Aug 27, 2008
In September and October, high-quality all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico are nearly giving away their rooms (and meals)
Some indication of the impact upon tropical resorts resulting from a) the current economic slowdown, b) the increase in airfares to the tropics, and c) the severe reduction in the number of flights there, is found in the panicky deals that several fairly-elegant all-inclusive hotels are currently offering for stays in September and October (the fact that these are also hurricane-prone periods is also a reason).
It might be claimed that living in these resorts at certain times of the year, and enjoying their entirely all-inclusive arrangements (all three meals daily, snacks, and unlimited drinks) is sometimes cheaper than living at home. As support, consider the following offers from two tropical chains:
Allegro and Occidental's (www.occidentalhotels.com) all-inclusive resorts are throwing their big annual sale, bookable by August 31. The cheapest of the bunch are pasted below, per person per night, with all meals and drinks thrown in, double occupancy, for stays in all of September and October:
Allegro Playa Dorada, Dominican Republic: starting from $59
Allegro Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico: from $71
Allegro Cozumel, Mexico: from $87
Allegro Playacar, Mexico: from $88
Allegro Papagayo, Costa Rica: from $83
Occcidental Grand Punta Cana, Dominical Republic: from $84
Occcidental Grand Xcaret, Mexico: from $88
Occcidental Grand Cozumel, Mexico: from $108
And that's only for starters. BookIt.com (www.bookit.com) is currently selling all-inclusive nights in Cancún at the Park Royal for 50% off, or $79 a night. And lots of other deals are priced at $79 or $89 all-inclusive (Iberostar Cozumel, Grand Sunset Princess on the Maya Riviera, are examples). Also, Sandos Hotels & Resorts, also on the Maya Riviera, is charging $68 for all-inclusive arrangements, per person per night, double occupancy.
Since most readers of this blog are undoubtedly career-conscious people who can't just stray off from their jobs in autumn (when things get busy), I'm not sure the above information will be of interest. But who knows?
Write and read comments about this post.
It might be claimed that living in these resorts at certain times of the year, and enjoying their entirely all-inclusive arrangements (all three meals daily, snacks, and unlimited drinks) is sometimes cheaper than living at home. As support, consider the following offers from two tropical chains:
Allegro and Occidental's (www.occidentalhotels.com) all-inclusive resorts are throwing their big annual sale, bookable by August 31. The cheapest of the bunch are pasted below, per person per night, with all meals and drinks thrown in, double occupancy, for stays in all of September and October:
Allegro Playa Dorada, Dominican Republic: starting from $59
Allegro Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico: from $71
Allegro Cozumel, Mexico: from $87
Allegro Playacar, Mexico: from $88
Allegro Papagayo, Costa Rica: from $83
Occcidental Grand Punta Cana, Dominical Republic: from $84
Occcidental Grand Xcaret, Mexico: from $88
Occcidental Grand Cozumel, Mexico: from $108
And that's only for starters. BookIt.com (www.bookit.com) is currently selling all-inclusive nights in Cancún at the Park Royal for 50% off, or $79 a night. And lots of other deals are priced at $79 or $89 all-inclusive (Iberostar Cozumel, Grand Sunset Princess on the Maya Riviera, are examples). Also, Sandos Hotels & Resorts, also on the Maya Riviera, is charging $68 for all-inclusive arrangements, per person per night, double occupancy.
Since most readers of this blog are undoubtedly career-conscious people who can't just stray off from their jobs in autumn (when things get busy), I'm not sure the above information will be of interest. But who knows?
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: caribbean, deals, mexico
May 14, 2008
The Caribbean and coastal Mexico have become the least expensive destinations for a comfortable vacation this summer
I've been spending some time looking at the various air-and-land packages to Mexico and the Caribbean in July and August -- and they are dramatic. The cheapest, high-quality, destinations for Americans today are in those tropical areas. If you haven't yet made your summer plans, you might now want to scan the offerings of Vacation Travel Mart of Miami (www.vacmart.com) and the similar site of CheapCaribbean.com (www.cheapcaribbean.com). You might also want to go to Apple Vacations (www.applevacations.com) for more examples.
It has taken some time for increases in the cost of fuel to be fully incorporated into the summer packages. Until recently, they weren't prominently featured in advertised prices, but suddenly cropped up in the form of independent fuel surcharges when you booked the package. Now they're in the basic price, which has therefore gone up by about $150 per person over the levels that were advertised about a month or two ago.
But even with those increases, the cost of a Caribbean vacation this summer remains one of the great bargains. Going simply to Vacation Travel Mart, a seven-night stay at La Romana on the south coast of the Dominican Republic, at the attractive, beachfront, Oasis Canoa Beach Hotel, including round-trip air from Miami, lodgings for the full week, all three meals a day (supplemented by a late-night snack for a total of four meals daily), unlimited drinks and beverages, sea sports and entertainment, comes to $924 per person, with children staying and eating for free. Add about $100 for flights from most other cities.
