New Jersey suburbs. Image: LancerE

EDITOR’S NOTE: This week I had a chance to work with author Mary Sojourner on an upcoming story for BETA Magazine.

As we talked about the setting, there was this irony in that where the characters traveled (a sandstone canyon near Flagstaff) no longer existed.

Like so much of the West and the rest of the US, it had been turned into suburban development.

I remember being like 8 and living in “Willow Point.” The houses were a mix of “contemporary” / “ranch” and “Cape Cod” architecture on large lots with native pines and hardwoods. It was built in the late seventies. Along with other large interconnected subdivisions (“Indian Hills,” “Jackson’s Creek”), Willow Point was part of the first wave of developments that were named and somewhat architecturally branded. They had clubhouses and swimming pools and signs as you drove in.

Before this, the only other neighborhoods around Marietta Georgia were just streets still platted like city blocks. These were built in the 60s during the “white flight” out of Atlanta.

When I was 13 we moved into a new subdivision called “Riversound.”

If the original white-flight houses were sort of pre-wave (suburbs but not really subdivisions) and Willow Point / other neighborhoods were the first wave, this was the second wave. The houses were bigger. They were styled “European.” They had stucco facades, mansard roofs, and faux keystones / corner quoins. The lots were smaller than the first wave, with fewer native trees and more landscaping.

As would become classic second wave style, the entrance had a median, thick walls, and a short section of brick inlay in the pavement. It was designed to look / feel impressive when entering in a vehicle.

Over the next several years, hundreds more subdivisions were built across Marietta. The third wave evolved with significantly smaller (“postage stamp”) lots. Most if not all of the native vegetation would be cleared, replaced with landscaping, and, for the first time, in-ground sprinkler systems. The naturally hilly and riparian contours of the Chattahoochee Piedmont were excavated and re-engineered so that the homesites now sat on totally artificial landforms.

This modification of the land itself, combined with the homogeneity of building materials / styles / tract-housing construction methods, gave these new waves of development a “looks-like-the-whole-subdivision-was-just-dropped-here-from-outer-space” appearance, regardless of whether the houses themselves were the “more affordable” “cluster homes,” or full-on fucking McMansions.

Around this time I remember seeing signs advertising new subdivisions everywhere. They would always have the subdivision name in large font, and then underneath would be a “descriptive” / suggestive phrase attempting to communicate exclusivity / beauty / quality. They always ended in a price range. An example reconstructed from memory:

Gentry Walk

East Cobb’s newest development, Custom homes from the mid 500s.

Everything–the prices, the houses, the number of subdivisions, the number of people–seemed to be supersizing as I went off to college and the years afterward. Later, visiting my parents where they retired in Florida, I saw the next wave, basically taking all of the above and putting a gate around it, calling it a gated community.

Anyway, this is more or less what I thought of when Mary Sojourner told me the place in her story no longer existed. Then she told me about this piece she’d written about it. Commodification in writing, commodified views of place seem to be a kind of default setting for so many of us who grew up in homes that had no connection to anything that was there before.

This story was originally published in her book Bonelight: ruin and grace in the New Southwest ( U. of Nevada Press, 2000), which is still in print. Get it.

–David Miller

Real Estate Porn

by Mary Sojourner

This isn’t real estate we’re talking about. This is the body of the beloved. How can we not take a stand?”

—Terry Tempest-Williams

People, 7/15/96

I’m not making this up. I wish I were, the glossy brochure that arrived in the mail today, complete with shots of the San Francisco Peaks, snow-dusted, of course; kitschy south-west interiors loaded with Katsina dolls and bogus artifacts; what might be Chaco Canyon masonry; and a close-up of the heart-wood of a downed Ponderosa. The development lies on what was once Museum of Northern Arizona land and is rumored to be a result of the MNA’s finances hitting shaky times—in part, one might conjecture, due to the museum’s potential benefactors using their wealth to acquire ten thousand square foot trophy homes and exorbitant golf club memberships rather than support cultural resources in their mountain play-pen. Witness the financial failure of our local Center for the Arts and the delicate balance between ruin and survival maintained by many of our local arts organizations.

