Cheap FL Airfares + $5/Day Car Rentals = Last Minute Spring Break, 2017
I wrote a few days ago about how travel hackers do Spring Break. I should have mentioned another way we do it: twice! In the post I shared the details of our end of the month trip to Disney. Over the last couple of days I’ve MacGyvered a last minute Spring Break deal so cheap it seemed silly to stay home.
Last Minute Spring Break Details
Airfare sales keep rolling this year- and East Coast fares to Florida under $100/OW are still easy to find. Deal Girl and I are flying down to Tampa for 3,276 Southwest points. Her ticket is free thanks to the Companion Pass. Couple the points with the $4.95 one way car rental home deal for five days ($39 including tax) and transportation is down to the cost of gas.
We’ll have five nights lodging to take care of. For the drive home on I-95 I’ll probably use Club Carlson points- it’s a really handy way to use them. I will try to remember to book my hotel before midnight this time.
Tampa has lots of hotel options on points, but at the last minute some of the best values were sold out. I decided to go with the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, which is downtown but has lovely views, a nature trail, boat rentals and two pools.
At a Category 3 the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay looks like a solid value. For $75 (20% off due to discount gift cards) + 6,000 points we’ll also get club access that covers breakfast and lite dinners. Explorist benefits allow four club stays per year. Another option is to use points outright and ask a Globalist friend to utilize the “guest of honor” benefit on our behalf.
What should we do in Tampa?
I grew up in Southwestern Florida but haven’t spent much time in the Tampa area. We’ll have four days and I’d love some ideas! I know we’ll hit Busch Gardens while we’re there. I’m a fan of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and we had a blast a couple of years ago when we visited.
Deal Girl got a little jealous when she saw the snorkeling video from Puerto Rico so I promised her we’d get in the water. I know the west coast of Florida isn’t the greatest for snorkeling but if you know of any good spots, please share.
6 St. Augustine Hidden Gems For Your Next Visit
On a recent trip to Florida, I dug deeper into six St. Augustine hidden gems. I found that Florida’s oldest colonial city is chock full of special sites. I’m not covering the standard sights St. Augustine is known for in this post. Most know that St. Augustine for the Fountain of Youth and for the Spanish Colonial cathedral and old town. While that part of town certainly deserves a visit, it’s the Gilded Age history that appealed to me most.
Start With an Homage to The Gilded Age King of St. Augustine
Florida wouldn’t be Florida without Henry Flagler, and it all started in St. Augustine. Flagler brought the railroad to St. Augustine, and railroad customers needed somewhere to stay. Flagler satisfied that need with the Ponce de Leon hotel, a Spanish Renaissance marvel. The hotel now serves as the hallmark building of Flagler College.
You can take a tour of the college, but my favorite part of the experience was outside in the courtyard. Imagine my surprise when, at the top of the hour, what I thought were church bells clanged the tune to “Michelle” by the Beatles! The bells’ selections range from the Fab Four to Star Wars. The Flagler College bells “perform” hourly and are not to be missed.
Villa Zorayda: Alhambra Speakeasy?
Henry Flagler gets the credit for bringing tourism to Florida, and with good reason. However, I would argue that Franklin Smith, the mind behind the Villa Zorayda (83 King Street), deserves a place in history as well. Smith, a wealthy Bostonian, built the Alhambra-in-miniature in 1883 as a winter getaway.
Flagler, a friend of Smith’s, observed the Moorish influence and replicated the style in his own Ponce de Leon hotel across the street. The two then inspired other Spanish Renaissance buildings, furthering Flagler’s wish to make St. Augustine a tourism capital.
Imagine Boardwalk Empire dropped onto Seville, Spain and you’ve got an idea of what I found at Villa Zorayda. Historic replicas say more about the replicator than the history, and Villa Zorayda is no exception. Smith loved Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra, which romanticized the Moors, and named the mansion after one of the characters in the novel.
I can’t imagine what the original inhabitants of the Alhambra would have thought of this “homage”, which played fast and loose with their interpretation. For one, the color palate of Tiffany box green, Pepto Bismol pink, and Royal blue would have been very out of place in southern Spain.