That $924 is less than what you'd pay for round-trip airfare alone to most of Europe in the months of July and August this year. The Caribbean has become dramatically cheaper for the vacationer who simply wants a comfortable week or two weeks of relaxation this summer. Bear in mind that most of the packages described in websites like that of Vacation Travel Mart or Cheap Caribbean are all-inclusive, covering every one of your basic expenses.
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It has taken some time for increases in the cost of fuel to be fully incorporated into the summer packages. Until recently, they weren't prominently featured in advertised prices, but suddenly cropped up in the form of independent fuel surcharges when you booked the package. Now they're in the basic price, which has therefore gone up by about $150 per person over the levels that were advertised about a month or two ago.
But even with those increases, the cost of a Caribbean vacation this summer remains one of the great bargains. Going simply to Vacation Travel Mart, a seven-night stay at La Romana on the south coast of the Dominican Republic, at the attractive, beachfront, Oasis Canoa Beach Hotel, including round-trip air from Miami, lodgings for the full week, all three meals a day (supplemented by a late-night snack for a total of four meals daily), unlimited drinks and beverages, sea sports and entertainment, comes to $924 per person, with children staying and eating for free. Add about $100 for flights from most other cities.
That $924 is less than what you'd pay for round-trip airfare alone to most of Europe in the months of July and August this year. The Caribbean has become dramatically cheaper for the vacationer who simply wants a comfortable week or two weeks of relaxation this summer. Bear in mind that most of the packages described in websites like that of Vacation Travel Mart or Cheap Caribbean are all-inclusive, covering every one of your basic expenses.
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Mar 24, 2008
Barbados and the Maya Riviera are the two current hot spots in the Caribbean
It's interesting to note that the top travel bargains currently advertised in the newspaper travel sections include not a single package to Europe, even though low-season airfares are still partly in effect over the Atlantic. Rather, the Sunday newspapers are full of offers to the Caribbean, whose most dramatic travel bargain -- available from most major tour operators to the Caribbean -- is a one-week stay in Barbados for only $369, including round-trip air from the northeast.
Close runners-up are air-and-land packages to the Maya Riviera, that stretch of Mexico's Caribbean Coast that lies immediately south of Cancún. It has seen so much new hotel construction in the past several months that hotel rooms are widely available at breathtaking low rates.
For an interesting cultural adventure at low cost, you might consider treating yourself to Barbados or the Maya Riviera in April or May.
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Close runners-up are air-and-land packages to the Maya Riviera, that stretch of Mexico's Caribbean Coast that lies immediately south of Cancún. It has seen so much new hotel construction in the past several months that hotel rooms are widely available at breathtaking low rates.
For an interesting cultural adventure at low cost, you might consider treating yourself to Barbados or the Maya Riviera in April or May.
Write and read comments about this post.
Mar 19, 2008
In the month of April and afterwards, remarkable vacation bargains are available in Cancún and the adjoining Mayan Riviera
Puzzled by the pricing of Vacation Travel Mart's (tel. 800/288-1435; www.vacmart.com) air-and-land packages to the Caribbean, I placed a call last week to its president, Jacques Abitan. "Are you aware," I asked, "that you are charging the same for a five-day stay in Cancún as for the Dominican Republic?"
"Of course," he answered. And he proceeded to tell me about a collapse in prices in the Cancún area because of the immense amount of recent hotel construction. In the Mayan Riviera (the stretch of Caribbean coast immediately south of Cancún), some 4,000 new rooms opened in the two-month period of November-December of 2007 alone. And there are now some 40,000 rooms in the "hotel zone" of Cancún itself. You can hear a podcast of my interview with Jacques Abitan at the opening of the first hour of March 16's Travel Show, at www.wor710.com (click on "Weekend Programming").
Because the hotel/resorts of Mexico's Caribbean coast are giving discounts to tour operators of 40%, 50% and even 60%, the package values are tremendous indeed; they result in prices identical to those charged for air-and-land packages to that longtime champion of bargain vacations, the Dominican Republic.
And it gets better. According to Jacques Abitan (a veteran of many years of tour operation to the tropics), the radical, low-cost fares to the Caribbean of upstarts JetBlue and Spirit Airlines have wrecked the normal airfare price structure and forced American, United, Northwest and Continental to cut their own fares to many Caribbean locations. Because of that -- again according to Jacques Abitan -- tour operators are sometimes enjoying lower fares to the Caribbean from New York, Chicago and Detroit than from Miami!
Contact them and you'll find air-and-land offers for a five-day stay at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico (and the Dominican Republic), including round-trip airfare from Miami and all three meals daily, for as little as $587 per person (and just a tiny bit more from northern cities). Those rates will dip further in April (an off-season month in a year when Easter occurs so early). You'll find similar stays at a new super-deluxe hotel (the Valentin) on Mexico's Caribbean coast, again including airfare and all three meals daily, for $1,000. In a travel world where Europe has become the expensive destination, the Caribbean is now the cost-conscious place to go.