Here is part of the text of this real estate pitch:

Does your life journey road map point to (blah blah blah buzzword) Springs…? It Does! If you want to live in a boldly original new community where the earth and the mountains and the art of indigenous peoples will pour into you so you can live what you believe while immersed in nature to feel the awe and beauty of wild flowers, coyotes, elk, mountains, Ponderosa pine, and you help mold and craft a new house of wood and stone where you will join a mythical but real community made from the dreams and desires of all those others living on a homesite amidst 43 acres of forest in the heart of museum country where hearts and souls can fall in love with life again in a bigger, newer way as you climb across new vistas…where you will walk with us into history by living the legacy of those who came before.

I repeat, I am not making this up. I don’t really need to deconstruct this smarm, point out that development infrastructure kills wildflowers, or elk are an over-abundant species due to predator annihilation, who will eat your indigenous plantings, or that coyote is not a cute little gal with up-turned snout and red bandana, but a verminous snarly true daughter of the wild who will gobble Boopsie, your Yorkie, in a high desert heartbeat. No, the realtor’s unfortunately deathless prose speaks for itself…and speaks…and speaks…and speaks…

Perhaps more restrained, but nonetheless telling, is an ad for Flagstaff’s only gated community’s new expansion. The corporation decided to gouge a second golf course gated development into a rare intermittent wetland valley one mile from their existing golf course fortress, built during the late 1980’s. Here’s their paeon to the new destruction: Thousands of years of nature—on mountain peaks rising above pine trees thick with clear skies and sunlight.

Huh?

A decade of golf so rich in view and challenges it is rated number one in Arizona. A decade of families…(over 75 % of the second and third homes lie unoccupied for six-nine months of the year and a tiny percentage are occupied by families bigger than Mom and Pop Got-rocks Retirees)…creating traditions that will be relived and retold for years to come. And now, the natural unfolding of the next generation. More of the same remarkable things that made the first generation what it is: Forest Meadows. Wonderfully and incomparably Forest Meadows.

Please. Who writes this? More crucially who reads it and is beguiled? Much as I am critical of the rich, I never equated wealth with ignorance and illiteracy. Until now. Now, wonderfully and incomparably tasteless. Wonderfully and incomparably dumb.

It would be nothing but tragically funny if it weren’t for the brutal fact that 1000+ moderately high-priced houses are not selling in our town and the half million dollar homesites—that’s homesites, not homes—are. And, the pornographers that create, rather destroy these developments, have an eye for the most beautiful, wet and wild locations. Wetland by wetland, arroyo by arroyo, habitat by habitat, desert bighorn by desert bighorn, we are losing the best of the best. All for huge profit, all so that rich clueless buyers can own a bizarre mix of the “wild” and the blandly secure: Your own Hohokam petroglyphs in a desert canyon paradise. And the really exciting part, all of this with private security force. (For a gated community outside Tucson.)

I consider the definition of pornography: words and images used to sell the body, and remember Terry Tempest-Williams’ words…”this is not real estate. This is the body of the beloved.”

I invite any of you intrigued by real estate porn to let your road journey life map take you back to the nest you have contributed to fouling. And, I am available at an exorbitant fee (ninety per cent of which will go to grass roots land trusts) for ethical writing in-service workshops for public relations firms.

Community Connection

Mary Sojourner’s blog.

Questions:

What’s the most ridiculous, culturally-appropriating, commodified, or otherwise just “unbelievably soul-dead” name / description / experience with a subdivision you’ve ever found?

How is the the way you speak / write a reflection of where you grew up?

Please let us know in the comments.

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Ferrari World is opening and hopes to become one of the worlds most unique visitor attractions. The opening will coincide with the Abu Dhabi Grand Priz on 14 November 2010. Ferrari is probably the most famous of all motor racing brands and it is hoping to capitalise on the huge following that Ferrari and Formula 1 in general has.

