Great Getaway Ideas for Couples and Families

This is a Sponsored Post written by me. All opinions are 100% mine.

Looking for a little getaway in time for Valentine’s Day? Tired of the chocolates and flowers thing, and need to RELAX a little? I’ve got wind of a deal for you! It’s the Romantic Getaway Package at Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing in Branson, Missouri, and it’s done up very nice. You can reserve the Romance Package and get in-room sparkling wine or cider; enjoy the pool, whirlpool spa, and health club room; and receive a full breakfast for two; and more. There’s also the Hilton Bed and Breakfast Package: enjoy the Hilton with a personalized breakfast for two all weekend. See the website for more information and how to make reservations.

Branson caters to the family, as well. Actually, Branson specializes in family accommodations and entertainment. All year long, the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing has something special going on for families: parades, festivals, concerts, etc. There’s a spectacular Fountain Light Show held regularly on the promenade boardwalk, too, which is very popular with the families. Branson has great hotel rates for families– I think Branson realizes that raising families is hard work and costs money, but families need vacations, too! So Branson tries to help families make the most out of their travel experiences and their tighter budgets. The Hilton Branson Convention Center and Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing are so beautiful. The Promenade is built on a plateau, at the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks, and the area is surrounded by shops and restaurants (this is nice because you don’t need to drive around town in search of a place to dine).

I’ve been extensively researching all the amazing things to do in the Branson, Missouri, area. We are planning on making a trip out that way sometime, and I’m still in the process of planning our itinerary. There is ONE PLACE that we have got to see– Silver Dollar City in Branson. My kids will flip over this place. We just love this kind of stuff. Silver Dollar City is a 55-acre theme park, set back in time to the Ozarks of the 1880s. It’s like Enchanted Forest or Disneyworld, but 200 times better; and they’re celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. You can explore Marvel Cave, wander around the 1880s Silver Dollar City village, experience basket-making, mining, baking, and everything they used to do in the West in 1880! We are definitely going here! And then there’s the Titanic Museum, which we have GOT to see; the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum, my kids’ favorites!; and there’s the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum; the list in endless. I think I may have to plan on staying a few weeks in the area! We could spend forever here.

Plus, the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is one of the largest (and certainly one of the most luxurious) convention centers in the country, making Branson the “entertainment capital of the MidWest.” My teenagers have “discovered” music and are not music fans; Branson always has a terrific lineup of Christian musicians and entertainers (and Mark Lowry was recently at Branson!).

Besides proximity to some of the best attractions in the nation and the terrific entertainment, there’s the beautiful new Payne Stewart Golf Club. It was ranked by Golf Week Magazine as one of the top 40 new course layouts in the country. There is a lot to do here!

So do you have a hankering to see the Show Me State now? I’ll bet you Branson will show you a thing or two about a spectacular getaway or vacation! See the links for more details.

Look It and Book It!

Searching for comparable prices for your next domestic or international trip? Here’s a simple website with a simple name: ULookUBook.com. I just love that name! It’s am easily searchable, quick and easy online database and holiday planner. Hoping for some good hotel prices for your Holidays in Crete, perhaps? Or perhaps you’d like a convenient travel guide to Egypt or the United States, or even Slovenia! ULookUBook has it all.

Like I said, the site is easily navigated. There is a “Build Your Trip” widget in the sidebar, where you can enter your destination, time of departure and return, and available resort, and you are given pages of suggested ideas and recommended sites. It’s very easy to use, and includes everything from flight and hotel bookings to information on, for example, cheap Crete Holidays! It’s very comprehensive and readable. Searches for bookings and destinations is so easy- and ULookUBook generates a page of “Flight Criteria” as well as helpful “Alternative Flights,” with regular rates and discounted rates, too.

I like the Travel Guides pages- these are wonderful resources for discovering new things about countries and cities. There are brief, informative articles about what to expect, places to go, nightlife, shopping venues, and custom foods. I think it’s great for travelers as well as curious “armchair travelers” like me. I enjoy learning new things about other places. And hey, I just may be able to take a world trip someday.

