Twice As Nice & Double the Fun: an offsite October PTR where “2” is the magic number

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Wow another trip in the works! I will be anxiously awaiting your restaurant reviews, or what deals you're getting and I'm sure reading this will have me changing some of our plans for our New Years Trip!

Been wanting to try Trails End as well. My vegetarian daughter is making it hard for me to justify the prices of some of the Disney buffets, but I think I can stomach this one! Would be a nice first night dinner.

That's a great price you got on the resort. Was that through Skyauction?

Congrats to your son on his new career. It's been neat seeing him grow up through your trip reports over the years. As much as I love our family trips I'm looking forward to the day dh and I can enjoy some vacations alone. Funny a few years back my kids were at the inlaws for a week and dh and I took a few days to go to a popular amusement park in the US that's about 6 hr drive. Ran into lots of the kids friends families who asked excitedly if K & K were there. Nope, just us. Other friends were down at same time and couldn't believe we'd rather be there than shopping or at the bar with them! Ha. So I'm sure we'll get the raised eyebrow when we plan some solo Disney/Universal/Seaworld trips. Maybe we will just tell everyone we're going on a golf trip. Ha

, my friend! Glad to have you along!

Wyndham Cypress Palms was indeed booked through Skyauction. We considered a second week at the Vistana through Skyauction but when prices were posted for October they were significantly higher than at WCP (though that have since dropped to something a little more reasonable.....still higher than Cypress Palms but not significantly so). We opted to book the Wyndham resort for something new and apply the savings to an extra day at Discovery Cove. Steve is actually quite excited to try out a new-to-us property: I think he is interested to see how it stacks up versus our beloved Vistana (and perhaps get a little additional confirmation that we purchased at the "right" resort ).

Thank you for the kind words for Jake, I will sure to pass them on to him . It is definitely a different feeling to be booking a trip-for-two versus a family getaway, but its wonderful all the same. Many of Steve's co-workers were initially shocked that we do things like dress up for the Disney Halloween parties, but once they saw our photos on Facebook, they quickly realized that all the fun of Orlando isn't just for families. In fact, I think we'd disappoint them all at this point if we did something as "grown up" as go golfing .

I actually thought that when I saw it was opening in Kissimmee - it's closer to me AND easier for tourists like Gina to visit!

There's actually a 4 Rivers right across the street from my office, in City Hall. It's not a full smokehouse, just a smaller cafe. I haven't been to the Kissimmee location yet but I'll make a point to get there before October and report back to you. I'm pretty sure all of them have bakeries, too.

I hope that the new Kissimmee location is wildly successful. I think its a genius move, on their part, to bring their barbecue to the tourist region. I am sure there are many more traveler like us who have wanted to visit but were discouraged by the drive out of town.

I can't wait to hear your review after you visit their new Kissimmee digs! Photos are always nice if you have the chance to take some .

I haven't read one of your PTR before (must mean I'm officially hooked on your trip reports!) so I have to say that I'm amazed with how detailed your itinerary is for being about 100 days out! Good for you!

We are just finalizing our dates for our impromptu Family WDW trip for 9/3-9/10. This was the trip that was going to be our couples anniversary weekend on-site at Universal that got switched to a weeklong family trip with our surprise pregnancy news. We are hoping to buy airfare today (well, switch our southwest air flights and buy 2 more tickets) and rent our vacation home in Indian Creek today. That will be a first for us--we have rented timeshares (WBC, Mystic Dunes) and rented townhomes and condos in Windsor Hills, but this will be our first time in a full private pool home. I am thrilled that our nanny wants to join us so we are splurging on a 4 bedroom home so each of the kids and our nanny will have their own bedroom. Yay for adults outnumbering children!

I would love to check out 4 Rivers BBQ, especially now that one is opening in Kissimmee!

LOL, I do take organization to a rather ..... obsessive? ..... level . It's a curse. But we do enjoy having a detailed plan when we travel so there's not much thought required when we're having our fun.

Fingers crossed you get some great rates on your airfare when you book your tickets today . That's always such a big expense with larger family groups. Your rental home sounds perfect, and yay for the nanny being able to come along! That's going to make your vacation so much more relaxing for ALL of you .

