Hotels

Posted by Mutual-Funds | Hotel Review | Friday 3 July 2009 6:55 am

Do you have your trip planned? Got the tickets and everything? Did you remember to reserve a hotel room? Not to worry if you haven’t. Its quite a simple task especially in the Internet world. Here are some quick tips for you to consider.

First of all, if you want to find a great deal on a hotel, you should think about being as flexible as you can be. If you stay at certain times of the week, month, or even year you can possibly get a better deal. If you can’t be that flexible, how about thinking about staying a little farther from your destination. Now, this only works if you are going someplace where there are many people wanting to stay as close as possible. Instead of staying really close, stay a few miles out. This can save you a bunch of cash. You may need to drive a little farther, but a few cents in gas compared to the extra in the hotel is nothing.

Finding a hotel is as simple as going online. You can often find just what you are looking for just by searching for your desitnation. But, never settle on the first place you find. Compare several different chains and even think about the mom and pop places.

While your checking out what’s available in the area you are traveling to, also think about the amenities they offer. Its nice to stay at a hotel that has a swimming pool, but if you don’t have time to use it, what’s the point? Same goes for other services. Think about them carefully as you don’t want to pay more for something you will not use.

Hotels are everywhere. They are all competing for your dollar and by shopping around you are likely to find just the right one for you. Being as flexible as you can will also improve your chances of getting a great deal. Take the time to research. In the end, it will pay off.

Visit http://www.e-travelpromos.com to make your hotel reservations.

Sandy Baker is staff article writer at http://www.e-travelpromos.com . sbaker@e-travelpromos.com

Asia’s Newest Beach Resort Sihanoukville Cambodia

Posted by Mutual-Funds | Hotel Review | Friday 26 June 2009 6:50 am

In Cambodia, Angkor Wat is the main draw for tourism today, and rightly so, called the Crown Jewel of South East Asia the temple complexes? 40 Sq Kilometers? of temples is famous the world over, but now, more people are visiting the rest of Cambodia and the word of mouth is that the rest of the Cambodia is worth a visit as well. The Beach resort of Sihanoukville is fast becoming a holiday destination in its own right, with lots of islands and parks and things to do from hiking and exploring, scuba diving & snorkeling and boat rides, water falls, jungle treks and chilling in a hammock in a quiet beach park reading a good book. Culturally there are the markets, the local wats and the schools, where many come to donate time and money towards educating the kids.

Sihanoukville has a 5 star resort on its own kilometer long private beach. The pool could be classified as a small lake and is almost visible from space, complete with a bridge to its own little island. The hotel is only 2 years old and has a staff to guest ratio of 4/1. The prices for comparable hotels in South East Asia would be substantially higher.

If you are a budget traveler then Sihanoukville is your place as well, there are many rooms available with air con, hot water, refrigerator and Cable TV for $10 – $20 a night and if you want a place to stay for 6 months or more, you can get a business visa at the border on demand and stay as long as you like, works out to around $1 a day for the visa extensions, making the town attractive to pensioners and semi retired people.

Backpackers also like Sihanoukville with a few places offering 50 cent tall cold beers and cheap food starting at $.50. Some are also finding work as bar tenders and working the restaurants. Backpacker hostels start as low as free, Yup free, all you have do is buy one of your meals at the lodging and the price for the food is still cheap $1.50 to 2.50 a plate.

One local expert expat?s guess?s that there are more western owned business per population in Sihanoukville than any other place in Asia! Many are coming and starting guesthouses & hotels, small bed and breakfast places, restaurants and bars and small resorts with a few starting to pop up on the islands off the coast. Want to rent your own fantasy island for a week check out Magic Island?

Logistically everything that you will need is here including reliable electricity, internet, and western restaurants as well as a lot of Asian European specialty foods prepared with the western travelers tastes in mind including Khmer seafood, Thai, Vietnamese, French, Italian, German, Russian, Indian, Sri Lankan and more coming soon. English languages schools are many in Sihanoukville, so you can almost always find someone to speak English when you need it.

Money use to be a problem as you had to go inside the banks to get cash and with 26 holidays on the Cambodian calendar, you could get stuck with out cash for a few days, now there are ATM locations in Siem Reap- Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh, Battembong and Sihanoukville. You can change just about every currency including Yen, Euros, Baht, Kip, Dong, and Sing Dollars. US Dollars and Cambodian Riel are the two most common currencies in use.

