Barbados Bliss

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Some clients come to me with a firm vision in mind, and others look to me to recommend the right destination/resort/experience for their “escape”.  Sara and Jason considered several different honeymoon ideas before taking my suggestion and booking the Turtle Beach resort in Barbados. Looks like it was a hit!

Hi Ann,

We had an amazing time on our honeymoon in Barbados. So here is the run down on our trip.  We were 20 minutes from landing in Barbados [and had mechanical issues], and they turned the plane around to San Juan.  I think the next time we go, we would definitely fly Jet Blue — better flight times, and Business Class was not that great on American because of their older fleet.

The hotel was amazing, it was recently redone, and we had a new suite. Our suite was tucked away from everything, and ocean front with king size bed.  All we could hear was the ocean from our balcony.  A lot of honeymoon perks, we must have had at least 3 bottles of champagne during the week, chocolate covered strawberries, different desserts in our room each day,  fresh flowers in a vase for the week, turn down service, flowers in the bathroom, and rose petals throughout the room.  We had booked a honeymoon package before we left, and we had a romantic dinner for two on the beach, with a menu we picked out, and we had a hotel concierge that was assigned to us for the week.

With the hotel, when we did check-in there was an issue with our reservation, for some reason it was in two segments and they were going to have us check out and check in to a new room since the second reservation was for two double beds.  We explained it was our honeymoon and the following morning when the manager was in, they took care of it, since it had been very late when we checked in.

The first morning we were there, there was a rep from Destination Management there at 9:30 to meet with us, we had no clue and were very tired from getting into our room at 2:00am.  We needed to give them our return shuttle voucher and wanted to book our tours.  We did not book anything with them, and would suggest people not.  You need to give a cash deposit to them, and can pay the rest the day of with whatever tour company they hook you up with.  We booked our activities through the hotel instead and they had a much better selection and better prices.


We did an all day catamaran snorkel trip with lunch, worth it.  The hotel put together a special adventure for us with a driver to the Harrison’s Cave, Animal Refuge, Botanical Flower Garden lunch at a local Bajan restaurant and a trip to Earth Works. So worth it!  We learned so much and covered most of the island in one day.  The hotel also arranged a driver for us to Mount Gay Rum, for the hour tour.  It was not worth doing the tour with lunch, so we went early, went back to the hotel for lunch and had time to still hang out on the beach.  Our hotel was great for getting us drivers, you set a set fare and they come back for you.  We also had a driver take us to Oistins for the Friday Fish Fry, such an amazing time and so worth it for a really fun night.  We did not do St. Lawrence Gap, about a 15 minute walk from our resort, as it’s not really our thing, it was mostly bars, and our hotel always had entertainment and dancing and the bars were open to 12:30 at the hotel.

Our hotel was really good about making sure you got the island feel for music, food, and culture. You need to make reservations for dinner, which is not an issue, you just do it at breakfast and they have the menus out for the different restaurants. Two restaurants are semi formal and one is formal. We checked out Crystal Cove, their sister property, and it was smaller and not as nice as ours. We also checked out Sandy Lane, which was really not that much nicer than ours. Turtle Beach and Sandy Lane have strong reputations on the island. It was nice to be traveling somewhere where there were no Americans, we met a lot of honeymooners at our resort.  If there were kids, they were in the kids club and you never saw them.  The food was amazing, the pool service was great, they would set up your lounge chair, always came through with drinks, fruit, and popsicles. Captain Sam is in charge of the beach, where you take  your towel card to get fresh towels, and they will set your lounge chair and cabana up for you. There were waves but you can swim, do water sports, and boogie board.  The staff is amazing, they take the time to get to know you, we got so many hugs when we left.

So thank you for putting together an amazing honeymoon, and we will be back at Turtle Beach with children — it was a great place!  You will be hearing from us again!

Thank you!

Bragging rights

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Did you line up to be the first to get your hands on the new iPhone 5?  Are you always the first among your friends to try a new restaurant or see a new movie?  Then why honeymoon at a “been-there, done-that” resort?

Here’s your chance to be right on the cutting edge of honeymoon destinations, with three new romantic all-inclusives opening this year:

  • Couples Resorts, which up until now has operated four fantastic adults-only all-inclusives in Jamaica, is making its first foray off the island and opening a new property in Barbados. This is great news for Couples Resorts fans, who can now try out a different island, and for the growing numbers of couples who are intrigued by Barbados, but have had few good all-inclusive options in that destination. The property that they are taking over is the former Almond Casuarina Beach and, after some renovations and re-branding, they expect to be up and running by May/June of this year.

