Travel plan idea blog

Speaking of hotel deals...

A few hours ago I posted the hotels.com press release. Now I find this article on hotels fighting for guests and surprising customers to gain loyalty. Very cool story:

And 50 years after their honeymoon stay in room 870 at the Peabody Memphis Hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Royer tried to book a stay in the same romantic room. The hotel has been reconfigured and that room number no longer exists, but the hotel surprised the couple by presenting them with flowers and rolling back their room rate from $179 to just $8, the amount they paid back in 1959.

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Should You Pay for Internet Access in Hotels? / Some Even More Expensive Hotel Rooms!

Mancunian is back:

If you are reading this in a hotel room somewhere, you may be paying more than you want to in order to access the internet. A USA Today survey of 80 major hotel chains found that around 40% of them charge for internet access in guests' rooms. Strangely enough, the more expensive hotels tend to charge, whereas cheaper hotels generally don't charge. The daily charge can range from $9.95 to $14.95 per day and often guests don't realize or understand that they are paying extra. Hotels that charge include Marriot, Omni, Embassy Suites and Sheraton.

The outrageous cost of some of the world's most expensive hotel rooms never ceases to amaze me. It's something this blog has looked at before, although it seems that the worse the economic situation gets, the more some people will pay for a night's stay.

The latest contender to have prices so ridiculous that one wonders who actually stays there is the Palms hotel and resort in Las Vegas, that offers a 10,000 square foot suite with its own basketball halfcourt, for $25,000 a night. But that seems quite a bargain compared to the hotel's Hugh Heffner Sky Villa, which rents for $40,000 a night. I trust there is no additional charge for internet access in the room...?

And just when I thought that $40,000 a night could not possibly be beaten, I came across this list of hotel superlatives, which lists the world's most expensive hotel room as the $50,000 a night Royal Villa at the Grand Resort Lagonissi in Greece. Apparently, if you stay there, you enjoy a wonderful view of the Aegean Sea; well, I should hope so, for that price!

If you are looking for an unusual - and not necessarily expensive - room, this site is exactly what it sounds like - a guide to some of the oddest and most intriguing hotel rooms around the world. Using this guide, you can sleep in a 747 Jet, a tree house, at the bottom of the ocean and even in a hotel that straddles the border of two countries.

And here is an interesting concept - the Westin Resort in Aruba is offering couples a credit of $300 toward a future stay, if they conceive while staying at the hotel, anytime between now and December 19th. Apparently, if you become pregnant, you would have to supply a doctor's note stating that it probably occurred during that period. No word on the hotel's policy if you conceive, but you didn't actually mean to.

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Things I'd like to do and places I'd like to stay in California

So I was reading Reader's Digest Off the Beaten Path because I'm going to review it tomorrow. It's going to get a good review. I mean it's $30 for a hardcover with nice color photos and good content while we're used to paying $20 or more for much lower quality (not hardcover) travel books.

Anyway, I was reading up on some California stuff and somehow I ended up thinking about that California travel plan a while back written by Kiwi Collection because they wanted to show off some of the best hotels in California. The general outline for that itinerary is San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Carmel by the Sea, San Luis Obispo, and LA.

Off the Beaten Path has the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and Museum. Frankly it's hard to believe that any National Park is off the beaten track in San Francisco but who knows?

Then in Santa Cruz, we have Natural Bridges State Beach. The picture looks awesome though, again, it's hard to imagine a beach in Santa Cruz that isn't packed with tourists.

Anyway, I'm thinking that anyone could use this book to find some different things to add to a vacation itinerary.

Meanwhile, I wanted to make this entry a little longer so I checked out the Kiwi Collection's hotels in San Francisco. The St. Regis San Francisco says it is 5+ stars and $450 - $10,000 a night. That puts it in the category of some of the world's most expensive hotels, of which I have stayed at none.

But Kiwi Collection includes San Francisco hotels that coast as little as $140/night according to that page I linked to above. If you're curious, the hotels in LA don't go up to 10 grand even though they have their own 5+ star hotel in Hotel Bel-Air ($385 - $4,000/night).

Anyhow, between the pictures and travel tips in Off the Beaten Path and the lure of hotels I can't afford I should be pretty busy tonight.

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Budget Hotels becoming more popular

Not surprisingly, given the state of the economy, so-called budget hotels are becoming more and more popular in the US. The biggest budget hotel and motel chains – Microtel, Motel 6, Super 8 and Econolodge – all report an increase in bookings and all of them are trying to offer more amenities and better customer service.

The largest budget hotel chain in the US is Super 8, with around 2,100 properties. The company promises such amenities as free high speed internet, a “super start” continental breakfast (which sounds better than a bowl of pastries), cable TV and an upgraded bath with a curved shower rod (?). They also have new room prototypes at certain locations designed to attract a younger clientele. Their average room rate is around $60 a night – certainly more appealing to budget minded travelers than some of these pricey properties!

Many more American travelers are also choosing to stay in hostels – apparently, around 20% more in 2008. The last time I stayed in a youth hostel was about 25 years ago and I still associate hostels with being full of noisy backpackers, uncomfortable bunk beds and having to do a chore in the morning before I left. But many now have suites and family rooms, free internet, fine dining and even swimming pools. This site lets you browse hostels all over the world. I see there are hostels in London (one of the world’s most expensive cities) with prices that start at around $40 per night – and that’s for a private room, not a dormitory type room. The site also lists hostels in such exotic countries as Latvia, Kazakhstan and Sierra Leone. Does anyone have any good hostel experiences to share?

And this site lists some of the more unusual hostels that can be found around the world, including those in tree-houses, caves, prisons and lighthouses.

The poor economy is also hurting timeshares, too, according to this article.Perhaps the cheapest option for lodging these days is the home share option?

And on a completely unrelated note (but I cant resist one of my favorite topics) if somebody from the Travel Channel is reading this, please stop showing “Bizarre Foods” and “No Reservations” all of which have now been shown several times. Thanks! How about a new series in which Samantha Brown goes to Asia or the South Pacific? Just a suggestion!

Guest entry by Mancunian

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More on the Korean B&B in London

It turns out that the hotel I'm staying at is not registered as a hotel or any other kind of business. So while I'm not unhappy with the place I still don't feel good staying here.

At first, I figured my responsibility was to move to a legal hotel but with New Year's Eve coming, that's pretty difficult and we don't want to spend our entire vacation shopping for a new hotel.

So it looks like I'm stuck here for now but I think I have to report the place:

If you know someone whose business is not registered for tax call the Tax Evasion Hotline on 0800 788 887 (open Monday to Friday from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, Saturday and Sunday 8.00 am to 4.00 pm) and HMRC will do something about it. You don't need to leave your name and address.

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Guests in a hotel?

Well it's Christmas Eve here in New York but in some parts of the world it's already Christmas. Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate though.

I got an email complaining about a hotel partially because the hotel charged extra when the person staying there wanted to entertain some company. This got me thinking a bit because I'm not sure what's considered normal here. I'm sure that in most big hotels they wouldn't bother you too much - only the smaller hotels would bother trying to keep track. But how many of them do and have other people had similar experiences?

I just want you to let other people know that I have had a terrible experience at the TRAVELODGE in Eureka, CA. The address is 4-4th Street, Eureka, CA 95501.

The staff at the hotel were terrible. I was so disappointed by the services they provided. They invaded my privacy. As soon as they saw my guests arrive, they asked me to pay extra in order for them to stay with me for a few hours. If not, they had to leave the room or they would be calling the cops. What kind of the services were that? So without any choice, I was forced to pay them the money in order to keep the peace in my room. Xiu Y. Yan and his father were very getto. They screamed and used Chinese profanity when speaking with me. It was such a disappointment to see this kind of low class services.

Secondly, the room was terrible. It was filthy, dusty, and smelly. The heater was not working and I had to pay 60 per night for this terrible room.

Posted by James Trotta at 10:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

A couple of Las Vegas travel tips

I should be in the air when this gets posted if my scheduling thing works correctly. Here are a few more tips from my student who wrote about Tokyo a few days ago. These are tips for Las Vegas which has certainly been covered on this blog before.

1. You don't have to wait in line at the buffet.

Buffets are very crowded during meal time. It gets worse if it's a weekend or if a convention is in town. If you don’t want to wait in line for a long time, go to Bellagio or Mirage. These 2 hotels have a buffet with a bar. You don't have to wait in line , just use the VIP entrance, ask a staff if the bar seats are available. Most of the time it's available. Bartenders want to get more tips and some of them tell you to just come straight to the bar and pay there. It doesn't work well if your party is more than 3 but it doesn't hurt to ask. I highly recommend to eat at a bar if you are alone or with small party.

2. Get better view or room for $20.

Try a $20 tip at the front desk. It worked for me in Vegas but somehow I never tried it anywhere else. You basically tip the front desk and ask for a complimentary upgrade.

1. When you go to the front desk to check in, they will ask for a credit card and driver's license.
2. Put a $20 bill between your driver's license and credit card.
3. Ask the clerk if there are any complimentary upgrades.
4. Most clerks will give you back the money if they cannot offer you the upgrade.

I actually tried this 3 times and it worked perfectly. I got a better view (higher floor, strip view) at Wynn and Planet Hollywood. Got a larger room at Luxor. The longer you stay the more upgrade fee saved!

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Hotels in Atlantic City on the Boardwalk on fight night

So a friend of mine recently told me about his search for a hotel room in Atlantic City for October 18th for the Pavlik Hopkins fight at Boardwalk Hall. Trump and all the big names
seemed to be running about 350-400/night.

He went looking for cheaper options. He found a place called Resorts for under 300. It's about a half mile walk from Boardwalk Hall. He was warned not to stay at the Days Inn on the Boardwalk. It was the worst hotel experience of someone's life.

One friend said Borgata first, Tropicana second. If those were too expensive he had stayed at Resorts. He said it was a bit of a trek to the casinos because it's at the end of the boardwalk close to the amusement park. Someone who didn't feel like walking could end up taking a bunch of cabs. Resorts is also near a good place to eat, The Irish Pub.

Another friend said not to try too hard because Saturday night weekend fights makes it tough to get a deal on the boardwalk. Hotels might even have minimum stays.

Someone else who went to Resorts had no problem with the location: it's an older place, although they've redone some bars and it's not terrible by any means - right on the Boardwalk probably 1/2 mile down from the Steel Pier, which is good 'cause you can bar/casino hop with
ease - Bally's, Taj, Hard Rock, House of Blues, etc.

If you don't mind, someone suggested Trump Marina or Harrah's - anything on that side of the city is relatively new, but perhaps a bit pricey (Borgata).

To really save money you could stay somewhere along Rte 30 - motor lodges, motels, and whatnot.

I don't know if I can share this last part and keep my blog family friendly but my friend insisted that if I share his research I also share a place called Bare Exposure with you. It is a strip joint across from Caesar's "for a bachelor party or whatever excuse you can come up with."

His words, not mine. I did actually go to a strip club in Florida once 10 or more years ago. It was pretty boring and the pancakes were easily the worst I've ever had.

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The Palazzo Las Vegas Lamboghini dealer and restaurant

Here's an article on the new Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino. The author claims that "the Palazzo has taken the Las Vegas experience a couple of steps further with some ingeniously innovative touches." This includes a Lamborghini dealership in the hotel. That's cool but if you're in the market for a Lamborghini, finding unique experiences shouldn't exactly be a problem...

But if you want to see a Lamborghini dealership with a built-in restaurant (so you can decide which car you'll buy while you eat I guess) then I guess you have to go to the Palazzo.

Posted by James Trotta at 10:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Women's only (or mostly designed for women) hotel floors and parking areas

I've heard of women's only parking areas - those are not uncommon in Korea where the first floor of a parking garage is for women. My wife always gets mad when they tell her to go to the higher floors when I'm with her. The thinking seems fairly sexist to me - when a woman is alone she needs a special parking spot in a more crowded, better lit, closer to the store area on the first floor. But when she's with her husband, he can protect her or something so she can go park in the middle of nowhere on the 6th floor or wherever.

The reason I bring it up because of this article on women's only hotel floors. These I have never heard of before but apparently they used to be common.The author doesn't really answer the question: are female only floors sexist?

For me I guess it depends on how the idea is implemented. I mentioned the parking garages in Korea seeming a bit sexist. Then again for the women who get great parking spots...

The author does point out that at least one hotel is implementing this in what I would call a bad way:

The Crowne Plaza chain is leading the way, offering a "Women's Executive Level" to complement its male-aimed "King Executive Level." (Note the difference in the names. Ugh.) On the women's floor, you get "a variety of amenities like a Victoria's Secret robe, a blow dryer and vanity mirrors." Meanwhile, on the men's floor, you get a private lounge and "everything from free cocktails to concierge services." Hey, wait a minute!

So what do you think? Should hotels have floors for women only (no male guests allowed I guess)? Should they have floors aimed at women and floors aimed at men?

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Vacation condo advice

Here's an article on how to pick the right condo in Hawaii, though I suppose the tips would work for condos anywhere you want to travel. The advice is pretty straightforward but worth keeping in mind:

1. Space
2. Furnishings and amenities
3. Beach and pool access
4. Food
5. Fees and fringe benefits

When I finally get to Hawaii, I'll be checking out Kauai condos like Hanalei Bay (which got a mention in that article I linked to).

You can find more Hawaii stuff in this vacation directory or on this blog: an article with some Hawaii vacation plans, Kauai's identity changing, dead superferry, Kauai travel tips, Hawaii vacation plan, America's best beach, and so on.

And that's about all I have for you today - jet lag is forcing me to go to bed early...

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Fact or fiction: hotel key cards put you at risk for identity theft?

So someone I know too well to stop accepting email from forwarded this to me:

HOTEL KEY CARDS

Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card?

Answer:
a. Customer's name
b. Customer's partial home address
c. Hotel room number
d. Check-in date and out dates
e. Customer's credit card number and expiration date!

When you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is there for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner. An employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning device, access the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense.

Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an employee reissues the card to the next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest's information is electronically "overwritten" on the card and the previous guest's information is erased in the overwriting process.

But until the ca rd is rewri tten for the next guest, it usually is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home with you, or destroy them. NEVER leave them behind in the room or room wastebasket, and NEVER turn them into the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and you'll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted off with any simple scanning device card reader.

For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash basket. Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially thr ough the electronic information strip!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several times. Then try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything on the card.

Information courtesy of: Pasadena Police Department

So don't bother bringing little magnets or scissors with you to destroy hotel key cards. And remember not to believe every email someone forwards you...

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Novelty hotels

This article was an interesting one with some cool sounding hotels. They mention Das Park Hotel, built in "9-ton, cement drainage pipes in a public park on the banks of the Danube River at Ottensheim, upriver from the historic city of Linz." Sounds pretty weird, right? And they say you pay whatever you feel like paying - very weird!

The article has a picture of a B&B in Idaho shaped like a dog. Another weird one! Until I read this article, I though hotels in trees and the MIT hotel were weird.

