This is by no means an exhaustive list but certainly is useful in helping you achieve your objective. Here are 8 tips which apply to pretty much all travel destinations:

1. How is the place rated by other writers?

Never take one person’s work for anything that is subjective. Scan through a few reviews and you’ll get an accurate picture of your holiday destination.

2. Does the electricity voltage match yours at home?

Today, you have more electronic gadgets than ever before. Make sue it will work where you are going or else you’ll carry extra weight with you. Worse still, you may damage your devices.

Also pretty much every country I have visited, has a different electrical plug and socket standard. Buy one a universal electrical adapter kit and read the fine print to make sure it covers your travel destination. Alternatively, buy only the one adapter suitable for your destination which will be cheaper.

3. How far is your hotel from the airport?

Be careful here. There are many exotic places that are really far from the airport. It sounds silly but you can suffer a lot of discomfort if you are not prepared.

Imagine after a long journey of several hours in the air, you then spend another 2 or 3 hours on a coach to your hotel. Now imagine it is hot and humid and your coach is not air conditioned! Children will particularly suffer.

You will then need a day to recover from your journey. This scenario happens so often you wouldn’t believe it. Why do you think some of those hotels are so cheap!

When checking distance, also check the traffic too and find out the journey “time” and not just the travel distance. Back in the year 2000 I traveled to Dubai. A great place in itself and I stayed in a 5 start hotel that was only 20 – 25 minutes from the airport in spite of heavy traffic. Now, seven years later, that same journey can take anything up to one or even one and half hours. Be prepared.

4. Is public transport efficient or will you need to hire a car?

How are you going to get around? Far too many travel locations have poor public transport and at the same time very expensive and difficult private transport, be it taxis or hired cars.

I was in Istanbul back in 1997 … I enjoyed the city, the weather and so much more but getting around in taxis was not easy nor cheap. And note that Istanbul wasn’t a particularly expensive place but the demand for taxis was high

Also the language barrier meant that inevitably there were times that I paid more for a short journey that I expected. But that was OK because I had done my research including about transport and knew what to expect. I needed a day to recover from my very long journey. After that I haggled (bargained) with the taxi drivers as well as others “before” accepting their service and everything worked out just fine.

5. Try to work out an estimation of the budget that you’ll need, so that you avoid any shocks and embarrassment once you get there.

This one is obvious and yet many of us over spend while on holiday. I always work out what I need and then add plenty of extra to the total estimate. It works very well. I come back with plenty of spare cash rather than end up in distress in an unfamiliar place.

6. Are there plenty of restaurants nearby or will you have to dine at your hotel for the duration of your stay?

Big, big point: Think of the effect on variety, cost, etc, if you only have a limited choice within one hotel or one complex. Bear in mind that the laws of supply and demand apply here too. If your stay is not all inclusive, then expect to pay a huge price or suffer low quality or even both. The local outlets of course know if you are a “captive” customer and their prices will be adjusted “up” accordingly.

Back in 2001 I enjoyed a Latin dance holiday to Cuba. I absolutely loved it. The people, the music, the dancing, all wonderful. But if you know anything about Cuba then you know that food variety and quality is an issue.

I won’t go into the politics or economics of it all. The point is that I spent a portion of my time in an all inclusive resort outside Havana. I experienced first hand the quality issues and lack variety that can happen as a captive customer. Such situations aren’t suitable for children at all and barely acceptable for adults. This can happen any place you are a captive customer.

7. Is your hotel or resort able to provide a doctor in case of an emergency?

Don’t wait to find out the answer when you really need a doctor. It is a fact of life that we or a traveling companion will need medical attention at one time or other in our travels. The difference between being prepared and not is huge.

My best friend and business partner traveled to a newly built Greek resort. While taking a mid-evening stroll around the poorly lit pool area, his wife stepped into “hole”. It was one of these holes around most swimming pools where workmen access pumps, pipes and wiring etc that service the pool. They had left the cover loose and it just flipped when it was stepped on.

