Orlando, Florida has become one of the top vacation destinations in the whole country, if not the world. Not only does it boast a plethora of attractions and amusements for the whole family, it’s also only a stone’s throw away from Daytona and Tampa Bay.

Recently one of our customers sent us this glowing testimonial of their stay at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas in Orlando, Florida.

My first experience of Orlando was when I was about eight years old. I remember my family all piling into the car and making the journey all the way from Virginia. I have such fond memories of the week we spent at Disney World, Gatorland, and all the other attractions in the area. Recently I vacationed to Orlando for the first time since then and it was just as wonderful. (more…)

It’s finally summer and the vacation season is hotter than ever! We’re sure your air conditioners are running at max capacity and your sunscreen is within arm’s reach. But with all the talk about ‘going green‘ and ‘global warming,’ we’d like to take a step back and give you some simple tips to conserving energy, saving money, and reducing your ‘carbon footprint’ this travel season.

It’s all about reducing your impact on energy consumption, waste, and recycling. Sure, you’ve probably been hearing the same things for years…”reduce, reuse, recycle,” but that’s not all there is to it. There’s so many little things you can do on an everyday basis to shrink your environmental impact whether you’re on vacation or at home. Here’s some of our top tips for being environmentally friendly while enjoying paradise!

1. Go carbon neutral: Whether you travel by plane, car, bus, or even train, you can purchase carbon offsets from organizations in order to make your journey ‘carbon-neutral,’ meaning that there for every bit of waste generated by your drive, flight, or ride, that something will be done to counteract that waste. Examples include planting trees, alternative energy research, or even waste management initiatives. You can generally offset a flight for less than $40 and feel good about your trip and to the part that you’re playing to make our world a better place!
2. Cut your energy usage: For most of us, we only worry about energy usage when it’s coming out of our own pockets. As time goes on we’re all starting to realize that at some point we all pay a price. It doesn’t take much to conserve energy by simply turning off lights and electronics that we aren’t using! If you leave a room, switch out the light. When you’re not using your computer, shut it down. When you leave your accommodations, turn off the air conditioner and cover the windows. Check out these useful goodies to get on track to going green! You’d be surprised how much energy can be saved simply by getting used to cutting back a little bit! Best of all, when you start saving money from conserving you’ll have more to vacation with!
3. Recycle everything your can: In a world where almost everything we use on a daily basis is made of plastic, paper, or aluminum, it’s easy to recycle! Plastic takes hundreds, if not thousands, of years to decompose. This leaves a huge mark on our environment and it’s not going to go away all by itself. Instead of opting for plastic, choose paper. It’s much more abundant and is easy to replace and recycle!
   

It’s really not difficult at all, but it does take some retraining. It’s up to you to make a difference in your own world! This summer let’s all make it a point to conserve, protect, and prioritize in order to reduce our impact on the environment and shrink our overall energy consumption. Happy (Green) Vacationing!

Our week in Cancun started out surprisingly in Philadelphia… where the storm of the century grounded our Friday morning flight. Instead of sipping margaritas at the beautiful Sandos Caracol Resort and Spa by noon we where shuttled to damp and dreary New Jersey for an uninspired night at Quality Inn. With one day of our 7 down, we were left hoping Mexico could make it up in the remaining time, starting at noon on Saturday.

Arriving at the resort was quite a milestone in our airport laden delayed journey so far and was marked superbly by a warm welcome and outstanding service. (more…)