Thanks! The other property is La Bonne Etape and I will be reviewing it shortly.

We are looking for lavender festivals in the US.....any ideas? I will be on the lookout for "A Year in Provence".

As always, very thoughtful review. I'd be hard-pressed to choose form some of the LL properties w/out these follow-ups--thanks.What was the other property you visited?
PS--I'm adding more French lavender to my garden. I've never seen the fields in France, but a very enjoyable book is A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle.

Sounds lovely! Thanks for sharing it.

I know it's sometimes difficult to write a review upon a return home. I know I'm usually busy catching up from being gone.

I forgot to add that I work with alot of European veterinarians and one of the things they miss the most (besides universal health care) about Europe is the ability to inexpensively travel from one great city to another on the continent. It is always a culture shock to them when they arrive in Philadelphia to see how expensive it is to fly to different parts of the US - they say this country is not very good for quick little weekend getaways like it is in Europe

It would be great to live on the other side of the Atlantic and do quickie trips in Rome, London, Paris, etc. but at least in Philadelphia, I am close enough to NYC, Washington DC, Baltimore, etc. which are all nice for quickie trips - not as nice as Paris but works for me ;-)

Yep, danielboldea, I do live on this side of an ocean. And I do spend many, many long weekend out fishing in the same ocean.

I, and I only speak for myself, don't care to take time, arriving hours prior to scheduled departure time nor standing in TSA lines, nor any of the other associated travel inconveniences involved in trips of short duration.

If I'm going to invest the needed time to do the above, them I want much longer ground time.

Just my opinion.

Otherwise, jump in my boat and head out to the high seas!

Sounds like you live on the other side of the ocean. City breaks are very popular with Europeans. Who wouldn't want to buy an inexpensive ticket (sometimes under $100), fly under 2-3 hours, and stroll the streets of cities like Rome, Florence, London, Paris and the list can continue... ?

A city break or an extended weekend will always be better than nothing in my book!

I have concluded that London is the best base for this type of travel. It is amazing how many destinations are offered and at what cost.

Not to be a contrarian, but 'quickie' anything doesn't work for me. I want the full monty or I'll like skip it and wait until I can indulge myself. Short trips, involving air travel and the associated hassles are certainly atop my Never To Do list.

So, glad the rest of you have the capacity to do things in short spurts, but I can't join in.

Originally Posted by jmbklj

Yes, we really enjoyed eating at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. We also ended up eating lunch at Anthony's twice! Once at the location near FLL and once at the Delray Beach location. Thanks for the tips!

These were the two places we enjoyed the most; the others were OK, pretty touristy.

jmbklj....Michael's Genuine Food & Drink is a classic in the Design District and I never fear suggesting it to someone (did you order the fried pig ears - we've never tried them since they qualify as vegetarian)......also glad you visited Anthony's Coal Fired FLL store - that's the original:

We did a quickie 3 night trip to Paris one year over New Years and were suprised how much we were able to cram into our quickie jaunt! We also do a few quickie trips close to Philadelphia that we can drive to - doing the 2 nights in Wash DC over memorial day weekend - we had tickets for the white house tour, however, we got "sequestered out" which is a bummer since we never did the white house tour even during those dull school trips many, many years ago ;-)

Yes, we really enjoyed eating at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. We also ended up eating lunch at Anthony's twice! Once at the location near FLL and once at the Delray Beach location. Thanks for the tips!

These were the two places we enjoyed the most; the others were OK, pretty touristy.

jmbklj....did you find any good places to eat in South Florida?

I love Hop On-Hop Off /bus tours - anywhere! They are great to do the first few days in any city because they give you an overall persecutive of the major attractions and then I usually decide where to focus, plus they usually give you a brief historic perspective of the city. In fact I did Ho Ho this week and you may really laugh when you hear where it was - Miami/South Beach!

We believe in the quickies, too, since that's often the max time we have (including a generous nap for Boss). Nice quickie blog, too.
We believe in HoHos for first visit to major EU cities. The BCN was interesting in that many Gaudi sights were still a decent hike from the stops. That is one HUGE city! I hope you brought home some Spanish paprika.

Well said!

Certainly the concierges at Luxury Link or the 'front line' contacts for most of us, but there is another huge support team behind the curtains that make the process work as well. Tip the hat to all of those at Luxury Link. Even to Ben, who must feel like a cat wrangler dealing with all of us.

If you've "booked more than your fair share" maybe you need to let some of us buy more!! Great comments about the Concierges. My fave mention was regarding pilots wanting to get home to family as much as getting pax to their destinations safely. Well said! Oh yeah, I've had some of those thankless jobs, too...Kudos for voicing what many of us feel about LL support. Now, for more new packages, let's hear from the sales team! Lots of grateful LL members are ready to buy and travel more!

The few times I have had to deal with the LL concierge department everything ended up working out well. Have never really had any problems with getting my requested dates and I find that dealing directly with the hotel after purchasing an auction has also worked out very well in regards to room requests, date splitting, etc.
My mantra has always been to treat others like you yourself would like to be treated, however, there have been a few times where I had to get tough -which does not mean you have to be nasty, just firm.

Danielboldea - Thank you for the wonderful compliments directed towards Luxury Link concierge! I have shared your blog with the entire group, as well our executive team.

Concierge is an incredibly vital department here at Luxury Link - after all, they're our "front door" to valued travelers like yourself. While customer service teams at other companies may just answer phones and emails, Luxury Link concierge is incredibly invested in making a customer's booking experience as pleasant as possible, and constantly suggests ways in which we can improve processes and efficiencies.

I'd have a tough time with the utensils even with my hep shots! But I'd have missed what sounds like a great culinary experience!