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New York’s Plaza Hotel reopens

One of the most famous hotels in the world recently reopened after a $400 million renovation scheme. New York’s Plaza Hotel occupies an enviable position at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, in the heart of Manhattan.

The Plaza also has the distinction of probably having appeared in more movies than any other hotel. Alfred Hitchcock filmed several scenes from “North by Northwest” in the hotel – one of the first occasions that a director and cast assembled on site, rather than in a studio.

The Plaza also features in “The Way we were”, “Crocodile Dundee” and “Plaza Suite”. And who can forget McCauley Culkin enjoying the amenities of the Plaza Hotel in “Home Alone 2”? For other movies that may inspire you to travel, Budget Travel has a list of movies of 2007 that will most inspire you to pack a bag and go somewhere.

Not surprisingly, rooms at the Plaza aren’t cheap – rooms start at around $800 – and it is considered to be one of the most expensive hotels in the world. A night in the Presidential Suite will set you back around $15,000. The suite includes five bedrooms, several fireplaces and the services of your own personal butler.

A less expensive option than sleeping at the Plaza is to take afternoon tea in the famous Palm Court. Afternoon tea costs from between $60 to $100 – the more expensive option includes lobster, caviar and black truffle. I treated myself to afternoon tea at the Ritz Hotel in London a few years ago. It’s a great experience – of course, you aren’t really paying for the tea, but the atmosphere and the service.

You can find more affordably priced tea rooms across the United States at teamap.com.

Guest entry by Mancunian

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Which new resort would you most like to visit?

This article starts with the Tides Zihuatanejo, Mexico and ends with the Agua Resort, Dominican Republic (near Punta Cana actually).

I think I would choose Azura, Mozambique. At $450/night it is expensive but not retirement-plan-breaking. And everything here sounds great, except for the fishing:

The resort focuses on fresh local cuisine, and guests can choose to eat in their villa, on a dock or under a palm tree. The island's big draw is its population of endangered sea cows, and the hotel offers excursions to view these gentle creatures. Visitors can help to protect and release the turtles from their nests on the island's shores, or spend their days sailing to deserted beaches or big game fishing.

Second place goes to Evason Hideaway Six Senses, Yao Noi, Thailand (if I wasn't worried about spending $1,000/night). Seeing the limestone rocks of Phang Nga Bay, made famous in the James Bond film Man with a Golden Gun and having picnics on nearby beaches sounds nice and relaxing. I'm not so sure aboutt he rock climbing but if they offer lessons I would have a try - it must be a good workout.

Banyan Tree, Maldives, Madivaru sounds even more unique (your room is a group of 3 tents) but at $4,000/night it's more out of reach than the Thailand one.

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Resort insists upon Nudity!

Most topless or nudist resorts give you the option of keeping your clothes on or taking them off, as understandably, not everybody likes to go topless. But the Hidden Beach Resort, located on the Riviera Maya near Cancun insists that its guests are naked – at least some of the time.

A concierge (who apparently wears clothes) at the resort has the perhaps enviable job of wandering around the resort grounds and instructing people to remove their clothes. I wonder how he or she knows that someone hasn’t already been naked and just wants to cover up
for a while?

The resort claims that this policy discourages participation, avoids embarrassment and also prevents people from coming in just to watch. I suppose it’s also somewhat difficult to steal things from the hotel rooms if you aren’t wearing any clothes.

Being able to go topless or take it off altogether seems to be increasingly important – a survey indicated that most vacationers thought that access to nude recreation was more important than being able to play golf and tennis. Here’s a list of the “10 Great Destinations to go Topless” according to USA Today. Most are in predictable vacation spots such as Hawaii, the South of France and the Caribbean, but beaches in New Jersey and Vancouver, Canada also made it on to the list.

And nude sleepwalking in hotels is also something of a problem in the UK, according to this article. As far as I know, I have never done that, but now I’m worried that the staff just didn’t
tell me...

Guest entry by Mancunian

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Home exchange news article with interview

This is another article on home exchange, but in addition to the same old stuff I did read a few things for the first time with this one.

"Think of house swapping like internet dating for your house," suggests homexchange.com, which, like others, helps home traders connect but leaves the exchange details up to them. "You wouldn't go on a date if you didn't feel a connection, the same goes for home exchange."

They also mention hospitality exchange / couch surfing.

At the bottom, there's an interview with Helen Bergstein of Digsville.com. She says that housekeeping often determines the success of a home exchange.

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Hyatt Regency Tamaya near Santa Fe

This article about the Hyatt Regency Tamaya doesn't really capture the experience of staying there but it does describe the hotel and how it works with the local Native Americans. It makes me somewhat curious - I'd certainly like to check it out.

I guess it is as close to an authentic cultural experience you can get at a Hyatt. This old blog entry might be related - I was reminded of it...

If anyone has some vacation ideas that really allow travelers to experience Native American culture, please comment here or email me - jtrotta@gmail.com

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Beatles themed hotel opens in Liverpool, UK

After many years of effort, a Beatles themed hotel has just opened in Liverpool, the birthplace of course, of the Fab Four. The hotel is rather aptly named “A Hard Day’s Night” and features Beatle motifs and music playing constantly in the public areas – although the hotel assures the music won’t be too loud!

The hotel also boasts rare photos of the group on the walls and a “Yellow Submarine” jukebox in the lobby – one of only a thousand in existence, apparently.

The hotel is situated on the edge of a neighborhood in the center of Liverpool which is known as the Cavern Quarter and is the site of the famous club where the Beatles used to play. The three concierges who work at the hotel hold the key to the city, meaning that they are a good source of local knowledge.

Liverpool is also celebrating its role as European city of Culture this year. Cities that have had this title in past years include Madrid, Paris and Florence. The city has dozens of concerts, festivals and other attractions happening throughout the year.

The rooms at the hotel aren’t cheap – they start at around $340 a night and the John Lennon penthouse suite costs around $1,300 a night. Although that’s still quite a bargain compared to some of the most expensive hotel rooms in the world. And I would imagine that any Beatles fan staying in the hotel would find it quite hard to resist the temptation to take something with them from the hotel room. I would take the Yellow submarine jukebox if I could figure a way to sneak it out of there...

And following on from a post about stealing from hotel rooms, items from cruise ships are in high demand as well, as this article points out.

Guest entry by Mancunian

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Hitler hotel room / Don’t even think of stealing that ashtray!

It’s probably something we have all done on at least one occasion – taken an ashtray, towel or some other item from a hotel room. Theft from hotel rooms costs around $100 million every year, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

To some extent, the hotel chains don’t mind the theft of small items such as washcloths, toiletries and ashtrays as it often gives them free advertising. Apparently, washcloths are the most popular item to steal. I always take any pads of paper, envelopes and pens, as I know that I will use them, and I assume they are there to be used or taken away.

But some thefts are clearly completely over the top – a man was able to remove an entire marble fireplace from the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel; and a couple somehow managed to load up a U-Haul in the middle of the night with every piece of furniture from their Holiday Inn room.

And some hotels have had so many items taken from their rooms that they are offering a “no questions asked” amnesty in an effort to have some or all of the items returned. The Peabody Hotel in Memphis and the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, as well as Washington’s exclusive Mayflower Hotel have all requested items to be returned. The most “in demand” items at the Mayflower are wine glasses etched with the hotel’s name.

And there seems to be different opinions on the Gideon’s Bible that you find in most hotel rooms – some people think it’s OK to take that with you; some people consider it to be stealing.

I expect people will be tempted to take items from the “Hitler Room” - one of the rooms in a new hotel in Belgrade, Serbia. The luxurious rooms are all named after world leaders, such as George Bush, Fidel Castro and Margaret Thatcher. The Hitler room is very reasonably priced at around $200 – compared to around $500 a night for the President Tito suite. It is also in high demand – apparently the room is booked through sometime in 2009.

Here’s your chance to confess – what have you taken from a hotel room?

Guest entry by Mancunian

And me again (not Mancunian) - this reminded me of the hotel we stayed in while we were in Zurich. They said they used to have a DVD player in every room but they kept getting stolen. Now only the 3 suites have DVD players...

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Liberty Hotel Boston

While a little over $5,000 a night doesn't compete with some of the world's most expensive hotels, I probably won't be staying in the new Liberty Hotel in Boston any time soon. It could have an interesting theme though since it used to be a maximum security prison.

However, since the makeover (I gather) has pretty much wiped away the past the the fact that it used to be a prison seems kind of meaningless. I've never been there but it sounds like Liberty Hotel is just another luxury hotel - fancy but nothing special. If anyone checks it out, do let us know what you think.

Posted by James Trotta at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

What to look for in all-inclusive packages

Here's an article that should be common sense but has a message worth repeating - know what's included with your all-inclusive package. A Club Med spokesperson is quoted saying something about shopping for value rather than the lowest possible price.

There are a list of things that are sometimes not included: certain beverages, restaurants, transportation to and from the airport, etc.

If you haven't seen it already, you might be interested in my recent all-inclusive experience in Punta Cana.

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Gladiator training at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton

It's not too often that a travel article makes me laugh, but this one did. Just keep in mind that gladiator training isn't cheap these days, especially at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton where travelers get to do this instead of wandering around Rome:

...a two-hour fitness session on its 15-acre grounds. Participants don full gladiator garb, including tunic, belt and sandals, then start learning combat moves with a rudis, or wooden training sword...

Related entries: Rome and Venice hotel experiences
Trevi Fountain picture

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Grunberg Haus: B&B in Vermont

Overview: I recommend Grunberg Haus for people who have a reason to go to Vermont. It sounds cryptic, but it really depends on the season. In the Fall you might go for Autumn leaves and hiking, in Winter it could be skiing or snow shoeing, In Spring or Summer I suppose it might be hiking or just nice trips to places like Burlington and Stowe for shopping or whatever.

Anyway, if you find yourself looking for a place to stay in Waterbury, Vermont for whatever reason, I feel that Grunberg Haus is a good choice. Here's my experience:

After my sister's wedding in Boston my wife and I took my parents to Vermont to help them unwind, celebrate, whatever. So it was my wife and I, my parents, and their dog.

So when we arrived my father asked how strict they were about the rules (the rules are pretty strict). My father explained that we had a crate but preferred to let Eagle (our dog) wander around the room even while we were out. We promised he would stay off the furniture and that if there were a problem we'd pay for any damage.

The owner said he trusted us and we left the crate in the car. I'm not promising that they'll make exceptions in the future, so if you're bringing your dog, bring a crate.

Now dogs are not allowed in the main B&B - they are allowed in the three cabins that close for winter in mid-October. Jeff, the owner, showed us to the cabin which was a bit of a hike for my parents so we decided that my wife and I would stay in the cabin with the dog, while my parents stayed in the main building.

The cabin was rustic but nice. Heat came from a wood burning stove or an electric space heater. The stove was small but I still managed to get a hot fire going that had my wife up all night (angry with me) and Eagle up all night panting. We could have opened the windows, but my wife hates the possibility of a few bugs more than extreme heat so we kept the windows closed. There were screens.

There was no phone or TV, something I think is refreshing. Cell phone reception is spotty at best. The floors and rugs in the cabins are swept but not vacuumed (I think) so the carpet was a bit dirty. My wife and I weren't bothered and the sheets and quilts and things were nice and clean.

The cabins are right near some trails in the woods, which Eagle loved. Jeff told us that people often comment on how much their dogs enjoy the woods. Dogs should be kept leashed, obviously. You don't want your dog chasing a squirrel or deer deep into the forest or going after one of the free-range chickens at Grunberg Haus.

The room in the main house was also nice, with no TV or phone (there is a phone in the main building - bring a calling card for long distance). The main building is set up with WiFi so you can get internet access. As you can tell from the few days of missing blog entries I chose no phones, no TV, and no internet. Hey, it's a vacation.

Grunberg Haus has a nice, cozy atmosphere. There's a game room with a fridge that has free apple cider plus you can make instant coffee or hot chocolate. You can also put your own food in the fridge. There's also a large fireplace that must be really wonderful in winter. There was no need for a fire while we were there, but people sat around the living room on chairs and couches chatting and drinking wine. I think there was some liquor (maybe cognac) free for people to drink.

If you're looking for a modern hotel, Grunberg haus may not be for you. The carpet on the main floor looks somewhat old, some rooms don't have private bathrooms (we paid for one that did), and there's the no phone / no TV thing.

Breakfast was good. One day we had apple sauce pancakes and the other day baked French toast. Everyone was full after breakfast, but we were all surprised that we weren't asked if we wanted more food. I'm not sure (forgot to ask) if guests who want seconds are fed as much as they can eat.

I'll quote the official costs, which I think are a fair value:

On weekends, we have a large suite with queen bed in one bedroom, twin size bed in a small second bedroom, and private bathroom for $135/night; a large suite room with two queen beds, private bathroom, and gas log woodstove for $145/night; standard rooms with private bathrooms for $125/night; and rooms that share a connecting bathroom with the room next door for $95/night.

On week nights (Sun - Thurs nights), the rates are $120/night for the suite room, $130/night for the suite room with gas log woodstove, $110/night for standard room with a private bathroom, and $80/night for a room with a shared bathroom.

We also have cabins, each with a queen bed and private bathroom. On Fri and Sat nights, they rent for $145/night. Week nights, they rent for $130/night. The cabins are an ideal size for romantic getaways for two people. We take pets in the cabins with prior notification ($5/night per pet, minimum of $10) but not in the inn. The cabins are open until October 31 when we close them for winter.

Feel free to ask me questions here.

Posted by James Trotta at 7:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Sirenis Resorts Punta Cana: comprehensive review

Overview: I recommend Sirenis Punta Cana to certain people looking for an all-inclusive beach resort. Those most likely to enjoy Sirenis Punta Cana are those who have or don’t mind children and who enjoy the company of Europeans.

Personal experience:

My wife and I spent 6 nights in early August at the resort (daily blog entries from that stay can be found here: first impression, first full day, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5). We will recommend it to any of our friends looking for an all-inclusive beach resort. If we returned to Punta Cana we would strongly consider another stay at Sirenis, but would also be willing to try out another resort in the same area.

Food: We loved the food. The buffet was always excellent with perhaps 10 entrees at dinner time. There were always several that I really enjoyed. I believe that the food was inspired by European tastes since the resort’s guests were mostly European and since I had never heard of most of the dishes before. I tried many new dishes at Sirenis, something I really enjoyed (especially since many of them were very good).

At lunch the buffet was passable. There was a mediocre pasta station where they would heat up already cooked pasta while you chose what kind of sauce you wanted. Luckily there is a second lunch buffet with a smaller but better selection. Here they always had a grill where they were cooking up ham steaks (a bit saltier than I like), pork cutlets (good), or beef (a bit tough).

About 60% of the time the buffet had delicious, fresh mangoes. They always had some melon, banana, and pineapple. The cakes and puddings seemed very popular with kids. I only tried one type of cake, an interesting one that looked like some kind of European pastry.

