This week, Mary, our Northern California City Host dropped by the office. Until now, I’ve been posting our City Host’s recommendations here, but they’ll soon be taking the keyboard and offering insider tips about what to do, when, in their destination cities. Hope you enjoy it.
Happy Friday!
P.S. I’m the one on the left.
Posted: November 30th, 2007 under Family Vacation, Travel.
Comments: none
While some vacation spots like the Outer Banks are primarily for summer family trips, locations such as San Francisco are year-round, family friendly destinations. If you are looking for new places to take the kids in San Francisco, here’s what our local City Host recommends.
The best way to explore San Francisco is as an adventurer. Where will you and your family go today? Which part of The City will you explore? What new sights will you see and foods will you try? Within the 49 square miles of this cosmopolitan city, you will find museums, galleries, stores, boutiques, parks, playgrounds, restaurants and cafes, many that cater both to the young, as well as to the young-at-heart.
Check out a listing of monthly events taking place in The City and a directory of kid-friendly attractions at About.com. For extensive lists of family-friendly San Francisco activities, check out GoCityKids. One fun way to explore The City is to pick your family’s passion (baseball, art, outdoor fun, shopping, etc.) and plan an outing to whatever neighborhood is home to your dreams.
Before you go, remember that San Francisco is full of hills and small children may tire easily. For younger kids, bring an umbrella stroller that you can easily fold up to put in a taxi or on a bus. Make sure adults and older children wear comfortable shoes. Always dress in layers. San Francisco can be windy, foggy, sunny, and cold, all in the same day.
For a tour of the major tourist attractions, how about a ride on a double decker bus? If you have kids who can stand being on a bus for three hours, check out Gray Line bus tours of San Francisco.
Many times the best way to explore the neighborhoods of The City is on foot. San Francisco City Guides offers free walking tours of San Francisco. Most tours last 1-1/2 to 2 hours, so gauge your child’s attention level accordingly.
Two great museums geared towards kids are the preschooler-friendly Randall Museum and the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s museum of science, art, and human perception. The Zeum near the Moscone Center is also a kid favorite.
There’s lots to explore and discover in Golden Gate Park. Some kid-friendly highlights include the newly-renovated Children’s Playground, home to the 1912 Herschel-Spillman carousel, and Stow Lake, where you can rent a row boat.
Even though San Francisco is a small city, it is home to a large number of interesting buildings, museums, tourist attractions, stores, parks, eateries, and local hangouts. I encourage you to get creative and to have fun when exploring this city with your children.
Two card decks that will whet your appetite for creative exploration are available on Amazon.com. They are: City Walks with Kids: San Francisco: 50 Adventures on Foot and 52 Adventures in San Francisco by Lynn Gordon.
If you’ve got a favorite kid-friendly place in San Francisco, let us know about it.
Posted: November 28th, 2007 under Family Vacation, Travel.
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You probably know that today, Cyber Monday, is the busiest day of the year for online retailers, but did you know that January 2 is the busiest day of the year for booking vacation lodging? So if you want to rent your dream vacation home for 2008, it’s a good idea to beat the rush and start planning ahead!
With an eye toward January 2, there are only 38 days left before everyone and their extended family is finding and booking their ideal vacation rental home for 2008. While everyone else is hitting the pre-holiday online sales, get in on a little known secret—if you’re good at planning ahead, your dream vacation home is just a click or two away. Just decide when, where and what vacation you want to take this coming year, and you’re well on your way! Planning ahead means you’ll have many more properties available from which to pick and choose.
To get started on the right foot, here are a few tips about how I end up with the right vacation rental home for us:
Tip 1: Make a ‘must have’ list of everyone’s needs/requirements
With small children, you might not want to travel with safety gates, a Pack ‘n Play or a high chair. Put it on the list. If you’re vacationing with a pet, you’ll need lodging that accommodates the dog or cat, too. Can’t imagine vacationing without a pool, hot tub or internet access? Add it to your ‘must have’ list, and don’t forget to combine your list with the ‘must haves’ of others vacationing with you. Aim high because your vacation home can be as nice as your dream home if you start planning early.
Tip 2: Research online
Property manager sites and vacation rental search site PickPackGo showcase all of their properties online. This is a great place for you to compare your ‘must have’ list with what is offered in individual homes, condos and villas. Read the descriptions and view the photos closely. They’ll tell you a lot.
Tip 3: Make several inquiries
Even if your heart is set on one particular place, ask or inquire via email about a few different properties. This will help you to evaluate (and compare) the responses to your questions, and provide a chance for you to ask about more specific needs. You can learn a lot about property managers’ or owners’ responsiveness, as well as their knowledge of the properties and area through inquiries. They should be willing to take the time to answer your questions and concerns, and if they don’t, it may be time to move on to your next choice.
Tip 4: Read the fine print
Make sure to review a copy of the rental agreement in advance of booking your reservation. It may include policies about deposits, payments, check-in/out procedures and requirements the property management companies or owners have about the rental.
Tip 5: Book early!
Historically, January 2 is the busiest booking day of the year for vacation rental homes. Looking and booking early can guarantee you get the property you really want. Truthfully, waiting until the last minute and hoping for a ‘special’ won’t help much, unless its off-season. Some owners would rather not rent their homes than get a price below what they are asking during high season. So waiting is not to your advantage. If you have an idea about when you want to travel and where, it pays to book a rental early.