If you happen to dine at 4 Rivers on your trip, I will be anxiously awaiting your personal review as well!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I think I’ll try to break down the components of our trip and discuss them one by one. It makes the most sense (in my crazy mind) to start at the beginning of the vacation, which for us will be our overnight stay in Buffalo. So, this entry is all about:


The Park & Fly Hotel


Such a teeny, tiny part of the overall scope of our holiday yet it generated SO. MUCH. DISCUSSION .


Ya’ll know we’ve had some rather…….unpleasant.....experiences with our park-and-fly stays last year .


To give a bit of background for those that might be new to my reports, we returned to the Days Hotel Buffalo Airport in October 2015 after a great stay there back at Christmas 2012. It’s an older property, for sure, but it offers us all the things we would look for on a park-and-fly wish list:


- Proximity to the airport (literally right across the street)

- 24 hour shuttle service

- An adequate, free breakfast that starts a 4 am

- A pool and hot tub

- A gated parking lot for park-and-fly guests

- A very reasonable rate (and more recently, at par to boot)

- The ability to ship parcels from US retailers there ahead of time (saving us a bundle in duty, taxes and shipping)


Unfortunately for us, all the positives were erased in October 2015 (when a loud and well-attended party spilled out in the hallway across from our room, and the night staff declined to call the police for assistance “because things just get messier when the police show up”) and again in December 2015 (when the rowdy, marijuana-smoking next-door-neighbours did, indeed, finally get hauled away by the sheriff and we spent the balance of the night with a smoke eater sucking the offensive odour from our room). We loudly vowed “never again!”, but were wooed back by a genuine apology from the General Manager and the offer for a complimentary stay in an effort to earn back our trust.


That stay (in April 2016) went swimmingly well . As perfect, quiet and peaceful as we had hoped it would be.


Fast forward, then, to planning the little details for this coming trip: a park and fly hotel is once again a necessity as we have a 7:23 am departure flight and live a 4 hour commute away from Buffalo. Should we return to the Days or seeking an alternative?


Pretty much every other hotel that we could choose from missed the mark on at least one point: some were super expensive (double the price of the Days Hotel package). Some didn’t offer enough parking (we needed at least 15 nights: the night of our stay plus 14 additional days while we are in the sunny south). Some didn’t include breakfast (not a huge deal…..we could have purchased breakfast somewhere…..but that would be yet another additional cost and an extra step on a morning which will already be starting WAY too early). Some were located much further from the airport, so would take longer to shuttle to in the morning (and would mean a longer wait for pick-up upon our return).


Complicating the decision was the fact that our Canadian dollar is still struggling mightily against the US buck (with every American dollar costing us approximately $1.30 or more), And, my Big Steve has some pretty strong morals that added to the conundrum.


Steve, god bless him, has been feeling badly about the financial loss that the Days has taken as a result of the Bo-Bina family. While we paid full price for our very first stay in 2012, our October bill was comped at 50% at check-out (without me asking, I will add) and our December cost was waived entirely (again, it was done automatically and I didn’t specifically request it). Our April trip was complimentary, too, courtesy of the GM's kindness. Steve does the math in his head, and realizes we have stayed 4 times and only paid for 1.5 of those visits. He felt we owed it to the hotel to patronize them again this time around.


I wasn’t as convinced. Once bitten, twice shy. Twice bitten? Shy permanently .


Lucky for the Days, though, not only am I a forgiving person, I’m also painfully frugal. After an exhausting search of alternatives, no matter which way I sliced it, the Days was our best-value option (booking through Peace Bridge Duty Free, our package…..which included all the parking we required……was only $89 plus tax......$40 cheaper than the next closest option). What to do, what to do?


In the end, the budget is the budget: what we can save in one spot are resources we can splurge with in another. With two good stays and two disasters, I can assure you that they won’t get a sixth chance if this experiment is another bust. We might be forgiving by nature, but everyone’s good graces have a limit .


And who knows? Perhaps this stay will be another smashing success. That’s the attitude we are approaching it with.