Many people have wanted to experience what it feels like to drive a Formula 1 racing car and Ferrari World claim that you can do that on the Formula Rossa ride. This is basically a rollercoaster ride which attempts to make you feel as though you are in an F1 car. The figures seem impressive. The ride reaches speeds of 240km per hour and can go from 0 to 100kmph in 2 seconds which will make it the fastest rollercoaster in the world.

Most of the theme park is indoors and because the area is prone to sand storms riders on the rollercoaster have to wear goggles to protect their eyes from dust. However, with a maximum height of 52 metres giving a 1.72 G – Force the experience promises to be pretty close to driving a real F1 car.

Other attractions at Ferrari World include state of the art racing simulators as used by the Ferrari F1 team, a flume ride through the inside a a Ferrari 599 engine, a racing school for young drivers with expert training and an aerial voyage of Italy following a Ferrari.

Ferrari World is located on Yas Island which is 10 minutes away from Abu Dhabi International Airport, 30 minutes from Abu Dhabi city centre and only 50 minutes away from Dubai Marina. 7 new hotels have been built on Yas Island providing 2,200 hotel rooms for guests.

Admission to Ferrari World costs AED225 per person.

Want to visit Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi? Call Global Holidays on 0845 299 4450

Take a look at this video of The Formula Rossa rollercoaster

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MatadorTV is home to damn near 500 videos spanning genres from how-to instructionals and no budget backpacker media to professional productions. We have tried hard to explore a broad sweep of videos on themes that are important to the traveler. I hesitate to use the moniker “travel video” because our videos aren’t so narrowly defined. Our goal is to celebrate a travel lifestyle; a curiosity, love of culture, nature, knowledge and a healthy lust for adventure.

I could have easily chosen 100 videos that get me stoked about travel media and the people out there in the world creating it, but for the tradition of top 10 lists I reluctantly narrowed my focus.

I have chosen videos that managed to evoke something in me. Vids that stirred an an emotion, that I related to somehow. Videos that inspired me, lulled me to daydream and spoke to my experience.

Thank you to every traveler who has contributed their media to MatadorTV.

2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010

~ HOME IN EVERY MOMENT

A different take on the question “Where do you feel at home?” It’s not WHERE that’s important, but WHEN.

I really like the voice of this piece. It is very personal and speaks to a universal theme in travel; where, when and why is home?

~ TAWOCHE 2K10 dispatches #1

Stateside climbers head to Nepal to visit sacred sites, climb jagged peaks and teach young Nepalese the art of mountain climbing.

Tight, interesting cinematography and an attention grabbing editing style makes me love the Tawoche series. I am not usually drawn to “leaving” videos ( the inevitable packing and airplane scenes ) but this video keeps it really interesting and fresh. Has anybody else noticed that climbers shoot awesome video?

~ THE SEASON

Climb, bike, kayak, carve and explore with the athletes from The Season, one of the best outdoor sports video series online.

The Season takes the docu-sport genre to intelligent, beautiful and thought provoking places. Good sporting videos have a home on TV because often the athletes are interacting with massive views, new cultures, extreme climates and natural beauty. They scale the walls the rest of us only look at. They shred the mountains from the powder-topped summit and shoot the rapids that scare us from the safety of the shore. The Season is my favorite adventure sport video series.

~ EVERYONE IS A LITTLE UNIVERSE

Tour a world in miniature with the looking glass perspective of tilt-shift photography

The captivating, god-like view that tilt shift achieves makes for an interesting take on any given place. Cities are shrunk to model scale and the people scurry about like insects. I find this effect to be magical.

~ BREAKING FREE

Break free with the creators of Matador and Robin Esrock and discover passionate travelers living life according to their rules.

I am very proud and very stoked for the Matador crew and the inspiring expats who created Breaking Free. This media projects heralds a new direction for Matador in creating compelling content exploring the lives of travelers.

