My wife and I just returned from our honeymoon to Japan and Korea. We booked all travel accommodations using points to book a luxury vacation to Japan and Korea! Overall, we used a total of 875,000 points. I would have loved to make it a "million point vacation", but I couldn't find a way to spend our AA or MR points to add extra value :). Since this is the AwardTravel subreddit, most of this trip report will focus on the travel accommodations booked with points, but I'll still include a short description of other activities we enjoyed since I know there's a lot of other travelers looking for an opportunity to visit Japan and Korea.
The Flight - Korean Air First Class
Our travel began with a first-class flight on Korean Air leaving from IAD. Normally, KAL first-class passengers would be allowed access to the AirFrance/KLM lounge. Unfortunately, this lounge is currently closed for renovation so we were instead directed to the Virgin Atlantic lounge (although it looks like AirFrance and KLM passengers get to use the Etihad lounge). This
lounge was nothing exciting. We were there for breakfast, and although they did have some hot options, the food was pretty bad. I tried a small bite of everything, but the only food there that I enjoyed was an apple. On the bright side, they did have cold beer, wine, and a small selection of hard liquor as well as a nice view of the tarmac and plenty of comfortable seating.
This was our first time travelling anything other than coach/economy, so both of us were very excited to see if first class was everything it's chocked up to be. Compared to every other flight I've had, this flight was unbelievably enjoyable. I was worried that 14 hours of flight time would be uncomfortable regardless of which class we were flying, but by the end of the flight I was disappointed we had to deplane. Korean Air uses the Boeing 777-300ER for the IAD-ICN flight, which features the new-ish Kosmo Suites 2.0.
These first-class suites are huge. They have plenty of storage compartments, a USB charging port in the in-flight entertainment console, and an international-compatible AC outlet on the floor. As most reviews of Korean Air flights say, the in-flight entertainment is pretty lacking. Luckily I had the first 7 seasons of Game of Thrones downloaded to my laptop which I happily watched with the noise-cancelling Bose headphones they provide. I think what I was most surprised with was how many flight attendants they seemed to have devoted completely to first-class guests. It seemed like they had 1 flight attendant for every two passengers, but maybe some of them sneaked away to serve business/coach when I wasn't looking. Regardless, I was very impressed with how briskly I was tended to each time I pressed the call button.
The food service was great considering we were eating 40,000 ft in the sky. As soon as we left the ground, our flight attendant showed us the drink menu and took both meal orders ("dinner" as the first meal, and "lunch" as the second). Nether my wife nor I drink, but my uncultured palette thought the champagne tasted great. The meal service started with an
amuse bouche of cream-cheese stuffed tomato and mushroom, followed by a serving of
caviar with traditional accompaniments. For my first meal I chose Korean Air's famous
Bibimbap served with soup, banchan, and a side of bulgogi. For how simple this meal looks, it was excellent - especially the bulgogi. For dessert, they served very good fresh
fruit, cheese, and crackers followed by an unremarkable chocolate pound cake. After watching a few more episodes of Game of Thrones, my flight attendant asked if I would like my bed made. She grabbed a mattress topper and a nice comfy blanket, fully reclined my seat, and made my bed into what felt like a normal twin-size bed. I changed into the pajamas they provided and slept very well for a few hours. As a midnight snack I decided to try a bowl of spicy ramen, which lived up to its namsake of "spicy" by being a little too hot for my enjoyment. Luckily they also had cookies and milk on the menu, which I was very delighted to hear from the flight attendant when she said "I'm sorry, it will take about 8 minutes for me to bake them fresh for you". No worries - I have never been disappointed to wait for freshly baked cookies, and they certainly did not disappoint this time. After sleeping for a few more hours, my wife woke me up to let me know I only had a couple more hours until we landed. For lunch, they offered a nice "build your own salad" station with a blend of greens, veggies, and anchovy. It was nice to have something crisp and refreshing since I was feeling groggy after waking up. For my second meal I chose the
Chilean Sea Bass with veggies. I really enjoyed it, but my wife wasn't too impressed. For dessert they served fruit and cheese again.