The current question we are now pondering is whether to book a night on the end of our stay in addition to the park and fly in Buffalo (though not at the Days….on the way home we would stay in Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side of the border, if that was the case). Our flight does not land until 6:30 pm on the day we come home. By the time we collect our luggage, catch the shuttle back to the hotel, pick up the car, and are on the highway we’re probably looking at 7:30 pm at best (and we’ll have to stop for dinner at some point as well). With a 3.5-4 hour drive, no matter how we slice it it’s going to make for a late arrival and one long, tiring drive for my Steve. If we get unlucky enough to have any kind of flight delay, the timing gets even worse. A night at the Country Inn & Suites in Niagara Falls will run us about $110 plus tax with parking and breakfast, which isn’t horrible in the grand scheme of the vacation expenses…..yet, it still adds to the bottom line of an already expensive trip. Steve, easy-going man that he is, encouraged me to book the extra night and not give it a second thought. I still haven’t done it, but it’s definitely something that’s milling around my mind.


I wish I could find some crazy good sale that would afford us a Fallsview Room for that price . Now THAT I would book without batting an eyelash…..for all the vacations we have spent in the Niagara region, never once have we had a room that overlooked the Falls. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

98 days to go .

 

[Lynne G]

Yeah, I am budget always, but our stay at the falls was the Sheraton on the US side, (we had to stay there because of the soccer tournament). We liked the hotel though, and it wasn't a bad walk to the falls, and had a direct walk to the casino, where I'd get my TH coffee. Then, since we wanted to save money and stay on the Canadian side, we stayed at the Holiday Inn at the top of the hill, with a discount, and it had free parking, so that sold it for us. It was okay, I would not stay there again, but for the 2 nights we needed it, it was fine. So, I have no suggestions for ya, but I'd check groupon, LS, and even cheaptickets/orbitz, as maybe you can get a lucky rate from one of them. I don't think that time of year is so popular to visit NF.

Here's hoping the next stay at Days is the charm as well. I hear ya with gun shy. I won't be returning to some restaurants in the NF area. That is because I also follow the one and done rule.

 

[vrajewski10513]

Can you put in a request for a room nearby where you stayed last time at the Days Inn? I know you got a special suite last time, but maybe they have standard rooms in the same vicinity. From your last experience it seems that floor/area is much quieter!

 

[chicagoshannon]

I think if I were in your shoes I'd also try the Days again. But, as you said, if the stay is bad yet again I wouldn't after that.

I'm very curious to see how you like the Wyndham. It's one of our time shares that we haven't stayed at yet. (my parents own through Wyndham).

 

[dancin Disney style]

Okay, which one is going to need the time out chair first?

Not me, I didn't do it.

Oh, and @dancin Disney style .... its been two days, and you still haven't imparted any tidbits of strange and wonderful knowledge to your adoring public. You're leaving us hanging here.

I will fill in for today, but just this once:

Hippo milk is pink.

My apologies. I've been reading along but not participating much. I'm prepping for a trip to Cuba next month which has had most of my attention. Between getting work sorted out/planned ahead and an old neck injury deciding to stop in for a visit I'm wiped out. Again, sorry, I'll try harder to hold up my end.

So now tell me......exactly how is it you know that Hippo milk is pink? Have you milked a Hippo?

 

[dancin Disney style]

On average, 100 people per year choke to death on ballpoint pens.

 

[toystoryduo]

Sending some for your stay at Days. I know that you guys have had 2 good stays and 2 not-so-good stays. I hope the tie-breaker is that you have an EXCELLENT stay in October!!

A room with a view of Niagara Falls would be so awesome! I hope you can score a good deal there.

 

[afan]

On average, 100 people per year choke to death on ballpoint pens.

Seriously? How? I can't even, they aren't that short. It's the whole pin and not just the cap? The cap I could understand. Crazy.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Seriously? How? I can't even, they aren't that short. It's the whole pin and not just the cap? The cap I could understand. Crazy.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Just make sure that you leave me something in the will.


Look at me go....two days in a row.
Only one person in 2 billion will live to be 116 or older.

 

[pigletto]

