Hotels and Lodging

by Vernon Hoium, Minneapolis, MN

Steve Cole, Lowell, MI

“Wow! They’ve cloned Ricardo Montalbán,” my wife, Sharon, exclaimed the first time we emerged from our hotel onto the streets of Santiago’s upscale Providencia area.

For readers seeking inexpensive but comfortable lodgings in South America, here are some from a stay in February-March ’07. Each had a private bath, cable TV and, where needed, A/C, and all were listed in the Lonely Planet guide as “mid-range accommodations.” The price given for each is the approximate dollar amount for my single room.

• I cannot recommend Hotel Renovación (Av. Este 2 #2, Urb. Los Caobos, Caracas, VENEZUELA; phone +58 [212] 5710133 or fax 5778910).

My old haunt in Paris is Hôtel Esméralda (4 rue St. Julien-le-Pauvre 5e, Paris, 75005, France; phone 33-1-43-54-19-20). Its location on the Left Bank just across from Notre Dame is ideal, but the hotel has gone downhill over the years.

On my visit in June ’07, Room 12 had torn wallpaper and the toilet seat was not working well. Worst, the room smelled of mold, to which I am extremely allergic. However much I regret it, I can’t stay there the next time I am in Paris.

I’ve used Santa Maria Travels & Tours Company, Ltd. (No. 233-235 Second Floor 32nd Street, Pabedan Township, Yangon 11141, Union of Myanmar; phone [+951] 256 178 or 250 657 or 384 743, fax [+951] 384 064 or visit www.myanmartravels.net or www.santamariatours.com) many times and have found the agency to be both personal and professional.

My friend Judy Watson and I visited Wales in November ’07, and I can’t recommend highly enough Daniel Jones and Explore Wales (18 Forrest Rd., Canton, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK; phone +44 7899 012578, www.explorewales now.co.uk).

After asking us our preferences (hotels versus B&Bs plus price range desired), Daniel made several arrangements for us. We were very pleased with his selections, and everything went off like clockwork.

This will be a sort of omnibus opus of several items I have delayed writing about.

by Deanna Palic

First off, I do not use a travel agent; I’ve had bad luck with them. They have trouble understanding I don’t want the local Hilton but something a bit lower on the food chain.

My husband and I had never done a customized tour before, but we couldn’t fit a regular tour into our schedule. For a trip we took Nov. 23-Dec. 9, 2007, Eliu Campos of ECS Travel (Los Pinos St. 156 Of 502, Miraflores, Lima, Peru; phone +51 1 2429716, fax 2428671, www. ecstravel.com) made all the arrangements, and there were no glitches at all! Eliu answered all my pre-trip questions via e-mail, which I have found to be a rare thing.