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Mexico
& the Caribbean
Pay
Less for P.V.
$429 for a week in a beachfront resort of
Puerto Vallarta, including roundtrip airfare from
the west coast
For
residents of the Golden West who use Oakland,
California or Denver as their embarkation cities,
a just-announced package of giant SunTrips
(877-622-2500), info@pleasuretravels.com
supplies
a really remarkable price and value. For only $429
per person, double occupancy, it flies you, March
through May, from both of the above cities to the
sandy and very Mexican Pacific Coast resort of
Puerto Vallarta (its distinctive attractions were
recently profiled in BT) and puts you up for seven
nights in the modern, beachfront, 112-room (all
with balconies) Hotel Rosita, with daily
continental breakfast, a busy swimming pool and
close access to shopping. Depending on the exact
date of departure and the gateway, prices are $429
to $479 in March, $449 to $479 in April, $459 to
$479 in May; whatever you pay, the price is quite
spectacular for a flight and stay of this length
and the single-room supplement averages only $130.
Note blackout dates for Denver (March 2 to 23) and
for Oakland (March 27 to April 8).
Tropical
Windmills
$549 for roundtrip air from Miami to Aruba
and five nights at an outstanding hotel
With its
superb white-sand beaches and slick casino-
centered nightlife and dining (not everyone's cup
of tea), Aruba is among the most popular
destinations of the Caribbean, a tropical hot spot
if ever there was one. This spring, Florida-based
bargain powerhouse Pleasure Travels (800-622-2500)
info@pleasuretravels.com
has come up with a nifty five-nighter at the
famous Mill Resort (incorporating part of a
charming old windmill). You get your own studio
with fully equipped kitchen, plus roundtrip
airfare out of Miami, for $549 in April and May,
$169 more in March; extra days cost $42 per
person, the single-room supplement is $289 and the
tour operator has discount air to Miami on tap, as
well.
Awesome
Ocho Rios
$447 for a seven-night holiday on Jamaica's
north shore, including roundtrip air
Pleasure
Travels (800-622-2500),info@pleasuretravels
is
the source of this impressive $447 price covering
an Air Jamaica flight from Fort Lauderdale to
happening, resorty Ocho Rios for seven
nights. Your digs are an apartment complex called
Crane Ridge, on a hillside within walking distance
of local markets and with a free shuttle to town
and amenities include tennis courts, two
restaurants, a pool, air-conditioning and
satellite TV in rooms. Add more nights for $32 per
person per night. The package is valid from March
1 to June 15 and costs only $570 from New York,
$657 from Chicago and $697 from Los Angeles;
single-room supplement: $220.
Baja
Budget Blast
$460 to bop down to Baja from California by
bus: eight nights with all transportation and
meals
A fun and funky hostel on wheels, the Green
Tortoise is a bus that provides wheels, meals and
sleeps rolled into one, in the West, across the
country--and south of the border. This spring,
consider hopping aboard from San Francisco, Los
Angeles or San Diego down the east coast of the
lovely and underrated Mexican state of Baja
California, visiting hidden beaches as well as
historic towns and missions and enjoying great
whale watching, fishing, trekking, snorkeling and
lots more. There are four departures in March and
April, for which the eight-night cost is $379 (add
$81 for meals). Info:
Pleasure Travels (877-626-2500)
Cancún
Can-Do
$539 for air and seven nights on Mexico's
Premier Holiday Isle
For
southerners and some midwesterners, Pleasure
Travels (877-622-2500)
can
be a beach-getaway godsend. Consider the
March-through-May rates to Mexico's Americanized
resort island of Cancún, with two options:
lodging included (but no meals) at the Cancún
Clipper Club, a quiet lagoonside low-rise (just
across the road from the ocean beach) with 142
rooms and amenities including pool, restaurant and
various sports and activities; or all-inclusive
(meals, drinks, sports) for roughly $200 more at
the lovely, 106-unit Sunset Lagoon. Sample rates:
New Orleans $539/$729; Atlanta $619/$809; Memphis
$649/$829; Orlando $659/$849; Baltimore, Charlotte
or Washington, D.C. $669/$859; Nashville
$689/$869; and Cincinnati, Indianapolis or
Louisville $699/$889. Single-room supplement is
$190.Further, from the Northeast, we
will send you to the above resorts during the same
period for not more than $659 from Atlanta, $689
from Philadelphia and $719 from Boston.
