The Alaya Resort is relatively new, so our driver didn't know where it was. Fortunately we had the location marked (accurately!) on Google maps and were able to guide him to the correct spot. The...
Blog posts from hotel
Bali: The Menjangan
For our time in the northwest corner of Bali we decided to stay at the The Menjangan given it's proximity to Menjangan Island for snorkeling plus the National Park that the resort is located in. We...
Lombok: overview & hotel
Arrival after dark, several hours late, but at least we made it. There are several taxi and tour stands between the baggage claim and when you exit the airport, so we grabbed a ticket with a set...
Texas! overview
In mid-October we found ourselves on a plane to Texas. This is not all that strange; we fly through Dallas DFW airport all the time. Unique on this trip was that for the first time ever we would...
Montreal: overview
Back in February Leandra had a pile of points on a credit card that needed to be used so that we could close the card. These weren't airline miles but points that could be used to purchase a ticket...
Asia/Australia 2013: Sonoma food & lodging
Hotel Gaige House Back in November, Jetsetter was running a Cyber Monday deal for $75 off any available property. We still hadn't figured out where to stay in San Francisco, but when this hotel...
Asia/Australia 2013: Melbourne lodging & food
Hotel The main purpose of staying in Melbourne's CBD was to attend the Australian Open, so location factored highly in our decision for the Punthill Manhattan Apartments. Though not inexpensive, the...
where we stayed in Barcelona
Having only two nights in Barcelona, we were torn between staying at a standard Starwood property or (we thought) upgrading to swankier place like the ME Barcelona. In the end, swanky won out but we...
where we stayed in St. Louis (a lesson in third-party booking engines)
Moonrise Hotel (Adapted from my hotel review on TripAdvisor) We saw this hotel come up on Jetsetter (note: login required) early on in our planning process for the trip to St. Louis and decided to...
where we stayed in Salzburg
In Salzburg we stayed at the Weisse Taube, a small boutique hotel, in Old Town just three blocks from the Dom square and Christkindlmarkt. main Christmas market in Old Town Salzburg baubles at the...
where we stayed in Dominica
Eric did most of the planning for this trip, so the hotels were more or less a surprise to me until we arrived. I know we would both agree that the subtitle for this post could read: two out of...
Where we stayed in Puerto Rico: Wyndham Rio Mar
To be perfectly honest, our stay at the Wyndham Rio Mar was a mixed bag. We are not resort people but knowing this we rented a car and therefore didn't spend a lot of time at the actual hotel. The...
where we stayed in Vienna and Bratislava
As some of you probably know, finding reasonably-priced accommodations in Europe can be quite a challenge. Luckily, between Eric's Starwood points and a good deal spotted months in advance, we kept...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London, UK (Dec)
Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)