~ FREE BEATS

The spontaneous collaboration of strangers in NYC makes one of my favorite videos of 2010 FREE BEATS. As a vlogger I can relate to the thrill of interacting with strangers to create a video together. I wish more people would make videos like this one.

~ LIFE IN GOA

Welcome to Palolem, Goa where cattle litter the shore and beauty can be found in each gently breaking wave.

This is one of the gorgeous, lulling daydream videos that make the edges of your vision go fuzzy. Sublime images that make armchair travel almost as titillating as the real thing.

~ INDIAN STREET FOOD SET TO DIDGERIDOO

Dig into the frenetic world of Indian street food to the sounds of a didgeridoo.

The editing of this piece is crazy awesome. Focusing on the kinetic scene unfolding and exploring the relationships of people on the street of India, this video does everything right and gives the viewer a sense of what it is like to be there. The didgeridoo is really cool too. Note to self, use more didgeridoo in videos!

~ FIRE IN SELLERI

Mr. E shoots video as a fire consumes a village.

The editing is minimal, the narration is not compelling (the repetition of “big fire” is amusing though) but this video gives me chills. That could have been any of us wandering around with our camera. The raw energy of this video as fire tears through the village is amazing. A good lesson to take from this is have your camera ready!

~ inTRANSIT 17

Peter sleeps in a jungle hostel, swims under hot spring waterfalls, explores caves and eats fresh-caught cave fish in Rio Dulce Guatemala.

I love this series. If I were making a top 10 list of ninjas I would like to travel with Peter would be right up there on top. inTransit is funny, consistently entertaining and gives us a great story arch with solid production value. I would love more travelers to undertake the kind of commitment that a series like this takes and actually deliver. I am stoked to see what Peter comes up with next.

KEEP THOSE CAMERAS CLOSE AT HAND AND STAY CURIOUS. LETS MAKE 2011 THE YEAR OF THE TRAVELING CREATIVE. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY. ~ JOSHY

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If you have always wanted to book a holiday in Kenya and include a Kenyan Safari then now is the time to consider booking as we have some great special offers on a safari in Kenya.

Christmas in Kenya 2010 and New Year in Kenya 2010

12 December 2010 – 14 nights

•Shanzu-Paradise Beach (3 shields) – £499 per person
•Dolphin Hotel (4 shields) – £579 per person
•Flamingo Beach Hotel (4.5 shields) – £599 per person

19 December 2010 – 14 nights

•Shanzu-Paradise Beach (3 shields) – £1049 per person
•Dolphin Hotel (4 shields) – £1249 per person
•Flamingo Beach Hotel (4.5 shields) – £1349 per person

26 December 2010 – 14 nights

•Shanzu-Paradise Beach (3 shields) – £629 per person
•Dolphin Hotel (4 shields) – £799 per person
•Flamingo Beach Hotel (4.5 shields) – £899 per person

Two Night Safaris

Mara Simba Safari

Duration : 2 nights
Brochure Price : £649 per person

Special Offer Price: £599 per person

Itinerary

The famous Masai Mara, with its varied scenery and great concentration of vast herds of animals, is the highlight of this fly/drive safari. Enjoy a taste of the real Africa and the unique atmosphere of the bush.

Day 1: In the morning you begin your safari by flying west, past majestic Mount Kilimanjaro to the Masai Mara, an extension of Tanzania’s vast Serengeti. On arrival you are taken to the Kilima Camp for a two night stay. After an introductory talk you will have time to settle into camp before lunch is served. Your first game drive will take place in the afternoon, returning at sunset for dinner and an evening around the campfire – time to sit back and contemplate this unique setting.

Day 2: The vast plains of the Masai Mara cover some 1,510sq km and support a wide variety of wildlife. Enjoy a full day of game watching in this dramatic setting, with a lunch-time ‘big game hunter’s’ picnic. Look out for lion, cheetah, elephant and maybe even the elusive leopard. Vast herds of buffalo, plains zebra, gazelle and wildebeest seasonally migrate between the plains of the Serengeti and the Mara’s grassland.