Gina, I could have written most of your Days debate. I have never had a bad stay but after your two in a row I struggled with staying there again or not because I considered your experiences a warning that I'd regret not following if I ended up with the same horrible nights sleep.
In the end you posted that they had reached out to you to make it right and we went ahead with our stay, which ended up being fine as we had always experienced.
I totally understand the budget concern as well. It IS a major factor,even it's only $60 more to stay somewhere else. With our dollar we can nickle and dime ourselves to death. I want to save my extra money for a nicer meal, or another activity or a cabana.. the possibilities are endless. I don't want to spend it on the airport hotel if I can get clean and comfortable for less.
Now that all being said, I have to book 11 of us in an airport hotel the night before we fly out of Buffalo for our cruise. It will be boxing day and I expect parking lots to be full to bursting, and the airport hotels too. Days won't be getting our business that night I don't think. It's worth a little more to me to spend more as I am the one picking the place for 10 other people and I really need it to go well. We have a 7:30 am flight on one of the busiest days of the year. I am thinking it's worth going to the Aloft that night.
I'm also looking at airport hotels out of Toronto for our October trip. That's a whole different can of worms. More expensive all around, and I'm not as familiar with them so I am more nervous. Again we are flying out at 7:45 for that trip and will need to be to YYZ by 5am. None of them serve breakfast that early. I have one booked for $145 that looks nice and close and gets decent enough reviews. There's a nicer one on the transit link that I would rather stay in but again, $60 to $70 more on what is supposed to be a frugal trip doesn't make sense. We even have family right by the airport but I don't want to inconvenience them with an overnight stay for four people and park in their driveway for a week.

See? Airport hotels do require a ridiculous amount of consideration and discussion!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Yeah, I am budget always, but our stay at the falls was the Sheraton on the US side, (we had to stay there because of the soccer tournament). We liked the hotel though, and it wasn't a bad walk to the falls, and had a direct walk to the casino, where I'd get my TH coffee. Then, since we wanted to save money and stay on the Canadian side, we stayed at the Holiday Inn at the top of the hill, with a discount, and it had free parking, so that sold it for us. It was okay, I would not stay there again, but for the 2 nights we needed it, it was fine. So, I have no suggestions for ya, but I'd check groupon, LS, and even cheaptickets/orbitz, as maybe you can get a lucky rate from one of them. I don't think that time of year is so popular to visit NF.

Here's hoping the next stay at Days is the charm as well. I hear ya with gun shy. I won't be returning to some restaurants in the NF area. That is because I also follow the one and done rule.

I actually had an epiphany last night that will help a bit with our Niagara stay on the tail end of the trip (should we decide to book that additional night and drive home in the morning): we have about $50 in points on our Visa that we could use to offset the price of a Falls hotel. That will either make a stay at Old Faithful (the Country Inn & Suites) super cheap, or will offset a splurge on a Fallsview room somewhere else (still need to discuss that one with Steve.....I plan to spring that on him over dinner tonight ). Truth be told, my budget side will most likely win out and we'll book the Country Inn & Suites. Then we can have our extra night extension with zero financial guilt .

Can you put in a request for a room nearby where you stayed last time at the Days Inn? I know you got a special suite last time, but maybe they have standard rooms in the same vicinity. From your last experience it seems that floor/area is much quieter!

I think you are thinking of @dancin Disney style ... she had the suite. We just had a regular room (but it was perfectly fresh, clean and up to our standards). I am definitely going to call a couple of days ahead and request a room in a quiet area of the hotel, reminding them that we have an early flight and need some sleep. I hate to be a squeaky wheel (that's generally not my style) but in this case, I'll make an exception just to be on the safe side .

I think if I were in your shoes I'd also try the Days again. But, as you said, if the stay is bad yet again I wouldn't after that.

I'm very curious to see how you like the Wyndham. It's one of our time shares that we haven't stayed at yet. (my parents own through Wyndham).

It looks like a good property. Most (if not all) the buildings look like they've been nicely renovated. The villas look spacious (similar in square footage to our Fountains villa at SVR) and have good amenities. Only two pools has me a bit concerned, but hopefully the proximity to Krispy Kreme will make up for that .

Not me, I didn't do it.

My apologies. I've been reading along but not participating much. I'm prepping for a trip to Cuba next month which has had most of my attention. Between getting work sorted out/planned ahead and an old neck injury deciding to stop in for a visit I'm wiped out. Again, sorry, I'll try harder to hold up my end.

So now tell me......exactly how is it you know that Hippo milk is pink? Have you milked a Hippo?

I am a woman of mystery. If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

Cuba in August, you say? That's a good news tidbit you haven't shared yet. Details, we need details! And who will fill in with your trivia while you're gone? @pattyw , is that you that I see raising your hand?

Sending some for your stay at Days. I know that you guys have had 2 good stays and 2 not-so-good stays. I hope the tie-breaker is that you have an EXCELLENT stay in October!!

A room with a view of Niagara Falls would be so awesome! I hope you can score a good deal there.

