Holiday villas have long been of a certain design type – white walls, simple furniture, usually including a fold away bed plus some rather naff print of beaches and sunsets.
But, as people are becoming increasingly interested in interior design, so holiday villas are changing to become more design orientated. Owners of properties and agencies involved in villa rentals are increasingly looking to create interesting, stylish designs that go beyond the bland and utilitarian.
At the top end of the market especially, holiday villas are more likely to be interior designed to create a stylish look.  Swimming pools might have striking designs on the floors, made from tiles while inside designers are choosing individuals pieces of furniture which make every property different from the range of holiday villas on offer.
Antiques are one way to make a luxury holiday villa stand out. Technology is another area where properties are becoming more luxurious and sophisticated. Home entertainment systems that are elegant and unobtrusive and that offer a wide variety of music and films are increasingly available in homes – so why not in holiday villas?
Art is another area in which variety and individualism is important. Holiday villas at the upper end of the market are more likely to have individual paintings and prints rather than mass produced images on the walls. Choosing something that is not only striking and attractive but which has been created by a local artist helps emphasise the uniqueness of the property and anchor it in its surroundings.
You might not think that you can do much with beds – but superking sized beds are increasingly in demand in the best holiday villas as are bathrooms with luxury showers and Jacuzzis.
Those looking for luxury villa rentals not only appreciate these things, but are beginning to regard them as standard.

Our top travel secret isn’t really a secret at all, but it takes a while for some of us to learn and apply it. Here it is: Slow down. Slowing down and spending more time in each location is not only a secret of cheap travel, but in our experience, it means more fun.

Slowing Down For Cheap Travel

We returned yesterday (August 13, 2007) from a ten-day road trip, and I can report that going slower saved us money, as it usually does. This isn’t just about driving less, though when we started driving 200 miles in a day instead of 600 we certainly saved on gas. However, we also found that with time on our hands, we could do a better job shopping for a place to stay or to eat.

Make the big mile days the ones that pass through the boring stretches. Then when you come to an interesting place, find nice, affordable lodging and stick around a while. Once, while driving around the country camping in our van, we discovered hot springs in a wild part of Arizona, with picnic tables and bathrooms and desert hills to explore – everything we needed at the time. It cost just $3 per night, so it was easy to stay a while.

In fact, we stayed for eight days, enjoying the hot pools even during an unusual snowy day in the desert. We took daily hikes and hunted for antiquities and rocks in the surrounding hills, but more on that in a moment. Just once, we drove into the nearest town for groceries and water, so the entire eight days might have cost us $80 or so. That’s cheap travel.

Five years back we stumbled into a great mountain town where we wanted to stay a while. We were in town early, instead of our usual driving until evening and scrambling to find a hotel, so we had time to check things out without rushing. We asked around and heard about a hotel above a pub. The rest of the hotel rooms in town were generally $60 per night and up, but we got a room above the pub for $120 – for an entire week. It had a stove and refrigerator, so we could cook our own meals if we wanted to save more.

Slowing Down Means Better Travel Experiences

More important than the fact that slowing down means cheap travel is the fact that when you go slower you discover things you would have missed. While at the hot springs mentioned above, for example, we befriended a Mayan Indian who brought us to an old Pony Express station in the desert hills. It still had parts of the old walls remaining.

He showed us areas where we could find old arrowheads, and we found some. Out in the middle of the desert, he showed us perfectly round holes that had been drilled into the rocks hundreds of years earlier. They were used for water storage. In our van, we followed him to an area where ancient pottery littered the desert, and where gemstones could be found as well.

We wouldn’t have found these things on our own. The experiences were also only possible because we didn’t rush from one park to another, trying to fit as many “sights” into a trip as possible. It may not be a secret that a slow trip can be more interesting, but not many people seem to want to try this more relaxing, slower pace.

