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Safety in Mexico

No Fear Here

In areas far from US border towns, such as Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, Mexico’s drug war is a distant and far away place. In fact, when surveyed, most Americans living here feel that they are much safer than in cities like L.A., New York, Chicago, Atlanta or Miami. Indeed, recent statistics prove them to be right.

According to a report last year by the LA Times, tourist areas in Mexico are 12 times safer than Tampa or Honolulu, 17 times safer than Dallas or West Palm Beach, 26 times safer than Orlando or Houston and a whopping 39 times safer than the U.S. capital, Washington D.C., and Americans and Canadians are coming in droves.

What are your thoughts?

Posted by Geoff on July 5, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

RIU Palace Pacifico

I just returned from a weeks stay at the beautiful RIU Palace Pacifico in Puerto Vallarta.

I have to say I was very impressed with the resort, it's location, service, the staff was wonderful and accommodating, and dining was great.

This, in my opinion is a 4 star resort set on a beautiful beach in the Nuevo Vallarta area of Puerto vallarta. The public areas are spectacular and the landscaping is beautiful, and the beach goes on for ever in both directions.

The standard rooms are very spacious, each one is a Jr. Suite with sleeping area, and a separate sitting area with a couch, two chairs and a coffee table. The resort also has a family room category with 2 bedrooms and a patio living room. Their highest level is the Jacuzzi Suite situated closest to the ocean with a huge balcony and a hot tub on the balcony. Every room comes with a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom.

Dining offers 4 specialty restaurants and a never ending buffet. There are numerous bars including a swim-up bar and also beach and pool waiter service. We had no problems getting dinner reservations at the restaurants.

This is a fantastic resort in a beautiful area. I would definitely stay here again. My only complaint is that the beds are a little harder than I like.

Posted by Geoff on May 21, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

Setting Expectaions

I read a lot of reviews, on the resort review sites, where people have had less than an acceptable vacation experience. When I read the details it really points out, on a lot of them, that they did not go to a bad resort, they just went to a resort that did not meet their expectations.

An example I read was a young couple who went to a particular 5 star resort for their Honeymoon. When they returned they wrote a critical review of the resort because it was quiet and there were not a lot of activities, especially at night. Knowing the resort as we do, we felt that the couple did not go to a bad resort, they just went to a resort that did not meet their expectations.

We view, a large part of our job, as travel agents, is to understand the clients vacation criteria and know the resorts we specialize in well enough that we can match the resort to the vacation criteria that is presented to us by the client. If we do that, the client can be assured that the resort vacation will meet or exceed their expectations.

This is just another example on why use a knowledgeable travel agent.

Posted by Geoff on April 4, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

An explanation of room categories at a resort

Whenever I speak with clients there is always confusion about room categories and what they actually mean. Resorts like to come up with fancy names for room categories that, when you cut away the fancy words, leave 4 main room categories. To simplify it there are 4 basic room types at a resort regardless of the resort and for the most part the rooms are all the same. The difference has to do with the view from your balcony or patio. Remember at a resort the closer to the beach or ocean the higher the price.

Garden or pool view: This tends to be a resorts lowest room category. Your view from your balcony or patio will be either the pool or a garden. Some people think that because it is the lowest category they will be looking at a parking lot. Not true, even though it is the lowest category you would look over a beautiful garden or the pool.

This next category is the one that confuses most people and that is Ocean View. A resort's definition of ocean view is, if you can see any part of the ocean from any part of your room, it is considered ocean view. My own experience with this is, years ago I booked an ocean view room at a resort in Florida. When I got to my room I went out on my balcony and saw that I was looking at the resort next door not the ocean. I called the front desk and told them my issue. They laughed and told me to go out on my balcony and lean over the railing, look down the side of the building. They then asked me, can you see the ocean. I could, so I was then informed that I had an ocean view room. This leads us to the next category.

Ocean Front or Beach Front. This is the category that most people confuse with ocean view. This category means that when you walk out on your baclony or patio the ocean or beach is right there. If you want a full ocean or beach view, this is the room category you need to book.

The 4th category is Suites. Suites can follow the same categories as rooms at a resort. You can have a garden or pool view suite, an ocean view suite, and a beach front suite.

Hope this helps and when booking use a knowledgeable travel agent who can inform you what the view from your balcony or patio will be for each resort.

Posted by Geoff on March 21, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment

Lowest and Highest Priced Times to Travel to Caribbean and Mexico

Some people are confused as to when the lowest and highest priced times to travel are. Prices do change all the time and are not consistent throughout the year. As a rule of thumb, the highest priced times to travel are when families with children can travel. The lowest priced times to travel are when families with children are not traveling. The reason for this is that the families with children are the airline's and the resort's largest market.

The highest priced times of the year to travel are #1. Christmas and New Years (prices can double and triple at this time). #2. Spring Break (Mid March - Mid April). #3 Presidents Week in Feb (usually around the 20th). #4. Thanksgiving Week.

Naturally prices do go up slightly all winter as this is the high season for the Caribbean and Mexico. Summer prioes tend to start out low in the beginning of June to the highest summer prices in August.

The lowest priced times for travel in the spring, last 2 weeks of April and the month of May. This is the period between Spring Break and Summer Vacation. It is an ideal time to travel as the weather is very nice and it is outside the Hurricane season which starts the beginning of June.

The lowest priced time to travel during the whole year is from the beginning of September. until mid-December, excluding Thanksgiving Week. During this period it is high Hurricane season and also the children are back in school. Hurricane season runs from the beginning of June until the end of November but hurricanes are more likely to happen in August, September, and October when the ocean waters are at their warmest. There is travel insurance to cover traveling during hurricane season. The best time in the Fall to travel is the first 2 weeks of December. Children are back in school and everyone is focused on Christmas.

As you can see, there are some great times to travel at great prices if you can plan around the high priced portions of the year.

Posted by Geoff on February 7, 2011 | Permalink | Post a Comment