After much indecisiveness, I'm going back to the US.

[zanzibar138]

I'm curious; have you ever visited the Sth Island of NZ? While I'm certainly biased, I am pretty proud of the scenery we have here.

It's pretty high on my list

Do consider trying a beach holiday one day. You might be like me and discover that your low expectations lead to a very pleasant surprise.

Had you asked me 3 years ago what I thought of a beach holiday I would have said exactly as you did - I can't imagine anything worse. But, my holiday to Navini counts as one of the best holidays I have ever done and is a strong rival to the one I just did to WDW (although I think the Disney Fantasy gave this Disney trip the slight leading edge). There's 2 reasons I loved Fiji so much. One is because of how relaxed I felt. I never ever knew it was possible to feel that relaxed (while still keeping busy). And, two, because of the undersea world. It's like discovering this whole new National Park, full of bright, beautiful creatures, only they're under water. It's also a bit of an adrenaline rush to swim past the likes of the lion fish or sharks.

I've actually got a few beach places quite high on my list too! Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Mauritius, Maldives (when I win lotto )... Only for a few days though, and I'd spend most of my time doing activities/tours in the area. I'm not keen on swimming, but I'd probably manage half an hour of snorkelling if the underwater 'scenery' looked amazing enough. I'd really rather see it from a glass bottom boat or something though.

 

[mindy32]

So many great suggestions in here! We're doing a cruise over New Years to Fiji & New Caledonia, hoping it's good (not my normal style but DH's request so going with it this time haha).

I went to Daydream Island years ago as a teen with my family and loved it. Would say the resort is a little old but it's great for relaxing, they had some cool activities and we did tours to the reef etc.

I haven't travelled much internationally close to Australia, I've either done domestic trips or far away overseas ones! So I love reading these ideas.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Best holidays spots - overseas-Slovenia (stayed in a farmhouse 2 meals included-no-one spoke English much but we had an amazing time and very beautiful with lakes and walks in the mountains and amazing cave systems); Alaska (Inside Passage- Ketchican and especially Juneau -though helped by the wonderful B&B we stayed in where we were treated like family come to stay with forest walks, waterfalls, glaciers, wildlife); Dordogne region of France (little medieval stone villages, prehistoric cave paintings, castles, wineries, river); Oia on the island of Santorini (away from the craziness of the main town Fira-lazy days with stunning views, swimming, archaeology); Athens even though it was a city it didn't feel like it where we stayed (wandering little back streets, archaeological ruins & museums); Paris; Venice; Andalucía in Spain; Barcelona; UK-small villages on the North Cornwall or South Cornwall or Devon coasts, or on Dartmoor, Isle of Skye, Shropshire, North Wales, London; in the US Grand Canyon, San Francisco, New York, Disney of course!!, Cascades Region NE of Seattle; Canada classic Jasper to Banff trail. All of the above for the atmosphere unique to each location.

In Australia and NZ-South Island of NZ, Coromandal Peninsula near Auckland, summer in Thredbo in the Australian Alps, southern coast of NSW (we stayed at Bermagui but lots of glorious options-old-fashioned beachside type hol), all of Tasmania, Esperance and the forests down south in WA, Cairns region including the Atherton Tablelands and Port Douglas/ Mossman, Mission Beach, any of the Qld islands for a relaxing week of hiking, beaching and water activities and snorkelling, Stradbroke Island, Sunshine Coast region of Qld for beaches, zoo, hinterland rainforest walks, northern NSW centred around Byron/Ballina for ditto, further down around Coffs Harbour-ditto, or further south again at Port Stephen/Newcastle/Hunter Valley-ditto plus wineries, Great Ocean Road especially around Apollo Bay, the Grampians. Basically road trips anywhere in Aus that combine stunning scenery, some bushwalking, waterfalls, good local food, wildlife, interesting towns, local museums, beaches for sunrise and sunset walks. Ok I'll shut up now...I like everywhere it seems!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Best holidays spots - overseas-Slovenia (stayed in a farmhouse 2 meals included-no-one spoke English much but we had an amazing time and very beautiful with lakes and walks in the mountains and amazing cave systems); Alaska (Inside Passage- Ketchican and especially Juneau -though helped by the wonderful B&B we stayed in where we were treated like family come to stay with forest walks, waterfalls, glaciers, wildlife); Dordogne region of France (little medieval stone villages, prehistoric cave paintings, castles, wineries, river); Oia on the island of Santorini (away from the craziness of the main town Fira-lazy days with stunning views, swimming, archaeology); Athens even though it was a city it didn't feel like it where we stayed (wandering little back streets, archaeological ruins & museums); Paris; Venice; Andalucía in Spain; Barcelona; UK-small villages on the North Cornwall or South Cornwall or Devon coasts, or on Dartmoor, Isle of Skye, Shropshire, North Wales, London; in the US Grand Canyon, San Francisco, New York, Disney of course!!, Cascades Region NE of Seattle; Canada classic Jasper to Banff trail. All of the above for the atmosphere unique to each location.

