This post was sponsored by FamilyGetaway.com who is the first advertiser to the Family Travel Ad Network.
I want to welcome my new sponsor, FamilyGetaway.com. FamilyGetaway offers discounted vacation packages at luxury resorts and hotels around the world.
FamilyGetaway's parent site, LuxuryLink, is a website that I've used for years to find great deals on high-end hotels and resorts all around the world. Most of their deals are for complete packages that include meals, upgraded rooms, special features, or resort credits. When FamilyGetaway.com was launched, I was excited to see the company putting together packages specifically targeted for families.
FamilyGetaway.com is the first advertiser on our new Family Travel Ad Network, which is a partnership between myself,
Travel Savvy Mom, and The Vacation Gals, Ciao Bambino, Trekaroo, See Jane Fly,
Traveling Mom. By working together, we're hoping to reach quality advertisers who want to target family travel directly. Ultimately, this lets me spend more time writing, and less time seeking individual advertisers to keep this site running.
This is the first time I've done a sponsored post, and I'm curious what you think. Please let me know in comments! I'll be doing two more sponsored posts as part of our advertising agreement, and I'll be clear about which posts are sponsored. As always, you'll know that whatever you read on DeliciousBaby is my opinion and not anybody else's.
Related Links
Check out Ciao Bambino's Resort at Squaw Creek review to read a review of one of FamilyGetaway.com's properties.
2 comments |
Posted on October 5, 2010 |
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We were invited guests of the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk on this trip. The hotel did not require that I express a particular point of view, and I always strive to present a fair and balanced review regardless of who is paying the bill.
When I heard that we'd be staying at the Embassy Suites in Waikiki, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Afterall, the classic Embassy suites, a tower built around an interior courtyard pool, doesn't make a lot of sense in Hawaii.
From the moment you drive up and enter the indoor-outdoor lobby, you know that this Embassy Suites property has been reinterpreted to work in Waikiki. Two tall towers are connected by a huge patio with an outdoor pool, a dining area, and a lanai.
One and two bedroom suites are available (there are no "studio" rooms). We like to stay in suites hotels when we travel, the extra room lets us either split up kids who are preventing one another from going to sleep and gives us a place to work or read in the evenings after the kids are asleep. In the morning, early risers can play in the living room while late sleepers doze in the bedroom. A good suites property gives you the benefit of two separate hotel rooms without the expense.
Breakfast is included in the room rate, just as it is at every Embassy Suites property, and this one includes fresh fruit, made to order omelets, Japanese items like miso soup and fish, pastry, and of course POG juice (pineapple-orange-guava).
One of our favorite tricks is to bring the earliest riser down for breakfast so that he or she doesn't wake up the other kids, and the Embassy Suites outdoor Lanai worked especially nicely because there was so much space to run after breakfast was finished!
I don't have to tell you what the kids favorite thing was, though, do I? This pool isn't the sprawling affair that you would find in more remote parts of the island, but the kids loved the shallow splash pool and the not-too-deep main pool. There's enough shade in the late afternoon to swim here without being overly obsessive about sunscreen.
In the early evening, we walked the block to the beach and played in the sand as the sun set.
Our room was decorated in a light, airy style, and everything was very clean and modern feeling. The bedroom fit our two queen beds and had it's own small lanai. The living room had plenty of space for a sofa, a dining table (which doubled as a desk), a wetbar. There was plenty of space for the kids to spread out their toys and play in the mornings or as we wound down for bed.
What You Should Know
- Free Wi-Fi included
- Breakfast included (high chairs available)
- Poolside meals and room service available
- ABC market across the street sells everything from sunscreen and aloha shirts to snacks and drinks
- Wetbar, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker in every room
- Cribs at no additional cost
- Bellhops have pool/beach toys to lend
- No children's program
- Evening manager's reception
- Avoid 4th floor rooms which have lots of foot traffic to breakfast and the pool
- Central location close to Royal Hawaiian Center, lots of restaurants
- One and two bedroom suites available
- One block to beach
- This area is bustling at night and feels very safe to walk around.