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"Of course," he answered. And he proceeded to tell me about a collapse in prices in the Cancún area because of the immense amount of recent hotel construction. In the Mayan Riviera (the stretch of Caribbean coast immediately south of Cancún), some 4,000 new rooms opened in the two-month period of November-December of 2007 alone. And there are now some 40,000 rooms in the "hotel zone" of Cancún itself. You can hear a podcast of my interview with Jacques Abitan at the opening of the first hour of March 16's Travel Show, at www.wor710.com (click on "Weekend Programming").
Because the hotel/resorts of Mexico's Caribbean coast are giving discounts to tour operators of 40%, 50% and even 60%, the package values are tremendous indeed; they result in prices identical to those charged for air-and-land packages to that longtime champion of bargain vacations, the Dominican Republic.
And it gets better. According to Jacques Abitan (a veteran of many years of tour operation to the tropics), the radical, low-cost fares to the Caribbean of upstarts JetBlue and Spirit Airlines have wrecked the normal airfare price structure and forced American, United, Northwest and Continental to cut their own fares to many Caribbean locations. Because of that -- again according to Jacques Abitan -- tour operators are sometimes enjoying lower fares to the Caribbean from New York, Chicago and Detroit than from Miami!
Contact them and you'll find air-and-land offers for a five-day stay at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico (and the Dominican Republic), including round-trip airfare from Miami and all three meals daily, for as little as $587 per person (and just a tiny bit more from northern cities). Those rates will dip further in April (an off-season month in a year when Easter occurs so early). You'll find similar stays at a new super-deluxe hotel (the Valentin) on Mexico's Caribbean coast, again including airfare and all three meals daily, for $1,000. In a travel world where Europe has become the expensive destination, the Caribbean is now the cost-conscious place to go.
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Jan 24, 2008
Where in the tropics can you avoid the peak-winter crowds? I have two suggestions
We are approaching February and March, the two most heavily-booked months in winter travel to Central America and Mexico. Most destinations in the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico will be jam-packed at costly rates -- except for two:
The Mexican State of Nayarit, an hour or so north of Puerto Vallarta, on the Pacific Coast, is an up-and-coming beach area that is as yet unknown to most Americans. I wrote about it several months ago, and again commend it to you. Its peak-winter rates will be far below the levels charged elsewhere on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, and its unspoiled towns and villages will be a delight to visit. San Blas, Guayabitos, and Nuevo Vallarta, are the towns to choose, and the most casual search will turn up major winter bargains.
And then there's the Honduras location for scuba-diving and snorkeling that's been overshadowed to date by the thriving Roatan, in the Bay Islands of that nation. The island of Utila is currently like Roatan used to be, and is frequently recommended by connoisseurs of scuba locations. Go to AboutUtila.com (www.aboututila.com), click on various houses and apartments for rent, and you'll be agreeably surprised by the bargains available to you in this smallest and least developed of the Bay Islands of Honduras.
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The Mexican State of Nayarit, an hour or so north of Puerto Vallarta, on the Pacific Coast, is an up-and-coming beach area that is as yet unknown to most Americans. I wrote about it several months ago, and again commend it to you. Its peak-winter rates will be far below the levels charged elsewhere on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, and its unspoiled towns and villages will be a delight to visit. San Blas, Guayabitos, and Nuevo Vallarta, are the towns to choose, and the most casual search will turn up major winter bargains.
And then there's the Honduras location for scuba-diving and snorkeling that's been overshadowed to date by the thriving Roatan, in the Bay Islands of that nation. The island of Utila is currently like Roatan used to be, and is frequently recommended by connoisseurs of scuba locations. Go to AboutUtila.com (www.aboututila.com), click on various houses and apartments for rent, and you'll be agreeably surprised by the bargains available to you in this smallest and least developed of the Bay Islands of Honduras.
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Jan 8, 2008
The Mexican equivalent to Maho Bay is a somewhat similar tented community on the Mayan Riviera
I'm a sucker for a Caribbean tent. On my very first visit to those tropics, emerging from the plane into 90-plus degrees, I asked myself: "Why am I staying at a hotel? Why doesn't some entrepreneur place tents, or simply scatter cots, along a beach (and maybe hang a canvas awning over the cots to protect from rain)? With heat like this, why do I have to spend big money for a hotel?"The first person to take advantage of those natural conditions was Stanley Selengut, who proceeded to construct simple, cheap, canvas-sided "huts" alongside a hill overlooking the sea on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Maho Bay, as it's called, has been a stunning success ever since.
Another such canvas-sided colony -- called "Cesiak," for Centro Ecologica Sian Ka'an -- has just come to my attention, thanks to a reader of this blog. This time, your lodgings are simple tents placed atop wooden platforms facing the sea, in the midst of a gigantic (1.3 million acres) "biosphere reserve" (protected area) of the Mexican Caribbean, alongside the so-called Mayan Riviera near Tulum. A tent accommodating two persons costs $90 a night ($45 a person) during high season (mid-January to the end of April) -- and that's a good price for the winter Caribbean. As Cesiak describes its tents, "they offer spectacular views from their private patios as well as plenty of shade and cooling breezes. Raised on platforms to allow ecological and hyrological processes to continue, the spacious tents come fully furnished. Shared bathrooms are always clean and also have stunning views over water."