In Australia and NZ-South Island of NZ, Coromandal Peninsula near Auckland, summer in Thredbo in the Australian Alps, southern coast of NSW (we stayed at Bermagui but lots of glorious options-old-fashioned beachside type hol), all of Tasmania, Esperance and the forests down south in WA, Cairns region including the Atherton Tablelands and Port Douglas/ Mossman, Mission Beach, any of the Qld islands for a relaxing week of hiking, beaching and water activities and snorkelling, Stradbroke Island, Sunshine Coast region of Qld for beaches, zoo, hinterland rainforest walks, northern NSW centred around Byron/Ballina for ditto, further down around Coffs Harbour-ditto, or further south again at Port Stephen/Newcastle/Hunter Valley-ditto plus wineries, Great Ocean Road especially around Apollo Bay, the Grampians. Basically road trips anywhere in Aus that combine stunning scenery, some bushwalking, waterfalls, good local food, wildlife, interesting towns, local museums, beaches for sunrise and sunset walks. Ok I'll shut up now...I like everywhere it seems!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. It's the busiest time of the year work-wise for me, and between that and family, the little spare time I have left has been spent planning the next trip. I only sat down for the first time this weekend to start properly sorting through the thousands of pics we took on our WDW trip. After a few hours of just getting through the cruise pics, I decided that this, like my TR, was going to have to be a job that waited until the Xmas holidays.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their planning and holidays.

I finally have a trip decided on for next year and the flights are booked. Guess what?! I'm going back to the States!

I have been more indecisive over this trip then I have over anything else in my life. I was about a day from booking Ratua Island in Vanuatu, but found I just couldn't bring myself to make the booking. I just couldn't shake worries about weather. I have had near perfect weather on pretty much every trip I ever been on (even Florida during Hurricane season) and strangely, going into all of those trips, I've felt quietly confident about the weather. This trip to Vanuatu felt different. Call me superstitious, but it just felt like my gut was trying to tell me something.

So then I went back to researching cruises and in the process my budget stretched a little bit. I found 4 cruises, presented them to my husband and mother-in-law, and we reached a bit of a stalemate. We all had different favourites. We ended up compromising on a SE Asia Christmas cruise with Princess on the condition that we could stay in Singapore for 4 or 5 nights at the end to go to Universal Studios and let my husband run free in the electronic stores. All was good (we even booked the cruise) until I started researching accommodation options in Singapore and I started to panic. Oh My Goodness accommodation in Singapore is expensive! Not just that, but the only places that take 4 (3 adults, 1 child) to a room are youth hostel style places. We would need to book 2 rooms per night and over Xmas that does not come cheap. Suddenly my budget was completely spiraling out of control and I was loosing sleep over it.

I said to my husband, "We could go back to the States for less than this", and just out of interest I priced it up. I looked at Sep/Oct again as I have no interest in being anywhere near a crowded Disney Park during Xmas and New Year, and sure enough, a holiday to the US worked out thousands cheaper.

So I put it to my mother in law, who was a bit reluctant and disappointed we were no longer talking about a Xmas trip. But she had seen our pics of WDW and I think felt a bit remorseful that she'd missed out on all the fun. She wasn't prepared to miss out again. Two nights ago we committed and I cancelled the cruise and booked the flights.