Related Links
City Guide: Honolulu, Oahu with Kids
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hotel-reviews
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Posted on October 5, 2010 |
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The things that kids pick up from their parents are (almost) always cute, and Everest and Darya have really gotten into the idea that it is their "job" to find out whether the hotels we stay in are "good for kids."
Here are Everest's notes about the Embassy Suites Waikiki
And here's Darya stopping to take a picture of the hotel entrance (good instinct, but the photo is a bit to blurry to use!
Poor kids, sometimes I worry that they'll never be able to just relax and enjoy a vacation like normal people do.
Filed Under:
travel-stories
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Posted on October 4, 2010 |
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Doesn't Eilan look like he wants to climb right and grab those pretty fish?
Related Links
City Guide: Honolulu, Waikiki and Oahu With Kids
Maui Ocean Center
City Guide: Maui with Kids
About Photo Friday:
You are invited to join us for Photo Friday! It's a great way to get to know other bloggers and to help them get to know you. Just post a "Photo Friday" picture on your own blog, and link directly to your post from the linky below (If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly)
What is Photo Friday?
- Post a travel photo on your site. It can be about any topic, as long as it is G-rated.
- The focus of the post should be on your photo.
- You don't need to be a professional photographer (I'm not), but do showcase your best work, and make it big enough to see well!
- It's nice to include a few sentences about the photo, but it is not required.
- Link back here so that your readers can see all the other
great Photo Friday posts.
Even though it feels like we've hardly unpacked from our trip to Hawaii, I'm in the process of narrowing down destinations for a trip in December. There are tons of places I'd love to revisit with the kids, including Paris, New York, Whistler and Kyoto, but I'm curious about what other people are doing. Are you planning a winter trip? Where are you planning to go?
14 comments |
Posted on September 28, 2010 |
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Everyone I talk to seems to have fond memories of a trip to Hawaii or dream of making the trip themselves. Yet, they often worry about the expense. I was surprised at how much more affordable Hawaii was on this trip than it was when I last visited (6 years ago). As tourism has dropped, the hotels and airlines have reduced their rates, and there are some incredible deals out there. For example, RT tickets from Seattle are around $300 - about the same price as a flight to California. Hotels are also steeply discounted. Airfares and hotel rates aren't the only expenses on a Hawaiian vacation though, and here are some of my best tips for cutting your overall expense:
- Cook For Yourself This tip should be at the top of every post about saving money when you travel, and yet I'm always surprised at how few people do it. Even if you are staying in a hotel room without a kitchenette, it's cheaper and easier to eat cereal in your room than to go out for breakfast. Simple picnic lunches save money too, and your kids will thank you for letting them spend more time on the beach and less time waiting for their food.
- Stock up at Costco We all know what a great money saver warehouse clubs can be on the mainland. That's even more true in Hawaii where markups on groceries can be significantly higher. Costco has locations on Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island, making this a great place to stock up before heading to your vacation rental. In addition to discounted food items, you may also find discounts for local attractions or macadamia nuts to take home as gifts.
- Look for Longs Drugs Does it seem strange for me to send you to a drugstore? Longs drugs carries everything from sunscreen an snack foods to aloha shirts, fresh flower lei, and other souvenirs all at very reasonable prices.
- Bring the Basics Bathing suits, sunscreen, and even snorkeling gear are likely to be cheaper at home than in Hawaii, and you won't spend your precious vacation time shopping for these essentials. Can't find it out of season? I order most of these items from Amazon
before I go. Lands' End is another great resource for finding reasonably priced swimwear out of season.
- Buy reusable swim diapers If your child isn't potty trained, you can spend a fortune on disposable swim diapers during a week in Hawaii. I prefer i Play Reusable Swim Diaper which cost about $12 on amazon. That's about the same price as 18 disposable swim diapers (and better for the environment).
