Flavour of the day

MY VACATION IN FLORIDA

Escaping the ‘sensationalist’ blogging, I had made a resolution at the beginning of the year to take a vacation every six months. Barely got out in time for my dream Florida holidays.  Even with all the glorified might of internet, my questionable geographical comprehension and some very unfriendly suggestions from my ‘not-so-dear’ friends, my dream vacation to Florida was ‘sunnier’ than expected, largely owing to a techie friend (oh, how we need the geeks) who told me about a website called zipholidays.co.uk . To tell you the truth, although we’ve got a million sites like tripadvisor and lonelyplanet to tell us about great holidays and travels but when it comes to actually booking one online, every site is a mess. Well, almost. I got these guys from Zipholidays to offer me a great deal including the airfare and a great room at Essex house. Somewhere, I couldn’t help but think there must be some hidden frills. Fortunately, my vacation turned out almost perfect.

I am never comfortable on flights. So, this one wasn’t life-changing but you do get some rather nice people on board with you. I met a lady who was going to Florida to write a piece on Love bugs in Florida. I was scared for a moment, fearing another flu epidemic on the horizon when she told me that these things weren’t harmful at all. It took me around six hours to reach Florida and I reached there in the afternoon, around 7 in the evening. Jetlag was getting to me and I was glad I had pre-booked a cab with Zipholidays guys, so I didn’t have to wait around for a ride. I barely remember getting to Essex house but the staff had a big smile on as I grabbed my keys and rushed to my room. A little creepy but nice.

The room was far beyond what I’d expected at the price I had paid on the website. I have to say this has to be one of the best hotels in the land. Value-for money, all the way. The rooms were spacious with nice décor. The staff still had a smile on their faces. They were attentive but not too pushy, just the perfect balance.

Florida is rife with stunning sights. I visited the Kennedy space centre and the tour was worth its weight in gold. What was even more fun was visiting Peanut Island. I had planned to camp there for the night but Everglades was still on the cards. Everyone had told me not to miss out on one of the most renowned national parks in U.S. I did go there but I couldn’t stay for long and had to cut my day short due to the heat.

Had a great dinner back at the hotel. Those guys really know how to please my culinary senses. Everything about the place was just perfect and I still couldn’t believe I found it on an unheard site like Zipholidays.

If any of my readers are planning their holidays to Florida, check out Zipholidays before you go through a million pages on tripadvisor or lonelyplanet. It surely is one of those gems of a website out there.