Hotels and Lodging

Here are notes from our 17-day “Egypt and the Eternal Nile” tour, Feb. 22-March 9, 2008, from Odysseys Unlimited (Newton, MA). The cost from New York was $8,210 for two.

My husband, Ed, and I took a wonderful 25-day tour to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan with Baraka Journeys (South Pasadena, CA; 626/570-1700, www.barakajourneys.com), April 13-May 7, 2008.

The cost was $5,980 each plus international airfare. This included everything, even drinks, all tips and a Lonely Planet guidebook as well as a hotel room and dinner in Frankfurt on the way over.

We felt safe at all times. People were very friendly. We were asked a couple of times why no Americans visited anymore.

The City Lodge (150 Vincent St., Auckland, New Zealand; phone 64 9 379 6183, www.citylodge.co.nz), where I stayed for a week, Jan. 31-Feb. 7, 2008, is in the heart of Auckland, a 5-minute walk from the free bus or from the Sky Tower.

The trip reviews we had read for the Jerusalem Gold Hotel (234 Jaffa Road, Jerusalem, Israel 94383; phone +972-2-501 3333, fax 501-3344, www.jerusalemgold.com) were mixed. However, we need not have feared; we had a wonderful experience at this hotel.

My wife, Jane, and I stayed there for one week in March ’08. Our room cost $106 per night and I felt that we received good value for the money.

The rooms were comfortable and clean.

We stayed at two wonderful small hotels in ITALY the first week of April ’08. This was slightly early in the season, which meant lower rates. We enjoyed good weather and fewer crowds than during the high season.

• Il Casolare di Libbiano (Loc. Libbiano 3, 50053 San Gimignano [SI], Italy; phone/fax 0039 0577 946002, www.casolarelibbiano.it) is a charming farmhouse eight kilometers from San Gimignano in Tuscany. The inn has its own vineyard and vegetable garden, lovely views and a nice swimming pool (in season).

Here are tips from my trip to SWITZERLAND in May ’08.

The Honey Pot (Polgwyn, Castle St., Bodmin PL31 2DX, Cornwall, England; phone +44 [0] 1208 77553, fax 77885, www.thehoneypot-bodmin. co.uk) — located in Polgwyn, a Victorian house five minutes’ walk up a fairly steep hill from the Bodmin city center (three minutes’ drive from the A30).

The Honey Pot is an outstanding self-contained, first-floor apartment comprising two double bedrooms, a bath, a large sitting room with TV and DVD player and a kitchen fully equipped with dishes, silverware, pots and pans, microwave and stove.

My wife and I took an almost 3-week-long tour to Egypt and Jordan with Vantage Deluxe World Travel, Jan. 20-Feb. 8, 2008, at a cost of $10,248 for two, including round-trip airfare from Washington, D.C., to Cairo.

This was advertised as a 5-star trip. It involved two cruises, one on the Nile and the other on Lake Nasser.

I’d say the Nile ship, Crown Empress, was 3-star, not 5-star. This was confirmed by walking through other ships, as they were tied up one next to another; some were obviously better.

Here are three recommendations from our April ’07 trip to MOROCCO.

In Rome we stayed at the wonderful Best B&B (Corso V. Emanuele II, 21, 00186, Rome, ITALY; phone +39 335 871 4840, www.bestbb.it), centrally located near the Forum and the Pantheon. There were four B&Bs, and this one was near the Pantheon.

Outside our door there was Internet access, and each morning a wonderful breakfast was delivered on a cart to our room.