Travel Cruncher

When travelling to distant countries, sometimes you can’t help but feel overwhelmed with the whole experience, you don’t know where to start, you don’t know who can help you on your way, or a combination of any of the three. It’s a treat then that the Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel in Singapore, managed by Accor, announced a new package called, “Discover Singapore”. What this does is that it allows travelers and tourists to explore the different sides of the country with quality accommodations present.

“They can explore the heritage Katong area behind the hotel to find out more about the unique Peranakan (Straits Chinese) culture and handicrafts; relax, cycle or even picnic at the East Coast beach just a walk away; enjoy a shopping extravaganza at the Parkway Parade Shopping Centre across the road and embark a choice of downtown tour to popular hotspots such as Orchard Road, Chinatown, Clarke Quay or Sentosa, among others.”

The Grand Mercure Roxy Discover Singapore package includes:

• Room rates starting from SGD140++ (single/twin sharing)
• Breakfast at the hotel’s Feast@East Buffet Restaurant
• A special goodie pack
• Complimentary airport transfers
• Free three-hour FunVee Open-Top Bus City Tour
• Special discount for FunVee Christmas Light-Up Tour at SGD15 per person (usual price – SGD23) – for stay by 25 Dec 2009
• Enjoy original authentic bumboat ride for only just SGD8 (usual price – SGD13)
• 10% discount for Singapore Flyer ticket when purchase from Tourist Hub located at Singapore Flyer
• Free drink at Hard Rock Cafe + discounted coupon
• Free drink at Manchester United Cafe Bar in Boat Quay

Offer will be from December 14, 2009 to January 31, 2010.

Press Release

Most hotels are known for their customer service and facilities, but most are starting to look and feel the same. Therefore, hotels these days needs to have some sort of an edge over its competitors to attract customers that normally would choose another hotel.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Hotel has the edge over the other hotels located around them as they just successfully completed the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) Green Guidelines Challenge. The AH&LA tracks how a hotel’s “green” operations against the AH&LA 11 Minimum Green Guidelines standards. This comes as a big surprise considering that if your business is located near the airport, that you’d be exposed to a lot of fumes and anti green elements.

With the aid of a tracking tool provided by AH&LA, the Burlingame, California Hyatt hotel near San Francisco airport communicated its results via an online Green Guidelines Challenge survey, as well as shared the hotel’s success stories and best practices. The challenge asked the San Francisco airport hotel and others to measure occupancy statistics, monetary and energy expenditures, and return on investment (ROI) from specific green practices, and the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport hotel excelled in the areas of reducing waste sent to landfills by 1/3, gas consumption reduced by 5%, and water consumption reduced by 6% over 2008.

So if you’re a pro green type of person or you just want to support the environment community, then we suggest trying out the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Hotel.

Press Release

Grand Bahama Island Discount!

With Winter coming, it’s bound to get even more colder, so where else can you travel to? Somewhere sunny and warm I think would just be right. If that’s the case, the Caribbean would be a great place to get away from the cold and dip your feet into hot sand until Spring comes again next year. And to make things even better CheapCaribbean.com has some great news for you!

“CheapCaribbean.com, the largest dedicated online provider of beach vacations to the Caribbean and Mexico, announced today an exclusive sale on travel packages to Grand Bahama Island, The Bahamas. The sale offers up to $500 in savings, with a five-night vacation package starting at $229 with air. The offer is good for travel now through February 28, 2010, and there are no holiday blackout dates. … with $300 off three-night vacations, $400 off four-night vacations, and $500 off for vacations of five nights or longer. “

This promo only covers hotels that deal with the site:

• Flamingo Bay Hotel
• Our Lucaya Reef Village
• Pelican Bay at Lucaya
• Radisson Our Lucaya Resort
• Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach

NC Charlotte Marriott Southpark Hotel Shopping Package!

If you think that going to another part of the world is too expensive then North Carolina’s Charlotte Marriott SouthPark hotel should be an easy and much more affordable choice. However, if you go there now or until January 31, 2010 you will get a Charlotte holiday Shopping Package!

The SouthPark Mall Holiday Shopping Package includes:

• Accommodations in a deluxe hotel guest room
• Welcome bag containing SouthPark Mall discounts featuring a selection of coupons
• $50 Gift Card to any store in SouthPark Mall
• Breakfast for two each morning of your stay
• 1:00 PM late checkout

This is a great opportunity to get the gift you thought was too expensive to buy for your loved one and stay in a great hotel at a great city.

Bahamas Press Release

Marriott Press Release

If you’re a traveler, you’re bound to see homeless children walking the streets. Usually people will feel guilty about it yet do nothing to alleviate their homelessness. Well, now you can make a difference and at the same time save money on the hotel room and tax by getting a discounted price throughout their whole stay!

Hotel Nikko has just announced that they’ll be giving a whopping 10 percent discount to anyone who can give them a new children’s blanket (still in original packaging). This promo will run from November 20 to the 30th and then continue on December 18th until the 29th of this year.

