honeymoon Archives - Page 9 of 19

Amalfi Dreamin’

August 2, 2017 by Ann Petronio Leave a Comment

Is there any place more romantic and relaxing than Italy’s Amalfi Coast? I’m not sure, but after reading this trip report from honeymooners Meg and Henry, I’m ready to pack my bags and go!

Hi Ann!

We had an amazing honeymoon! Thank you so much for helping us set it all up.

I think it was really nice to have a few relaxing days in Gaeta to recover from the craziness of the wedding. The hotel (Grand Hotel le Rocce) was beautiful, clean and had a fantastic small private sandy beach set several steps down the cliff-side. It was nice having the rental car for this part of the trip, we were able to take the short drive into the little city of Gaeta, do some sight seeing and explore some restaurants and bars. We got down to Sorrento and dropped the car off without issues, we ended up taking the ~35min taxi to Positano from there (~65 euro).

Positano was awesome. Hotel Posa Posa was adorable and they were extremely friendly. They ended up giving us a free upgraded room with a balcony once they found out it was our honeymoon. We hit up Fornillo beach a couple of days there, all the way down the many stairs that start right outside Posa Posa, we enjoyed this beach much better than the Main Beach. Our favorite Restaurant for dinner in Positano was Ristorante Max. It was a little more expensive, but a great experience. We did our boat cruise that my bridesmaids got us, through the company Amalfi Sails. This was an amazing private day trip to and around Capri and up the Amalfi coast, allowed us to do some swimming off the boat and lunch on Capri before heading back to Positano.

Praiano was also great! Hotel Pellegrino was very nice, clean, and updated. What made this hotel stand out was the hospitality from its owner Luigi, he was so welcoming and gave it a nice small family run business feel. He also made an amazing breakfast each morning! We enjoyed walking down the many steps to Gavitella beach. It was definitely more quiet of a town, and without one town center but a string of shops/restaurants closer to the hotel Pellegrino as well some cute seaside restaurants by the main Marina di Praia Beach.

Likely our favorite thing we did was the day trip to Le Vigne di Raito. Fabrizio was great for the transfer ( i think next time we would save some money by taking the ferry from Positano to Salerno then taxi to the vineyard, and taxi/transfer from the vineyard back to the hotel). We had a blast walking through the Vineyard and learning about the wine-making process, then had an amazing 4 course lunch with plenty of wine tasting at the top with a beautiful view! We brought some delicious wine from there home with us.

The trip up to Rome was easy with the transfer/train ride. Hotel Siena was small, but clean and updated and in a great central location. Our Vatican and Colosseum tours were great! I think if we did it again we would only have spent two nights in Rome. The transfer to airport was smooth as well.

Thanks again Ann! Let us know if you have any other specific questions we can answer for you.

Best,

Meg and Henry

Easy, Breezy Italy

January 27, 2017 by Ann Petronio Leave a Comment

Loved, loved, loved receiving this feedback from Jaime and Matt! Not just because they had such a fabulous time in Italy, but because it was the little touches (great guides, fabulous and reliable drivers, pre-arranged train tickets, and helpful concierges) that made such an impression on them. Anyone can plan a trip to Italy, but a true travel professional knows how to make it all seamless so that you can just relax and enjoy the ride 🙂

Hi Ann!

We can’t thank you enough for your amazing planning expertise. Our trip was wonderful and your itinerary made it so easy. I could have seen us making some mistakes with language barriers and perhaps booking trains and maybe making an error so we both agreed it felt so nice to have a professional take care of all the arrangements so we could just relax and enjoy!! Not to mention the hotels were amazing and in great locations.

I’ll start with Aer Lingus… really nice flight, the red eye on the way there was a bit difficult. I was a zombie pretty much the first day but we did push through as you recommended and I was fine the next day. On the way back, Aer Lingus was a bit hard to find in the airport in Venice but we also arrived 3 hours early so we had to wait for them to set up their check in. That could be a bit confusing for people if they arrive early like we did… also Aer Lingus seemed to share check in space with Jet Blue. The flight back was much better as we got back around 8 pm from Boston and it was really 2 am for us so we were able to go right to sleep and then wake up this morning being fully rested and ready to go to work. It was helpful that we cleared security in Dublin and when we made it back to Boston we were already done. It was nice you gave us a heads-up because that could potentially be a bit confusing it seemed like we had to go through twice.

