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.

Mischarged? Stand your ground!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Mistakes happen, and we’ve all been on both sides of errors. So, if you find that a hotel has overcharged you – or charged you for services you didn’t consume – keep a cool head. If you remain pleasant and reasonable, the situation can generally be fixed pretty quickly. On rare occasions, however, you’ll meet with a bit of resistance.

As Christopher Elliott wrote on CNN.com, the hotels have a lot at stake in not reversing the charges associated with in-room entertainment. Since it splits the revenue with a third party (such as LodgeNet), the hotel is on the hook for up to half the fee, even if the charge was erroneous. In the case that Elliott presents, the front desk staff offered to cut the charge in half.

Do not let a hotel push this alternative on you.

A charge that is not yours is a charge you should not pay. Stand your ground. Ask to speak to increasingly higher ranking personnel at the hotel. Eventually, it is more expensive for them to talk to you than it is to swallow the charge. If you have to dash out to the airport, register your objection in writing.

If you still have not been able to settle the problem, take your complaint public. Visit the many travel review sites (such as Trip Advisor) and explain your situation. Many hotels do read these reviews and reply to customer complaints there. Take action, and they will have to, as well.

[Via CNN]

Trip Advisor donating $1,000,000 to charity. You help them decide where

by Jamie Rhein on

In an aim to give back to the countries in the world that offer us so much travel pleasure, and to add to the cause of making the world a better place, Trip Advisor will be donating $1,000,000 on November 12. This goodly sum will be divided up among five charitable causes:

(You can click on each link to see what each organization does.)

Trip Adviser wants the travelers of the world to help decide how to spend the money. If you go on the Trip Advisor Web site, you can vote for one of the five. Look to the top of the page for the link. You do need to sign up for Trip Advisor to participate.

All the charities will receive some money, but the aim is to find out how to best divvy up the dough. Each of the causes, in my opinion, are worthy of receiving money so you can’t really make a bad choice.

What a neat way to be involved in giving. Once you click on your choice, you can see how the distributions stack up so far.

Cody Cowboy Village in Cody, Wyoming: a family friendly place

by Jamie Rhein on

Cody Cowboy Village’s name grabbed me when I was reading over Trip Advisors’ Best of 2008. It’s number 7 on the Best Bargains list. We head through Wyoming by car almost every year, and as timing has it, we usually stay for the night in a hotel somewhere in this state so we aren’t totally road weary by the time we reach Montana.

Cody Cowboy Village looks like a good road trip stop for more than a couple of days. One thing that attracts me is the log cabin style rooms that are grouped into a setting conducive to feeling like you are part of a place. The decor captures the ambiance of staying in the West–much more interesting than another chain hotel that looks like all the others, no matter the location. According to the Web site there’s a large swimming pool which is an item we list as our must haves after hours of driving. Staying in a hotel with a pool is one of the carrots we dangle to our son so that he gets the idea that road trips are fun.

Cody, Wyoming is worth a stop for a few reasons. A big one is the Buffalo Bill Historical Center that pays tribute to Buffalo Bill Cody, one of the American West’s iconic cowboys. In this museum center there are other museums that highlight the Plains Indians, Western art and natural history. Check out the center’s calendar for special events throughout the year. Cody is also only 50 miles away from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park and has a rodeo every night in the summer. Rafting trips and fishing are two more area offerings.

Best hotel bargain in the world: SeaCoast Inn

by Jamie Rhein on

According to the Trip Advisor’s 2008 Traveler’s Choice list, the best bargain hotel in the world is the SeaCoast Inn in Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. As logic would have it, it’s on the list as the best bargain in the U.S. is well.

So what makes this place in Cape Cod such a deal? Cleanliness of the hotel (just read the comments on the dirtiest hotels post), friendliness and knowledge of the inn keepers, and its location, location, location, according to the comments on the SeaCoast Inn Web site. One guest said they never used their car. A guest from Europe said that it’s similar to smaller hotels in Europe. For those Americans looking to go to Europe, but are put off by the lousy showing of the American dollar these days, perhaps staying here may suffice the need for a dose of European travel. If you can walk everywhere, think of the savings on gas as well.

My reaction when I saw the room rates was “Wow, that is reasonable.” The inn must be closed for the season right now since prices aren’t listed for the winter, but starting in the spring you can stay for as low as $68. The highest springtime rate is $108. In the summer the prices jump to $98–$148 which is not bad for a touristy area.

From the inn you can walk to the ferries that will take you to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. I’ve never been to Cape Cod, but the SeaCoast Inn’s Web site highlights several reasons why this would be a perfect place to take a family.