I haven't been there myself (I have vacationed at Maho Bay), but a look at the illustrations in the organization's website -- www.cesiak.org -- should give you the confidence to try what may be a promising new discovery off Mexico's Caribbean coast.
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Jan 3, 2008
Though everyone is glibly referring to the "Mayan Riviera," what exactly is it?
What exactly is the Mayan Riviera, asks a reader? Strictly as a matter of geography, it's Mexico's stretch of Caribbean coastline starting just below Cancún and proceeding southward to Tulum. But in terms of substance, it is one of the world's fastest-growing resort hotspots, ranging from enormous all-inclusives (both moderately and exorbitantly priced) to exclusive and secluded boutique properties.
Cheaper digs are found in the main town of this "Riviera," which is bustling, nightlife-filled Playa del Carmen. There, options include both funky, inexpensive little inns and pricier hipster hotels (there's also Puerto Morelos, a smaller, more laid-back town closer to Cancún).
The beaches along this coast aren't its main draw -- if you want to get wet, it'll most likely be in a pool -- but there's a full panoply of fun activities, including famous eco-parks such as Aktun Chen, Tres Ríos, and the glitzier Xel-Ha and Xcaret (where you can snorkel among many other things).
The giant inland area -- the Yucatán Peninsula -- is more important than that strip of beach. What makes it special are its many ancient, awesome ruins of the sophisticated Maya civilization -- the observatory, ballplaying court and stepped pyramids of Chichén Itzá are the most famous, but there are numerous other ruins both on the coast and inland (Uxmal, Palenque, Cobá, Ek Balam, and Tulum, with its spectacular seaside setting. You can overnight at lodgings near most of them, but they're also doable in day trips from the Maya Riviera, Cancún, and the Spanish-colonial-flavored capital of the Yucatan, Mérida.
Another very atmospheric lodging option is the network of inns occupying restored haciendas (colonial-era estates) in the interior, such as Xcanatún, Yaxcopoil, and Ketanchel.
Packagers covering the Yucatan include Pleasant Holidays (tel. 800/742-9244; www.pleasantholidays.com) and Trek America (tel. 800/873-5872; www.trekamerica.com),but you can also fly there yourself via Cancún (with the most direct flights from the U.S. and Canada, on many carriers) or Mérida (via Mexico City); there's regular bus service throughout the peninsula and driving is fairly easy.
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Cheaper digs are found in the main town of this "Riviera," which is bustling, nightlife-filled Playa del Carmen. There, options include both funky, inexpensive little inns and pricier hipster hotels (there's also Puerto Morelos, a smaller, more laid-back town closer to Cancún).
The beaches along this coast aren't its main draw -- if you want to get wet, it'll most likely be in a pool -- but there's a full panoply of fun activities, including famous eco-parks such as Aktun Chen, Tres Ríos, and the glitzier Xel-Ha and Xcaret (where you can snorkel among many other things).
The giant inland area -- the Yucatán Peninsula -- is more important than that strip of beach. What makes it special are its many ancient, awesome ruins of the sophisticated Maya civilization -- the observatory, ballplaying court and stepped pyramids of Chichén Itzá are the most famous, but there are numerous other ruins both on the coast and inland (Uxmal, Palenque, Cobá, Ek Balam, and Tulum, with its spectacular seaside setting. You can overnight at lodgings near most of them, but they're also doable in day trips from the Maya Riviera, Cancún, and the Spanish-colonial-flavored capital of the Yucatan, Mérida.
Another very atmospheric lodging option is the network of inns occupying restored haciendas (colonial-era estates) in the interior, such as Xcanatún, Yaxcopoil, and Ketanchel.
Packagers covering the Yucatan include Pleasant Holidays (tel. 800/742-9244; www.pleasantholidays.com) and Trek America (tel. 800/873-5872; www.trekamerica.com),but you can also fly there yourself via Cancún (with the most direct flights from the U.S. and Canada, on many carriers) or Mérida (via Mexico City); there's regular bus service throughout the peninsula and driving is fairly easy.
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Labels: cancun, mexico, yucatan
Dec 20, 2007
For inter-generational travel, the newly-reopened Club Med Ixtapa is a top choice; it's also excellent for parents traveling with very young children
Several years ago on a trip to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, I had a look at the Club Med Ixtapa (tel. 888/WEB-CLUB; www.clubmed.us)and was tremendously impressed by the unusual mix of people it served. There were vacationers of all ages (20-somethings to middle-aged and elderly people) all dining exuberantly at the same tables, and there were a substantial percentage of families staying there with young children. It was unusual at that time to find a Club Med that wasn't dominated by singles in their 20s and 30s.
Now I have nothing against the Club Meds catering to the 20 and 30-year-old set; they are perhaps the predominant clientele of Club Med, and all power to them. But for older vacationers, and for families, it was exciting to find a Club Med that permitted them to enjoy all the classic pleasures and policies of a Club Med without feeling out of place. And it was fascinating to find a resort where all the generational differences seemed unimportant.
