Ramblings

According to a survey by TravelPost.com, the advice of friends tops that of travel agents, web sites and guidebooks. Okay, that’s pretty much a no-brainer. But what if your friends have never been where you’re going?

TravelPost.com has 200,000 reviews written by independent travelers. It’s TripAdvisor on a smaller scale – but with a twist. TravelPost has a search feature that lets you filter reviews to include only those written by people of your gender, in age range, share your travel goals and have your budget. Clever concept.

But here’s the thing: not everyone who shares my gender or age likes what I like. Sharing travel goals narrows the gap – a little. But at the heart of every personal review is perception. You can never fully understand what I like until you really know me personally. An aggregate of reviews can provide some leads. But often what means more is the consistent wisdom of an expert reviewer. 

Take movie reviews. If a movie gets a B- on Yahoo Movies (based on an aggregate of reviewers with a very broad spectrum of viewpoints), it means much less to me than one thumbs-up-or-down session with Ebert & Roeper. I don't know Roger Ebert or Richard Roeper personally. However, through experience, I've decided I can trust their opinions and seasoned judgments.

The same can be said for travel agents who know you personally. And guidebooks written from decades of personal experience by a recognized expert. With Karen Brown, Rick Steves, Pauline Frommer and Renting Paradise, you know you’re getting a seasoned view based -- not on emotion, as is often the case -- but years of experience reviewing accommodations and destinations.

My point: Surveys are all well and good. But if you trust the advice of friends, don’t place an aggregate of strangers’ reviews above a guidebooks written by someone whose opinion you’ve come to know and trust. 

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"Mystery" rashes, staph infections, Legionnaires' disease ... not the kind of souvenirs anyone wants to bring home after a relaxing stay in a vacation rental home. I'm not  a hot tub aficionado, so I admit I never dipped even a toe in a hot tub in any of the homes I've reviewed for Renting Paradise. Turns out, even the cleanest-looking hot tub (and even whirlpool bathtubs and private swimming pools for that matter) can easily become a petri dish for some of the worst kinds of bacteria.

I had my eyes opened wide after chatting Stacy Intille. A healthy 44-year-old Registered Nurse at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento. iN 2001 Stacy contracted Legionnaires' disease after soaking in a non-permitted portable above-ground hot tub at a hotel in Monterey,California. She almost died. In October 2006 she settled a lawsuit against the hotel for just under $1 million.

This puts vacation rental home owners and management companies between a rock and a hard place. In many areas, home that have tot tubs are more desirable -- easier to rent. However, owners cannot be on site to properly maintain the hot tub 24/7. I'm not going to wade into the slimy "guts" of the issue here. But suffice it to say, health/maintenance regulations vary by county and management companies tend to take a "soak at your own risk" approach in rental contracts.

How do you protect yourself -- especially if your party includes vulnerable children, pregnant women, elderly people and/or anyone whose immune system has been compromised?

When in doubt, stay out. Don't mean to be a party-pooper. But how else can you be sure?

Insist on safe practices. Thanks to Stacy's advocacy, the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health (CCDEH), has taken a closer look at the infection risks and potential hazards of above ground portable hot tubs and jacuzzi bathtubs commonly found in rental properties across the state.  Their warnings and recommendations are outlined in a new guideline posted on their website in October 2007 titled Guidelines for the Installation and Operation of Fill and Drain Spas and Hot Tubs.  You can use the guidelines in this document to personally vet a vacation rental home owner's maintenance practices.

Bottom line: The CCDEH has determined that most of the portable hot tubs commonly found in vacation homes are designed to be used by private families and their invited guests. Once an owner begins to offer their home as a vacation rental, they are required to upgrade these residential hot tubs to commercial grade, obtain a permit and follow the daily maintenance requirements and logs as outlined in the code. The guideline estimates as many as 1,000 owners are currently in violation of the code. 

If you have your own hot tub and this seems like a real pain, you're right. But remember, you KNOW exactly who you invite into your tub.You can't be sure what happened (how many people used the tub how many times) before you arrive at even the best vacation home. That's just the facts. 

For more information, you can contact directly at rnwithld@aol.com.

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 07:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Among the many truly creative walking tours available in San Francisco (which of course is best seen on foot), one stands head and shoulders above the rest: FOOT! Tours.

Choose from 10 two-hour tours capture the history of city and personality of neighborhoods often glossed over by mainstream tours, including:

• Flashback: A Mind-Blowing Trip Through the Haight-Ashbury of the 1960s

• Go West, Young Woman: Ten Daring Dames of San Francisco's Past

• Hobnobbing with Gobs of Snobs: Nob Hill's Old Nouveau Riche

• Instant City – Just Add Gold: Glitter, Greed and the Growth of San Francisco

And my personal favorite -- Where’s the F'ing Beach in North Beach? The Nine Lives of North Beach. (Plenty of F-words, but no actual use of THE F-word, kids.) 

The schedule changes weekly, so check the calendar. Reservations are required. (Adults: $30; seniors and students $20.)

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some of the most special vacation rentals—the real gems—are ingeniously hidden out of sight. You certainly won't find this charming Provencal-style guest cottage -- nestled into the garden of an exquisitely restored Victorian a block from hip Union Street boutiques and restaurants-- on HomeAway.com!

