Travelers’ Choice Awards 2009: The best of the best

by Jamie Rhein on

Trip Advisor has just released its Travelers’ Choice Awards. The several pages missive provides a hefty selection of the best hotels in various categories. This is the opposite end of the spectrum of the worst hotels. It’s not uncommon that the best can be had for less money than a dump.

Sea Coast Inn in Hyannis, Massachusetts has held onto its first place spot as the Best Bargain from last year. Interestingly, it has kept its spot as “Best Hidden Gem” as well.

Of the other top10 bargains in the U.S., five of them are in California, two are in Florida, and Colorado and Utah have one each. When it comes to overseas bargain shopping, several countries have options. Italy does have two slots in the top 10.

Organized by categories, the Travelers’ Choice Awards are a great place to start when planning a trip whether you’re looking for luxury, romance, a bargain or a family destination.

Keeping with this month’s theme of bargain destinations, here are the number one places to stay in each of the bargain categories. Browse through each list, however, because one hotel further down might catch your eye–or a destination might beckon. Egypt has several listings for top places for families in Africa, for example. That has me thinking.

Best Bargains

Click here for the pdf file for the whole list. The photo is of Hotel Vecchio Asilo.

10 tips for making a trip more affordable

by Jamie Rhein on

I read about a couple who bought a sailboat when common sense might have told them not to in this New York Times article awhile ago. Their kids were heading to college, and the economy had begun its rapid trip south. According to the couple, they have no regrets about the boat purchase.

The experiences they’ve had with their kids and friends on the boat have added to their good memories bank. Okay, sure they must have been rolling in dough to start off with, but they do have a point. As the author Rob Lieber pointed out, one doesn’t have to buy a boat to experience the benefits of a splurge.

I’m not advocating splurging at every turn in life, but sometimes acting solely on common sense can make life feel tight and without pleasure. In my mind, a splurge worth making involves travel because of the memories one gathers in the process.

One of the great things about travel is that there are so many aspects of the splurge where costs can be controlled. Making memories may not cost as much as you think if you plan right and alter your thinking about what a trip should look like.

Here are some ideas I’ve thought of to help balance out worthwhile travel with a budget in mind. I’ve used them on several occassions.

1. All meals don’t have to be worth writing home about. Head to a place that has good food, but nothing fancy–a place where locals on a budget might eat. Eateries like these tend to have the best stories anyway. Consider the places you’ve eaten a real find.

2. If you’re eating at a pricier place for the experience, browse the menu for the least expensive option and that’s what you will order. Or order the appetizer that sounds the most filling and buy the cheapest glass of wine to go with it. It will feel special and you can buy something cheaper later to fill you up.

3. Another way to afford more expensive food is to plan for the meal to be the main event for that day and pair it with a cheaper activity like a free walk in a park or an inexpensive museum. Many museums have free admission days. Find out when.

4.. On the day you spend more money at a museum, head to a cheaper restaurant, or buy fixings for a picnic lunch in a park. Mix it up. Have an expensive day followed by a cheaper one.

5. Sure it’s wonderful to sleep in luxury, but if you’re on vacation in an exciting place, think about how little time you’ll spend in the hotel. Two years ago when we went to Ft. Lauderdale, we stayed at a 1960s style bungalow two blocks from the beach at a substantial savings. We had access to the same beach as the people in the pricey rooms in beach front property. Also, we had a wonderful time talking with the proprietor who came to Ft. Lauderdale to open a motel to make his dreams come true. Much more interesting than a corporate style place with fluffy pillows and an overly priced mini bar that we wouldn’t use anyway.

6. Stay in a place that has free breakfast. Don’t eat that hardboiled egg or fruit for breakfast, but take it along with you for lunch.

7. Think about adjusting the time you spend in an expensive location. Instead of a five-day vacation, pair it down a day. One night less cuts down on the cost. Plus, if you plan out your trip according to the things you most want to see, you’ll leave feeling full and not like you didn’t have enough of a travel meal. Isn’t it better to eat something than nothing at all?

8. Also, think about the places where you have family and friends and combine a vacation with a visit. We’re fortunate to have friends in several places so we pair visits with them with exploring those sites we haven’t seen before. The extra time with our friends is always time worth spent and makes our destinations all that more sweet and memorable. Plus, the people who live in a place know its heartbeat much more than a guidebook does.

