New Iberostar Hotel in Montego Bay

Iberostar Hotels & Resorts has opened its third property in Jamaica, the Iberostar Grand Hotel Rose Hall in Montego Bay. This is a 5 star hotel located on a beautiful stretch of white sandy beach only 20 minutes from Montego Bay Airport and is offered on an "All Inclusive" basis.

Click here for a description. If you would like us to give you a quote, just let us know by calling 01582 484200 or send us an email.

Have you stayed at an Iberostar Hotel before - let us know what you thought by clicking on the link below.

Lost luggage

The BBC recently reported that "no-frills airlines can be among the slowest to pay up when they lose or damage passengers' luggage, a report has said".

Apparently with a million bags being lost by carriers in 2007, missing luggage can prove a massive headache for travellers - and airlines are making life unduly difficult for fliers who try to claim compensation, the Air Transport Users Council study found.

Has an airline ever lost your luggage? What has been the outcome? Send us your comments by clicking on the link below.

Movies can influence choice of holiday destination

It was reported in March 20 edition of Travel Bulletin that "a third of British travellers say they have been inspired to holiday or travel to a destination after seeing it in a film, according to research by travelsupermarket.com", and that this trend was strongest amont the younger generation.

Half of those under 30 have taken inspiration for holiday destinations from the big screen, while a quarter of those over 70 have also visited locations featured in films.

It is said that the top ten "location vacation" destinations are .... Slumdog Millionaire [India], The Beach [Thailand], Australia [Australia], Captain Corelli's Mandolin [Kefalonia], Lord of the Rings [New Zealand], Memoirs of a Geisha [Japan], Braveheart [Scotland], Out of Africa [Kenya], Hideous Kinky [Marrakech], and Ocean's Eleven [Las Vegas].

Have you ever been inspired to take a holiday in a particular destination as a result of watching a film?

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Age-specific Holidays under threat from Equalities Bill

Travel Weekly has recently reported that "Time is running out for the industry to fight government plans that could spell the end of age-specific holidays and agents selling insurance".

They go on to explain that the Equalities Bill plans to extend age discrimination regulations to include goods and services which would mean that services provided by agents and operators - ranging from insurance to holidays - would be undable to have any age-related restrictions.

This could therefore mean that certain types of holidays, such as those for the over 50s and the 18-30s market could become taboo as they would be considered discriminatory.

The article does explain that the government has agreed to consider exemptions for group holidays.

This is just a small part of the article from Travel Weekly, but what do you think? Surely somebody would rather know before they booked whether a hotel was suited more towards the 18-30s crowd or the older generation.

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Changing Money "can be costly"

It has been claimed that holidaymakers who buy their currency at the airport often pay over the odds. Foreign exchange specialist FairFx have said that people who change their money at Heathrow Airport could pay up to 9% more than those who buy through an online provider. Following last week's base rate cut and decision to introduce quantative easing, exchange desks at Heathrow were selling less than one euro to the pound.

Stephen Heath, chief executive of FairFx commented that airport travel money bureax have long taken advantage of travellers who leave buying their holiday cash until they reach the airport by offering far worse rates than outside the terminal.

What has your experience been when changing money? Let us know where you believe you have got the best or worse deal.

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Airports - the good, bad and ugly

The Air Transport Users Council recently reported that airport security measures and waiting time are getting better. James Fremantle, industry affairs manager at the organisation, said that there was some truth in the suggestion that British airports were not as efficient as their foreign counterparts. However, he added that airports are under a lot of pressure now to improve things. "There are some problems with airports and there has been a lot of publicity about it, but it is not as bad as it seems," he commented.

A recent poll by the CAA revealed that 80% of passengers travelling to destinations such as the Canary Islands, were satisfied with their airport experiences. Of those surveyed, 87% said that they were able to check their luggage in within 20 minutes of arriving.

This got me thinking about my own personal experiences with airports - the worse being on my return from Jamaica. It may have been many years ago, but I will never forget the 7 hour delay encountered at the airport in the middle of summer with just a few fans to help stop hundreds of people overheating [mainly monopolised by mums and their young children], and with more and more people arriving, the coolest place to sit was the floor!

What about your experiences. Let us know about your favourite airport, or worse experience encountered at an airport.

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