Upon landing, we weren't able to enjoy any of the lounges at the ICN airport since we only had 45 minutes to catch our connecting flight. After spending about 10 minutes looking for a lounge with a shower, we decided that we didn't have time and proceeded to our gate. The ~2.5 hour flight from ICN to NRT was on an Airbus A300-330. The first-class seating on this flight actually looked identical to the business class. The seats were still lie-flat, but it was about two-thirds the size. Again, I got the
Bibimbap for my meal, even though it didn't come with the side of bulgogi this time. The flight was over before I knew it, and again the customer service we received was excellent.
Tokyo - Ritz Carlton
After getting our bags and going through customs and immigration, I had to figure out how to get to our first destination: The Ritz Carlton Tokyo. There's normally a "limousine bus" that leaves from the Narita airport that stops at our hotel, but because we weren't ready to depart from the airport until about 9:30pm there were no more buses for the day that stopped at The Ritz. There's also a train that goes directly to Tokyo Station, the "Narita Express (NEX)", but we also missed the last train for that. A quick Google search showed that it would cost about $300 to take a cab from the airport, we instead took a bus from the airport to a hotel about 2 miles from our hotel and took a cab from there. This was especially daunting considering my cellular data only worked for about 10 seconds every 10 minutes, it was getting late, and there was an obvious language barrier that made me wonder if we were headed in the right direction. But luckily, we made it to our hotel without too much effort. As expected, the customer service at The Ritz was great. Our bags were immediately taken for us when we stepped out of the cab and we were escorted to the main lobby on the 45th floor. When we stepped out of the elevator we were met by the live music of smooth jazz saxophone and a vocalist that made me think "god damn this is a swanky hotel". It got even better when we got to our room and were met with
this view. They must clean the windows every day, because when you walk into the room you can't even tell there's a pane of glass there. It almost looks like an optical illusion. Having this great view was one of the highlights of the trip, and one of the biggest reasons to choose the Ritz Carlton when staying in Tokyo.
Again, I cannot believe how excellent the service was at this hotel. The concierge was great (for the most part - more on that later), turn-down service twice daily, spotlessly clean room and bathroom, etc. What really made them surpass my expectations were the little things. On Day 1 we used up all the complementary espresso pods, so during turn-down service the housekeeper left an extra box of espresso with a
note (picture taken after we used some). Similarly, after a day when we used both complimentary bottles of water, after turn-down service we found two extra bottles of water with another endearing
note. And one day when we mentioned to the concierge that we were celebrating my birthday and our honeymoon, we found this nice gift of
chocolates in our room when we returned for the night (the heart and sphere were filled with chocolate covered almonds). Somehow I forgot to take pictures of our room. It was standard size as far as hotel rooms go, but the bathroom was exceptionally large. There was a bathtub, shower, two sinks, and a separate small room with the toilet. Speaking of the toilet, it seems like many toilets in Japan have built-in bidet systems with warm water and heated seats. This one was especially nice and had a "power deodorizer" that seemed to vacuum up the fumes directly from the bowl. Wouldn't be a deal-breaker if they didn't have it, but we enjoyed having a high-tech toilet for the first time in our lives :).
Like I said, the concierges were great with most of their recommendations. All of them were fluent in English and we enjoyed every activity/restaurant that was recommended, with one exception. For my birthday dinner we wanted to try some Japanese fine dining. We told the concierge our price limit of ~250/pp, and were recommended to try a traditional Japanese kaiseki at the Ritz Carlton's restaurant Hinokizaka. As expected, the
view from our seats was excellent, and we were very happy to have some origami to take home with us as souvenirs. Unfortunately, those were the only things that we were impressed with. We've had the pleasure of dining at a handful of fine-dining restaurants and have never regretted splurging a few hundred dollars on a meal - until now. We were presented with two menu choices - one for $180 and the other $240. Without really looking too closely at the difference between the two menus we decided to get one of each. I still don't understand why the $240 menu was more expensive. Most dishes were nearly identical, but the $240 menu had one less course and there were no "ultra-luxury" items that would normally expect an upcharge like truffles, caviar, foie gras, etc. Without diving into detail on why each dish was disappointing, I'll just say that most dishes seemed poorly balanced - either too salty or too bitter. There was an herbal lemon jelly that several of the dishes used that completely overpowered the dish with a sour, bitter flavor that was, bluntly, disgusting. Maybe it's just that I don't like Japanese fine dining, because the restaurant seems to be well-reviewed elsewhere, but I will certainly not be going back for a ~$500 dinner. At least the presentation of the
food was pretty.
