A Night In San Francisco

When traveling to most cities of the world, finding discount accommodations when arriving to your destination is always a possibility. Not so in the diverse and complex city of San Francisco. From the hills of Daly City to the plains of Berkeley, the environments and people are so diverse that your vacation could with one dial of the phone be a paradise made in heaven or an inferno designed in, well you know, that other place.

Families making their hotel reservations at th...

When traveling to most cities of the world, finding discount accommodations when arriving to your destination is always a possibility. Not so in the diverse and complex city of San Francisco. From the hills of Daly City to the plains of Berkeley, the environments and people are so diverse that your vacation could with one dial of the phone be a paradise made in heaven or an inferno designed in, well you know, that other place.

Families making their hotel reservations at the smaller hotels that dot the periphery of San Francisco might be able to land a bargain, but find they may find themselves sharing accommodations with other crawling critters that would make even the toughest among us parents squirm.

I did this once. I came to San Francisco on a budget and thinking to wing my accommodations; I found a phonebook and booked a motel for $59 a night. Well, the minute I saw the hotel along a poorly lit side street I knew we were in trouble. This hotel was something I would expect to see in medieval Europe, not in actuality. But it was late and we succumbed to our basal instincts for sleep and it was ‘just one night.’ But the bed was so grimy we actually slept on the floor, and the occasional voices we heard in the alleys were so hair razing I don’t think sleep was an option for any of us - and we were in their ‘best room!’

The next day I called numerous hotels in San Francisco city proper. You know, where the Trolley Cars roam and the street performers perform. I found a number of places, ranging from the low 100’s and going up to the high 600’s. We got in our car to make our investigation and inspected one hotel after the other, some dark and dank and some bright and classic. We settled on the Grant Plaza Hotel at $180 a night. We had a rollaway brought for my two children and spent the rest of the day recuperating for our previous nightmare.

That evening, we ventured out to walk around the Streets of San Francisco and I must tell you it was scary. There were destitute people lurking at every doorway, down every alley, sleeping above the street vents for warmth. This was a haven for the homeless and I am not sure where the tourist fits in. It was both sad and a frightening, especially since coming from an isolated small town in Minnesota. I passed out quarters to those asking as if I were passing out flyers for a corner store.

We eventually found a Starbuck near Union Square and quickly ducked in. After a family meeting to discuss our situation, we decided to catch a trolley car and make a dash to the famous Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli’s Square. We scampered out of Starbucks and caught the next trolley. It was a wild ride straight up and straight down a city built on a mountain. We all screamed with joy. We spent an enchanting evening among all the tourist shops, street performers and family attractions that populate Fisherman’s Wharf. We bought a big pound of fudge at a fudge shop and drank coke and champagne until late in the evening.

Our lesson from all this, at least regarding San Francisco hotel reservations, make your hotel reservations in advance. Don’t waste time looking for a hotel room when you get there, the city is just too big. Since writing this, we went to San Diego. I booked all our accommodations off the Internet which featured discount hotel reservations with pictures and prices clearly explained. Welcome to the 21st century.

2 Secrets To Selecting The Right Hawaii Vacation Rental

You've finally decided you and your family on going to take that long awaited dream vacation in Hawaii. You've decided that you want to go the vacation rental route for numerous reasons: privacy, comfort, location and cost effectiveness. Next, you probably Googled Oahu Vacation Rentals and are faced with the daunting task of choosing among some 175,000 web sites. Where to begin? Here's two secrets that will help you make the right choice so you can enjoy your stay in Hawaii t...

You've finally decided you and your family on going to take that long awaited dream vacation in Hawaii. You've decided that you want to go the vacation rental route for numerous reasons: privacy, comfort, location and cost effectiveness. Next, you probably Googled Oahu Vacation Rentals and are faced with the daunting task of choosing among some 175,000 web sites. Where to begin? Here's two secrets that will help you make the right choice so you can enjoy your stay in Hawaii to its fullest.

Secret One: Use a reservation service. There are several reasons for this. First, a single property vacation rental listing by owner will severely limit you to the dates that you can take your vacation. Vacation rental properties in Hawaii run nearly 90% occupancy, so unless you know your travel dates six months to a year out the odds are high that their property won't be available for the travel dates you had in mind. Second, the owner is only concerned with booking their own property so they will extol the virtues of their vacation rental and not mention any of the faults.

Secret Two: Make the right choice of reservation service. Make sure it is locally owned and operated. Websites like vrbo and findrentals (for instance) don't have a clue about geography, weather, attractions, events and the other necessary information required to give you the property that best fills your needs. For instance, let's say you want to whale watch but also want to vacation on Oahu. Your reservation service should be able to tell you that you need to stay on the windward side of the island if you want to see the whales. Another tip-off of services to avoid are those that do automated, credit card bookings.  Steer clear of these services as this implies they aren't interested in talking to you, they just want your money. Be wary of sites that have more than 100 properties….there aren't that many decent selections on Oahu, or any of the other Hawaiian islands, on the market. The more a service exceeds 100 properties, the greater the odds you'll end up in an overpriced, undesirable vacation rental. Here's another great hint. If a reservation service states that they have hotels or condos available in Kailua, or will have them soon, choose another service. Since, by zoning law, Kailua does not allow hotels or condos, you should realize that once again, this is a service that wants your money, not your piece of mind. Always ask the reservation service person you are talking to where they are located. Someone based in Las Vegas or Los Angeles won't have a clue about how to give you the best property for the vacation experience you have in mind.

With the standard vacation rental property terms being no refunds after you've paid your deposit, you absolutely want to make sure you make the right choice. A good reservation service will ask you questions about what you want to do and see on your vacation and will actually try and talk you out of a property you had in mind if they don't think it appropriate to what you had in mind. This is not an attempt to upsell you, it's more a matter of matching your vacation desires and needs with the perfect choice of vacation rental venue. One vacation rental reservation service that meets all these requirements is Pacific Islands Reservations. They are owned and operated by Ingrid Carvalho, who was born and raised in the islands, as were her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. She has been serving visitors to Hawaii vacation rental needs since 1996. She currently represents ninety vacation rentals on Oahu and another 90 vacation rentals on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. She has actually been to each and every property she represents--she even took most of the photographs of the vacation rentals you see on her web sites. She doesn't take credit cards but she's happy to spend time talking with you to make sure you get the right property to maximize the value and enjoyment of your vacation.