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An Atlantic City Vacation
Monday, March 19th, 2012 /

Atlantic City is a resort city in New Jersey known for its gambling, conventions and leisure activities. Its location on Absecon Island places it directly on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, making it a major tourist destination. Before embarking on your trip, be sure to take a look at a vacation brochure to see all the city has to offer. It’s sure to be a fun alternative to an Alaska vacation.

History

Atlantic City has a colorful history that dates back to 1853 when the Belloe House was built. As the first hotel in town, it set the standard for the next century of tourist activity. A boardwalk was built in 1870, leading the way for what would become a staple in Atlantic City. By the early 20th century, Atlantic City was booming. It was one of the premiere tourist destinations on the eastern seaboard with a number of hotels bringing in guests from all over the east coast. When Prohibition hit in 1915, another element was brought into Atlantic City: The gangster. With bootleggers at an all-time high, Atlantic City hit its golden era during this period. Gambling and booze were a staple in the back rooms of nightclubs and restaurants. When Prohibition ended in 1933, the city began its slow decline, culminating in several bankruptcies and hotel closures by the 1960s.

Gambling

In 1974, the voters of New Jersey approved a referendum legalizing gambling in Atlantic City. While this didn’t end the decline that had occurred in the city, it did begin to turn things around. Donald Trump and other investors brought in more hotels and tourists in the ‘80s. Boxing became a huge draw, with many of Mike Tyson’s biggest fights happening in Atlantic City. By the dawn of the 21st century, Atlantic City reasserted itself as a major tourist destination. Today, it is second to Las Vegas in casinos, gaming revenue and hotel rooms.

Beachfront

Besides the large number of casinos and gambling houses, Atlantic City features a large beachfront along with its world famous boardwalk. This boardwalk is home to a number of amusement parks, eateries, shopping areas and piers for families and visitors to enjoy. In addition, Atlantic City is home to a large variety of shopping districts and malls. Many of these shopping areas are located inside of the casino resorts, often taking on the theme of the casino it is located in.

Atlantic City is a fantastic place to visit with family or with friends. Whether you want to gamble, enjoy the boardwalk, eat at a fine restaurant or do some shopping, there is plenty for you to do. Be sure to look at your vacation brochure for more information. Instead of an Alaska vacation, why not head to Atlantic City.

Adam is a prolific travel writer, and has been published in over 1000 travel publications

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Staying in New Orleans on Any Budget
Monday, December 05th, 2011 /

New Orleans is a lot of fun. A LOT of fun. For many people who go there, hotel accommodations are not that important because they end up spending very little time in their rooms. For them, it’s the type of place where what you’re doing is much more important than where you’re staying. And this makes a lot of sense. That being said, there’s always something nice about getting a good night’s sleep. With that in mind, here are some great New Orleans Hotels for any budget. It should be noted that for some of the rates listed a Travelocity promo code has been used to get the best price. These coupon codes can be found on the web at sites like Cheapsally.com

Budget: Low
Accommodation: Marquette House Hostel

The Marquette House Hostel in New Orleans offers a clean place to stay for those on a small budget. The hostel is located less than 3 miles from both Bourbon Street and Magazine Street, and offers free parking. Some of the amenities included with your stay are a common room, group kitchen, and luggage storage. Best of all, rooms can typically be found here for as low as $16 a night.

Budget: Medium
Accommodation: St. James Hotel

At $93 a night the St. James Hotel is not exactly cheap, but given the level of quality associated with it, the price is very reasonable. If you choose to stay there, you’ll be close to everything that downtown New Orleans has to offer. The hotel is on Magazine Street, where legendary shopping abounds, and the French Quarter and art districts are only two blocks away. Best of all, it is a very unique property with a lot of history (the first floor rooms are supposedly where the Texas Revolution was originally conceived).

Budget: High
Accommodation: Le Pavillon Hotel

Originally constructed in 1907, Le Pavillon Hotel is considered by those in the city to be an architectural landmark. The outside appearance is quite striking, but walking into the lobby is even more impressive. As you check in, make sure to notice the Parisian woodwork and Italian marble that surround you. The hotel also features amenities like fine dining, a cigar and cocktail lounge, a heated pool, and complimentary wireless internet. Rooms are generally priced between $180-$200.

Budget: Irrelevant
Accommodation: Windsor Court Hotel

Like most major cities, there are a few hotels in New Orleans that are priced higher than the rest, and that come replete with taglines like “world class.” Frankly, many of these hotels in New Orleans (and elsewhere) are really not worth the price, but one notable exception is the Windsor Court Hotel.

Located a block from the warehouse/art district, the Windsor Court hotel offers unrivaled amenities and impeccable service. Rooms come with views of either the Mississippi River or Downtown, and all of them are filled with signature touches like Italian Marble bathrooms, terry robes, and slippers. Guests should also check out the top-level sundeck/heated pool area, where they can unwind with a nice dip while peering out at the New Orleans skyline. The price is not cheap (at least $350 a night), but it is less than other 4+ Star hotels in the area and offers more features (like complimentary Wi-Fi) than competitors.

Stefan Georgi has taken countless trips to New Orleans and absolutely loves it there. He highly recommends using a Travelocity promo code when booking a hotel in the city.

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5 Hot Tips for Saving Money in Disney
Friday, December 02nd, 2011 /

Whether visiting Disney World in Florida or Disneyland in California, it can get expensive. Not only is there the cost of admission into one of these parks, but there is also the cost of food, transportation, lockers for storage, gift shops and more. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to save money while still fulfilling the kids’ dreams at Disney World (or land).