For dinner, the resort also has 8 restaurants, 7 of which are included in the all-inclusive (the other is $35/person). I generally thought the buffet was better than the restaurants, but each restaurant was a nice change of pace featuring food not really found in the buffet. The crepe restaurant was interesting, a totally new experience for someone who had only ever heard of crepes before thanks to an IHOP breakfast menu. My chicken crepe was good. The steakhouse was also good, as was the roast duck in the Chinese restaurant and the chicken in the seafood restaurant (the menu was all seafood except for the chicken dish). The veal in the Italian restaurant was not so good and the “gelato” was a joke. Of course, what's to complain about? You can always leave the restaurant and go to the buffet without spending extra money so if you don’t like your meal it’s really not a big deal.

The buffet does open all night. I went there at 1:00 AM to check it out and they had a few choices. None looked especially good but I ended up trying a type of Dominican sausage (probably the only authentic Dominican cooking I had the whole stay) that was pretty greasy for me.

All in all, the food was the best part of the trip. I ate a ton, tried many new dishes, and found many that I really enjoyed. Those of you on a diet, should seriously consider not going to an all-inclusive.

Of course the other part of an all-inclusive are the drinks. The ones at Sirenis were good – they had a large cocktail menu and while they didn’t use name brand alcohol, I can’t taste the difference. There were bars all over the place, on the beach, swim-up bars in the pool, in the lounge, and in at least some of the restaurants. A drink was never far away.

So we enjoyed the food. The resort itself was beautiful. I’ll have some pictures soon. We didn’t spend much time in the room, but it was very nice. I would note that they don’t seem to vacuum (they mop) so if you get sand in your room it seems to stay there.

We also enjoyed the beach, the ocean, and the pool. The pool only had one shaded part so for people (like me) who go to the Caribbean to hide from the sun you’ll have limited options during the day. The shade part is also where some annoying kids liked to hang out. They did all kinds of crazy things from dropping plastic cups to the bottom of the pool where the rest of us would step on them, to throwing hard balls that hurt when they hit you, to just swimming and splashing obliviously.

Now the good news is that the pool is huge. If you don’t need shade, you can easily find a kid-free zone.

The other good news is that the pool seems to be open at night. I’m not sure if this is official hotel policy, but I did see people swimming at night and I never saw anyone hanging around by the pool to stop night swimmers.

Possibly bad news is that there were no lifeguards by the pool or the ocean. That didn’t bother my wife or me, but I could see some parents being concerned about there being no lifeguards.

The ocean was as good for swimming as the pool – the water was always calm while we were there though I’m not sure if that’s true year-round. The beach was an assortment of people from kids, to 20 somethings, to 40 and 50 somethings. Very rarely did you see someone over 60 at the resort.

Bikinis seemed mandatory for women. I think I saw one or two little girls and maybe an old lady in normal bathing suits. Some women went topless. Men wore swimming trunks or speedos.

What I’ve described so far was the backbone of my experience. We slept in the room (and on the beach), we ate, we hung around in the pool, and in the ocean or on the beach.

There are one or two other things worth mentioning. There is a night club and a casino. I didn’t even enter the casino but I did check out the night club where they play Spanish language music and where people actually dance well. I was out of place there, even more than I am in regular night clubs.

A few negatives: Not much went wrong at Sirenis. I did have an issue with my room’s safe key. And I did leave a note for housekeeping to leave me extra water which was ignored. Sometimes making reservation for the steakhouse is difficult. We did find about 5 mosquitoes in our room when we first arrived. After killing them we didn’t see any more the entire trip.

Well that’s my review. Great food, beautiful resort and pool, nice beach, calm ocean, and a great time. Considering the quality of the room and the food, we found this to be an excellent value. I think the normal price is about $170/night.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Posted by James Trotta at 1:25 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Update to a recent posting - just how expensive can hotel rooms get…?

Just when I thought I had researched thoroughly for my posting a few weeks ago on the world’s most expensive hotel rooms, I find a hotel room that’s even more expensive. The Ty Warner suite (named after the hotel’s owner, the creator of Beanie Babies) at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York costs a staggering $30,000 per night. The suite is around 4,300 square feet, which by a quick calculation is almost three times the size of my entire house.

The suite boasts several bedrooms, a library, spa and exercise room, along with panoramic views over New York in all directions (I have a friend wih an apartment overlooking Central Park - it's very nice but it's still hard to imagine what this suite's view is like). Guests also have access to all the food that they can eat from room service, a personal butler on call and use of a Rolls-Royce to take trips around town.

If you can’t quite afford the Ty Warner suite, a standard deluxe room at the same hotel costs around $1000 a night. Smaller suites start at around $2,150 a night – and the hotel says they have no trouble filling these rooms most of the time.

The Four Seasons hotel is also the tallest hotel in New York – but not the tallest hotel in the world. As far as I can see, that title goes to the Rose Tower in Dubai, at just over 1000 feet. Dubai seems obsessed with tall buildings and currently boasts the world’s tallest, still under construction at 1600 feet and rising.

However, if you prefer your hotel rooms small, Japan is the place to go. So-called capsule hotels have been popular in Japan for some time; they aren’t really rooms, more like capsules as the name suggests. They are just about large enough to lie down in and have a TV screen at one end. The bathroom is usually down the corridor somewhere. They make for an inexpensive – and memorable - stay in one of the world’s most expensive countries.

The concept has recently spread to Europe - capsule hotel rooms opened at London’s Gatwick Airport in June, and the company, Yotel plans to open more capsule rooms at London’s Heathrow airport and Amsterdam’s Schipol airport in early 2008. Yotel rooms are slightly bigger than Japan’s capsule hotels and have room for a shower. They cost from between $50 to $80 for a stay of four hours and then $10 per hour thereafter.

I’m curious as to how comfortable they are…has anyone stayed in a tiny hotel room? (Or one of the hotels listed as being the most expensive)?

Guest entry by Mancunian

Posted by James Trotta at 7:35 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

First impression of Sirenis Resort in Punta Cana

This will be a fairly short entry because I'm really struggling with the weak WiFi connection here at Sirenis in Punta Cana. I'm in the spacious lobby (which has 2 bars) since there is no internet access in the room.

First impressions here at Sirenis were mediocre, although to be fair we had already been stressed out a bit before arriving several hours late (there is a critical review of Spirit Airlines coming soon).

When we checked in, they wanted to charge us for 7 days even though we're staying for 6 nights. It took a really long time (even though their English was fine) to straighten that out. Strange.

First, and they didn't tell me this over email when I made reservations, I had to pay $60 for a taxi from the airport to the hotel because we didn't have a voucher. Apparently some tours or packages give you vouchers for a taxi from the airport to the hotel. My all-inclusive rate didn't include transportation.

This would be an important thing to warn people. I mean I don't usually have $200 cash on me but luckily for me I did this time. We had to pay $10 each to enter Dominican Republic. Then $60 for the taxi. It will be another $60 from the resort to the airport. Then at the airport it costs $20 each to leave the country.

This is all cash only and I'm told there's no ATM at the airport. Sure you could walk to a bank or maybe one of the stores here at the resort has an ATM. But I wasn't expecting to need $180 in addition to what I spent on airfare and the all inclusive and I'm lucky I had it on me or I'd certainly be stressed out about it.

All-inclusive also didn't include the key for the safety deposit box in the room. I paid $12 and am now trying to get the stupid thing to work...

The room itself is spacious, but we've already killed 5 mosquitoes in just a few minutes in there. Housekeeping is supposed to spray it tomorrow morning at 8:15. I think that's included at least...

The resort itself seems really nice. There's a great big pool area and everything is nice and peaceful. It's active, but not too crowded - I think this is the offseason. I've heard lots of European languages and accents and so far I think I'm the only American I've seen here at Sirenis.

Impressively, the people at the front desk who couldn't get my 6 nights / 7 days figured out spoke at least English and French.

The buffet is open to 11:00 PM, so even though I ate myself silly at 7:30 I'm going back for more. The food is good but not spectacular at the buffet. The specialty restaurants didn't seem crowded so I guess making reservations for them tomorrow morning will be no trouble.

I'll write more tomorrow.

Posted by James Trotta at 1:35 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Upcoming reviews: Sirenis Resorts in Punta Cana and Grunberg Haus in Vermont

Some of you may remember how evil Spirit Airlines forced me to go to Punta Cana instead of Costa Rica. Making the best of the situation I decided to review a resort in Punta Cana, but of the many emails I sent out, I wasn't getting any replies.

Sunscape the Beach commented on my blog but never replied to my email. I was certain Club Med would reply but was wrong. It seemed like none of the Punta Cana resorts wanted me to give you guys the real scoop on what to expect down there. Or every resort lost their email service...

One resort replied but they aren't opening for another year or so. Then Sirenis Hotels replied and said that they would welcome a review on their two resorts in Punta Cana, so that's where I'll be from August 1 to August 7. Like when I decided to review Plantation Bay in Cebu, I think this is an important task because online comments are very mixed regarding the Sirenis Cocotal Beach Resort Casino & Spa and the Sirenis Tropical Suites Casino & Spa. I'm not sure which one I'll be staying in, but I plan to review both. As always, I'll share my experience in some detail to bring you the definitive review of these resorts.

I've also booked 2 nights in Grunberg Haus Vermont Bed and Breakfast Inn and Cabins. Following my sister's wedding, my wife and I will bring my parents up to Vermont for a little relaxation (I hear that paying for a wedding is pretty stressful so we're buying). My parents are bringing Eagle, a Schnauzer my wife and I rescued in Korea that my parents adopted. Actually, here's the story about flying Eagle from Korea to America on JAL.

Anyway, I think that the Vermont B&B will be another valuable review. You don't see enough reviews / vacation experiences with two generations and the family dog out there. I'm sure there are a few other people like me who want to take their parents and/or their dog somewhere. I'll let you know if Grunberg Haus is the answer.

Sorry, but none of you are invited to Punta Cana or Vermont (not that I'll stop you from going when I go). And you definitely can't crash my sister's wedding. But you are invited to my other vacation activity, live action role-playing in New Jersey. Imagine a weekend of camping, dressed in medieval costumes, acting out a fantasy story where heroes battle monsters with boffer weapons (made of foam).

I know it's not for everybody (OK it's not for most people), but my wife and I (and our friends) like it. If you want to join us July 27-29 in New Jersey, leave a comment here or email me - jtrotta@gmail.com. One thing is for sure; your vacation pictures will be unique...

Well now you see how my summer vacation is working out. Live action role-playing, Punta Cana, sister's wedding, Vermont B&B. I'm pretty excited!

And I don't know where to fit this in, but here's an article on a vacation experience in the Dominican Republic.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Kocadere village (Gallipoli Peninsula) Turkey hotel

I don't think this hotel in Kocadere village is one of the world's most expensive, but it must be fairly unique since it's in a Turkish village that has only 15 homes. Apparently the village's claim to fame is being near Arıburnu, an important WWI site in the Dardanelles Campaign. I think this is a great idea, but I'm not sure I'm ready to add this to my must-see list.

Posted by James Trotta at 1:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

World’s most expensive hotel rooms

Perhaps the last hotel you stayed at was overpriced – but it was probably quite a bargain compared to the cost of a room at the world’s most expensive hotels. The world’s most expensive hotel room seems to be either the Penthouse suite at the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, France or the Bridge Suite at the Atlantis resort in Paradise Island, the Bahamas.

I’m not sure how much the Penthouse suite costs as two different web sites list two vastly different prices - $37,200 a night and $18,000 a night. Regardless, the price includes four luxuriously furnished bedrooms and a private terrace. Considering you could probably comfortably fit 20 of your family members and friends in there with you, it doesn’t seem quite so expensive if you split the cost!

The Bridge Suite at the Atlantis resort costs $25,000 a night and includes a personal bar lounge, entertainment center, kitchen and butler. There are two master bathrooms and the entire suite is built on top of a bridge that connects two towers. It supposedly offers spectacular views over the Atlantis resort and marina – I would settle for nothing less than a spectacular view if I were paying that much money to sleep there.

The other expensive hotel rooms around the world are located in predictably expensive cities – Geneva, Rome, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong and Las Vegas. And Las Vegas now has 19 of the world’s 24 largest hotel rooms as well as some of the most expensive.

One of the most intriguing expensive hotels is the Burj Al Arab hotel on the coast off Dubai. This hotel is considered to be the world’s only 7 star hotel - with spacious luxury suites and gourmet restaurants, one of which is under the water. The hotel was cleverly designed to reflect the character of the area, and resembles a huge billowing sail. At night, the 1000 foot high building is surrounded by spectacular choreographed displays of fire and water, making it visible from miles around. Oh, and the cost of one of the better suites will set you back almost $7,000 a night.

I noticed that it isn’t easy to determine prices by looking at the web sites for some of these hotels – I suppose the old saying is true: If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it!

Guest entry by Mancunian

Some relevant blog entries: hotel pillows, Naomi Campbell's birthday at the Burj, 5 star underwater hotel.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

All inclusive resort prices in Punta Cana: official hotel sites, cheapcaribbean.com packages, kayak.com and Orbitz ot cheaptickets.com

When I mentioned my Spirit Airlines issue, several readers were kind enough to suggest some Punta Cana resorts. I just priced them on each resort's web page to see if booking direct would save me money or if it might be cheaper to book through another website. here's what I found:

I'm not sure if any of these include taxes and other possible charges.

Staying 6 Nights from 08/01/2007 to 08/07/2007:

Destination: Punta Cana Princess

Room Type: JR.SUITE V.I.P.
Cost Per Adult: $546 Total: $1092 Grand Total: $1092

Room Type: HONEYMOON SUITE
Cost Per Adult: $648 Total: $1296 Grand Total: $1296

Room Type: JR.SUITE (no VIP service)
Cost Per Adult: $432 Total: $864

Destination: Iberostar Bavaro Punta Cana

Room Type: Junior Suite (strangely iberostar.com redirected me to another domain when I searched availability and they gave me only one room choice).
Total cost: 1.944,00 US$

Destination: Punta Cana Occidental Resort - Allegro Punta Cana

Price per person includes transfers: Sub Total $652.00, Instant Saver! $189.89, Total $462.10 (it's not really the total since it's only for one person when I told them we would be two...)

Destination: Punta Cana Occidental Resort - Occidental Grand Punta Cana

Sub Total $711.00, Instant Saver! $213.30, Total $497.70 (I'm not sure if this one also includes transfers)

Destination: Sunscape The Beach, Punta Cana

Deluxe Room with Balcony or Patio: $1,644.00
Deluxe room with private garden and patio: $1,806.00
Deluxe Partial Ocean View Room
Premium Room with Balcony or Patio
Deluxe Honeymoon with Swim-out access to pool (2 People Max): $2,364.00

Honestly I don't see swim-out access being worth much of anything when the pool closes early.

Some prices are missing because their website is incredibly annoying and you have to do a new search each time you want to pick a different room. Prices include transfers.

Notice how Occidental Grand is $497.70 per person not including air. The flight we booked through Spirit is $354.10 with fees added in. The total is 851.80 per person.

On Cheapcaribbean.com they quoted me "Average per person $837.60" including flights on Spirit and the same resort all-inclusive package. They would have saved me $14.20 per person but it's too late for me now. Plus cheapcaribbean.com uses Spirit Airlines and we hate Spirit Airlines. They do let you choose another airline at least.