So after you shop for that new camera online today, take a minute to start looking for your dream vacation home for ‘08, too. January 2 is coming soon!
Posted: November 26th, 2007 under Family Vacation, Property Management, Travel, Vacation Homes, Vacation Rentals.
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The release of our new Book Now functionality last week was especially exciting to me as a primary contact to our property managers. Since releasing Book Now, we have delivered direct bookings to a number of property managers, including Advantage Vacation Homes in Orlando, Florida, near Walt Disney World.According to Fred Zorayq, director of sales and marketing at Advantage Vacation Homes: “Travelers appreciate the convenience of online booking and we are pleased to be working with PickPackGo to process bookings automatically for renters. PickPackGo is aligned with our goals of getting more highly qualified renters and confirmed bookings. Within 24 hours of activating Book Now through PickPackGo, we generated a confirmed booking for one of our vacation rental properties near Walt Disney World.”Vacation rental property managers, such as Advantage Vacation Homes, are able to seamlessly add their listings for free on PickPackGo because of the solid partnership we established in early September and continue to have with Instant Software.
I’m also pleased to report that our Book Now functionality has excited new partners. Property managers running their businesses on software from Escapia now will be taking advantage of our online booking capabilities.
Property managers are key to making vacation rental homes a mainstream lodging alternative because they provide renters with peace of mind about their stay. Today, we are excited to be working with two vacation rental software leaders to deliver more bookings and revenue to property managers.The possibilities with PickPackGo are unlimited. If you’re a property manager, contact us to learn how we can help you attract more renters and bookings, no matter what system you’re using.
Posted: November 19th, 2007 under Property Management, Vacation Homes, Vacation Rentals, Web 2.0.
Comments: 2
I like things easy. I like to go to a website, search for what I want, and buy it with a credit card. That’s what’s cool about the new Book Now functionality we officially released today. It’s easy. Renters searching for vacation properties can now find, compare, and securely complete a booking all on PickPackGo.
The ability to book immediately online may not be new for property managers, but it will be new to a lot of renters. That’s because they’ve never rented a vacation home online before or they’ve only rented from individual homeowners and this type of functionality wasn’t available to them.
With Book Now, renters can have the same peace of mind reserving a vacation rental home as they do reserving a hotel room. Knowing they can use a credit card will provide more security to travelers previously concerned about sending a check or money order to confirm a booking.
The majority of professionally managed properties on our site are now enabled with online booking capabilities. Check them out:
This new feature will make renting a vacation home more convenient for me. I hope you’ll contact us and share your experience about how it worked for you.
Posted: November 13th, 2007 under Property Management, Technology, Vacation Homes, Vacation Rentals.
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In honor of Veterans’ Day this Sunday, I’d like to add a personal recommendation to the many places ‘beyond the surf and sun’ that our Hawaii City Host suggested over the last week. If you’re traveling to Oahu, take an hour or two to visit the USS Arizona Memorial.
The USS Arizona Memorial is the final resting place for many of the battleship’s 1,177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. The Memorial commemorates the site where World War II began for the United States. What occurred at Pearl Harbor is very well documented in the museum and the exhibits. It’s well worth the trip.
To all of the Veterans’ there and elsewhere in the world, thank you for your service.
Posted: November 9th, 2007 under Travel.
Comments: 1
It’s nearly 80 degrees in Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island today. If you’re bracing for the “seasonably chilly weather that will grip the eastern third of the U. S. tomorrow,” maybe it’s time to get back to that vacation planning. Thinking about the Islands? Our Hawaii City Host wraps up her advice with some Big Island adventures.
You may already be familiar with the Big Island’s famous active Kilauea volcano in Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park. You may not be as familiar with the Volcano Winery, a great side trip that allows you to experience unique wines created from tropical fruits and macadamia nuts.
In Kona, stop in at the Ocean Rider Seahorse Ranch to experience a one-on-one encounter with a seahorse. It’s a rare opportunity to tour this three-acre farm which raises more than 15 different species of seahorses.
In Hilo, check out Mauna Kea Observatories. The summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii houses the world’s largest observatory for optical, infrared, and submillimeter astronomy. Explore the Visitor Information Station at 9,000 ft or travel up to the summit at 14,000 ft. From the visitor center, you can even view the stars at night through portable telescopes. It can be quite an adventure, so be sure to call or visit the website to be fully prepared.
We’re happy to have visitors interested in learning more about Hawaii and our culture. So, come stay in our Hawaiian vacation rental homes and experience life as a local. Mahalo.
Posted: November 6th, 2007 under Family Vacation, Travel, Vacation Rentals.
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When you’re in Hawaii, it’s “easy to island hop,” according to our City Host.
Flights can range from $20 to $150 each way, so if you’re visiting more than Oahu on your next trip to the Islands, our Hawaii City Host recommends these fun adventures on Maui.
Extend your tropical vacation beyond the beach by experiencing some of these Maui adventures. Do you have a question or a favorite Maui destination? If so, contact our Hawaii City Host. Mahalo.
Posted: November 2nd, 2007 under Family Vacation, Travel.
Comments: 1
