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Q: I recently found a $28 per night rate at the Westin Imagine in Orlando. I was amazed. I booked the room, and several days later I called the hotel to ensure that it was a legitimate rate. They confirmed this, so I booked nonrefundable airfare, and have been happily anticipating my getaway weekend ever since.
NEW YORK — Ominous gray skies greeted us as we stepped off the ferry at Liberty Island.
In November and December, all the major tour operators to Turkey offer 12-night tours of that country's main sights for as little as $1,063, not including airfare. That sum comes to $88.58 per person per night, including excellent accommodations, three meals and all escorted sightseeing.
To our surprise, we later found a $250 charge on our American Express for a damaged tire. But that didn't make sense. If it had been damaged we wouldn't have been able to drive the car back to the airport.
Almost always, the tours for young people — ranging from high school students to professionals in their early 30s — are identical to the tours operated for middle-age baby-boomers and seniors. A 45-passenger bus arrives at their hotel early in the morning, taking them to the first museum. They alight from the bus, visit the museum as a group, re-enter the bus and drive to the next attraction. The experience is sterile beyond belief and divorced from the life about them, whether they are in Florence, Italy — or Antigua, Guatemala.
