Casablanca Express is a promotional and wholesale travel incentives services company who, for 30 years, has traveled over 2 million people to and from their favorite destinations on behalf of companies worldwide.

Companies rely on Casablanca Express’ fun, creative, resourceful and efficient promotional travel programs to expand their customer base, increase sales and to reward customers and clients.

Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or sole proprietor, CBE places emphasis on your ROI ensuring that every dollar you spend on advertising goes further and lasts longer. Watch response rates double or even triple!

The Benefits to companies that participate in CBE’s promotional travel programs are:

• Promote customer loyalty
• Increase your company’s average purchase amount
• Provide same-day closing incentives
• Increase lead generation
• Referral program rewards

• Boost Advertising and Marketing Response
  • Low cost
  • High retail value
  • 2x advertising response

How to Incorporate CBE’s Travel Incentives into Your Business Marketing Plan

• Test drive incentives
• Credit application incentives
• Real estate incentives (open house)
• Rental incentives (apartments, furniture, appliances, car sales, etc.)
• Purchase incentives
• Payment incentives
• Seminars & Lectures Door Prizes
• Restaurant Incentives
• Call-to-action responses
• And many more

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Intro

Have you ever heard of, or visited, the little village of Brighton in Utah? If not, you are missing something.  Brighton is located just 30 minutes from Salt Lake City at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon.  The name itself says so much.  The picturesque mountain village will make you feel as though you have stepped back in time to a peaceful, more laid back place.

Brighton’s History

In the early 1870s William Stuart Brighton, an immigrant from Scotland, claimed 80 acres at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon, located just east of the Salt Lake Valley. Brighton, with his wife Catherine Bow and their children, lived in a tent over the first few summers. Then William built a small cabin.  Mining in the area began to boom in the late 1800s.  Miners traveled over the mountain passes between the mining camp of Alta, to the south, and the larger mining town of Park City. The Brightons’ cabin was conveniently located at the halfway point and served as a good place to rest and eat. Catherine cooked fresh trout caught in Silver Lake. William entertained guests with his adventurous stories of hunting in the nearby mountains. After several years of providing a depot for traveling miners, the Brighton’s opened a hotel for summer guests visiting from the Salt Lake Valley.  The original Brighton Hotel, built in 1874, was a two-story wooden structure with seven small bedrooms, a dining/sitting room, and a small kitchen.

Almost 20 years later, in 1893, a three-story wooden hotel was constructed to meet the demands of an ever increasing number of guests visiting Brighton.  An 1895 brochure advertising the resort described the hotel as having “fifty rooms available for $2.00 a day”. Visitors to Brighton either took the seven hour stage ride from downtown Salt Lake City or the five hour ride on the Utah Central Railroad to Park City and then jumped on the Kimball’s Stage Line to Brighton. Today, Brighton is just 40 minutes by car from downtown Salt Lake and Salt Lake City International Airport.

By the late 1890s the Brighton area was dotted with summer cabins.  The burgeoning village had a store that stocked supplies, a post office, and a telephone.  Brighton Ski Resort, founded in 1936, was the first ski resort in Utah, and in fact, was one of the first resorts in the United States. Today, Brighton is proud of being a ‘no-frills’ resort whose primary business is to provide skiers and snowboarders with exceptional trails and grooming. The time warped Brighton Ski Resort is where my mother learned to ski, and I learned to ski and my kids learned to ski.  I hope the tradition will live on long after I am gone.

Today

Brighton today is a small town where the locals still know and care about each other.  The water is pure, the air is clean, and life is simple.  The seasons are remarkably different in temperament with hues ranging from stark white to vibrant gold.  Winters bring 600 inches of snowfall per season and lasts from early November to the end of May. With the dry air found at 8,700 to 10,000 feet, the snow is light and fluffy.  It can make the most clumsy skier or boarder dance with perfection on the snow.  Temperatures range from 10-30 F for most of the season except for April, when you can find skiers in shorts and t-shirts.  The population of Brighton grows from 56 locals to 6,000 skiers with one big snowfall!

When locals are tired of shoveling snow and bundling in boots and coats, the weather turns to spring, which always feels slow in coming. All that snow must melt before the ground can be seen.  Many locals will plan trips away eagerly looking forward to a respite from the hard work of winter.

