Days Inn, San Antonio hotel is designed to offer a refined sense of quiet, comfort and safety to its guests. The building itself is developed as an earthquake-proof structure. Rooms are designed to seamlessly integrate work, rest, and sleep. Each is equipped with a highly rated beds and pillows, digital terrestrial flat TV sets; wireless internet access is complimentary throughout the hotel, free Daybreak Breakfast, free local calls, microwaves, refrigerators, irons and boards in all rooms.  It also offers complimentary newspapers.

Days Inn, San Antonio Hotel provides relaxation by a sparkling outdoor pool surrounded by lounge chairs for sunbathing and alfresco breakfasts. Both business and leisure travelers will appreciate spacious guest rooms and essential amenities like 24-hour fax machines, copiers and overnight shipping supplies.

The Days Inn San Antonio hotel perfectly mixes the modernity of the contemporary travel needs and glory of the timeless Texas City into a mind blowing travel experience. Book your San Antonio Hotel at www.sanantoniohotelonline.com.  Your stay at this San Antonio hotel, will give you the true experience of San Antonio vacations with a home like ambience and ensures that your privacy is well-maintained on your stay.  Staying at the Days Inn at San Antonio will be an experience of a lifetime and it can be said for certain that you will also recommend it to others. You will take back home not only beautiful memories but also a lifetime relationship with your San Antonio vacations rental.

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You do have to plan your trip carefully because it is not an easy task to find your way around Costa Rica unless you have some idea of the layout of the country. The road system is very poorly maintained. Even though it is only 100 miles wide at the widest point, this journey can take a very long time. The country is made up of five regions, so the best advice is to choose two of these regions for your first visit and them make plans to return for another backpacking vacation to see the others.

It will take you about two days to backpack through San Jose and the Central Valley. This region is home to the majority of the population of Costa Rica. In this area you can visit a volcano, hike through a cloud forest and engage in whitewater rafting on rivers classified as Class 1v. Some of the Olympic kayaking teams actually train on the rapids in the rivers of this region.

In order to backpack through the Alajuela And Northern Guanacaste Region, you need to allow yourself four or five days. This region is located inland from the Pacific and contains one of the last dry tropical forests in Central America located in an inland area. Here you will find clear areas where there are scattered umbrella-shaped conacaste trees standing alone, under which the Brahman cows seek shade from the sun. Climb up the Monteverde Range to backpack through the Cloud Forest Biological Reserve of Puntarenas. You can also take a four-hour drive from San Jose to reach this forest.

The Nicoya Peninsula and Quepos will take you about four-to six days depending on how much time you want to spend in the various locations. This area is the domain of surfers, international tourists that own houses here and the tico farmers of the country. You can spend time on the beaches and trekking inland to see the wide variety of wildlife and birds. As a side trip you can take the ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya to visit Manuel Antonio National Park, where you will meet other backpackers resting on the beach.

The Osa Peninsula is located in the Southern part of Costa Rica. Allow yourself at least five days for backpacking in this region. This area has one of the most biologically dense rainforests on the planet and was one of the first ecological reserves to be built in the world. Here you will glimpse many of the elusive animals that inhabit the rainforest, such as howler monkeys and scarlet macaws. There are many public and private reserves in this area.

The accommodations you choose when backpacking in Costa Rica depend on your finances. There are cheap hostels and hotels as well as expensive resorts in all regions.

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The Acca Hotel has only one star but it may be a good option for economy-minded tourists. You’ll be close to many attractions such as the San Pantalon church whose ceiling was painted by Gian Antonio Fiumani, and is said to be the world’s largest painting on canvas. Breakfast is served in the courtyard. Maybe because the hotel has only 8 rooms and 1 suite there is no night porter. The hotel address is Calle Pezzana, San Polo 2160.

The Hotel al Ponte Mocenigo is our only suggestion for the Santa Croce district. It’s on two floors of a palazzo that once belonged to the local Mocenigo bigwigs. There’s a courtyard for breakfast and a Turkish sauna. Access is via a private bridge with a history that you can read on the hotel website. All 10 rooms and the junior suite are non-smoking, but none of them offer a canal view. The hotel address is Fondamento de Rimpeto a Ca’ Moncenigo, Santa Croce 2063.

The Ca’ Angeli Hotel occupies two floors of a palace on the Grand Canal that belonged to a famous Venetian architect who oversaw its renovation. The fine breakfast is served in a room overlooking the Grand Canal as do some of the guest rooms. There are only 5 rooms, 2 suites and 1 apartment. The hotel address is Calle del Traghetto della Madoneta, San Polo 1434.