And then there’s the uses to which the Villa Zorayda was put. In 1904 it was converted into a private club which featured gambling, dancing and flouting the law during prohibition. There’s even a roulette wheel displayed among a dazzling display of 18th and 19th century Arabian artifacts and other oddities.
I recommend arriving at Villa Zorayda at opening for two reasons. One, you might get a chance, as I did, to spend some time with the curator, James Byles. He brought the building to life as the included audio guide never could. Two, all-day parking is included with museum admission.
Building on the Prohibition Theme
If you would like to recreate the Boardwalk Empire experience, head to the St. Augustine Distillery (112 Riberia Street). While I wasn’t a fan of their rum (it’s aged for less than a year while I prefer older rums), the New World Gin was a hit with Deal Dad. He reported that the taste was much different from a traditional gin such as Bombay Sapphire. The New World Gin featured strong orange notes that Deal Dad deemed great for summertime.
Another fun tasting room is right down the street from Villa Zorayda. The Ancient Olive at 47 King Street pours generous samples of artisan olive oils and vinegars. I took home a cinnamon pear vinegar that is terrific on vanilla ice cream.
The Lightner Museum: Tiffany and Turkish Baths
I could have moved into the Lightner Museum. If you are a fan of marble statuary, stained glass cherubs or are a hotel geek like I am the Lightner Museum (75 King Street) will feel like your Dream House.
Another Flagler Spanish Renaissance revival marvel, the Lightner Museum began life as The Alcazar Hotel (yes, after the Alcazar in Seville, Spain) in 1888. The hotel was state of the art, featuring the world’s largest indoor swimming pool, Turkish baths and a bowling alley. The museum kept the baths in original condition and they are fascinating. They even have a period swimming costume.
Be sure to request the scavenger hunt if you are traveling with kids. The museum brings a Victorian shopping court to life and I saw families searching through the “shops” to complete the hunt. Who am I kidding? I did the scavenger hunt, too.
There’s More to the Lightner Museum Than Artifacts
The Cafe Alcazar is yet another of St. Augustine hidden gems. Tucked into the back of the Lightner Museum, the restaurant occupies space formerly held by the Alcazar Hotel’s swimming pool. A live pianist lured me into the Cafe Alcazar I and am so glad I visited.
I generally have low expectations of museum cafe cuisine. However, The Cafe Alcazar defied expectations with a surprising menu that contains a strong Greek influence. It turns out a Greek family owns the care and brought their ancestors’ recipes to the table. I enjoyed a golden avgolemono soup, the striking color due to a lemon-egg broth. I had never tried the Greek specialty before and now will seek it out.
I’m already planning another visit to St. Augustine hidden gems and would love to hear about your hidden gems. Please share in the comments.
Swimming With Manatees Needs to be on Your Bucket List
Today I want to share an experience with you that is both easy to do and truly unique: swimming with manatees in Crystal River, Florida. Deal Girl and I recently spent a morning with Bird’s Underwater and fell in love with the gentle giants’ antics.
Where on earth is Crystal River?
That was certainly my first question when a reader told me about a swimming with manatees tour during our MacGyvered Spring Break trip to Tampa. Crystal River is about an hour north of Tampa and an hour west of Orlando. Crystal River is home to a number of springs that create prime conditions for manatees.
As the best tours leave at 6:30AM (more in a minute) you’ll want to spend the night in Crystal River. The best points option is probably the Holiday Inn Express just five minutes from the marina. The hotel is new, clean, has friendly service and serves breakfast starting at 6AM- clearly they’re used to early risers. Even better, I was able to submit a successful BRG so our stay was free!
Swimming with Manatees
Once you learn about swimming with manatees you’ll quickly also learn that a number of companies advertise what appears to be the same trip. I contacted Bird’s Underwater due to their experience (being open since 1979) and their emphasis on manatee protection. Bird’s invited us along on a tour to see firsthand what the experience is like.
We went in late April which is not supposed to be “manatee season”. Even so our expert guide Rik easily found two separate pods for us to visit. Bird’s limits groups to 8 or so which makes a HUGE difference- especially in off-season when fewer manatees swim the waters of Crystal River and nearby King’s Bay.