A really good deal will be tough to secure, even though its considered the off-season for Niagara. We would need the Friday night (October 28th) and weekends now seem to come at a premium regardless of the season. I have found a few decent rates for Fallsview rooms at some nice properties (Hilton, Embassy Suites), but then parking is atrocious. Oh, decisions, decisions!!

Gina, I could have written most of your Days debate. I have never had a bad stay but after your two in a row I struggled with staying there again or not because I considered your experiences a warning that I'd regret not following if I ended up with the same horrible nights sleep.
In the end you posted that they had reached out to you to make it right and we went ahead with our stay, which ended up being fine as we had always experienced.
I totally understand the budget concern as well. It IS a major factor,even it's only $60 more to stay somewhere else. With our dollar we can nickle and dime ourselves to death. I want to save my extra money for a nicer meal, or another activity or a cabana.. the possibilities are endless. I don't want to spend it on the airport hotel if I can get clean and comfortable for less.
Now that all being said, I have to book 11 of us in an airport hotel the night before we fly out of Buffalo for our cruise. It will be boxing day and I expect parking lots to be full to bursting, and the airport hotels too. Days won't be getting our business that night I don't think. It's worth a little more to me to spend more as I am the one picking the place for 10 other people and I really need it to go well. We have a 7:30 am flight on one of the busiest days of the year. I am thinking it's worth going to the Aloft that night.
I'm also looking at airport hotels out of Toronto for our October trip. That's a whole different can of worms. More expensive all around, and I'm not as familiar with them so I am more nervous. Again we are flying out at 7:45 for that trip and will need to be to YYZ by 5am. None of them serve breakfast that early. I have one booked for $145 that looks nice and close and gets decent enough reviews. There's a nicer one on the transit link that I would rather stay in but again, $60 to $70 more on what is supposed to be a frugal trip doesn't make sense. We even have family right by the airport but I don't want to inconvenience them with an overnight stay for four people and park in their driveway for a week.

See? Airport hotels do require a ridiculous amount of consideration and discussion!

LOL, I love that someone else overthinks as much as I do. You make me feel so much more normal (and that's not easy ).

I don't blame you for going with the Aloft for your extended family group. Truth be told, if it were more than just Steve and I, I doubt that we would take a chance on the Days again either. For just the two of us, the roll of the dice is a little easier to stomach. Steve will still love me the next day regardless of how the hotel stay goes.....my family would not be nearly so forgiving!!

One of my bosses had the same conundrum as you in regards to a Toronto park and fly. He left this morning for the Dominican with his daughter, and he paid a ton for a low-budget property (Quality Inn) versus what we can get in Buffalo, even with the exchange rate factored in. I hope you are able to find something that fits the budget and checks all the boxes. I know its only a one-night stay, but its still nice to kick off a vacation on a high note.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Steve and I are off to the costume store this afternoon: my other boss (the one that's stuck here with me and not in the Dominican) decided that no one should have to work Friday afternoons in the summer, so we are closing the office at noon . Okay, so maybe not getting that other job was a blessing in disguise....some of the perks of my current office are pretty darn sweet.

Steve is also off (he ended up getting called in and working overnight last night so he is off today in lieu) so we have the whole afternoon at our disposal. We had toyed with the idea of a beach day but the weather is rather crummy (hot, hot, HOT but with a good chance of some rain) so we quickly concocted Plan B.

We have a wonderful little independent shop right around the corner from where we live that we are hoping might be able to help us secure a second set of costumes for our trip (pirates for one MNSSHP, ??? for the other). Steve's body dimensions make him a tad hard to fit (ridiculously broad shoulders and a super long torso) so we're hoping she will be more effective than other trip to Party City (where standard costumes abound but there's not much for the Big Man). I am hoping that the fact that we still have oodles of time before we travel will work in our favour. If something had to be ordered in, there's lots of time for it to arrive.

Wish us luck!!

 

[Mom2SamandJames]

Enjoy your afternoon off and best of luck finding fun costumes. Our family loves to coordinate fun event costumes also. Last year we were all Star Wars characters. The boys are trying to decide what I will be working on this year. I may be in for a lot of sleepless nights. We shall see.

 

[vrajewski10513]

pirates for one MNSSHP, ??? for the other)

What about Fred and Wilma Flintstone?!