The Oltre il Giardino’Casaifrari can be a fine choice if you are looking for peace and quiet. You may even have trouble finding this little hotel hidden behind a brick wall. Alma Mahler lived there in the 1920s after her husband Gustav’s death. Its centerpiece is the garden where breakfast is served, weather permitting. All 4 rooms and 2 suites overlook the garden. By the way, you can’t believe everything that you read. Quoting their website, “The house… has now been turned into an exclusive but homely retreat.” This place is anything but homely. The hotel address is Fondamenta Contarini – San Polo 2542.

The three star Locanda Sturion hotel was used by the Doge of Venice to house foreign merchants selling their wares at the Rialto Market more than 700 years ago. The decorations have been updated to the Eighteenth Century. The breakfast room and reading room overlook the Grand Canal. The onsite restaurant offers a historic menu, with dishes and delicacies dating back to the Fourteenth Century, reinterpreted for today’s tastes. Be warned, the stairs are steep to this fourth and fifth floor hotel and there is no elevator. There are 11 rooms. The hotel address is Calle del Sturion, San Polo 679.

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Costa Rica is part of Central America and its neighboring countries are Nicaragua on the north and Panama on the south. On its western side, there is the Pacific Ocean and on its eastern side, there is the Caribbean Sea.

You may be surprised to know that the best time to visit Costa Rica is during the early parts of the rainy season of May to July. Some towns in the country even experience an elevation in terms of visitors, making the tourist officials regard it as a ‘mini-high season’. During this period, traveling might a bit more challenging due to the slight downpours and rain showers. Pack your raingear and bit more patience for the ultimate Costa Rican wild adventure. The mountains and high plateau also offer cooler temperatures to the visitor.

There are many different regions in Costa Rica. There are the Plains of the North, Guanacaste, Nicoya Peninsula, Central Valley, Central Pacific, Caribbean Costa Rica, South Costa Rica and Cocos Island National Park.

The capital city is Costa Rica is San Jose and their official language is Spanish. Other cities in the country are Alajuela which is the location of Juan Santamaría International Airport, Cartago which is the country’s first capital and Heredia where tourists can visit coffee plantations. Quepos city is also notable as it is located in the Central Pacific coast and is the entry point to the Manuel Antonio National Park.

There are also the cities of Jacó which has a worldwide reputation as a surfing paradise and where superb dining selection abounds, Liberia which is the gateway to the fantastic beaches of Guanacaste and Pochote which is located on Whale Bay near Puntarenas. Costa Rica’s second largest international airport is also located just outside of Liberia providing easy access.

Of course, an excellent Costa Rica vacation guide book should not be quick to miss the cities of Puerto Limón which considered the main city on the Caribbean side of the country, Puntarenas where one can take the ferry going to Nicoya Peninsula, Parismina which is located in Tortuguero Canals and Tamarindo City which is also quite famous as a beach haven for tourists.

Although English is widely used in some areas populated by tourists and many businesses are operated by European entrepreneurs, it is recommended that you learn some Spanish and a few frequently used Costa Rican expressions.

The Spanish words ‘Ma’e’ means ‘dude’ and is generally used among friends; ‘Pura Vida’ literally means ‘pure life’ but is used by Costa Ricans to express agreement or enthusiasm. A ‘pulpería’ is a general merchandise store, while if you hear the word ‘tuanis’, it should be an expression of ‘okay’ for most natives.

Costa Rica is a beautiful tropical paradise that welcomes all visitors seeking an escape from the hectic everyday stress of urban life. The people of Costa Rica are friendly and helpful in providing you with a great vacation.

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There are however, several very good couples-only vacation resorts in Jamaica that can be booked on an all inclusive basis. Three are owned by the same company and are called “Couples”. One is in Negril, one in Sans Souci and the other is in Ocho Rios. We enjoyed a glorious sixteen day holiday at Couples, Ocho Rios a few years ago. Being naturists, we were attracted to this hotel because it has a clothes-optional facility in the form of a tiny island, a hundred metres or so out from the hotel opposite the main beach. The island is served by a beautiful swim up bar and a boat to take you there and back at any time you want throughout the day. Most of the island is covered with decking on which sun loungers and hammocks are set out to furnish guests with comfortable seating. There is exactly the right amount of coconut palms to provide the sunbathers with a perfect combination of sun and shade at all times of the day. The island is an idyllic place to do nothing all holiday except sunbathe, swim and enjoy the drinks and snacks provided at the swim up bar. But even fanatical sun worshippers like ourselves will want to take some time out and see a bit of Jamaica during their stay.

