A Fantastic “Family-Moon”

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What do you do when you’re getting married, and want to enjoy a romantic honeymoon afterwards, but you already have a family, and you don’t want to leave your kid(s) behind? Why not plan a two-part getaway, like my clients Brian and Pam!  Part one (the “familymoon”) was a kid-friendly trip to Walt Disney World. Part two (the adults-only “honeymoon”) involved leaving their daughter behind with Grandma and heading off to St. Lucia for a more private celebration. The result?  The whole family was happy!

Hi Ann,

Happy New Year! How are you? I hope this is better (very) late than never:

Our thoughts on Disney:

  • We had a really great time. Isabel loved Disney (no surprise)! We can’t thank you enough for setting us up with the meal plan – HUGE savings! We saved about $90/day in snacks and meals. We made reservations for a Disney Princess Lunch at Cinderella’s Castle and I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone with children who love Disney Princesses. We had to pre-pay and the menu is limited (and expensive – approx. $150 for the three of us including gratuity), but the food was very good and the experience for Isabel was priceless! Additionally, early October is a great time to visit Disney – we hardly waited for any rides (especially at Magic Kingdom). The All Star Movies resort was very nice – I thought we had selected the Toy Story section but we ended up in the 101 Dalmatians section (I don’t know what the difference is). We spent most of our first day at their beautiful pool. We were really pleased with the food court at the hotel as well. The Disney Transportation was very convenient and reliable – until the last day. Our bus back to the airport never came so they hotel had to scramble and find another bus for us (and a few other parties) to ride. It didn’t affect us as we were still more than early enough for our flight to Miami. Overall Disney was an amazing experience!

Our thoughts on St. Lucia and Sandals La Toc:

  • We thought the Island and the resort were beautiful! I definitely recommend a Sandals vacation for any couple as the resort has the right mix of relaxation and fun. We took advantage of the ‘stay at one; play at three’ by spending a beach day at The Grand. The food at all the resorts was very good and our favorite restaurants were La Toc and Kimonos (Japanese hibachi – we ate there twice!), and The Pavilion had a great breakfast buffet every day. We scheduled three excursions; our first was a Sunset Cruise. This was okay – I think Pam liked it more than I did. It was very nice to take a boat ride at sunset, but I thought it was a bit long and not really worth the money ($144 for the two of us). We totally loved our other two excursions! We went zip-lining and took the Soufriere Jeep Discovery Tour (all three through Island Routes). Zip-lining through the rainforest was such a fun experience – neither of us had ever done it before and we can’t wait to do it again! The Jeep Tour was probably my favorite. It was the right mix of fun and education about the Island. We toured the Island’s volcano, stopped for a hot mud bath, and washed off at the Toraille Water Fall. We had lunch at a local eatery with a wonderful view of the Pitons and a banana plantation. We loved Sandals La Toc and St. Lucia and thought it was the perfect choice for our honeymoon!

I’ve attached a few pictures that you can feel free to use on your website. Thanks again for all your help with our trip! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Brian and Pam

An Irish “Escape”

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Take two fun couples, add in a rental car, a handful of B&B vouchers, and a spirit of adventure, and what do you get? One amazing trip to Ireland!

Hi Ann,  

Here is the synopsis of our trip!  Sorry it took me so long!

Day 1 – Dublin – we arrived at 5am, and our room was ready for us around 9am.  After a quick nap and lunch, we wandered around the city, saw Trinity College and the Book of Kells, and then explored the shopping and pubs.   The Hotel  Alexander was very nice, centrally located, and clean and basic.  The breakfast buffet was just ok.  But the front desk staff was great – they gave us maps and recommendations, let us use the front desk computer (because the business center was down), and called to make our first B&B reservation.    

Day 2 – Dublin – Hop on/Hop Off bus.  We set out about 10am, and managed to hit the Guinness Brewery, Jameson Distillery, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and do some wandering around on our own.   Overall, Dublin was not my favorite place.  It was nice, but seemed like just any regular city.  We would return there, as there was plenty of things that we didn’t get to experience.

Day 3 – got the rental car, decided to head north towards Leitrim (where my family comes from).  We picked a random B&B from the book.  Took us about 2.5 hours to drive there.  The northern part of Ireland is absolutely gorgeous… and I think sometimes forgotten.  There is not much there, but the scenery/landscape was worth it for me.  It has an untouched natural beauty to it.    Or first (and favorite) B&B was in Sligo Town.  The TreeTops  B&B was fabulous.  Absolutely immaculate, and the woman owner was soooo friendly and accommodating (and the breakfast was great!).  She even recommended our driving route to Galway and not only referred us to our 2nd B&B, but called to make the reservation for us! 

Day 4&5 – drove from Sligo to Galway.    We stayed 2 nights at the Ross House B&B (which was about at 10-15 minute walk to city center).  Galway was, by far, my favorite city.    The B&B was very nice.  It was situated on  side street between the beach and city center.  I would absolutely recommend it.   Sarah (the owner) was also an amazing cook.    Galway is so fun, young, and friendly! 

