Which LuxuryLink hotels/destinations are on your agenda for 2007?

[two2go]

Hi Everyone,

Honestly, I never really imagined that I would beinterested in a package to Peru. Orient Express has been very appealling through all your informative posts. This trip might be an option this year. We have been travelling most of Italy in the past seven years, we were planning to finish it off this year. We will be visitingbetween Venice to Termoli.My children will be offto Greece (we started a thread in the Europe section, we need your help).We would like to see a part of the Napa Valleywith a stop in Las Vegas.Also we will be taking a few mini vacation in between.

two2go

[claassenam]

Everyone's posts are so inspiring! What exciting destinations from which to choose.

As for me, at this point I'm focused on one 2-3 week trip in August or September. This is kind of a last hurrah for my husband and I as he is finishing graduate school, ready to enter the "real world" again and we won't have any more of these wonderful 3-4 week breaks for a long, long time. So, the great debate is between:

1) South Africa/Botswana, which I'd pull together via the Luxury Link Orient Express package and perhaps one or two others,
2) Thailand/Cambodia/Myanmar/Burma/Laos/Vietnam (any combination of these) which I'm hoping to schedule through LL although again an Orient Express package is especially appealing and currently lacking on LL.
3) Black Sea cruise hitting Istanbul, Ukraine, Romania, etc. Here I'm cheating as this isn't on LL but through our university alumni network with several history professors traveling with the group.

I think I read Disneygal say that when she is planning travel, she looks everywhere to find the best possible vacation destination, accomodations and prices and although she'd prefer to book through LuxuryLink it doesn't always work out that way (forgive me for paraphrasing, Disneygal!) - I'm definitely the same way. With specific times and destinations in mind, I always look to LL first but if they don't have what I need I'm forced to go elsewhere. That's why I'm so excited about this board and the quick response to us posters' requests and opinions as I think our desires will begin to be reflected in future auctions. On the other hand, I think I may be an even better LL customer once my vacation schedule goes back to one week increments as there are so many fantastic shorter trips to be had on LL.

[travel2fun]

I would love to return to Turkey for some additional exploration and perhaps spend three nights at the Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinski. This must rank in the top hotels in the world and certainly is situated in one of the most interesting cities. I have noticed this hotel come up in a couple of auctions here on luxury link, but the price gets bid up very quickly. Apparently there are some other travelers who are acquainted with this property and the level of service offered.

[mary-j]

I have added another one to my list of possibilities for my next trip. It is Hufaven Fushi in the Maldives. Anyone been recently?

[funtimes]

Bonneyjoy - You may be in AZ by now - if not ? why Pheonix? It is so crowded. Have you tried other locations in AZ? We prefer Tuscon or Green Valley - South of Tuscon almost to Nogales Mexico - much more quiet than Pheonix Elgin - AZ wine country is also nice. Scottsdale is a bit too much - the beautiful crowd are in abundance there. happy travels ...Funtimes

[fredhashway]

I'm awfully tempted by some of the Silverseas cruises...particularly the Mediterranean. We did a fantastic Med cruise in '03 and it's time to go back. I've never tried Silverseas but it looks wonderful.

[funtimes]

Yeah!!! We just purchased the Cathedral Mountain Lodge in Alberta Canada near Lake Moraine through LL. I had to sweat that one out with some very last minute bids - almost got knocked out with one minute to go ...good thing I checked and refreshed the page at the last minute! Our other trips with LL will be in Tuscany and Umbria. As always we travel between WI and Arizona too Happy travels ...Funtimes

[lhbrown]

Hi bdsouza,

We are in the same boat, we are living in Paris, and the LL packages work out just great for us. We do use Ryan Air quite a bit. True you might have a bad experience with these cut rate airlines, but you can always catch a train to get where you are going if you do get stranded. Happened to us just once in all the time we have used these inexpensive airlines. It took us 12 hours to get back to Paris from Venice and the price was about 150 Euros per person while the flight was just 40 Euros. I just posted a new post on Inexpensive Airline Tickets within Europe. These flights are usually so cheap, you can't afford to drive or ride the train.... Our experience is that these cheap airlines are quite good and you can't beat the price.... As far as baggage restriction, yes, you are only allowed 15 kg for checked baggage and 10 kg for 1 carry on, but who wants to "schlepp" all that stuff anyway... We have become quite adept in traveling light....

We just got back from Italy, using Ryan Air, visiting Bergamo, Florence (LL - Hotel della Ville - fabulous), Rome (LL - Hotel Fortyseven - ditto), Naples (LHW - wonderful) and Formia/Gaeta and back from Rome on Ryan Air. Had a wonderful trip - lucked out on the weather - short sleve weather the hole time....

[funtimes]

Hi LH your Italy trip sounds wonderful!!! Good advice in case you get stranded We have one leg of our italy trip on British Airways - we are a bit worried after reading the BA post. Our flight gets in at 11:00 pm and leaves the next morning at 7:00 am Hopefully we can get to our hotel that is prepaid with no refunds - sleep for a few hours and make the next leg. I would feel much better if I was certain that the Heathrow express or cab service ran very early in the morning. Any suggestions anyone?

[lhbrown]

Hi funtimes,

Yes, we had a wonderful time on our recent Italy trip, but last year, my niece lost here pre-paid hotel and private car pick up due to RyanAir cancelling our Venice-Paris flight. If you can, extend your return flight from Heathrow by one day that would give you the extra security that you are not missing your return flight. On the other hand, if you get in in time the night before, getting to the airport for a 7:00AM flight ought to be no problem. Lots of people take 7:00am flights out of Heathrow, so I think you should be able to get a cab at 4:30 in the morning. Just make sure your hotel wakes you up in time and orders a cab for you the night before. Most airports don't open up much before 5:00/5:30 am, so 1 hour to the airport by cab should be fine, especially since there is little traffic at that hour of the morning. I would go with the cab idea, especially since you are with friends. However, I do recall that there is a direct express train to Heathrow from London. Just be sure to check out when the first train leaves from London.

On our recent trip to Italy, we thought the first RER train to Port Maillot in Paris left at 5:42 am, well, we saw the train pulling out of the station... it left at 5:32 ..... We were able to hail a cab in front of the Paris Hilton Hotel and we got to our airport bus in time.... but it was a little nerf racking seeing the train leave without us.....