Rik had many decades of experience and knew just where to go and how to instruct us to best appreciate the manatees. The best advice he gave was to let them come to us- and come they did! I always thought manatees were shy- and when they’re bothered they will move in a hurry- but if you don’t seem like a threat they’ll come right up to you.
Not something she’s gonna forget!
I will say that swimming with manatees in off-season meant that in addition to fewer of them being around the water was murkier. I can’t wait to go in the winter when they populate the springs by the hundreds.
Some tips and random thoughts
- Time of day matters! Manatees are most active early in the morning. Fortunately, most humans aren’t so a 6:30AM tour will beat most other tours that start at 7 or 7:30AM. On our way back we came across five boats checking out the same pod. With that many people I’m not sure how you could feel up close like we did.
- Size of the tour matters as well. I wouldn’t go out with more than 10, especially off season when fewer manatees are about.
- The tour was totally kid-friendly, but they should be old enough to follow directions and of course know how to swim.
- Manatees are no longer endangered but should still be treated with respect. If you do you will be rewarded!
- I had no idea how much manatee skin looked like elephant skin until I got within an inch of it.
Have you had a chance to swim with manatees? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.
Busch Gardens Tampa Tips: Under the Radar but Worth the Trip
Lately I’ve seen a number of great deals to Busch Gardens Tampa. $45 Discount tickets are on Daily Getaways and there’s a targeted AMEX offer for $20/$100 online ticket purchase. The timing couldn’t be better to share Busch Gardens Tampa tips as Deal Girl and I were invited to visit just last week.
Our verdict: Busch Gardens Tampa is an antidote for an overdose on Orlando “magic”.
Busch Gardens features all of the requisite items any theme park lover requires: six (!) roller coasters will placate any thrill seeker. Our favorite was Cheetah Hunt, which is over 3/4 mile long and goes from zero to 60 right off the start. I’m also a fan of the classic Congo River Rapids which started off our day with a splash.
We also enjoyed our visit to Sesame Street’s Safari of Fun. Even though Deal Girl is 10 and I’m, well, well over 10 we had a blast climbing through the rope maze. And I’ll neither confirm nor deny that we rode Grover’s Roller Coaster twice in a row…because we could.
However, our favorite part of Busch Gardens didn’t involve any of the rides: the animals stole the show. From the lories who camped on Deal Girl’s head to the joey learning to hop we spent hours enjoying the animal antics. Exotic species appeared around every corner like this white peacock just hanging out with the flamingos.
Busch Gardens is also just plain pretty. The park is thoughtfully laid out so we never felt packed. Topiary hid around every corner.
Busch Gardens Tampa Tips
- Buy your tickets online and print them before you get there. You;’ll not only save money, you’ll breeze right into the park by skipping the will-call line. You’ll save a bit on parking (but no time) by buying that in advance as well.
- Download the Busch Gardens Tampa app from Android or Apple before you arrive. We found wait times in the app to be more accurate than those listed on the rides themselves. It’s also got a cute “passport to fun” scavenger hunt.
- I’d skip the quick queue- on days it’s affordable (as low as $16) you won’t need it. On a peak day like when we visited it was over $60 for the base and $79 for the unlimited. Unless you’re REALLY into rides you’ll find plenty to do with shorter lines. We did three coasters, the log flume, and the river rapids among other rides and with the app didn’t spend more than 15 minutes in line on any of them. Lines did go over an hour in the afternoon for those who were willing to wait. It just wasn’t an issue for us and I don’t think would be for most families, either.
- As with most parks, you’ll get the most out if your visit by getting there right at open.
That said, if you have to choose between open and leaving in the afternoon and arriving late and staying till close, I’d stay til close. The animals were SO much more active once it started cooling down.
I’m on the fence about the All Day Dining deal.
For $35 ($20 for kids) for all you can eat and drink it looks great on paper. However, the strings attached are (almost) deal-breakers.
- To start, you can only use the deal at the four main-service restaurants, but not the nicest sit-down one- where I would have preferred dining.
- You also have to go through the entire line even if all you want is a bottle of water. That meant we didn’t even activate our all you can eat bracelets until almost 4PM as it wasn’t worth 20 minutes to us to get that bottle of water or ice cream cone.