 

  • Sandals Resorts, which is well known for its couples-only properties in Jamaica, St Lucia, Antigua and the Bahamas, is also expanding to an exciting new destination — Grenada. They’ve purchased the former La Source resort, and are in the process of “Sandalizing” it for a re-opening early this year. With Sandals moving in to this island, you can be fairly certain that air service (which up until now has been a little bit lacking) will increase, and it will become easier for travelers to experience the romance of the “spice island”, as it is known.

 

  • Secrets Resorts, which are among my clients’ favorite options in Cancun and the Mayan Rivieria, is opening a beautiful new property on the west coast of Mexico, called Secrets Puerto Los Cabos. The all-suite, adults-only, beachfront resort is sheduled to open by the end of 2013, so put it on your “radar” for next winter!

A dream honeymoon for “foodies”

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Who says a honeymoon has to include sunshine and palm trees? The only really necessary ingredients for a memorable honeymoon are two people in love …. but a shared interest, hobby or passion makes it even more spectacular. Check out this trip report from clients Tim and Lydia who just returned from a “foodies” dream honeymoon in  Belgium:

Hi Ann,

Everything went wonderfully, and we got back just in time for Hurricane Sandy.  Here are the highlights of the many things we enjoyed while there:

Brussels

The Marivaux Hotel: the interior is modern but elegant and since it’s a former cinema, the meeting rooms are named after famous people from movie history.  The room was very spacious for a city hotel, and was comfortable and clean. Breakfast was excellent as well. From the hotel it was an easy 15-minute walk to Grand Place, the museums, and other sites. We like walking a lot and you get to see the sights that way, but there was also a public transit option for people who didn’t want to walk, or if the weather is bad.

a plate of meats and cheeses and beer in Belgium

In Brussels we went on a beer tour where we got to try eight different beers, as well as some frites and cheese. One of the stops was at a bar in a quaint old historical puppet theater. The guide was very knowledgeable, funny, and gave us some great advice on the do’s and don’ts of Belgian beers. We also have a new favorite Belgian beer – Tripel Karmeliet.

With the rest of our time in Brussels we went to the Renee Magritte museum, followed some of Rick Steves’ self-guided walks, took in some of the Art Nouveau architecture, and the EU Parliamentarium, which was a surprisingly impressive museum on the history of the EU.   We also made sure to eat lots of Belgian food and had waffles, frites, mussels, carbonnade a la flamande, and tried chocolates from as many of the chocolatiers as possible – Neuhaus, Wittamer, and Pierre Marcolini were the favorites.

Dinant/Meuse River Valley

Renting the car to head out to the countryside went very smoothly, though we did take an unintentional scenic detour through an industrial bit of Charleroi.

Dinant is a beautiful town on the Meuse River valley. The town is small and quaint. We stayed at the Hotel Ibis. It was more bare bones than the other hotels we stayed in, but did the job. It’s like the “Ikea” of hotels – lower cost, clean, and modern. The best part was its location, it’s right on the river and we had windows right onto the Meuse River.

Dinant was a wonderful home base for exploring the Wallonian countryside. It’s a little more off the beaten path for English-speaking tourists, so knowing some French definitely helped.  It was a bit off-season, so there wasn’t a lot going on and it felt a bit deserted at times, but it was relaxing. We took in the views from the Citadel above the town had an excellent dinner at the Jardin de Fiorine that had local game – deer, boar, and wild duck!

From Dinant, we visited two Trappist monasteries that produce beer, Chimay and Rochefort. Some advice for others who make look to go there in the future – it was surprisingly difficult to find the visitor center. Do not follow the signs for Chimay, which lead you to the town center, follow the signs for the Scourmont Abbey. Once you are able to find it, Chimay has a visitor center set up where you can pay 6 euros to see a small museum about the beer and the monastery and get a tasting of a Chimay beer that is only available at that site. We also walked around Scourmont Abbey and got to see the grounds, chapel, and even a few of the monks. There is also a restaurant there where you can sit and sample all of the Chimay beer and cheese. In the town of Rochefort we found a local restaurant to taste the Rochefort Trappist beers and a local specialty, the Jambon d’Ardennes. From Dinant, we also went to the Caves of Han, which were absolutely breathtaking and I would recommend them to anyone who goes to that part of the country.

Ghent

In Ghent we stayed at the NH Ghent Belfort.  The hotel was really nice, modern, and right in the middle of the historic part of the city. For our honeymoon, they gave us chocolates and a very nice room with a great view and alcove.