 

[bankr63]

Steve is actually quite excited to try out a new-to-us property: I think he is interested to see how it stacks up versus our beloved Vistana (and perhaps get a little additional confirmation that we purchased at the "right" resort ).

I will make a prediction on that one. We've owned Sheraton (and Silver Lake) for several years now and trade around quite a bit. We have yet to find anywhere that feels as "home" as Vistana Resort. We've stayed at other Wyndham, Marriott, Vacation Village, Bluegreen and Vidanta properties as well as a few smaller ones and none have matched up, although the Vidanta (sic? - better known as Grand Mayan) properties in Mexico can come close. We have yet to try a Hilton timeshare but have high expectations if we do. The neat thing about Sheraton is that "coming home" feels about the same everywhere. Broadway Plantation and Vistana Villages felt just like Vistana Resort to us.

If you do go for the Fallsview room, I would suggest the Sheraton Fallsview. We've stayed there and at the Marriott and the Sheraton has a much better viewing angle for the falls. Keep an eye out for "couples getaway" packages for the fall shoulder season. We seem to get a raft of offers late summer every year. Good room price plus a few dining perks - the dinner won't work, but it often includes a great breakfast. Possibly in the same price range as your current selection. If any land in my inbox, I'll forward the deal along. About the only negative for the Sheraton is that the parking structure is about a block away (at the indoor waterpark) so a short walk back, or use the valet.

ETA: and reading that over, I seem to really sound like an ad for Sheraton. Honestly we "sleep around" a lot, but always seem to come back to the same spot. DDS - I'm talking about the hotels here...

 

[JaxDad]

Hey Gina! We'll be at Niagara Falls tomorrow! Thanks again for your planning help!

 

[pattyw]

Cuba in August, you say? That's a good news tidbit you haven't shared yet. Details, we need details! And who will fill in with your trivia while you're gone? @pattyw , is that you that I see raising your hand?

Well, after our March dismeet, I do consider @dancin' a personal friend! I volunteer to step in to help with the trivia, but can I put word out to a few others to assist?? I'm nowhere near as interesting as @dancin'- those are big shoes to fill!

But here it goes:
The chameleon has eyes independent of each other and can simultaneously look in 2 directions.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Honestly we "sleep around" a lot, but always seem to come back to the same spot. DDS - I'm talking about the hotels here...

Sorry not buying that excuse

Well, after our March dismeet, I do consider @dancin' a personal friend! I volunteer to step in to help with the trivia, but can I put word out to a few others to assist?? I'm nowhere near as interesting as @dancin'- those are big shoes to fill!

But here it goes:
The chameleon has eyes independent of each other and can simultaneously look in 2 directions.

Yes, we are BFF's. Don't you just love it when someone volunteers you for a job?
"Interesting" is a kind choice of words when what you really mean is 'dark and twisted'. BTW, I'm only a size 8.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Cuba in August, you say? That's a good news tidbit you haven't shared yet. Details, we need details! And who will fill in with your trivia while you're gone? @pattyw , is that you that I see raising your hand?

Details? Well I think the hubs is feeling a little left out or something. He asked for a vacation which is sooooo not him. If I didn't tell him we were taking a trip he would never go any place. Normally, he doesn't care if he takes any time off work. Last year he only took the two days off for our long weekend in WDW in December. A couple of weeks ago he asked if we were taking a summer vacay and I said probably not. He then said he wanted to take a trip so I should figure something out. Grumpy Cat then throws her hat in the ring and wants to go to Cuba. I checked out Florida first and then on a whim I looked at Cuba. Turns out that Cuba comes in at about $1600 less and when you weren't panning a trip and the vacay account is a little low....

So I found the most gorgeous brand new resort that gets rave reviews and it's a very reasonable (actually cheap) price.
Have a look... https://www.westjet.com/vacations/en/hotels/hotel-overview.page?hotelID=SNUOCM

Funny thing is I've never had any interest in going to Cuba. I guess after finding this resort I'm kind of excited. I'm also thinking that once the doors open up to American tourists things will change, probably for the better, but I want to see it in it's Cuban simplicity. It will be very interesting being in a country where something as everyday as Coke or Pepsi do not exist. I've travelled to many countries all over the world and they have all had the things that are so common to us.

LOL....haven't told GC that the WiFi is extremely unreliable. As in hardly works. If we manage to get a little WiFi I'll try to check in with you.


Anyone want to join us August 13th?