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With \"international economic downturn\" seeming to have surpassed \"I love you\" as the three most commonly linked words in the English language, could there be a better time to travel? Not if you want some of the best travel deals anyone has seen since Moses offered a shortcut across the Red Sea.
What makes now an especially appealing time to take a trip is that while the monetary crisis seems to have bottomed out—and the swine flu scare has subsided enough, for now, that the U.S. has dropped its Mexico travel warning—many would-be travelers are still hesitating, which is forcing the travel industry to keep prices low.
For the intrepid sojourner, that means bargains are everywhere, crowds are nowhere, and even the once-haughtiest of waiters will now be your biggest fan. Here are 10 vacation destinations where your dollar will get you more than it has in years.
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What does Hawaii have in common with a kid's playground? Recently, the big slide. Since the recession began, visitor numbers and room rates in the Aloha State have tumbled by double-digit percentages.
Hawaii is still hardly a destination for the destitute, but it is certainly more affordable than the last time Barack Obama was able to visit there anonymously. There is even talk of the previously unimaginable—free parking around Waikiki Beach. At the high-rise Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, rooms are going for as little as $159 a night (although at that price, the only water you're likely to see out your window is rain).
An even better deal, if you don't mind being a stroll from the sand, is the recently renovated Courtyard by Marriott Waikiki Beach, where rooms start at $109. Vacation packagers are also bundling just about everything but parking tickets. Pleasant Holidays offers three-day packages including air, hotel, and all taxes for as little as $349. Make it five days and they'll throw in up to $100 off a rental car. Incentives are everywhere: resort credits, free breakfasts, even popcorn in the room. But if that doesn't fill you up, top off a day at Waikiki with a stop at Teddy's Bigger Burgers on Kapahulu Avenue (the name, in these value-conscious days, says it all).
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Busted: the myth that in this city the good times are always in season. The lights still glow on the street of high hopes known as the Las Vegas Strip, but there is a sense that their bulbs are of the energy-saving type. The gambling take is down even more than it was following September 11, 2001, and a badly timed round of new megahotel openings has added to an oversupply of rooms. Even Elvis impersonators are having a tough time of it.
As a result, lucky-feeling travelers are discovering that what happens in Las Vegas costs considerably less than it used to. The many-shades-of-red-themed Encore is among the newer hotels on the Strip that started shaving rates almost from the day it opened; the 2,034 suites go for as little as $149 (with a $75 resort credit thrown in if you book online).
To experience classic Las Vegas—which is to say, over-the-top taste that predates Encore developer Steve Wynn—Caesars Palace, inspired by Rome in its declining years, can happily accommodate you starting at $90. Vegas is a good city for package deals, too. Travelers from New York, for instance, can get airfare and four nights at Bellagio for $696 per person. With Vegas shows also feeling the pinch, expect to get a deal on ticket prices, too, with Web sites like bestofvegas.com offering up to $30 off some tickets.
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Iceland, with its volcanoes, geysers, and thermal pools awash in striking blondes, has a dramatic landscape. Even more dramatic has been its dizzying fall from the economic heights. Not a year ago, Icelanders were buying up the world on credit and becoming very rich in the process.
Now, in an interesting study in humility, many are simply looking for work. For visitors, however, a tanked economy—the local currency has lost nearly half its value against the dollar—means that Iceland is once more affordable.
The Hotel Fron is a contemporary Nordic-style hotel in Reykjavik with spacious rooms and kitchenettes that go for $148 in high season; it's located on the city's main shopping street, which means that to avoid traffic noise you'll want a room at the back.
Also conveniently located is tiny Apartment K, with a designer look and all the expected high-tech amenities; doubles start at $190 in high season. If you are planning to continue to Europe, a deal worth looking into is Icelandair's free stopover program. Book a round-trip flight from Boston to Copenhagen, say, and there's no extra cost for a stop in Reykjavik.
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In the belief that the likelihood of catching swine flu is about equal to one's chances of catching an actual swine, some Americans have begun returning to Mexico. But even though the Centers for Disease Control downgraded its downgraded its Mexico travel warning in mid-May, many more would-be visitors continue to stay away, some also put off by the country's continued drug violence.