Where we stayed a week for $120 in that mountain town, we discovered area waterfalls and secret mountain lakes that only the locals knew about. The town was our base as we made trips into the surrounding area. Talking to people in local bars lead us to a well-preserved ghost town that wasn’t on our map. Its streets were still full of buildings and foundations, but no tourists – one other car pulled in while we were there.

Our travel secret number one: slow down to save money and enjoy the trip more.

Jet Blue Airways is a low cost American airline. JetBlueairlines has flights serving all the major domestic and international destinations. Here, is a look at Jet blue flights and the destinations that are served by JetBlueairlines flights.

In USA, Jet Blue flights serve Phoenix in Arizona, Burbank, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Scaramento, San Diego, Oakland, San Jose and San Diego in California.

Jet Blue airways also has Jet Blue Flights scheduled for Denver in Colorado, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Orlando and Fort Myers.

In Illinois, the Jetblueairlines has Jet Blue flights scheduled for Chicago, New Orleans in Louisiana, Portland in Maine, Baltimore in Maryland, Boston and Nantucket in Massachusetts.

Jet blue flights also serve Las Vegas in Nevada, Newark in New Jersey, Newburgh, Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, White Plains and the New York City in the state of New York.

In the state of North Carolina, Jet Blue Airways flights serve Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham. It also serves Portland in Oregon, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, Houston and Austin in Texas.

In Utah, the Jet Blue flights serve the Salt Lake City, in Vermont, they serve Burlington, in Virginia, they serve Richmond and Dallas and in Washington, it serves the city of Seattle.

Apart from USA, Jet Blue Airways are scheduled to visit various destinations in countries all over the American continent.

Jet Blue Flights serve countries like Aruba (Oranjestad), The Bahamas (Nassau), Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic (Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Higuey, Santo Domingo, Santiago de los Caballeros), Jamaica (Montego Bay, Kingston), Mexico (Cancun), Netherlands Antilles (St. Marten), Puerto Rico (Ponce, San Juan, Aguadilla) and Saint Lucia (Vieux Fort).

In Central America, Jet blue flights serve the city of San Jose`de Costa Rica in Costa Rica. In the Southern American region, the Bogot? city of Colombia is served by Jet Blue Airways flights.

JetBlueairlines have successfully offered its services to all the major destinations in the American continent. JetBlueairlines have made it possible for the travellers to travel across the American continent at low costs. Jet Blue Airways has crafted a niche for them in the low cost airline sector in an economy, that has been severely marred by recession.

Situated on the beautiful North Norfolk coast, Sheringham is ideally placed to truly enjoy the best of Norfolk. It is the perfect, traditional seaside town with all the attractions one would expect. If you are looking for a great UK family destination which harks back to yesteryear, then this is definitely it.

Perennially popular with families throughout the ages, Sheringham is a superb UK family holiday destination. This is now more true than ever, given the exchange rate which means that UK holidays are far more attractive than in the Eurozone.

The town focuses around the main high street where you will find some wonderful shops and some excellent fish and chip restaurants and ice cream parlours selling just about every flavour imaginable. There are also several quaint antiques and bric-a-brac shops in which you can spend countless hours browsing and hunting out collectibles.  At one end of the town you will find a small train station where you can board the North Norfolk Railway. At the other end, take a stroll along the cliff tops and from here you will get great views down to the beach, made up of a ridge of pebbles and beautiful clean washed sands. A great place for families to get away from it all and re-connect.

Sheringham is also well placed to enjoy the North Norfolk area and there is plenty to do. The National Trust locations of Sheringham Park, Felbrigg Hall and Blickling Hall are all nearby.

Just two miles south of Sheringham is the stunning Sheringham Park. It is a super place for the whole family with acres of woodland to explore either on foot or on bike, magnificent views of the coast from the viewing towers and displays of rhododendrons and azalea blooms in May and June.

Part of the National Trust, Felbrigg Hall, Garden and Park is a striking estate but a short distance away. It is one of the finest 17th Century country houses in the UK with much to explore inside and out with several lakeside and natural trails to explore through the parkland.

