Sandy still making a mess of things ... Langdon Hall makes top 15 in world hotels

Things are looking up as far as the Hurricane/Tropical Storm goes. But not for everyone.

I got a note from Air Canada at 6 p.m. Tuesday to say that, "Following the re-opening of the following airports in the U.S. northeast, Air Canada and Air Canada Express will resume their normal schedule of flights beginning Wednesday October 31 to/from: Philadelphia, Boston, Washington National, Washington Dulles Baltimore, Harrisburg PA, Providence RI and Hartford CT.

"However, pending resumption of airport operations at New York City area airports: LaGuardia, Newark and J.F. Kennedy, flights to and from these three airports remain suspended until further notice," officials said.

To facilitate rebooking for affected customers, change fees have been waived for flights to/from US northeast airports until Wednesday October 31, and to/from New York City area airports until Friday November 2, Air Canada said. "Customers are strongly encouraged to consult the latest information online at
aircanada.com and rebook themselves online using our self-service rebooking tool in order to avoid longer call centre wait times."

Air Canada’s domestic Canada and international flights continue to operate normally. 

Porter flights were cancelled to and from US northeast today as were WestJet flights to LaGuardia.

I got a note at 6:20 p.m. Eastern time to say that WestJet has cancelled all flights tomorrow to New York/LaGuardia because of the continued closure of the airport. The first two flights on Thursday, Nov. 1 also were cancelled, officials told me.

Guest have received notifications by phone and email and we will continue to accommodate these guests as they require until we can get them up and on their way, WestJet said.

It's not just the airports, of course. Due to treacherous road conditions, some folks are finding it hard to even make their way to the airport, let alone hop on a flight.

Some cities appear to be returning to something approaching normal. Baltimore officials today lifted a travel ban. A few flights, meanwhile, were getting out of Logan International in Boston.

Scott Armstrong at Pearson told me terminals are quiet and 25 per cent of flights were cancelled today, although that still leaves 1,000 flights in and out for the day.

Folks have been very understanding but Armstrong said there's no way yet to predict tomorrow's schedule. The best thing is for folks to use the flight search tool at torontopearson.com, where you can get real time info by plugging in a city or a flight number. Individual airline websites have similar information.

Of course, Porter flies out of the Island airport so checking the Pearson flight won't help would-be Porter fliers.

Stay tuned, as this likely will remain a fluid situation (pardon the pun) for a couple days...

CONDE NAST BEST TRAVEL LISTS

It's that time of year, when the magazines pull out their best-of lists. One item that caught my eye is that Langdon Hall (officially, just so ya know, Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa) in Cambridge was named the 15th best hotel/resort in the world. And, yes, tops in Canada, too.

The only North American property to top Langdon Hall was the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago, so that's mighty heady company. And something to be proud of, for sure.

Also in the top 100 were King Pacific Lodge in British Columbia (21st in the world) and the Four Seasons in Whistler (62).

If you look strictly at hotels, the top three in Canada were Langdon Hall, then the wonderful Auberge Saint-Antoine in Quebec City and Queen's Landing in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which means two of the top three for Ontario.

Top resorts in Canada were King Pacific, The Four Seasons Whistler and the Long Beach Lodge Resort on Vancouver Island, giving BC a sweep of the podium.