- Snacks are only included if you, again, go through the entire line at one of the four designated restaurants. This effectively takes your dippin’ dots, funnel cakes, and all of your other standard theme park fare off the table. You do qualify for buy one get one free on selected snacks with the bracelet, but only after you have been through a main line once to get the actual bracelet- the ticket for the deal isn’t enough to qualify for the discount.
- That said, we still got our money’s worth out of the bracelets by having lunch just before 4 and dinner right at 8PM closing. We just didn’t get the extra value I was expecting. Our hotel had breakfast included- if it hadn’t and we had arrived at open the deal would have made more sense.
- Busch Gardens Tampa’s food quality is also pretty high for a theme park. Even basic items like wraps featured unexpected ingredients and were full of flavor.
Ways to save on Busch Gardens Tampa tickets
- You should get something off the retail at any time of year.
- If you’re military, you qualify for a free ticket! Busch Gardens also gives free passes to preschoolers at certain times of year. Check out Busch Gardens’ website and local ads for discounts.
- Other solid sources are Groupon, Best of Orlando, and Undercover Tourist (another frequent AMEX offer partner).
- CityPass might be your best deal if you have multiple days in Tampa- we loved the Chihuly museum in St. Pete which is also on the CityPass.
- If you intend to visit any other Seaworld Parks including Busch Gardens Williamsburg I’d highly recommend considering the multi-park platinum pass. Three days and you’ve paid for the entire year.
This is What Normal People Do While We’re Hacking Spring Break
I love a good travel survey and this week Traveling Mom partnered with Vacatia to find out how 700+ families do Spring Break. The answers are definitely illuminating. They also show clearly what I’ve been trying to explain to PR folks for years: we Travel Hackers think differently than most other travelers. I answered every single question “none of the above” as would most of you. Because we’re out there hacking Spring Break just like we hack everything else.
So as a public service I thought I would share the survey results with you along with the answer that most travel hackers would choose. The survey results might help you navigate the awkward bus stop conversation- you know the one. “Where are you going for Spring Break? Branson? How fun! Where are we going? Um…Paris…”. As I also try to explain to PR folks: we spend a LOT of money on travel so it might be helpful to get into our heads!
What Normal People Do While We’re Hacking Spring Break
Question 1: When did/will you finish planning your Spring Break trip?
Last minute: 28 percent
One Month Before: 29 percent
Two Months Before: 23 percent
Done in 2016: 19 Percent
The Travel Hacker’s Answer: Well, I grabbed the plane tickets in November when I saw the crazy low fare. 4 Tickets to Europe for a grand? I’m in! (Alternate answer: I booked them on miles 331 days out because it’s our dream destination.) I have a cancel-able hotel reservation on points to be safe but am keeping an eye on my Twitter feed in case anything better pops up. What we’ll do once we get there? No idea. I’ll ask my friends for ideas while I’m in the air.
Question 2: Who’s going on your Spring Break Trip?
The Kids (and spouse): 60 percent
Multi-gen, adult kids, other family members: 23 percent
Friends: 16 percent
The Travel Hacker’s Answer:
A) We’re meeting up with my BFF and her family, whom I’ve never actually met as we’re BFFs over Twitter.
B) It’s just us, but I’m sure we’ll run into someone we know in an elite lounge enroute.
Question 3: What’s the Ickiest part of Spring Break planning?
Coordinating schedules: 38 percent
Choosing a destination: 32 percent
Choosing accommodations: 24 percent
The Travel Hacker’s Answer: Figuring out what to tell the school about your kids’ absences because there’s no way in heck we’re paying to travel on a peak day!
Question 4: Who makes the Spring Break plans in your family?
Mom: 47 percent
Dad: 3 percent
The Travel Hacker’s Answer: This is the answer that is most different between hackers and regular travelers: more men are travel hackers than women. In fact, more men read The Deal Mommy than women by a large margin- something that took me a while to get used to!
Over the past five years I’ve seen a big shift towards equality here- I’d like to take some credit for that with Family Travel for Real Life and a general Mom-friendly tone but I know what we do here is a drop in the ocean. I’m just happy to see more Moms and families in the mix.
