Great experience booking at Cotton Tree Lodge

[drhass]

My fiancee and I just booked our travel purchasing two LL auctions for Cotton Tree Lodge in Belize. Since I haven't seen any posts on here about Cotton Tree, I thought I would post some of our initial experiences with booking through them.

We bid on and won 2 auctions for the 4-night/2-person package. We only wanted to stay 6 nights of the 8, and since this was our honeymoon, we asked the Lodge if we could trade the remaining two nights to upgrade to their "Honeymoon Cabana" for the other 6. The Lodge was more than happy to do this for us, which was great! Booking with them was very easy and completely hassle-free. Our honeymoon isn't until October, so I'll post more about my experiences then, but to anyone who was wondering, Cotton Tree Lodge has been a good experience thus far!

[kyshel]

drhass--first, congrats on your upcoming wedding and, secondly, on your winning bid for Cotton Tree Lodge. I've been looking at it, too. There is a great review of the property at tripadvisor.com and the person who posted it has been very kind to respond to my questions. Glad to see the flexibilty of the hotel management, too. What a great idea, trading "time" for upgrade!
Let us know about your trip this fall, and, of course, keep checking here for updates on the lodge!

[drhass]

Thanks! We're both very excited. We're spending out first 5 nights at Cayo Espanto (I really wish LL would add some Cayo Espanto auctions--this is one expensive honeymoon) and then remaining 6 at Cotton Tree. I'll be sure to keep the board posted on how it all goes!

We still have yet to purchase our flights to and from Belize. The best price we've found is around $1450 for the both of us (Delta and NW). Is there any place on the internet anyone in this community knows where one can find good airfare deals? I've checked out skyauction, and it's actually about the same price when you add in all the silly fees they have. Any other places people know about?

[kyshel]

drhass--don't laugh but I recently saw something that surprised me.
This is just an example of strange pricing:

oneway fare quote atlanta to seoul (new route for delta) is $689++
oneway fare quote indy to seoul (which has to connect in atlanta) is $659++

I hate to suggest, but if you have the time to mess around with partner/other airlines--ck them out. I am telling you this because the current service from ATL to BZE is on Atlantic Southeast Airlines in a 70 pax RJ for 4 hours. So, if you have options for nearby cities, try those, too. NW will most likely be codeshare(same equip/flt)
That's the acceptable price for the market, but shopping from other cities may be beneficial. Do you have skymiles? Rack em up if you have time. You can try sep booking to Mia and taking another carrier, too. It is not an easy task! Good luck.

[maylinglai1]

Not sure where you're flying from and how important a direct flight is but have you tried American or Taca Airlines?

-May

[maylinglai1]

Not sure where you're flying from and how important a direct flight is but have you tried American or Taca Airlines?

-May

[lhbrown]

Hi drhass,
Welcome to the group and congrats on your upcoming wedding. As far as airfares are concerned, I have found the site of www.sidestep.com a valuable tool for comparison of airfares. Another interesting site is www.yapta.com which VIP Contributor omegaet first discovered. There is a long thread on this board where you can find valuable info on tracking prices and even reap savings after you have booked. Good luck.




Message Edited by lhbrown on 10-11-2007 07:22 AM

[Syrene-1]

Drhass, Please post your impressions of Belize and the lodges when you return. Your post says Oct. so you should be going any time now.

I wish you a joyous wedding and a wonderful honeymoon!