The Club Med Ixtapa has apparently been closed for renovations for some time now, and has undergone a major renovation (its physical setting, high above an excellent beach, is as good as you'd want). It will reopen on December 22, 2007 with 80-or-so functioning rooms for families, and will then bring on an additional 250-some-odd rooms in March 2008. Apparently, it will again cater to people of all ages and to families, even those with children barely older than a year.
If you're in one of those categories, you'll want to know that there's now a classic Club Med just for you.
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Now I have nothing against the Club Meds catering to the 20 and 30-year-old set; they are perhaps the predominant clientele of Club Med, and all power to them. But for older vacationers, and for families, it was exciting to find a Club Med that permitted them to enjoy all the classic pleasures and policies of a Club Med without feeling out of place. And it was fascinating to find a resort where all the generational differences seemed unimportant.
The Club Med Ixtapa has apparently been closed for renovations for some time now, and has undergone a major renovation (its physical setting, high above an excellent beach, is as good as you'd want). It will reopen on December 22, 2007 with 80-or-so functioning rooms for families, and will then bring on an additional 250-some-odd rooms in March 2008. Apparently, it will again cater to people of all ages and to families, even those with children barely older than a year.
If you're in one of those categories, you'll want to know that there's now a classic Club Med just for you.
Write and read comments about this post.
Nov 14, 2007
For a highly comfortable, safe, cheap and interesting vacation in Mexico, consider a condo in the heart of Puerto Vallarta or Playa del Carmen
If you're still reeling from news of the plummeting value of the U.S. dollar against the Euro and the British Pound, replenish your high spirits with thoughts of Mexico. The dollar still does quite well south of the border, and every week brings news of remarkable vacations there.
At a recent conference in Panama, I met Sarah Booth, a perky young American woman who regaled me with talk of condo vacations in the big Mexican resort cities. Condos? They rarely existed in Mexico in previous years, and developers seemingly knew nothing except hotels. But that's all changed, and futuristic, balcony-equipped, high-rise apartment houses are springing up immediately alongside the beach in the very center of key Mexican resort cities. And Sarah Booth, an American, has built a thriving business by acting as a rental agent for Americans looking for a short-term (as little as a week, but more often two-to-four weeks) vacation rental.
Her websites are three: www.stayinmexicocondos.com, www.stayinpv.com, and www.stayinpdc.com. There you'll find enticing photos of the condos she represents, all in busy seaside areas dotted with restaurants, shops -- and groceries (where you can pick up the ingredients for your own home-cooked meals). Her condos are either one or two-bedrooms, with full kitchen and living room, plus other features depending on the specific property, and rates in high season (like January through April) average $700 a week for a one-bedroom condo (that's per condo, not per person) and $1100 a week for a two-bedroom condo (large enough to house four). You book by sending an e-mail to Sarah.
A condo in Mexico is a new kind of vacation, that doesn't involve the relative solitude of a vacation home rental; you're in a large, modern apartment house with a lobby staff and numerous neighbors. And you can't beat the rates, which reflect the continued strength of the U.S. dollar against the Mexican peso.
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At a recent conference in Panama, I met Sarah Booth, a perky young American woman who regaled me with talk of condo vacations in the big Mexican resort cities. Condos? They rarely existed in Mexico in previous years, and developers seemingly knew nothing except hotels. But that's all changed, and futuristic, balcony-equipped, high-rise apartment houses are springing up immediately alongside the beach in the very center of key Mexican resort cities. And Sarah Booth, an American, has built a thriving business by acting as a rental agent for Americans looking for a short-term (as little as a week, but more often two-to-four weeks) vacation rental.
Her websites are three: www.stayinmexicocondos.com, www.stayinpv.com, and www.stayinpdc.com. There you'll find enticing photos of the condos she represents, all in busy seaside areas dotted with restaurants, shops -- and groceries (where you can pick up the ingredients for your own home-cooked meals). Her condos are either one or two-bedrooms, with full kitchen and living room, plus other features depending on the specific property, and rates in high season (like January through April) average $700 a week for a one-bedroom condo (that's per condo, not per person) and $1100 a week for a two-bedroom condo (large enough to house four). You book by sending an e-mail to Sarah.
A condo in Mexico is a new kind of vacation, that doesn't involve the relative solitude of a vacation home rental; you're in a large, modern apartment house with a lobby staff and numerous neighbors. And you can't beat the rates, which reflect the continued strength of the U.S. dollar against the Mexican peso.
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Labels: accommodations, mexico
Nov 9, 2007
You won't have to worry about the plunge in the value of the U.S. dollar if you vacation on islands whose currency is tied to the greenback
As the dollar continues its plunge against the Euro and the British Pound, an occasional astute travel writer is advising winter trips to destinations where the currency is the U.S. Dollar itself -- or tied to the Dollar. David Swanson expounds on this strategy in a recent travel article in the Chicago Tribune about Caribbean and Atlantic getaways for this coming winter season.