Day 3: Set off shortly after daybreak on an early morning game drive when the animals are at their most active. Return to the camp for breakfast. Make the most of your last game drive before returning to the camp for lunch. Check out after lunch and transfer to the airstrip for the two hour return flight to Mombasa, arriving back at your hotel in time for dinner.

(Park entrance fees not included: US$120, approximately £75 per person – payable locally.)

Croco Special Safari

Duration : 2 nights
Brochure Price : £179 per person

Special Offers

For departures between 12/12/10 – 01/01/11: £159 per person
For departures between 02/01/11 – 16/04/11: £139 per person
For departures between 17/04/11 – 30/04/11: £159 per person
For departures between 01/05/11 – 16/07/11: £129 per person
For departures between 17/07/11 – 20/08/11: £159 per person
For departures between 21/08/11 – 10/12/11: £139 per person

Itinerary

This relaxing bus safari visits Tsavo East, one of Kenya’s oldest and largest National Parks, legendary for its spectacular scenery and excellent game viewing.

Day 1: In the late morning you leave your hotel and drive to Crocodile Camp which is situated on the banks of the Galana River arriving in the camp in time for lunch. Your first game drive begins in the afternoon look out for giraffe, gazelle, buffalo, waterbuck and lion and of course, the famous ‘Red Elephant’. There’s time to enjoy a traditional ‘sundowner’ and dinner before taking up your vantage point to watch the crocodiles feeding at the waterside.

Day 2: Today you will have early morning game drive to experience the animals at their wake up times before returning to the camp for a late lunch. You will spend the afternoon at camp – the ideal opportunity to relax or watch the crocodiles in the Galana River. Before having dinner you have time to relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.

Day 3: After a late breakfast you will then travel back to Mombasa, passing via Gede, arriving at your hotel in time for lunch.

This intinerary sometimes operates in reverse.

(Park entrance fees are not included: US$60, approximately £38 per person – payable locally).

Impala Safari

Duration : 2 nights
Brochure Price : £199 per person

Special Offers

For departures between 12/12/10 – 01/01/11: £179 per person
For departures between 02/01/11 – 16/04/11: £159 per person
For departures between 17/04/11 – 30/04/11: £179 per person
For departures between 01/05/11 – 16/07/11: £149 per person
For departures between 17/07/11 – 20/08/11: £179 per person
For departures between 21/08/11 – 10/12/11: £159 per person

Itinerary

Discover the immense variety of wildlife that Kenya has to offer on this exceptional bus safari taking in both Tsavo East & Tsavo West National Parks.

Day 1: Depart your hotel early morning, drive to Tsavo River Gate and enter Tsavo West. Have a picnic lunch at the Mzima Springs whilst watching the hippos and crocodiles that have made this their home. After lunch take an afternoon game drive in Tsavo West National Park. Arrive at the Sagala Lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 2: Leave early morning for another day of game drives. Today you will visit Tsavo East, one of Kenya’s oldest and largest National Parks, legendary for its spectacular scenery and excellent game viewing. A picnic lunch will be taken in the bush en route to the Crocodile Camp which is situated on the banks of the Galana River. Look out for giraffe, gazelle, buffalo, waterbuck and, of course, the famous ‘Red Elephant’. Before having dinner you have time to relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.

Day 3: Enjoy a late Breakfast and lazy morning relaxing in camp – the ideal opportunity to watch the crocodiles in the Galana River. After lunch you will start your journey back to the hotel.

This intinerary sometimes operates in reverse.

(Park entrance fees are not included: US$120, approximately £75 per person – payable locally).

Whether it’s a 1 day or 2 day or more days we have great deals on an African safari. Give us a call on 0845 299 4450 and we will be happy to help.

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Everything about this photo screams Buenos Aires except the strip mall store front. This and all photos: Tom Gates.