Day 5&6 – We drove through the Burren and saw the Cliffs of Moher (AMAZING!).  We stopped at a B&B in Tralee,  (so we wouldn’t have to drive in the dark).   The Glenfort House was basic.  Not quite as clean or friendly as the others, but it did the trick.     ** The 2 best pieces of advice we received about driving around Ireland – 1.  Skip the ring of Kerry if short on time.  We were told the Dingle Peninsula is shorter and more scenic.  Definitely worth it.   And 2.  Take the car ferry from Kilimer to Tarbert (cost about 18 Euro per car) and is only about a 15 minute ferry ride across the River Shannon.  This probably cut several hours off the driving time.  

Day 7&8  Kent House B&B in Cork.   This one was picked at random out of our B&B book as well.  Town house style B&B, that was set up more like at hotel.  Modern décor, in a very old town home.  It was about a 10-15 minute walk to city center. 

Our final day at Dromoland Castle was amazing.  Absolutely perfect ending to the vacation.  The atmosphere, accommodations, and grounds were beautiful.  We took advantage of the complimentary bicycle rentals to tour the entire property – and I’m so glad we did!!   And Matt & Gabby hit some balls at the driving range. 

The weather was great the whole time. We had 2 days of solid pouring rain, but overall, the temperature was mild – about the same as here.  And booking the B&Bs on a day to day basis was FAR less stressful than I thought it would be.   Most of the B&Bs had wifi internet access, which we were able to use through our cell phones.  I have never stayed in a bed & breakfast before, and Ireland just set the bar.  I would absolutely consider it again.   Although, Just a warning that when the B&B book says something is a 5 minute walk to city center, it’s usually closer to 10-15 mins 🙂    But taxis are very easy to get in the bigger towns like Galway, Cork, and Dublin. 

Overall, there is a lot more to Ireland that we would love to see…  but this was a great start, and we can’t wait to go back!!     Thank you sooo much for planning this vacation for us!!!  Everything was wonderful!  

Let me know if you want any additional information!

– Erin

Taste of Tuscany 2012

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I’m thrilled to announce the third annual “group escape” for Annie’s Escapes’ clients, friends and family. This year, we’re teaming up with Chef Kait Roberts from Easy Entertaining, Inc. to jointly host a delicious five-day exploration of the sights, sounds and tastes of Tuscany!

The trip is scheduled for October 7 – 12, 2012 (which conveniently includes the Columbus Day holiday) and the detailed itinerary (and pricing) can be found here. We’ll be basing ourselves in Florence, with day trips to Chianti and Lucca, and will be enjoying some unique tastings and tours, as well as a hands-on cooking class with Chef Kait.  For those who are interested in extending their vacation, we can also help with pre- or post-tour visits to Rome, Venice and more.

The group size is limited to 16 people total, and we expect it to sell out quickly. The land-only price is $1,750 per person (based on double occupancy) and airfare and insurance are additional. If you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible. Call 401-270-4834 or email me at annp@AnniesEscapes.com.

What’s it worth to you?

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I just returned from a five-day conference in Fort Lauderdale, and the hotel arrangements got me thinking about the price (and more importantly the value) of convenience. 

I stayed at the designated conference hotel, directly across the street from the Convention Center, a short walk from all the meetings and events. Some colleagues chose to stay down the street, a good 10-15 minute walk each way. They saved about $30 – $40 a night (which does add up), but they had to plan their day around that walk  —  no running back to the room for a sweater if the meeting room is too cold, or dropping off a heavy bag of brochures/handouts before moving on to the next activity, and if they stuck around to have dinner/drinks with colleagues at the end of the day, they had to walk back alone in the dark afterwards. To me, the convenience of being right on-site more than outweighed the extra cost.

And convenience is even more important when we’re talking about a vacation!  When you’re making a “once in a lifetime” trip to Paris, London or Rome, how important is it to you to be right in the middle of the city, within walking distance of the sights and attractions? If you save $50 – $100 a night by staying on the outskirts, will that make up for having to spend precious vacation time (and money) on public transportation every day? What will you remember in the end – the price of the hotel room or the experience of strolling out your door to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace?

It’s something to think about. And it’s definitely something that a good travel advisor should talk to you about when you’re planning your next trip!

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You provided excellent guidance for us. I appreciated that you really had us think about what was most important to us when we were selecting the right cruise – and not to totally focus on what other people had to say. THANK YOU for helping to make this a memorable trip for our family! It really was a trip of a lifetime!

– Clare and Mark (family cruise to Alaska)

The level of service we experienced was out of this world (and we did NOT make it easy on Ann). We weren’t quite sure where we wanted to go, when we would be able to go, or what “vibe” we were going for. After asking us some key questions (what we liked, didn’t like, why, etc.) Ann helped us narrow down our trip details and planned the honeymoon of our dreams. She helped book some of our excursions, answered some emergency questions while abroad and was always available/willing to help. I think it’s safe to say we won’t be using anyone else for future travel planning – Ann is a rockstar!

– Carli (Italy and Spain)