Kayak.com found Sunscape the Beach for $231/night but that might not include taxes and fees. It also doesn't clearly say it's all inclusive. However if it is all inclusive it's a nice discount since the cheapest room on their official site (Deluxe Room with Balcony or Patio: $1,644.00) works out to $274/night when you divid by 6. Would Orbitz.com or cheaptickets.com (both showed $231/night on the Kayak search) save me $40/night?

When I clicked on the Orbitz link, I found that the price was $225/night for a super saver room (I didn't even see that on the official sunscape site) and it was all-inclusive. For $230/night they had "Deluxe Room - 2 double bed or 1 king bed INCLUDES MEALS, DRINKS, TAXES & GRATUITIES - SUMMER/FALL STAY MORE SALE - 20% OFF !"

They added 36.02 in taxes and fees for a total of 1,416.02 - that is better than $1,644.00 by 227.98. There's a substantial difference there. The super saver room is 1,385.23 after 35.23 in taxes and fees. I wish I knew what the difference was.

I haven't booked yet. I understand that August is not a busy season so I figure I'll wait a while to see if any sales come up or if anyone answers my email and offers a discount.

I guess the conclusion is to search the hotel website and check Kayak to see if any other websites can beat the hotel website's price. Search Google news for sales in the area as well - a Google news alert makes this easier.

Posted by James Trotta at 10:36 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Plantation Bay experience conclusion

This will be the final entry on Plantation Bay (though there will be a few more on Cebu). It might make sense if you read the overview, the first day Plantation Bay experience, and check out the pictures first.

Our last full day in Plantation Bay started late (much like the first full day). Something just made me sleep well there. Around 1:00 or so we went to the Fiji restaurant for breakfast / lunch. We had more of the delicious fresh mango juice and sukiyaki, a Japanese noodle and beef dish. This was easily enough for my wife and I so it turned out to be an excellent value.

As I mentioned before, you don't want to go to Plantation Bay and live as cheaply as possible. You'll want to splurge on lots of fresh mango juice, cappuccinos, or whatever. But you can spend a lot less money on food if you get these 2-person meals (I wrote about the Pochero Cebuano style on the first full day description).

I had never had sukiyaki before, but my wife used to have it a lot and said this one was good. We could have had them call us a golf cart to take us to the game room, but we were pretty full and in the mood for a quick walk (the game room is close to Fiji). We spent some time online (you get 30 minutes free /day), playing pool, and playing darts. They also had ping pong, air hockey, and fuze ball.

Then we went to the Savannah to use up the free drink vouchers we had gotten at check in. The free drinks were pretty bad, either soda or cheap juice (not the fresh mango juice, but pineapple juice from the bottle and the like). This was right next to another pool, a shallow one that seemed to be mostly for kids. After the free drinks and reading the newspaper (you get a free one each morning) we went back to the main fresh water pool by the Kilimanjaro café.

As usual, we had no trouble finding a "hot tub" area to lounge around in. The resort just never got crowded despite the weekend and the glorious weather. We spent some time there, went swimming in the lagoon, went back to the freshwater pool, and basically lounged around in the water until around 5:00 when we headed to Leblon Hall.

On the top of Leblon Hall there's an area for watching the sunset. Plantation bay advertises a sunset that’s "among the most beautiful in the world." It was nice, but I’m not sure there aren't lots of other equally nice sunsets around. Here's a picture I took:

After watching the sunset, we went to the Magambo Springs spa but they couldn't do both my wife and I at the same time – they only had individual openings for the rest of the night.

We went on to the nearby Piazza Palermo. They had some decent live music (piano, voice, saxophone) and my wife spent some time in the shallow pool while I hung around waiting for her to feel like eating. Eventually we went to the Palermo for dinner.

The Italian food there was pretty good. My wife had the tortellini. They were big and looked more like ravioli to me, but tasty. The portion seemed a little small but it was enough for my wife. I had some sort of skewered meat thing with veggies and mashed potatoes. They pour alcohol over the meat and light it on fire at the table for a good 2 seconds of entertainment before you eat. Then you have pools of bad tasting alcohol on your plate and you have to be careful not to drench your food in the stuff. Still it was tasty. It felt a little weird eating in a fancy restaurant in a wet bathing suit.

Then we took a taxi (that just happened to be dropping someone off at the resort) to a spa for massages. Since that spa was not associated with the resort I'll save that story (nothing's ever simple) for another day.

Anyway, back at Plantation bay we changed into our bathing suits, left the room through the back door, swam across the lagoon, and headed to the pool by the Kilimanjaro café again.

After some more swimming and fooling around in the warm water we walked around the resort, noticing small lizards for the first time. Then we went to the 24-hour Kilimanjaro café for a midnight meal. We got more fresh mango juice and tried some calamansi juice which was too bitter for us. My wife ordered Japanese Ramen. Which was very good. My wife thinks the broth was home made. It compared favorably to any of the ramen restaurants I've eaten at in Japan. I asked for some of the cookies that they always give you when you order a cappuccino. I was surprised to see that they gave me my cookies for free.

We overheard some Korean guys asking where they could go to meet women and getting some advice from the waiter who probably sent them to a KGV (expensive bar where you buy drinks for women and probably pay from some alone time with them). We asked him about the screaming we heard every night and he said that on the other side of the resort walls some Filipinos were having a fiesta. It made me wonder who was really having fun – the people in the resort or the people out there in the real Cebu. Not that I have any regrets since I was pretty relaxed by that time. The best part of the trip for me was about to come.

On the way back to our room we sat down on some lounge chairs on the sand by the lagoon. We stayed there for a good long time, just talking and looking up at the stars. It was one of those magical moments where I felt totally peaceful and appreciative that I was able to share such a great view of the night sky with the woman I love.

And that was that. We went back to our room, packed, set up a wake up call, and left the next day.

Conclusion:

I had a great time in Plantation Bay. Our room was good, the food was good, the fresh mango juice was great, the resort was beautiful, there was plenty to do when we weren't in the water, there was plenty of warm water where we spent most of our time, there were a few other people but no crowds, and the inconveniences were very minor in comparison.

The few inconveniences:

People have complained about the prices since the resort is more expensive than the impoverished neighborhoods outside. You have to expect that. You could go to Cebu, stay in a cheap hotel (we saw some under $10 a night), eat cheap food on the street, and have yourself a cheap trip. Obviously the resort is for people who want to spend money and experience something luxurious.

People have complained that there's algae on the bottom of the lagoon. There was algae in some places and it does feel weird when you step on it. So I wore sandals. If you let little things like that ruin your vacation than you have to go somewhere else.

Some people complained about the staff not being friendly enough. I found them overly friendly except for a rude security guy when I rode my bike into a restricted area. Pass a worker at night and you get a big smile and hello. It actually got old after a while but they were definitely friendly. There was a time when we had to wait a while for a worker to come to the swim up bar and give us some mango juice and that probably shouldn’t happen. Overall, we were satisfied with the service we got.

We did see a few bugs in our room the first night, but not after that until the last day when I ate some cookies in the room and then noticed a bunch of ants. I guess they were collecting my cookie crumbs. We were leaving and didn’t mind. My wife and I hate bugs but have no complaints about seeing 2 or 3. That's life.

Like I said, it was very nice. I'd go back though I might also want to check out the Hilton and the Shangri-la on Cebu (on the bottom of the entry).

Posted by James Trotta at 2:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

First full day Plantation Bay experience and review

If you missed my first night at Plantation Bay experience, you may want to read that first before continuing here with my first full day Plantation Bay experience and review.

Our first full day in Plantation Bay started quite late. I think we woke up around 1:00 after about 10 hours of sleep. Some reviews I read online complained about the hard beds. I personally prefer hard beds – My mattress is right on the floor with no box spring or anything. Anyway, every morning my wife and I woke up with sore backs. A little stretching helped tremendously (as did floating around the pools all day I bet).

We called someone (our butler, guest services, or something like that) with a question about which restaurants were open but got hung up on. I called three more times to test their service and had no more trouble. On the third call we asked for a golf cart to come pick us up and we went to the Kilimanjaro Café for lunch (or breakfast or whatever).

The freshly squeezed mango juice continued to thrill us even though it was no longer free. I think it was around 260 pesos which is about $5.50. We thought it was well worth it, but I understand why some people complain about the prices online. In a nice restaurant outside the resort you’re looking at about $1.25. Like I said in my overview, if you’re not willing to spend money then don’t go to a resort. I don’t think Plantation Bay is for bargain hunters. No 5 star resort is.

There are bargains to be found however. My lunch was one of them; for about $10 I got a Filipino beef stew, Pochero Cebuano style. The serving was huge – easily enough for two people. My wife got some shrimp in a salty Filipino marinade which she loved.

After eating way too much (and not coming close to finishing my meal) we figured we'd do something to help us digest. You can borrow a bike for 1 hour/day at Plantation Bay (or longer if you pay) so we got a golf cart ride to the game room and signed out a pair of bikes. The bikes are only available until 6:00 PM though.

We rode our bikes around Plantation Bay, stopping at the store where my wife bought an inflatable tube to help keep her from sinking in the water that is almost never deep enough to reach your neck anyway (there are two well-marked deep areas in the lagoon). We also met a rude security guard when we entered some kind of parking lot on our bikes.
The guard wasn’t exactly shouting, but he certainly wasn't smiling or being remotely polite when he said, “Just go.” I hate being told what to do, and I really hate paying for people to boss me around so this bothered me. I rode my bike over to him and asked him why. "Just go!"

I asked, "So bikes aren’t allowed here?"
"Just go!"
"So bikes aren’t allowed here?"
"Right."

So I left. I managed not to let that experience bother me but you’d think that they could train these guys to be polite.

After the bike ride, we went to the fresh water pool by the Kilimanjaro café and spent a couple of hours there. They have a few hot-tub like areas in the pool and there was always one available. One great thing about Plantation Bay is that it’s really not crowded.

Then we went for a free archery lesson (every Friday). There was no actual lesson, but you did get to shoot a bow and arrow. We did this for a few minutes and it seems that there’s only one bow since other people had to wait for us to feel like we were done. If we hadn’t gotten bored so easily those folks could have been forced to wait a while.

Then we went to the dive shop and rented snorkeling stuff for $7 / hour. The snorkeling at Plantation Bay was neat. The water is mostly quite shallow so the fish are very close. They also arrange diving and snorkeling 2 hour excursions but my wife learned that she was not comfortable snorkeling even with a guy from the dive shop holding her hand and trying to teach her.

I had to send back my first set of equipment to get stuff in better condition. I also managed to cut my finger on something but they didn’t have a band aid for me at the dive shop. They offered me a role of gauze but I passed.

Then we went back to the freshwater pool by the Kilimanjaro. We were thirsty and had to wait a long time (maybe 15 minutes) for someone to come serves us at the swim-up bar. A good mango shake cost us around $5.50 again, 264 pesos. At the bar I met a Filipino guy who said it was his third trip to Plantation Bay. This guy actually lived near Boracay where he said the beaches are much nicer. He comes to Plantation Bay because it’s exclusive. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised that there were relatively few people there. It helps that the place is huge.

He did give us a tip for bargain hunters. He likes to get the number of a call taxi at Cebu’s airport when he flies in. When it’s time to eat he calls up the taxi (which meets him outside the main gate) and then gets the Plantation Bay golf cart to drive him to the main gate. He eats outside the resort to save money.

He recommended a Filipino restaurant named Gerry’s Grill in the Ayala Mall. The hotel car cost us 670 pesos one way for the 45 minute trip. It was a small Toyota but clean and comfortable. However my seatbelt was broken; you expect better when you’re paying extra (the taxi back was under 200 pesos). The rest of that experience isn’t exactly part of my Plantation Bay review so I’ll save it for later.

When we got back to the resort we spent a half hour in the PC room (half an hour is free – any more than that and you pay). There are only 3 or 4 computers there, but I never saw anyone waiting. It’s open from 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM.

We spent the next few hours swimming. I loved swimming in the warm water at night. There were a few other people but we felt pretty much alone. Plantation bay says to request a lifeguard if you want to go swimming after 8:00 PM but I don’t think anyone actually did that.

All in all it was a wonderful day.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Plantation Bay review: overview + first night experience

Plantation Bay resort in Cebu, the Philippines (Lapu Lapu City on Mactan Island to be exact) is great for couples and families that want an exclusive resort experience. Singles who want to unwind will enjoy not being bothered but are unlikely to meet any other singles. People looking to really experience Filipino culture won’t find much on the resort (though you can learn something from talking to employees and trying Filipino food). People looking for bargains should stay in a cheap hotel and eat on the street with Filipinos. To enjoy a stay at Plantation Bay you have to be willing to spend money.

That was the short version of my Plantation Bay review. The long version is included in the following Plantation Bay experience story. This is part 1, our first night:

I’ll write about Cebu Pacific Airways and Cebu’s airport in the future; for now we’ll just say that we passed through immigration and had our bags at 11:45. There was a fellow there holding a Plantation Bay sign and we went over to a little Plantation Bay gathering area to wait for other people from our flight who would also be taking the Plantation Bay shuttle.

The waiting area was pleasant enough. It was still in the restricted part of the airport so there were no crowds and the chairs were fairly comfortable although I didn’t feel like sitting (having just gotten off the plane).

We saw that we might have a long wait so we thought we’d look for an ATM (Plantation Bay doesn’t have an ATM although they can exchange currency at the resort). I suppose the rest of that story will be told later in my piece on Cebu’s airport.

By 12:15 they decided to leave without the others as they must have missed the flight. When we got in the van, however, we saw that they were already there. Apparently poor communication between the driver and the greeter meant that while we were waiting for them in the airport, they were waiting for us in the van. I’m sure the airport was more comfortable although the van was OK.

At 12:24 we found ourselves back at the airport to pick up some late arrivals. During the 17 minute ride to Plantation Bay, we saw a relatively impoverished Cebu. A few images that have stuck in my mind are the “buses” that look more like trucks. When room runs out inside people hang onto the back. We saw people selling cigarettes on the street. It looked like you could buy them one at a time which reminded me of my grandfather (when he was a kid in 1930s New York City his older brother would send him to buy cigarettes but not whole packs if I remember the story correctly). We saw many Korean restaurants (with signs written in Korean characters) and several KGVs (expensive bars where female companionship is available). We noticed that drivers turn their headlights on and off while they drive and that handmade signs on trees were common ads. We saw some dogs that might have been strays and my wife is certain she saw yellow goats.

Then at 12:41 we entered Plantation Bay. The first impression was an impressive one as everything went pretty smoothly. At check-in they went over a map of the resort with us and gave us a welcome mango juice (free). This was freshly squeezed mango juice, not the cheap stuff that comes out of a plastic bottle.