If you’ve ever had fantasies about living in what I still insist is the world’s most beautiful city, indulge them with a week (or three) at Nelsons Cottage near the stylish boutiques, bakeries and restaurants of Union Street. Here's why:

Location, Location, Location. If you love to walk, Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman’s Wharf (where you can catch a cable car to Chinatown and fashionable Union Square) and even the Golden Gate Bridge are easily in reach. The spectacular vistas and mansions of Pacific Heights are a lung-tweaking hike of only a few blocks. Anywhere else in the city is easily accessible via bus or taxi. (In other words, no car necessary!)   

Personal welcome. Perfect for:  Honeymooners, a pair of friends or a family with small children (even two couples who don’t mind sharing the single luxe bathroom). This cozy cottage is buffered from city sounds by lush lawns and gardens. You’ll be pampered by the owners’ feel-like-family generosity —everything from fresh flowers to a personal “Welcome Book” guiding you step by step to personally recommended restaurants, shops and city sights. (So much nicer than a handful of cheesy brochures doled out at most hotels!)  

On the counter of the eat-in kitchen, I found a wicker basket with a selection of teas, a box of granola, a bag of Peet’s ground beans and Starbucks Decaf House Blend and packets of hot chocolate. On the kitchen table, a vase of yellow daffodils and bowl of fresh fruit: pears, apples, a plum, a melon and a handful of Clementines. In the fridge: orange juice; a carton of strawberry yogurt; low-fat milk and half & half; a liter of fresh water, and. a bottle of good Chardonnay.I felt cared for in a way I never have in any five-star hotel.

Comfortably un-frilly. The vintage 1910 cottage is dressed in the colors of Provence—sunny yellow, lavender, lime and light blue—with beautifully restored wood floors and crown molding. One bedroom off the living room is almost filled with a king-sized bed. Another, off the kitchen is outfitted as an office, but can sleep two on a fold-out couch. It also opens to a small wood deck. Backed by a soaring cement wall, it is very private, if a bit dank.

The living room has all the modern conveniences—satellite TV, DVD/CD player, stereo—plus a brushed steel woodstove and ceiling spots for easy reading. The bathroom is like a spa—high-style fixtures including an extra deep square tub/shower, terry-lined robes and lush Hauts de Provence Fig Bath Soap

Even if this is your first visit to San Francisco—especially if it is!—Nelsons Cottage is as good as it gets.

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More often than not, the best thing about renting a vacation home is the owners. Here's why.

Most I've met or spoken to are passionate about the home they rent -- and tickled pink that you'll be staying.

Like trusted friends, they'll clue you in on the best restaurants (and probably recommend what to order). Some pamper you with breakfast fixings -- freshly squeezed orange juice, rich coffee beans, homemade scones and a jar of organic jam. Some owners may leave a bottle of local wine. A phone card (if they don't already offer free long distance calling). A disposable camera.

Some invest time detailing step-by-step driving routes or walking tours. Check out this blog compiled by Mary Jane Hutchinson of At The Bay's Edge.

The thing is, I'm always surprised -- and, yes, delighted. I guarantee you won't feel that kind of love staying at a hotel (I don't care how efficient the concierge) or even at many fine B&Bs.

Vacation rental owners are a real treat ... most of the time. Like anything in life, there are exceptions. (One owner chewed me out rather rudely when I called to say the woodstove was smoking.)

My advice: just to be sure, plan to have a short chat (by phone) before you rent.   

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Always a humbling experience. My family's semi-annual get-together at a vacation rental home I chose was a disappointment. And if it had been my first experience renting a vacation home? It might also have been my last.

Here's (only part of) the laundry list. Most of the walls were scuffed up to waist-level. There were two TVs in our bedroom; neither worked. Two propane cans for the gas grill; both empty. The upstairs air-conditioning didn't work. No wireless Internet, as advertised.

I will say, the manager was very responsive, if a bit spacy.  But my technical-guru husband got the TVs working. And we all were determined to have a good time, so we did. The consensus among the rest of my laidback family is: the house was "fine". In fact, it was the worst we have visited in four years. Frankly, I spent too much of my precious vacation time dwelling on my mistake. Every time I walked the beach or drove along the coast, I kept wishing I could go back in time and chose another, better place for us.

And if it can happen to me, believe me -- it can happen to anybody.

I've visited dozens of vacation rental homes while researching my "Renting Paradise" series of e-guidebooks featuring firsthand, unbiased reviews of a select group of distinctive rentals. I even fancied that I had developed a "sixth sense" for homing in on the cream of a very large (and growing!) crop of vacation rental homes. Here's how I was fooled (so you'll be better prepared).

• Details  left out of description. Short and sweet can turn sour much faster than a long passionate treatise by a passionate owner. So take your time browsing listings and listen for heart. Some of the most interesting, dedicated, welcoming people I've ever met are vacation rental home owners. When they go on and on, it's generally not fluff, but pure love. And their greatest desire is for you to experience it too.

• Few--and/or deceiving--photos. The featured (un-captioned) photo in the listing for my recent misstep? Not taken from the house, but from the beach. Which was not a block away, as described. It is a block and a half to Highway 1. Once you reach the beach, you find it is not exactly pet-friendly. Threats of $270-plus fines are levied by park personnel! Walk-to access to a pet-friendly beach was one of the main considerations I expressed to the owner/manager. Yes, I was pissed. 

• Sloppy management. Walls scuffed. "Beautiful gardens" that are overgrown, weed-choked patches. Listed appliances missing. No propane...  You can't see this until you arrive. BUT, if you call and talk to the owner/manager you can glean a lot of information. As I've said, ours was responsive. But in all communications, she  kept saying she was "old" and "not technical". Clues. Big time.

Posted by Joyce Hadley Copeland at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)