Affordable lodging options for your family vacation

Renting an apartment, renting university housing, or house swapping is a very affordable way to get in that family vacation you've dreamed of. Renting an apartment or a home can be much less money than paying for a hotel room. If you are traveling overseas, you may find that the cost savings will allow you to extend your stay even longer, making your trip a more memorable one.

In addition to the cheaper lodging costs, having access to a full kitchen to prepare your own meals can save a bundle. When traveling with children, eating out can not only be expensive, but can be difficult with fidgety kids, or pickey eaters. Having a space to prepare your own meals is much more affordable and you can make sure that kids get the meals they like and eat well while traveling.

Having access to separate bedrooms also makes sure everyone gets a good night sleep and children can take scheduled naps, adding to the enjoyment of everyone's vacation.

Some houses or apartments may also have laundry facilities allowing you to pack much lighter and save on baggage fees. JetSetBabies can ship packages to most home rentals by shipping directly to the management company that overseas the rentals or by schedule specific date and time deliveries with the carrier, basically, scheduling the package to deliver on your arrival date.

Here are some other websites that provide more information on arranging lodging alternatives:

Affordable Getaway Ideas
Vacation Rentals
Vacation Rentals by Owners
Home Exchanges
Home Exchange Vacations

Welcome to the Salishan Spa & Golf Resort

The Salishan Spa & Golf Resort, located in beautiful Gleneden Beach, Oregon, is the latest JetSetBabies partner. The staff at the Salishan know how to treat guests to total luxury. That treatment will begin with the arrival of all your baby supplies directly to the Salishan - no heavy luggage for baby's things. While at the resort Mom can relax and rejuvenate at the Salishan's spa while Dad relaxes with a round of golf.

JetSetBabies is offering Salishan guests a free gift for those guests who have their baby supplies shipped directly to the hotel. Your free gift is your choice of a Rubber Duck Bath Set (from Elegant Baby) or our fabulous Burt's Bees massage oil for baby - so baby can enjoy the same luxury as mom. We are excited to have the Salishan Spa & Golf Resort as our partner!

JetSetBabies announces newest Partnership

JetSetBabies and Virgin Holidays are partnering to bring the concept of "light travel" to the millions of families that travel to the U.S. with Virgin Holidays each year.


Virgin Holidays is the largest transatlantic tour operator in the world and the market leader for travel to the U.S. and Carribbean. Virgin Holidays and their sister companies work together closely to bring the most perfect holiday experience combined with excellent, reliable, and fully customer-focussed service at every stage of the journey.

A Passion for Service - a moto of both Virgin Holidays and JetSetBabies !! Companies passionate about creating the best holiday experience, making it that little bit easier and more enjoyable from start to finish. Virgin Travel customers traveling with a tiny tot can now experience the luxury of having their baby supplies waiting at their destination and enjoy the fabulous customer service both companies can provide from start to finish.

Virgin Holidays has 21 years experience, offering advice and reassurance to help guarantee the best holidays ever. Sister companies include Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Virgin Cruise Lines, HIP Hotels, and Real World Adventures.

Free Jet With Kids Book with every order

Anya from Jet With Kids has given JetSetBabies a supply of her book, Jet With Kids, Taking the Fear Out of Flying. We will be giving away a paperback copy of this book with every order, while supplies last. Valued at $19.95! An invaluable resource for families who travel frequently with kids, with down-to-earth advice and recommendations from experts, Jet with Kids will prepare you for a safe and fun flight with your kids!

Get your FREE copy today with any order from JetSetBabies.

Washington DC Travels

My family and I just returned from a week long vacation in Washington DC. We stayed at the Westin City Center located just 4 blocks from the White House. The hotel was beautiful and the staff was fabulous. I had shipped ahead all of our belongings so that we could travel light - even though my children are long out of the baby stage. When we arrived, the man at the front desk told me that I had packages that had arrived and asked if we would like them brought to the room, which we did. Unfortunately, they charged me a small $10 fee on my bill for package handling, but it was still less than the cost to check two bags at the airport and was wonderful to travel without the baggage.

The manager happened to be at the desk when we were checking in and leaned over and told the clerk to upgrade us to a deluxe room. We were so thrilled. We had booked a standard room, and for the same price as the standard (and a large tip) we spent the week in a gorgeous and huge deluxe room. With hotels not booking up these days, I think it is very reasonable to ask staff for an upgrade. In the past, I have even been able to get a honeymoon suite for no additional charge!

My children got a little bit bored with all the walking and looking. An occasional roller coaster ride would have cured that - but there were none to be found close by. Their favorite place ended up being a day trip to Mount Vernon. We did the National Treasure Tour there and they enjoyed seeing places they recognized from the movie and discussions about how the movie was filmed. We even got to go into the basement of the house, which is normally off limits to the public.

The Smithsonian Museums were another great day trip, and we made sure we got in a view of the Ruby Slippers, and the Hope Diamond and other great relics on display there. A ride in the simulator at the Air and Space Museum broke up the monotony a bit.

It was a very luxurious trip, for a reasonable price. We got our airline tickets for $250, a free upgrade on the room, and all the activities we did at little or no cost, we had a pretty economical vacation.

