, another high-end flash sale site that some would consider a competitor. The merging of the two sites could mean a stronger product, or less market competition overall. We'll be eager to see which of the two brands remains after a few months, and if this signals the beginning of the end for the flash sale boom for travel, particularly as companies like Living Social and Groupon have reported struggles over recent months.

We'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave a note in the comments below.

[Image Credit: Jetsetter]

Hola and buenos tardes from sunny and warm Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, "Hotel News We Noted" readers. This week, as always, we round up the best, the worst and the most interesting news in the hotel industry, tracking resort openings, pampering packages and other reportings from our travels.

Stay tuned next week for a special edition, including a full recap of our Cabo exploration. We welcome your feedback and comments, so feel free to shoot us an email or leave a note below with ideas and thoughts.

Hotel Wi-Fi: IHG Announces Free Global Wi-Fi for Travelers ... An Innovative or a "Finally, What Took You So Long" Moment?
Late last month, InterContinental Hotels Group announced that they were offering free Wi-Fi to all loyalty members worldwide, regardless of whether or not a guest was staying at the hotel. The announcement bandied about terms like "first in the hotel industry." We wanted to do some digging before reporting this to you. The statement was bold, and in some respects, it's true. When we asked, IHG told us the following:

While some of our competitors do offer free Internet in some of their hotels or in some regions, IHG is the first and only global hotel group to offer free Internet to all of our loyalty program members in all hotels, regardless of whether they are staying with us, conducting a business meeting with colleagues, or simply stopping in for coffee. In other words, our IHG Rewards Club, as the program will be named come July, members do not have to be staying in the hotel to take advantage of free Internet access.

Another key factor that separates IHG from our competitors is our sheer global scale – more than 4,600 hotels in nearly 100 countries and territories – and likewise for our loyalty program, which has more than 71 million members (the largest of all hotel loyalty memberships).

They are right: IHG is the first global hotel company we can find to offer free Wi-Fi to loyalty members, although there is a caveat: Wi-Fi is free to Elite status members from July 2013 on, and for all members beginning in 2014.

That said, they aren't first to market. Luxury brand Capella offers gratis Wi-Fi to all travelers, as do most Four Seasons. Kimpton, which currently has only U.S.-based hotels, offers free Wi-Fi to loyalty members (without requiring a stay) and has since 2009. While we're glad to see IHG touting their new benefit, perhaps they shouldn't be so excited to push that they are offering a service that several of their competitors have been offering for years.

Greetings, everyone! This week I'll be taking over the Gadling Instagram feed (find it here) as I head to the sunny shores of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

You'll get an inside glimpse at my travels, including a tequila school, sunset horseback rides along the beach and lots of spa scouting. It's a hard life, but someone has to do it.

Cabo San Lucas is known as a celebrity paradise, and this trip will show followers what it's like to travel just like those very A-listers we read about in magazines. I'll be staying at the ultra-luxe Capella Pedregal, a AAA Five Diamond Resort with the eighth best spa in the world, according to TripAdvisor.

We'll also visit hotels like Las Ventanas and Esperanza, both of which are popular celebrity vacation destinations.

If you've been to Cabo before, feel free to leave suggestions of places we should visit or things we should do during the trip. If you haven't, follow along for inspiration.

Not on Instagram? You can also check out full post trip coverage in our weekly column, "Hotel News We Noted."

[Image Credit: McLean Robbins]

Highclere Castle, the picturesque home of the famous television series "Downton Abbey" and current home to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, has been sold to an Chinese-based hotel investment company that plans to turn the famed historic estate into a luxury boutique hotel, scheduled for opening in early 2015.

First Class Holdings, LLC, the property's new ownership group, says that the new property will have fewer than 100 rooms, including a presidential suite in what was formerly the Earl and Countess' bedroom.

The property's existing features will be converted for use in a hotel – with the former servant's quarters housing staff and the existing kitchens revamped for use in the hotel's restaurant, which will serve traditional English fare.

A full-service spa will take the place of the former estate stables, and a rooftop swimming pool is planned, offering scenic views of the English countryside.

The cost of the project? An estimated $350 million. The planned hotel development is not scheduled to impact the filming of the beloved television series – the hotel will be closed for one month out of each year to allow for production to continue as usual.

Would you stay in the Downton Hotel? Let us know in the comments below.

