When you are looking for a cheap vacation, sometimes it’s all about finding the right online travel agent.
CheapCaribbean[i] is an online travel agent who says that they are going “back to basics” in order to give you the cheapest possible price at your favourite Caribbean destinations.
CheapCaribbean is an American-based website which was started in the year 2000 as a one-man operation … “Caribbean Jim” Hobbs[ii], using a cell phone and a laptop.
Today the company employs over 120 people and serves 250,000 customers every year.
The website homepage contains a search engine for creating your own vacation including “Vacation Packages”, “Hotel Only”, “Sale Finder”, “Cruises”, and “Activity Finder”.
Some people say that the website is too busy, but I think if you concentrate on the top section you have everything that you want in those links underneath the header.
You also have several search buttons at the top which will lead you to various options for hotels, cruises, and of course destinations.
At the time of writing there are three most popular packages on the CheapCaribbean homepage, I’m going to look out each of these destinations in turn.
Puerto Rico … Staying at the Intercontinental San Juan Resort Spa and Casino
The Intercontinental San Juan Resort Spa and Casino[iii] is located on one of San Juan’s best beaches … Isla Verde.
The 398 room hotel was designed by Morris Lapidus[iv].
The hotel offers a choice of authentic Italian cuisine, Mediterranean cuisine, and Japanese cuisine in three different restaurants.
There is a fitness centre which is open 24 hours a day, equipped with a sauna and whirlpool, hotel shops, live entertainment, outdoor pool, and Casino.
The standard room includes satellite TV, coffee/tea maker, wireless Internet, hairdryer, and air conditioning.
Trip advisor gives this hotel a ranking of 12 out of a possible 45 hotels in San Juan.
There are 924 reviews on the site including 324 excellent, 342 very good, 130 average, 64 poor, and 64 terrible.
Some of the reviews include:
“Filled all expectations. Clean, quiet, good service and food. A bit expensive on the drinks but you can take a short walk and buy your own if you want. checkin early no problem.”
“A very pleasant, if a little out-dated. The suite we had was very nice and spacious – clean and tidy. The bed was very much too soft for our taste, but it could have been worse. The staff was generally very pleasant and helpful, but occasionally a little ‘slow’, as in response times. It is an ‘island’ after all – running on ‘island time’ frequently. Location is not particularly close to anything but the airport – you’ll need a car or taxi to get to most major shopping/restaurant/attraction areas.”
“I have been researching this hotel and others in the area for several months before deciding to stay at Intercontinental. So I had an idea what to expect and didn’t have many surprises (good or bad).”
Mayan Riviera… Staying at the Barcelo Maya Colonial & Tropical Beach
The Barcelo Maya Colonial & Tropical Beach[v] is located on the Caribbean coastline of Mexico.
It is located 75 km south of Cancun airport and 85 km from the city.
It has several different restaurants that you can choose from including Oriental, Mexican, and Mediterranean style cuisine, and several different bars.
The basic rooms each have either balcony or terrace, they are also fitted with air conditioning, satellite TV, coffeemaker, dressing gowns, minibar, and are furnished with either two double beds or a king-size bed and a single sofa.
Trip advisor gives this hotel 7/50 out of the hotels in Puerto Aventuras.
There are 1029 reviews on the website including 553 excellent, 298 very good, 87 average, 63 poor, and 28 terrible.
Some of the reviews include:
” Stayed at Barcelo Maya Colonial-Beach in Feb. of this year, the grounds are beautiful, the beach area was really nice, especially if you go down to the beach at the south end, water is shallow and calm most days as it is in a cove. Favorite restaurant was the Japanese show cooking, yummy. You need to get to the pool early at high season to get seats, but worth it! The evening shows were hit and miss, some O.K. others not worth going to. I would go back in a heartbeat, no hesitation. The only real negative was the bar service, slow and they ran out of straws and even cups, but your on vacation, no need to hurry……enjoy!”
” I stayed at the Barcelo Maya Colonial at the end of August 2011 and had a great time. Barcelo is actually 5 resorts in one. The Colonial is the middle resort of the 5 and not much different than the Tropical in my opinion. I really couldn’t tell the difference between the two. The resort was very clean and the staff was very friendly. My room did not have a great view but that did not matter to me. The food at the buffet restaurants and grilles were average at best. However the food at the specialty restaurants exceeded my expectations. I really enjoyed the Japanese and Spanish restaurants. One suggestion is to sign up for the specialty restaurants after checking in because the availability is slim.”
“The Barcelo Tropical overall is a very nice resort. We had 3 rooms in the premium section, which was well worth the upgrade. They even had all 3 rooms next to each other just as I requested. I traveled with my parents, my sister, husband, and our 3 kids ages 4, 11, & 12.
Rooms – Very nice and spacious. A/C worked great. The beds were very hard they could use some new mattress.”
Dominican Republic … Staying at Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort and Spa in Puerto Plata
The Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort and Spa[vi] in Puerto Plata is located approximately 30 minutes from Puerto Plato international airport in the Dominican Republic.
There are 282 guestrooms which feature ceiling fan and air conditioning, cable TV, either balcony or terrace, coffeemaker, mini fridge, and a choice of either one king-size bed or two queen sized beds.
For eating you have a choice between four restaurants … reservations are required … these are a seafood restaurant, and Asian fusion restaurant, pasta and pizza restaurant, and a Mexican restaurant … all are part of the all-inclusive package.
Trip advisor gives this hotel ranking of 15/50 from the hotels in Puerto Plato.
The website has 984 reviews including 242 excellent, 295 very good, 171 average, 136 poor, and 140 terrible.
Some of the reviews include:
“Ok, i was very skeptical when i first heard about lifestyles. i got the deal through cheapcaribbean.com. we paid 19 pd pp. and for the money its a “cant miss”. yes, its a time share promotion but that takes only a few hours and you get it out of the way. hey, if you want to buy the time share i think its a good deal. lifestyles is an even better deal for those of you who are in the airline industry and can fly for free. the vip member ship that you are automatically included into (if you go through cheapcaribbean.com) is great. the vip beach for prospective buyers is the place to be everyday, if you do not do the daily excursions. the paradise island trip is a bit pricey i thought but so much fun.”
“I read some of the reviews before and after booking and a part of me was scared that we would get bombarded by sales people the whole trip and eating bad food with ants all around us….. not the case at all!”
“I been here 2 times had a great time,food And drinks great. Happy Happy good drink. We own a time here it is has been a good investment. great deal on stay.Very nice people that work and help make your stay fun.Love this place.”
This is only a small selection of the Caribbean vacations than are available in through CheapCarribean.
The majority of people who have taken the time to review this website online[vii] [viii]have said that there were great deals, great service, good prices and customer service on offer and that they would return again for a repeat booking.
There are plenty of websites where you can review any holiday company before you book, it’s in your own interests to do so when it comes to saving money, getting good service, and not getting ripped off.
Always make sure that you always research any resort that you are thinking of taking your vacation in.
It’s always going to be too late once you arrive at the hotel or resort and find out that it’s not to your taste or standard.
If you have any experience dealing with this website, please use the comments section below to publish your opinions.
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