A buddy of mine introduced me to Trip Base which is a different kind of search.  Trip Base allows you to select your origin, the number of travelers and the dates to travel but then you use five slider controls to adjust the levels of Nightlife, Dining, Shopping, Nature and Attractions for which you’d like to travel.

The interface is clean and the results are the same.  It doesn’t overload you with possibilities, but the results can be viewed as a list or a map.  Once you’ve obtained your results you can adjust the attributes on the side search and automatically get updated results.

The results are very helpful once you drill down as well.  They have a photo of each location followed by tabs with additional information including an overview, hotels, flights, deals, photo gallery, map, things to do and any articles written on that location.  It’s an interesting site and travel search tool and I’d recommend checking it out.

Today I was mesmerized by the beautiful beaches and resort of the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort and Spa.  I found out about it first after having visited the Bookit.com web site.

If this resort is half as beautiful as it looks it would be a paradise.  The beaches and reef look like I could spend a number of days lounging and snorkeling to my hearts content.

This all-inclusive resort is all about fun in the water.  Not only do they have a prime location on the beach but they have 5 wonderful swimming pools to boot.

If water sports are not your thing you can enjoy time relaxing at the rejuvenating spa or play a few rounds on their golf course.

The World Famous Golf Course (a.k.a. Johnny Walker World Championship Course) is providing an exclusive opportunity to the guests of Grand Palladium Jamaica/Lady Hamilton & Spa of using the property, including (18holes, cart and caddie). For more information, please contact the resort.

All this luxury and splendor can be yours for only $445 for 3 nights with air fare included. 

This price is had by going to the bookit.com web site.

The resort is almost as beautiful on the inside as it is on the out.  The rooms are no slouchy rooms.  they are beautifully appointed with fine materials and decor.  They aren’t skimping on the lodgings, that’s for sure.  Take a look at the assortment of suites and junior suites that will leave you in a quandary trying to decide if you want to nap in the plushness of the included bed or recline in the beauty of nature while you soak up some rays.  Either way your sure to get some rest and relaxation that your missing.

Remember the wonder and excitement you felt being a kid and exploring a tree house?  Get that feeling all over again as an adult by staying in a tree house. Tree-house hotels offer adventure, a sense of fun, and even romance for newlyweds. Destination Wedding Magazine recommends five treehouse hotels in its Fall 2009 issue, some of them offering high-priced luxury. They are:

• Kanopi House, Jamaica: Four treehouse-style bungalows near Port Antonio on the island’s northeastern coast, from $300 a person, all-inclusive.

• Lodge Kura Hulanda, Curacao: Offers a luxurious treehouse mansion with a four-poster bed, high on a cliff overlooking Kalki Beach, from $1,200 a night.

• Tree House Lodge, Costa Rica: A Caribbean-coast retreat in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, where you can relax in hammocks and take canopy rainforest tours, from $300.

• Tsala Treetop Lodge & Villas, South Africa: Located between the coastal towns of Plettenberg Bay and Kynsna on the Garden Route of the Western Cape, from $370.

• Winvian, Connecticut: A Litchfield Hills resort that includes among its themed suites the luxurious Treehouse, a two-story cottage 35 feet off the ground, with a whirlpool, fireplace and French doors, from $1,999.

Going back to National Geographic’s recent article on the best islands I looked a bit deeper into Anguilla that seems to be somewhat of a honeymoon paradise. Capa Juluca is named for the native Arawak Indian Rainbow God of Anguilla. A quick look at their rooms and rates shows they’re not catering to the Motel 6 crowd. The best rate is $400 a night in the off season and just a touch over $8k a night for a five room villa. The scenery is what first attracted me to this site as you can see by the images.

While I was captivated by the imagery of the island I can’t say near as much for the web site. In fact I thought about not even bothering as I could tell from the dated design that the site is in desperate need of a face lift. They do a good job of making it easy to see fantastic photos of the resort and the island, but there is so much clutter around it that it can be distracting.

They weighed in with:
- 66 HTML errors
-Unable to validate CSS errors. -This was a first as the site is so old that it doesn’t reference a style sheet at all.
-Failed accessibility test

Overall I would give the site a D.
There is a lot of potential for this site with great content, it just needs to be displayed better.
Overall the site was somewhat usable as I was able to see photos and pricing relatively easily, but there are so many ways the site could be improved for usability and accessibility.