Tokyo - Sightseeing Highlights
Tokyo was our favorite destination. Everything was surprisingly easy to navigate once we figured out that there are actually several distinct rail companies that share some of the same stations. At each of the rail stations we used, there was always staff that spoke English well enough to help us, and we were always made to feel welcome to the country. Every time we asked for help we were politely greeted and treated respectfully. Overall, it seems like Japan strongly encourages foreigners by having multi-language maps, easy to decipher pictures, and multi-lingual customer service to answer questions. The one really annoying thing that surprised me was the lack of trash cans. There were several times where we wanted to throw something away but instead just tossed it in our backpack because we walked for blocks without seeing a garbage can. The same thing goes for buying snacks in marketplaces - eat it and give your trash to the vendor you bought it from, otherwise be prepared to carry the trash with you all day. Somehow, the city seems pretty clean regardless.
While we were in Tokyo, we saw
beautiful gardens and
temples, and ate amazing
food. Most of our time here was spent browsing for souvenirs around the various shopping districts (such as the famous
Shibuya crossing area), falling in love with dogs at "
puppy cafes", and playing wacky Japanese arcade games. We also spent half a day at
DisneySea because my Wife is a Disney fanatic and she originally wanted to do DisneyWorld for our honeymoon.
Kyoto - Hyatt Regency
Compared to the Ritz Carlton, there's not really much to say about this hotel. Compared to most hotels, this was a very nice hotel. Compared to the Ritz Carlton, it was exceptionally normal. The service was pleasant and the concierge was able to recommend how to make the most of our time in Kyoto. From our second story window, we had absolutely no view - we could only see the wall of the building next door. Instead of a 65" top-of-the-line Sony Bravia, we instead had to watch Game of Thrones on a plebeian 42" display. We did not get gourmet chocolates left for us in our room, nor were any thoughtful handwritten notes left by the housekeeper. I know it's not fair to compare this Hyatt to the Ritz Carlton, so to be fair, this hotel was very nice. It was clean, comfortable, and conveniently located. Although I wouldn't recommend it at its cash price of ~$564/nt, I was happy to pay 20k Hyatt points to stay there.
Kyoto/Osaka - Sightseeing Highlights
We purchased the 7-day JR RailPass since I knew we'd use it for a round-trip to Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka and a trip from Tokyo Station to Narita Airport. At ~$260 each, it more than paid for itself. You need to purchase the JR RailPass voucher while you're still in the United States, then bring the voucher with you to Japan. Exchanging the voucher at Tokyo Station was straightforward, and we were able to reserve a seat on the Shinkansen "Hikari" to Kyoto. After just under 3 hours, we arrived at Kyoto Station and took a complimentary taxi to our hotel.
Again, we saw some beautiful
temples and ate lots of
food. We took a day trip to Osaka using our JR RailPass. We decided not to get reserved seats and just hopped on the next available train, but unfortunately had to stand for the entire 45 minute journey. Osaka was an awesome city and probably deserved more than just a day trip. My wife loved the
shopping areas there, and we also took a trip to Osaka Temple at night. While we were there they had an event going on called "Sakuya Lumina" where you stroll along the path to the temple and follow along with a short story of a girl from the future who's trying to get home. Along the way there are beautiful
light shows and short movies, and a great
photo spot where one of the employees offers to take photos with your phone. At the top, you get a great view of
Osaka Temple close-up, where we also found some adorable and friendly
stray cats.