Searching for Sheringham cottages need not be a chore.

Whether you are looking for a coastal property which affords you the opportunity to go on lots of bracing walks along the North Norfolk coast, or searching for self-catering accommodation inland, there is choice for all tastes.

To find Sheringham Cottages just go to www.kettcountrycottages.co.uk

In anticipation of an upcoming trip to Auckland, New Zealand (NZ) I was on the search for accommodation. With so many options to choose from – bed & breakfast, motels, lodges, serviced apartments and hotels (to name a few) – I eventually decided to choose Auckland hotel accommodation. Now my issue went from: What kind of accommodation do I want to stay in? to: Which provider do I choose?

It’s fair to say that had I booked my trip through a travel agent they may well have been able to suggest the right provider for me, but in this day and age of online travel bookings, I had no need to talk to a travel agent. So keeping in line with my online flight bookings, I decided to book my accommodation online too. First though I decided to find out what other people were saying about Auckland hotels, to see if anyone had some good suggestions for me.

I’ve heard all this talk about user reviews becoming more and more popular in today’s online environment, and I can now see why. It’s much like talking to your family or friends and asking if they can recommend somewhere to stay, but in this event you have access to a wider range of opinions. The other advantage is that the feedback which is posted on the site is no longer filtered by the providers so that you only read good reviews, instead they are a much more transparent and honest assessment of the hotel.

There are many online travel review sites available, but I must say that it’s important to find one which isn’t just a general site allowing people to sign up and post comments unanimously, as these are open to unverified reports and even overly positive and sometimes fraudulent comments from accommodation providers themselves. So my first step was finding a trusted Auckland hotel review site/s.

This came in the form of an online booking site. The comments on these types of sites can only be posted by people who have actually booked and stayed at that particular Auckland hotel. This results in me being able to read honest reviews from actual guests. Not only that but it was easier to read the reviews on the same website I could end up booking on, than having to read one site and then find another for the actual Auckland hotel I chose.

Most of the reviews I came across, had a 1 to 5 star rating system where :
1 = poor
2 = below average
3 = value for money
4 = great value for money
5 = excellent experience

This method of rating means I could easily gain a general idea of the value without having to read every review over the past twelve months. From there, further investigation of the hotel was required, which involved reading each of the reviews that caught my attention. At this point it was very important for me to remember that one or two bad reviews did not necessarily reflect poor service on the part of the hotel. People do have bad days, and unfortunately hotels do to. But if dripping taps, poor showers, noisy rooms or bad service is mentioned in a number of the reviews, I considered it safe to assume that the majority of guests are right.

In the end, the one trend that showed up in the majority of bad reviews, is that at times people were expecting more from the hotel than it provided. Such complaints as “the restaurant was closed at 11pm”, “no room service” or “I had to carry my own luggage”, all show on investigation that these services were not offered by the Auckland hotel in the first place. There is still the perception that a hotel has 24 hour front desks and bar, pools, gymnasiums and spa. Where as today’s demands have removed the non essential offerings and services in order to provide a better price to the consumer.

So after reading numerous reviews and now feeling more informed than when I started, I managed to locate an Auckland hotel which meet my needs, not only in terms of service, but in terms of location, price and facilities. Ultimately the reviews were one component of my decision and needed to be viewed alongside my own personal criteria, in order to make my final decision.

Typically wilderness survival kits have first aid items, ways to make fire, a blade of some sort, and some water purification tablets. That’s the minimum in any case, and there are certainly other items in almost any kit that you buy. But of course not everyone is going into the same kind of terrain during the same seasons and engaging in the same activities. In other words, you might not find a kit that has just what you need in it. The solution? Build your own.To start with, you need a good nylon pouch or zippered bag to hold everything. You can start stocking it with the usual items. These should include matches, some other form of fire starter (lighter or magnesium stick), a signal reflector, whistle (also for signaling), water purification tablets, a compass, a knife, some cord, duct tape, paper, a pencil, needle and thread, safety pins, bandages, aspirin, gauze pads, sun block, antibiotic ointment, medical tape, tweezers, and moleskin.