Long story short, the local hospital would “not” send out an ambulance! Something to do with not having an arrangement with the hotel because the hotel was outside their region. The hotel knew this but my friend and other hotel guests didn’t until the accident.

8. Do you know anyone else who has been there and how did they find it?

Personal experiences are so valuable and worth knowing. Make it a part of your conversation with friends before you travel to your destination. Find out if they or anyone they know has been to that region.

Knowing the answers to the above can make all the difference. A little homework will save you so much precious time once you get there. When you get there, you’ll be able to do as much or as little as you desire. Happy traveling, where ever your travel destination.

If you are considering going on holiday or vacation with your family, then you’ll know by now that this type of trip can be expensive. Of course, you could choose a tourist destination in your own country and many people do! But if you are in search for a more exotic place for your next holiday adventure, then staying at home is just not going to cut it!

This of course entails several decision making processes where budget and destination will certainly play a big role. Popular amongst many travelers are budget holidays where everything is included in the starting price such as the plane fares, the hotels and in some cases tourist park attraction once you have reached your destination. The advantage of this possibility is of course that you don’t have to do much. All you do is chose a budget that fits in with your own financial realities and choose the destination available within that budget. The restrictions are obvious but at least you don’t have to do much deciding and you think you are saving a bunch of money!

But what if your expectations of a memorable vacation, the holiday of a life time simply go beyond a package deal? What if you are selective in your choice of destinations or simply what if you are bringing with you wife and kids and do not think you can last your next holiday in the confinement of a hotel?

Well, for you, oh selective traveler, seeker of the unusual thrills, but eager to preserve some sort of home comfort at the end of each day there is an ideal opportunity to have your cake and eat it!

Holiday apartments also called self catering or furnished suites are the ideal alternative. Fully equipped and furnished to offer home comforts reminiscent of the home you have left behind they offer much more buck for your money notwithstanding the fact that with the savings you’ll also make if you stay at home for at least a meal a day, you’ll probably be able to take your family on that last shopping trip you might not have been able to afford other wise.

To find the vacation home you could start by visiting holiday apartments where you will find quite a large selection of properties throughout the world. Not an agency this website’s income comes in the form of advertisement on the part of the property owners and thus you can deal with them directly!

A reform of the hotel classification has been on the news since more than a year: Indeed until now there were no five stars hotels in France, but since the beginning of 2009 the change is on: Hotels that volunteer will be rated from one to five stars for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years. The evaluation will be done, at the expense of the volunteers. Moreover the ratings will have to be approved by the French government

The point of this new classification system is simply to mix different point of views related to norms and understand and respond better to the clients’ needs by responding better to the comfort criteria that are a “must have” and other criteria that can please the clients.

The move was of course orchestrated by the French government whose goal is to place tourism “at the heart of the economical growth “ by defining a new political plan concerning tourism: “destination France 2020 “the matter was discussed this summer at the “Assises nationale du tourisme” that took place this summer.

The challenge is to support tourism which is the first industry of France: With the globalisation and the client’s changing needs France has to be competitive with other destinations concerning the clients’ behaviours and needs. (Not having a five star rating is a serious handicap considering that the client doesn’t always know the fact that France’s highest class of hotel is “four star luxe”).

Objectively what is going to be different about this new classification?
Firstly it is interesting to know that it is the first time in twenty two years that the classification grid is being changed: And indeed clients needs have changed a lot in twenty two years!.

