Great Stays Low Pays

by Dave Sweatt
(Tuolumne Ca )

Well, as a frequent visitor of the Monterey area we like to get the most for our money like you would like to, and during times of a thin wallet and a thick imagination we like to, let's say, shop around.

In order to get the most for our money, I search the Internet for all of our deals weeks/months in advance. Research is your best friend when planning a trip anywhere, and with the World Wide Web at our fingertips we should take advantage of it as much as possible!

For example, when we want to go whale watching I search the Web for the best price and see if there are any coupons available on-line, just by typing "whale watching coupons in Monterey." There are a lot of websites that all you need to do is click and print.

Our hotel rooms are done in the same manner. I know it sounds weird but type "Cheap hotels in ______" - whatever area you want to travel - and if you stay mid-week and not weekends or holidays, then it's sooo much cheaper, and there will be a lot of hotels popping up.

But don't go for the first one you see without looking at the reviews of that hotel PLEASE! I have seen rooms for $53.00 that are nice, clean, free parking, with breakfast, indoor pool, hot tub, and free Internet that are awesome.

At the same time, there are rooms that offer the same thing BUT ... the rooms have bed bugs, the free breakfast is a package pastry and coffee, the pool is seasonal, and they fail to mention that until you show up!

Now, if a hotel you go to has a club that is free then by all means join it so you can rack up those free points and a free night or other things that they offer - so do your research prior to any trip.

Now onto food. I wouldn't say we are Foodies, but we love to try things and eat different food in different places when we travel.

The trick here is to go on-line and research what you want to eat. Then look at the review pages! These are your Best Friends anytime you travel - for food, hotels, or whatever.

We have ordered clam chowder bowls at a restaurant and had a nice dinner inside, but we've also had them to go and had twice as much chowder, plus dinner on a beach watching the sunset for the same price - with leftovers for the next night.

On certain days in certain towns they have Farmers Markets. Most have food trucks that are great places to eat - the food's cheap and plentiful!

Yelp and Travelocity are good places to find reviews. I use them all the time to see whats out there.

But remember, some responses are just people with an axe to grind - not good reasons to avoid a certain place.

You must form your own opinion of a place from what you read from more than one review. And review that same place on different review sites.

You can never go wrong doing research of any place you want to spend your hard-earned money.