Our driver who met us at the airport in Rome was wonderful and awaited us with a sign with our names. Made it super easy and nice to have someone waiting. He even bought us a cappuccino since our driver was running a few minutes behind schedule but our driver was amazing! So helpful, informative and spoke great English… I would definitely use Rome Cabs again!

River Palace was awesome! The people at the desk were so helpful and informative. They gave us a complimentary bottle of wine. The hotel was in a great location. We felt very safe and were able to walk to sites. The concierge provided a map and circled places of interest, called cabs, and were just generally friendly and helpful. It really felt like a little home for the few days we were there. I loved all the detail you provided on the itinerary about local city tax and credit card for incidentals… etc… just helped us know what to expect. The concierge also confirmed our tours for us!

We loved our tour guide for our Colosseum tour. His name was Gigi he was so passionate about the information and very funny! The only thing I would say about this tour is again we arrived very early to the meeting place and were a little worried because it wasn’t an office it was just a park, but as soon as it got closer to the time of the tour we saw plenty of people also waiting, i think initially we just weren’t sure we were in the right place.

Our Vatican tour was also really great, we liked that the meeting place was in an office and we actually showed up right on time for this one so we were very lucky it was easy to find!

Next we set off for the Naples train station. We were happy you shared to be vigilant. We didn’t run into any problems but we did witness a man take advantage of some ladies traveling alone. He grabbed their luggage despite their protest and took the bags on the train, then he stood there until they gave him some money and when they gave him one euro he was not happy and let them know it!! Just another heads-up story for people about the train station. He wasn’t in uniform but wore clothes very similar to one and was sort of an imposter, asking to see people’s tickets to try to confuse them into thinking that he was an employee and then grabbed their bags and demanded tips.

Next we met our absolute favorite driver!! His name was Carmine and he was just the sweetest! He was practically giving us a tour on our drive and was super friendly! The only thing was we thought we could pay by credit card and he said it was cash only so we were just happy we had enough…

Posa Posa was a great hotel in Positano. It was more basic and more beachy feeling with a tile floor and just basic furniture, did not have a luxury feel like the Rome hotel but we were happy with the mix. Plus, the balcony was amazing! We literally woke up to a view of the sea, it had a table and chairs out there so we were able to sit and drink wine and relax!! That was our same view for the breakfast each morning as well! The people working at this hotel were also very nice and helpful with anything we needed. It was a great location. A few restaurants in Positano that we greatly recommend are di Vincenzo’s, Constantinos, and a very cool experience where you get taken to a place without a menu and they serve you a 6 course meal for 40 euros made by “mama” called La Tagliata. We hiked the Path of the Gods while we were there and took a boat to Capri which we recommend. Our driver back to Naples was also very nice, (he knows you) Fabrizio.

The trains that you booked were fast and easy. We loved not having to purchase tickets and just having to hand them to the staff!!!

Our Florence hotel was amazing!!! So swanky haha… the breakfast was quite impressive!! They hooked us up with some champs, and aperitivo, when we arrived. I think if we had to do it all over again, we would have done one more night to explore more in Florence and one less night in Venice, just our personal preference.

The only time we “messed up” was we didn’t realize you booked our rental car pick up at 10 am and we didn’t show up until 12-1. It didn’t end up being an issue. We picked up the car and put it in a lot so we could spend a few more hours exploring Florence before driving out into the countryside.

The next part of the trip was probably our favorite!!! We absolutely loved Radda in Chianti! The view from our room in our hotel looked like a back drop or a painting!!! We absolutely loved this hotel and Linda our favorite receptionist. She sent us to 3 wineries, one a small family run and two others, one was a castle, and one an old monastery. We did not expect so much history on our wine tasting tour but it was so interesting!! The mom and pop winery gave us a free tour and tasting and of course we bought some amazing wine! But it was pretty cool to have a private tour and see how the wine is made, and a private tasting as well!!!! We also drove to check out San Gimignano and Siena — very cool to explore. Returning the car was very easy and the car came with a gps which made navigation a breeze.