Without any doubt, the most enjoyable excursion for us was a raft trip on the Rio Grande, Jamaica’s longest river that runs from the Blue Mountains into the sea. Tours,organised by the hotel, start with a fascinating coach journey to Port Antonio, calling in at the famous Blue Lagoon along the way. This was the setting for the film Castaways and it is indeed the most beautiful and peaceful place you could ever wish to swim in. Don’t expect a beach however. The Blue Lagoon hasn’t got one and the film’s beach scenes were shot elsewhere.

The starting point of the raft trip is at Berridale, six miles by road and nearly three hours by raft from the sea. The rafts are thirty two feet long and constructed from bamboo poles lashed together. The deck area has a seat for two passengers at the stern whilst a dreadlocked boatman, stands further forward and steers the raft with a long, bamboo pole.

You are taken at a leisurely pace for most of the way, occasionally picking up speed to cross stretches of the river that might be described as minor rapids. The boatman provides his own brand of constant entertainment, telling many far-fetched yarns about the rich and famous people he has transported in his raft or by singing some Bob Marley favourites to you.

The photo opportunities of the voyage are virtually incessant. As well as some beautiful scenery and wildlife in the form of vultures and other exotic birds, your navigator also creates many pictures worth snapping as he stylishly poles the raft, guiding it through its tricky course. There is always a colourful array of tropical plants to admire on the banks of the river and your guide is most eager to tell you their local names and provide interesting stories or folklore about their uses or associations.

Along the way, you will pass other rafts selling refreshments and the boatman will suggest that he stops for you to buy a can or two of Red Stripe lager or some trinket souvenirs. He is also likely to invite you to take a swim in a particularly inviting part of the river where it is perfectly safe to do so.

The big advantage of going on a trip organised by the hotel is that when you get to your destination at St Margarets Bay, your coach will be awaiting you. If you organised the trip yourself you would have to find some way of getting back to Berridale to pick your car up.

As well as rafting, there are many more wonderful places to visit and things to do in Jamaica but if you prefer not to go on excursions full of kids and want to enjoy your vacation as an exclusively couples only experience, my best travel tip is to book your vacation at one of the “Couples” all Inclusive Hotels. The best time to go is between December and April, when Jamaican weather is at its best and the waters of the Rio Grande are not too swollen or rapid.

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Some of the famous tourist destinations of Costa Rica include Arenal Volcano, Cahuita National Park, Corcovado National Park, Chirripo National Park, Pacuare River, Protected Zone, Manuel Antonio National Park, Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves, Monteverde, and Tapanti National Park.

For adventure sports enthusiasts, Costa Rica is a wonderful place that offers adrenaline-thumping delights of wind surfing, scuba diving, fishing, mountain biking, kayaking and other forms of extreme sports. For beach lovers, leisure vacations in Costa Rica include some of the best beaches such as Playa Pan de Azucar, Playa Brasilito, Playa Conchal, Playa Avellanes, Playa Grande, Playa Negra, Playa Jungquillal and Playa Carillo. These beaches are well known for amazing water activities and water sports.

Once you enter into San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, you will find that it is a cosmopolitan city that offers premium facilities of night life and shopping along with cultural attractions of theatre, museum and art galleries. At San Jose, you can watch the spectacular jade museum that showcases the biggest collection of jade in various colors, hues and sixes in the world.

This gemstone holds the insight into the pre-Columbian cultural heritage of Costa Rica. The National Museum is another such exquisite that holds the Bellavista Army Barracks and other historical relics of great significance. Apart from rich historical heritage, one has a great opportunity of finding some of the best adventure, sightseeing and relaxation features in Costa Rica.

So, if you are planning to make a visit in Costa Rica, make sure you enjoy all the delightful locales of Costa Rica that makes it a wonderful tourist place. In order to make your trip more enjoyable, it is better to read more about the tourist places and other local features of Costa Rica beforehand to make your trip more enjoyable and pleasant.

While on a Costa Rica trip, always remember the fact that you are on a coastal trip where you will find tropical storms and rains. Keeping all this information handy will definitely help you out in making your trip memorable.

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The best way to take pleasure in your stay on this colorful isle with a bigger-than-life personality is to rent a vacation home. This will allow you to enjoy yourself to the fullest extent, and to live in style, at that. Choose your favorite corner of the island (or flip a coin-you’ll probably end up just as happy) and settle down in a seaside villa or Caribbean-style cottage for an authentic, and above all, comfortable experience.