Back in Kyoto, we had our most enjoyable day of the vacation. We took the subway to
Arashiyama - most well known for its beautiful
bamboo forest,
temples, and most of all - the
Iwatayama monkey park. It's a small hike and about $10 to get to the monkey park, but it's well worth it. When you reach the summit, there are dozens of Macaque monkeys just running around. There are a lot of employees around to stop tourists from touching the monkeys, but you can get pretty much as close as you want. The monkeys here are completely desensitized to humans are will walk right past you, even with their babies. There is a small hut with a fence for a wall where you can feed the monkeys potatoes and peanuts for $1/bag. We happened to be there during "feeding time" where one of the employees walks around and throws chestnuts and seeds on the ground which the monkeys go crazy for. I don't think there's anywhere else in the world where you can experience this, and it's a must-do during a visit to Kyoto.
While we were in Kyoto, we decided we had to try "real" Kobe Wagyu beef. I've had A5 wagyu once before at Cut in Beverly Hills, but I was excited to compare it to what Japan has to offer. And since my steak-loving wife has never tried it, I was especially excited to see her reaction to biting into the best steak shes ever had. The restaurant we chose, Premium Pound Gion, absolutely killed it. Each course was excellent, the ambiance was great (the whole restaurant is just a "chef's table" style seating), and steak was just as good as I remembered. If you've never had Kobe beef (note: the term "Kobe beef" has no significance in the USA, but "A5 wagyu" does; if you want to experience this type of steak in the USA, look for that designator) and aren't a vegetarian, you need to try it. It's worth it. Here are some
pictures of the dinner.
Flight - Tokyo to Seoul
After taking the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and going back to the Ritz Carlton to pick some luggage we left there while we were in Kyoto, we spent the remainder of the day at DisneySea Tokyo then headed to our hotel airport to prepare for a 10:30am flight. The Hilton hotel we stayed at did have a very good breakfast buffet that included both Japanese and Western cuisine. For us it was complimentary thanks to the automatic HHonors Gold status provided by the Amex Hilton Ascend. The Korean Air lounge at NRT was pretty unremarkable - similar to the Virgin Atlantic lounge we used at IAD. They did have an area sectioned off for first-class only, which was pretty unnecessary since there was plenty of seating elsewhere. However, it was nice to be able to walk past the "first-class only" sign to let all the other lounge members know just how baller we are.
Just like the ICN-NRT flight, we were served a nice lunch followed be cheese and fruit. The same aircraft, A330-300, was used as well.
Seoul - Hilton Millennium
Unfortunately, with the exception of the Marriott Courtyard we stayed at in Dulles, this was the most disappointing stay of the trip. There wasn't anything awful about it, but this hotel just didn't have the same level of service as the others. When we arrived to the hotel, the doorman unloaded our bags for us but did not take them to our room. The concierge spoke English, but not very well. There was a doorman who assisted with taxis, but several times there were communication problems due to translation. Overall, the hotel staff seemed a little indifferent. In comparison to all the hotels I've ever stayed at, this probably still ranks in the top 50%, but is in a completely different category than the other hotels we stayed at for this trip. On the plus side, they give out free $10
vouchers per person per day to the casino attached to the hotel, which we were always sure to cash out before we left for the day. We also got free breakfast and "cocktail hour" snacks which were always mediocre. We had breakfast most days because it was provided for free, but I would not suggest paying for it if you're not an HHonors Gold member.
Seoul - Sightseeing Highlights
While we were in Seoul, we took a cab pretty much everywhere that wasn't within walking distance. The prices were cabs in Seoul are cheaper than any other city I've taken cabs (DC, NYC, Tokyo, Kyoto), and are barely more expensive than taking the metro. Most fares were less than $10, the most expensive being a ~22 minute cab to Gangnam costing about $13.