If you do go, you'll see the beaches as empty as they've been since the Mayan Empire's decline. And, of course, you'll get incredible deals, with flights up to half off and hotels even more deeply discounted, especially in Cancun, a focal point for media attention. If you book four nights at the oceanfront Hilton Cancun Golf & Spa Resort, which has one of the better beaches, doubles begin at $96 a night. Wherever you're staying, plan to eat a few meals in downtown Cancun: The cost of the taxi ride will be balanced by the wider variety of good restaurants at reasonable prices, including Labna, where the Mayan cuisine will be nothing like the Mexican cuisine you get at home.
That said, if savings are your top priority, it's hard to beat the all-inclusives, where meals are part of the package. Apple Vacations, for example, can get you seven nights at the new adults-only all-inclusive Secrets Silversands Riviera, including airfare, starting at $99 per person per night. It's not just the Yucatan, however, that has been hit hard by the swine flu scare. On the Pacific side's Costa Alegre, south of Puerto Vallarta, the exclusive Las Alamandas Resort, where in good times the least expensive room starts at close to $500, is offering up 60 percent off its rates. Rates now begin at $190, with free nights on top of that, and kids under 16 stay free.
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Budapest isn't the new Prague: It is the old Prague, when Prague was affordable. This city on the Danube—especially attractive to walkers, spa-goers, and admirers of eclectic architecture—represents the best of a post-Communist, free-market society, and the perils of it, too.
Once low-cost airlines became attracted to the Hungarian capital like bees to royalty, a synergistic boom in hotels, restaurants, and nightlife followed. Only now, with tourism slumping and the local currency, the forint, being taken out into an alley, stood up against a wall, and slapped around by the euro and the dollar, locals are becoming acquainted with the capitalistic concept known as price-slashing.
Take advantage and get a room for $140 (versus the normal rate, $250) at one of the city's finest hotels, the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal. Or, for a sense of Budapest history, try the Burg Hotel, in the Castle District, where doubles cost $134 and up. And if you don't mind flying on an airline called Wizz Air, you can get from London Luton to Budapest for as little as $54.
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The recent military coup has led to demonstrations in the capital and an uneasy feeling over at the State Department, which recently issued a warning against traveling to Honduras. But for adventure travelers looking for the next big thing, Honduras is being bandied about as the new Costa Rica (once things quiet down again, that is).
The diving and snorkeling in the Bay Islands is already on the travel radar, and enthusiasts know that the Mayan ruins at Copan are among the best preserved in Central America. Less known, however (and its rather unfortunate name gives you a hint as to why), is the rain forest–sheathed Mosquito Coast, where ecotourism programs being developed by native Miskito communities were recently recognized for their excellence by the World Travel & Tourism Council. One program, La Ruta Moskitia, offers four- to eight-day trips beginning at $425 per person if you book in a group of four or more; you'll trek the rain forest, look for crocodiles, and observe Miskito dancing, which is characterized by an over-the-shoulder slapping motion.
In May, the coastal town of La Ceiba, where most Honduran eco-adventures (and trips out to the Bay Islands) start, hosts a carnival that attracts upward of a half million people. That might explain La Ceiba's motto, comparing itself with other towns in Honduras: \"Tegus thinks, San Pedro Sula works, and Ceiba plays.\" And you might want to start playing on the covered patio at Ricardo's restaurant, said to be one of the best in Honduras.
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TRAVEL_Concierge_BestVacationDeals[i-1].body = "
Why Cambodia? The ancient temple complex at Angkor is one of the most significant archaeological sites in southeast Asia; the seaside town of Kep is returning to its former glory as a French-style beach resort; and prices are a fraction of what
Thailand costs.
Roads, infrastructure, and security are all improving, so you'd better go now, before all the villas the French left behind are once more turned into the kind of luxury retreats you can find anywhere. (Just keep in mind, as you are stepping off the beaten path, that one of the country's more popular attractions is the Landmine Museum.) In Kep, the Knai Bang Chatt hotel has 11 rooms in three renovated villas overlooking the coast; doubles start at $150.
