Most people don't think of Detroit when they think of a tourist destination. The city has suffered considerably in the last century – much of the population has moved into the outlying suburbs, crime has surged and empty buildings dot its cold, Michigan skyline.

The last several years have brought significant effort to revitalize the downtown area, however. Led by reconstruction of the Tigers' and Lions' stadiums, several pockets in the inner city are once again starting to flourish. Events like the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) are perennial favorites among visitors while Hockeytown and The Old Shillelagh keep drinkers out late at night.

In addition to the new entertainment percolating in the city, several casinos have invested heavily in the downtown area, with two, the MGM Grand and the Motor City just finishing construction on two new huge, luxury casinos and hotels.

This article focuses on the newly developing Motor City Casino. Check out Gadling's earlier article on the MGM Grand.

Motor City Casino – an introduction

Situated in the heart of Downtown Detroit, Motor City Casino (MCC) and hotel is a commanding structure in the Detroit skyline. Owned by Miriam Illich, the founder of Little Caesars Pizza, MCC is the only casino owned entirely by a woman. Renovations throughout the property are ongoing through beginning of the third quarter, with a new four-star hotel opened late last year and several smaller pockets of construction ongoing.

Gadling will cover the main aspects of the casino in four categories: Gaming, Dining, Nightlife and Hotel.

Tax rebates are on the way, with the first deposits inbound as early as Friday (check the schedule here) and Americans are scrambling to figure out how to blow their wad.

I happened to have two weddings to attend over the month of May, so my check will probably be going to wedding presents for the two lucky couples. O Kosta Boda, your uselessness has no end.

Over at CNN.com though, they want you to spend your money on a little R&R. Editors of Southern Living, Coastal Living, Sunset and Cottage Living have cobbled together a list of five "great tax-rebate getaways" where you can spend a portion of your hard-earned rebate on investing back into the economy.

Among their list of top destinations are

• Charleston, South Carolina
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Destin, Florida
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• San Francisco, California

You can read all about each destination including where to stay and eat at CNN's website. Just make sure you don't do anything CRAZY like pay off bills, credit cards or even (gasp) invest your rebate.

Over at his wonderfully entertaining travel blog Killing Batteries, Lonely Planet author (and former Gadling contributor) Leif Pettersen offers his "Definitive Guide to Hostel Etiquette." (Okay, the post is from last year. What's your point?)

Among the tips:

• Just because you're merrily drunk doesn't mean I'm merrily drunk. This goes double for any time after midnight, because unless I've recently told you otherwise, I like sleep more than I like you.
• You are not the center of the universe, I don't care how long you studied in Paris.
• Spontaneous farting is only funny under very precise circumstances. It requires exquisite comic timing that most of you don't have, so better to just save yourself the embarrassment and do the slow release or, better yet, leave the room.
• Do not have loud sex in the room while everyone is asleep and if you do, don't get mad and demand "privacy" when the rest of us sit up and bemusedly watch.

There are 23 more. Check 'em out.

[HT: Brave New Traveler]

What do Jaunted.com and HotelChatter.com now have in common? Both of these blogs have been snapped up by CondéNet, the publisher of Concierge.com. SFO*Media, the previous publisher of these two travel blogs is now under the CondéNet umbrella.

Does this mean that Jaunted.com or HotelChatter.com will look different? Will they be different? Not necessarily. Both will continue in their blogging world ways with Jaunted honing in on popular culture travel and HotelChatter continuing to provide the latest news bits and tips about hotels and lodging around the world. Add Concierge's focus on upscale, trendy travel to the other two, and that's a powerful travel trio.

What does this mean for me, you might wonder? CondéNet now has more reach when it comes to marketing and attracting big money advertising. There will be more coordination between the three sites, so you might notice crossover information. It also says that the media world is recognizing that the people who are reached by travel blogs are mighty in numbers, are passionate about travel, and they have some money to spend. These are forces to tap into.

Happy Earth Day! In honor of America's greenest day of the year, we at Gadling are giving away free copies of Green Travel: The World's Best Eco-Lodges & Earth-Friendly Hotels, a new guide by Fodors.

Coming out on April 29th (you get a pre-release!), Green Travel is a comprehensive guide to traveling with a light carbon footprint, complete with beautiful sprawling pictures as well as up to date guide and destination information. It's a must-own for any environmentally conscious traveler out there, and you can get a copy free from your friends at Gadling.