So after that long-winded story, here are our plans:

-2 full weeks in the USA and a maximum budget of 10k.
- The flights are with Hawaiian Airlines with a 3 night stopover on the way home. Just incase anyone is interested, flights with Hawaiian Airlines became cheaper for me once I programmed in a stopover. Infact, I was really happy with the cost of airfares - very cheap given that we're travelling school holidays.
- 12 nights in the LA/San Diego area. I'm thinking 8 will be in LA and/or Anaheim, and the other 4 we will hire a car and tiki-tour south of LA, perhaps basing ourselves in Carlsbad.
- We will stay in fairly cheap hotels except for Hawaii where I would really like to be able to rent Aulani points.

So that's the plans as they stand. Feeling very excited.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Fantastic news that you are going back Wanderlust
We are hoping to make if over to WDW in Jan15 for 2.5 weeks . I am also trying to persuade DH to do a 9 night trip over Easter 2014 to get to Yosemite ( which was closed due to Govt shutdown on our Sep/Oct trip) Sadly no more 5 weeks trips for us, we just cant get that amount of time away from work.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. It's the busiest time of the year work-wise for me, and between that and family, the little spare time I have left has been spent planning the next trip. I only sat down for the first time this weekend to start properly sorting through the thousands of pics we took on our WDW trip. After a few hours of just getting through the cruise pics, I decided that this, like my TR, was going to have to be a job that waited until the Xmas holidays.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their planning and holidays.

I finally have a trip decided on for next year and the flights are booked. Guess what?! I'm going back to the States!

I have been more indecisive over this trip then I have over anything else in my life. I was about a day from booking Ratua Island in Vanuatu, but found I just couldn't bring myself to make the booking. I just couldn't shake worries about weather. I have had near perfect weather on pretty much every trip I ever been on (even Florida during Hurricane season) and strangely, going into all of those trips, I've felt quietly confident about the weather. This trip to Vanuatu felt different. Call me superstitious, but it just felt like my gut was trying to tell me something.

So then I went back to researching cruises and in the process my budget stretched a little bit. I found 4 cruises, presented them to my husband and mother-in-law, and we reached a bit of a stalemate. We all had different favourites. We ended up compromising on a SE Asia Christmas cruise with Princess on the condition that we could stay in Singapore for 4 or 5 nights at the end to go to Universal Studios and let my husband run free in the electronic stores. All was good (we even booked the cruise) until I started researching accommodation options in Singapore and I started to panic. Oh My Goodness accommodation in Singapore is expensive! Not just that, but the only places that take 4 (3 adults, 1 child) to a room are youth hostel style places. We would need to book 2 rooms per night and over Xmas that does not come cheap. Suddenly my budget was completely spiraling out of control and I was loosing sleep over it.

I said to my husband, "We could go back to the States for less than this", and just out of interest I priced it up. I looked at Sep/Oct again as I have no interest in being anywhere near a crowded Disney Park during Xmas and New Year, and sure enough, a holiday to the US worked out thousands cheaper.

So I put it to my mother in law, who was a bit reluctant and disappointed we were no longer talking about a Xmas trip. But she had seen our pics of WDW and I think felt a bit remorseful that she'd missed out on all the fun. She wasn't prepared to miss out again. Two nights ago we committed and I cancelled the cruise and booked the flights.

So after that long-winded story, here are our plans:

-2 full weeks in the USA and a maximum budget of 10k.
- The flights are with Hawaiian Airlines with a 3 night stopover on the way home. Just incase anyone is interested, flights with Hawaiian Airlines became cheaper for me once I programmed in a stopover. Infact, I was really happy with the cost of airfares - very cheap given that we're travelling school holidays.
- 12 nights in the LA/San Diego area. I'm thinking 8 will be in LA and/or Anaheim, and the other 4 we will hire a car and tiki-tour south of LA, perhaps basing ourselves in Carlsbad.
- We will stay in fairly cheap hotels except for Hawaii where I would really like to be able to rent Aulani points.

So that's the plans as they stand. Feeling very excited.

I think you might need to go change the title of this thread.


Congrats! Have fun. I'm envious. No such bounceback for me.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Fantastic news that you are going back Wanderlust We are hoping to make if over to WDW in Jan15 for 2.5 weeks . I am also trying to persuade DH to do a 9 night trip over Easter 2014 to get to Yosemite ( which was closed due to Govt shutdown on our Sep/Oct trip) Sadly no more 5 weeks trips for us, we just cant get that amount of time away from work.

I was thinking about you when the government shutdown was announced. I was hoping that you may have just got your visit in before the shutdown happened. What a shame. But on the flipside, it's given you an excuse to go back. Otherwise, how was your trip?