Again, we love to try exotic food, so we made sure to experience as much of the
local cuisine and street food that we could try. The highlights were the freshly fried sweet "
Korean pancake" filled with honey and walnuts and the
muskmelon bingsu with ice cream that was surprisingly delicious considering how pretty it looked. We also had Korean BBQ from a restaurant called "
The Marbling" that we went to twice because we enjoyed it so much. We really enjoyed walking through the markets and buying junky souvenirs. We also took a guided tour that I would not recommend since it ended with a trip to a "ginseng museum" where they locked us in a sales room for 30 minutes where we were relentlessly pitched to by salespeople to get us to buy hundreds of dollars worth of "cancer-preventing, life-lengthening, energizing ginseng".
Flight - Seoul to Dulles
The check-in for KAL first class flyers is pretty unique at ICN. There's a "
first class check-in lounge" prior to security where you're served beverages while your bags are checked. I thought this was a nice touch compared to the normal check-in experience, even though we only stayed for a few minutes before going through security. From what I understand, there's several different Korean Air lounges at ICN. There's the "normal" KAL lounge that anyone can access, the miler lounge that can only be accessed by million milers, and then there's the first-class only lounge. We spent all of our time in the first class lounge, which was the nicest lounge of the trip. We had an early flight home so they were serving
breakfast - an assortment of Korean and Western options as well as ice cream, beer, wine, and a small assortment of hard liquor. They also had table service where you could order
eggs or a couple other traditional Korean breakfast options. They also had a massage chair, but I couldn't figure out how to work it because all of the
controls were in Korean.
The flight was the same as the original IAD-ICN leg with some slightly different but equally delicious
food options. After 14 hours of eating, sleeping, watching Game of Thrones, eating, and sleeping, we were back to real life in Dulles where we had a 3 hour drive home.
Award Redemption and Cost Analysis
Night # | Hotel | Avg Pts/nt | Avg cash rate | cpp |
1 | Marriott Courtyard (Dulles) | 16,000 | $270 | 1.69 |
2 | In-flight | N/A | N/A | N/A |
3 | Ritz-Carlton (Tokyo) | 48,000 | $1155 | 2.41 |
4 | Ritz-Carlton (Tokyo) | 48,000 | $1155 | 2.41 |
5 | Ritz-Carlton (Tokyo) | 48,000 | $1155 | 2.41 |
6 | Ritz-Carlton (Tokyo) | 48,000 | $1155 | 2.41 |
7 | Ritz-Carlton (Tokyo) | 48,000 | $1155 | 2.41 |
8 | Hyatt Regency (Kyoto) | 25,000 | $564 | 2.26 |
9 | Hyatt Regency (Kyoto) | 25,000 | $564 | 2.26 |
10 | Hyatt Regency (Kyoto) | 25,000 | $564 | 2.26 |
11 | Hilton (Narita) | 20,000 | $130 | .65 |
12 | Hilton Millennium (Seoul) | 55,000 | $221 | .40 |
13 | Hilton Millennium (Seoul) | 55,000 | $221 | .40 |
14 | Hilton Millennium (Seoul) | 55,000 | $221 | .40 |
15 | Hilton Millennium (Seoul) | 55,000 | $221 | .40 |
| | Total: | $8751 | |
First class on Korean Air: 320,000 + $800 in taxes/fees (total for two passengers). Cash "value" is $39,541 (~12cpp).