• To enter, simply leave a comment below.
  
• The comment must be left before Friday, April 25 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Five Grand Prize Winner will receive a copy of Green Travel (valued at $21.95)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.

When I think of a cruise ship deck, I think a swimming pool, shuffle board and lounge chairs--maybe a tennis court. I'm not that imaginative, but those who design ships for Royal Caribbean certainly are. The latest undertaking of this company that already boasts the world's largest luxury cruise liner is another ship that will be large enough to have a park as big as a football field. Think town square with eateries, entertainment and large trees. This deck will be only one of the ship's fifteen others, according to this article published in The Daily Mail.

When complete, this liner will weigh 220,000 tons. And by the looks of one of the mock up drawings, if placed on the Thames River, it will dwarf London. St. Paul's Cathedral looks small next to it.

Most people don't think of Detroit when they think of a tourist destination. The city has suffered considerably in the last century – much of the population has moved into the outlying suburbs, crime has surged and empty buildings dot its cold, Michigan skyline.

The last several years have brought significant effort to revitalize the downtown area, however. Led by reconstruction of the Tigers' and Lions' stadiums, several pockets in the inner city are once again starting to flourish. Events like the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) are perennial favorites among visitors while Hockeytown and The Old Shillelagh keep drinkers out late at night.

In addition to the new entertainment percolating in the city, several casinos have invested heavily in the downtown area, with two, the MGM Grand and the Motor City just finishing construction on two new huge, luxury casinos and hotels.

Beginning with the MGM, these articles will highlight the new properties, their features and impacts on downtown Detroit.

The MGM Grand Detroit – an introduction

A sister casino to the MGM in Las Vegas, Detroit's new luxury casino was completed in the fourth quarter of 2007. It's creators have designed the property with Las Vegas in mind – central to the entire experience is the 250,000 square foot gaming floor, around which are sprinkled several eating and drinking venues, from the posh Best-of-Detroit rated Saltwater restaurant to the sultry Ignite lounge just above the gaming floor.

Gadling will cover the main aspects of the casino in four categories: Gaming, Dining, Nightlife and Hotel.

If you happen to be one of those unfortunate people who come up with a dud on what seems to be a new roulette style airline game called "Will My Flight be Canceled?" or even worse, "Will my Airline Shut Down Overnight?," you can head to certain Kimpton Hotels for a gift designed especially for you--the stranded traveler.

As a way to coax stranded travelers to a Kimpton Hotel, the "Stranded in Style" promotion allows guests with a canceled flight to choose from the following options they show a canceled boarding pass or ticket:

Bath salts or eye mask

Bottle of wine or in-room movie

KN Karen Neuburger zebra chenille lounge socks

Cocktail or appetizer at adjacent restaurant

Participating hotels include: 70 park avenue and The Muse in New York, Hotel Argonaut in San Francisco and Hotel Monaco in Denver.

This may not be enough to turn lemons into lemonade, but it's an interesting idea. I wonder what budget motels could come up with? Maybe you could get real Half-and-Half instead of non-dairy creamer with that complimentary cup of coffee.

"Oh, what's Coldplay whining about now?" asked my friend David, when he heard Coldplay playing in my apartment a few years back. Ever since then I haven't been able to listen to Coldplay. All I hear now is whining!

It appears that Coldplay brings entirely different sensations to Britons though. According to a Travelodge-conducted survey, the top bands/singers that help Britons get off to sleep in a hotel are:

1. Coldplay
2. James Blunt
3. Snow Patrol
4. Take That
5. Norah Jones

I don't really know much about the music business, I am guessing it is not really a compliment to be the band that puts people to sleep?

Thanks, Rory Boland, for the tip!

[via Lost Weekend]

Theme hotels, or even better hotels that have a quirky story behind them, have become quite popular in the luxury hotel circle.

Take the Liberty Hotel in Boston, for example. It is carved out of an iconic 19th century Charles Street Jail. Built in 1851, the Charles Street Jail was thought to be one of the best examples of the "Boston Granite Style" of the mid-19th century.

Today, the quarters are probably a bit more comfortable than they used to be. Within the main building, there are 18 guest rooms, as well as meeting rooms, a grand ballroom and what the hotel describes as one of the city's hottest nightlife scenes. The adjacent 16-story tower houses 280 guest rooms with the latest in luxury linens, amenities and technology, enhanced by expansive views of Boston.

Jail-turned-luxury hotel? How is that for gentrification?