Next, consider the types of environment you are normally going to be in. If you often hike in the desert, for example, a large garbage bag or piece of plastic might be a good idea. It can be used to make a solar still if you need water.

If you canoe to isolated locations far from civilization, fishing gear might be a good addition. A few rolls of line and a half-dozen hooks and split-shot sinkers will add only an ounce or so to the weight of the kit. This better prepares you to feed yourself should your other supplies get washed away.

If you do a lot of cold-weather backpacking you might include an emergency “survival blanket.” One of the metallic-plastic ones might weigh only a few ounces, yet work to warm you as well as keep the rain off of you.

If you hike in the mountains and are prone to twisted ankles or knee problems, add an ace bandage. If the metal hooks snag on things in your kit, you can leave them behind and just tuck the wrap into itself. I also sometimes carry an elastic knee-brace that weighs just a few ounces.

If you travel very far from roads or civilization in general, food can be a great addition as well. Find some granola bars or something else that has an expiration date a year away or more. That way you can leave the emergency food in your survival kit between trips, so you don’t forget it.

If you travel in cold wet places, add a good fire tinder that will light when wet. This could be cotton balls soaked with petroleum jelly, cardboard soaked in wax, or something similar. Alcohol-based gel hand sanitizer can help wet things burn as well (and can be used as a disinfectant).

Finally, consider making small survival kits for your pocket. Losing gear is not that uncommon, but you rarely lose the clothes you are wearing. This kind of kit should have aspirin, waterproof matches, a bandage, and a small amount of duct tape. You can add other items, but keep the whole thing small enough and light enough to comfortably carry in a pocket.

Most often than not, couples spend so much of their preparation time on the wedding details that they tend to overlook the specifics of their honeymoon.

Unfortunately, the honeymoon usually comes right after the chaos of wedding celebrations giving newlyweds no time to rectify their lack of preparation. So, they just rush into their pre-booked flights and discover too late that they have cooked up a big anti climax instead of a spectacular highlight. You don’t want to commit the same mistake.

Set a time to sit down and talk it over. You don’t need to allot more than a day or two to do this. Most couples tend to forgo after-wedding preparations because of the erroneous belief that it will take so much time from their hectic schedule for before-the-wedding preparation. In fact, you can discuss the matter during your free time together such as during lunch or dinner. The important thing is that you have allotted a particular time to talk about your ideas on where and how you want to spend your first few days or weeks as a married couple. This will give you the right mind-set to focus on just one topic – your honeymoon!

Agree on a budget. Weddings can be costly and you don’t want to worry about your finances during your first year as a couple. So, set a budget that you can afford and not a budget that you wish you had. This amount will guide you in choosing where you can go, where you can stay, what entertainment options you can enjoy and what types of restaurants you can visit. Remember, you don’t have to break the bank to have a wonderful honeymoon. All it takes is good planning and a touch of creativity on your part.

Discuss where you want to celebrate love and romance together. It is important to see eye to eye on your destination. You want to have a great time as a couple, so you want to consider each others interests when choosing a honeymoon spot. You may also want to recall the places you’ve visited together and consider the sites that gave both of you much fun and excitement. It could be a tropical beach, a winter getaway, a glamour camping trip or an African safari.

Book everything in advance. Early birds do not just get to save but also get to have more time to enjoy. Advance bookings, from your flights to your massages, usually get discounted prices compared to on-the-spot appointments. When you get to your destination, you will not have to waste your precious time on this mundane task but you can immediately get on with having a good time. Moreover, it’s a convenient way to avoid joining the usual queue. With pre-bookings, you can be sure to have your preferred restaurant, service or activity available at your convenience.