The one leading the project is a group known as Project Night Night. They are a group that gives any requesting abandoned and homeless child, a blanket, a story book, and a stuffed toy to hold.

Through the generous involvement of businesses such as Hotel Nikko, Project Night Night is able to better the lives of children nationwide. Travelers offering to help Project Night Night’s cause will be given a 10 % discount off room and tax their entire stay, as a way of Hotel Nikko saying thanks.

This is a great way to help unfortunate kids and provide them with warmth this winter. Your blanket will do help them survive until they get a new place of their own or be adopted by new parents. Let’s hope that this trend continues until next year and beyond.

See you at Hotel Nikko!
Press Release

When you think of Brazil, most people automatically think of going to the rainforest or to one of its well known festivals, the Carnaval. Those places and events are extremely nice, but there’s more to Brazil than those. If you’re a hardcore fisherman or just starting to learn how to reel in your first fish, then Brazil would be one of the best places on earth to fish in.

Just one of the best fishes to get in Brazil is the Peacock Bass; known for its ferociousness it’s a great challenge for the veterans and a baptism in fire for the newbies. Below is a short description of the said fish:

Called “tucunare” in Portuguese, the peacock bass is a born ambusher and one of the most ferocious freshwater fish you’ll find anywhere. Acrobatic brawlers on a line, they snap 30-lb. monofilament like thread, straighten saltwater hooks, mangle lures and send rods home in more pieces than you came with. They are almost exclusively diurnal and aren’t the least bit sun-shy, hitting most lures at the surface with explosive force. They’re not too choosey about baits, but landing them is guaranteed to be one of the toughest freshwater fights you’ll ever get in.

Mexico Bass Fishing Adventures will make your fishing trip as organized and as fun as possible. So, what are you waiting for? Time to bust out that inner fisherman in you and catch one of the most ferocious Bass out there: the Peacock Bass. Have a safe trip and Good Luck!

Source

Tags: accomodations, eco adventures, international fares, mexico, natural landmark, natural wonders, online travel agencies, south america, tourists, travel, travel leisure, travelling, vacation, vacationers

Since September 11, airport security has tightened and rules have been implemented to ensure that people fly with safety and security. Most people are willing to sacrifice a bit of their time to go through all the security precautions while some are really angry that the security personnel at the airport would even think of them as possible terrorists.

In order to save time and hassle, you need to know what things you aren’t allowed to bring on your carry-on and what needs to be checked before the flight.

• Sharp objects (excluding scissors with pointed clips and shorter than four inches)
• Sporting goods such as baseball bats, spear guns, or hockey sticks
• Guns and fire arms (Flares and gunpowder is totally prohibited)
• Construction or carpentry tools (tools that are less than seven inches long, screwdrivers, wrenches and pilers are allowed on the carry-on bag)
• Explosive and flammable items are all banned (except common lighters)
• Disabling chemicals and other dangerous items

Regarding carrying liquids on your carry-on bag there are some requirements:

With certain exceptions for prescription and over-the-counter medicines, baby formula, breast milk, and juice, and other essential liquids, gels, and aerosols, the following rules apply to all liquids, gels, and aerosols you want to carry through a security checkpoint.

• All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers. Larger containers that are half-full or toothpaste tubes rolled up are not allowed. Each container must be three ounces or smaller.
• All liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in a single, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag. Gallon size bags or bags that are not zip-top such as fold-over sandwich bags are not allowed. Each traveler can use only one, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag.
• Each traveler must remove their quart-sized plastic, zip-top bag from their carry-on and place it in a bin or on the conveyor belt for X-ray screening. X-raying separately will allow TSA security officers to more easily examine the declared items.

So there you go. if you need more details on what not to bring to the airport, then go to the Transportation Security Administration website.

Source of prohibited items list

Source of Carry-on items FAQ

Ever heard of the saying, “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”? Well, not only does that pertain to children but also travelers who sleep in beds while on travel. If you’ll be away for more than a day, undoubtedly you’ll be looking for a hotel or at least a bed and breakfast. Besides the pricing and customer service, you also need to ensure that the place is clean enough for you to live in for the next few hours.

Bed bugs are bad bugs. Unfortunately, bed bugs are so small that it’s hard to see them with the naked eye, but you’ll definitely feel it when you wake up the next morning as you’ll have itchy red bumps when you wake up. Don’t worry they aren’t venomous nor do they carry any diseases. Those are a result of a numbing agent that they secrete to not wake you up while they’re biting and sucking your blood from you.

Is there no way to check if a place has bedbugs? If previous customers were bitten there, then they would be leaving some blood stains on the covers or there would be tiny brown spots on the bed or cover–they’re the bug’s droppings. So far they’re the only ways to detect them without actually getting bitten.

The best recourse of action here is to check in hotels or motels with a good reputation. They might not come cheap but at least you won’t be bitten nor will you be bring the bed bugs back home. If you have them already make sure that you go to a doctor and have your clothes cleaned before going back home.

Tags: bed bugs, health, pests, travel tips, travelling