Total points used:
Brand | Points |
Marriott | 240,000 |
Hilton | 240,000 |
Hyatt (UR transfer) | 75,000 |
Skypass (UR transfer) | 320,000 |
Annual fees paid to accumulate these points:
Card | Annual fee |
Chase Sapphire Reserve | $450 |
Chase Sapphire Reserve | $450 |
Chase Sapphire Preferred | $95 |
Chase Sapphire Preferred | $95 |
Hilton Ascend | $95 |
Hilton Ascend | $95 |
Chase Marriott | $95 |
Chase Marriott | $95 |
Total: | $1470 |
Approximate spending during travel (note: these are rough approximations that I made by taking our total amount spent, $3336.39, and estimating the proportion spent toward each category other than food, then assuming that the rest was on food):
Category | Amount |
Food | $2386.39 |
Transportation (taxi, subway, bus) | $250 |
Transportation (JRPass) | $560 |
Activities | $400 |
Souvenirs | $300 |
Total: | $3896.39 |
Cash spend (travel accommodations, including fees paid to accrue points): $2,270 Cash spend (expenses during travel): ~$3,900 Total cost of vacation: $6170
Conclusion
The many hours of accumulating points, learning from
/churning and
/awardtravel, and planning our itinerary were well worth it. I can't wait to build up our points bank in preparation for our next big redemption. Even though I'm glad we flew first class once, I don't think we'll splurge on it again. Business class seems adequate, even though the seats are a fair bit smaller. At least first class seats had plenty of availability so planning around our schedules and only flying non-peak season was not an issue. The Ritz Carlton Tokyo was amazing and well worth the points, but unfortunately due to Marriott award redemption change this hotel will now cost 85k points instead of 60k. It may still be worth it if you have the points to get the 5th night free. The Hyatt Regency was nice, but definitely not worth the cash rate. The Hilton Millennium was probably not worth the amount of points we blew on it, but Hilton points are pretty worthless anyway. The Conrad in Seoul may have been a better option - it's hard to say, they have similar reviews. If you go to Japan, go to Arashiyama and the Iwatayama Monkey Park! Also, early May turned out to be a great time of the year to travel to Japan/Korea. Every day was in the low 70s and mostly sunny - perfect weather!
submitted by Hello
travel !
My wife and I have been scouring our available resources to understand beach vacations. We weren't sure if we were going to road trip the US, go warm, or head to the mountains, but after looking into it we want to kick our feet up and have some well prepared meals instead of filling up on Mac Dons on the way to the next national park.
We are traveling March 23rd to April 2nd of 2018. Our budget is around $3,500 USD, give or take a couple hundred because we have quite a few credit card miles saved up for plane tickets. Also, we are willing to sacrifice a night or two to get into a better resort.
Initially, I was leaning toward something like the Maldives or Tahiti. Pretty ideal for what we wanted in a honeymoon. Except the fact that its on the other side of the world, 24 hour flight, and over $2000/ticket/person.
So I dug into this subreddit to find 'Maldives like' resorts in the Caribbean, but it seams that hurricanes make sure that's not a possibility. Unless you're paying upwards of $1500/night.
Like I stated; we are from the upper MidWest USA. Early 20's. We're fairly active people. Given our age, we none of our friends have embarked on this adventure to reference from or get direct suggestions.
What we're looking for in a resort:
-All-inclusive including alcohol: we would just like to not worry about how much every drink or meal costs while were there albeit the al a cart restaurants that we would like to partake in.
-Privacy/intimate: preferably adults only and not hotel/casino/club party vibe like Cancun or Puerto Villarda. It's a honeymoon after all. We want to relax and be able to enjoy each other's company without having screaming kids at the pool. Really liked the over-water bungalow vibe in the south pacific, or even beach villa, but I realize that isn't within our budget in the Caribbean.
-Younger crowd: we've been told to avoid resorts like Sandals because it attracts older couples. We are not really party goers, but we would like to be entertained in the after-dinner hours and maybe befriend some other couples on our vacation.
-Beach: I have looked into some resorts along the west and east coast of Mexico/central America (--talking like Bocos del Toro area) and they don't always have the nicest sand/water even compared to most Caribbean Islands. We started our search at the Maldives so our expectations are a little high I guess, but what ever is realistically nice.
-Activities and Amenities: we have never been on a beach vacation, but I have been on a cruise and I just want plenty of things to keep us entertained throughout the day. Excursions, fishing, surfing, paddle boarding, golfing, volleyball, pool (swim up bar? :), hot tub, spa, and snorkeling come to mind.
-American Cuisine: I will try just about anything and love seafood, but my wife is a fairly picky eater so we need to make sure the resort is developed enough to offer typical menu options.
