Three extraordinary Caribbean hotels for under $150

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Yes, the Caribbean is awfully hot right now. And yes, faithful watchers of weather, hurricane season is indeed upon us. But for the next several months, visitors to the Caribbean will benefit from low-season rates that make the region a great value for cost-conscious travelers. With very few exceptions, low season in the Caribbean lasts until mid-November at the earliest and mid-December at the latest.

Here are three very special Caribbean hotels that are set apart from the pack. All offer double rooms in low-season for $150 per night or less. Uncommon care is taken by the proprietors of these three hotels to create remarkable, unique, and locally-grounded environments. All are hugely successful at their mission.

1. Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, Port Antonio, Jamaica.

Tucked into the hills above Port Antonio, Hotel Mocking Bird Hill feels like a hidden treasure. It’s surrounded by fabulous greenery and operates along comprehensively eco-friendly principles, with local staff, reliance on solar energy and rainwater harvesting, anaerobic wastewater treatment, and the absence of in-room air-conditioning. (On the last count, don’t worry. At this altitude air-conditioning is not essential.) There’s a swimming pool here for guests who don’t want to schlep down to the coast’s beaches. The hotel’s restaurant, Mille Fleurs, which sources much of its bounty locally, is unequivocally fantastic. Doubles begin at $138 per night in the off-season. Mocking Bird Hill may close for a week or two in September.

2. Papillote Wilderness Retreat, Roseau, Dominica.

On Dominica, quite possibly the greenest and least exploited island in the Caribbean, another exquisite eco-resort can be found: Papillote Wilderness Retreat, a true labor of love. The resort stretches over a hillside that doubles as a well-maintained botanical garden. The grounds boast mineral springs (one hot and one cold) for soaking. Rooms are simple but cheerful, and make the most of Papillote’s natural setting. The hotel’s restaurant is top-notch and stocked more often than not with local produce. Hotel staff teem with knowledge about the island’s history and ecology. They can assist in organizing hikes and other tours of the island led by able local guides. Doubles begin at $115 per night. Note that Papillote will be closed in September and the first three weeks of October.

3. Auberge Les Petits Saints, Terre-de-Haut, Guadeloupe.

This beautifully furnished hotel, with an aesthetic somewhere between ornate country estate and neon-pastel riot, offers lovely views over the island of Terre-de-Haut (see above) in Guadeloupe’s Les Saintes archipelago. There really is a feel of antique abandon here, which is delightful through and through. There is a pool on the property, as well. This is France, albeit overseas France, and the in-house restaurant is of course very good, with a mouthwatering Basque tasting plate and fanciful cocktails as standouts. The cozy restaurant terrace twinkles with lights and conversations at night and is without question a really special place to spend an evening. Doubles begin at €110 (currently $141) per night during low season.

(Image: Alex Robertson Textor)

Ask Gadling: How do I get bumped from a flight?

by Grant Martin on

Today’s question comes from Mary in San Jose, CA:

Hi, I’m flying from San Jose to Appleton, WI. I’d like to know what to do if I get bumped? Will they let me call the person waiting for me to let them know I won’t be on time?

Gadling: What Mary’s referring to is the legendary “bump,” the notion that if a flight is oversold that the airline will offer passengers compensation to skip it and take the next best route. Rarely, they may even involuntarily bump passengers and offer a higher rate of compensation, but this event is pretty uncommon — lots of people usually volunteer for the initial bump call because they want vouchers for future travel.

Should you find yourself on an overbooked flight, Mary, gate agents will first likely make an announcement in the gate area asking if anyone is willing to change flights for a travel voucher. For a domestic flight, this is usually around $300, but this can be slightly more or less.

If you hear this announcement, you want to be the first person up to that counter to volunteer — there will be plenty of other willing people in the same boat as you.

View more Ask Gadling: Travel Advice from an Expert or send your question to ask [at] gadling [dot] com.

Before you run up to the gate all helter-skelter though, make sure you’re well prepared for the consequences. If there are no alternative routes home that day, you may be forced to spend the night in your current city or worse, even in the airport. You also may be forced to endure long layovers either at your current location or somewhere en route on the way home. Is that worth the flight voucher? Only you can tell.

