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See Your City: Noho Shopping Guide

So you’re going abroad, you’ve chosen your destination and now you have to choose a hotel. Ten years ago, you’d have probably visited your local travel agent and trusted the face-to-face advice you were given by the so-called ‘experts’. The 21st Century way to select and book your hotel is of course on the Internet, by using travel websites. But how do you sift through the amazing choices on offer? And more importantly, do you really trust the photographs and descriptions of the hotels that they have awarded themselves with the motivation of getting bookings?

Traveler reviews can be helpful, but you need to exercise caution. They are often biased, sometimes out of date, and may not serve your interests at all. How do you know that the features that are important to the reviewer are important to you? Then there’s the problem of the reviewer’s motivation.

Taking time to sit back and watch and think about what you’ve seen is important. Traveling did a great deal to me. I found that when I travel and just sit in the corner and watch, a million ideas come to me.

The more reviews you read, the more you notice how they tend to cluster at the extremes of opinion. On one end, you have angry reviewers with axes to grind; at the other, you have delighted guests who lavish praise beyond belief. You’ll not be surprised to learn that hotels sometimes post their own glowing reviews or that competitor’s line up for the chance to lambaste the competition with bad reviews. It makes sense to consider what is really important to you when selecting a hotel. You should then choose an online hotel directory that gives up-to-date, independent, impartial information that really matters.

Here are some of the key facts you should bear in mind:

Location: if it matters that your hotel is, for example, on the beach, close to the theme park, or convenient for the airport, the location is paramount. Any decent directory should offer a location map of the hotel and its surroundings. There should be distance charts to the airport offered as well as some form of an interactive map.

Style: it is important to choose a hotel that makes you feel comfortable – contemporary or traditional furnishings, local decor or international, formal or relaxed. The ideal hotel directory should let you know of the options available.

Restaurants, Cafes, and Bars: local color is great but the hotel’s own restaurants and bars can play an important part in your stay. You should be aware of the choice, style and whether or not they are smart or informal. A good hotel report should tell you this, and particularly about breakfast facilities.

Bedroom Facilities: you should always carefully consider the type of facilities you need from your bedroom and find the hotel that has those you consider important. The hotel directory website should elaborate on matters such as bed size, Internet Access (its cost, whether there is WIFI or wired broadband connection), Complimentary amenities, views from the room and luxury offerings like a Pillow menu or Bath menu, choice of smoking or non-smoking rooms etc.

Children’s’ Facilities: more important to the family traveler than the business traveler, you should find out just how child-friendly the hotel is from the directory and make your decision from there. One thing worth looking for is whether the hotel offers a babysitters service. For the business traveler wishing to escape children this is of course very relevant too – perhaps a hotel that is not child-friendly would be something more appropriate!

Leisure Facilities: the site should offer a detailed analysis of leisure services within the hotel – spa, pool, gym, sauna – as well as details of any other facilities nearby such as golf courses.

Special Needs: the hotel directory site should advise the visitor of each hotel’s special needs services and accessibility policy. Whilst again this does not apply to every visitor, it is absolutely vital to some.

Finally and most importantly, the quality hotel directory inspection team should have visited the hotel in question on a regular basis, met the staff, slept in a bedroom and tried the food. They should experience the hotel as only a hotel guest can and it is only then that they are really in a strong position to write about the hotel.

Luxury Flagships Shopping

The rules of travel have altered so much in the last few years, with strict regulation regarding air travel, questionable car searches that may vary in regulation from state to state, and the feeling of never really being ultimately sure what is appropriate or improper in the travel world any longer. In most cases, if you decide to fly the formerly affable skies, your airline or airport website will have an accurate and up to date list regarding what is okay and what is not okay regarding your luggage. As if packing for a trip wasn’t difficult enough, now we all have to do it with cloudy and blurry regulations and a list we print out from the airlines.

The first measure of travel complacency is simple; don’t try to squeeze on a carry on that you know is not really a carry-on. You will get yourself into the frustrating position of trying to argue your way onto the airplane with a large bag that just won’t do. You’re not going to succeed. Once upon a time, you would, but not anymore. Now, you will simply be forced to check it and risk being charged an additional fee for having too many luggage items. Plus, you’re going to end up traveling without your usual band of comfort items that you could have had if you just scaled down into a standard sized carry on luggage. The simple fact is that there used to be wiggle room, and now, there is none.

The best way to get to know the place you are traveling in is to walk around… and the best way to walk around is with comfortable shoes! Grab your travel buddy and your running shoes and go explore!

Most airlines limit luggage by the length of the flight. A domestic flight may accept 2 pieces of luggage plus one carry one per person (sometimes including and sometimes excluding persons under 4 years of age) while others limit the baggage content to one piece of checked luggage and one carry on. Additional pieces of luggage run anywhere from $50 to $200, depending on the airline and the size of the flight and while mess of miscellaneous stuff they don’t release to the public. Airlines have been struggling since the disaster of 9-11. Some will make up the continued lost revenue any way they can, including charging phenomenal fees for additional luggage. It is just cheaper to have your extra necessary luggage shipped, even overnight, if you just can’t do without it. Worldwide flights often hold the same code, two pieces of checked-in luggage and one or two carry-on pieces per person.