Spring, with all its mountain flowers and fresh warm air lasts from the middle of June to late August when muted colors of browns and green’s arrive.

Fall in all its glory comes anytime in September to November, with incredible yellow gold aspen leaves and bright orange oak and maple but lasts only until the first or second dusting of snow which can be as early as October.  Fall is when the light is different.  It feels clearer and crisper for some reason.

All of the seasons are beautiful in their own way.  Each is much celebrated and always appreciated.  Residents of Brighton feel part of the land as they watch the growth cycles of the wildlife and landscape.   Even today, there are no fences or walls in Brighton.  One neighbor’s property line harmoniously blends in with its neighbors.  It doesn’t seem to matter who owns exactly which rock or wild flower patch.  Perhaps everyone feels that a fence would only detract from the beauty and create unnecessary separation.

For those wishing to strut down the street in their finest attire, Brighton is not the place to go.  It caters to down home family tradition, affordable lift tickets, and knee high powder.  At an 8700’ base elevation, the snow is dry and plentiful.  One of the best kept secrets about the ski resorts in Big Cottonwood canyon, Brighton Ski Resort and Solitude Ski Resort, is that there is never a lift line longer than 5 minutes.  Never!  Not even over Christmas. Most of the time you can ski right onto the lifts.  Why? When the parking lot is full (Brighton’s parking lot holds 900 cars on a good day) the resorts turn skiers away.  The benefit for guests staying in our Utah ski vacation properties is that they are within walking distance to the slopes and it doesn’t matter if they decide to have an extra long cup of coffee or a dip in the hot tub before their day of skiing begins.

Even today Brighton has not lost its old flavor. Unlike the crowded streets of Park City, Utah and Deer Valley Resort, this Utah vacation wonderland has not been adulterated with shopping malls, movie theatres, and gas stations.  Its main attraction besides endless trails for hiking, mountain biking, and skiing, is the Brighton Village Store. In my mother’s days, this was the Brighton Bowery where they would meet for dancing during the summer weekends and was the only place you could get a good cup of coffee.

Adrienne

I grew up in Brighton, and spent summers exploring the nooks and crannies of the surrounding ski bowl.  In early summer, my sisters and I would watch the tadpoles in Silver Lake turn into baby frogs and then into huge toads.  I have fond memories of eating piles of flap jacks before heading out the door for a day of adventure. We would pretend that we were explorers digging up pieces of bottles and remains from the pioneer settlers that came before us. While fueling up for a day of adventure, my mother would regale us with her Brighton horseback adventures.  Those days are gone as the canyon was deemed a watershed in the 1940’s and no longer allows domestic animals within its boundaries.  Today, I enjoy the trails while running. The fresh air, incredibly beautiful scenery, and solitude energize me – I lose track of time. One of my favorite routes is to run over Twin Lakes Pass into Grizzly Gulch to the town of Alta, Utah, then up over Catherine’s Pass and back into Brighton.  Just like the miners at the turn of the century.  On this great run or hike I pass two villages and five lakes. Oh, and the wild flowers are breathtaking.  I feel like a kid again.

I knew I wanted to raise my family in Brighton. So, with two babies in tow, I eked out a living by renting our basement apartment during the winter months.  The “Wasatch Studio” was a ski in/out Utah vacation rental home for riders wanting first chair.  This was the humble beginning of Mount Majestic Properties. A few years back when it got too much for me to handle on my own, I coaxed Carole McCalla, another local who loves good hard work, to join me in sharing my love of Brighton.  I had had my eye on her for some time thinking we would work well together. I was right. We think alike and have the same values but different strengths. Today, sixteen years later, we have over twenty properties we proudly represent and Mount Majestic Properties is the largest property management company serving Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Carole

