Party Like It's Your Birthday

[trip style = budget conscious + luxury]

Make it a Practice If you're going away to celebrate a special occasion, or if that occasion falls during your getaway, remember to tell your hotel or resort. Whether you're booking a trip style = budget conscious or trip style = luxury accommodation, you should let the property know what you're celebrating. Most hotels would love to enhance your stay with simple touches, so it's worth emailing or calling them in advance with details.

Speak Up Over the past 10 years, I've learned to speak up when there's a special occasion. 90% of the time, hotels will go the extra mile, providing a little plate of cake or chocolates for a birthday, or champagne or berries for an anniversary.

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams Whether you're staying at a motel or a high-end resort, tell them about your occasion. For example, my husband and I were travelling last month around the time of his birthday. Over a two-night period, we stayed at a simple hotel and then an ultra-luxe resort in Australia's Whitsundays. His birthday fell on the check-out day from one property and the check-in day at the other, so we told each hotel. At the first hotel, my husband simply wrote in a comment field when booking "It's my birthday!" and there was a bottle of champagne waiting for us in the fridge with an accompanying birthday note. At the second resort, I emailed them in advance, and there was another bottle of champagne waiting in the room. Cheers!

They may not always rise to the occasion, but give your hotel {or restaurant} the opportunity to do something nice when you're celebrating a milestone at their property. Over the years, I've been given champagne, wine, fruit plates, signature tea, chocolate, cake, biscotti, etc... Say something---you might even get a room upgrade!

Related It's the Little Things {Special hotel treats} 5 Ways to get the Best Hotel Room It Never Hurts to Ask {Speaking up in your travels}

[photo by @tripstyler]

Summer Vacation Ideas :: Budget

[trip style = budget]

Some people are really good at planning in advance, and others, not so much. I fall somewhere in the middle, though my friends would probably say I'm a planner. This post is for the late-blooming, or aspiring travel planners who want to go away this summer, but haven't gotten around to planning anything!

One of this month's 3-part features is Summer Vacation Ideas. Today we're looking at Trip Style = Budget ideas, next week we'll explore Trip Style = Luxury Summer Escapes, and the following week Trip Style = Weekending to extend your business or personal/family-related trip. Enjoy!

Budget Summer Vacation Ideas trip style = camping By now, serious campers have already reserved the A+ spots at campgrounds for a weekend or two in the 8-10 weeks we have the pleasure of calling summer {in many parts of North America and Europe}. The good news is, the first-come-first-serve or B+ spots are still available for online reservation! If you absolutely cannot handle putting up a tent, why not try a yurt? Some beautiful places to camp near Vancouver are Tofino {Bella Pacifica} and Washington {Deception Pass}. Cost: from $250 for a weekend, including camping fee, food and gas.

trip style = wine touring How could you not want to immerse yourself in cascading rows of fresh grapes and sip wine in an air conditioned tasting room? Venturing to the vines in summer is toasty but tastes so good. There are a multitude of wineries one could do as a day trip around Vancouver or Seattle, or a weekend trip to BC's Okanagan Valley, Washington's Walla Walla Valley, Oregon's Willamette Valley or California's Napa. Cost: from $50 for a day trip to $1000 for a 3-night tour including hotel, food, gas and tastings.

trip style = road trip Ahhh the summer road trip. So many memories---some I'd like to remember and others I'd like to forget {like the year we traveled sans air conditioning.} Nowadays cars have built-in DVDs, satellite radio, dual-zone a/c, cup holders and other doodads to ensure a peaceful journey. So take advantage of summer 2011, and hit the road Jack to uncover off-beat destinations {like the Old Country Market with goats on the roof---no joke---on Vancouver Island} you might miss when flying in and out of major cities. Cost: from $350 for a weekend including hotel, food and gas.

trip style = {desert} sun The desert is overwhelmingly hot in the summer, but if you like heat, frequent dips in the pool and misters, the prices are low!  The winter escape artists have left, leaving hotel and vacation rental availability that would be harder to get or cost-prohibitive in the high season. Case in point, the Colony in Palm Springs is on Jetsetter {travel flash sale website} this week for $115/night. Cost: from $1100 for flight, 3-night hotel, food rental car and gas.

*Where applicable, all cost estimations based on two people and $100/night hotels, modest car rentals and mid-range restaurants.

PS - Aside from our regularly scheduled content, don't miss next month's feature: Off The Beaten Path Escapes!

[images by @heatherlovesit and @tripstyler]

Travel App Tuesday :: livingsocial escapes

[trip style = budget] Within the past six months, livingsocial {a competitor of the group couponing site Groupon} came out with an escapes program. In addition to the daily deals offered on teeth whitening, flower arrangements or gym memberships, livingsocial has expanded their coupons---more accurately described as vouchers---to include packaged getaways to nearby and international locales.