And the Veranda Natural Resort, on a hillside a few minutes from the beach, offers bungalows with private verandas and free Wi-Fi for as little as $30—though you may as well splurge for the top-of-the-line superior suite for $75.
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If Odysseus could have gotten the hotel deals that are available in the Greek islands today, he might have taken even longer than he did to find his way home.
Crete, which depends heavily on the currently uncertain American, British, German, and Scandinavian markets, is looking particularly good right now for would-be gods and goddesses who desire cheap Aegean sunshine.
Fears of a tourism slump have led hotels to cut room rates by as much as 40 percent, and vendors in front of the Knossos Palace to wonder what they are going to do with their many boxes of phallic art–inspired postcards. In Heraklion, the Lato Boutique Hotel, convenient to museums (and when you've had enough of them, the hydrofoils), has modern decor, with doubles starting at $119.
In Chania, in western Crete, the boxy shape of the Porto Veneziano hotel is easy enough to forgive, considering the hotel's harborfront location—a short stroll to the heart of Old Town—and the price: Doubles start at $143. For dinner in Chania, take one of the many winding passageways to the Well of the Turk for an inexpensive mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine and a setting that will make you feel positively Ottoman.
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Europhiles think they are doing Buenos Aires an honor by calling it the Paris of South America. And it is true that B.A. has a lively arts scene, pleasingly historic architecture, and afternoon-long coffee breaks.
But imagine how much improved Paris would be if it, too, possessed a passion for tango bars. And imagine if it offered bargain rates. Admittedly, prices in Buenos Aires are not nearly as low as they were in early 2000, when Argentina's economy jumped out a window.
But when a room at the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires costs less than half what it does at the Four Seasons George V in Paris, let's tango. Rooms at the luxury chain's B.A. outpost start at a not inconsequential $395, but if you stay three nights you get the fourth free. Find something more reasonable among the city's many good designer hotels, such as the Mine Hotel, in the hip, lively Palermo Soho neighborhood, where doubles start at $145.
Just about every meal in Argentina is a bargain these days, but to see how Argentine food was served up when trendy Palermo Soho was just a plain old neighborhood, don't miss the big plates and low prices at El Preferido (Calle Borges; 54-11-4774-6585) and the delicious empanadas at Cupertina (5300 Cabrera; 54-11-4777-3711). As for the tango bars, to experience a classic, head to the
Bar de Roberto in Almagro.
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With hints of political and economic stabilization (one egg no longer costs as much as—no kidding, you can look it up—50 billion Zimbabwe dollars), now might be a good time to consider a visit to this African nation. True, it will still appeal most to travelers who appreciate the storytelling possibilities of discovering a restaurant that is out of everything or of having to explain yourself to an armed teenager at a roadblock.
But the beauty of Zimbabwe, from the wildlife of Hwange National Park to the massive natural waterworks of Victoria Falls will encourage more of us to become that kind of traveler. The irony is that in a land where there is almost no luxury, what luxury there is comes at a high price. So expect to pay plenty at Victoria Falls, though you can take comfort in the fact that the best accommodations are cheaper than across the Zambezi River in Zambia.
Among the luxury hotels on the Zimbabwean side is the Victoria Falls Hotel, a favorite since Edwardian times and a still-bewitching grande dame that has had the face-lift necessary to keep her that way. With a four-days-for-three deal, rates start at $309 per night. The hotel's Livingstone Room restaurant has pretensions of Edwardian elegance, but more popular is the Mama Africa Eating House, with indoor and outdoor seating, local entertainment, and dishes from around Africa.
An hour's drive away, but with a free shuttle to the falls, are the riverside suites of the Matetsi Private Game Reserve, where the viewing is especially good for elephant and antelope. The daily rate begins at $255 per person, which, without having to dress up in an animal suit yourself, is about as inexpensive as you'll find for a quality safari experience.
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// END editorial data