We went to pick up our bags but bell service insisted and I was glad for the no-tipping policy. Call me cheap, but I hate tipping someone for carrying a light bag that I'd prefer to carry myself anyway. We got in a little golf cart (where the no tipping policy was clearly stated on a large sign) kind of thing and they drove us all around the resort pointing out where things were. After getting a virtual tour with the map and then a real tour on the golf cart we felt fairly comfortable finding our way around the resort. It's very big but you can’t really get lost (and I’m a master at getting lost).

As the guide / cart driver unlocked our door and brought our bags in, my wife asked if there were many mosquitoes. We were a bit worried when he said yes. Then he quickly added that they spray regularly. I hate mosquitoes, and they love me and my wife so I was expecting to be fighting them off all weekend. We each came home with one or two mosquito bites and no complaints on that account.

Our first impression of the Water's Edge room was very positive. The room was clean and spacious, the balcony was a nice size and had steps descending into the very large salt water lagoon. I heard that this lagoon is the largest salt water pool in Asia; it certainly seemed huge to me.

The small, old TV looked out of place but I didn’t come to Plantation Bay to watch Filipino TV so I didn’t care. I did care about the bugs; we saw 3 in the first 5 minutes in our room. First my wife killed a mosquito. Then she called me to kill a cockroach on the bathroom wall and a millipede-type bug in our bathroom sink. Despite getting off to a bad start, we didn’t see another bug in our room until our last day so I actually have no complaints and seeing a few at the beginning of our stay.

We spent a few more minutes taking stock of the room. The lights and AC only come on when they key is in its little place by the door and it took us a minute to get that thing inserted properly. It also took us a minute to unlock the door leading to the balcony. Then I found a mosquito-repellent thing which I was desperate to plug in. It took me a minute to find the right kind of outlet – it was behind the TV. They give you flip-flops (tongs), an umbrella, a bit of dried mango candy, and 2 small bottles of water. My wife was hoping for a bathrobe but no luck there.

At 1:00 AM we walked into the water from our balcony. The water was warm, there were stars in the sky, and the bottom of the lagoon was slimy in parts. Some of the complaints I read online mentioned how "filthy" the lagoons were. While there was some moss on the bottom in parts, it didn’t bother me much. I figure people at Plantation Bay can do any of the following:

1. step on the moss. It's not that bad.
2. swim past the moss. There are only a few areas where the bottom is slimy.
3. wear sandals in the water.
4. not go in the water, stay in your room, and dream about how much you can complain to people who don't want to listen to you.

I chose options 1 through 3 at different points during my stay. Also not that the fresh water pools have no moss issues so if you can't handle it just head for a different pool; stay out of the lagoon. One thing I liked about the lagoon was the wooden platform with hammock not far from our room. My favorite part was floating on my back looking up at the stars. Plantation Bay turns most of the lights out after midnight.

One thing about leaving your water’s edge room through the back door is that you won’t be locking it behind you. Make sure your valuables are in the safe. We left our room like this for hours and never worried about anyone swimming up to our back door, entering our room, and stealing our towels or whatever. All the good stuff was locked up. Also remember that the lagoon is salt water so if you kiss your wife on the shoulder, it's going to taste pretty awful.

That's it for our first night in Plantation Bay. Everything I talked about here happened in about 2-3 hours. After our 1:00 AM swim (which might have lasted an hour) we went to bed.

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Hotel experiences in Rome & Venice

After yesterday's entry, Lin asked:

Does anyone have any suggestions for a nice hotel in Rome? I am planning 3 or 4 days in Rome, and then possibly take a train to Venice. Any suggestions as to a hotel in Venice? Thanks

The hotel in Rome was excellent, but very expensive. Grand Hotel Plaza on Via del Corso starts at about 400 Euros/night. I don't think it was that bad in 2001 because we didn't have to worry about Euros or the weak dollar back then. Then again, things just don't get real cheap in Rome.

Even Express by Holiday Inn San Giovanni is close to $300/night. They boast good customer satisfaction and great location but this is a 3 star hotel. Express By Holiday Inn Rome East is about half that but the location is not what most tourists are looking for - it's on the outskirts or Rome in an ugly area and you need a shuttle to get to the subway.

Next time I'm in Rome I'm going to find an apartment - these are often less expensive than hotels in comparable locations even if you have to pay the higher rate for a short stay discounts are for stays over 1 week or 1 month).

The hotel in Venice was fine. Hotel Bernardi-Semenzato is around $115/night now. We paid 95,000 lira which was about $50 back in 2001 (for a double with no bathroom). There is a curfew.

Maria recommended "Forum Hotel. And try asking for a room overlooking the Forum/Palatine Hills" in the comments for yesterday's post.

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Plantation Bay club rooms vs. poolside rooms

I had an excellent little vacation in Cebu at Plantation Bay, but the review will take me a few more days to get together. For now I'll try to answer Paul's questions from my Plantation Bay entry a couple of days ago:

If you can, can you peek at the other rooms, specially the Club room (which ironically is the cheapest as per their website, which leaves me wondering why).

If you can, it'll also be nice to hear some reviews on the new Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa which should be right around the same island. A comment, even from a walk-in guest's point of view will be very intersting (like how well it is appointed, beachfront quality, etc)It's relatively new and not much reliable and objective info can be found on the web. These two hotels, along with the Shangri-la Mactan are the places to stay in Cebu. And like you said, Plantation Bay always has had mixed reviews, and the Hilton is still a question mark.

1. Club rooms have no balcony

We had a water's edge room and didn't use our balcony as much as I thought we would. During the day we were in the water, only hanging out on the balcony for a few seconds on our way into the water. At night we did spend a little time on the balcony chatting, but we had a much nicer time at night chatting on the beach, in lounge chairs, looking up at the stars. What we used our balcony for most was drying bathing suits or sandals or whathaveyou.

I really don't think you'll miss having a balcony much. Other than drying stuff, everything you can do on a balcony can be done better somewhere else on the resort.

2. Club rooms don't have great views

I liked looking out the window of my room, but it didn't make or break my stay at Plantation Bay. We had a view of the lagoon from our room - it was nice but the scenes I saw from my window don't rank among the most memorable from my time at Plantation Bay.

Once again, I see only a minor drawback.

What about poolside rooms?

When you consider that the poolside rooms are the same price if you're putting 4 people in each, you have to consider these rooms instead. If you're bringing 8 people, the club room will cost you an extra $80/night ($20 each for the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th people) while a second poolside room is an extra $118/night (off peak). If you're bringing 6 people, the club room savings are more substantial.

I saw poolside rooms around Piazza Palermo, which has a shallow pool and an Italian restaurant (and a jewelry store which I found even more boring than most but at least smaller). The pool seemed popular with young kids during the day and older kids at night. In the evenings they had some live music there (keyboards, singer, and saxophone). The music was fine, but it could be a drawback for people in those rooms if they weren't in the mood. Then again, when you're in your room, you're not getting the most of your Plantation Bay experience so if the music got on your nerves and drove you out so you explores the rest of the resort, that would be a good thing.

The verdict

The room doesn't much matter. Your best memories of Plantation Bay will be had outside the room anyway (there is a possible exception with the suites - I saw at least one that has its own little pool). The club rooms seem fine to me and my wife and I even talked about the possibility of bringing the family and staying in a club room. If 8 people in a room seems too crazy then two poolside rooms is another possibility.

Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa or the Shangri-la Mactan?

I didn't see either of these resorts with my own eyes, so I can only pass on what I've heard. Just a few things really:

I was told that the Shangri-la has the best spa.

Both of these resorts are smaller than Plantation Bay but that doesn't necessarily mean fewer guests. I'm not saying that they are crowded (especially since I've never been to either), just that Plantation Bay is very big and really not crowded.

Shangri-la has the better beach and is the only true 5-star hotel in Cebu. I bet the beach part is true (the Plantation Bay beach is certainly not its main attraction). I'll discuss whether Plantation Bay deserves 5 stars or not in my upcoming review.

Also, this blog entry will seem too positive for those looking forward to a critical review of Plantation Bay. I suppose I should warn you now that while there are some things to criticize, my wife and I were very happy overall while at Plantation Bay.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:42 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Plantation Bay resort in Cebu: review coming soon

I'll be reviewing Plantation Bay resort in Cebu on a working vacation for the next few days. My blog entries will probably be brief and irregular but know that I will be doing something that I think will be helpful for a lot of travelers.

Here's how it all happened. About a year ago, I heard some good things about Plantation Bay. This is a resort in Cebu, which is one of the two very popular beach vacation spots in the Philippines (the other is Boracay).

When I looked at the Plantation Bay web site, I saw a great concept in the "water's edge room... located right at the edge of our lagoon. From your balcony you can be in the water in 0-2 seconds. (Not suitable for children and infants)." I immediately put Plantation Bay on my list of places to stay.

And I went looking for independent reviews online. I found some positive ones and some negative ones, each with a snippet of information. Some of the information was useful (for example one said that it can be hard to get a taxi and that the hotel car service is overpriced so you can take a tricycle ride in to the "taxi stand" which is near the first main intersection on your way to the bridge, from the hotel - the tricycle cost should be 50 pesos and then the taxi should be NO more than 300-350 pesos to the city center, Fuente Circle).

Now that's a great tip, but the mixture of positive and negative reviews that all focus on a few specific things leave travelers with nothing really definitive. How good is is Plantation Bay and who is it good for?

That's where I come in. I'm going to write the definitive review of Plantation Bay, particularly the water's edge rooms. So I booked a room, got a flight, and leave in about 12 hours. I don't sell anything on this blog, so my review will be more objective that any of the hotel booking sites are likely to be. And travelers will be able to get fairly objective information on all aspects of Plantation Bay in one place. I plan to check out the room (obviously), the pool, the beach, the restaurants, the spa, the service, the activities, and anything else I notice.

If you have a question about Plantation Bay, leave a comment below and I'll see what I can find out for you.

This means that over the next few days I won't have much to say here - I'll try to give you short updates but that's about all I can hope for. When I return, I'll put together a comprehensive and objective article about why people should or should not stay at Plantation Bay.

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Hotel award points losing value

Here's an interesting New York Times article about hotel award points losing value as major hotels increase the number of points you need to spend in order to get a free night. Personally, I'm not particularly loyal to any one hotel chain so this doesn't mean much to me. However, it could be bad business if it causes people who have been loyal to a certain chain to consider alternative hotels.

By the way, I'm not sure how much I'll be posting between now and New Year's. On the one hand I have nothing to do but hang out with family, but on the other hand, hanging out with family tends to keep me pretty busy... So in case I don't post for a couple of days, merry Christmas!

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Beaches Negril Resort & Spa in Jamaica

This Washington Post article suggests that the all-inclusive is a great family vacation destination:

There is, without doubt, something for everyone -- plenty of relaxation for dad, fun games and activities for every family member, steaks and hamburgers to eat and, for mom, the world-class Red Lane Spa and fine-dining choices.

All this and an extraordinary dedication to children -- ensuring that the smallest ones have a vacation as memorable and fun as their older siblings and parents.

For infants and toddlers, the red-shirted Nanny Brigade is constantly prepared to offer its young charges plenty of fun, often with the accompaniment of beloved Sesame Street characters. The beach is kept free of peddlers and beggars.

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Interesting accommodations for your winter ski vacation

I really enjoyed this article. Let me summarize some of the different accommodations and if you want more details follow the link and read the article.

One of the places they mention: "the cabins at Strawberry Park Hot Springs eight miles from Colorado's Steamboat Ski Resort.... Earth-heated water fills three rock-lined pools in a forest setting of stream, boulders and snow. It's like soaking in a scene from a Sierra Club calendar..."

If you're going to Mount Hood, an hour's drive east of Portland, Timberline Lodge is a publicly owned ski-in/ski-out lodge: "Opening in 1937, Timberline began as a Great Depression employment project for out-of-work craftspeople.... The resulting structure, filmed as the outdoor backdrop for The Shining, looks worthy of a national park."

In Huntington, Vermont On the Loose Yurts is a few minutes from Mad River Glen and Sugarbush Resort: "a modern yurt is a tent-like structure whose circular shape and conical roof make it resemble a colossal cupcake. Foil-laminate walls stretch over a folding latticework frame, spoke-like rafters support the roof, and an acrylic apex dome creates a skylight. With a well-stoked fire, it can easily reach 80 degrees inside in even the coldest climate."

In Colorado, a half-hour's drive from the Winter Park Ski Resort, C Lazy U Guest Ranch turns wrangler fantasies into Western realities: "Shuttles leave three times daily for the ski areas. Those opting not to go downhilling can choose from an array of other free, on-ranch activities that include sleighing, sledding, ice-skating, cross-country skiing and horseback riding."

The place that I want to stay at is California's Fantasy Inn in South Lake Tahoe. The basic rooms are fine, but the 15 theme rooms ($179-$399) that set the place apart: "One can go from downhilling to decadence in the Anthony and Cleopatra Room, complete with its marbled columns, black- and gold-draped walls and tiger-striped carpet. There is the Romeo and Juliet Room with fireplace, sunken spa and circular bed set in a mirrored alcove. The Elvis-inspired Graceland Room offers a guitar-shaped coffee table and heart-shaped spa, while the cowboy-style Western room has rocking chairs and saddle. Add in the Tropical Treehouse, Arabian Nights, Sultan's Tent, Caesars Indulgence, Mystic Mountain, Marie Antoinette, Penthouse, Rainforest, Tahoe and Romans rooms, and guests can find a setting to indulge nearly any flight of fancy.

''People will stay here a week and change rooms every day,'' says employee Robert Matsumoto. "They come back from skiing, get new keys and they're all set.''

Lastly we have Quebec's Ice Hotel near the ski areas of Stoneham, Le Massif and Mont-Sainte-Anne: "Overnight guests slumber in sleeping bags atop pelt- and pad-insulated ''mattresses'' of ice. Basic rooms feature unadorned walls and few furnishings. More exciting are the annually changing theme suites featuring frigid fantasies of art and architecture. Previous motifs have included a King Tut-adorned Pharaoh fantasia, an Eiffel-towered Parisian parlor and a voodoo-haunted Shaman suite."

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Disney's Port Orleans or Caribbean Beach Resort: which is better?

I have a friend going on a business trip to Disney World for IBM's Lotusphere 2007 from January 20-25 (that's when lines are short in Disney World). He can stay at Disney's Port Orleans and at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. He wants some advice about which one to stay at. I've collected some comments from friends, but feel free to add your own comments if you've stayed at Port Orleans or Caribbean Beach Resort.

One person who just stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort last month called the rooms "OK" and the resort "decent." The Caribbean Beach was "fine, same category as Port Orleans."

Someone who has stayed at both calls Port Orleans "a smaller, and thus quieter resort than the Caribbean Beach Resort. There are 2 Port Orleans resorts, the French Quarter, and the Riverside. Both are very nice. The Caribbean Beach resort is also one of the largest resorts on Disney property, so if you use Disney's bus transportation to get around, it will take a little longer. The Port Orleans is a little nicer, with a better selection of food. Also, the Port Orleans resorts are closest to Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. Caribbean Beach is closest to Epcot and Disney-MGM Studios.