The travel deals, usually available only four days on the app/site before they expire, show all package and property details including pictures, savings, amount of "coupons"  purchased, and days remaining before the offer expires. Though the hotels don't represent a fancy collection of curated properties, some peaked my interest with escapes in:

• Sooke, BC {2-person, two night stay in oceanfront room, daily breakfast, mead and cheese tasting, $218}
• Banff, Alberta {2-person weekend escape, includes rivier rafting and happy hour bevvie credit,$369}
• La Romana, Dominican Republic {2-person, 5-night, all-inclusive, bring 2 kids under 12 for free, $699}
• Mission Beach, Australia {2-person, 2-night stay, bottle of champagne, daily breakfast, $354}

The reason this daily-deal-website-turned-partial-travel-app's escapes are worth mentioning is a) it's interesting to browse discounted local and international escapes, b) there are usually significant add-ons to each stay like breakfast or champagne on arrival, and c) if something catches your eye, share it with three of your friends and get a free stay {or you and your friends each get 25% off}. It's your choice. Bon voyage!

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Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• Free Wifi Finders
• Hail a Taxi
• Groupon
• Travel Apps Nominated for a Webby Award
• Whistler Blackcomb Live

Travel App Tuesday :: Groupon

[trip style = budget conscious] You’ve all heard about Groupon, right? If not, it’s an online social coupon site where companies list their goods and services---from teeth whitening to restaurant discounts---and consumers buy the offers, usually at a substantial discount. Now, there’s an app for that.

Groupon isn’t a travel app, per se, but it can enhance travel in cities where Groupon is present, so we’re going to talk about it.

A few weekends ago my husband and I went up to Whistler. We planned on using a Groupon we purchased to dine at the Rim Rock Cafe. Right before we got into town, we realized we’d forgot our print-out of the Groupon---the receipt you need to present to redeem the offer. But then we had a brain wave: there must be an app for that! Turns out there was. So we logged into the app and saw Groupon purchase history. Once at the restaurant, we applied the Groupon to our meal by clicking on “use this groupon” and showed the waiter our code. It was easy, and we saved paper.

If you’re about to travel, download the Groupon app to see offers for the city you’re about to visit. Groupon even offers hotel packages, so you could save a boatload of money Grouponing while you travel between restaurant, hotel and tourist attraction discounts.

Groupon App Details

• free
• works with iPod Touch, iPad & iPhone, blackberry and android
• a complete list of past and present Groupons
• shows nearby Groupons
• look at today’s Groupons
• select different cities where Groupon is used

— Get more travel tips & updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email, liking us on facebook or following us on twitter. —

Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• Travel Apps Nominated for a Webby Award
• Whistler Blackcomb Live
• Room77
• mileBlaster
• HipMunk

Top 5 Vacation Home Rental Sites

[trip style = budget or lux]

Renting a vacation home—or holiday home as our European friends call it—is an immersive experience. By sheer virtue of staying in a home, villa, condo or flat, you delve into your destination's beat, saying adios to hotel culture and hola to local culture.

I've rented about five vacation homes over the past few years, and it's a trip style I enjoy. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE staying at hotels, but by escaping the destination's hotel bubble, suddenly you're living in someone else's shoes, shopping where they do, eating what they do and doing what they do. That's the beauty of a vacation home; you can live like a local or spend a night or two cooking and doing the things you'd do at home. Your choice. Either way, here are five holiday home rentals sites that should be on your vacation rental radar.

5 Vacation Home Rentals Sites

VRBO
Specialty: From cabins to condos to castles, Vacation Rentals by Owner features more than 150,000 property listings in 100 countries. This for-rent-by-owner pioneer, and one of the most-visited sites in the industry was founded 15 years ago and aquired in 2006 by HomeAway {featured below} and continues to operate as an independent brand.
Regions: Worldwide listings with an American focus {have used and would recommend}

Airbnb
Specialty: Airbnb targets in-the-know, design-conscious folk who are looking for stylish and unique accommodations from private islands to private yachts, and villas to VW vans. Searching for lodging in Paris or on a stationary plane is easy with their collection approach to listing rentals. Grouping like rentals together in collections by theme or location, you can see what you might want to rent from a worldwide or city perspective. Bonus: I love the instant book feature, which practically eliminates the need for a host to manually OK the booking.
Regions: North America, Europe and exotic locales {have not yet used, but look very forward to trying many of their listings, like this off-the-grid house...amazing!}

HomeAway
Specialty: With over 540,000 vacation home rental listings in 120 countries, HomeAway has the world's largest collection of online rental homes. Enough said.
Regions: North America, Caribbean, Europe, South America, Central America, Africa {have not yet tried}

AlluraDirect
Specialty: World-class ski resort-focused vacation rentals specializing in British Columbia, Canada at mountains like Whistler Blackcomb, Sun Peaks and Big White. Speaking from personal experience, this site is the place to book a mountain getaway!
Regions: BC, Canada {have used and would recommend}

OwnerDirect
Specialty: With a largest presence in BC, Owner Direct knows a thing or two about winter and summer West Coast escapes! Headquartered in Kelowna, BC, this Canadian vacation rental company is a leader in matching up owners and renters, as well as last-minute deals.
Regions: BC, Florida, Hawaii and California plus a few other listings worldwide {have used and would recommend}

Bonus: Inspirato
The new kid on the block is a vacation rental site with a twist. Launched this month and created for the luxury market, Inspirato offers exclusive private villa vacations with personalized concierge service at significant discounts in 40+ destinations in Europe, North America and the Caribbean. Deals are viewable to the public, but only members—who pay an initial $9,500 fee and then an ongoing yearly $2,500 fee—can book.

[photo credit: Airbnb]