Not sure if your flight is overbooked? You can always go to seatcounter.com to check how full your flights are. It can be difficult to read, but if you look up your flight and see lots of red zeroes next to it then you can bet that it’s overbooked.

Alternatively, you can always call the airline to ask how full the flight is — they’re not legally obligated to tell you if the flight is overbooked, but they’ll give you a good indication. And if you find the right agent, he or she will tell you how overbooked it is.

As a rule of thumb, Mary, assume that your flight isn’t overbooked and that it’s going to operate as normal. If you do get bumped, you should have plenty of time to reorient your return trip, make a few calls and get yourself in order for your next flight(s).

If you want more details on the whole process and how to engineer it to your advantage, check out Gadling’s Guide to Getting Bumped that we published a couple of years back.

[photo credit via the strangely familiar davitydave on flickr]

World’s most eco-friendly beaches to visit now

by Laurel Miller on

If your idea of heaven isn’t a beach packed with crisping bodies, balls of crude, or the lingering whiff of raw sewage, don’t worry. CNN has provided a list sandy idylls that retain their purity, even though a few, like Oahu’s Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, are major tourist attractions, or located in tourism hotspots. Not surprisingly, most of these places are located on preserves or otherwise protected land, or are so isolated, they’re spared the excesses of humanity.

Other top picks include Whitehaven Beach in Australia’s Whitsunday Islands, Koh Libong in Trang Province, Thailand, and Oregon’s Oswald West State Park, as well as locations in South and Central America, and Europe. Best of all, there’s something for almost everyone on this list, as accomodations range from off-site luxury, to nearby camping and mid-range beach bungalows and guest houses (due to remote location, prices are somewhat jacked up). Small price to pay for a slice of paradise.

[Via Mother Nature Network]

New travel guide spoofs, “Where not to go before you die.”

by Laurel Miller on

Prolific travel writer Catherine Price is over the whole “bucket list” trend. Annoyed that a crappy movie spawned an obnoxious national book craze of all the things one must see, do, and visit before they kick it, Price decided to strike back. Her new release, 101 Things Not to See Before You Die is a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek compendium based on Price’s own travel experiences.

Some of Price’s picks include The Beijing Tap Water Museum, Times Square on New Year’s Eve, rush hour on a Samoan bus, and Nevada. But the 31-year-old New Yorker is far from being a jaded crank. In a recent CNN interview, she explained, “People shouldn’t take it too seriously– it wasn’t my intention to say all of these places are actually horrible. Some of them are pretty interesting. (The motivation…) was just to liberate people from the feeling there are all these things they have to do. I’m guilty of this myself, but if you’re just going through things checking off lists then you’re not really experiencing them. You’re just doing it like an assignment.”

Weekend travel media top five: July 17-18, 2010

by Alex Robertson Textor on

This weekend’s most interesting travel stories include a take on apartment rental listings services, an overview of the delightfully uncrowded White Mountains of Crete, an exploration of boutique caravan rentals in Cornwall, a search for pies in southern Alberta, and a list of NYC hotel rooftop bars.

1. In the New York Times, Benji Lanyado explores new developments in the orbit of inexpensive apartment rentals. Lanyado’s article got a lot of attention this past weekend, all of it deserved. His is essential ammunition for the budget-friendly fight against gratuitously expensive hotels.

2. In the Financial Times, Henry Shukman walks all over Crete’s White Mountains. The article ends with a quick guide to four additional European island hideaways.

3. In the Guardian, Gemma Bowes explores the new wave of boutique caravans (or trailers, as we know them stateside.)

4. In the Globe and Mail, Cinda Chavich embarks on a road trip across southern Alberta’s Cowboy Trail, sampling pie in towns with names like Black Diamond, Twin Butte, and Okotoks.

5. In the Los Angeles Times, Sherri Eisenberg provides a primer to Manhattan’s hotel rooftop bars.

(Image of Crete’s White Mountains: Flickr/bazylek100).