Another person, someone who has stayed only at Port Orleans says it's "beautiful, the rooms are nice - we stayed there because it's one of the few resorts with rooms for 5 - they have a nice ferry service to Downtown Disney too. This is a really cool boat ride to Downtown Disney. One hint - if you stay there, walk to the lobby bus stop when embarking to the parks in the morning - Port Orleans has several stops, and the buses bypass them once they're full, which leads to many people waiting at the end of the line."

Another friend recommended staying at Port Orleans in May when the Magnolia trees bloom: "One of the best-smelling places I've ever been in. Next time we go, I'll make it a 2-week trip. One week was too hectic - really exhausting."

One person who can't stand the bus system says you're better off staying at a resort with monorail service: Caribbean Bay does have a cool beach theme, obviously, and some good pools. The restaurant fare is mostly American (burgers, pizza). At first, you have to really watch the bus schedule so you know which one to grab and don't end up riding in circles on the wrong bus. Sometimes, the bus will maddeningly pass right by a stop you want to get off on, so don't assume anything. If we had it to do over again, we'd stay at a monorail-connected resort like the Polynesian. LOTS of time was wasted riding the buses, and it's not worth it for a vacation."

Some other related blog entries: Disney resort experiences and recommendations, Recommended Disney hotels, Diseney Magic European Cruise 2007 dates, 10 days in the Tampa Bay Area with Orlando side trip, Disney timeshares at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Halloween at Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:54 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

Hotels more likely to have a spa and be pet friendly

Here's an interesting article about how hotels, even non-resorts, need spas to compete. Of course they are more expensive than spas outside of hotels:

According to Susie Ellis, president of spa marketing company Spa Finder, spa services at big-city hotels are more than 50% higher than at a day spa. The average cost of a massage at a hotel or resort spa is $120, $44 more than at a day spa.

If bringing your pet to a hotel is more important than getting a massage while you're there, read this article on the friendliest cities for vacationers with pets. Here's another article that goes into more detail by talking about a particular family and a particular pet friendly hotel.

Posted by James Trotta at 3:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Club Med Turkoise review: fun for adults only

When I wrote about luxury resorts in the Caribbean a while back, I linked to one article about adult only resorts. Well Club Med is not known for adult only resorts, but here's an interesting experience from Club Med Turkoise, an adult only Club Med resort.

Club Med Turkoise is an all-inclusive resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies. All-inclusive includes trampoline lessons, salsa classes, sailing lessons, water polo matches, softball games, scuba diving, snorkeling excursions, and the best beach on the island:

Unlike many destinations that boast fictitious "white" sand beaches, Grace Bay Beach is bone white. The sand maintains a talcum powder softness that must be experienced to be believed. The brilliant turquoise water, from which this Club Med village takes its name, helps transform the beach into a vivid picture postcard.

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Poseidon Resort: Five-Star Hotel Under the Sea

The Poseidon resort is coming to Fiji in 2008. The idea is quite cool; for 1500 US/night you stay in a 5 star hotel room underwater and transparent acrylic is used to make sure you can see the coral reef. You can also release a bit of food into the water and watch the fish eat. My guess is they'll be pretty fat not long after the resort opens.

Unlike the few underwater habitats around today, this one is accessible to anyone with money; you don't have to be a scuba diver to get there. And since pressure is normal, there's no need to worry about decompression or anything like that. The Jules Undersea Lodge is currently the only undersea hotel (it's off the coast of Key Largo, Florida) and that one is accessible only to qualified divers.

Here's the blurb from the company (US Submarines is behind the Poseidon Resort project):

Scheduled to open in mid-2008 on a magnificent private island in Fiji, Poseidon will, without question, be the world's most unique luxury resort, and certainly the only place where you will be able to pilot your own private submarine in our pristine lagoon.

Comments saved from the old server

It would be cheaper to rent a glass bottom boat! Do they think we're all from the Rich and Famous?
Posted by: imenuru at August 30, 2006 10:18 PM

Always have a plan, just in case you find a winning lottery ticket on the sidewalk. ("Sir, now that you won $15,000,000, what will you do?" "Well, I won't quit my job down at the plant. I'll visit my sister in Erie PA, and I'll buy a new bowling ball. If there's any money left after that, I'll make a down payment on a used Chevy pickup...")
Posted by: Wrasfish at August 31, 2006 12:09 AM

I started this blog because I spent more time dreaming about vacations than taking them and wanted to write down my ideas. Still true today, although the dreams do motivate me to work harder so I can spend 1500/night on a hoel room underwater. It's hard to even dream about spending 20,000/night though...
Posted by: James Trotta at August 31, 2006 04:00 AM

Maybe this underwater trend will bring the pricing down on the existing 5-star resorts so us middle class land lubbers can afford a decent vacation spot.
Posted by: Nate Dog at September 1, 2006 02:28 AM

The fish may get pretty fat not long after the resort opens but you can be sure that the lagoon with NOT stay pristine for very long after the hotel opens.

People have a way of getting things DIRTY very fast.
Posted by: Alan Beck at September 6, 2006 09:04 AM

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Selling Sandals & Beaches resort and spa vacations

Sandals hotel group includes Sandals/Beaches all-inclusive resorts and Royal Plantation, a “sophisticted hideaway like no other in the world.”

It seems that Sandals takes care of the travel agents who sell these high end all-inclusive vacations. For some it has become big business with “extreme agents” awarded Honda Element motorcars painted over in Sandals/Beaches colors and one “platinum class agent” (platinum class agents do over 250 bookings a year) with a suite named after her.

The compensation:

The Sandals/Beaches travel agent earns more than any other - an average of US$650 in commission per package sold. The average agent makes US$30,000 per year. And that amount is substantially increased for those who have made it their business to sell Sandals exclusively.

Comments saved from the old server:

"It seems that Sandals takes care of the travel agents who sell these high end all-inclusive vacations." No kidding? It's called paying commissions. All tour companies, cruiselines, insurance companies, even car dealers pay commission. That being said, A good Travel Agent is worth their weight in gold. Notice I said a good Travel Agent. Here is your first tip off: A good Travel Agent will ask you lots of questions about your likes and dislikes before suggesting any travel product. If the agent starts right off trying to sell you a product with a minimum of knowledge about you, then cover your wallet with one hand and back slowly out of the room.
Sandals/Beaches is a good product but they are not for everyone. The experience is different even among the different Sandals/Beaches properties.

I worked as a front line agent for six years and made it into the top ten in a well recognized and respected national Travel Agency. I didn't get there by selling one product exclusively. The clients who were the most loyal to me were usually the ones who had been burned before, either by an incompetent agent or by a web operator. I made my success by building relatonships, not going for the easy buck. By the way, several of my clients fit with Sandals/Beaches perfectly and I did not hesitate to recommend them. Invariably, my clients came back very satisfied.
Posted by: Mike at August 22, 2006 12:05 PM

Thanks for sharing your experience Mike. I understand that travel agencies make their profit through commissions. My point is that Sandals seems to pay higher commissions than many other resorts.

Even with the higher commissions, it seems like a difficult way to become rich.
Posted by: James Trotta at August 23, 2006 04:41 AM

please send me info on becoming a sandals travel agent ...............thank you very much
Irene
Posted by: irene at August 23, 2006 07:58 AM

It's hard to judge using an average number of $650.00. You have to look at what percentage of the booking they pay. The percentage paid will vary widely from operator to operator, and then even more depending on volume, contracts etc. I have seen commission percentages from 10% up to 30% depending on the operator.

From a tour company perspective, it boils down to how fast you want to expand your business. Pay more, faster expansion. But the bottom line is if you offer a lousy product, you will fail in the long run.

Being a Travel Agent is no way to get rich. You get into it because you like people. As a second thought, you have to figure out a way to make money. But no, you won't get rich on commission. The travel industry as a whole operates on very thin margins so very few people become wealthy.
Posted by: Mike at August 23, 2006 11:31 AM

I agree a good travel agent works hard and earns their commission.
But better than finding a good travel agent is becoming one yourself. With the ever expanding and improving internet, anyone can learn how to get the lowest price, find that dream vacation, reserve and pay for their trips. One clue is to pay attention to the travel websites and what they offer, then use the three top approaches: compare, compare, compare. In other words do a little research and analysis and you can save money and get what you want via the internet.
Posted by: ray anderson at August 23, 2006 08:12 PM

Very true, with enough time to burn you can learn many things. You can research for hours and come up with a very good vacation. Nothing wrong with that, some folks like the do it yourself approach.

The value of a good Travel Agent becomes apparent when things really go wrong. It is exceedingly difficult to fix problems by yourself on the ground in the middle of a crisis such as hurricanes, airline strikes, 9/11, tsunami's etc. Several of my most loyal clients, were not my clients when they began their travel. They contacted me when they needed help. They came back to me because I was able to get them home during events such as those I mentioned above. It never hurts to have someone who has personal contacts with people of horsepower among the Hotel/Car Rental/Airlines/Cruise Lines industry.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud your willingness to jump in and go your own way. (I am my own agent also!) just be realistic about your position in the David vs. Goliath relationship with travel providors. The reputable providors are usually very good about handling problems, but even they can be difficult at times and having an infrastructure behind you is valuable.
Posted by: Mike at August 24, 2006 12:29 PM

Posted by James Trotta at 1:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Luxury, relaxing vacation resorts & spas

This is an interesting article that I don't trust because it reads like an advertisement. They make the Golden Sunset in Calatagan, Batangas, Philippines (2.5 hours south of Manila) sound like the best spa in the world despite the fact that it's not finished yet. I'd link to their website, but even that is under construction!

This article on learning to scuba dive mentions the Red Sea and the White Sands Resort and Spa in the Maldives. It "has fine beaches, water bungalows on stilts over the lagoon and good restaurants. It's as close to paradise as you can get. A week's half board, including return flights and seaplane transfers costs from �1,225 in January (extra nights from �96pp)."

Here's an article that talks about various resorts for adult couples (no kids allowed and I guess no singles either) in the Caribbean.

The expensive Hedonism resorts where clothing is optional are probably good for people who stuck to their summer diets and workout programs. Club Ambiance wins for biggest bargain:

Less pricey than the better-known resorts, Club Ambiance still offered a nice mix of activities, including mixed-drink lessons, a steel-drum reggae band, acrobats, volleyball, beer-drinking contests, bike rides and a dance club, she says. A seven-night stay begins at about $670 per person.

Posted by James Trotta at 3:52 AM | Comments (0)

Hotels making sure that guests sleep well

I thought this article on things hotels do to help you sleep was interesting, especially the part about sleep concierges and:

At the exclusive Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, guests can choose from a lineup of 17 pillows on the menu. In Manhattan, the Benjamin Hotel offers a similar range of choices on its pillow menu, including one filled with buckwheat hulls that conform to the neck and the head, a "snore no more" pillow and a five-foot-long body cushion made of polyester fibre.

Posted by James Trotta at 1:46 AM | Comments (1)

Dubai: the world's best hotel & more

Back in May, Naomi Campbell had her 36th birthday party in Dubai at the Burj Al Arab 7 star hotel. Yes, it used to have 6 stars but I'm told they've upgraded. Getting the hotel all to herself (and her guests) for three days cost 1.8 million.

MSNBC tells us what else they're doing in Dubai, which may become a ski destination thanks to an indoor ski village (with a mountain of course) in the works.

My wife and I saw a Dubai vacation package that included business class flights from Seoul to Dubai and a few nights at Burj Al Arab for about 6,000 dollars each. We didn't drop 12,000 on the weeklong vacation, but we did add the hotel to our list of things to do.

1,000 Places to See Before You Die says that 1,000/night will get you a normal room while the Royal Suite penthouses are 7,000/night. Anyway, you have to take a submarine to get to the seafood restaurant and the atrium lobby has 600-foot-high ceilings. Sounds unique

Posted by James Trotta at 3:08 AM | Comments (2)

Summerfield Suites Hotel in Whippany, N.J.

In this case, Summerfield Suites Hotel in Whippany, N.J. overcharged a customer. I think the travel troubleshooter could have done better. A traveler was quoted a price for one night in a hotel; 132.00. The traveler ended up getting charged 192.00 twice (for 2 nights even though it was a one-night stay). All the toubleshooter was able to do was get a refund for 77.00.

I find it pretty sad that the hotel didn't warn their customer that they would charge for two nights on checkout. They made a few extra bucks, but they've gotten lots of bad publicity (probably tens of thousands of people reading the travel troubleshooter and a couple thousand reading this post).

I do agree that it's a good idea to get everything in writing (apparently hotels are not to be trusted), but when? When you confirm on the phone, ask them to fax you something immediately?

Posted by James Trotta at 4:45 AM | Comments (0)

Is construction at the Aladdin problematic for guests?

My sister is planning a trip to Las Vegas, and heard that construction started at the Aladdin in June of 2006 and will continue through December 2006 and that the lobby and front entrance are closed. Does anyone know about that? Apparently there are some good deals for the Aladdin right now and it would be her top choice, except for the construction.

I'm sure she'd appreciate show recommendations as well - I know one person recommended O at the Bellagio and Barry Manilow is kind of a must-see. What else shouldn't she miss?

By the way I'll be posting a lot more soon. I just have a few more papers to grade and then I'm on vacation!

Posted by James Trotta at 11:32 PM | Comments (9)

A vacation club for rich people

Instead of a hotel, you might want to stay in a vacation rental. But if vacation rentals are not unique enough for you, join a club. For a fee of $195,000 to $395,000, you can have between 15 and 45 days at any of the club's destinations (including the Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Lake Tahoe, the French Alps and Tuscany).

Of course you also pay annual dues ranging from $9,500 to $25,000 based on the number of vacation days. You do get 80% of the membership fee back when you leave the club.

Now I have no problem with this sort of club, and they say it's an alternative to owning a vacation home. What I don't understand is why you put down hundreds of thousands of dollars for a glorified vacation rental.

The owner says that he had a bad vacation rental once and that's why the club is a good idea. I suppose there are some reasons why it's better than a vacation rental:

Exclusive Resorts counters that by trying to offer some consistency at all of its sites. For instance, every home has the same model of plasma-screen TV and the same remote control. The company keeps a list of its members' preferred groceries, and makes sure the refrigerator and pantry are stocked with the right variety of wine for the grown-ups and the right breakfast cereal for the children.

Concierge service makes sure that ski-lift tickets are waiting for families on arrival. Tee times are already made. Chefs and masseuses are available.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:30 AM | Comments (1)

My new Las Vegas vacation & hotel review site.

I've written about Las Vegas a few times before, but a friend of mine recently wanted to get rid of his Las Vegas vacation site. To make a long story short, it's no my Las Vegas vacation site so I'm fixing it up.

I turned it into a blog so that people can leave comments and so far the comments have been pretty interesting. I had been kind of fascinated by the free Circus Circus performance and thought about staying in the hotel. Then readers left some negative reviews of the Circu Circus hotel so I probably won't be staying there. The Riviera Hotel also got a nasty comment.

I think it's funny how New Yorkers pride themselves on having the best pizza in America and one commenter said that New York New York has the best pizza in Vegas. I guess it's no surprise that the Hard Rock is where to party.