-Service: Last summer I took an Alaskan cruise on Royal Caribbean and the service was pretty top notch; so my expectations are set pretty high. As far as i can see on reviews, high level of service seems to be a common theme, so I'm not too anxious, but I will take into account multiple bad experiences or poor facilities.
I have looked into a lot of options. A good number of the ones that fit the bill are just out of reach or, on the other side, well with in the budget but are just a bland, middle of the road, resort and casino for the fat american to get there beach on for a week. Jade Mountain on St. Lucia looks incredible, but alas I digress.
Realistically; -Couples - Tower Isle, Jamaica looks like a good fit. -Jamaica Jewel Resort possibly? -Anyone have any input on the Excellence resorts? We also have a Costco membership so we could book anything through costcotravel.com within budget.
Looking for references on resorts that fit the bill! Toss suggestions out! or give an uneducated good ole Midwestern boy a lesson or two about what to expect when vacationing in the Caribbean get a lost couple into a kick-ass honeymoon!
submitted by Hello
weddingplanning !
My wife and I have been scouring our available resources to understand beach vacations. We weren't sure if we were going to road trip the US, go warm, or head to the mountains, but after looking into it we want to kick our feet up and have some well prepared meals instead of filling up on Mac Dons on the way to the next national park.
We are traveling March 23rd to April 2nd of 2018. Our budget is around $3,500 USD, give or take a couple hundred because we have quite a few credit card miles saved up for plane tickets. Also, we are willing to sacrifice a night or two to get into a better resort.
Initially, I was leaning toward something like the Maldives or Tahiti. Pretty ideal for what we wanted in a honeymoon. Except the fact that its on the other side of the world, 24 hour flight, and over $2000/ticket/person.
So I dug into other subreddits to find 'Maldives like' resorts in the Caribbean, but it seams that hurricanes make sure that's not a possibility. Unless you're paying upwards of $1500/night.
Like I stated; we are from the upper MidWest USA. Early 20's. We're fairly active people. Given our age, none of our friends have embarked on this adventure to reference from or get direct suggestions.
What we're looking for in a resort:
-All-inclusive including alcohol: we would just like to not worry about how much every drink or meal costs while were there albeit the al a cart restaurants that we would like to partake in.
-Privacy/intimate: preferably adults only and not hotel/casino/club party vibe like Cancun or Puerto Villarda. It's a honeymoon after all. We want to relax and be able to enjoy each other's company without having screaming kids at the pool. Really liked the over-water bungalow vibe in the south pacific, or even beach villa, but I realize that isn't within our budget in the Caribbean.
-Younger crowd: we've been told to avoid resorts like Sandals because it attracts older couples. We are not really party goers, but we would like to be entertained in the after-dinner hours and maybe befriend some other couples on our vacation.
-Beach: I have looked into some resorts along the west and east coast of Mexico/central America (--talking like Bocos del Toro area) and they don't always have the nicest sand/water even compared to most Caribbean Islands. We started our search at the Maldives so our expectations are a little high I guess, but what ever is realistically nice.
-Activities and Amenities: we have never been on a beach vacation, but I have been on a cruise and I just want plenty of things to keep us entertained throughout the day. Excursions, fishing, surfing, paddle boarding, golfing, volleyball, pool (swim up bar? :), hot tub, spa, and snorkeling come to mind.
-American Cuisine: I will try just about anything and love seafood, but my wife is a fairly picky eater so we need to make sure the resort is developed enough to offer typical menu options.
-Service: Last summer I took an Alaskan cruise on Royal Caribbean and the service was pretty top notch; so my expectations are set pretty high. As far as i can see on reviews, high level of service seems to be a common theme, so I'm not too anxious, but I will take into account multiple bad experiences or poor facilities.
I have looked into a lot of options. A good number of the ones that fit the bill are just out of reach, or on the other side--well with in the budget, but are just a bland, middle of the road, hotel and casinos. Jade Mountain on St. Lucia looks incredible, but alas I digress.