Our least favorite part of our trip was Venice. It’s very cool to see because it’s unique, but we just loved the other places so much more. The hotel there was just ok compared to the others as well as the concierge and location. We had been so spoiled though to be honest… we got off the train and found the water bus without a problem… it was only 7 euro each for a one way, and only took about 45 minutes, plus the boat ride was pretty cool. We did the same on the way back to the airport, all the people at the waterbus ticket stations spoke English and were able to explain exactly what to do to catch the waterbus back to the airport. It was only 15 euro each and took about 1 hour and 30 minutes as opposed to 30 minutes with a private taxi. We were happy to save a few bucks here and it worked out with our flight times so we didn’t mind that it took a bit longer. We didn’t really feel like we even needed too much time in Venice as we were kind of spent on seeing churches and sites and just wanted to chill at this point.

The only other thing we wished was that we gave ourselves a bit more spending money in our overall budget because we did end up spending twice as much as we thought we would. We never skipped wine at dinner and always had more than one course haha… plus we shopped a bit to bring back wine and leather 😬

Overall we felt like our itinerary was a great mix of adventure, relaxation, sight seeing, and learning/ touring. Italy is our new favorite place and we absolutely want to return!!! The people were great, food amazing, views incredible, wine delicious, and just overall history and culture so interesting and impressive.

Thank you so much for your time and attention to detail with planning this trip. We kept mentioning how incredible it was that after only meeting once, we felt like you completely got our vision and nailed it!! We loved that you yourself have used some of the vendors on your own trips! We will definitely be calling you as soon as we save up for our next trip and send our friends your way!!

With gratitude,

Jaime and Matt

All the right ingredients

August 25, 2016 by Ann Petronio Leave a Comment

Choosing the right honeymoon destination can be difficult…especially when you have to take into account special needs, like a serious food allergy. When I met with these lovebirds, we quickly focused in on all-inclusive resorts, in English-speaking destinations (no risk of mis-translating a menu), with lots of restaurants to choose from, and plenty of hand-holding from attentive staff (can’t get much better than a dedicated butler!) From the post-trip email I just received, it sounds like we made the right choice. Sandals La Toc in Saint Lucia had all the right ingredients for the perfect honeymoon 🙂

Ann,

We are SO sorry we have taken so long to get back to you – it’s been quite the whirlwind getting back to the real world! But, we’d love to share our thoughts about the honeymoon.

First of all, thank you so much for all your help. We absolutely loved our honeymoon. Sandals Regency La Toc ended up being the perfect place for us in every way. Our room was wonderful – very spacious and comfortable, and remarkably quiet. We were so impressed by the lack of noise from neighbors, which led to us feeling like we had a much more private bungalow, rather than a room in a block. Also, we were indeed upgraded to a room with a sunset view, and WOW was it amazing! Every night, we had the most spectacular sunset view from any window in our room, as well as the balcony.

The resort itself ended up being a perfect fit for us. We spent most of our time in the Sunset Bluff area. We loved the pool up there and preferred it to the main pool (much quieter and less crowded). We also rented cabanas twice on the beach, which was such a special, wonderful treat. We thought the landscaping was beautiful, and we loved the hilly nature of the property. It made it feel quite spacious and quaint all at the same time. We also liked that there were a variety of ages, from newlyweds in their 20s to older couples in their 60s and up. We weren’t really sure what to expect in that arena, but we felt very comfortable right in the mix with everyone else. We did notice that the Sunset Bluff area skewed a bit older, which we liked, whereas the main resort area had many more young couples.

As for the food at La Toc, our favorite restaurant far and away was Armando’s. We found the food to be phenomenal and on par with some of the best Italian food we’ve had elsewhere. We really enjoyed the rest of the restaurants as well, but none of them compared to Armando’s in our opinion. The main buffet was spectacular for breakfast, though we didn’t visit it for any other meal. Also, I felt like my food allergies were handled as well as, if not better than, they would have been in the US, which made me very happy!

We were really glad we chose to have butler service, though we did experience a little bit of nervousness about how to best handle tipping. We ended up having 4 different butlers throughout the week, and we never were sure when we would see someone for the last time, or when it would be appropriate to tip them. We saw other guests tipping per service (as in, cash in hand for a ride down the hill), but we weren’t really prepared to do that nor did we want to carry cash around all week. We ended up giving envelopes for all our butlers to our final butler at the end of the week (some advice we received from another couple who were Sandals pros), but it left us wondering if we would have received more attentive service had we been tipping throughout. We had one stellar butler (Tana), and the rest were pretty mediocre, and we weren’t sure if we would have had more responsive service had we been tipping throughout the week. I think, should we go back to a Sandals, we would probably come better equipped to tip throughout if needed.

