Cultured Views

The one-stop hotel marketplace

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If you, like us, have an investment property to sell or maybe are looking to rent a luxury property in a beautiful location you would find that being able to conduct your business through one complete website carries a number of advantages.

Many sites, we have found, with a high-density listing can be a task to trawl through but on condo hotel you will find life is made much easier. The site is very easy to navigate, quick to load and offers a service connecting buyers with sellers and those wishing to rent with property owners. If you are wondering, Condo Hotels are a combination of apartment style and hotel acommodation - with a touch of luxury thrown in for good measure. If you aren’t bound by a tight budget then these sound like a perfect option to your average hotel experience.

Popularity: 13% [?]

One tip for travelling abroad - get a prepaid phone card

My very first long-haul trip abroad from Australia was back in 2001 when I did the Europe thing. I spent three months away on my own and was quite proud of how I managed to stay out of trouble, well almost, but that is a completely different story…

However, and this is a big however, in staying in regular contact by phone with my family back in Australia over that time I was not prepared for the shock I received after I got home and opened the phone bill. There were more zero’s on it than I had ever seen, or cared to see for that matter. It took me months to pay off that bill and what could have saved all that was if I had simply purchased a prepaid phone card before I went away on holiday; I never knew how expensive reverse charge calls could be. I learned the hard way…

These days prepaid phone cards have become the thing to have but you still have to shop around to find the one which will save you the most money; they are all different. If you will be travelling from wherever to the USA check out The RichCom.Com as their rates seem to be the best on offer right now. The cards can be used to call from the USA to pretty much all over the world and you can purchase them online of course. Before you buy though, say you are wanting an india phone card, just check to ensure that it can be used to phone other countries as well - most of them can though.

Have a look through their list - it is quite extensive - and you’ll also be pleased to note that most do not carry a connection fee which is one thing to be wary of. But all the same, once you have one of these little babies you can still continue to use it after your holiday is over and you’re back home. Stay in touch with those you met on holiday.

Popularity: 14% [?]

A few days in The Big Apple

When I meet fellow Aussies over here on their travels I always ask them what they think of the big cities abroad in comparison to those like Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The one answer they always come back with is just how struck they were by the sheer size and layout of places like London and Paris. I mean, they are huge. Consider it like this; you can walk from one side of Sydney to the other in a couple of hours - try doing that in somewhere like New York City - as well as remembering that as many people live in NYC as live in the whole of Australia.

So it was quite a staggering experience for me when I had my first introduction to the Big Apple a few years back on our holiday. It is not just a city it is like a nation all on it’s own; I’m surprised it dosen’t have it’s own currency!  we had four days to see as much as we could (you really need a week at least to get the most of the city) but luckily hubby had been there before so he had a list of things to do in New York already drawn up and ready to go. Basically stuff he had not seen first time around. You might be tempted to call this place a concrete jungle in comparison to other cities like London and Sydney but there is no doubt New York has it’s own charms - Central Park and the squares save it from being all skyscrapers and cars, they kind of provide an oasis of sorts as do the little deli’s and cafes.

We decided to do as much as we could on foot as hubby had done the sightseeing tours thing first time round; we find you get to see the more intimate places and people characters just wandering around at your own leisure. We explored Greenwich Village and took a tour of the New York State Court of Appeals; I particularly enjoyed the big department stores but you really should go into the smaller shops - there’s some great antique stores and second-hand book stores some of which are third generation owned and operated. That’s the side of New York I liked best - the people who make their lives there, the smaller folk if you like, rather than the expensive suits who would walk right over you if you didn’t step aside.

If you are planning your very first visit to New York I suggest maybe you take an organised tour for part of the visit because unless you know where you’re going you could find the experience rather daunting. But it will be well worth it. We can recommend signing up for a newsletter with Trusted Tours and Attractions as they have a terrific list of places to put on your own itinerary - there’s some suggestions we have taken on board for next time too. Oh, and you can go into the draw for a handheld GPS as well though I suggest you don’t even consider taking a car around New York!

Our next American odyssey will be taking in Virginia (I am a ‘Waltons’ fan) as well as North Carolina and Florida; call me a big kid if you like but I have promised myself, as well as the kids, that a trip to Miami Seaquarium and DisneyWorld/Epcot is definitely on the cards for later this year…fingers crossed.

Popularity: 14% [?]