This is the last in the three-part Room with a View series. One way that I sometimes get more out of a trip is by hotel hopping. This way you get to experience the awesomeness of more than one view…you can experience a great view from each hotel room that you hop to. I have done this several times in Florida, once in Arizona, once in California, and once in Jamaica.
I have hotel hopped a couple of times from Miami to Key West. Flying into Miami and staying for a few days and then driving down the Keys. Yes, these both offer ocean views but very different vibes. Another hotel hop in Florida was not totally by choice. The hotel that we selected was not available for the entire trip so we had to hop or we wouldn’t have been able to stay on vacation as long as we wanted to. The first choice hotel lived up to it’s online presence and I really didn’t want to leave when the time came. The second stop was not nearly as nice as the first in terms of hotel…but, we were able to enjoy a great sunset and discover a boat ride that we hadn’t seen advertised as we made our to do list…we want to try it next time! This confirms my faith in hotel hopping to increase the awe from one room with a view to at least two rooms with a view!
In Jamaica my hotel hopping actually served more than one purpose. We moved from our hotel for a couple of days to a condo to have my husband’s family that live in Jamaica join us for part of our trip. We were able to cook and hang out together for a couple of days without the distraction of all the other people on our resort. The view from our hotel was supposed to be great but we are lucky that we got an extra awemazing view from the condo. When going to resorts, like in Jamaica, in addition to checking out the view options and pricing I recommend the following tips:
- review the resort map online so that you can see which building your room will be in.
- find out what level your room option is on especially if you have the option to select the level.
I had one resort stay where I was on the ground floor in the end room, in the end building on the resort. At first we thought that meant we had the view all to ourselves with little traffic. We quickly found out that right through the fence at the edge of our patio is where some locals had set up shop to advertise and sell “that goooood marijuana…to get you all the way up.” Most of the time that we spent in our room was with that advertisement echoing. The security would come and make them shut down but that never lasted long. We did opt for the higher priced sea view…but we found ourselves looking through the palms and a lounge area. The condo was a refreshing change on that trip. The view there was an awe moment for me…not to mention there were three floors of slightly different views. I am glad that we hopped on that trip!
In Arizona and California our hotel hopping were more based on the location of the airport, time, and itinerary/points of interest. Both times we flew in and found awemazing views for the first night not too far from the airport and then hopped to a couple of other hotels near local attractions. (I will share the Arizona itinerary in the next post. It was a good one!)
In closing, I will say that hotel hopping and enjoying amazing rooms with a view in more than one location during trip really makes it feel like more than one trip and much more of an adventure! The other bonus to hotel hopping is that it allows you to experience an extra high level awesome luxury for part of the trip without having to pay at that level for the entire trip! Try hotel hopping if you think you would enjoy the added awe!