Sihanoukville is getting easier to get to with cheap international flights into Bangkok and really cheap regional flights into Phnom Penh. Flights into Sihanoukville are very close to being a reality as well. Regularly scheduled busses from Phnom Penh will get you to Sihanoukville in 4 hours on a excellent American built road. You can also arrange taxis and vans for moving groups of people, and an established over water route form Bangkok to Trat to the Had Lek – Klang Yai border to Sihanoukville. You might even arrive here via a cruise ships, as more are placing Sihanoukville on their itineraries.

The Islands of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand are mostly uninhabited; you will find isolated Spartan fishing villages with populations normally fewer than 100 people. One Island, Koh Tang, has only 7 residents and would take the better part of a day to hike around, so if you are looking for that deserted island to strand yourself on, to work on your coconut carving and ship in a bottle skills there are many here to chose from, bring your own hammock and Gal Friday or they can be acquired here in Sihanoukville.

The Cambodia of the past always seemed to bring up horrific images of the past misfortunes that the Khmers suffered at the end of the Vietnam War. Even today, the genocide in Cambodia is still in the news as the country has its tribunal to hopefully put the events behind them,

One of the few backhanded benefits of the recent past history was that Cambodia missed out on all of the heavy industrialization, that the other countries in the region experienced, notably Thailand and Vietnam; which means that they missed out on the pollution that goes with it. A UN survey of the waters in Asia, that included Cambodia, found only 3 areas of concern for ocean water quality near shore, where as Vietnam and Thailand, had allot problem locations, mostly from the industrial pollutions and shrimp farms. This may change, unfortunately, as oil has been found in Cambodia and the drilling of exploration holes has begun. So now is a really good time to come.

As Cambodia moves forward towards the future, it is obvious to most that the future in Cambodia is tourism. And for Cambodia?s beach resort of Sihanoukville, to misquote the tune ?the futures so bright, in Sihanoukville, that your gonna need shades?

Fred Tittle has lived and worked in resorts his entire life, from South East Wisconsin at the famous Lake Geneva Playboy Club and Nippersink Resort, Aspen Colorado where he was a rock jock for KSPN FM, Waikiki on Oahu in Hawaii where he drove big bikes and learned to scuba dive and now as a owner of EcoSea Dive in Sihanoukville Cambodia where he teaches PADI and SSI Scuba Diving and runs holiday adventure tours to the outer islands. Fred is working on a new website project CheapCharliesHotels.com as a excuse to travel more and work less, basically his life?s ambition. His website is http://www.ecosea.com

Wholesale Travel Gets You There Cheaper

Posted by Mutual-Funds | Hotel Review | Thursday 18 June 2009 6:50 am

Traveling is one of life’s greatest adventures. It can bring joy to the heart and peace to the soul. Unfortunately, traveling can be an expensive proposition, and one that makes adventurous vacations out of reach for many people. When you take advantage of wholesale travel packages, though, you can go on cruises, relax at resorts, luxuriate in the best accommodations at hotels, and fly with airfares that will make your friends jealous.

Wholesale travel can encompass a variety of vacation experiences. You can stay at resort properties, condo properties, timeshare properties, privately owned properties, vacation homes, or coastal beach homes. The keys to finding great wholesale travel opportunities are understanding how the tourism industry operates and having flexibility in your travel plans.

For example, when you call a resort and ask for room rates, you’ll most likely be quoted what are called rack rates. These are the non-discounted rates that resort properties can charge when they’re almost booked to capacity. In reality, though, resort properties aren’t usually full, and rooms are perishable commodities. If a room goes empty for a night, that represents lost income that the resort can never regain. Wholesale travel packages take advantage of this phenomena and book blocks of rooms at non-peak periods to get the best rates. The resorts readily agree because they need to fill the rooms and they know that guests will spend money on ancillary products, such as restaurant charges, room service, and gift shop purchases.

The same holds true for cruise ships. The ship will sail whether it’s at 80 percent capacity or 100 percent capacity. It behooves the cruise line to offer wholesale travel packages to operators in order to fill the cabins before the ship sets sail.

Other types of destinations work under the same principle, which is why wholesale travel is possible across the board. When looking into purchasing wholesale travel packages, here are some things to consider.

