Éclat Travel's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘travel planning’

What with rising gas prices, natural disasters seemingly everywhere, and unrest in parts of the world it’s enough to make some people want to just hold up in the back yard with a tent and a barbecue for the family vacation this summer and call it good.

If, however, that is not your idea of a proper holiday and you are still tempted to forge ahead with your vacation plans this year, here are five very good reasons to travel now, and why using a travel pro to arrange the details is one of the smartest things you can do to maximize the value in your vacation and minimize the risks.

1. Sometimes waiting to purchase travel is the worst thing you can do. Prices can and do go up (Continental and United have already announced fare increases).
2. Availability at your favorite hotels, cruises, and attractions sell out quickly.
3. Incentives are often available when you book early. A great travel advisor has access to unadvertised specials and incentives, and knows how to get you the most vacation value for your money.
4. Yes, gas prices are rising, but there are still ways to enjoy a great vacation and not spend a fortune. When you’re building a custom vacation you have the flexibility to build it any way you want to. One cost-saving idea is to consider building your vacation around emerging destinations that may be better deals than well-established areas. And if you’re not quite sure about that, try visiting a popular destination in its off-season when rates are lower. Added benefits to traveling during the off-season include better availability, fewer tourists, and lower costs for attractions.
5. And, finally, the best reason to book your travel plans now is that tomorrow may never come. I’m a firm believer in valuing today because we never know what tomorrow will bring. Ask yourself, “if not now, when?”

If you’ve “always dreamed” of going somewhere, or doing something special, start planning it now – it’s exciting and fun, gives you something positive to look forward to, and you’ll be glad you did. And, if you have the expert guidance of a travel professional, we will be able to help you find exclusive offers, unique destinations, and provide savvy travel advice that will make your trip exciting and memorable.

Contact me for a free custom travel quote.

Cheers!

Cheryl
Custom Travel Specialist
Cheryl@EclatTravel.com
www.EclatTravel.com

Private villas or other vacation rentals are a great alternative to cruises and hotels for multigenerational family groups who wish to stay together when the cruise line or hotel doesn’t offer rooms that accommodate more than three or four guests in a room, social groups or clubs who would like to meet and socialize informally who don’t have a budget for a meeting room, and for small corporate and incentive meetings and retreats where rewarding achievement, building camaraderie, and privacy are important considerations.

Designing your custom vacation, or small group retreat, using a villa rental (or rentals) can offer some great benefits. Among those are space, cost savings on dining out, privacy and common gathering areas. Depending on your budget, you can also locate luxury vacation rentals that include your own staff. Many of them have pools, and recreation equipment such as pool, ping pong or air hockey tables, bikes, theatre rooms and other amenities that traditional accommodations don’t offer.

Vacation rentals are available in many destinations including large cities, country settings and resorts. Finding the perfect villa to rent can be a challenge – there is an awful lot to choose from online. When the real estate market took a dive a lot of people owning second homes, who couldn’t sell them, decided to get into the vacation rental market. Unfortunately, when you are renting online you don’t always know what you are getting until you get there. I’m sure plenty of you have had the experience of booking something that had great photos online, but the place was not nearly what it looked like, or was advertised. That’s one reason to use a group travel organizer.

Yes, a travel advisor who is also a professional group travel organizer can book vacation rentals and when you book a villa through an agent your chances are much better for getting what you paid for. More and more travel suppliers are offering villa rentals to their guests as alternatives to traditional accommodations and because they do, they are diligent about the quality of home or apartment they are offering.  Group travel planners will also ensure that you know all of the costs involved, such as cleaning fees, additional fees for bedding or maid service, utility fees, etc. And, probably most importantly, a group travel organiser will save you hours and hours of time searching the internet for the right property for your group.

It just so happens that I have many years of experience working with incentive group travel, family reunions and other small group vacations, so, next time you need a professional group travel organizer, let us help you with the details.

Cheers!
Cheryl
Custom Travel Specialist
www.EclatTravel.com

This client was the roommate of a relative of mine. My relative told me that the roomie was getting married and needed some help figuring out what to do for the honeymoon. Would I and could I help him out? Absolutely.

When I called him we had about 8 weeks to figure it out. He basically knew that they wanted beaches and sunshine, they were considering Mexico, South America, the Caribbean and Costa Rica. The budget was $2,500, including airfare. They were looking for an all-inclusive resort on the beach, but something that had a variety of activities, and restaurants.

So, I went to work searching all-inclusive resorts that offered special amenities for people on their honeymoon, and narrowed the choices down to three that were within their price range in each location. I included all the details about the number of restaurants, included activities, what would be extra, any bonus honeymoon perks that were included and the rates for different room types. Searches for flights for the time of year they were looking at narrowed the choices further to Mexico and Costa Rica to stay within their budget.

They ended up choosing Dreams Villa Magna Nuevo Vallarta because the bride-to-be liked the fact that they would have a Jr. Suite Ocean View room with Jacuzzi. In addition, they would enjoy all meals, a honeymoon package that included fresh flowers, fresh fruit and bottle of sparkling wine, and flower petals in the room, special turn-down service, champagne breakfast in bed, discount on spa treatments, $200 in resort coupons, gratuities, taxes, travel insurance, round trip airport transfers, and airfare for two, for less than $2,200. That left them a little something to play with while they were there.

Upon their return, I contacted the new couple for some feedback. First of all, overall, they had a wonderful honeymoon. He did mention a review that he read prior to their stay that said about the property, “ …if you had been to 5 star properties worldwide you wouldn’t be terribly impressed.”*(see note below)

He stated that the food at some of the outdoor outlets was “just ok”, but that dinners in the restaurants were great, and the service at the resort was “amazing.” Every time you turned around someone was there to help you.

  The resort’s location was wonderful and you weren’t bothered by vendors on the property. He also thought that the dinner on the beach and the show were great and well worth seeing. He highly recommended Vallarta Adventures (for excursions and activities that can be arranged before you arrive). And, they had no issues with water or ice cubes, and the town near the resort, Bruceras, was safe and they had no issues there. Overall, they were very satisfied and had a great honeymoon experience and he thanked me for all the help.  I was able to help them find a great location for their honeymoon at an all-inclusive resort that offered great value and extras for what they paid, and did it within their budget.

To all those soon-to-be-honeymoon-couples, congratulations! And if you find yourself overwhelmed with honeymoon choices, or don’t know where to start,  contact me.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Cheryl

*Author’s note: Neither this property, nor I, sold it as a 5-star. It is rated an AAA 4 Diamond resort.