Looking to just get away from it all? And you don't have an entire checking account to splurge? Well no worries my friends, we all can't be millionaires, unfortunately. But when it comes time to sharing that special vacation with somebody that you love, many us draw blanks come time to book and plan that special trip. However, this does not mean that there are not plenty of great places that you and your lover can escape to. To better help you decide, here are the top ten romantic getaways for under $5000!
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1. Maui, Hawaii: enjoy relaxing on the romantic beaches of Maui while you stay at the Kihei Bay Vista Resort-a fully featured and amenity rich resort that offers high thread count sheets and plenty of great room service eats. Online packages, which include airfare and four days/four nights, start at about $765 per person-that's around $1500 bucks and all you pay for is food and a rental car once on the island.
2. Cancun, Mexico: one of the most pristine, clean and beautiful barrier reef islands beckons you and your lover to come stay on the strip-like resort, beachside environment packed with ample night-doings and plenty of history. Online packages will run you about $850 per person, which includes airfare and hotel accommodations for four nights.
3. Miami, Florida: take your significant other to one of the most popular and romantic places in the world, and catch a day at Disney World, without the kids. Miles from hundreds of islands, Miami is a destination city. Online packages will run about $600 per person, including flight and a nice hotel room.
4. Aspen, Colorado: for a different, snowy romantic retreat, head to the Rocky Mountains and go on a romantic skiing trip. Lodging at a signature, mountainside resort, including lift passes, will only eat your wallet out of about $600 per person for a four day trip-including flight.
5. Newport Beach, California: perhaps one of the most inexpensive ways to get away from it all-you can easily find dozens of great vacation packages to beachside resorts, including airfare and logging for four nights, for about $500 per person online.
6. Acapulco, Mexico: a cheaper destination perhaps than Paris or Venice, you can easily find plenty of great deals online for all-inclusive trips to destination resorts. Packages range from about $600-800 per person, including airfare for a four night esplanade in the Mexican Riviera.
7. San Diego: one of the most popular romantic vacation destinations in the world awaits you. You will not find better deals to anywhere else online than here. Five day packages, which include your flight, a rental car and nice resort hotel room, start at around $600 per person.
8. San Francisco: the city by the bay is just a few hundred dollars away, where culture, nice beaches and five star eateries beckon you to come say hello. Enjoy a romantic trip for two here for about $600-$800, which includes your plane trip, and your hotel room for five nights.
9. Paris, France: perhaps one of the most romantic destinations in the world, a culture rich, and vibrate society will entice nearly anybody. Of course such an exotic destination never comes without an exotic price tag attached. Online packages, including airfare and hotel stay-for seven days and seven nights- start at about $1850 per person.
10. Venice, Italy: it does not get anymore romantic than taking a stroll miami beach through one of the oldest cities in the known world. Of course riding down the many, water filled canals and being serenaded also stack up in great many reasons-art galleries included-why you should head to Venice. It will cost you however to enjoy Italy, to the tune of about $1900 per person, including airfare and hotel for a week.
To best understand how and why this might occur, you might have to shift your thinking about hotel rooms. They are a commodity, just like fruit for instance. I have noticed over the years that late in every Spring, Bing cherries will sell for almost $5/lb. By midsummer, they are usually down to 1/3rd that price. Why? It isn't costing the growers any more to harvest them in May than it does in July and usually doesn't cost more to transport them either. The answer is supply and demand - when cherries haven't been available for 9 months and they are suddenly on the market, growers get a higher price. As more suppliers bring cherries to market and they are no longer a 'novelty', the demand usually has shrunk as well and hence the price follows demand as much as supply. But cherries are a perishable commodity and if they aren't priced right, they won't sell and will then be tossed out. Growers know that after 9 months of no cherries, cherry enthusiasts will happily pay the $5/lb.
Hotel rooms are not perishable though - or are they? Certainly if a room is vacant, it could be considered a perishable item because it is a lost opportunity/revenue to the owner. So every night hotel owners face a supply-demand problem. No one complains when they slash rates to $79 for a walk in but they scream like a banshee if there are only three rooms left and the price goes to $149.00. If a big event is in town and owners know someone will pay the higher rates, they are actually doing you a service if they offer a room to you at that price and not ask $300. If the price is too high, your choice is to move on or find another property and allow the person who is willing to pay the going rate occupy the room. The same principle applies to restaurants that charge more on New Years Eve. Why are Super Bowl tickets priced hundreds of dollars higher than regular football games? Because these are 'events', big events in fact. Once a year events in most cases. So are motor racing or horse racing or trade show events in many cities - once a year events where demand outstrips supply and in a free economy, prices will rise.
Think about that the next time you book a last minute ticket on an airline and wonder why you can't get the "30 day in advance" discount price for one of the remaining 5 seats. The smart thing to do is plan and book ahead. Doing the same 6 months ahead of an auto racing event will also likely get you a better rate than if you show up in town on Friday night with no reservation. If you object to a cheap hotel suddenly raising the rate 3-fold, then you simply don't stay and if no one pays the price, their room will go vacant and maybe next time the owner will rethink their pricing strategy.