9. Decide how much money you’ll spend on souvenirs before you go. An item you buy on the road is part of memory making but you don’t have to go nuts about it. In this case, you’ll be doing as I say and not as I do. Our house looks like a store run by Unicef. You could buy stuff out of our house and I wouldn’t notice.

10. If you have children, make their souvenirs part of this budget. On a trip to Disney World, each of my kids could only spend $15 tops. That cut out a lot of options and arguments. My daughter didn’t buy anything, and my son bought a small stuffed animal which cost $12. The limit helped us corral him through the gift shops at the end of each ride.

No matter what the economy is up to, with planning and adjustments in expectations, travel still remains one of the best deals around. I’ve never regretted it–there are some souvenirs I’ve regretted, but never the trip. The memories I’ve collected are priceless.

VRBO, Vacation Rentals by Owner has an easy to navigate new look

by Jamie Rhein on

The newly designed website of VRBO–Vacation Rentals by Owner is a snap to use. Clicking on a particular region of one of the maps is one way to zoom in on a specific destination. Click on a state, for example, and whoosh, there you are browsing the bounties.

In each state, rentals are divided into regions. I went to Montana and then to Butte which pointed me to four vacation home rentals, two with rave reviews from people vowing to return, and two where people haven’t left comments.

The world map gives you the option of heading to a specific continent and then narrowing down to a country search. Or you can browse the list of locations, also on the home page.

The homepage also has a section divided into two categories: Family Reunion or Group Travel, and Cabin Rentals and Beach Rentals. This is another design element that helps narrow a search.

If you have no idea what country or state will capture your fancy, start clicking away at the various options. Photos and detailed descriptions help with the yay or nay sorting. See what captures your eye.

With 110,000 vacation rentals and 21,000 worldwide locations, VRBO is great place to find that vacation spot to suit your needs. For people who are looking to post their vacation rentals, check this site out. You’ll be in good company.

Interested in the Caribbean? Comprehensive list with of where to head

by Jamie Rhein on

I don’t know about you, but this time of year when the sky is slate gray more often then it’s sunny, and the leaves have dropped from the trees like rain, I start thinking about warmer pastures. “Let’s get out of Dodge,” I say. Not really, but that’s what I fantasize.

The Caribbean has been an appealing option since a couple of years ago a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Costa Rica. Although, Costa Rica isn’t part of the Caribbean scene exactly, it got me thinking about that part of the world. Our trip didn’t work out and remains unfinished business. This article in The New York Times offers oodles of option ideas for a Caribbean vacation from the pricey to the not so bad. Now, I’m thinking again.

One of the reasons for the Caribbean travel deals is the beating that the weather gave to the area this year. The financial meltdown is another. Just like Las Vegas has become cheaper in order to draw tourists, so has the Caribbean.

The article touts Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman Island, Grenada, Martinique, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Marten, St. Kitts, St. John, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos and Tobago.

Each destination has a different appeal depending on what you’re after.

Curaçao’s newest resort to open since the 1990s caught my eye because it was developed to be part of the 19th century Rif Fort which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The room rates at the Renaissance Curaçao Resort and Casino are above what we’d spend, but maybe there are cheaper hotels on the island. My adage is stay cheaper and pop over to the more expensive place for drinks, a meal and browsing.

There are cheaper digs elsewhere. One less expensive family option is The Virgin Island Campground on Water Island for $75 a night.

Reading the article is one way to get your mind wandering. Along with the places to stay suggestions are dive shops and restaurants. I’d use the article as a starting point and then see what else you can find by doing some research yourself. [The photo is of Honey Moon Beach at Water Island. You might be in competition with me if you chose this place.]

There may be a zipline tour near you

by Jamie Rhein on

With fall foliage reaching its peak, I was reminded of a zipline tour canopy tour I took through the trees in Ohio this past June.

There are several zipline tour options. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina also have zipline adventure offerings, although not all are canopy tours.

In an Escapes article in the New York Times, Roger Mummert gives a humorous account of his own experience at Ski Mountain Ski Area in Pennsylvania where he went with his teenage daughter for a bonding outing.

At the end of the article, he summarizes the highlights of each of the following places:

After visiting each Web site, I noticed that several have Halloween activities. Remember, zipline tours are truly for a multiage crowd. I was happy to see that the Hocking Hills Canopy Tours made it to Mummert’s list. I had can still recall the whirring sound the cable made each time I zipped across.