Finally, take advantage of honeymoon perks on offer. Hotels, restaurants, spas and what-have-you usually have special prices and/or freebies for newly weds. So take time to find out what privileges are available for you to enjoy. These bonuses are usually designed to create an atmosphere of romance and passion for the newlyweds – just perfect, don’t you think?  Oh… And congratulations!

A National Park is an area of land controlled and maintained by the government for recreational benefits, usually to help wildlife and nature thrive. Kenya boasts 35 National Parks and Reserves which are maintained by Kenya Wildlife Service. As well as overseeing the running of the reserves, KWS also act as the security in the parks to cut down on poachers and illegal activity. The entrance fee money collected at park gates goes back in to the conservation of the reserves.

The purpose of this article is to guide you through some of the best National Parks and National Reserves in Kenya, which should help to give you a good of potential additions to your safari itinerary if you are considering visiting Kenya in the future.

Masai Mara National Reserve

The Masai Mara is the Kenyan extension of the Serengeti, Tanzania. It remains to be the most popular reserve in Kenya due to its large population of animals, which include the ‘big five’ (lion, black rhino, elephants, cape buffalo and leopard), crocodile, hippo, gazelle, giraffe as well as many varieties of birds, including secretary bird, masai ostrich, tawny eagle and grey-headed kingfisher. The Mara is also famous as the location of where one of the most natural wonders of the world take place, the ‘great migration’. The migration sees over one million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle making their annual anti-clockwise trip from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara plains in search of fresh pastures to graze upon. It really does make great viewing to watch the migration from the comfort of a luxurious safari lodge.

Lake Nakuru National Park

Lake Nakuru, known as the ‘sea of pink’ to many who have visited it before is one of the sode lakes of the Great Rift Valley. It gets its nickname as it is often a mass area of pink, made up of millions of flamingo. The park also is home to 25 rare black rhino, which are fenced in to the park to help protect them and encourage their breeding developments.

Amboseli National Park

Amboseli is the second most popular park in Kenya just after the Masai Mara. It remains to be a special park due to the huge herds of elephants that inhabit the park. Another speciality of Amboseli that other reserves can’t claim to have is the back drop of Kilimanjaro that overlooks the park, on a clear day you can catch the perfect photography moment of one of the ‘big five’ making their way past the mountains back drop.

When the pocket is light and the economy jittery, you don’t need to go for a costly accommodation in India. In fact, in India there is no dearth of cheap accommodations available, all you need is travel smarter in order to turn your trip into an enjoyable, smooth and affordable reality. Here are top ten tips you will find immensely helpful for landing a cheap yet clean and comfortable rooms while you are on India Travel.

1. Check Discounts: Check prices of different rooms and ask for discounts. Room prices may vary largely even within a hotel. For example a room with shower is cheaper than a room with tub. Air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned rooms have different prices. Similarly rooms with pool or garden views pricier. If you want a cheap room, say it. Some hotels have a few rooms that need renovation without private baths, which they don’t usually mention, figuring they would be unacceptable to tourists. And, if you plan to stay three or more nights, it’s worth asking if any discounts are available.

2. Consider Hotel Agents: As you step out from the airport or railway station, you’ll be met by some hotel agents offering their rooms for rent. They are usually just hardworking entrepreneurs who don’t have guidebook listing. If you like what the agent says, and the hotel isn’t too far away or filthy (many are), follow him to his hotel. You are obliged only to inspect the hotel. If it’s good, check into it. If not, leave. You are probably close to other budget hotels anyway.

3. Compare Prices: Sometimes hotels differ in prices for the same amenities and class. It is worthwhile to check and compare prices of the hotels in the locality. Some hotels raise their prices due to locational advantage as they are near some favorite hot spot. Consider searching for hotels a little far from such spots.

4. Bargain If It’s Off Season: The hotels are governed by economics of demand and supply. Prices usually rise with demand during festivals and special occasions such as Christmas or New Year. If it is off-season, try bargaining. If it’s too expensive, tell them your limit, they might meet it.