That list of places where the U.S. Dollar remains in use includes, of course, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Panama, and a number of islands where the local currency is effectively tied to the greenback: the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, the Bahamas, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire).
However, the entire Caribbean does not present such a rosy exchange rate. Remember that many islands have currencies tied to the Euro (currently trading at $1.44), which means sticker shock still applies on such islands as Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Barts, and, in an odd case, the French-associated St. Martin half of that island (as a member of the Netherlands Antilles, the other St. Maarten half of this divided island uses a currency tied to the U.S. dollar).
The Tribune article goes into fair detail on taking advantage of this currency parity for travel to such attractive places as Tobago, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico's Playa del Carmen.
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That list of places where the U.S. Dollar remains in use includes, of course, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Panama, and a number of islands where the local currency is effectively tied to the greenback: the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, the Bahamas, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire).
However, the entire Caribbean does not present such a rosy exchange rate. Remember that many islands have currencies tied to the Euro (currently trading at $1.44), which means sticker shock still applies on such islands as Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Barts, and, in an odd case, the French-associated St. Martin half of that island (as a member of the Netherlands Antilles, the other St. Maarten half of this divided island uses a currency tied to the U.S. dollar).
The Tribune article goes into fair detail on taking advantage of this currency parity for travel to such attractive places as Tobago, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico's Playa del Carmen.
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Labels: caribbean, mexico, money
Oct 12, 2007
If you're a "Mexicophile," you'll want to consult a blog meant just for you
There's a new name in the blogosphere for anyone who loves Mexico, Mexico Premier (www.mexicopremiere.com). This is not your standard "I love [insert name of destination], don't you?" fan-boy blog. The posts on Mexico Premiere come from a group of professional, award-winning travel journalists who have long specialized in Mexico.
It's only five months old, but already packed with a little bit of everything: travel tips, tourism briefs on major cities and regions, articles on upcoming festivals and medical tourism, reports on low-cost airlines and new resort hotels, dissertations on Mexican cuisine, and the latest news on everything from hurricane damage to local politics that might affect your travel. There are also sections aimed at ex-pats (and wannabes) on politics, arts and culture, and real estate.
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It's only five months old, but already packed with a little bit of everything: travel tips, tourism briefs on major cities and regions, articles on upcoming festivals and medical tourism, reports on low-cost airlines and new resort hotels, dissertations on Mexican cuisine, and the latest news on everything from hurricane damage to local politics that might affect your travel. There are also sections aimed at ex-pats (and wannabes) on politics, arts and culture, and real estate.
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Sep 21, 2007
This site is an ultra-valuable introduction to glorious small hotels of the Costa Maya
Let's say you love Mexico but you hate the overdeveloped Mexican resorts. Let's assume you're yearning for a Mexican beach vacation but without the crowds. Let's suggest that Mexico's island of Cancún is fairly close to your own home city, enjoying a low airfare, but that you're dismayed by the thought of all that commercialism, of those endless ranks of motionless tourists sacked out on canvas chairs.
What do you do? You opt to vacation on the "Mayan Riviera" south of Cancún (but reached by flying to Cancún) in a charming, small Mexican hotel operated by a Mexican family. Or in an equally tiny Mexican villa perched on its own beach. And you find that low-cost lodging with your name on it by consulting a Mexican website called www.locogringo.com. It's a world's wonder.
LocoGringo is an indispensable array of low-cost houses, bungalows, casitas, small hotels and resorts -- more than a hundred of them -- located up and down the sugar-soft sands of Mexico's Caribbean coast (the Riviera Maya) just south of Cancún. Most are low-cost and human-sized, and so beautifully illustrated in color photos that you will have a good idea of what you're renting. Spend a few minutes at the site and you'll end up scheduling a trip to a beachside area of Mexico that hasn't yet been ruined by the excesses of tourism.
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What do you do? You opt to vacation on the "Mayan Riviera" south of Cancún (but reached by flying to Cancún) in a charming, small Mexican hotel operated by a Mexican family. Or in an equally tiny Mexican villa perched on its own beach. And you find that low-cost lodging with your name on it by consulting a Mexican website called www.locogringo.com. It's a world's wonder.
LocoGringo is an indispensable array of low-cost houses, bungalows, casitas, small hotels and resorts -- more than a hundred of them -- located up and down the sugar-soft sands of Mexico's Caribbean coast (the Riviera Maya) just south of Cancún. Most are low-cost and human-sized, and so beautifully illustrated in color photos that you will have a good idea of what you're renting. Spend a few minutes at the site and you'll end up scheduling a trip to a beachside area of Mexico that hasn't yet been ruined by the excesses of tourism.
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Aug 27, 2007
Discouraged about the high cost of travel to Europe? Why not substitute Mexico?