Expiration Dates: Many wholesale travel operators use the voucher system, and some vouchers have expiration dates. Before making a commitment, find out how quickly the vouchers expire, and make sure that the company has a low renewal fee in order to extend the life of the vouchers.

Transferable Vouchers: Some companies do not allow participants to transfer vouchers to friends and family members. When you work with a wholesale travel company, be sure to select one that allows you to transfer your vouchers to others.

Blackout Dates: The tradeoff in wholesale travel is that there are restrictions regarding when you can vacation. You can’t expect to select a popular destination and travel there during peak season. Before signing up for a wholesale travel package, be sure that your schedule is compatible with the travel date restrictions offered by the company.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Visit this Travel Website and Majon’s Travel directory.

Family Holidays

Posted by Mutual-Funds | Hotel Review | Tuesday 16 June 2009 2:50 pm

Family holidays do not have to be filled with roller coaster rides and cotton candy for the children to enjoy every minute of your family holiday. There are many wonderful and exotic holidays available that adults and children will both enjoy from the beginning of the adventure until the very second it ends.

The world is full of exciting and unique places to travel that will give your family holidays a memorable experience other than just the thrill of a amusement ride that can be found at any state fair. When you begin to think about your family holidays consider such exotic places as the Galapagos Island, China, Costa Rica, Mexico, Turkey, Alaska, Belize, Tanzania, Egypt, Ecuador, and even such places as the grand canyon in the United States.

Family holidays are meant to be shared by the entire family and can have as much and excitement as you could imagine. Just think about riding mules down the Grand Canyon and camping out over night. This is one experience that will not be forgotten any time soon.

What about a cruise along the Alaskan Shoreline, no child would ever forget the beauty and the difference in this wonderful countryside, or maybe a family holiday in Belize where you and your children could explore the undersea adventures by snorkeling. Seeing the coral reefs, the fish and being able to be up close and personal is so much better than a trip down log flume.

Family holidays are ways to enjoy each other and to share what time and adventures together. Make the most of your family holidays by showing your children the world around them. You will enjoy these family holidays just as much as the kids and you will all take home memories that will last a lifetime. So, check out all the exotic places that you can find, maybe some are a lot closer than you ever imagined.

The Author of UK Hotels and Hotels in Holland – Hotel directories, with descriptions, photos, rates and on-line booking.

Sweden

Posted by Mutual-Funds | Hotel Review | Tuesday 16 June 2009 11:50 am

Whether it?s for skiing on the edges of the wilderness, exploring the landscape with snowmobiles or dog sledding on endless stretches of snow, Sweden is the preferred travel destination for many.

The prime reason tourists visit this country is for the winter and snow. Winter activities in Sweden in the midst of nature are liberating experiences. Riding a snow mobile is the top one among all activities. Riding a snow mobile is very easy. Simply sitting on a snowmobile and revving the accelerator can take you to remote mountaintops and across alpine lakes. If you are averse to the idea of using smoke-spewing machines in the midst of pure nature, then skiing is the best option. Sweden has resorts to suit varying levels of experience of skiers. From the snowboarder’s wild paradise in Lapland to the family resorts in the southern mountains, Sweden?s resorts accommodate all types of skiers.

If it?s the water that attracts you, then Sweden with 3000 kilometers of shoreline spoils you for a choice. Fishing, swimming, diving, surfing and deep-sea explorations are some of the activities that you can indulge in Sweden. Cruising in the Baltic Sea can be added to your itinerary. The ports of call would introduce you to the history of Sweden, through magnificent palaces, castles and museums. In term of cities, Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo are fast emerging as Europe?s top city vacation destinations.

A trip to Sweden is incomplete without a stay in the famed ice hotel in JukkasJarvi. Getting off at Kiruna airport and heading towards the ice hotel by dogsled is a perfect prelude to a more interesting event ? staying in a hotel that is entirely made of ice. The suites, beds, pillars, lobby and bar, everything that a hotel should have is made of ice. The drink in the bar comes in glasses made of ? ice, of course.

There are other hotels in Sweden rated by the Sweden Hotel and Restaurant association, which cater to tourists with all kinds of budgets.

The Author of Sweden Hotels and Denmark Hotels – Hotel directories, with descriptions, photos, rates and on-line booking.