USD
Top Tips For Booking A Luxury Holiday
The term luxury, especially in the context of luxury travel, has become a bit of a buzzword. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “A state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense.” Unfortunately, in many cases, this concept has been watered down to focus more on the expense than the travel experience.
So I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts on how to ensure you get what you want from your luxury holiday or honeymoon. In other words how to get maximum bang for your buck on luxury escapes and how to navigate the myriad of possibilities competing for your attention. The key is understanding what kind of travel experience you really want, pinpointing your preferred type of luxury hotel or boutique retreat and finding the right knowledgeable luxury travel agent (or in our case Escapologist) to work with.
Here are 4 of the top things to consider:
Choosing the right holiday type to match your criteria
What would you type into Google? This is usually a neat way of distilling your travel desires. Would it be: travel experience, a cultural holiday, unique holidays, luxury family holidays or perhaps safari and beach holidays? Obviously luxury experiences can be woven in to any of these but it’s important to have a starting point. In reality, when travelling with a luxury travel company like Yonder, many of these themes can be made to overlap. And this is the benefit of a tailor-made holiday which is genuinely built around your desires.
How Easy Is the Process?
It can be fun to do some of the initial research yourself to get a feel for what the possibilities are in different locations. But it can also easily become a full-time job. Ideally, you want a single person that you can contact, who is responsive to your needs, and will take the time to really understand you, your interests, and what you like and dislike. The luxury travel agents will be able to streamline the process so that all the guesswork is taken out of it, even adding extra services like airport fast tracking, executive lounges, and 24/7 availability.
Make sure you know your hotels
It doesn’t matter if you are booking a luxury tour or your honeymoon its critical that you know the ins and outs of the hotels you’ll be staying in. A tour operator like Yonder offers different types of accommodation from boutique hotels to eco lodges. And believe me when I say there can be a lot in between. Amenities can vary from one luxury hotel to another. While some are pretty standard, others are not. With respect to dining, it’s a given that luxury escapes will include at least one restaurant which serves both domestic and international cuisine. If a spa is vital to your holiday experience, make sure you know that there is one on-site, as well as what the treatments and facilities are like.
Service That Doesn’t End at Arrival
One thing that defines a great luxury holiday company is their on-the-ground contacts. You want someone available to you while you’re in-country to be able to make spur of the moment changes as desired. Surprisingly, this is not always the case. These at-destination concierges should be available to answer any questions and make suggestions as to where to go and what to do while you’re there, should you find yourselves with some free time, or trying to decide where to have dinner. They also know the best time to go places, so that you find yourself being able to enjoy even prime tourist sites when they are less crowded.
Sifting through hotel and tour recommendations, especially online through review sites, can be a nightmare. Even when reading reviews, it’s impossible to know if that traveler has the same criteria that you do. Plus, an individual that is talking about their personal experience, can’t tell you what the other options are in an informed way, as they didn’t take advantage of them. This is where the experts really shine, giving you informed descriptions and suggestions so that you can imagine what each choice will be like, thus allowing you to make the best decisions for what may be your once in a lifetime trip to that destination.
YONDER SUGGESTIONS
Yonder is a luxury travel company which includes Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia within its portfolio. A Yonder escapologist will create tailor made holidays according to the wishes of their client.
There is significant variety within each destination. Culture, Safari and beach components are available for inclusion and a tour can be created around individual budgetary requirements.
All of the hotels displayed on the Yonder website have been experienced at least one member of the Yonder team and they will be able to give you a first hand account.
A good place to start the journey of creating a luxury tour is to browse Yonder’s Destinations pages or if you have a specific idea in mind you may be able to narrow it down through their Inspirations and Collections pages.
All Yonder itineraries are crafted on a tailor-made, one-off basis, so you can be sure that your holiday will be as individual as you are.
The term luxury, especially in the context of luxury travel, has become a bit of a buzzword. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “A state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense.” Unfortunately, in many cases, this concept has been watered down to focus more on the expense than the travel experience.
So I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts on how to ensure you get what you want from your luxury holiday or honeymoon. In other words how to get maximum bang for your buck on luxury escapes and how to navigate the myriad of possibilities competing for your attention. The key is understanding what kind of travel experience you really want, pinpointing your preferred type of luxury hotel or boutique retreat and finding the right knowledgeable luxury travel agent (or in our case Escapologist) to work with.
Here are 4 of the top things to consider:
Choosing the right holiday type to match your criteria
What would you type into Google? This is usually a neat way of distilling your travel desires. Would it be: travel experience, a cultural holiday, unique holidays, luxury family holidays or perhaps safari and beach holidays? Obviously luxury experiences can be woven in to any of these but it’s important to have a starting point. In reality, when travelling with a luxury travel company like Yonder, many of these themes can be made to overlap. And this is the benefit of a tailor-made holiday which is genuinely built around your desires.
How Easy Is the Process?
It can be fun to do some of the initial research yourself to get a feel for what the possibilities are in different locations. But it can also easily become a full-time job. Ideally, you want a single person that you can contact, who is responsive to your needs, and will take the time to really understand you, your interests, and what you like and dislike. The luxury travel agents will be able to streamline the process so that all the guesswork is taken out of it, even adding extra services like airport fast tracking, executive lounges, and 24/7 availability.
Make sure you know your hotels
It doesn’t matter if you are booking a luxury tour or your honeymoon its critical that you know the ins and outs of the hotels you’ll be staying in. A tour operator like Yonder offers different types of accommodation from boutique hotels to eco lodges. And believe me when I say there can be a lot in between. Amenities can vary from one luxury hotel to another. While some are pretty standard, others are not. With respect to dining, it’s a given that luxury escapes will include at least one restaurant which serves both domestic and international cuisine. If a spa is vital to your holiday experience, make sure you know that there is one on-site, as well as what the treatments and facilities are like.
Service That Doesn’t End at Arrival
One thing that defines a great luxury holiday company is their on-the-ground contacts. You want someone available to you while you’re in-country to be able to make spur of the moment changes as desired. Surprisingly, this is not always the case. These at-destination concierges should be available to answer any questions and make suggestions as to where to go and what to do while you’re there, should you find yourselves with some free time, or trying to decide where to have dinner. They also know the best time to go places, so that you find yourself being able to enjoy even prime tourist sites when they are less crowded.
Sifting through hotel and tour recommendations, especially online through review sites, can be a nightmare. Even when reading reviews, it’s impossible to know if that traveler has the same criteria that you do. Plus, an individual that is talking about their personal experience, can’t tell you what the other options are in an informed way, as they didn’t take advantage of them. This is where the experts really shine, giving you informed descriptions and suggestions so that you can imagine what each choice will be like, thus allowing you to make the best decisions for what may be your once in a lifetime trip to that destination.
YONDER SUGGESTIONS
Yonder is a luxury travel company which includes Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia within its portfolio. A Yonder escapologist will create tailor made holidays according to the wishes of their client.
There is significant variety within each destination. Culture, Safari and beach components are available for inclusion and a tour can be created around individual budgetary requirements.
All of the hotels displayed on the Yonder website have been experienced at least one member of the Yonder team and they will be able to give you a first hand account.
A good place to start the journey of creating a luxury tour is to browse Yonder’s Destinations pages or if you have a specific idea in mind you may be able to narrow it down through their Inspirations and Collections pages.
All Yonder itineraries are crafted on a tailor-made, one-off basis, so you can be sure that your holiday will be as individual as you are.