I moved to Utah 15 years ago from Tennessee to attend college at the University of Utah.  I never realized how captivating the Wasatch Mountains and Utah would become for me.  I chose Utah as the state I wanted to attend college in because there were so many wonderful areas in the state to rock climb (my biggest passion back then), ski, canoe/kayak, and explore both the desert and the mountains.  Now I love it so much, I hardly feel the need to leave for a vacation.  I was drawn to Big Cottonwood Canyon and Brighton Ski Resort when I first arrived because it was less crowded and had soul.  While in college, I spent every available second skiing and snowboarding at Brighton Ski Resort.  During the summer I would camp in Big Cottonwood Canyon to escape the heat of the valley and enjoy hiking and climbing.  The canyon is only 17 miles long, but there are so many places to explore and enjoy.  Eventually, after finishing college, I moved to Brighton.  Now my children ride the bus down to school and every afternoon when they get home I send them off into the woods to play and explore, or to the resort to ski – it’s everything I could have wished for my children to have growing up.  When Adrienne approached me to partner with her, I was elated.  Living, working, and playing all in Brighton sounded like a dream come true!

Our Philosophy

Mount Majestic Properties’ business philosophy is a little different than other companies.  It works because it sits well with us, fits with our finicky environment and only benefits our customers.  We are not out to make a fortune and spread ourselves too thin. We want to offer the best product we can in our own backyard and put Brighton’s unique touch on everything we do.  We care too much about quality product to be peddling homes we have never stepped in, or worse, were not cleaned to our standard. With a two man show (or rather two woman show), this limits our geographical reach in order to ensure our standards, so we choose to service Big Cottonwood Canyon and specifically, Brighton and Solitude Ski and summer resorts.

You may notice that we don’t have online reservations. This is not because we are behind the times, but when booking a home, we want to make sure guests are offered the right place for their group size, their needs and desires, and even more important today, that we offer a vacation rental home that fits within their budget. We know our homes intimately and can describe every nuance.  We know our guest’s money is hard earned and should be well spent. We work hard to keep costs down while ensuring a high quality experience for each guest. We have no hidden fees, such as booking fees, transaction fees, or service fees.  We want to continue the tradition of personal care and down-home hospitality. We want to know each guest by their face, not just by their billing address. We want to keep our inventory of properties small enough to be able to keep them in good condition and have a beat on how they are functioning. We greet each guest upon arrival and we are there to see them off the day they leave.  We are in the area daily emptying trash cans, checking hot tubs, giving you a weather report, a ski report, or a traffic report.  We pay attention to every detail to ensure guests have a wonderful stay and we offer services such as daily or weekly catering, snow cat rides, guides for snow shoeing, and in-house babysitting.

While this limits the area in which we can supply Utah vacation rental homes, we feel this effort pays off.  Approximately 60% of our customer base each year are repeat customers.  Our Utah vacation homes have loyal followers who make their reservations early so they can enjoy the home of their choice. Each home has its own magic and flavor. Whether you want a ski in and out luxury vacation home or a quaint cabin in the woods, Mount Majestic Properties has the property that will meet your specific ski vacation needs. We can even send you a picture of real time activities in the days prior to your arrival.

We feel a strong loyalty to our home owners, as well.  After all, they are our neighbors and they have put their prized jewel in our care.  We expect from home owners an inventory (home) that is well cared for and well appointed at the beginning of the season and in return they are assured of receiving the home in the same order upon returning at the end of the season.  We expect our guests and our homes to be treated well.  We make sure of it.

While we are busy with customer care and providing a quality product, Mother Nature is providing abundant, light and fluffy snow. With an 8700 foot base elevation, the snow arrives like clockwork.  And we are on it clearing driveways and paths so you can get to the slopes safely.

Conclusion

Come experience the unique atmosphere of Brighton, Utah. We guarantee it will be one of your most memorable vacations ever! And in planning for your visit to Brighton, Utah, consider Mount Majestic Properties for your next ski vacation home. There is no better experience on earth!

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We spent a good amount of time thinking about what makes a good stocking stuffer gift. We felt that, to make our 2010 list – a stocking stuffer should be something useful – which eliminates about 50% of stocking stuffer ideas – and small – it does have to fit in a red stocking after all – and light enough so that the stocking doesn’t fall from the mantel above the fireplace.

You may see many stocking stuffers offered from the same company. Out intention is to offer the best and most unique stocking stuffers as opposed to being democratic about the selection process. A good stocking stuffer is a good stocking stuffer and if you can find a handful of them in one online store, then you’ve saved even more time.

