Calling Properties I'm interested in

[ralokgupta]

Thanks everyone for the amazing suggestions. I will definitely look into Peru and Budapest as well as the other suggestions. It seems like you all are really well traveled. I have only been to Europe once and hopefully one day I'll be as well traveled as all of you. I am really excited about the opportunities on luxury link. Keep the suggestions coming!

[no-backpacker]

For Europe I can highly recommend Rome. We celebrated our 10th. anniversary weddin day there. We stayed at Hotel Valadier, I will NOT recommend that hotel. If you look at LL there are some great deals to hotel Russi and d'Ihngliterra (?) which are both excellent hotels. I can also highly recommend hotel Hassler. We had our celebrating dinner there, very romantic, excellent service and food. Pricewise it's a bit steep, but it's worth it...



Barcelona is also some of my favorite cities. You'll have both the beach and the city life.

Good luck on choosing!

C.

[jashermd]

Hello,

I'd recommend considering South Africa for your honeymoon -- it's an amazing place, with everything from stunning natural beauty and amazing wildlife to fascinating history. It's also very good value for money due to the weak state of the Rand against the dollar, so you'll get a lot for your money in terms of luxury and service.

It's not clear when you're thinking of travelling, but for going on safari the best time of year is from June - September, as the bush is thin and dry making it easier to find the animals. July and August are ideal safari weather -- warm and dry during the day, crisp and cool at night. If you want to visit Cape Town as well, the best months is probably September as the Cape is rainy and chilly in July and August but warms up in September, and the bush will still be thin and dry.

Johannesburg is the hub of Southern Africa, so if you wanted to explore the dunes in Namibia or the extreme sports in Vic Falls both are only a short flight away. For diving and snorkelling Mozambique is equally close.

LL has some great packages to South Africa, particularly in the Cape. I've seen offers from a number of superb Relais and Chateaux properties, such as Cellars-Hohenort, The Marine, and The Plettenberg, as well as Le Quartier Francais in the Winelands. There are also some excellent offers in Mozambique from Benguerra Lodge.

There are also safari packages, but you need to be a bit careful as many of them have very short stays which really don't allow you to enjoy yourselves -- I'd recommend at least three days at a camp in order to really experience the bush. In the recent past there have been some packages with longer stays which is nice to see.

Cheers,
Julian

[Pamelanie & Albinnet]

Like ralokgupta,we're looking to book a package for our honeymoon. Between the time you confirm with hotel on space during your desired dates, and the time the auction ends and reservation is booked, that vacancy could disappear, no? Alsodoes LL book your reservation once you win an auction, or does the winnerhandle that (with some LL code)?



Apologies if silly questions, since it's for our honeymoon, I don't want to take any unnecessary risks...

[omegaet]

Pamelanie & Albinnet....your questions are not silly at all. LL doesn't book the reservations if you are the winner of an auction. They provide the contact names, phone numbers and email addresses. When we are really interested in an auction package, we generally wait until the closing time approaches...we contact the property and determine how much space is available and inform them we are about to buy a package from LL. We've bought and used more than 17 auction packages through LL and, using the approach we just outlined, have never had a problem. Ohter community members will probably offer other suggestions as well.



Good luck....

[bonniejoy03]

I second Omegaet. When we decide on a property, we get in touch with them ASAP to check on occupancy and other questions we might have. We also take a peek at airfare and other logistic issues. Typically the properties we are bidding on are during the off season and pretty far in advance so occupancy usually is no problem. We then bid. We really like to have most info figured out before we bid because our vacation time at work is so limited.

[15bigfoot]

Hope the honeymoon was wonderful...just remember the marriage is more important than the wedding or the honeymoon. I'm a divorce attorney (very happily married and I wish the same for you ). best wishes.

[prosha]

If you plan to spend your honeymoon in Central or South America and looking for the interesting and upscale tour, I can suggest you Latour company. They offer a variety of packages and A La Carte tours to that part of the world. I booked my trip to Costa Rica with them last year and it was great adventure. The whole trip was very well planned and operated. Although considered by some people touristy, Costa Rica has a lot to offer.