Dominican
Deal
$879 for seven all-inclusive (meals, drinks
& sports) nights at a beachfront Dominican
Republic Resort from $879, including roundtrip air
This
friendly island has made inexpensive beach
getaways a specialty-but places like Puerto Plata
(north coast) and Punta Cana (east coast) can feel
a bit like overdeveloped gringo-lands. Not so at
Punta Cana's 447-room LTI Beach Resort, on Bávaro
Beach. Along with its beautiful beach, pool, four
restaurants and panoply of sports and
entertainment, all meals and drinks (from Coke to
cocktails) are on offer through
Pleasure
Travels
(877-622-2500,
for $879 out of Atlanta. Other eastern gateways
are available too, including Charlotte ($889),
Louisville and Orlando ($909), Cincinnati ($919),
Nashville ($949) and Washington, D.C. ($969).
Single-room supplement from all gateways: $160.
Dutch
Dive Deal
$924 for seven nights in a condo in
Dutch-flavored Bonaire, including air
A diver's paradise,
the small Netherlands Antilles island of Bonaire
has an off-the-beaten-path feel to it,
crystal-clear waters, a world-famous marine
park-and a rep for not being cheap. But Pleasure
Travels (877-622-2500,
can fly you down and put you up for seven nights
at the 80-unit Sand Dollar Condominium Resort, all
with ocean views, kitchens and patios or
balconies, for only $924 (out of Miami; from New
York it's $1,079, from Chicago and Houston $1,196
and from Los Angeles $1,279). These prices are
from January 6 to April 14; then from April 15 to
December 14, they drop to $909 from Miami and by
$15 to $20 from other gateways.
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Central
& South America
Coast
through Costa Rica
$743 for roundtrip air from Miami,
rental car and your choice of lodging for
seven nights
The
flexibility of this unusual fly/drive
hotel package to Costa Rica from Pleasure
Travels (877-626-2500,
allows you to stay put at one spot or move
between your choice of 50 hotels
throughout this lovely Central American
country, from beachfront resorts to lodges
near volcanoes. Get around with an
eight-day rental 4x4 (included) or
shuttles between hotels ($5 less). Cost:
$743 roundtrip from Miami, $824 from
Dallas, $849 from New York or Chicago,
$880 from Atlanta and $918 from Los
Angeles. Single-room supplement:
approximately $364. Good through June 30.
Guatemala
Sampler
$799 for air, five nights' hotel and
excursions
With myriad
volcanoes, rain forests and Maya ruins,
Guatemala can easily keep you occupied for
weeks. But a five-night introduction costs
$799 (from Miami) from Pleasure
Travels (877-626-2500,
which flies you down, puts you up at nice
hotels in Guatemala City with daily
breakfast and shows you the lovely
colonial Antigua, the Indian market of
Chichicastenango and volcanic Lake Atitlán.
From Los Angeles, Atlanta or Houston it's
$50 more; from New York, Boston or
Washington, D.C. $60; other cities also
available. Single- room supplement: $209;
valid through March 31. Good through
mid-June, five nights in Antigua and
Atitlán for $749 from Miami, New York or
Washington, D.C.
Caye
Bargain to Belize
$596 to two offshore isles for seven
nights, including air
Get an
old-time Caribbean feel and spectacular
reef diving and snorkeling on the little
offshore "cayes" of
English-speaking Belize and Pleasure
Travels (877-626-2500) can
fly you down and put you up at beachside
hotels on two of them-Ambergris and
Caulker-for seven nights for an amazing
$596 out of Miami in May and throughout
the summer; other gateways include Dallas
($653), New York ($699), Chicago ($794),
Los Angeles ($854) and Seattle ($886) and
run $50 higher in March and April.
