Heathrow’s one-bag carry-on restriction has been lifted, thank heavens. Now you can carry on your roller bag plus your computer case or other small bag separately.

Also, you no longer have to remove the computer from the bag. Seems that Heathrow has new gear that inspects it inside the case.

Anyway, small progress at an airport that has had its share of traveller woes…

NY Times: Blessed Silence Is the Newest Amenity. Hotels have tried to one-up one another with everything from custom-branded mattresses to aromatherapy candles to feather-soft sheets to help guests sleep — everything short of dispensing Ambien in the minibar. So why not sound-proof hotels? Spotting an untapped marketing opportunity, hotels are increasingly installing double-paned windows, noise-deadening door gaskets, thicker walls and even listening to heating and cooling systems to find the quietest model.

I’d definitely seek out places like this.

AP: Singapore Airlines’ A380 takes off. A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 took off on a historic journey Thursday—the first commercial flight by the world’s largest jetliner, which boasts luxurious suites enclosed by sliding doors, double beds, a bar and the quietest interior of any plane.

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not looking forward to flying on airplanes that take an hour to board and unload — and then stand waiting for luggage along with 600 other passengers.

Unless someone buys me one of those first-class seats, I mean suites, of course…

This sign in the bathroom of the Hoxton Hotel in London is just one of the refreshing things about the place. It tells the truth about a common hotel practice, and does so with good humor.

Quote: “Hotels ask you to re-user your towels ‘to save the environment’ (their money more like)…”

Hoxton is rapidly becoming a business traveler favorite in London, and it’s not hard to see why.

Conde Nast Traveler’s Wendy Perrin Report has a batch of great travel tips from readers this month. Sample:

Before zipping up your packed suitcase at home, photograph the inside with your digital camera. When you claim your luggage at your destination’s baggage carousel, open the suitcase and compare what you see with the image. If you don’t discover that something is missing until you get to your hotel, you will have no recourse with the airline.

Lots more where that came from…

Just left St. Petersburg, Russia, after about 10 days in the country (first time there).

We had two meals of note in St. Petersburg, one of them so good that I wanted to mention the restaurant. It’s famous in the city, but this visit was the first I’d heard of it.

Palkin isn’t perfect, but it’s as good as anything I’ve tried in a long time. The food is excellent, and the service phenomenal. Sure, it’s a bit pricey, but not excessively so for such a meal. (We once spent almost three times as much on a meal for two in Paris at a Michelin 3-star restaurant — something to do maybe once in a lifetime. Who can afford more? Not us.)

Actually, let me mention another place. It was less brilliant but still suffused with character. It’s called 1913, and serves solid Russian cuisine including what’s supposed to be the best borscht in town. It’s uneven — a piece of beef was overcooked — but the violin-guitar duo in the corner added enough extra atmosphere to make up for this.

My Dopplr friends know that I am in Ekaterinburg, Russia, a city in the Urals region. My hotel is superb in almost every way, but frequent global travellers will recognize the one serious flaw.

The rooms have Wi-Fi access, but it is outrageously expensive — about US $40 for six hours. At least this is not six hours from the time of first sign-on, but rather for a total of that time logged into the system.

Fortunately, and this is something I often find in such situations, there is a well-equipped business office where I’ve plugged my computer into the hotel’s network. Here I’m getting access at (still not sure yet) either at no cost or a fraction of the in-room charge.

Net access charges abroad are almost as annoying as the ridiculous mobile phone roaming charges. But for those of us who travel for business, the alternative is to be out of touch. Which is no alternative at all.

The new airline says it’s adding WiFi and other cool stuff to its on-board services. (Click on the press release named “Virgin America and AirCell to Take Broadband Internet to the Skies” for details, such as they are.

I’ve been testing the Nokia E90 Communicator, an powerful blend of hardware and software. It combines a number of functions into a portable computer/phone that, despite the inevitable compromises, strikes me as perhaps the best device of its kind so far.

It’s almost precisely what the Apple iPhone is not: a device designed with serious work in mind, where the keypad(s) are the data-entry systems and where multimedia creation carries a higher value than playback. There’s a fold-out keyboard and large, high-resolution screen. It still requires thumb-typing (making me suspect that Nokia could and should create a model of this that’s shorter and no less difficult for typing).

The communications array is astounding, as we’ve come to expect from Nokia lately: 4-band GSM, GPRS, HSDPA 3G, WiFi and more. This makes it a true “world phone” in ways that few competitors have matched.

The 3.2-megapixel camera takes more than good enough pictures, and the video and audio recording are more than acceptable. GPS is built-in (but the radio receiver isn’t very powerful), along with a variety of other excellent features. Web browsing is better than ever with the larger 800×352 inside screen.

Video playback still lags behind the iPhone, but not by much: I ripped a DVD of several TV-series episodes to the device and watched them on a plane. The audio and video were more than good enough to enjoy the programs — and the battery drain wasn’t too awful.

The main drawback, apart from the expected not-so-great battery life, is the size and weight, though it’s svelte compared to older models of the Communicator series. Storage is limited to 2GB with a (extra purchase) micro-SD card. Another, continuing Nokia blind spot — true for all its phones — is the company’s refusal to support the Macintosh except in crude ways.

The N95 has more sophisticated multimedia features, and upcoming 8GB model looks pretty terrific (a touch screen would make it nearly perfect apart from the lack of QWERTY keyboard). I may stick with the N95, but I’m torn, because I love the ability to do more serious work on the E90.

Wow…

The New York Times offers: “Euro Pinchers Chime In With Some Tips,” with some excellent advice.