So, here goes… our List of the Best Stocking Stuffers of 2010.

Best Stocking Stuffers for Men

• iTunes Gift Card – found at grocery stores, Target
• Compact Front Pocket Wallets
• Car Dash Mats
• Shoe Wallet
• Apolis Ergo Cell Phone Wallet
• Skins for your Cell Phone or Bluetooth
• USB flash drive cuff links
• Threadless – Cool and Unique T-shirts
• The Jimi Wallet
• iPlunge Phone Stand
• Guitar Hero 2 Hand Held Game

Best Stocking Stuffers for Women

Croco Accordion Cell Phone Wallet

• Leather KeyFOBs
• Leather Cell Phone Accordion Wallet
• Vanity Fair subscription – only $12 per year
• Designer Headbands
• Lottery tickets
• Lip gloss
• Nail polish
• Hair salon gift certificate
• Happy socks
• Croco Cell Phone Accordion Wallet
• iKaroake for iPod
• Tea Stick Infuser

Best Stocking Stuffers for Travelers

Car Dash Mats

• Car Dash Mats
• Write N’ Roll Flexible Keyboard
• The iPhone Seat Buddy
• Passport Wallets
• Corso Como “Festive” Ballet Flats
• Brookstone Wireless Key Finder
• Gorillatorch Flexible Tripod Flashlight
• Kodak PlaySport HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera
• L.L.Bean MotoMug II
• Laptop Sleeves

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Lassen Park – Plug Domes, Boiling Mud Pots and Stinking Fumaroles

In June, we traveled to Lassen Volcanic Park in northern California to experience and hike one of the most under-appreciated National Park treasures in the United States. It is perfectly located on what we call the western National Park route that includes Crater Lake in Oregon, Redwood National and State Forest on the California coast and Yosemite National Park.

Lassen Peak at Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA

Lassen Volcanic National Park is commonly referred to as Lassen Peak which is home to an active volcano that had its last major eruption in 1915. It boasts one of the largest plug dome volcanoes in the world. A plug dome, or lava dome, is a circular mound of thick lava that can’t travel far from its vented extrusion. Due to constant extrusions, sticky lava domes are formed that basically cool in place and “plug” the cinder dome.

Lassen Peak is still, to this day, considered an active volcano and traces of such are apparent with close and open views of boiling mud pots (see image), stinking fumaroles (open holes from which sulphur dioxide pushes upward and outward), and bubbling hot springs heated from the crust of the Earth.

Lassen Park's Boiling Mud Pots

Lassen Peak erupted in May, 1914 and continued for 7 years until 1921 with additional major and minor volcanic activity in between. The major eruption took place in 1915 when Lassen Peak blew its lid sending a mushroom cloud of volcanic ash 7 miles into the air.

However, while our Lassen Peak experience was magnificent, it is not Lassen that we want to talk about. We want to talk about our lodging accommodations while visiting Lassen.

St. Bernard Lodge – One-of-a-Kind Bed and Breakfast Hotel Experience

St. Bernard Lodge is just minutes from the gates of Lassen Volcanic Park. Although its address is Mill Creek, CA, the center of Mill Creek is a few miles away. Chester is a few miles in the other direction so the most obvious address for purposes of visitor/traveler convenience is to say it is located in Lassen.

As we all know, a hotel experience can make or break a vacation.

Before we headed to Lassen, we googled the term “Lassen hotel” and found St. Bernard Lodge on the front page of the main listings. The site was attractive, warm and inviting. A lot of effort seemed to go into the site’s design which was reminiscent of what the area looked like 100 years ago: rustic, old west- and country-like. The website was definitely more inviting than the vanilla websites alongside it. You got the feeling that the Lodge was owned by one or two people, not by a hotel chain or corporate-backed investors. So, we called, talked to Sharon, the owner, and immediately felt at home. She was accommodating and friendly. We booked a room night.

All we expected was a decent night’s sleep and a decent breakfast since all we knew about St. Bernard Lodge was that it was a bed and breakfast and was located on a divided highway a few minutes from Lassen.