While we were there, we did visit both Halcyon and the Grande and were really glad we did! We totally understood what you said about Halcyon having the more traditional Caribbean vibe. It was so relaxed, and everyone was congregating in the middle at night, even swimming at night in the middle of a torrential downpour. We loved eating at Kelly’s and visiting, though we were glad we stayed at La Toc in the end (we enjoyed having a little more space from the main entertainment area than would have been possible at Halcyon). The Grande was amazing – we had no idea how glitzy it would feel in comparison to La Toc! We didn’t spend too much time there, but we really loved eating at Gordon’s, and we definitely would consider returning to the Grande at some point for a visit. That said, we still really felt great about our decision to stay at La Toc. It felt more secluded and quiet than the other two, which really was the perfect speed for us.

We didn’t do any excursions because we were so tired, but we would consider them on a return trip. We just stayed by the pool and beach and were very happy. It really was a wonderful honeymoon, and we would love to have the chance to go back to the Caribbean sometime. If we were to go back to St. Lucia (which was stunning and beautiful!), we would probably try to split our time between La Toc and the Grande in terms of a stay. We’d be curious to try out the Grande, but would definitely want to go back to the Sunset Bluff area of La Toc.

Thank you again for all your help – it was a magical, wonderful vacation!

– S&J

A “delicious” honeymoon on the Spice Island

May 25, 2016 by Ann Petronio Leave a Comment

Honeymooners Kyle and Keith just returned from a romantic honeymoon at the newest of Sandals’ fifteen couples-only all-inclusive Caribbean resorts — the Sandals LaSource Grenada. The island is not the easiest to get to, but the resort is well worth the effort, as you can see from their trip report 🙂

Hi Ann –

Words cannot describe how grateful we are for your advice in helping us choose the perfect honeymoon! Grenada was absolutely amazing!!! The resort was beautiful and the service was amazing from start to finish. Upon arrival we were treated like royalty and that feeling never left.

They started by checking us in separately from everyone else on our shuttle, by bringing us to the Club Sandals room for a cocktail and to meet our butlers Hassan and Jaime. Hassan then brought us to our room to complete the check in process, which took maybe 10 minutes. They had champagne, a cheese plate, and fruit waiting for us. We took a look around the room and realized they had upgraded us to a rondaval suite- complete with our own patio, hot tub, and private pool!! The room was absolutely amazing and the perfect retreat for us.

I will say that Grenada is about as hot as it gets for us. The sun was scorching, so much so that even the natives were saying how unbelievably hot it was for the time of year. The beach was perfect for us, though some said it was small. We thought it was a great size, and never overcrowded. The butlers reserved loungers for us each day with a cooler of water on ice for us. We didn’t go to the pools, as we had our own in the room, and why travel so far to just sit by the pool. We returned to a clean room each day, with a fully restocked bar and fridge, and each day the butlers brought us some kind of afternoon snack. One day they drew us a bubble bath with roses all around, another they had breakfast set up for us on the patio.

We ate at every single restaurant. The food was simply amazing- the best of any all-inclusive we have ever been to. I would say the French, Hibachi, and Italian were our favorites, but you honestly couldn’t go wrong with any of it. The butlers made all of our reservations for us and gave us our schedule at the beginning of the week, met us at the room each night to escort us to our tables, and made sure our first drinks were at our seats before we went. Everything was as fresh as it gets, and this was the first trip that neither of us ended up with any stomach issues at all. The service was impeccable, and we couldn’t have asked for better.

The resort was fairly quiet, there were things to do each night from trivia to dance parties, to casino night and a chocolate banquet and beach party, but if you chose not to do those things our room seemed to be far away from everything and not noisy at all.

We only left the resort once to go on the sunset cruise- which also happened to be the only time it downpoured. They were great with transporting us, and the cruise was great- though Keith said if it hadn’t been free for us- we would have been disappointed. We spoke to other couples who did some of the other excursions, and one loved the jeep tour, the other thought that the half day shopping and tour excursion was kind of a waste, but loved the driving your own scuba tour.

Honestly, this was a trip that will be hard to top for us, between the service and the resort itself. It was unbelievable and more than what we could have imagined!!

So grateful to you and for you. We never would have taken this trip without you and the memories we made will be with us forever!

Kyle and Keith