My “Spring Break” plans and final thoughts
Consistent with the survey I’m hacking Spring Break. Ours will actually take place two weeks later when I’m taking the kids and Deal Dad to Disney World. We’re using Southwest points to get there (that I’ve traded in twice to get more cheaply), staying in a DVC points rental and driving home in a $5/day car rental. Because that’s how travel hackers roll.
Did any of these results surprise you or do they track with your “civilian” friends’ plans? Normal folks: did you know that there’s an entire sub-culture of travel hackers that exist on the fringes of family travel? How do your Spring Break plans stack up?
Escaping the Suck! 6 Night Florida Getaway: $183/Person Inc Air, Hotel, and Car, 2015
Remember that bit about leaning into winter? Yea, not so much. I tried, I really did. But when fares from $29 to Florida showed up last week, I couldn’t resist.
With the month long Camp Mom coming up this summer, the only way a trip could be squeezed in was on the extreme cheap. Fortunately, cheap flights aligned with the kids’ upcoming school break, and soon we’re headed for sunshine!
I’ll share the details on booking my trip to give you some ideas on how you can book a last minute getaway. Before I do, a note about pricing: a pet peeve of mine is being told travel is “free”. It most certainly is NOT. With that in mind, I’ll share both cash pricing and the value of any points redeemed. I’ll only count something as “free” if it doesn’t have a cash equivalent.
Air
When you’re booking last minute, high demand and cheap fares, flexibility is key. With that in mind, I didn’t worry about getting to and back from the same airport. This is made much easier in Florida since most car rentals are surcharge free when returning to a different airport. In my case, I’m flying into Orlando and home from Fort Lauderdale. Doing this I was able to find a cheap American Airlines flight down (using gift certificates from American Express platinum) and flights back from Fort Lauderdale for $39. Total: $39 (The American Airlines certs were truly free as I received them due to a retention bonus last year.)
Car: As I mentioned above, I was easily able to full sized car out of MCO and into FLL for just $149 including taxes. Even better, AutoSlash quickly found a better price of $133. Total: $133.
Hotel: Using my rule of minimizing transitions, I wanted to keep the hotel stays down to 2 if possible.
I was able to successfully book 4 nights in an oceanfront suite at the Radisson in Melbourne. Cost: 44,000 points for first 2 nights (2nd night free with Club Carlson credit card), free for 2nd 2 nights via a Club Carlson social media sweepstakes. I wouldn’t normally count sweeps wins, but Club Carlson gives out both points and nights like candy on twitter. Cost: $0 cash/$220 points value at .5 cents a point.
The last 2 nights are at the Sheraton Suites at Cypress Creek in Ft. Lauderdale. Not oceanfront, but a decent pool and at 4,000 points/night a real bargain. Cost: 8,000 points ($80 points value).
Total:
Cash: $117 air + $133 car + $0 hotel= $250 or $83/person
Cash including points eq.: $117 air + $133 car + $300 hotel= $550 or $183/person
How did I do? Did you book a last minute getaway? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Did You Know Orlando Has Two Airports? (Unless You’re a Hobbyist, Probably Not)
Yes, Orlando has two airports: MCO and SFB. However, I learned (AGAIN) last night how differently I think from the rest of the world. Let me explain.
I’m in Florida for a destination wedding. Which means people from all over the country are converging on one spot, including some who travel infrequently. I offered to use some Hyatt points to book a relative into a Hyatt near Orlando airport for the last night of their trip. Easy peasy. Right?
Not so much. Fast forward to last night when I learned that they flew into, you guessed it, Sanford. Didn’t occur to them that Sanford is NOT Orlando, didn’t occur to me that anyone flew into Sanford! (Trivia: it’s Allegiant airlines, which flies from many cities in the Midwest.) Fortunately this was an easy fix, however there are so many ways it could have gone wrong!
Stuff happens to even the most experienced of us. Deal Dad has driven to DCA instead of IAD more than once and heck I booked a car in the wrong state! But this time of year it’s incumbent upon us in “The Hobby” to help out those less savvy and ask for the IATA code to make sure everyone is clear on the airport.