I’d been tipped to Mercado by the guy who cuts my hair, a Buenos Aires native who supplements his acting income with a bit of clipper wizardry. His accent had been tamed by speech coaches, but as soon as we started talking about food, he went full-on berserk with LL-gone-J Argentine Spanish. He was crazy gusto about this place.

Mercado Buenos Aires sits in a strip mall in the valley. I knew it was the real deal as soon as I pulled up – every sign in the plaza was in Spanish.

The inescapable Carlos Calvo.

Upon entering, Mercado made me weepy for Buenos Aires. Half of the room was dedicated to a butcher counter, a bakery and a market filled with bags of mate and salsa golf. My nostalgia for the latter was a complete surprise to me, as it is gross beyond words.

The other half of the room is pure parilla. Wood tables and chairs, silly soccer memorabilia, a counter for those not table-inclined and a crazy whiz of patrons and staff. Everywhere there were baskets of bread and chimichurri, hurried orders and at least one of every patron’s eyes on the football game being aired on five television sets. One online reviewer has said that the place looks like “an earthquake designed the interior” and I’d agree. I ate it up.

Don’t let the strip-mall storefront fool you. Mercado Buenos
Aires is the real deal.

I wished that I hadn’t gotten the waiter that I did. It didn’t have anything to do with his service. It had everything to do with his arms, which distracted my every vowel, leaving me entranced and mute. I had practiced my Spanish on the drive over, excited to remind myself just how terribly I could butcher verb tenses. He wiped the table, showed the guns, and I became capable of no foreign language. “Menu please.”

I considered the full boat meal with body part sausage, remembering my meals in Buenos Aires with Kate, who walked me through the language of small intestines, brains and unmentionable body parts. Instead, I opted for a simple Bife do Chorizo and stared at the full-wall photo mural of downtown Buenos Aires, wondering who had taken a picture of the boring cityscape and not one of the city’s amazing murals.

The food was presented as it should be – with a smile and a plunk. It rivaled the porniest steaks I’ve ever had.

Bife de chorizo (that’s a boneless sirloin to you).

The sharp steak knife cut the meat apart in a last heartbeat and the fries were piled high, although the condiment packets made everything feel a bit Taco Bell. I devoured and smiled, remembering how simple my best meals in San Telmo had been. And cheap. In contrast, this meal and soda ran me $25 (with an excessive tip for Arms), way more than I was used to paying at the Buenos Aires joints Matador inhabits.

A gaggle of older women shuffled in as I was leaving, and started to point for choice cuts of meat, comparing notes and coveting the prime chunks. One guy was leaving with two or three pizzas, making me wonder if they were as goopy as some of the worst I’d had in Buenos Aires, or as good as the ones I’d had after being pointed in the right direction.

Driving away from Van Nuys I began to spot more strip malls with South American food, making a note to get myself back to the arms of the valley soon.

Community Connection

If you’re interested in the real Buenos Aires, you can find Matadorians’ takes on it on our Buenos Aires focus page.

If, however, you are in or planning a trip to LA, why not take a peek at our California focus page for some short trips to take you away from the city, find out what NOT to do in LA, and read about the hipster bars of Silverlake?

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So, if you can travel outside peak times you can expect to get some amazing holiday and flight deals. New York is cold in winter and hot in summer but as long as you go prepared then that cold wind that blows off the Hudson River won’t affect you as you snap up those great shopping bargains that a city break to New York can certainly offer you !

If you can travel to New York in January then we have some really good offers to tempt you across the Atlantic and it only takes 6 hours on a direct flight from London.

The Offers

Whether its shopping, siteseeing or going to see one of the many famous New York landmarks like The Empire State Building we have great special offers on a short city break to New York.

Give us a call on 0845 299 4450 and speak to one of our friendly sales team and we will be happy to help.

Related articles about New York

New York at Christmas from Leeds/Bradford

New York – Full of Beans

Take Advantage of Great Deals to New York

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Like any frog or piece of art, travel videos can be reduced to their components so that we may understand how they effectively operate.