In sharp contrast to the rise of the Euro and the British Pound against our Dollar, the currency of our southern neighbor has narrowly fluctuated between a rate of 10 and 11 pesos to the dollar for the past two years. That means our money hasn't sunk in value at all.The culture of Mexico is remarkably rich and diverse, attracting tourists with powerful lures of art, music, dance, history, archaeology, and community activities. The south and east have secluded beaches, the center has countless colonial towns renowned for their cuisine, and both its coasts are dotted with high-rise resort getaways. It has always amazed me that people are willing to fly halfway around the world to some countries but completely ignore the wonders of tropical Mexico, whose people are friendly, sophisticated, and welcoming to tourism. If you haven't yet been there, you are missing a lot.
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Labels: mexico
Jun 27, 2007
My own mini-guide to an under-visited Mexican city
Perfectly preserved, its rooftops uniform in style and color, it has the visual impact of a Florence, a Siena, and it is infinitely easier to reach. Yet Guanajuato -- less than three hours by car from Mexico City -- is rarely visited by the bulk of American tourists, who flock instead to its trendy neighbor and 18th-century counterpart, San Miguel de Allende. Is it because we have no taste for the truly authentic?
Here, a surprisingly-large student population -- 50,000 of them -- is Mexicans steeped in their own culture, and enrolled in an historic university that occupies the most dramatic of neo-Moorish buildings, in the very center of town. Though scattered entrepreneurs have erected makeshift classrooms for the teaching of Spanish to American teenagers, their number is small and doesn't dominate the scene, as sometimes it does in Mexico's better-known colonial towns.
Here, too, are no clusters of tourist restaurants displaying multi-lingual menus. Though there are tourists, they are mainly Mexicans. The dining experience is thoroughly Latin, in quiet patio settings of silence and space, where patrons come to relax and unwind as much as to dine, lingering for at least two hours.
The city's cultural observances are also designed for the Spanish-speaking world. Each weekend through at least half of the year, it presents evenings of entremeses (fast-moving historical vignettes of 15th-century life performed by students and faculty of the university) under the stars (they're enjoyable even to a non-Spanish-speaking visitor). And there are two resplendent opera houses of the nineteenth century, both active, and other well-maintained stages confirming the city's love of concerts, recitals and musical drama.
The city itself is a daytime drama of Spanish colonial life, its residential streets so narrow that you can sometimes touch both sides of the buildings alongside with your outstretched arms. Scattered about the central area are seven tree-shaded and beflowered plazas where people read and converse.
Some isolated attractions of Guanajuato -- apart from the city itself, its churches, theatres and plazas -- include its Museum of Diego Rivera, the artist's birthplace home containing, among other things, his initial sketches for a mural commissioned for Rockefeller Center and removed by the Rockefellers the moment they saw its political content; an imposing central marketplace erected by the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and looking like a giant airplane hangar covering acres of colorful, fresh vegetables priced remarkably cheap; the ghoulish Museum of Mummies, displaying disinterred bodies of ancient people, at which Guanajuantans gaze with utter calm.
Shouldn't you visit Guanajuato? We travelers constantly tell ourselves to pick an "undiscovered destination" for our next vacation. Yet when the time comes, we "blank out" or lose our nerve or, under the pressure of decision, take the easiest route and book the next departure to Cancún. That is the only explanation to date for the relative lack of American tourists in Guanajuato. Get there fast.
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Here, a surprisingly-large student population -- 50,000 of them -- is Mexicans steeped in their own culture, and enrolled in an historic university that occupies the most dramatic of neo-Moorish buildings, in the very center of town. Though scattered entrepreneurs have erected makeshift classrooms for the teaching of Spanish to American teenagers, their number is small and doesn't dominate the scene, as sometimes it does in Mexico's better-known colonial towns.
Here, too, are no clusters of tourist restaurants displaying multi-lingual menus. Though there are tourists, they are mainly Mexicans. The dining experience is thoroughly Latin, in quiet patio settings of silence and space, where patrons come to relax and unwind as much as to dine, lingering for at least two hours.
The city's cultural observances are also designed for the Spanish-speaking world. Each weekend through at least half of the year, it presents evenings of entremeses (fast-moving historical vignettes of 15th-century life performed by students and faculty of the university) under the stars (they're enjoyable even to a non-Spanish-speaking visitor). And there are two resplendent opera houses of the nineteenth century, both active, and other well-maintained stages confirming the city's love of concerts, recitals and musical drama.
The city itself is a daytime drama of Spanish colonial life, its residential streets so narrow that you can sometimes touch both sides of the buildings alongside with your outstretched arms. Scattered about the central area are seven tree-shaded and beflowered plazas where people read and converse.
Some isolated attractions of Guanajuato -- apart from the city itself, its churches, theatres and plazas -- include its Museum of Diego Rivera, the artist's birthplace home containing, among other things, his initial sketches for a mural commissioned for Rockefeller Center and removed by the Rockefellers the moment they saw its political content; an imposing central marketplace erected by the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and looking like a giant airplane hangar covering acres of colorful, fresh vegetables priced remarkably cheap; the ghoulish Museum of Mummies, displaying disinterred bodies of ancient people, at which Guanajuantans gaze with utter calm.