Check out ULookUBook.com for a peek at what they have to offer. This website makes a great resource and it’s free to use! You can also call the ULookUBook travel team at 0808-178-5220.

New York’s Summer Tourism Promotions

New York State’s tourism department is getting better and better. I recently caught wind of the state’s latest promotion for overnight stays (see Low Budget Getaway with Big Budget Views in the Adirondacks at The Beat, an online newsletter of tourism news for New York State. This is a big year for New York– this year marks the 250th anniversary of the French & Indian War (New York was the location of numerous battles and contentions here). Many organizations across the state are expected to be throwing some pretty big events and re-enactments. The I Love NY website has information on it; there’s also a website dedicated to the War’s anniversary, too.

Also coming up this year are a prospective busy fishing tournament for Oswego County, and the Quadricentennial celebrations in Eastern New York. How many states can celebrate a quadricentennial?! It was 400 years ago this year that Henry Hudson made his famous trip up the Hudson River, and the Capital Region of New York is having numerous events and celebrations in honor for the event: a Quadricentennial festival of the Dutch colonization of the area; the docking of the Half Moon replica (Hudson’s boat upon which he explored wild New York 400 years ago; lectures, history tours, and more. See the Explore NY 400 site for more events.

Of course, coming to New York State means (hopefully) staying overnight in New York State. Tourism is BIG business here, and most attractions and tourist organizations do it up big. New York’s official website has some recommendations; you can also try websites such as Hotels Combined for good pricing and checking availabilities, too. Hotels Combined has a detailed and comprehensive listing of hotels and motels for New York State; check out the huge list of New York cities and towns at the Hotels Combined New York State hotel page. I’ve tried it when checking out various hotels and motels when we have traveled– it’s extremely convenient, because the listing includes location, price, contact information, features, and a small photo of the hotel. I like that.

New York is THE place to be this summer! We are hoping to get out and about soon, to take in a few re-enactments and hopefully have some overnight stays at the more distant areas of the state. Stay tuned!

The Dirtiest Hotels

I get emails from various travel businesses and organizations, including TripAdvisor’s emails. I rarely read them unless something looks interesting. Today, there was something that definitely piqued my interest: TripAdvisor’s Dirtiest Hotels of 2009! Ha! Honestly, I had to wonder if it was just a joke or some kind of promotional scheme to get me to see the page.

Nope! It REALLY is all about the dirtiest hotels of 2009! The list is based on the reviews people have written at TripAdvisor. Wow. They are really bad reviews. Number one on the list– no surprises here– is in Manhattan– the Hotel Carter on 250 West 43rd Street.

i should have suspected somthing when i asked to see the room before we paid we were told that was not hotel policy it was late afternoon so we decided to go ahead and book one night…

We read trip advisor’s reviews prior our trip and we took a can of DDT with us to spray it all over the room. So take with you DDT and your own towels….

I stayed at Hotel Carter for a week, and it is without doubt the worst stay in my life. I have travelled all over the world on business and pleasure, and have just not seen anything like this.

The room was so dirty that the Health Board should have closed it down years ago, the bed sheets was fairly clean, and thats about all. The windows towards the street was broken, the bath curtain was rotten…. seemed like a bad movie where only the police marks on the floor was missing.

Service was not existing at all – but the location was fantastic….

I should have known that when I got a hotel in Manhattan for 100 a night that it would be a nasty bug infested experience! The downstairs bathroom in the lobby has graffiti that says “if you want an STD stay here!” It was the worst experience of my life and I ended up checking out that night and promply calling EVERY hotel in the city to find better accomodations. I ended up at the crowne plaza for 450 and it was worth EVERY penny! Do not stay in this place if your life depends on it. I wouldnt reccomend this hotel to my worst enemy of fear that they may die with some horrible disease.

Wow. Those poor people! Other U.S. locations that made the list included the cities of Miami Beach, FL; Wildwood, NJ; Bangor, ME; Hot Springs, AK; Gaitlinburg, TN; Brookpark, OH; and a few more New York City hotels. Rats, bedbugs, mold, police raids! YUK!

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