60 Hotel Reviews

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{Editor's Note: Happy Thanksgiving to our USA readers and friends! Thank YOU for traveling at 37,000ft and on the ground with Trip Styler!}

Every time we stay at a hotel, we review it on Trip Advisor. Think of it like Friday's Roam+Board, but with the nitty gritty.

Here's an excerpt from last January about why we review hotels: "It’s always nice to know if a friend or someone you trust liked or disliked a hotel you’re thinking of visiting. This way, you know if it’s worth the visit, mirrors your preferred trip style, or is on-par with the perceived value you’re seeking."

{Trip Styler Tip :: Trip Advisor is an excellent travel resource, but take everything with a grain of salt. I usually skim 10 - 20+ reviews to get a good feel for a property and glean from traveler insight. Focus on the reviews that are more balanced than ranty, compare traveler pictures with the hotel's website pictures and pay attention to the reviewer's stats and stays. For example, if a reviewer has only written about one stay or even one type of stay---ie all 5* or all 3*---it's probably best to read other remarks as well.}

In a few days Trip Styler will be turning two years old. During this time we've reviewed 60 hotels, and over the next two weeks we'll be adding the Viceroy Palm Springs, the Ace NYC, the Marriott Aruba and the Fairmont Dallas to the mix as well.

Our reviews represent every trip style from camping in Tofino, BC to glamping in Kenya, and a budget-conscious 3* stay in Bellevue, WA to a luxury 5*+ stay at a property Oprah visited in Australia. Not only do we write about varying your trip style, we live it too!

You can always find an updated list of our hotel reviews from Seattle to Sydney by hovering over Destinations in the navigation bar above and clicking on Trip Styler Hotel Reviews.

[photo taken by @tripstyler on Heron Island, Australia]

The ABCs :: Bonaire {Spotlight}

[trip style = sun + beach + budget conscious + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note: After a short and sweet intro a few weeks ago, this is the third installment in a four-part series about the ABC islands. Last stop Aruba, today Bonaire, and next up Curacao.}

Wading through knee-deep water the colour of a sparkling sapphire and aquamarine jewel, I decide to order a beer from the beach bar and take a seat on the ocean floor. Covered shoulder-high in seawater the temperature of a hot tub, I sip my beer and spot a pink streak in the sky. It's not a bird or a plane; it's a flock of 30 flamingos!

Seriously? The bartender then offers “yep, it happens like clockwork almost every night at 6pm.” Welcome to Bonaire, a diver’s and windsurfer’s paradise where those seeking an active & adventure and low-key trip style go for it in the day and relax at night.

Over wahoo fish with roasted vegetables and polenta, people linger at dinner recounting the day’s wind intensity, turtle sightings and beach breaks. At the end of the evening you don’t hear thumping and bumping beats like other islands---it’s not the time nor the place. It never is on Bonaire.

The island's main visitors are blond, tanned and sleek-bodied Dutch arriving in daily droves by way of a KLM wide-body jet. Yet Bonaire is a place where locals---Arubans and Curacaoans---go to get away from it all as well. My taxi driver in Aruba mentioned she'd just returned. “It’s quiet, less busy,” she recounted with a smile.

I guess the secret’s out; locals and internationals must have heard about the flocks of flamingos, jewel-toned water and schools of fish in the water below.

Eat The island's sport enthusiasts make dinner a big event in Kralendijk, the island's oceanfront capital. Order nachos at City Cafe and experience the local tradition of pouring sweet chili sauce on top of the cheese! For an all-appy menu, eat in a historic, open-air enclave at Appetite! Under the shade of a tree and a cool beach breeze, fuel up with a traditional brunch at Sorobon Beach Resort's restaurant. A bronzed gentleman sporting a terrycloth sweatband around his head serenades guests on his electronic keyboard with classical favorites.

Do Swim through schools of fish while diving just off the shore at one of 87 official dive spots. Learn to windsurf and ride like the wind at The Windsurf Place, located in Lac Bay, a 1.8-mile salt water lagoon with knee- to waist-deep warm water!

Stay Stay at Sorobon Beach Resort. Clustered around the only natural white sand beach on the island, Sorobon is a casual, tropical hideaway with 30 clay-roofed and whitewashed cottages. We just featured Sorobon in our weekly Roam+Board feature---see pictures and details here!

Getting There Insel Air and DAE fly to Bonaire daily from Curacao. If you depart from Aruba, you’ll need to transfer in Curacao.

Related Spotlight :: Aruba Spotlight :: Curacao Roam+Board :: Sorobon Beach Resort {Bonaire} Roam+Board :: Kura Hulanda {Curacao} ABCs {An Intro} Jetset Jingles :: The Caribbean

[Windsurfing photo by Kontiki Beach Resort and all remaining photos by @tripstyler, taken in Bonaire two weeks ago]

Tech Tuesday :: Travelzoo

[trip style = budget conscious] I'm sure you get the emails. Travelzoo sends their Top 20 travel and entertainment deals email every Wednesday to 24 million people worldwide. Obviously they're doing something right. And now there's an app for that.

The app is easy to navigate and less cluttered than the website. In fact, I'd rather use the app. In it, find the week's Top 20, local deals, deals in other cities and additional categories like sun vacations, last minute, Europe, hotels, entertainment and more.

If you're more into visuals than lists, check out the deal map and photo mosaic to find your next destination and trip style.

Once you've chosen the right trip fit, purchase the deal from the comfort of your own phone!