Single-room supplement: $231.
Key
Bargain to Quito
$667 for roundtrip air and seven
nights (with transfers and sightseeting)
in Ecuador's lovely capital and vicinity
A remarkably
priced package to the colonial, Inca and
natural splendors of this spectacular
Andean country comes from respected Latin
America specialist Pleasure
Travels (877-626-2500).
For $667 (out of Miami), fly down, stay
for seven nights (with breakfast daily)
and be taken around the capital as well as
the impressive sights in the surrounding
areas (Otavalo Indian market, Cotopaxi
National Park, more). Other gateways
include New York ($722) and Los Angeles
($957); extra nights in Quito will run you
$22.50 per person. The deal's good from
March 1 at least through June. Single-room
supplement: $150.
Two
from Peru
$779 for a week of lodging and
touring in two Peruvian Cities, with
airfare and more
For that
remarkable $779 to an often expensive
destination, the "Mystic Peru"
package of Pleasure Travels (877-626-2500)
shows you modern/colonial Lima (two
nights) and colonial/pre-Columbian Cuzco
(four nights), including roundtrip airfare
out of Miami (add $240 for most other U.S.
cities), all travel within Peru, lodging
at impeccable hotels with daily breakfast
and extras such as a full day at Machu
Picchu, the ancient Incas' "lost
city" amid the Andes. The usually
exorbitant single-room supplement charge
is not bad at $150.
Pampas
Circumstance
$748 for a week in Argentina's
cosmopolitan capital, with airfare and
hotel
Times may be
tough, but Buenos Aires in Argentina's
autumn is still lovely (and safe). From
Miami, come down for $748 on a seven-nighter
from Pleasure
Travels (877-626-2500),
March through June. Included: transfers,
lodging with daily breakfast at a nice
hotel, city tour; from New York it's $808,
from Los Angeles or San Francisco $958.
Single-room supplement: $280. For five
nights, the similar air/hotel combo,
offers a $225 airpass for visiting the
rest of this huge country-or opting for a
visit to neighboring Santiago, Chile
(hotel not included). Weekday departures
through May: $799 out of New York, $929
Los Angeles and $949 Chicago. Single room:
Add $250.
A
Rio Good Deal
$799 to hit Rio's Copacabana Beach
for a week, including air, room,
breakfasts and sightseeing
Pleasure
Travels continues its Rio five-nighter,
with air, hotel and breakfast daily at the
Copacabana Sul Hotel (within
thong-flinging distance of the strand);
you also get a city tour. For March-April
departures, it's $799 from New York, $889
from Chicago, $959 from Denver/Los
Angeles, $1,024 from Atlanta/Miami. Prices
drop thereafter. Single room: Add $220.
Book before March 31 to get $130 off the
total.
Maracaibo,
Mi Amor
$693 for five nights in Venezuela's
appealing second city, with air and daily
breakfast
And now for
something a little different, check out
Venezuela's second-largest city (and much
more attractive than Caracas), lakeside
Maracaibo, in the country's west, just
inland from the Caribbean. Its charming
colonial quarter contrasts with the
modern, oil-driven boomtown much of the
rest of the city has become and here
you'll see far more of "old
Venezuela" than you will in the
capital (including nearby Indian
communities, like something out of
National Geographic). Starting March 1 and
throughout the rest of the year, for $693 Pleasure
Travels
(800-626-2500)
flies you directly here from Miami on
American Airlines and puts you up for five
nights at the centrally located, 15-story
Best Western El Paseo, with daily
breakfast, pool and a revolving rooftop
restaurant; a city tour is thrown in as
well. Departing from other gateways in the
U.S. will cost $50 to $80 more;
single-room supplement: $109.
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