Or to maybe let them know about rush hour times and what to expect or how to avoid. For instance: a “3 hour drive” from Orlando (especially if it’s Sanford which is 30 minutes north) to Lauderdale is more like six if you do it Friday during rush hour.
Because if you don’t it will be YOU that pays the price on the back end in hours lost, re-booked reservations, and general frustration. Better to share your knowledge and just save everyone the trouble.
Part One: What do you do if your vacation rental is terrible?
Greetings from room 1014 of the Coconut Palms Beach “Resort” in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. I’ve had some real customer service foibles lately (see: British Airways) but this is the WORST I’ve experienced from the timeshare end in 15 years of timeshare rental.
I’ll post a full review next week, but wanted to ask you how you handle such situations. Here’s a quick list I came up with and am attempting to follow:
1. Evacuate: I knew before I left the check-in desk that it was going to be bad when the manager handed me the key and said “view not guaranteed”, then wrote down my timeshare exchange company (Interval International, II) phone number, which she knew by heart! I was right: our room faces a parking lot and a LOUD highway. The hotel website only lists ocean front and ocean view, this room shouldn’t exist as anything other than a tool shed. I tried to move to a different property that moment via II, but Florida, during Spring Break, is entirely booked out.
2. Find the decision maker who cares about the company’s reputation: In this case it is clearly no one at the hotel. However, the hotel is affiliated with Diamond Resorts, whose CEO, Stephen J. Cloobeck, cares enough about his company that he went on “Undercover Boss” not once, but twice. THAT’s where I will take my story.
3. Document. Your camera is your best friend. Nothing tells this story better than the photos of our front porch facing the laundry room and the algae filled pool. Saying there is rust in the bathtub might get a shrug, a photo of it will get results. If the management or staff says something particularly offensive or idiotic, be sure to write it down in the moment so you get the quote right later. For instance, the manager of this hotel told Deal Dad “if tweeting about your experience will make you feel better, go ahead and do it.” Really?
4. Do what you can in the moment, then (try to) let the rest go until you get home. So our view is of the Daytona 500, our kitchen sink can be optimistically described as “quirky”, and the pool is surrounded by caution tape. We’re still in Florida where the sun shines while the snow melts off of our driveway at home, the beach is pristine, and last night I had clams and cheesy grits for dinner as the sun set on the Intercoastal. How bad can life really be?
March 26, 2013
Part Two: I accidentally insulted a CEO
Coconut Palms Beach Resort II room 1014 broke me.
Five days of cooking in a bathroom because our kitchen sink was broken, waking up to dumpster loaders instead of ocean breezes, spotting parked cars and leftover motorcycles from bike week instead of sunrises dotted with pelicans, fighting for pool chairs with 388 people around a pool meant for 19, and having two kids in our bed every night watching “the big tv” broke me.
That’s the only explanation for what happened Wednesday night, as I came in from the pool to make Deal Girl’s macaroni and cheese. I forgetfully tried to fill a pot with water from the kitchen sink, it grunted and gasped, and I broke.
My intention had been to leave a voice mail for the hospitality manager who I had been corresponding with at Diamond Resorts, but it took me 20 minutes to log on to the horrible internet connection at the hotel to find her number. During those 20 minutes I also walked to the front desk to find it vacant and both guest computers broken.
Needless to say, when I finally did retrieve her number, I was not only broken, but shattered. From my patio, while traffic roared by, I left a ranting, tear-filled message demanding an apology for ruining my vacation.
Deciding that was not enough (and I am NOT proud of this), I decided to follow up with an email. I took a shot at what the CEO’s email address might be and summarized my plight, CCing him. I wasn’t trying to insult him, but the language I used surely didn’t come across as friendly! I was actually trying to show him how bad it was here and beg for some help…like some crazed captive in a hostage video.
To Stephen Cloobeck’s credit, he reads and responds to his own email promptly. His one line response, while not friendly to me (as he thought I was insulting him!), did get results. We came back from Kennedy Space Center yesterday to a brand new kitchen sink. No note, phone call, or any other correspondence from the hotel at all, but clearly our pleas had been heard.
Is there a lesson in this (besides NEVER stay at Coconut Palms Beach Resort II)? I don’t know. I would rather not have come across as a lunatic, but I am grateful to have a functional sink to make coffee in this morning.