Realistically; -Couples - Tower Isle, Jamaica looks like a good fit. -Jamaica Jewel Resort possibly? -Anyone have any input on the Excellence resorts?
We also have a Costco membership so we could book anything through costcotravel.com within budget. Looking for references on resorts that fit the bill! Toss suggestions out! or give an uneducated good ole Midwestern boy a lesson or two about what to expect when vacationing in the Caribbean get a lost couple into a kick-ass honeymoon!
Edit: sorry if the formatting sucks.
submitted by U.S. News has identified top casino hotels in the USA by taking into account amenities, reputation among professional travel experts, guest reviews and hotel class ratings. Nicest Casino In The Usa bearing on the result of your next game. Online Slots Nicest Casino In The Usa games come in many varieties, each with different jackpots and different outcome possibilities. Odds of winning smaller prizes are much greater than the odds of winning Nicest Casino In The Usa the top prize. Nicest Casino In The Usa, joe mcbride texas holdem, poker minneapolis, db casino hammerbrook. Casino review . January 13, 2018-Wager. Casino review . 0. permanent Min deposit: £ 10. Gamble Responsibly BeGambleAware.org-10 Free Spins Bonus on God’s Temple. Prize pool: 100% up to £100 ... Nicest Casino In The Usa, roulette soldi virtuali, link alternatif poker domino online, the poker club band Nicest Casino In The Usa, free online video poker slots games no download, edgewater casino laughlin phone number, plainridge park casino slot machines jackpot infernal Whether you enjoy card games, slots or tables, we go through American players’ Nicest Casino In The Usa favorite casino games that can be found on the internet. Playing online doesn’t dim the Nicest Casino In The Usa bright Vegas Nicest Casino In The Usa lights; instead, it brings Vegas into your home. by Martin Derbyshire. [toc]A Native American casino in the middle of a Connecticut forest has been voted the country’s best. In fact, Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut won the title of Best U.S. Casino from the USA Today 10Best Reader’s Choice 2017 awards this year. 18+ T&C Apply – To receive the welcome bonus Nicest Casino In The Usa a minimum deposit of £/€/$ 10 is required. The minimum deposit for other offers that require a deposit will be clearly communicated. Maximum bonus offered will be communicated in the details of each specific promo. No matter your style or your gambling game, Las Vegas has a casino for you. Here are 12 of the best casinos, where guests can roll the dice, eat like royalty, party like celebs and take in some ... “ The Casino is quite large, besides slot machines and table games in the Casino proper, there are also three restaurants, including the daily buffet, which is always good, and if you are 55 or older, you are charge...
Check out all the places seen in this video: https://www.touropia.com/best-places-to-visit-in-usa/Comprised of 50 states, the USA occupies an area that’s onl... The 5 best casinos to head to in Vegas for the ultimate Las Vegas holiday!See more from us at GoWin Casino: https: ... Join me while I take an inside look at the most luxurious prison in the world. A life of crime never looked so good!Follow us!Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mr... California, The state represents 14% of the U.S. economy. If it were a country, California’s 2.9 trillion economy would be the fifth biggest in the world.Wit... Here are the top 10 most expensive homes in the united states. From New York City to Beverly Hill California, these Mega mansions will blow your mind!Like us... Top 10 BEST Cars to CUSTOMIZE in GTA 5 Online in 2020!More of Me!•My Discord: https://discord.gg/saintsfan•Twitch (Livestream): http://www.twitch.tv/dat_sai... Had to re-upload because of copyrights Driving between Las Vegas and Reno Nevada on Hwy 95, you come across the strange little semi - abandoned town of Goldfield. I often wonder what people do for... Top most stunningly beautiful places in America! Check out the best places and most amazingly beautiful places in America as well as all of the best places t... The Most Insanely Luxurious Suites in Las Vegas are:1)The ARIA Sky Villa # 18 : A private castle on the 58th floor; two-stories, floor-to-ceiling windows; or...