5. Come Early: Early birds get the room easily. If you anticipate crowds, arrive in the morning when the most and best rooms are available. If there is none ready until noon, take one anyway. Leave your luggage with the front desk, they’ll move you in later.

6. Think Small: Larger hotels are usually costlier than small hotels.

7. Let Hotel Managers Help: Have your current manager call ahead to make a booking at your next destination. If you’re in a town and having problem finding a room, remember that nobody knows the hotel situation better than the local hotel managers.

8. Consider a Chain: There are many hotel chains which offer cheap or moderately priced rooms. Although you may not find character, you’ll surely get predictable comfort.

9. Business Hotels: In Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh and Bangalore, business hotels need customers in the winter and on weekends, when their guests are away. And, the later you arrive, the better the discount.

10. Buy a Good Guidebook: Good guidebooks are like good friends. They are like having a friend check places out for you. There are some good online guides too which can be of immense help to locate hotels while you are on Indian Travel.

Whether you travel for business or pleasure, a suitcase or two is an important thing to have. However, buying a suitcase is not as easy as it looks at first. To ensure you walk away with a good deal, a suitcase that will last for years, and to get a good value for your money, there are a number of factors you want to consider when buying a suitcase, whether it’s a name brand like Hartmann or Samsonite suitcases,  or a cheap suitcase you find on sale.  What are these factors?

1 – Suitcase Size

When it comes to suitcase size, you want to consider whether you are using this suitcase as carry-on bag or checked luggage. This will have a huge impact on your size. A good approach to ensure you choose the best sized suitcase is to check the online website of the airline you frequently fly; they should have their carry-on and checked luggage limitations listed.  You might want to buy a little on the small side of what the airlines allow, they seem to be cracking down more and more on luggage allowances these days.

2 – Luggage Portability

Not only is it important to get a good-sized suitcase to ensure you don’t have to check your carry-on bag or pay an extra fee due to an oversized bag, size is important to portability too. Of course, you want a suitcase that is easy to lift. However, Samsonite suitcases and other popular brands come with wheels and a pull-along handle. While you may be unable to wheel your suitcase down an airplane aisle, extra portability should come in handy when walking around the airport.

3 – Accessibility Of Packed Items

When buying a suitcase, accessibility should be an important factor to consider. Whether it be in your hotel or reaching up into the luggage compartment, it should be easy to find what you need. A million small compartments sounds nice at first, but this tends to make it harder to quickly get items from your suitcase and is more tedious to pack and unpack. Small suitcases designed as carry-on luggage are more accessible and this is important since you may need to grab something from your bag on the airplane. With an easy-to-access bag, you can just open the compartment, unzip, and grab what you need.

4 – Durability – Will Your Suitcase Last?

Durability is a must when buying a suitcase. Whether it be a carry-on suitcase or a checked suitcase, they go through a lot of abuse. Your luggage is worthless if it can’t stand up to a few dings or tosses from airport luggage handlers. You want wheels that can handle bumpy paths and the weather. You want zippers that open with ease for hundreds of zips and unzips. Some of the most well-known brands, such as Samsonite suitcases, have solid warranties, typically up to 10 years, that backs up their durability luggage claims.

5 – Cost Of The Suitcase – Is Cheap Luggage Worth It?

Here is the thing about costs: we as consumers want to save money, but you should never sacrifice quality for price. Remember, a strong and durable suitcase is a better investment for years of use than one that is cheap, but will deteriorate quickly over time. Not only does a nice suitcase improve the overall travel experience, but you get a better value for your money in the long run. Find a good brand, such as TravelPro, Hartmann, or Samsonite suitcases.  Then compare prices on those to find the best price on high-quality items. A cheap suitcase may seem like a good deal now, but not when you need to buy a replacement more quickly than you had anticipated.

Your luggage is an investment. Sometimes cheap is good… basically what you’re looking for is the lowest price available on a high quality, well made suitcase.