Again, the child may not be granted such grace if they are particularly little. If you haven’t purchased a seat for your small child (which is legal up until the age of three) then don’t expect to have them counted in the luggage count. No ticket, no luggage. Most people who are taking a long-term trip out of the country, or a permanent trip out of the country, find this limit a little exasperating. However, from experience I can vouch for the frustration of arriving in a foreign country for the first time, negotiating language barriers and awkward gestures, while trying to lug around three hundred pounds of belongings packed carefully away in small and large luggage cases.

Even with the help of carts on wheels (assuming the country you land in has them) eventually, you have to talk over all of this material up a flight of steps or into a narrowed passageway. This can become a little more than merely discouraging. It can become downright risky. Again, the best thing to do if your luggage exceeds the international flight limit is ship everything that you can bear to part with in advance. Some nations take as long as 6 weeks to deliver your goods. If your trip is short, try merging. If you have to, purchase what you need to while you’re there and then ship it back to your house. You’re not likely to end up waiting helplessly for your underwear from Australia or your pajama bottoms from Costa Rica.

No matter how up to date or up-to-the-minute you are regarding flight contracts, always check in with the airline business the day before you go. Policy changes don’t always make it to the cyberspace in a reasonable length of time, and policy alterations regarding luggage and especially carry on the material can change in a heartbeat. Its always better to show up with the latest information than to believe your experience from even just a few months earlier will still ring true. Hindrance at the airport is simply twice as frustrating as the same feeling somewhere else. Its written into the literature that way.

The English Beat and The Soul Rebels

One of the best ways to make a great vacation quickly horrible is to choose the wrong accommodations for your trip. There is nothing quite as bad as spending a great day of vacation only to come back to a less-than-great place to stay for the night. Anytime you are away from home it is important to choose the best accommodations for your comfort and enjoyment. It doesn’t matter if you are going on a three week trip to Europe or if you are going to a weekend wedding celebration, choosing accommodations should be on the top of your list no matter what.

One of the most important things to remember when you begin to search for accommodations is yourself. Knowing your interests, preferences, and the things that are most important to you in any place you stay is necessary for choosing the right accommodations. For example, you should know whether you prefer an all-inclusive type luxury hotel or a quiet cabin that is off the beaten path. Know the things that will make a trip amazing or horrible for you and then don’t settle for accommodations that are different than what you want.

I love seeing new places and meeting new people. I’m sort of addicted to traveling. So whatever it takes for you to be at peace, find accommodations that match your needs.

Your budget is another thing to consider when you’re looking for great accommodations for any event. Sure, you might love to stay in the nicest five-star hotel a city offers, but if your budget calls for something a little more modest then it is best to agree with your budget. Keep in mind, however, that your budget should look different based on how important the event or trip is to you. Your honeymoon, for example, should be a higher priority than the accommodations for your next business trip or even for the wedding of a friend. Don’t be afraid to alter your budget for accommodations from trip to trip, just don’t expect for each getaway to be as nice as the rest.

Your personal taste and style can help you determine what is the best accommodations for you in any situation. Go for a place that offers the amenities that you desire and that feels comfortable and relaxing to you. If having a jacuzzi tub is important to you, then look for accommodations that offer them at no extra charge.

The important thing in any travel situation is to stay somewhere that is restful, relaxing, and peaceful. So whatever it takes for you to be at peace, find accommodations that match your needs. You will enjoy any event, holiday or vacation more if you’re staying in a great place.

Sons of an Illustrious Father

If you are an infrequent traveler you may need some tips to keep the wife happy while you are jet-setting around the globe. Many individuals do not realize the tolls that traveling can have on married life. Occasionally your travels are going to take you to a location that your spouse would love to attend. You may be servicing customers near your or your wife’s childhood homes, you may be visiting a destination that she has always desired to beat, she may simply want to spend some time with you.

After you make the decision that the spouse will be going on the next business trip, you need to review your corporate travel policies. Many companies have fairly lax rules on spousal travel. However, it could be possible that you have to pick up the differences in hotel room costs for the second person.

Traveling gives you some perspective of what the rest of the world is like. I think that having the courage to step out of the norm is the most important thing.

Most companies, however, wave this fee if you are in good standings with them. So the accommodation’s are settled what is left to meet the wife’s expectations well you will more than likely have to make some adjustments in your travel plans. Unless you work for a company that is far more progressive than any that I have seen before, you will be picking up the tab for your wife’s travel. So start looking at sites such as http://www.travelblogger.info and reviewing the travel prices that they provide. By researching early you have the opportunity to cut some significant costs from your bill.

Make sure that the spouse is in the car rental agreement and insured. If your wife is like mine she is not going to be happy cooped up in a hotel while you are in facilities all day. She is going to want to get out and about during the day. Checking this minor point will save you loads of time and aggravation. The final item of concern is your dining tab. Be exceedingly careful and research your corporate policy closely on this one. Typically you will be allowed to pick-up the room breakfast on the corporate account for the wife. However, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to expense out her lunch and dinner meals. As a matter of fact, I have seen one gentleman dismissed on this account. Now he had other issues, but this is the corporate policy that he broke that achieved the pink slip.

So, in short, you need to research where you are traveling too, you need to research when you are going to be traveling, and you need to look in depth at your corporate travel policies and don’t assume anything. Corporations have been in business for many years and most of the expense details are spelled out clearly in their guidelines. Where there is headway ask your supervisor and they should be able to inform you of exactly what will and will not be allowed to pass on your expense report.