(However, I did not have a functioning dishwasher. Turns out when the maintenance staff fixed one, they broke the other!)
March 29, 2013
Part Three: Tripadvisor review
Guests of Coconut Palms Beach Resort: Beware room #1014
Recall the scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark when the all of the heavenly visions take a turn for the worst as you realize where this room is located. The building where this unit is located is likely the original manager’s office for the old motel prior to renovation. The porch overlooks the dogleg of the rear parking lot, the entrance to the main beach access road, the coin-op laundry facility, the maid station, and the path to more-appropriately situated units. There is no ocean view whatsoever, while the location behind all of the other units, combined with the steady traffic flow during the day, ensure that you won’t be troubled by the sound of the ocean, either. There’s a small patch of mulch in front of the porch where the property’s electric transformer and gas main are located. The parking lot and main road runs along the side of the building where your bedrooms and the trash dumpsters are located (we awoke to the garbage truck at 8am one morning). The hallway to the property’s new building runs along the other side of the unit. Everyone walking by going to or from their cars has a direct line of sight into the unit, as well as the guest bath which is situated directly across from the front door so you can wave at folks while relieving yourself.
The unit itself features a master bathroom so small you have to stand diagonal to the vanity in order to brush your teeth without bumping your arm into the wall and an older, rust-stained bathtub. The guest bath also features a tiny vanity, i.e., there is minimal space for personal items. Otherwise, the unit has two queen size beds (no king, sorry) and a limited amount of dated furniture, including heavy wrought iron chairs around the dining table with some of the sliders worn down to screws that cause the chairs to rattle loudly on the tile floor (as do the chairs in the unit above you as you’ll become aware). The TVs in the living and guest rooms are old 19” bubble screens. The larger LCD in the master bedroom is located about 6 feet past the foot of the bed and is the only one with a DVD player.
To the unit’s credit, the unit is generally specious, if oddly configured, and the kitchen appears to have been updated with granite countertops and relatively new appliances. However, when we checked in we found that the kitchen’s water faucet wasn’t installed correctly causing the water to comes out of the main faucet in fits and spurts, while the hose attachment didn’t work at all. We brought these and other maintenance issues to the attention of the front desk, including the filthy windows (not that you’d want the view anyway) and deck furniture among others. The sink was repaired on Thursday (breaking our dishwasher in the process) and the other issues went unresolved during our week despite being logged on Monday morning. The wi-fi drops in and out from minute to minute and is so unreliable you will need to buy into one of the other local networks if you need a reliable connection.
As for the rest of the property, the larger of the two pools and the hot tub were closed to replace then tile (during spring break week no less; even more frustrating was that they were re-opened on the day we checked out). The smaller back-up pool was overwhelmed by the volume as you might imagine, and the heater went off line rendering the pool un-swimmable for about a day. The security gate access to the pool was propped open all week and the staff did not walk through to check out wrist bands. Also, no (free) mid-week maid service, limited-hour towel exchange, and no fitness room (although one is apparently in the works).
The sad thing is the property has a lot of good features and a great location, and we felt that if we were in the newer building or one of the bungalows farther forward, our experience here would have been far more satisfactory. But we did not get to stay in any of those units – we were stuck in #1014. If you have already rented into this property, I would get a guarantee in writing from the management that you will not get a back-side unit. If location or easy access to your car is all you need – this gem is all yours.
April 2, 2013
Part Four: Is a full refund enough for a bad travel experience?
I’ve had two free vacations in the last three months. Not “free” as in I redeemed miles and points, free as in I was fully refunded my purchase price due to a bad service experience. In January I got a full refund from British Airways for stranding me in the wrong country and I just got a refund for my lousy hotel week in Florida.
So here’s my question: is a refund enough? I guess it should be, but I’m not satisfied. I’m not so unhappy for me, but I feel like Deal Dad really got the shaft on this last one. As a stay-at-home Mom, my travel schedule is flexible if I bring the kids, but his vacation time is limited and he lost a week of it. Granted, the vacation itself wasn’t a total wash…we did have fun as long as we weren’t in the hotel room!
April 6, 2013
