rox
Veteran Member
Richard,
Here is my best travel tip. You don't necessarily have to book all your hotels in advance. What you do when you go into the front desk to inquire about a room and room rates is, before you agree to rent ask to see the room. They will reach for a key but then you can see thier hand hesitating and then reach over to a differnt key, likely a better room since you asked to see the room before you argreed to rent it. Also I really have had really really excellent luck with Cheap Flights, Hotels, and Rental Cars -- Discount Airfare | Priceline.com jsut go in and bid on 4 stor hotels and put in a low price. The worst that will happen is that they will turn down you offer. If they take your bid then you are billed immediatly and there are no refunds. If Priceline says it is a 4 star hotel trust me it is. I only always bid very low on 4 star hotels. hey if thye are not having aconvention that week you can get the room. But mostly we have moved away from hotels anyway and now jsut rent condos which we enjoy much much more. We ahve our condo in Cannes France on this site ..VRBO® is Vacation Rentals by Owner® Vacation Homes Rentals by Owner . Look for the date that the listing has been entered. If the listing has been there a good long time the people have been around the block and know what they are doing. I much prefer a condo/apartment over a hotel room any day. Plus you can perhaps have other family members join you for part of your trip and with the condo it doens't cost you any more money.
We had a wonderful wonderful vacation in Istanbul in 1995. Sadly I cannot remember the name of the hotel but it was quite nice. One important fact about Istanbul is that it is a Mosulm country so you will walk a long time trying to find a place to get a cocktail before dinner. If you enjoy a cocktail before dinner then bring some with. The second thing about Istanbul is the street vendors especially the children they will follow you down the street for a good distance trying to get you to buy their trinkets. So i came up with a most clever idea. All the stuff they sell is very inexpensive, pennies really, so what I did was just buy one of everything fo the msot popular things, including a T-shirt. Then I hung them on the front of my fanny pack, kind of like decorating a Christmas tree, so when the kids would run up to sell me I would jsut point to the item hanging from my fanny pack belt and they would leave me alone with no hassles. Whne we were in Istanbul our perception was that the country and the people were struggling so we were very generous and I usually paid the kids more than what they asked for, they need the money, jsut wait till you get there you will see. And theya re trying to cmoe by some money in an honest way selling on the streets so I felt good about over paying them and seeing thier smiles.
At our hotel we had a brochure for a small van tour for the day and we took that. It was so great jsut us and another family with 2 small children that for 5 days straight we and the other fmaily hired the van and the really friendly tour guide and we got basically a private guided tour for a week. That was awsome adn really it was not expensive I want to say at that time about $50 per day for my husband and myself.
Most of the tours will give you a ride down the Bosphoros river but actually they jsut take you on public transportation ferrys which we were fine with. I have a very clear memory of being on the ferry and drinking very sweet strong tea. Everybody drinks tea there in small glass glasses not cups. You can see the head of the Greek Orthadox church which is in Istanbul, basically it is the vatican of the Greek Orthodox faith. What was a bit surprising is it isn't at all fancy in fact it was kind of run down. There is always conflicts with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Turks and I though worth the visit. To be honest the food was not all that great in Istanbul but then again my husband is a French Chef so perhaps our standards are a bit higher than most peoples. I won't say standards because that sounds kind of snooty, the food was good but perhaps I can say it is not gormet dining, it is Middle Eastern food, lots of steet kababs. I hope I have helped you.
Here is my best travel tip. You don't necessarily have to book all your hotels in advance. What you do when you go into the front desk to inquire about a room and room rates is, before you agree to rent ask to see the room. They will reach for a key but then you can see thier hand hesitating and then reach over to a differnt key, likely a better room since you asked to see the room before you argreed to rent it. Also I really have had really really excellent luck with Cheap Flights, Hotels, and Rental Cars -- Discount Airfare | Priceline.com jsut go in and bid on 4 stor hotels and put in a low price. The worst that will happen is that they will turn down you offer. If they take your bid then you are billed immediatly and there are no refunds. If Priceline says it is a 4 star hotel trust me it is. I only always bid very low on 4 star hotels. hey if thye are not having aconvention that week you can get the room. But mostly we have moved away from hotels anyway and now jsut rent condos which we enjoy much much more. We ahve our condo in Cannes France on this site ..VRBO® is Vacation Rentals by Owner® Vacation Homes Rentals by Owner . Look for the date that the listing has been entered. If the listing has been there a good long time the people have been around the block and know what they are doing. I much prefer a condo/apartment over a hotel room any day. Plus you can perhaps have other family members join you for part of your trip and with the condo it doens't cost you any more money.
We had a wonderful wonderful vacation in Istanbul in 1995. Sadly I cannot remember the name of the hotel but it was quite nice. One important fact about Istanbul is that it is a Mosulm country so you will walk a long time trying to find a place to get a cocktail before dinner. If you enjoy a cocktail before dinner then bring some with. The second thing about Istanbul is the street vendors especially the children they will follow you down the street for a good distance trying to get you to buy their trinkets. So i came up with a most clever idea. All the stuff they sell is very inexpensive, pennies really, so what I did was just buy one of everything fo the msot popular things, including a T-shirt. Then I hung them on the front of my fanny pack, kind of like decorating a Christmas tree, so when the kids would run up to sell me I would jsut point to the item hanging from my fanny pack belt and they would leave me alone with no hassles. Whne we were in Istanbul our perception was that the country and the people were struggling so we were very generous and I usually paid the kids more than what they asked for, they need the money, jsut wait till you get there you will see. And theya re trying to cmoe by some money in an honest way selling on the streets so I felt good about over paying them and seeing thier smiles.
At our hotel we had a brochure for a small van tour for the day and we took that. It was so great jsut us and another family with 2 small children that for 5 days straight we and the other fmaily hired the van and the really friendly tour guide and we got basically a private guided tour for a week. That was awsome adn really it was not expensive I want to say at that time about $50 per day for my husband and myself.
Most of the tours will give you a ride down the Bosphoros river but actually they jsut take you on public transportation ferrys which we were fine with. I have a very clear memory of being on the ferry and drinking very sweet strong tea. Everybody drinks tea there in small glass glasses not cups. You can see the head of the Greek Orthadox church which is in Istanbul, basically it is the vatican of the Greek Orthodox faith. What was a bit surprising is it isn't at all fancy in fact it was kind of run down. There is always conflicts with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Turks and I though worth the visit. To be honest the food was not all that great in Istanbul but then again my husband is a French Chef so perhaps our standards are a bit higher than most peoples. I won't say standards because that sounds kind of snooty, the food was good but perhaps I can say it is not gormet dining, it is Middle Eastern food, lots of steet kababs. I hope I have helped you.