- Find free entertainment Malls and shopping center often host free hula dancing, lei making, and other activities. Even better, if you pick up a local paper you'll find out about school performances, festivals, farmers markets and other activities designed for locals! Here's your chance to drop into the local world for a short time and save money too.
- Eat with locals Yelp is a great resource for finding inexpensive but delicious local resources, and your guidebook should also list inexpensive choices. Not finding what you want? Ask the staff at your hotel where they would eat nearby. You might be surprised at what you find. One of our favorite meals on this trip was a Soba restaurant near our hotel that makes it's own noodles. It was a little taste of Japan without leaving the states.
- Eat what locals eatSure, you can buy La Brea Bakery Baguettes imported from the mainland, but why not try sweet Hawaiian bread with butter instead? or enjoy locally grown Papaya with your breakfast.
- Search for coupons. Try searching for coupons for the attraction you are interested in. For example, "'Ulalena Coupon" would find a 10% off coupon for the popular 'Ulalena show. On Oahu I also like Eat Out Hawaii which features local restaurants
- Look for a Consolidator I was absolutely astounded by the discounts I saw for popular shows and tourist activities. If you don't feel comfortable working with a consolidator you find on the street, ask your hotel concierge whether they are able to get discounted tickets or whether they recommend a specific discounter.
Related Links
Money Saving Tips the Travel Industry Doesn't Want You to Know
Easy Ways to Track Travel Expenses and Stick To Your Vacation Budget
Tips for a Last Minute Getaway on a Budget
Step by Step: Creating A Budget for a Family Vacation
Do you have some great budget travel tips I missed? Let me know in comments!
Filed Under:
budget
5 comments |
Posted on September 27, 2010 |
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Yep, you're right, this is a fake. But it's cute anyway, right?
Related Links
City Guide: Honolulu, Waikiki and Oahu With Kids
About Photo Friday:
You are invited to join us for Photo Friday! It's a great way to get to know other bloggers and to help them get to know you. Just post a "Photo Friday" picture on your own blog, and link directly to your post from the linky below (If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly)
What is Photo Friday?
- Post a travel photo on your site. It can be about any topic, as long as it is G-rated.
- The focus of the post should be on your photo.
- You don't need to be a professional photographer (I'm not), but do showcase your best work, and make it big enough to see well!
- It's nice to include a few sentences about the photo, but it is not required.
- Link back here so that your readers can see all the other
great Photo Friday posts.
Whenever I arrive in a new place, I Iike to get the "lay of the land," so we spent the bulk of our first day in Hawaii exploring Waikiki. I've never been here before, and though I had a vague image of skyscrapers, high end shopping, aloha shirts and the beach, I wasn't quite sure how all those things would work together. We explored Waikiki in three different ways today, each time seeing a different aspect of the area around our hotel.
The sprawling city and huge resorts seem a little overwhelming at first. I'm not sure exactly which way to go, so we start by walking the block around the hotel, and when I realize that we're just across the street from the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, we head in. The Royal Hawaiian is sort of like Rodeo Drive jammed in an indoor-outdoor mall. It's a pleasant environment, and the windows are full of eye candy, all of which sounds like a disaster when you're exploring with three kids under 6. But here's the secret, the center runs free cultural activities throughout the day. You can get the schedule online or just show up and wander.
First we grabbed some snacks, and sat down to watch the Ukulele lessons. The kids thought it was funny to see grownups strumming such tiny instruments!
Everest, my little engineer, was fascinated by this lighting. It's suspended from rebar in an open courtyard, and he begged to be brought back at night so that he could see it all lit up.
When that got old, we found a Japanese pastry shop called Panya in the center, and the kids got more snacks! These must be the prettiest cookies in all Hawaii.
And then more snacks, this time in the Royal Grove (a pretty outdoor pond and grove), accompanied by Hula dancing.