Anyway, if you've ever been to Vegas please leave a review of the hotel you stayed in on my new Las Vegas vacation site. I also need more articles on Vegas vacations for the site. If you like writing, contact me at jtrotta@gmail.com.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:52 AM | Comments (17)

Travel troubleshooter takes on Holiday Inn

Here's a story about a man who changed his reservations at Holiday Inn in New York. When he asked for a new confirmation number, they told him to use the old one. He did, and got charged an extra 500.00 as a result.

Customer service ignored him. They told the travel trouble shooter that they tried to send him an email, had it bounce back, and then "erroneously" gave up. As ususal, the travel troubleshooter got some results (the 500.00 was refunded) when the normal guys get ignored.

Posted by James Trotta at 1:15 AM | Comments (2)

Disney resort experiences and recommendations

I heard from my friend Frank who stayed at the Caribbean Beach resort on his last vacation to Disney. He got tired of waiting for the little buses and having to drive to another resort just to hop on the monorail. Also, the rooms didn't have refrigerators or any way to keep food cold.

If you have kids, the Polynesian (or any of the 3 "monorail" resorts) are the best option. The less time you have to get in and out of the buses with the kids the better. The monorail is extremely convenient.

I also learned that Port Orleans Riverside used to be called Dixie Landings. I'm told that Disney changed the name due to be more PC (something to do with plantation connotations).

The person who told me this has stayed there 4 times and loves the resort he still calls Dixie Landings. Port Orleans Riverside is a sprawling place with big pools. It's nice to eat in what was the Landings, the big building with a water wheel. The Landings had plenty of choices, and was fairly reasonable, especially if you bought one of their reusable cups because you could refill anytime you wanted with soft drinks, coffee, or juice.

Someone else I know stayed in Port Orleans French Quarter and loved it. This person said that both Port Orleans resorts are outstanding because they are very quiet and you can take a nice relaxing boat ride to Downtown Disney.

There's also some good information (be sure to read the comments) on my previous post Recommended Disney Hotels. It's also not too late to buy a Disney Your Way package and get the dining plan free.

Posted by James Trotta at 1:35 AM | Comments (7)

Recommended Disney hotels

These Disney Hotel recommendations are a follow up to yesterday's post about the Disney vacation package special.

Port Orleans French Quarter Resort: This is a New Orleans-themed Disney Resort, with cobblestone walkways and ornate iron railings, colorful characters, wonderful food, and watery fun at Doubloon Lagoon. Some criticism has been leveled at the pool (too busy) and the rooms (comfortable but not new enough).

Caribbean Beach Resort: this is Disney's "Caribbean paradise". It is said to have a great beach, island foods, and bright, inspiring colors. Visitors enjoy colonial forts and architecture, lively markets, exotic birds and relaxing strolls on the sand and the warm waters of Barefoot Bay. Criticism includes the rooms themselves (not clean enough) and the food court (too much fast food).

Disney's Polynesian Resort: The tropical grounds are lush and at night there are torches along the pathways. The pool has a great theme and there is a beautiful beach. Criticism has been leveled at the rooms (dated, but they have begun a renovation which should make the theme less of a tacky tropical one). My friend suggests staying on the ground floor since some of the rooms on the upper floors do not have balconies. If you are staying on an upper floor, be sure to request a balcony.

Coronado Springs Resort: One friend claims that they have the best food, and says, "Do not miss the all you can eat breakfast buffet, great food for dinner too but you may prefer the 'pepper market' than the regular restaurant. Both are on the dining plan." This Disney resort is supposed to combine cultural elements of colonial Spain, Mexico and New Mexico. These cultural elements include the colorful spring-fed Fountain of the Doves and the Mayan-ruin themed Dig Site pool.

Well there you have it. Those are places my friends have stayed and enjoyed.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:39 AM | Comments (12)

Plantation Bay, best resort in Cebu?

A friend of mine called Plantation Bay a Disneyland for the adults and kids alike. The rest of this article comes from them (I've never even been to Cebu).

"Plantation Bay was like a huge pool interspersed with villas, facilities and sandbars. The staff were definitely very friendly, polite and helpful. Plantation Bay has a "No Tipping" policy so it wasn't so stressful thinking all the time how much and when to tip.

"The resort is like a well-oiled machine that runs smoothly. I also noticed that there were more southeast Asians clientele than Caucasians. From a firing range where you can shoot some guns to massages, Plantation bay is definitely a real holiday. For massages, go to the resort's Mogambo Springs Spa. The ambiance was quite soothing and conducive to relaxation. The staff were professional and courteous.

"My friends said that dining at the resort can be expensive so they ended up buying groceries (they took a cab into town) so that they could prepare some meals themselves. They also went to a seafood resto a few minutes away from Plantation Bay. The food was decent but the ambiance and overall vibe wasn't. While waiting for our food, a few young men and women in Filipino attire approached our table and started selling souvenirs and pastries. I felt that it was inappropriate as we didn't come to the place to be hustled into buying things we didn't want or need. I bought a package of dried pineapple slices just to stop them from harassing us even further.

"As if that wasn't enough, we suddenly heard the thunderous volume of Filipino folk music blaring from the speakers which were positioned pretty close to our table. Apparently, the restaurant also provided entertainment (a Plantation Bay restaurant had dancing). It was distracting us from what we came to do...dining. We can't even have a decent conversation as the music was too loud and we have to stop eating occasionally to clap politely. Also, at the end of the Tinikling dance, the dancers came to our table to invite us to learn the dance steps from them on the stage."

I had fun trying to learn Malaysian dance, but I can see why you might not want your meal interrupted. Their favorite activity was a trip to Hinutungan Island. They said, "The island was a fish sanctuary and was just teeming with marine life. It's almost like being inside an aquarium, in a world unlike any other and it's so easy to forget where you are. We saw 3 scuba divers and I wished we took the time to take PADI classes before coming to Cebu."

Posted by James Trotta at 1:58 AM | Comments (1)

Playa del Carmen: Ikal Del Mar & Shangri-La Caribe

I heard from one person who read my tips for Mexico's Riviera Maya and wanted to add something:

I went to Playa del Carmen for my honeymoon and stayed at Ikal Del Mar for 3 days and the Shangri-La Caribe for 3 more. Ikal was a remote, secluded place that was just gorgeous. It has about 20 private wooded villas with plunge pools in the back yards. they spoil you rotten and the food is unbelievalbe. The beach is 100% private, they have a luxury spa for facials, massages, etc. They also ahve workout programs led by their instructors. If you truly want to get away for a few days this is the place.

Shangri-La is more of a resort type village setup w/ the rooms spread around walkways and a huge beach that is by far the best in the area. A lot of the beaches are rocky in that area but the Shangri-La beach is perfect. Tons of chairs and palapas and the water is rock free as well. They have an included Breakfast and dinner which is good but not great food, but the atmosphere there is great.

You want to head to 5th Avenue for the shops and restaurants, some of which are also just OK and some are outstanding. You get a real feel of the culture if that's what yuo're after and it has some clubs and bars that are fun. A lot of the resorts are close by but the noise from the street can be distracting from what I read and heard. Renting a car is your best bet, it's cheap and not that hard to get around the area.

Posted by James Trotta at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

Where should I stay in Hawaii?

A fewd ays ago I wrote that I am planning a trip to Hawaii. One thing I ahve to consdier is where to stay. I figure I could go camping. get a hotel, rent a condo, or find a resot. I could possibly do a couple of those things.

Since I want to go to the Polynesian Culture Center, I found this campground interesting for its proximity to the Center and to Oahu's north shore including "Pipeline" and "Waimea Bay."

With 24 hour security, Malaekahana State Recreation Area (Kahuku Section) is said to be safe and they offer Campsites, Cabins, and Hales. The campgrounds are operated by members of the Hawaii Ecotourism Assoc., The Friends of Malaekahana. This community based non-profit organization has been managing this recreation area for the State Department of Parks and the Department of Land and Natural Resources since 1994.

I did find one home for rent in this Hawaii vacation directory but three bedrooms is a bit much for my wife and I. If I go to Kuai, Hanlei Bay Resort looks like a great place to stay. Another great looking place seems to be Kauai Condos at Kuhio Shores where (for example) 189/night gets you this Kuhio Shores condo. I noticed one for 170/night from January 14, 2006 to December 15, 2006.

I still have to do some hotel research, but a combination of camping and condo renting seems appealing at the moment.

Posted by James Trotta at 5:56 PM | Comments (10)

Thailand vacation, staying in Koh Samui

Soon, I'm going to be posting a vacation plan for Samui and Bangkok, but first a word about getting there and hotel recommendations.

You'll first need to fly into Bangkok. Naturally, you'd want to check with your local travel agent and do a few searches online (I like mobissimo.com). Some people are afraid of Thai Airways, but I've flown thema few times and the service is pretty good. On a short flight from Hong Kong to Taipei, they must have given my friend and I 10 beers between us (they seemed proud when we told them how delicious Thai beer is).

Anyway, get to Bangkok. Then you'll probably fly to Koh Samui (I understand it's possible to take a train and then a ferry but I'm not sure how it's done) on Bangkok Airways for about 150.00/person round trip.

Day 1 in Koh Samui: Check into your hotel. A friend of mine strongly recommends a kind of bungalow which was "real good, clean and cheap." It is in Lamai Beach, which is the second most popular beach in Samui. It's less expensive and less crowded than Chaweng. The name of the place is Lamai-Wanta. You can probably ask the taxy driver but just in case he does not know it, you can ask to go to Marina. It's right next to that. My friend "stayed in a small room, which had a great shower with hot water, an airconditioner, a television, a bed, and a fridge inside and some chairs and a table outside, for 800 Baht for a night. Oh, and it is for two. I feel like I'm working for Lamai-Wanta, hehe. It was that good. Believe me, there is nothing better if you want a cheap, clean and good one." (The price has probably increased).

It has a beach right in front of it and pubs and restaurants behind it. You can email them at lamaiwanta@hotmail.com or call at +66 77 424550. And the address is 124/264 Moo 3, Tumbon Maret, Koh Samui, Surat Thani, Thailand 84310.

Le Royal Meridien Baan Taling Ngam is another hotel that comes recommended. The hhone number is 77-423019 and the address is 295 Moo 3, Taling Ngam Beach, Koh Samui, 84140, Thailand.

This hotel is said to have remarkable service. It's isolated from the throngs of tourists because it's located on the other side of the island. "The food was great, the private beach relaxing, and swimming in that pool gives you feeling like no other." However, they do say it is difficult to get off the hotel grounds.

So soon I'll post the Bangkok and Koh Smui travel plan. Stay tuned!

Posted by James Trotta at 12:30 AM | Comments (4)

Aruba - Hyatt, Marriott Surf and Ocean Club facilities, Radisson

I spoke to someone who has a time share at the Aruba - Marriott Surf Club. It's newer than the Mariott Ocean Club, which is next to the hotel. The "OK" casino is in the hotel and the beach is a little less convienent from the Surf Club.

The Mariott has some nice beach. The beach is crowded in some areas but what do you expect on a beach in Aruba? I'm also told that the Marriott has a great pool, and that the pool bar has good deals. Personally, I love pool bars.

All in all, the Mariott comes highly recommended. I did hear some good things about the Aruba Radisson (but also heard that the food there is some of the worst food in Aruba) and also spoke to someone who rented a house with some friends. The three of them spent 1500 US dollars on the week for a small house. Split three ways, that's not bad.

The Hyatt is the nicest hotel on Island, but of course it is very expensive. I hear
they're building a Ritz which would be nicer and more expensive.

I'm told that there's really not a bad time to go except for the week of President's Day when Aruba is a mob scene (especially that 3 day weekend). Aruba is outside of the hurricane belt and the weather is a pretty constant 80 - 85 degrees. That doesn't sound too hot, but be very careful in the sun. Aruba is very close to equator and the sun is intense even though with the breeze you won't feel it. Use sun block or very high SPF.

Check back soon for some restaurant recommendations in Aruba. I'm compiling them from a few freinds now.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:30 AM | Comments (14)

Uncomfortable in hotel rooms?

I've never had any trouble adjusting to hotel rooms, but apparently there are people who do. I've been researching what people do to make their hotel rooms feel more comfortable:

Sight: small, framed pictures of family members, your house, your hometown, your pets, etc.

Smell: if you use a specific air freshener or scented candle in your home you can make your hotel room smell the same way.

Sight and smell: Pick up a bouqet of fresh flowers or a flowering plant (which you can give as a gift to someone you meet on the trip when it's time to leave).

Sound: Music, either from your hotel radio or from an MP3 or portable CD player.

Taste: Either snack food that reminds you of home or food that reminds you where you are (for local drinks and snacks try a convenience mart like a 7-11 or something).

Touch: You can bring a favorite blanket or pillow especially if it smell like a loved one who isn't making the trip with you.

Spiritual: Mnay hotel rooms have a Bible but if you're Buddhist (for example) you may want to bring your own spiritual reading material.

Feng Shui:

"singing bowls" are used in Feng Shui to purify the energy in a room. Sometimes a small bell or a wind chime is used to create cleansing, soothing sounds.

small, folding paper fans can be used to direct positive energy towards areas that you'd like to enhance. To enhance an area, apparently you open the fan almost fully. The base will form a slight point. The curved side of the fan and the supports of the fan should point towards the area you want to improve.

For example, to improve the impression that you make when you meet people, display an upward pointing red fan in the Fame area of your hotel room. (Never point a fan straight up or down; always display it at an angle, even if the angle is very slight.) You can attach it to the wall using non-marking, easily removed poster adhesive that you can purchase any office supply store.

Or, to enhance the general Feng Shui energy of your hotel room, attached a golden colored fan immediately inside your hotel room entry, next to the doorway, opposite the door itself.

Posted by James Trotta at 3:26 PM | Comments (4)

Travel Sweepstakes

Priority Club is holding a contest for members only at http://ihg.eprize.net/anyhotel - the prize sounds pretty good and enetering is very easy as long as you ahve your member number handy.

One lucky Priority Club� Rewards member (U.S. 50 States and DC only) will have a chance to win a lodging card worth $25,000 plus first-class airline tickets to the destination of their dreams. Registered members are also eligible for daily, weekly and monthly prizes.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:50 PM | Comments (5)

3 types of massage in China

I went to China for the weekend. It was my first time, but I knew things would be fairly cheap and I like cheap massages. So after checking into the Century Hotel, we get a call asking if we want a special massage for 1,000 Yuan (over 100.00 US). I said no.

We went down to the front desk to find out where the sauna was (next door). I asked them what to do if we changed our mind about the special massage (I knoew the hotel had offered it because they called our room and asked for us by name). They said we shouldn't talk about the special massage and we figured it was something dirty.

We went to the sauna and after a bit of heat and a nice swim we asked them about massages. After the special massage phone call, my wife wanted us to get the massages together. However in the sauna men and women are separated. They said we could get the massages in our hotel room; it didn't matter - same massage, same price. They were 78 each (about 10 US dollars).

