Éclat Travel's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘vacation packages’

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.

Valentine’s day is quickly approaching, and you are hard pressed for the perfect gift. Need some romantic date ideas? You can come up with a fabulous getaway idea if you put a little effort and advanced planning into it. If you really want to make a lasting impression on the one you love, give them something that will last a lifetime – an experience they will never forget. Creating amazing memories will endear your partner to you (i.e. score big points), assuming of course, you’re not a jerk the rest of the year. Even if the relationship doesn’t last a lifetime, the memory will. Good or bad, I might add.  So make it extra special. Here’s how to plan a romantic getaway.

First of all – listen! The key to creating a memorable experience is tying the experience to desires or dreams and making them come true.  Absolutely pay attention to what your mate likes or says that they have “always wanted”, “wanted to try”, “places they always wanted to go”, etc. you get the idea. 

When they say something about wanting to try paddle boarding or are thinking about learning to make the perfect calzone, loves Mickey Mouse or romantic comedies, make a mental note. It’s so easy to create the perfect romantic getaway, or memory, if you just pay attention to what someone says. If they like a particular musical artist or group – make a note. If they love to ski, always wanted to drive a race car, or always wanted to see the northern lights – make a note.  You get the idea.

What is their idea of a romantic escape? If you don’t know – ask.  It’s that simple. Yes, you can be sneaky about it and still get a good idea of what they would like without giving away the surprise – if it is to be a surprise.  Some people, like me, like surprises.  Some don’t.  It’s good to know that too, by the way. It’s generally not advised to spring a surprise on someone who hates surprises.  Being able to arrange an outing or vacation that includes elements that they adore will make you a hero.

Notice, I didn’t say, that “you” adore, unless the interest is mutual. This is to be a selfless endeavor on your part. The fact that you went to extremes to make sure that your vacation was something that they would enjoy makes it romantic.

Second, explore your options; play with some of the things you know they would like and see how you can put them together. So let’s say they love The Beatles, night life, and Italian food.  What can you do with this information? You could pick them up at 10, while Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is playing in the car, and go out for a pizza, and then go dancing at your local lounge. Hmmm. OR, you could… (stay tuned for part two).