Characters

Disney offers a number of character themed events, which can quickly draw the attention of a young child who favors a specific character. Rather than shelling out money for a character themed event, such as a dinner which can set a family of four back up to $150 or more, make it a point to find that character while in the amusement park.

In fact, Disney often positions their characters near their themed areas at the park. For example, it’s easy to find Ariel from the Little Mermaid, as she’s often at Ariel’s Grotto in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom.

Outside Hotels

Though there are hotels directly inside Disney, they can be costly for large families. This is especially true for families over the size of four members, who will be required to stay in a luxury property or in two rooms, as Disney will not book five people into a single room. Therefore, an easy way to save money is to stay in a hotel outside of Disney itself.

Bring Along Generic Items

Disney often offers certain generic items that children seem to want simply because they’re at Disney. This could include glow sticks or glow necklaces, as well as other basic items. Instead of purchasing these at Disney, consider bringing them along and then having them on-hand for when the child suddenly wants one. This can save a great deal of money, as items such as glow sticks are often easily found at local dollar stores prior to the trip.

Dine Out

Rather than eat while at Disney, go out of the park for lunches and dinners. A large number of restaurants are cheaper than those inside Disney, which can help save a significant amount of money for a family of four. When dining outside of the park, be sure to make reservations; especially if visiting during peak season.

Wait it Out

Make it clear to children that all souvenirs can be purchased at the end of the trip. Tell them to remember what item they want the most and at the end of the trip, the family can go around and everyone can purchase one souvenir. Knowing that there will only be one souvenir per person can help cut down on costs and even reduce nagging, as the child will be concentrated on trying to find that one perfect item to bring home.

Disney can be expensive, but it’s surprisingly easy to save money while visiting. Simple tricks such as seeking out the characters rather than paying for a character dinner, staying in an outside hotel or limiting souvenirs to one per person can help cut costs dramatically.

About the Author: Amiee Croes is a mother of 3 and is always looking for ways to save on vacation while optimizing her family’s experience. She’s an amateur trader and uses www.ufxmarkets.com to trade daily.

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Home of the Brave – Exploring America Miami Vice Style!
Friday, December 02nd, 2011 /

America, the land of the free, the home of the brave.  It has to be one of my favourite travel destinations.  The Grand Canyon, San Diego, Hollywood, the deep South, Las Vegas, Washington DC to name but a few.  For a diverse choice of adventure tours to cover every taste, it has it all.

Miami used to be my fantasy destination. A trip to the land of Crockett and Tubbs in the ‘80s cop series ‘Miami Vice’ was my dream. Never mind the ridiculously high crime rates, with Detectives James Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs to protect the public what could go wrong? Don’t get me started on Jan Hammer’s atmospheric music – remember Crockett’s theme? – and Michael Mann’s sunset scenes. Where else would colour co-ordination and shiny suits take precedence over storylines?  And the bromance! All we could do was sigh and simper.

I discovered recently, much to my chagrin, that both Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges were considered for the iconic role taken by Don Johnson. Sacrilege! Would life ever have been the same without his white linen trousers and sockless loafers combination? Let’s not forget the music either. Stalwarts of the 1980s Phil Collins, Duran Duran, Bryan Adams… er, hang on – there was also Kate Bush, The Police and Tina Turner you’ll be glad to know.

And the voices! What was it with the movie trailer style accents? Grrr, Errr, Arrr – rather like that charmer Christian Bale in the new Batman movies.

Back to the point (yes there was one). If you’re looking at America then the East Coast is a great place to start and where else but New York City?

I have fond memories of a holiday in New York City a few years ago, although I did make the mistake of visiting with a marginally insane relative of mine.  We’ve all got one in our closet but this one escaped.

Look at the evidence.  We spent a whole afternoon in Grand Central Terminal looking for the ‘john’ as the Americans supposedly call it (the toilet to you and me and I have to say I heard nobody refer to it as the ‘john’). He was convinced the murder scene from the film Witness was filmed there – and I’m really not sure it was.

Having sufficiently aroused the interest of the security staff – police carry guns in the States remember – my mad relative then decided to spontaneously re-enact many a famous cop movie scene by running down the ‘up’ escalator shouting ‘Out of my way, I’m coming through’.

As my future flashed before my eyes in a series of ‘free the Nottingham two’ headlines I coyly persuaded two extremely nice policemen that we were gormless English types who were merely lost. The gormless bit was a surprisingly easy achievement.   The very nice gun toting officers of the law kindly redirected us to a ‘more appropriate’ tourist attraction outside the terminal which took the form of a very pretty ‘floral arrangement’.  As we –oohed’ and ‘aahed’ they kept their hands close to their holsters. Crockett and Tubbs they weren’t.

I survived several more days with the insane sharer of my gene pool and returned home relatively unscathed (no pun intended there). You might be interested to know that the aforementioned relation is now a highly respected Executive Headmaster in an affluent part of the South East.… oh yes he is! I’m just grateful he had never watched an episode of Miami Vice. Or that his favourite film wasn’t The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

My only recommendation is that as you think about the range of adventure holidays available consider the range of holiday companions available to you at the same time. Research both with care and select according to strict criteria. Have fun.

kate is an avid traveller for a passion for writing and sharing her experiences from around the world online. America is her all time favourite destination!

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