I've been surprised at how many small, locally owned businesses there are in amongst the big chains that dominate the area. Somehow these places find a way to compete, even with what must be very high land prices. Not surprisingly, many of them cater to the Japanese tourists who flock to Waikiki, and it's a little funny to be walking down the street and see a teppanyaki place that looks just like it would in Japan (as opposed to how it would look in mainland USA).
The kids love Japanese food. Our whole family does. For us, it's easier to get the kids to eat well at a Japanese restaurant than a burger place. The Japanese restaurants scattered around Waikiki are a gift for us. And I had been worried that we'd have to get in the car and drive out of the tourist area to get a non-chain restaraunt meal! It's a delight to find these secret little places within walking distance of our hotel.
For our first night, we visited Matsugen, a small soba noodle restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. Soba noodles are one of our standby foods. Everest gets them in his lunchbox about once a week. They're quick and easy, and I like that they're made from whole grains. Still, the dried soba noodles I boil and then dress in soy sauce and vinegar taste nothing like Matsugen's handmade noodles. It's like the difference between wonderbread and a proper french baguette.
These noodles are so soft they almost melt in your mouth, and the flavor is more refined than the noodles we get in the store. Not only were the noodles great, but since everyone around us was Japanese, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to teach the kids how to noisily slurp up their noodles the way the Japanese do when they think something tastes extra yummy. Noisy, slurpy noodles are better than a coloring page and crayons, and when they were gone, Everest slurped up the richly flavored dipping sauce too.
That night, the baby was having a hard time settling down, so I put him in the sling and went out for a walk. That gave me one final opportunity to explore Waikiki before turning in myself. Waikiki takes on an entirely different life at night. The wide sidewalks along Kalakaua Ave (the main drag) are lined with street performers, and the crowd is an odd mix of young partiers and elegant Japanese families who seem to be loaded down with shopping bags from Coach, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and the other high end shops that line the street. Many of the stores are open until 11pm, after all it's five hours later here than it is in Tokyo. I duck in to a few stores to window shop, and I almost wish my big-kids weren't asleep. Their Japanese peers are here playing quietly while dad watches them and mom shops. Wouldn't it be fun to join in, I think?
But we'll be up early in the morning, hitting the buffet at our hotel and then off to explore more of the city and the beach. As Eilan finally falls asleep I find myself ready to crash too, no blogging for me tonight - it's time for bed.
Related Links
City Guide: Honolulu, Oahu with Kids
Filed Under:
travel-stories
2 comments |
Posted on September 22, 2010 |
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This weekend I will be teaching a class on traveling with young kids at the Rick Steves Travel Center, in Edmonds WA. I plan to talk about everything from planning your trip to packing light and making travel days work, and the class should be lively!
The class is scheduled on Saturday September 25th from 12am to 1:30. Free registration is required, and you can register here.
1 comment |
Posted on September 20, 2010 |
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Being on vacation means easing into a new routine that works wherever you are. On this trip, we fell into a routine of taking the kids to the beach after dinner. The beach was much quieter than it is during the day and I didn't need to be overly concerned about sunscreen or heat.
Better than that, though, was what it did for the kids. The soothing waves and sand were such a nice way to wind down after a busy day. They were so satisfied and tired by the time we got them back to the hotel, that this was one of the few trips where we didn't have much trouble getting them to sleep.
Related Links
City Guide: Honolulu, Waikiki and Oahu With Kids
About Photo Friday:
You are invited to join us for Photo Friday! It's a great way to get to know other bloggers and to help them get to know you. Just post a "Photo Friday" picture on your own blog, and link directly to your post from the linky below (If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly)
What is Photo Friday?
- Post a travel photo on your site. It can be about any topic, as long as it is G-rated.
- The focus of the post should be on your photo.
- You don't need to be a professional photographer (I'm not), but do showcase your best work, and make it big enough to see well!
- It's nice to include a few sentences about the photo, but it is not required.
- Link back here so that your readers can see all the other
great Photo Friday posts.