{Trip Styler Side Note :: I'm going to NYC this weekend with my sister/Trip Styler's Fashion Friday contributor. Thanks to a fateful Top 20 this summer, we booked the Ace Hotel NYC for US Thanksgiving weekend at a ridiculously low rate of $99/night. Most hotels of this caliber are $300+/night.}

PS - Like the Groupon or LivingSocial apps, you can sign-in to view and use your Travelzoo local deals. Budget conscious travelers should also consult Travelzoo's app or website to find 'local' destination deals for restaurants, lounges, experiences or spas!

More Tech Tuesday Fotopedia Hipmunk Gets Organized Urban Dig City Guide Travelstormer {Group Travel Planning} Virtual Shopping Get A Callback Google Flight Search Hotel Tonight Getting There Direct

[image via itunes]

7 Hotel Room Upgrade Strategies

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{Editor's Note: On the third Monday of every month we feature an updated and re-imagined version of a popular archive. This month's was published Nov. 10, 2010 and proved a hot topic with multiple shares and retweets.}

Ocean view or garden view? Base room or suite? Penthouse or poolside cabana? When we check into a hotel we imagine there'd be approximately five room categories, yet from a hotel or resort point of view, there can be 20+ categories with discrepancies as small as a tree partially blocking the view, the floor's height or the breadth of bathroom amenities provided.

Because we all like an upgrade, and most front desk staff have a little upgrade wiggle room, here are 7 tips to help you secure a higher room category without paying for it!

7 Upgrade Strategies Call Ahead - Calling ahead is a triple threat. A) it confirms your reservation, B) it introduces you to the hotel, and C) it gives you an opportunity to make any special requests in advance so the hotel isn’t scrambling to accommodate the day you check in.

Look Nice - Simply put, play the part. Hotel room assignments beyond your initially booked category are subjective---at the mercy of the staff member checking you in and occupancy rates. Hotels want the floors with nicer rooms filled with people who ‘look the part,’ so do the ‘math’ for them.

Arrive Early - Even though your room *may* not be ready until the standard 3pm check-in time, ‘get in there’ an hour or two before room roulette begins as the masses check in!

Ask Without Asking - Rather than straight-out asking for an upgrade, ask the front desk agent about their favourite room, or if the room they are putting you into is nice. Reason being, sometimes a room might not be a higher category, but it's has a neat feature, peek-a-boo view or the like!

Loyalty - If you are part of the hotel's loyalty program, provide your number {and remind them of your status} at check-in. Even with a loyalty program membership, sometimes check-in staff don’t see the full snapshot of your loyalty or recent activity at sister hotels, so gently remind them of your allegiance.

Room77 - Earlier this year we wrote about an app that provides tips on the best rooms to request at US hotels. Just before you check in, consult the Room77 app for last-minute insight.

If All Else Fails - There are lots of times I haven’t been upgraded. Usually it doesn’t bother me, but if you get to your room and die a little inside, say something! Put on your PR hat, take your bags to the font desk and ask for different room. Usually the hotel will oblige if they aren’t fully booked, especially if you provide a good reason.

Related Content  It Never Hurts to Ask :: Speaking up in your travels

[photo by @tripstyler taken in an upgraded room in Aruba]

Roam+Board :: Parker Palm Springs

[trip style = sun + luxury]

{Editor's Note: I chose this property as the first of two stays this week with the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism and it is Trip Styler approved! I will definitely be returning.}

What Harkening back to the Palm Springs Hollywood hideaway era, the Parker is a place of privacy and intrigue. Purposefully unnamed photo shoots and 70's rockers are lost in the grounds away from the public eye. And that was just yesterday. Palm trees towering above guide the way through curvy trails and quaffed, yet bushy foliage. Select openings reveal  grassy clearings with butterfly chairs surrounding a fire pit, a rope hammock {large enough for deux} hanging between twin palms and a chic lemonade stand beside the pool.

When you first arrive at the resort, a dramatic wall of white concrete geometric blocks leads to a grand entrance with tall orange doors. Very Jonathan Adler, the hotel's designer with a penchant for bold, playful, geometric and clashy. Everything is done well with extras like Hermès soap and a plastic access card designed with an antique bronze key and gold ribbon loop.

The Parker is a property that balances the almost impossible task of offering a no-stone-unturned stay with a sense of unfinished business, making first-time guests repeat offenders!

Where Palm Springs, California. Ten minutes away from the airport and three minutes outside of town.

When Any.time.of.year. Weekends are busy with LA's escape and recording artists, but nab a spot in the front row by booking in advance. Winter is popular with Jr. snowbirds and there's a select few who love a spring fling. Locals say the summer is unbearable, but if you can stand the heat and pool time is your only mission, accept it.

Who/Why You are a hat and sunglasses type who is only "seen" when you want to be. Your perfect afternoon is spent playing pétanque {bocci} and sipping spiked lemonade, followed by a rousing game of croquet. At night, lounge beside a circular mid-century mod indoor fire {all that's missing is the sunken living room} with a gin martini---shaken, not stirred.

Cost From approximately $200/night in the off-season, with a mandatory $30/room/night resort fee which includes wifi throughout the hotel, valet parking, gym, steam, sauna, local calls, sparkling water and a morning coffee wake-up call.

{Trip Styler Tip :: If you go to the hotel's spa {PSYC}, ask about the whisky, vodka or gin pre-treatment shot. Follow it up by brunch at Norma's.}

More Roam+Board Sorobon Beach Resort – Bonaire Kura Hulanda – Curacao Hotel Kakslauttanen – Finland The Met – Vancouver Custom Hotel – LAX Bitter End Yacht Club – BVI Sleep On The Water – London A Woodsy Hideaway – Big Sur, CA

[photos by @tripstyler]