The new classification is bringing major changes to satisfy the clients: – no star hotels will disappear: The hotels that volunteer will all be classified one star consequently a fifth star has been added to replace the “four star luxe” appellation. This is useful to hotel owners; it will allow French hotels to be competitive compared to hotel in competing countries. – The new classification system promises to be more exigent : let’s do a little comparison with the old classification

Old classification New classification For a first star rating 30 criteria were needed First star rating:61 criteria needed For a two star rating 30 criteria were needed two star rating:68 criteria needed For a three star rating 30 criteria were needed three star rating:75 criteria needed For a four star rating 33 criteria were needed Four star rating:94 criteria needed For a four star luxe rating 33 criteria were needed Five star rating:124 criteria needed

The classification will also comprise of optional points: Every hotels that volunteer to get reclassified will have the chance to have optional points, these optional criteria will give establishments the chance to differentiate themselves from their competitors and to show the client the diversity of French hostelry (These optional criteria will not be imposed, hotel managers will choose them). Let’s take a moment to summarise and understand this new classification: To be rated hotels will have to respond to the following exigencies: – they will have to be compliant to a number of obligatory criteria (See above page) – they will have to be compliant to a number of optional criteria

These criteria will give hotels points, and it will be the points that will be taken into account for the ratings:

• To be rated “one star”, 141 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel.
• To be rated “two star”, 161 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel.
• To be rated “three star”, 177 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel.
• To be rated “four star”, 226 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel.
• To be rated “five star”,298 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel.

Note: hotels will be given a 5% flexibility margin: if they can not comply to all the points needed to be rated in one category they can make up for these criteria by adding optional points ,but optional points and obligatory points do not have the same value: One obligatory point is equal to three optional points. The heart of this new classification is the client: While the previous classification paid particular attention to surfaces and equipments the new classification pays particular attention to services proposed to the client (in addition to paying attention to the equipment and surfaces.) In addition to that the client will be informed about the new classification and can be solicited to make suggestions about it. Note: hotels will be given a 5% flexibility margin: if they can not comply to all the points needed to be rated in one category they can make up for these criteria by adding optional points ,but optional points and obligatory points do not have the same value: One obligatory point is equal to three optional points. The heart of this new classification is the client: While the previous classification paid particular attention to surfaces and equipments the new classification pays particular attention to services proposed to the client (in addition to paying attention to the equipment and surfaces.) In addition to that the client will be informed about the new classification and can be solicited to make suggestions about it. monhotel.fr

In terms of competitive positioning a change was inevitable: The hotels of the world’s first tourism destination could no longer afford to avoid comparisons with their international competitors! Indeed the creation or more appropriately the adoption of the fifth star will change this fact.

What exactly does the fifth star represent? It will represent the best of French hostelry, the fifth star will be the distinction of excellence and it will of course offer a better readability to international clients. What exactly does the fifth star represent? It will represent the best of French hostelry, the fifth star will be the distinction of excellence and it will of course offer a better readability to international clients.

monhotel.fr

A new classification procedure: If the new classification is supposed to make French hotels compliant to international standards the attributions of stars would also be made according to the techniques used by our international competitors. The evaluation will be done by specialised audit firms which will visit hotels regularly and will be more or less exigent (depending on the rating of the hotel), moreover surprise visit will be made to hotels rated four stars and above

Every five years the classification will be subjected to changes (according to the progress or regression of the establishments).
The “Agence de developpement touristique” or Tourism development agency in English will have to support the procedure and animate it. Transition phase:
Given the time that hotels will need to adopt the classification the new and the old classification will co exist during three years strating from the publication of the “Loi Tourisme” or tourism law (which I will present later in this article). After three years the old classification will cease to exist.

A point on investments: As I said earlier the point of this classification is mostly to modernize French Hotels and it will ssdetermine new economical parameters on which establishments will build their new economical system, and to build a new economical system one needs funds. Two organisms will help hotels to find funds:
-OSEO
-caisse des depots
The Loi Tourisme
This law will modernize the regulations for professionals working in the travel business to allow them to be more competitive in the international sector. This law’s aim is to make easy the sales of tickets for travel agencies: -this law will suppress the four steps that one had to pass to have authorisation to sell trips – Every operator wanting to sale trip formulas will have to declare his activity to a national register managed by the future “Agence de developpement Touristique”. The law will be according to reports constituted of thirteen articles.