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Dining Out (Aruba) | Winter 2019
In the five trips my husband and I have taken to Aruba, we have always stayed at the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts. Breakfast is included—a small buffet with omelets to order and the like. For lunch, we raise our beach flag and eat in our lounge chairs (sand and wind be damned). For happy hour, we saddle up to their beach bar and enjoy two for one cocktails from 4pm to 6pm. Dinner is always the main event. I carefully research options, discuss with the concierge, and book a special place each night. Some are hits, some are misses, but dinner is our time to see more of the…
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Le Blanc Spa Resort (Cancun) | Winter 2019
There’s a reason Le Blanc Spa Resort is consistently rated Cancun’s #1 or #2 hotel on TripAdvisor—it’s really unlike any other place in the region. I have a feeling if my first all-inclusive experience were elsewhere, I would not have given it a second a try, let alone returned to Cancun. If you are skeptical about all-inclusive resorts like I once was, please try Le Blanc. Let’s Begin with the Positives To begin with, Le Blanc really does feel like a spa. The interior and exterior walls are painted white, there is cucumber mint aromatherapy piped throughout, Zen-like music at the pools, and a pianist or other musician playing during…
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Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts (Aruba) | Winter 2019
Ten years ago, my boyfriend (now husband) and I saved our pennies for our annual weeklong vacation. We were only able to take the one week per year, and we elected somewhere warm in February. When I say that our vacation was met with seven days of hurricane-like weather, I am not exaggerating. So when it came time to start planning next year’s excursion, we wanted weather that was as close to a lock as possible. No hurricanes. No torrential downpours. Just sun, sand and blue skies. We eventually landed figuratively and literally on Aruba and have been fans ever since. Let’s Begin with the Positives There’s a reason why…
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Live Aqua (Cancun) | Winter 2019
It’s a good thing I got over whatever hang-ups I had about Cancun a few years ago, because here we go again… This time it was a business trip to the adults-only all-inclusive Live Aqua with a little over 60 of us total. What’s nice about traveling with a group is that you can compare notes along the way as to how things are going. Is what you are experiencing an anomaly or par for the course? Here’s what I found: Live Aqua sits along a beautiful beach in the Hotel Zone, a short drive from the airport. It is a fairly sprawling property with 371 rooms and 6 (or…
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The Centurion Lounge | Fall 2018
I remember a time when visiting airline lounges was exclusive enough to feel special, but not so hard to get into that you had to have a ridiculous amount of miles or pay exorbitant fees to gain entry. Additionally, the front desk staff was amazingly helpful and the perks were many. We now know those days are sadly gone. Let’s Begin with the Positives Enter the Centurion Lounge—the best thing to happen to a handful of airports in a long time. Where many airport lounges have meager food selections (think cereal boxes and yogurt for breakfast) and an equally scant beverage offering (Bloody Mary’s are complimentary, all else is extra),…
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Carrying On in Lambertville, NJ | Fall 2018
It has become something of an annual tradition for my husband and I to venture north for a Saturday/Sunday stay in the fall. Last year, we visited New Hope, PA. This year, we landed across the river in Lambertville, NJ. Let’s Begin with the Positives What an amazing time we had. I booked the Lambertville House which is right in the heart of town. It’s a lovely old hotel with the warmth of a B&B but with additional conveniences such as an onsite restaurant with a full bar. We had stayed at the Lambertville House years ago in the spring and at that time I chose a suite with a…
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The Royal Service at Paradisus (Cancun) | Fall 2018
A few years ago, a woman I met at the bar at The Ritz-Carlton in Puerto Rico recommended giving Cancun another try. Two caveats she mentioned: go all-inclusive (do we really need to revisit Señor Frog’s???) and adults-only, please. Since that conversation, my husband and I, (for work or for pleasure), have stayed at Le Blanc, Nizuc, and Secrets the Vine. This Thanksgiving, we decided to try the Royal Service at Paradisus. To be clear, Paradisus is a large, family-friendly all-inclusive (buildings 1-4), while the Royal Service is its adults-only side (building 5) with its own pool, beach and restaurant. Initially, I was managing my expectations mostly based on…