It did matter. Our first clue was the that the masseuses who came to our room looked like 20 year old girls (or younger) and were wearing tight jeans, tight tank tops (showing some belly and cleavage). One of them was carrying Johnson's baby oil.

They spoke no English but we communicated no babyoil to them and got on our stomachs. They motioned for us to get on our backs and started by massaging our heads, then right arm (while siting next to us), then pelvic region. My masseuse tried to take off my pajamas.

My wife said, "What's going on over there?"
I said, "I don't know but my... "

Anyway, we asked around and to get a professional massage your best bet is the sauna. Women get naked and get massaged by naked women (in a room with glass walls but only other women to spy). Men get naked and massaged by a presumably naked man (I don't know any men who did this so I'm not sure).

Anything in the hotel room will be a dirty massage or so I'm told...

Posted by James Trotta at 11:17 PM | Comments (8)

Hsintien Chinatrust Executive Taipei Taiwan

The Hsintien Chinatrust Executive is not technically in Taipei but it is on the Taipei MRT. Our flight from Hong Kong was delayed so we arrived after midnight and paid 1300 TWD for a car to the hotel (it was 1200 from the hotel to the airport).

The location is not inconvenient since it is so close to the MRT, maybe a 2 minute walk. The room was plain and clean. The breakfast was not Western, and I received a terrible shock when I stuck hakf a hard boiled egg in my mouth only to learn that it was pure salt.

The night mangaer spoke excellent English, but getting directions from the day people took a bit of patience. If the next time I'm heading to Taipei the Hsintien Chinatrust Executive hotel has the best price (not including hostels and the like they did have the best price this time but were running a special) I'll stay there again.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:24 AM | Comments (1)

Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong

This is a 4 star hotel with small, modern, and clean rooms. It's about a 10 minute walk to Times Square which has the nearest MTR station (Causeway Bay).

I saw on Yahoo travel that rooms at the Cosmopolitan start at 80.00/night but we paid 65.00 through Priceline.com. Of course that didn't include breakfast which was 110 Hong Kong dollars each (about 15 US dollars). We decided to explore the Hong Kong breakfast scene instead and ended up paying 20-30 Hong Kong dollars (3-4 US) instead.

The internet was 40 Hong Kong dollars/hour sold in one hour blocks only.

All in all, the Cosmopolitan is decent. There may be better options but there must certainly be worse choices.

Posted by James Trotta at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)

Taipei online hotel search

Priceline quicly found us a nice 4 star hotel in Hong Kong for 65.00/night. However, we've had no luck with either three or four star hotels in Taipei on Priceline. That leaves Lonely Planet suggestions and internet searches.

One internet search turned up Hsintien Chinatrust Executive at 219 2 CHUNG SHING ROAD SEC 3, Hsintien Ta, TW. The directions indicate that this is near the Da Ping Ling MRT station. A quick look at the Taiwan MRT map reveals that Tapinglin station is 8 stops away from the main train station. Assuming Tapinglin and Da Ping Ling are the same station, that's not so bad considering that the hotel is a 2 minute walk from the station. At 70.00 night including breakfast and internet access the price seems reasonable enough.

The hotel chain web site is http://www.chinatrust-hotel.com.tw/ which turned up a hotel actually in Taipei (the other is in Hsintien) - Tamsui Chinatrust Hotel.

Taipei Teachers Hostel, Taiwan Normal University, Friendship House, and Taiwan Normal University, Guest House also showed up on http://www.siddharthasintent.org/chinese/Dzongsar%20Jamyang%20Khyentse%20Rinpoche%202002.rtf which seems to be a document for people doing some sort of retreat in Taipei.

Posted by James Trotta at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)

Tree hotel in Turkey

Another tree hotel, this one near Olympos Valley in Turkey. This seems like an especially good choice for nature lovers and adveturers. Check out these options: Canyoning at Goynuk, Canoeing, Chimera Flame Tours, Rock Climbing, Abseiling, Trekking, Jeep Safari, Bike & Scooter Hire, Diving - Adrasan, Daily Boat Trip, White Water Rafting, Paragliding - Kas, Bull Bar, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Internet Cafe.

Posted by James Trotta at 3:17 PM | Comments (4)

Tree Hotel in Cave Junction

I find the tree hotel intersting and though the website is fairly irritating it's worth a look. Rooms start at $100.00 although you can ask about off-season discounts. i don't know which seasons are considered peak in Cave Junction, Oregon but maybe one of you readers can tell me...

Posted by James Trotta at 4:21 PM | Comments (1)

Hotel prices on the rise

USA Today notes that more travelers this summer means more expenisve hotel rooms. They have some advice to save money including staying away from the city center. Rates should be cheaper the further you are from the sights.

Personally, I would much rather pay a little more for a hotel room in a nice part of downtown in whichever city I'm staying in. I don't like walking long distances to get to the sights, and I don't think taking taxis will be cheaper than just getting a more central hotel. The remaining option is public transportation. Buses take too long for me to figure out but I don't mind riding subways. Not every city has subways though...

Posted by James Trotta at 6:49 PM | Comments (2)

Ireland

Peter King from Sports Illustrated has some comments on Ireland including a 5 room B&B on a farm that sounds very tranquil:

One lodging recommendation: a B&B on a working farm in the middle of the country, Coolanowle House, in Ballickmoyler, north of Kilkenny about 25 minutes. You stand in the middle of 250 acres and hear either dead-silent nothing or cows or sheep talking to each other. That's it. The husband, Jimmy, farms. The wife, Bernadine, runs the five-bedroom B&B. She makes something called pinhead oatmeal in the morning, and all I can say is it's the closest breakfast food to vanilla ice cream that I've ever had. If you go to Ireland, and you want a placid couple of days walking amid the sheep (not really true; the sheep run away when you get close), you've got to try it. They're reachable at info@coolanowle.com....

Until we got to Dublin for the last two days of the trip, the coffee in Ireland was positively abysmal, the only daily disappointment of the trip. So weak, like coffee-flavored water. But Dublin had a couple of nice coffee bars ("Rio'' was our favorite) with legit dark roast. If that's the biggest complaint you've got about a country, I'd say it's a pretty darned good country, folks.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:37 AM | Comments (6)

Short term rentals

With a growing number of people rejecting package holidays to design their own vacation, how do you find the ideal condo or villa rental for your trip? www.TipTopVillas.com is a new website that allows you to browse through hundreds of properties in over 30 countries all over the world. Liaise directly with the property owner to ensure you get the best deal available, eliminating the added cost of the travel agent. Vacation rentals starting at $110 per week, ensure every budget is catered for.

TipTopVillas boasts many European locations including villa rentals in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Cyprus to name a few, as well as many condo rentals in Florida, ideal for that special family trip to Disney. There are many exotic locations to choose from too, as Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean become ever more popular.

Using the TipTopVillas search facility will ensure you get a wide selection of vacation rentals to choose from.

If you own a vacation rental anywhere in the world, advertise your property free on TipTopVillas until summer 05.

Posted by James Trotta at 11:01 AM | Comments (5)

Booking a hotel online

I just booked a hotel online for the first time in my life. As you may have read, I flew to America last minute for a funeral so the connections and everything aren't perfectly smooth. Unlike JAL, when you have to spend a night in Tokyo and you're flying American Airlines, you make and pay for your won reservations.

First I went to Priceline, but my first offer was too low and no one accepted. I tried to raise the price but Priceline also makes you change the date or location (or wait 72 hours). Can't really do that, so I'm not using Priceline. This seems like a stupid system to me and Priceline should do something more user friendly.

Then I tried Hotel Club. Of course I told them there were two people traveling and they returned Holiday Inn at 8,875 yen including taxes. I compared this to the Holiday Inn web site and they were 8,162 yen excluding 5% tax and 10% service charge so I went to book through hotel club and found that it was for a single room. Why do they show me single room prices when they know I'm traveling with 2? About as stupid as Priceline. The double was 11,000 through them so I went back to Holiday's Inn web site and made the reseravtion there.

Oh yeah, I tried Yahoo's beta travel search, but they couldn't find any hotels in Narita!

Posted by James Trotta at 12:45 AM | Comments (2)

Golden Sands Shangri-la Penang Malaysia

Another hotel in Penang: the Golden Sands Shangri-la in Batu Ferrenghi. This where we stayed after we left the Sheraton.

The beach at Batu Ferrenghi wasn't as nice as I thought it would be, so we spent most of our days in the hotel, which had a fantastic buffet breakfast, and 2 great swimming pools. My only complaint is that there's not much shade. If you want to get one of shady tables, figure on putting your towels, books, etc. down to claim one before 9:30, the earlier the better. You could wake up, claim a table, and then go eat breakfast.

The rooms were quite nice, especially the view after we changed rooms because our first had a roof view. Our second had a pool/ocean view and a nice balcony. The last day our flight left at 3:00 AM, and we had to check out at 12:00 noon. They let us hang out by the pool all day and take a shower in some unused room (which was weird because when we tried to extend our stay we were told everything was booked - I guess they save that room for people to take showers in). All in all it was a relaxing and luxurious way to end our vacation.

I should add that it was nearly twice as much as the Sheraton, so it should be much nicer... And I should add that there's not much to do in Batu Ferrenghi, although from around 9:00-12:00 midnight the night market is pretty interesting and not as crowded as similar markets in Kuala Lumpur. You can often save around 40% through bargaining.

Posted by James Trotta at 3:05 PM | Comments (1)

Sheraton Penang, Malaysia

So for two nights I stayed in the supposedly 5 star Sheraton in Penang. It wasn't that nice. The room was OK, but in an fancy hotel you don't expect to see stains on the carpet. The breakfeast buffet was OK, but had fewer choices than any other breakfast buffet I've been to. The location was pretty inconvenient - despite being in downtown Georgetown, the hotel is pretty removed from the historic parts of the city.

The verdict: stay somewhere else. Look at the map of Georgetown, Penang and find a hotel near Fort Cornwallis or in Chinatown or maybe Little India. Really anywhere around there should be good (not that all hotels in that area are good, but location-wise, that's where you want to be).

Posted by James Trotta at 2:17 PM | Comments (0)

Hotel Club

Sorry I haven't been posting much recently. My dog bit my nose and sent me to the ER a few days ago... I'll be posting regularly soon. For now, here are some links to various web sites in the Hotel Club network.

Hotel Amsterdam from www.amsterdamhotels.org

Find great deals on this and other top quality hotels in Amsterdam! www.amsterdamhotels.org - Cheap and Budget Amsterdam Hotels


Grace Hotel from HotelsSydney.com

Find great deals on this and many more top quality hotels in Sydney!


Gran Hotel Luna Granada

Find great deals on this and other top quality hotels in Granada! www.granadahotels.net - Hotels in Granada


Centra Christchurch

Find great deals on this and other top quality hotels in Christchurch! www.christchurchhotels.net - Christchurch Hotels New Zealand


Novotel Brisbane from www.brisbanehotel.net

Find great deals on this and other top quality hotels in Brisbane! www.brisbanehotel.net - Brisbane Hotels Australia


Interlaken Hotels Switzerland

Interlaken Switzerland hotels and accommodation reservation. Extra discounts on all hotels in Interlaken.


Regina Hotel Paris - Find great deals on this and other top quality hotels in Paris! www.hotels-paris-unterkunft.com - Unterkunft Paris

ANA Hotel Tokyo from www.hotels-tokyo-japan.com

Find great deals on this and other top quality hotels in Tokyo! www.hotels-tokyo-japan.com - Tokyo Hotels. Hotel Reservations.

Posted by James Trotta at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)

Los Angeles hotels

GETTING OUT AND ABOUT IN LONDON

It's easy to get around London and the choice of transport ranges from the traditional black cab and public transport options like the London Underground ('The Tube') and the iconic red double-decker buses, to means that have become more popular in light of the modern movement towards eco-friendly transport.

Cycling is a great way to see London, and a lot of cyclists will agree that in summertime it's the only way to travel - especially when given the choice of the freedom of your own two wheels or the smelly and hot crush of the Underground crowds in peak hour. There are a great range of tour companies offering the chance to discover London by bike, which is a thoroughly recommended way to stray from the well-trodden track of typical London tourism.

Surprisingly compact, London is a walker's delight, and Transport for London has been looking to capitalise on this in recent times. By launching the scheme 'Legible London', efforts have been increased to improve the signage for walkers around Central London, making it even easier for tourists to get from Point A to Point B in the most affordable and enjoyable manner.

When it comes to visiting one of the world's premier tourist must-sees, it always helps to have a few insider hints and tips. A weekend getaway or holiday in London is a capital experience, but it pays to make sure that any priceless memories don't end up costing you an arm and a leg. It's possible to get out and see London on the cheap, so why not go for it?

I'd personally like to see more cities around the world adopting similar measures - not only for residents, but also for tourism, as there are a whole lot of things to be seen when you're taking the time to explore a new city. Maybe it could start off with the provision of walking maps at hotels in San Francisco, Paris, and Sydney for starters, and then include a range of street signs indicating walking tours between points of interest. Take walking tours from Berlin, Vancouver or Los Angeles hotels and be well on your way to finding out more about how the city lives and breathes, as well as checking out all the sights and sounds.

Posted by James Trotta at 12:04 AM | Comments (1)

A friendly hotel in Hua Hin

I noticed that all of my google ads are currently about hotels in Hua Hin, so i thought I'd plug the little, friendly place where I stayed, Patchara House. We paid 900 baht/night during the high season in February. The room was nice and clean, but there was no view. Everything in Hua Hin is within walking distance; the beach was about 5 minutes away.

The owners are very friendly, and there was one person who spoke some English. We had no trouble getting extra towels (after we got ours dirty at the beach) or leaving our bags until 4:00 (checkout was 12:00 if I remember correctly) so that we could take a late train back to Bangcock. They even offered to let us shower in the bathroom downstairs after we'd checked out. I'm afraid that I no longer have their phone number, but we got it from Lonely Planet Thailand.

If you were wondering about Hua Hin, it is very touristy. We saw more white people than Asian people and more Italian food than Thai food. The beach is crowded with people trying to sell stuff (massages, donkey rides, fruit, thai boxing tickets, etc.) so it was sometimes hard to relax. However, the beach was beautiful and the water was great.

Posted by James Trotta at 7:56 AM | Comments (0)

Finding the right hotel

My wife and I recently selected hotels for our next vacation. We're the kind of people who prefer to do things online; we don't like calling hotels and talking on the phone.

We used the GTA web site to choose our hotels. On the home page it asks which country your travel agency is in. I always click on Korea, but it really doesn't matter; just click on any country. Then you can search through all the hotels in whatever language and with the prices in whatever currency you want.

Now you can't actually make the reservations unless you're a travel agent. Just write down which hotels you want on which days and give the list to a travel agent. Any travel agent should be willing to make the reservations because they get a 10% commission.

Another hotel option this one for hotel managers might be (and I've never tried them) Hotel Marketers - Hoteliers: Hotel Marketers support the booking process for busy hotel managers. Use our unique hotelier products to market your reservations online.

Posted by James Trotta at 11:46 AM | Comments (1)