Shouldn't you visit Guanajuato? We travelers constantly tell ourselves to pick an "undiscovered destination" for our next vacation. Yet when the time comes, we "blank out" or lose our nerve or, under the pressure of decision, take the easiest route and book the next departure to Cancún. That is the only explanation to date for the relative lack of American tourists in Guanajuato. Get there fast.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: mexico
Jun 21, 2007
If you're thinking of a vacation on the Pacific coast of Mexico, think Nayarit
We are all aware of the household words in travel -- Acapulco, Monte Carlo, Taormina, Florence, Venice -- and we automatically choose them for our vacations. When we arrive, we find them awash with crowds, inundated by commercial tourism, and thus ruined for the sensitive, intellectually-curious traveler.
More and more, it's important to select the places of which no one else is aware. And the Mexican state of Nayarit, between Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, is just such a place. It has no airport, so you fly into Puerto Vallarta. But from there, you take a public bus ($8 from the bus station in Puerto Vallarta), a self-drive car, or a taxi (be sure to negotiate a $40 price with the driver) to the seaside town of Rincon de Guayabitos about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta. And there you find the Mexico that once was.
Or you go even further north to Chacala, to Platanitos, or San Blas.
Get there quick. Recent travel trade press reports that Gogo Tours has signed a contract with the tourist board of Nayarit to bring that long-neglected place into broad-scale commercial tourism, to "develop it." Ay-yay-yay!
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More and more, it's important to select the places of which no one else is aware. And the Mexican state of Nayarit, between Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, is just such a place. It has no airport, so you fly into Puerto Vallarta. But from there, you take a public bus ($8 from the bus station in Puerto Vallarta), a self-drive car, or a taxi (be sure to negotiate a $40 price with the driver) to the seaside town of Rincon de Guayabitos about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta. And there you find the Mexico that once was.
Or you go even further north to Chacala, to Platanitos, or San Blas.
Get there quick. Recent travel trade press reports that Gogo Tours has signed a contract with the tourist board of Nayarit to bring that long-neglected place into broad-scale commercial tourism, to "develop it." Ay-yay-yay!
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Labels: mexico
Jun 11, 2007
Where can a group vacation cheaply? Try the Yucatan
People write that they are a group of friends, let's say five couples, all wanting to vacation together for 5 to 7 days in some tropical location that will offer something for everyone -- scuba-diving, jungle treks, serious culture -- and at a cost of no more than $900 per person, including air. Where to go? Think: Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula. You can find all sorts of inexpensive home rentals able to accommodate ten, and some of them come with a cook who can reduce the pressure of shopping and preparing meals. The Yucatán also offers a remarkably diverse number of attractions and activities. Remember also to rent a car.
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Labels: groups, mexico, yucatan
Jun 5, 2007
It's Juárez, Mexico, for cheap, well-qualified dentists
Against all the advice of U.S. dentists, Americans who don't have dental insurance are flocking to Mexican border towns, and especially to Juárez, Mexico, for all sorts of dental treatments that are too expensive for them in the States. Juárez is the sister city to El Paso, Texas, and all the big dental clinics in Juárez will send a van to pick you up at your hotel in El Paso and quickly deliver you to a dentist in Juárez. They'll later drive you back to El Paso. Interestingly enough, although a prominent late member of congress (a former dentist) once loudly claimed that using Mexican dentists is dangerous, the U.S. consulate in Juárez actually lists three recommended Mexican dentists on its website, at ciudadjuarez.usconsulate.gov. And each of the dentists recommended has an impressive set of qualifications. It's your decision, of course; but what else can you do if you don't have dental insurance and need an expensive course of treatment?
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Jun 1, 2007
Las Brisas for romance
I am constantly asked to recommend a very special resort hotel in the tropics for young couples on their honeymoon -- and I immediately cite Las Brisas (tel. 800/228-3000), on a mountainside overlooking the Bay of Acapulco in Mexico. Las Brisas is mainly made up of individual, one-room, beautifully furnished villas, each with floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto a small patio in front of which is a small private swimming pool -- a kidney-shaped small swimming pool with lotus blossoms floating atop the warm water in each pool. You awake in the morning and literally roll over into the pool. You also receive use of a pink jeep that can take you to a beach at the bottom of the mountain or to an exquisite restaurant on top that looks out onto the brilliant lights of Acapulco. The resort itself is only moderately expensive, and the best hotel I know for spectacular romance.Add a comment about this post.
May 17, 2007
Bargain of the day: Mayan Riviera
Where: Mayan RivieraWhen: May and June
In May and June, the Mayan Riviera can be visited for as little as $396 including air and four nights' lodging. Fleeing the mobs of over-popular Cancun, you can head to the real Mexico 40 miles down the Yucatan coast at Playa del Carmen, where you'll receive four nights' lodging at the two-star Kinbe Hotel in downtown, 55 yards from the beach, as well as your round-trip air. Mayan ruins in Tulum and Coba are close by. The total price is $396 from Miami, $451 from New York, $496 from Chicago, $368 from Dallas or L.A., but prices don't include airport transfers (another $38).
Contact: tel. 877/7GO-MAYA; www.rivieramaya.com.
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Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