I know what you mean about long trips. 2 weeks will be our limit for a while.

 

[Caroline NZ]

I was thinking about you when the government shutdown was announced. I was hoping that you may have just got your visit in before the shutdown happened. What a shame. But on the flipside, it's given you an excuse to go back. Otherwise, how was your trip?

I know what you mean about long trips. 2 weeks will be our limit for a while.

We had a great trip Wanderlust. We got to stay at the Grand Canyon a few days before the shutdown, we would have been devastated if we missed that, as it was the highlight of the trip.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I think you might need to go change the title of this thread. Congrats! Have fun. I'm envious. No such bounceback for me.

You're right, I do need to change the title. I also have some catching up to do with your TR. I scrolled through it quickly yesterday and it's looking like a very fun read. I'm particularly looking forward to the WDW part.

I'm really pleased to be going back, but kind of surprised. The trip this year was pretty expensive, so I had put the US on my list of places to go every 3-4 years when I can afford it. But I'm discovering that beyond the airfares, a US trip needn't be too expensive at all. Many of those hotels around Disneyland are really good value for money - especially when we have a 3rd adult in tow to chip in on the cost. I do feel a tad annoyed with myself for not trying somewhere new in the world, but that Transformers ride at Universal just keeps calling out my name.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We had a great trip Wanderlust. We got to stay at the Grand Canyon a few days before the shutdown, we would have been devastated if we missed that, as it was the highlight of the trip.

Great, I'm so pleased that there were things you didn't miss out on. Have you got a TR somewhere. If so, I'll have to have a read.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Sorry , I haven't written a trip report

 

[viaggiamo]

LOL, this thread is hilarious. It sounds like me.
I plan and plan all sorts of holidays and then get cranky that anything in Australia costs a bomb and just get on a long haul flight!!
We love travel and I looked at all the local suggestions, or nearby - like the Fiji ones, for Easter but I think we will go to Thailand or the USA again.
And then Europe for Christmas next year.
We will be in the USA this year. YAY! We leave in 5 more sleeps.
Have a great time OP, where exactly are you going in the USA?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

LOL, this thread is hilarious. It sounds like me. I plan and plan all sorts of holidays and then get cranky that anything in Australia costs a bomb and just get on a long haul flight!! We love travel and I looked at all the local suggestions, or nearby - like the Fiji ones, for Easter but I think we will go to Thailand or the USA again. And then Europe for Christmas next year. We will be in the USA this year. YAY! We leave in 5 more sleeps. Have a great time OP, where exactly are you going in the USA?

I am so indecisive it's crazy. I just had to book the flights the other day otherwise I would have probably changed my mind again by now.

It'll be 12 nights split between LA, Anaheim and Carlsbad, and then 3 nights in Honolulu. I'm a bit unsure how to organise the first 12 nights at this stage.

We arrive quite late on a Thursday and leave early on a Tuesday. Here's my rough plan with a bunch of questions at the end.

Thursday night: LAX Airport hotel to sleep of the jet lag
Friday: Pick up rental car from Airport, drive to Carlsbad and spend half a day at Legoland complex
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning: More time at Legoland (inc. Water park and Aquarium) drive down to San Diego Zoo, and visit Carlsbad outlet stores)
The rest of Monday: Drive to Anaheim and drop off car. Maybe visit Disneyland
Tue - Fri: Anaheim and Disney complex. Mickey's Halloween Party.
Fri avo: Move to a Hollywood hotel. I like the look and location of the Loews Hollywood Renaissance, but will need to wait for a good special.
Sat-Sun: Do a few tours around LA. Perhaps a 2 day hop-on, hop-off bus pass.
Mon:Universal Studios
Tues: Get early morning shuttle to LAX.

But here's my thoughts:

1: Do you think that's too many hotel changes? The alternative is to not move to Hollywood and stay in Anaheim. But that would mean 2 quite long day trips from Anaheim to do a LA tour and Universal tour. Has anyone done these tours? Did they feel like a long day for your kids? Alternatively, has anyone stayed in Hollywood and wished they had stayed in Anaheim (e.g. Not felt safe, found the move a pain etc).