For example, if North Jamaica floats your boat, or if the coin toss suggested it would, then settle into an attractive beach house near Port Antonio. Here, you’ll be within walking distance of three great beaches, Blue Lagoon, San San Bay, and Frenchman’s Cove. The only thing standing between you and the beach is a delightful garden filled with fragrant flowers. Don’t worry, you don’t have to take care of it, even if you decide to stay here for a few weeks. A gardener is on duty to keep things in tiptop shape.

The house is stocked with everything you’ll need, so as long as you’ve remembered to pack your toothbrush and your swimsuit, you’ll be all set. Bed linens, cooking utensils, local maps, movies, books, and internet access will make you feel right at home, so stay out or stay in as much as you like. You’ll definitely want to experience as much of Jamaica as you can, jerk chicken, live music, rum cocktails, etc…But if you feel like cozying up with your significant other for a day or two, you’ll have all that is necessary to play house.

For a different vantage point, consider renting a place in a spot like Discovery Bay. Located between happening Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, this small seaside village has enough action to keep you feeling connected to civilization, but more privacy than a typical resort town. This is the place that Christopher Columbus first landed in Jamaica in 1494, and is the only horseshoe bay in the country.

A tastefully designed villa overlooking the beautiful bay will seem like the answer to the prayers you’ve been making from your drab cubicle. The lush vegetation, covered open air patio, and six-person Jacuzzi will leave a constant smile of contentment on your face, as will the thought that you have access to a place like this without any of the responsibility. Just like in a hotel, there is even daily maid service, so don’t worry about dirty towels piling up.

A short walk or inexpensive taxi ride will take you anywhere you want to go, including golf courses, tennis courts, shopping districts, restaurants, or grocery stores. Eat out for every meal or stock up on a few basics, as the convenient kitchen has the potential to make life easier and cheaper.

After reserving a vacation home, the biggest stress of planning a vacation will be lifted from your shoulders. There’s nothing like feeling secure in your lodging choices, so spend a little time researching now, and later you’ll reap the benefits during every moment of your Jamaican retreat.

So whether you’ll be exploring the hustle and bustle of Kingston or the more remote nooks and crannies of this diverse nation, be sure to set yourself up for success by considering a vacation rental that will add a little extra kick to this already enticing trip.

Jamaica can be whatever you want it to be, so ensure that good vibes permeate every aspect of your hard-earned holiday by going online to snatch up the Jamaican Vacation Rental that will fulfill and exceed your expectations.

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Little did I know that this would be by far the best place I’d ever visited as far as visually stunning nature, but also the most hands-on when it came to seeing and sometimes interacting with nature.

My sister and I started on our adventure when we met from adjoining flights at the small airport in San Jose, which is the capital of Costa Rica. We didn’t stay though, as we had reservations at a resort in Arenal, which was about three hours from San Jose.

If you want to travel somewhere but you don’t want to drive, it is very easy to arrange either public or private transportation anywhere you need to go, however, there are not many roads, so if you rented a vehicle with a GPS included, it could easily be navigated.

The only drawback we found with public transportation was that, although it was less expensive than private transport, you did need to set aside a few more hours to get to your destination, as they had many other pickups to make which added more time to the trip. However, when you consider that gasoline cost five dollars a gallon throughout pretty much the whole country, public transportation still seemed a genuine bargain.

As I stated earlier, we stayed first in Arenal, which is an area famous for the Arenal volcano. Arenal is a unique volcano because it actually erupts every night, and although you need to be close to the mountain to actually see it well, you may still see a bit of the bright eruption from a distance. Arenal was a beautiful area. Not only that, there were a ton of activities that you could sign up for within about one hour of the mountain, such as horseback riding, ziplining, hot springs tours, rainforest canopy tours and more.

We chose first to go horseback riding to La Fortuna Falls, which was a visual spectacle unlike any I’ve seen. La Fortuna Falls was a magnificently huge waterfall that required you walk down several hundred steps just to see the whole waterfall from the bottom up. There was also a lookout point about halfway through where you could gaze at the magnitude of the fall’s size, but also take in the lush tropical surroundings and watch for exotic birds and animals along the way.

Then came the canopy ziplining tour, which was not for the faint of heart, but by far the most exhilarating and rewarding experience during our stay. We travelled about one hour from our Arenal resort to the rainforest canopy, and from the drop off point, hiked about a half mile to the zipline platforms after we were suited up in our gear and had signed release forms.