ONE OF THE FIRST things your viewer will experience is your titles, or lack thereof.

Titles or opening credits are important because they give your audience a way to transition into the story you are about to tell. Titles can set the mood for the video, add production quality and are key to branding yourself as a Video Ninja.

If your travel videos don’t have at least rudimentary titles you are trippin!

Your titles do not have to be complex animations or cost you a fortune. They can simply be a sequence put to music or the name of your video in a cool font. Although if you are developing a series of videos the more professional your titles are the more seriously you will likely be taken.

One thing is for sure, taking the time to add titles or an opening sequence to your travel videos sets you apart from the million other videos hastily edited and thrown up on Youtube.

Watch the opening titles for this selection of very different travel videos. What elements does the editor use to set the tone for the video? How is sound and music used? How does the titles help brand the host and the content of the video?

Which of these titles did you find most effective?

Your assignment: create cool titles for your next video! If you would like to create an original video for Matador download our pre-roll and post-roll here.

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The first hotel that we can recommend in Dubrovnik is The Hilton Imperial. This building started life in 1895 as a palace and also it was a hospital during world wars 1 and 2. The building was almost destroyed during the Balkan conflict in 1991 but the Hilton Hotel Group refurbished the building in 2005. The Hilton Imperial Hotel now offers “art nouveau” style hotel accommodation near to the historic Old Town. Sea view rooms are available at an extra cost and a standard double room costs from 160 Euros a night. As far as food is concerned The Hilton Imperial offers a lavish breakfast menu and the hotel’s Porat restaurant serves a mixture of local Dalmation dishes such as Adriatic sea bass to international dishes like lobster.

The Hotel Bellevue is like something out of a James Bond movie says The Guardian. The Bellevue, Dubrovnik is a modern hotel which sits on the cliffs overlooking The Adriatic. All rooms boast a sea view and marble bathrooms and the bedrooms have beautiful furniture. There is also an indoor swimming pool. The Bellevue has two restaurants. The Vapor is one of the best seafood restaurants in Croatia. The other restaurant is the Nevera which offers a less formal dining experience. A double room at the Bellevue costs from 200 Euros a night.

For more information about hotels in Dubrovnik or to check availability and prices call Global Holidays on 0845 299 4450

Read more articles about Croatia

Picturesque charm in old town Dubrovnik
Croatia receives top marks from Tourists
Escape the usual tourist traps in beautiful Zagreb
Moore soaks up the late Croatian summer
Malkovich unwinds in Dubrovnik
Croatia enjoys a tourism renaissance
Global Holidays – Croatia holidays press release
A Rijeka laugh

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1. Austria
Vienna. Photo: anvi

2. Belarus
Photo: dobrych

3. Belgium
Bruges. Photo: country_boy_shane

4. Bulgaria
Dyavolski Most. Photo: Evgeni Dinev

5. Canada
Jasper National Park. Photo: pat_ong

6. China
Beijing. Photo: storyvillegirl

7. Czech Republic
Pruhonice. Photo: Florin Draghici

8. Denmark
Photo: partyofasystem

9. England
Queen’s Park, London. Photo: chakchouka

10.Estonia
Photo: j_silla

11. Finland
Helsinki. Photo: nurpax

12. France
Ginkgo dans la cours de l’Hôtel d’Effiat. Photo: sybarite48

13. Germany
Raky-Weiher in Dalheim. Photo: Bert K

14. Greenland
Photo: fotoEarth

15. Iceland
Thingvellir. Photo: Kristin Sig

On the next page, Nepal, Russia, the U.S., and more…

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Secondly, the City of London Fraud Office have said that dozens of consumers were being caught out by fraudsters advertising non-existent properties online. Apparently some holidaymakers only realised the scam when they arrived to find their villa had never existed. The problem with fraudulent villa bookings saw a marked increase in August.

Many people think that they will get a better deal online but this may not be the case and the Fraud Office is recommending that consumers book with a reputable travel agent.

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