An Unassuming Lassen B&B? Boy, Were We Wrong

When we first pulled up to the St. Bernard Lodge, it appeared to be an unassuming inn. It didn’t seem to be too big at first. Actually, the low hanging roof above the front portion of the Lodge made it appear small. We didn’t drive up a long and winding driveway to be met by valets. There weren’t any large signs displaying the Lodge’s name, just a modest one over the front door.

When we entered, we were greeted by Sharon and Jim, the innkeepers, who were cheerful, warm and hospitable. Sharon showed us to our room, called Evergreen, a quaint rustic room that overlooked a 10 acre “backyard” that has a stream, trout pond, horse stall, a forest of majestic trees upon which eagles perch and a magnificent view of snow-capped mountains. Oh yes, I even spotted a new hot tub out there overlooking the stream and the mountains.

Jim, meanwhile, went to the kitchen and fixed us dinner.

After we washed up, Sharon took us on a tour of the Lodge. The second floor has 7 rooms total, each with descriptive country names like Sunrise, Wildflower, Autumn and Bluebird. Each room has a sink and towels. There are two common bathrooms, each spic-and-span clean, beautifully appointed and with white walls that glisten in the daylight sun.

On the first floor to the left of the center stairway is a bar that turns your head. They call it a tavern and it reminded us of the Wild Wild West era. The bar is made of thick Cherry wood and extends about 20 feet wide. A new Olhausen pool table adorns the middle of the bar while small cocktail tables for two cling to the walls. The bar itself is long and wide, the seats plush and padded. We could envision many strangers coming through here in days, months and years past and leaving as friends. It had that kind of feel.

To the right of the stairway is the restaurant. It is not a little dining room typical of most bed and breakfasts. It is a modestly large dining room with tables large and small and rustic wooden walls. Lace table cloths and candles adorn each table. Were we in a B&B or in a hotel?

All of a sudden, this unassuming bed and breakfast had become an impressive and inviting place to live in for a few days, not just a place to sleep in on our way to other adventures. We began to think of extending our stay in Lassen.

Lassen’s 5-star Restaurant

When we were served our dinners, our eyes widened and our mouths fell agape. We were definitely not in just any bed and breakfast. We were in an inn with 5 star hotel-like amenities which included one of the best dinners we’ve had in a long time and definitely the best one experienced at a B&B or hotel. We were first served with homemade bread and a fresh salad. Then came the clam chowder which Jim normally prepares each Friday. This clam chowder was reminiscent of the way East Coasters make their own. We’ve traveled all over the United States and no restaurant has ever prepared clam chowder like St. Bernard Lodge’s clam chowder. To top it off, the pork chops and steaks were high quality, thick, juicy and perfectly seasoned.

After dinner, we retired to the bar, enjoyed cocktails and many games of pool, darts and card games as we got to know Sharon, Jim and the other guests. Jim also doubled as our bartender.

Before we retired to bed, we asked Sharon and Jim if we could extend our stay by 3 more days. We would not only hike Lassen but we would enjoy Lake Almanor just down the road, as well.

We were really onto something here. Why hadn’t we heard about this place before? The Lassen experience was turning into the St. Bernard Lodge experience.

The St. Bernard Lodge is not just a bed and breakfast, hotel, inn, bar and 5 star restaurant. It resides on 10 acres of forest, streams and marshlands. We shared our time with couples, a mother and her daughter, and larger families and they all enjoyed watching and following the families of ducks in the stream, feeding trout in the trout pond and feeding the Lodge-owned horses in the horse corral. We don’t own horses but Sharon tells us they will board horses in their stalls. Apparently, Lassen has a lot of trails for horseback riding.

It’s rare that we write about a hotel or B&B experience. For the most part, they are enjoyable experiences. It’s rare, though, when the hotel or B&B experience is better than the actual attraction. These two B&B owners are gems. Sharon and Jim truly care about people, work their tails off, maintain extra comfortable beds, prepare sumptuous meals (order the waffles for breakfast), always have a smile for you and go out of their way to accommodate your needs.

I’m sure there are other areas of Lassen that we didn’t hike. And even if we’d hiked all of the trails, we’d go back anyway if only just to experience St. Bernard Lodge another time.

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