Ziplining through the canopy of the forest at up to 40 miles per hour, and several hundred feet off the ground was unquestionably scary, but after we completed the first platform, everyone on the tour couldn’t get enough of it. There were 11 platforms in all, and the scenery from above was breathtaking. It is an experience I will never forget, and I’d recommend that anyone who fancies this sort of sport to do it while in Costa RIca.

From Arenal, we headed up the coast to Jaco. Jaco was probably our least favorite stop of the trip. It’s short on scenery, and the blatant prostitution is definitely intimidating, not to mention unsavory, especially for women travelling alone or families. The overall feel there was also not as friendly and open as our previous stay at Arenal, so we only stayed for two days and moved on to another small hotel in a tiny surf community called Playa Hermosa.

The stay there was really nice, laid back and relaxing. You could sit at little restaurants and bars right on the beach and watch the whales blowing and the surfers catching waves and the feel was just very casual. There were tons of beach areas to surf at too, if that’s what you’re into.

From Playa Hermosa, we moved on to Manuel Antonio. Manuel Antonio was, by far, the richest in up-close and personal encounters with wildlife, since it harbors a huge national park that is a haven for wildlife.

Not only is there an abundance of wildlife, but the animals there are so used to humans that they will not hesitate to cross directly in your path on one of the many hiking trails, or even snatch your lunch from your backpack as you’re basking on one of the inlet beaches along the trails. Yes we actually had small white-faced monkeys steal our lunch, they are notorious for their kleptomania!

In Manuel Antonio, you can choose from several reputable hotels, and there is also some great eating at one of their many laid back outdoor restaurants which feature the national dish of rice and beans, fish, beef and breakfast served all day.

In addition to seeing more monkeys than I can remember, we also got to see a sloth right outside of our hotel hanging out in a tree, parrots, miniature raccoons, lizards large and small, and several other unidentifiable wildlife scurrying through our path in the park or enjoying themselves in nearby trees.

As you can probably tell, Costa Rica was the trip of a lifetime – for me. I suspect that most others who take a trip there would think the same. It’s richness in beauty, wildlife, friendly culture and diversity in activities will please even the most discriminating travelers and thrill seekers. And oh, you can also just be a beach bum if you want, too!

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To look in more detail at Goblin Hill Villas, because the first thing worth noting is that it is rated the top hotel in the Port Antonio area, and if you can accept that an establishment without a restaurant can be called a hotel and not a self catering villa, then this place is well worth the time it takes to do some in depth study.

Your holiday in Jamaica at Goblin Hill Villas will be spent in 12 acres of beautiful well maintained grounds, with terrific views overlooking San San Beach. This is a wealthy area of Jamaica and some of the villas around here are quite stupendous.

The 20 villas at Goblin Hill Villas are somewhat old fashioned but comfortable, and whilst they do need a bit of updating, this may be part of the charm, sort of fading colonial. They have either one or two bedrooms, each with air conditioning overlooking San San Bay

Your maid is a key to your enjoyment, because she will prepare breakfast and supper for you, and will happily follow your preferences, as well as cook Jamaican specialities. It’s also great fun to go shopping to the colourful market with her, and it does bring you closer to the local way of life, something you miss staying in 5 star supposed luxury. It will cost around USD160 for two weeks of stuffing your face with far more delicious food than you’ll ever get in a hotel restaurant.

In fact what really makes this Caribbean Vacation Villa at Port Antonio in Jamaica so special, apart from the views, the lovely manicured grounds, and the cook, is the fact it is situated in a really unspoilt part of the island, which isn’t touristy at all. It is a three to four hour drive from the airport which isn’t for the faint hearted, but you will need a 4×4 hire vehicle if you are to stay here. If you hire it at the airport you will be driven to Goblin Hill Villas by taxi with the hire vehicle behind, and this is strongly recommended.

You can use the vehicle to explore the stunningly beautiful mountains towards Moore Town, go to Winifred Beach.
You’ll inevitably get ripped off to go to Monkey Island and the Blue Lagoon, but it’s something you need to do whilst you are here. You’ll get a free pass at reception for the beach at Frenchman’s Cove, a bit touristy, but San San Beach although a $20 admission is lovely, almost 1000 yards of private beach, chairs, bar restaurant, and only 500 yeards from Goblin Hill Villas.

If you love calm hideaways, a quiet retreat, with lovely surroundings, a personal chef, and almost a private beach for your holidays, then Goblin Hill Villas could be the best Caribbean Vacation Villa for you, not quite a luxury villa, self catering but not, and definitely an affordable holiday in Jamaica, then choose to come here, you won’t regret it for an instant.

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