Virgin America has today announced the latest class of service on domestic flights – Main Canine Select. The new cabin service (located in the airline's current First Class cabin – rows 1-2 on most of Virgin America's Airbus A320-Family fleet) will cater specifically to the airline's four-legged clientele.

Virgin America's Official Pet Liaison, Boo – "The World's Cutest Dog" – was the inspiration.

"We recognize how important it is to cater to our canine companions onboard," said Phil Seward, Director of Loyalty at Virgin America. "Dogs – and their very discerning owners – are a priority for us in terms of our frequent flier base.

The new Main Canine Select service, set to roll out today on select flights nationwide, offers furry travelers an interactive light installation that allows pups to chase fully rendered cats, an "open air" lavatory with mood-lit fire hydrants, custom-designed air vents situated at each seat to simulate that head-out-the-window feeling of a car ride and a curated selection of features via the airline's Red in- flight entertainment platform, such as an endless loop of tennis matches and a thumbs-free, on-demand, tapas menu.

To coincide with the launch of Main Canine Select, Virgin America is also launching a new Elevate "Top Dog" status level designed exclusively for the airline's four-legged frequent fliers that includes a complimentary checked "doggy bag," Virgin America pet hoodies and curbside hydrants for added convenience.

As the only airline based in Silicon Valley, members of the new Top Dog status level can also earn Elevate points via the airline's enhanced social rewards. Virgin America was the first U.S. airline to award frequent flier points for virtual "check-ins" via Topguest. Elevate Top Dog members can now earn double reward points by virtually "checking in" at the airline's airport terminals, gates and even dog parks through applications like Facebook, Instagram and Foursquare.

Sounds like a pretty great perk for pampered pooches and their owners. Would you let your pet fly Main Canine Select?

[Image Credit: Virgin America]

Expedia has today announced the redesign of their mobile application to allow for user-friendly visual itinerary capabilities.

Using location awareness and time zone updates, the app displays the most relevant part of the itinerary and related information like airport maps, flight status, confirmation codes and addresses at the appropriate times.

"Unlike other itinerary applications, we've built what travelers really want. We are giving them live access to the most up to-date travel data and wrapped it in a beautiful experience. This is our biggest mobile launch ever," said John Kim, Senior Vice President, Global Products, Expedia in a release.

This new itinerary feature, in addition to simple technology like flight and hotel booking and mobile only deals make this app one of the most useful we've seen for on-the-go travelers. The app also shows airport terminal maps for more than 200 airports – an extremely useful feature we've often seen only "for pay" on other applications.

Itineraries are also available for cruises and destination services.

The itineraries encompass 30 countries and 16 languages for both Android and iOS.

[Image Credit: Expedia via HL Group]

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, a name already synonymous with luxury, has kicked things up a notch with the unveiling this week of their 2014 "Around the World" programs. The private jet tour takes lucky (read: rich) jetsetters on a month-long journey to between seven and ten destinations across the globe on a private Boeing 757 outfitted for just 56 guests.

The destinations? Bucket-list worthy, and the hotels aren't too shabby either. All properties on the tour are Four Seasons hotels or resorts, naturally.

This year the program has a few tweaks, as they are offering two itineraries: a "Rediscover the Americas" tour from February 24 to March 13, 2014, that touches down in Miami, Nevis, Buenos Aires, Carmelo, Costa Rica, Punta Mita and Beverly Hills and a 23-day around the world trip that starts March 14 and goes to Hawaii, Bora Bora, Bali, Sydney, Mumbai, Istanbul and London. The trip has gotten even more high touch as well – there are just 56 spots this year, down from 78 the year before.

Just what does one get when they travel around the world by private jet? Quite a bit, including a private chef, physician and a veteran Four Seasons concierge who'll be onboard for the duration. On travel days, guests will enjoy expedited boarding, luggage handling and assistance with customs and immigration formalities, where possible. Once comfortably on board, travellers can stay connected with Global Wi-Fi or tune out with supplied Bose headphones – although there are no overnight flights, so guests won't need to catch more than a nap here or there.

Guests enjoy between two and three days at each location, and can choose their own itineraries while on the ground.

How much will it cost you? A cool $63k per person, double occupancy for the Americas tour, and $88k, double occupancy, for the Around the World trip.

Not too shabby for an around-the-world trip by private jet, we'd say.

[Image Credit: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts]