Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialists 2009

This week, Condé Nast Traveler magazine has released its August issue, which contains one of the most valuable resources for travelers each year! The best of the best of travel specialists for destinations throughout the world. These 126 specialists are chosen among hundreds of applicants for their expertise. Here is an excerpt of what Wendy Perrin had to say in the magazine and her glowing recommendations of Brownell's own Meg North (Panama and Recommended Generalist), Margret Propper (Alaska and European River Cruise), Linda Allen (Affordable Large Ship), Marion Harbison (Germany), and Caroline Wood (Rocky Mountains). We are beyond proud to have our advisors topping the list again for the best travel advisors in the world!

126 Top Travel Specialists

(and what they can do for you)

"Twenty years of interviewing travel agents and tour operators for “The Perrin Report” and other Conde Nast Traveler articles has given me a well-thumbed directory of the most trusted insiders—people who offer the best combination of specialized knowledge (based on firsthand travel experience), local connections, user-friendliness, and value for your dollar.

Each year, my team and I evaluate hundreds of new applicants to this list, and only a small number make the cut. Our recommended specialists have undergone a rigorous screening process that beings with at 47-question application with sample itineraries and client references, then continues with phone interviews and, in most cases, road-testing by Conde Nast Traveler staff. Those who unnecessarily book trips through pricey middlemen (as opposed to directly with local hotels and suppliers) or use on-site contacts that charge exorbitant rates are disqualified....

I receive hundreds of letters annually from readers reporting back on their trips that were arranged by these travel planners. Any specialist who is the object of valid complaints is removed from the list." –Wendy Perrin

And the picks from Brownell are....

Panama and Recommended Generalist
Meg McGriff North

North, who can pull strings with Panama’s top resorts and inns, enjoys arranging exclusive experiences such as an “up close and personal” view of the ships transiting the Panama Canal’s locks-including a private tutorial on how the giant gates are controlled- and a visit to a family-owned coffee farm where you can enjoy a brew that North calls “the best coffee in the world” (205-414-1653; megn@brownelltravel.com; http://www.brownelltravel.com/)

Germany
Marion Harbison

Harbison spends two weeks a year in her native Germany, where she used to be a travel agent. Not only can she point you toward the country’s less-visited castles, regional specialty snacks, and colorful small-town festivals but she can get you into private wineries and local events you won’t find on the Internet. (423-894-9001; marion@sterlingtvl.com; http://www.sterlingbrownell.com/)

Alaska
Margret Propper

Propper has been to Alaska 43 times- and in every season of the year. She’s driven the backroads, taken the scenic trains, flown on bush planes to remote Eskimo villages, sussed out the most atmospheric lodges and B&Bs, and tested a wide range of local adventure outfitters (for glacier dog-sledding, kayaking among the whales, hot-air ballooning, etc.) to determine which offer the most authentic experiences at the lowest price. She’s also cruised on ships large and small, taken every shore excursion, and figured out the best ways to combine days at sea with days on land. (800-999-3690; margretp@brownelltravel.com; http://www.brownelltravel.com/)

Rocky Mountains
Caroline Wood

Having grown up in Yellowstone National Park with a dad who is still a seasonal ranger for the Park Service, Wood has incomparable knowledge of the driving routes, the lodge and ranches (and their views, beds, and meals), and they best locales and outfitters for horseback riding, white-water rafting, ballooning, or whatever other activity you’ve got in mind in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. (406-624-6976; carolinewood@brownelltravel.com; http://www.brownelltravel.com/)

Europe: River Cruises
Margret Propper

Propper, who once lived within walking distance of the Danube and is fluent in German, has spent the past decade cruising all of Europe’s great rivers, from the Douro in Portugal to the Volga in Russia. She can find the waterway and boat best suited to your needs, advise you on how to spend days on land, and arrange unusual shore excursions, such as a visit to a private dacha in Russia (800-999-3960; margretp@brownelltravel.com; http://www.brownelltravel.com/).

Large Affordable Ships
Linda Allen
Stretching your dollar as far as it can go is Allen’s priority. What we love most is her honesty about potential drawbacks of each ship and her nifty tips for minimizing theses and for saving money on board. Use Allen for Celebrity, Holland America, Princes, and Royal Caribbean sailings (800-422-3445; cruisesbylinda@cox.net; http://www.brownelltravel.com/).

Visit our website at http://www.brownelltravel.com/ to learn about all of our luxury travel experts, or contact any of our specialists above to learn more about exceptional travel experiences.

Babymoon: Hotel St. Barth Isle de France

by Emily Menendez

I am due in just a few weeks with our first baby! For the past 9 months, my husband and I have been madly preparing--everything from painting the nursery to dealing with a plethora of new emotions (mainly mine!). So, a few months back, we decided that one of the best things we could do for our marriage and our adjustment was to get away and spend some time together! Our last vacation before kids dominate the scene for the next 20 years-whew. So, we found ourselves on the picture perfect Caribbean island of St. Barth's, at a stunning property-Hotel St. Barth Isle de France. A luxury beach vacation experience to say the least!

We flew into St. Martin and caught a ferry into St. Barth's on Thursday afternoon. The ferry is not for those with weak stomachs! After 45 minutes of a wild roller coaster ride, we arrived on St. Barth's and met our driver who took us to the hotel. Hotel St. Barth Isle De France is truly stunning. The decor is clean and simple, mostly white, and our room was appointed in a similar fashion. We had a beach room on the upper level (which I would recommend, the upper level afforded more privacy) that looked over the pool and out towards the ocean. It was a perfect fit for us, but the other rooms on property were worth a look! We took a tour soon after we arrived while sipping on (virgin-or at least mine was) fruity drinks. All of the accomodations are picturesque, although those with beach views (as opposed to garden rooms) are certainly more desirable. The 4 new beach suites are heavenly! Extremely private and luxurious and situated right on the sand, each suite has a private plunge pool and deck overlooking the ocean.

After taking in the resort--one quaint restaurant and pool, a Molton Brown spa, a fitness room(very small and no windows), we settled into our accomodations for the next few days.

Although the resort was perfect for relaxation, it was quickly apparent that we would want to rent a car to see the island, visit other beaches, and escape the steep prices of food at the resort restaurant. (A fair warning--St. Barths does not have agriculture, so all the food on the island is imported and almost everything is extremely expensive!) So, we made the proper arrangements before getting in a little beach time and then cleaning up for a delicious dinner downstairs.

Friday morning we slept in and enjoyed one of my favorite parts about Isle de France--breakfast on our porch. You could not have a more picturesque view while enjoying fabulous French pastries and coffee for breakfast--excellent way to begin our day. We took advantage of the beach for a bit before heading out to explore. The beach on the resort is private and relaxing, but it is located on the Atlantic side of the island, making the winds and waves pretty extreme--you will bake before you know it!

Here is the view from our porch:

Our rental car, a smart car, was perfect for moving around the hilly island. We found the main town of Gustavia-a haven for luxury shopping!!!!- and stopped to pick up some items at the grocery for a picnic lunch. This turned out to be our favorite routine over the next few days, and far more affordable! The food at the local grocery was delicious--we chose fresh cheese, breads and fruits and were off to another beach on the island. We discovered a beach on the far end of the island that is only accesible by foot. We parked the car and enjoyed a little hike to a secluded section of calm and pristine beach--a little slice of heaven. This was our favorite spot on Saturday and Sunday as well!

We hit up the town of Gustavia for dinner that night--Le Select--a burger bar that is supposedly the spot that Jimmy Buffet sings about in his song "Cheeseburger in Paradise." Its not hard to see why! Maybe it was just pregnancy, but it was one of the best burgers Ive ever had! After some window shopping and enjoying the town, we headed back to crash for the night in our luxurious bed.

Saturday and Sunday included more of the same--Seeing the island in our funny looking smart car, spending time on our favorite stretch of beach and finding new spots to eat on the island. We also took time to tour Eden Rock, in St. Jean. An absolutely incredible property--it is set out over a huge rock (Eden rock) on a beautiful bay. I was blown away by everything about the property, and it seems quite the happening place, within walking distance of a number of restaurants in St. Jean and a incorporates a bit more of the tourist culture. Equally as luxurious, but not as private a feel as our spot at Hotel St. Barth Isle de France. One thing worth noting, though, was their new Rock Star Villa, designed for just that, rock stars. It is $20,000 per night in peak season and includes a room designed as a recording studio, beautiful accomodations for the entire entourage, and enough space to host a party like you would only see on lifestyles of the rich and famous. Just imagine entire rooms and bathrooms covered in mother of pearl and white gold--but somehow not tacky in the least. If you go, you need to try to take a peak--that is, if there isn't a special guest staying there!

We made sure to get in some good time on our own beach on the last day and sample more delicious fruity drinks (my husband drank while I only sampled :(. And we completed our time with another fantastic dinner in the Isle de France restaurant. Delicious!

Monday morning, we were back on the ferry, a bit calmer this time, and on to St. Martin to catch our flight. Our time was relaxing and provided exactly what we needed--time together, away from the stresses of every day life and the soon to come baby. I am so thankful that we did this, especially as I quickly approach my due date. We took the time and set aside the money to invest in our relationship, and that is so hard to do with all the demands of home, and it is only going to get harder! I hope that we can always take this kind of time away-life is too important not to invest quality time in such rich shared experiences.

To learn more about luxury beach vacations or the island of St. Barth, contact a Brownell Caribbean travel advisor or visit our website.

Passports: Information and Tips

by Clayton Trotter

This year in the travel industry seems to be a big year to travel abroad. Lots of clients want to take their families on the “trip of a lifetime”. Right now is the best time to travel. There are lots of deals out there and the travel advisors at Brownell are happy to help. There is one rule you MUST follow is you are going to travel abroad – you HAVE to have a passport.

I have worked in the travel industry for 3 years now and I am never surprised by some of the questions I get asked…the most recent being “Do I need a passport to go to Canada?”
Yes, you do. I know Canada is part of North America and borders the USA to the north. But Canada is an entirely different country than the US and if you want to go there, you’ve got to have a passport.

Getting a passport is actually really easy. You can contact your local travel advisor to help you or you can go to your local post office. The post office has several different passport forms – new passports, renewing passports, changing a name, etc. You will need to determine what type of form to fill out for your passport and then submit. The forms are extremely easy to understand and state exactly what you will need in order to get your passport. Adult passports are for people 16 and older. They don’t expire for 10 years. Children’s passports expire after 5 years. If your child has a passport and is under 16, be sure to check your child’s passport before traveling. A lot of people forget a child’s passport only lasts for 5 years and then are stuck running around like crazy trying to get it renewed. Believe it or not, babies also require a passport when traveling overseas. I know it seems crazy for a baby to have a passport that lasts for 5 years considering they look completely different from year to year. But if you plan a family vacation and a baby is going, they better have a passport.

For those of you reading this and don’t have a passport – go and get one! You never know when traveling abroad could arise and you want to be prepared. How awful would it be if you were offered to travel with your company to France for a week and you couldn’t go because you didn’t have a passport? One last thing to know about having a passport is that it must be valid 6 months AFTER you return from being out of the country. For instance, if you return back to the US after visiting Italy on June 6, 2009 your passport must be valid through December 6, 2009 or later. If it expires before then, go ahead and get it renewed before you trip. It’s better to spend the money getting it renewed then sitting at the airline gate and not being allowed on the plane.

For additional details, go to travel.state.gov for more passport and travel information, or you can contact any of our travel advisors!

Top 10 Reasons to use a Travel Advisor

We get it. We’ve dried enough tears, put out enough fires, and cleaned up enough messes for well-intentioned, but misguided travelers to understand the value of using a travel advisor. The list of reasons to use a travel advisor is never-ending, but we especially like this list of 10 put together by Ruthanne Terraro, editor of Luxury Travel Advisor magazine.

1. You've Googled "Mexico vacation," and come up with 17.8 million responses. Need a little help editing those choices?

2. Remember when you used that obscure website to book your hotel, and when you got there you spent your beach vacation overlooking a parking lot?

3. How many hours were you on hold with the airline when your flight was canceled because of a snowstorm?

4. Did you really mean to spend your honeymoon at that resort whose one tiny pool was filled all day with 12 screaming children?

5. Who knew that when you booked that "villa" in Tuscany, it would be a small room with a kitchenette and no air conditioning? Funny, it looked much better on your computer screen.

6. No one explained to you that in July, it's winter time in Rio, and so you showed up there with nothing but five Hawaiian shirts and three pairs of swimming trunks.

7. How about the time you really needed a restful vacation, and you ended up in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and someone threw up on your shoes?

8. Yes, I guess that hotel must have used a telephoto lens when they took a picture of those guest rooms that you saw on their website.

9. I suppose contacting the Attorney General to resolve the fact that that Internet site has billed your credit card three times instead of once is the only route to take at this point.

10. It was definitely odd that there were no cab drivers at the airport at 3 o'clock in the morning when you finally landed in Costa Rica, but booking a transfer to your very remote hotel would have been a good thing to remember when you purchased your airline ticket and hotel online.

To learn more about Brownell Travel and our team of expert travel advisors, visit our website at www.brownelltravel.com.

Amelia Island, Florida: Southern Charm Meets Coastal Paradise

Katherine Gould is travel advisor for Sterling Brownell. She has been with her family to Amelia Island and shares about her fabulous time below!