2: I'm going to hold off getting my Universal tickets until I know what I can afford. If money allows for it, I really want to do the VIP tour. Although I don't think this would be an option if we were staying in Anaheim as we might miss the start time. Has anyone done this tour? Was it worth the hefty price tag? It get's amazing reviews and I really would love to walk down Wisteria Lane. But $300p/p?!? Eeek.

3: We could swap the Carlsbad and Hollywood parts of our trip around. This would put us in Legoland on a Saturday in October instead of September and we could attend the Brick or Treat party. Has anyone attended this party? Is it worth the payoff of bigger crowds in the park during the day?

That's it for now. Any thoughts and advice appreciated.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds likes like a good itinerary.

I stayed at the Loews Hollywood Hotel on my last night in LA. Like you, I thought the location would be a good one to base ourselves to seeing the Hollywood sights.
We hit the hotel on the night that the Mexican Billboard Awards were on in the Kodak Theatre. There was so much bling everywhere and we were apparently rubbing shoulders with the cream of Mexican rock stars.

There was security and people everywhere in the hotel. We were allocated a room at the end of the corridor and on a high floor with views of the city and the Hollywood sign. I'm pretty sure that we might have gotten a better standard room (it was not an upgrade) because of the rock stars and film crew staying there and the potential for them to be noisy.

The area is a little seedy; but then I'm not a big fan of LA as a city so I find most of LA seedy anyway. But it is easy walking distance to Graumans and some of the attractions in that area so we got that part of the sight seeing done without too much hassle.

If you want to stay here and I'm assuming you haven't done so yet, sign up for their "dings" via their website. They do occasionally go on special and there was a cyber sale on Black Friday where all their rooms (with the exception of the hotels in Orlando) were 40% off.
Having said that, I waited and waited and waited for a deal to come up for my stay in October from about March. Nothing!

In the end, the hotel did a 20% off their price because they were renovating their lobby and rooms during October. Don't forget to ask for the AAA discount; assuming that you're NZ motor association has reciprocal rights with AAA.

 

[LizfromOz]

We went on the Universal VIP tour last year and had an absolute ball. You get to see so much more than the usual backlot tour, and being able to get off our tram and walk around the sets was very cool

Our tour guide was great, he even held our bags when we went on rides. I felt bad bypassing people waiting in lines for rides (well, almost). We went on the new Transformers ride 3 times in a row! Those front of line lanyards are priceless.

The buffet lunch is delicious, not like the local RSL offerings, lol. Honestly, if you can justify the pricetag, go for it, you won't regret it.

We usually split our stay between LA and Anaheim when visiting the area. I agree, the Hollywood area isn't too flash, but we have stayed at the Orchid Suites twice now, and will do so again for the final three nights of our Sept 14 trip. It's an older style apartment building remodelled into a hotel - old style but spotlessly clean and the staff are wonderful. A 2 room suite with kitchen and brekky is only $179 per night. It's directly behind Graumann's Chinese theatre and there is a walkway into the Hollywood and Highland Centre opposite.

I have been looking at Loew's myself and it looks very nice. If I can get a good deal on 2 rooms for my dates I might book it. I don't know about you, but I need plenty of space to pack our suitcases for the flight home and one room with our family of 4 just won't cut it.

 

[aussie shaz]

Ok, a few answers from me.
Universal Studios VIP tour. We did this in May with our kids 10 and 12. It was fantastic. The tour guide was great, really informative. We got to get out of the bus during the tour, but we did not get out at Wisteria Lane. We did get to go onto the set of Parenthood, got out to walk around the War of the Worlds set, got out at the Back to the Future building and went inside the sets warehouse. The luch was beautiful. We did all of the rides and shows once during the tour, then had a Front of line pass to go back again after the tour. They provided afternoon tea after the tour where we could go back to a little area with lounge chairs etc and have cookies and juice etc, for a break from the parks.
We went on a Saturday. It was busy but we didn't notice it. All I can say about this tour is, if I did it again, I'd visit the parks on another day as well. I felt we didn't get to actually wander around and look at the buildings, visit the characters etc as much as I would have liked.