Ghent is a fairly large city with a big university, so there are a lot of great restaurants. The bicyclists are crazier than any I’ve seen, so we were glad not to have the car still with us.  Once again, we used our trusty Rick Steves guide to wander and learn about the historic sites in the city. In Ghent, we went up to the top of the belfry and visited the Design museum.

As with the rest of the cities, the food was excellent. The trendy restaurant area is called Patershol, which was a five-minute walk from the hotel and we ate there all three nights. We had amazing meals at Brasserie ‘t Stropke (the lapin a la flamande was unbelievable) and Casa de las Tapas.

From Ghent we took a day-trip to Bruges. Trains run 3-4 times an hour and take only 25 minutes. In Bruges, we again used our Rick Steves and wandered the historic old town and took a boat ride in the canals. He highly recommends the tour of the brewery De Halve Maan. He did not steer us wrong, even if you’ve been on a lot of brewery tours, this one is absolutely worth it.

We finished our trip with a Guinness in the Dublin airport.

Thank you so much for everything!  We’ve already been referring our friends to you and will definitely get in touch with you again if we are looking to plan another escape!

–          Tim and Lydia

A Wild West Honeymoon

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So many honeymooners overlook the treasures that are right here in our own backyard — beaches, cities, mountains, and more — in favor of more far-flung destinations around the world.  I always find it refreshing when a couple wants to honeymoon right here in the U.S.A. , and I had a great time planning this “Wild West” itinerary for Sarah and James: 

Hi Ann,

Everything was amazing!! Here’s my breakdown on the trip:

Denver– the Curtis Hotel is cutesy but rooms are small, no tub – only a stand up shower – but it’s 1 block from an amazing diner featured on food network that we went to twice and it was sooo amazing, called Sam’s #3 and it’s 2 blocks from the 16th Street Open Mall, which is so much fun to go shopping, enjoy the nightlife, go on a horse carriage ride…

We also went to the Denver Zoo which was about 5 miles away, a $15 cab ride one way, and it was easily the best zoo I’ve been to. And of course the game was amazing!

West Yellowstone– is a tiny little tourist town. The Holiday Inn we stayed at was pretty nice.  The room was really big and it had the spa tub which was cool. The West Yellowstone entrance is a nice start into the park and you can easily make your way to everything in the park if you have enough time. We went into the park 4 days and saw everything and more.

We upgraded our car rental to a Jeep Wrangler and it was the best decision we could have made! You really want something bigger and safer on those crazy winding roads.

We used Yellowstone Safari Company one day for a private tour and it was amazing. I could have never learned or saw as much as we did in that one day even if we had a week ourselves. They have binoculars, and long range scopes, and they bring all the refreshments and lunch. We ended up seeing all the big animals, grizzlies and wolves, coyotes, antelope, elk, buffalo, moose…all because of our guide’s knowledge of where to look for them and the scopes.

Back to the town, its sooo small and there’s not many good dining choices; it’s a more pizza & beer kind of town. The restaurant attached to our Holiday Inn was by far the worst dining experience we had the whole trip. Oh, and most things in town close down early. The best part of West Yellowstone was the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. It’s only $10 for a 2 day pass and you can see saved grizzlies and wolves so close up, it’s really incredible, we loved it and went both days probably for 3 hours each day.

What I didn’t know to expect, and which you could tell someone, is the amount of driving we did. We drove 1,000 miles in 6 days. You’re literally driving around all day in the park, as most of the big sites are 15-20 miles apart from each other.

I feel like going to Yellowstone is seriously life altering- it’s like you never knew any of this kind of stuff still existed and to see it being kept safe is amazing.

Jackson– We stayed at Spring Creek Ranch, which is totally awesome. To get to the main reception building, you go up a two and a half mile driveway, all the way up the mountains, so when you get to your private cabin and walk out onto the deck, the view is incredible.  The cabin was small, cozy and perfect.

They have stables on the ranch and we did a 1 hr horseback ride in the mountains which was amazing. We also had hot stone massages at the spa there which were incredible, definitely a great splurge. 

Jackson City is more populated and more like a little city and has a lot of great fine dining choices. During our time there, they were having their art gallery festivals so we got to see a lot of awesome artwork while walking around the shopping district. Some cool places to visit are the Wort Hotel & Silver Dollar Bar and The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.

Two of our favorite places we ate here were two totally different restaurants: The Bird, which is a small local pub, which serves the most amazing burgers ever. And the Rendezvous Bistro, which was fine dining with a fun menu. We went to Teton Village but it’s mostly for sporting people or if you want to ride the tram up the top of the mountain, but it was pricy and not worth it as it was smokey that day from all the fires.

Thank you so much!

Sarah

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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)