Introducing new travel packages to make ordering easier

JetSetBabies recently added new baby vacation packages that include an array of baby travel supplies perfect for your week at the beach, week in the woods, week at a hotel with a pool, or a week on the ski slopes. Each package contains baby bottom care products such as diapers, wipes, changing pads and disposal bags, some feeding utensils, bath products, and then items specific to each trip. The week on the beach adds swimmers, sunscreen, bottle cooler, beach blanket, and other items to make ordering your baby supplies a breeze !

Now you just click on one item in the shopping cart and make your diaper brand and size choices, wipes brands, and all the other selections from one screen for quick ordering. Baby food, formula, snacks and other items can be added to the order - and you are on your way to a fabulous vacation with baby.

Simple, fast, affordable shopping for your trip. Just one more way that JetSetBabies makes travel with babies and toddlers easier! And our new photos are so fun!

Week at the Pool:

Week at the beach:

Think you got a good travel deal? Check your math.

Everyone is offering specials and deals to entice the traveler to their locations this summer. But before you fall for the headlines, recheck the math. For example, a hotel offering a special that includes "the fourth night free" equates to a 25% savings on the rate. This sounds like a great deal and many fall for the "FREE" offer, but an overall 30% off the entire stay will result in a greater savings. Another gimick is 50% off of one night. However, if you are staying for five nights in the hotel, this equates to only 11% savings overall based on the price, or 14% off when comparing the fourth night free deal.

If you have your heart on a particular hotel, ask for a discount, and don't be afraid to haggle. Many hotels are not filling up and will offer discounts to get your business. Keep in mind that even if they won't lower the room rate, they might be able to throw in extra amenities such as free breakfast, or discount tickets to a nearby attraction.

Other cost saving measure is to consider paying the extra money for a suite with a kitchen and preparing your own meals. With the cost of eating out rising, this could save you a lot of money on your trip. But again, do the math and make sure you will use the in-room kitchen often enough to save the money on eating out. Personally, eating out is part of the vacation experience and something we seldom do when at home, so I don't mind paying the extra money for restaraunt food. Don't forget to look for the "kids eat free" deals at many hotels. This is a great way to help you save money.

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Green Hotels

Hotels are finally getting on board and doing more to help the planet than limiting their washing. Wyndham Hotels won an award in March for implementing uniforms made from recycled plastics.


My favorite green story is one that appeared recently in our local paper. It reported that the Sheraton housekeeping staff in Santa Monico has ditched their skin-chapping bleach and pungent ammonia for spray bottles filled with electrolyzed water to clean toilets and sinks. Electrolyzed water is also being used to disinfecting produce making the lettuce last longer. This whole process saves money and is safer for the guests and the environment. I personally hope more hotels go in this direction.



Looking for other green hotels? Check out the list on the "Green" Hotel Association website.

Kudos to the Disney Swan Dolphin Resort

My view of judging a company's customer service is not how they do things right - but how do they respond when something does go wrong. We ship packages on a daily basis to the many Disney resorts in Lake Buena Vista Florida at Walt Disney World. In the six years of doing business with Disney I can't remember ever having a problem or a lost package. So I was very surprised when last Sunday night our JetSetBabies phone rang and it was a customer who had just arrived at the Disney Swan Dolphin Resort and had been told they could not find her JetSetBabies package.



I first looked through our notes on the package and we had called the hotel a few days prior and spoken with an employee at the Concierge Desk and he confirmed that he had the package and it would be held there until the guest arrived Sunday. I called the concierge desk immediately and talked to the person working that night. The employee we spoke with had already left for the day, the package was not there, and it had not been logged in their book. He stated that he had put in a call to security to look for the package.



I then called my employee who had spoken with the hotel earlier in the week. He stated that he still had the number for the Receiving Dept at Swan Dolphin and he had originally spoken with the department manager - he would call again and see if he could reach anyone.



Well, this is where I think Disney really shined. My employee dialed the number. The Receiving Department was closed but the phones forwarded to Department Manager's cell phone who answered our call at 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday night. He said he remembered everything clearly - he knew exactly where the package was, and if the security guard was unable to find it, please call him back and he would drive into work and get it for the guest!! Now that isn't just good service - that is what I consider great service.



By the time I called the concierge back with this information, they had already found the package, and had delivered it to the guests room. I called our customer as she was unpacking the box. She was thrilled and I was thrilled. So hats off to Disney Swan Dolphin for an opportunity for both of us to show our great customer service skills!

Trekaroo - kids, trips and tips.

Trekaroo is a trip planning website that is designed specifically to help parents overcome the stress of traveling with kids. Trekaroo takes intuitive tools and combines them with the power of a fast-growing, grassroots community of moms and dads. The website is designed to connect users to a community of families who have traveled to popular destinations all over the world. Parents can use search tools that allow them to discover tips and ideas based on their budget or their children’s ages.

Trekaroo is a fast-growing, grassroots community of parents who are passionate about exploring the world with their kids. It’s a guide filled with thousands of activities and places to stay ranked by the reviews of moms and dads and also a place to get your travel questions answered by knowledgeable parents who’ve already been there.

Next time you are ready to plan a trip, find tips or have travel questions please visit http://www.trekaroo.com/ to see how is works.

P.S. - keep watching for a chance to win some great prices from Trekaroo and JetSetBabies!

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