Carlsbad. On our first trip in 2011, the boys were just 8 and 10. We stayed in Carlsbad for 5 nights and really regret it. We stayed across the road from Legoland, with the intention of being able to visit every day. We went for one whole day and visited the Aquarium, which took about 15 minutes. Then we did another maybe half day, and visited the waterpark. We were there for maybe an hour or so. The weather was perfect, there's just not much to do there. It's very small.
We tried to visit the beach one day, but literally couldn't get a carpark. We drove up and down that road for ages, and absolutely no carparks. So, we didn't see a beach in San Diego. We drove to Old Town, which was quite nice, and visited the seals at La Jolla. There were about 2!!
If I were to go there again, I'd definitely stay at a beach hotel and drive to Legoland on each of the one or 2 days I went. There's absolutely nothing else around in Carlsbad, except the outlets. They were ok, but nothing special when you compare them to Citadel etc.

We have never stayed in Hollywood area, but just being there during the day freaks me out! We do go and visit, but I usually hold tight to the kids and can't wait to leave!

Hope this helps.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Do you know where you are staying in Carlsbad yet? This trip we did one night at the LEGOLAND Hotel and loved it. I wouldn't want to spend more that a couple of nights, but the theming is very cool. We then moved on and stayed at San Diego for 3 nights.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Sounds likes like a good itinerary. I stayed at the Loews Hollywood Hotel on my last night in LA. Like you, I thought the location would be a good one to base ourselves to seeing the Hollywood sights. We hit the hotel on the night that the Mexican Billboard Awards were on in the Kodak Theatre. There was so much bling everywhere and we were apparently rubbing shoulders with the cream of Mexican rock stars. There was security and people everywhere in the hotel. We were allocated a room at the end of the corridor and on a high floor with views of the city and the Hollywood sign. I'm pretty sure that we might have gotten a better standard room (it was not an upgrade) because of the rock stars and film crew staying there and the potential for them to be noisy. The area is a little seedy; but then I'm not a big fan of LA as a city so I find most of LA seedy anyway. But it is easy walking distance to Graumans and some of the attractions in that area so we got that part of the sight seeing done without too much hassle. If you want to stay here and I'm assuming you haven't done so yet, sign up for their "dings" via their website. They do occasionally go on special and there was a cyber sale on Black Friday where all their rooms (with the exception of the hotels in Orlando) were 40% off. Having said that, I waited and waited and waited for a deal to come up for my stay in October from about March. Nothing! In the end, the hotel did a 20% off their price because they were renovating their lobby and rooms during October. Don't forget to ask for the AAA discount; assuming that you're NZ motor association has reciprocal rights with AAA.

Thanks PIO, this is exactly the kind of advice I'm after. Interesting to know about the lack of specials as it's current price is a bit hefty. The 40% off sale is still on, but unfortunately is only for stays up to April. They also had a 30% off sale a few days ago for stays 3 nights or longer. It didn't extend until Sep/Oct next year, but I thought maybe they would offer it again.

How did you find the size of the double beds? I read a review that said they were quite small.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We went on the Universal VIP tour last year and had an absolute ball. You get to see so much more than the usual backlot tour, and being able to get off our tram and walk around the sets was very cool Our tour guide was great, he even held our bags when we went on rides. I felt bad bypassing people waiting in lines for rides (well, almost). We went on the new Transformers ride 3 times in a row! Those front of line lanyards are priceless. The buffet lunch is delicious, not like the local RSL offerings, lol. Honestly, if you can justify the pricetag, go for it, you won't regret it. We usually split our stay between LA and Anaheim when visiting the area. I agree, the Hollywood area isn't too flash, but we have stayed at the Orchid Suites twice now, and will do so again for the final three nights of our Sept 14 trip. It's an older style apartment building remodelled into a hotel - old style but spotlessly clean and the staff are wonderful. A 2 room suite with kitchen and brekky is only $179 per night. It's directly behind Graumann's Chinese theatre and there is a walkway into the Hollywood and Highland Centre opposite. I have been looking at Loew's myself and it looks very nice. If I can get a good deal on 2 rooms for my dates I might book it. I don't know about you, but I need plenty of space to pack our suitcases for the flight home and one room with our family of 4 just won't cut it.

Thanks LizfromOz. Your review of the VIP tour is pretty much in line with all the others I've read i.e. Very positive. I must admit, I'm very tempted to try it out. I'm going to show it to my husband tonight and I'm guessing he'll either be very keen or completely choke at the price. I'm gambling on the latter at present.

I'm going to check out that orchid Suites. It sounds promising. Thanks for the tip.