I just returned from a ten day stay on Amelia Island, which is located 30 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida. It’s been on my radar screen for years, so I was anxious to check it out for myself and for my clients. Given the relative ease of getting there and the fact that the island is known to be very family friendly, my husband and I brought along our two small children. Our first stop was the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island, and it did not disappoint! The service, grounds, dining, spa and activities were fantastic. The service in particular exceeded my expectations in every way. I can’t think of anywhere I’ve visited in recent years with such an attentive and friendly staff. From the moment we arrived, I felt like a “VIP!” Additionally, my children were treated as special guests and pampered throughout their stay. The Ritz embraces its youngest guests in remarkable ways I’ve never encountered before at a five star resort. They seem to have thought of everything - a baby pool shallow enough for the littlest ones, yet filled with entertaining fountains for older toddlers, a fantastic Ritz Kids Camp, and daily activities such as a treasure hunt or hunting for sharks teeth on the beach are just some of the many ways the Ritz caters to children. Our most memorable experience was the pirate tuck-in we arranged. At bedtime, there was a knock on our door. “Princess Amelia,” a pirate and a real parrot entered our room to read the children a bedtime story, and deliver cookies and other special gifts. My son and daughter loved it! I decided to upgrade to a Club Level room, and I can honestly say it was worth every penny. Located on the top floor, the elegant yet informal lounge offers four different food presentations daily (all of which were excellent) along with unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. My family ate breakfast and lunch daily there - a big savings when you consider what it would cost to eat each of those meals in one of the hotel’s restaurants. Additionally, there was a wonderful children’s room adjacent to the Club lounge, which was loaded with toys, children’s videos and comfortable spots for littles ones to relax.

Dining at the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island was top notch. Salt, their signature oceanfront restaurant, delivered one of the best meals I’ve eaten in a very long time. It was a great spot for my husband and me to spend some adults-only time in an elegant setting. I also particularly liked Cafe 4750 for it’s casual atmosphere and lighter fare. Diners can choose to eat in the restaurant’s lively main dining room or the spacious, outdoor verandah overlooking the ocean.

The spa is brand new and quite impressive. Over 27,000 square feet in size, it offers a wide array of spa services in a tranquil and chic environment. Also worth mentioning is the outdoor spa pool - adults only and blissfully peaceful. Envision plush towels, special pillows and plentiful attendants to cater to your every whim. It was an amazing, adults-only haven! More than anything, however, I found the Ritz to be such an incredible place because of the outstanding service. It was truly “five star” in every way and made our stay so wonderful. Whether you’re seeking a romantic get-away or a fun-filled family vacation, the Ritz Amelia Island has the right accommodations, programs, facilities and dining options for you. My next stop was Amelia Island Plantation, a 1,350 acre resort and residential community just a few minutes down the road from the Ritz. The Plantation is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal waterway, and its vast size translates into numerous accommodation choices for visitors lucky enough to enter its beautiful grounds. Known for its environmental consciousness, the resort has done an amazing job of preserving the coastal vegetation and habitat . I was most struck by the magestic live oaks draped in Spanish moss, which thrive everywhere on property.
I selected a two bedroom oceanview villa for my family. It was well-equipped, spacious and offered fantastic ocean views from our sizable balcony. Having a kitchen and our own washer and dryer was particularly helpful when traveling with little children. Outdoor locations to soak up the sun are plentiful by anyone’s standards. I really liked having the ability to choose where I’d spend my time each day. My personal favorite spots included the Beach Club pool, the beach in front of our villa complex, and the pool at our villa complex. Amelia Island Plantation offers a vast array of activities for its guests. With 72 holes of championship golf available, golf lovers will find themselves in paradise! 23 tennis courts, miles of walking, jogging and biking trails, numerous swimming pools, a children’s park, and a well equipped Health & Fitness Center are just some of the many options offered.

One of the highlights of our stay was a morning spent bike riding as a family. My husband and son opted for a “ride along” bike, and I pulled my daughter in a comfortable trailer. We had such a great time exploring Amelia Island Plantation’s beautiful scenery! I highly recommend renting a golf cart for at least a portion of your stay. Known locally as “Island Hoppers,” they provide convenient transportation and a fun way to see the resort. Trams run regularly as well, but I preferred having the flexibility to come and go without waiting for a tram to come by. Amelia Island Plantation offers numerous dining options on property. My dinner at PLaE (which stands for ”People Laughing And Eating”) was my favorite. The atmosphere and food was excellent. Additionally, I was a big fan of the Marche Burette, a small deli and grocery store which offers oven brick pizzas, gourmet soups, and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. The Friday night Boardwalk Bash there was particularly fun - my children loved the free buttery popcorn, and my husband and I enjoyed the $1 beers. Live music completed the event, which was packed with guests and residents.

The children’s program at the resort is well-organized and offers a variety of great experiences. My son spent one morning at Kids Camp Amelia and loved the games, crafts and pool time spent with other children his own age. ”Just For Kids” evening theme parties for ages 3-10 are offered every weekend in the summertime as well. Amelia Island is a great option for families and couples alike. The miles of wide, unspoiled beaches and excellent resort choices offer something for everyone. Even better is the ease of getting there - a welcome respite from lengthier and often more hectic international travel. If you’re looking for true southern charm in a tropical setting, it’s an ideal spot for you!

To learn more about Amelia Island and traveling with kids, contact Katherine! To learn more about the family travel oportunities available through Sterling Brownell, visit our website.