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Beach and All-Inclusive Resort Honeymoons Are In, Destination Weddings Are Out
Traveler Survey Reveals Last-Minute Tips for the Perfect Honeymoon
PRNewswire
NEEDHAM, Mass.

Still planning your honeymoon? In a recent survey, more than 500 TripAdvisor users weighed-in on what makes for an ideal honeymoon. More than 68 percent of respondents said a beach destination is the perfect honeymoon retreat, while country/mountain destinations were a distant second, with a mere 11 percent. All-inclusive adults-only resorts were the hands-down favorite for dream honeymoon accommodations, with support of nearly half of those surveyed. The next most popular honeymoon accommodations were city hotels and cruises, but both appealed to less than 10 percent. Destination weddings, where the invited guests travel with the wedding party, did not appeal to survey respondents, with 67 percent saying they would not consider a destination wedding/honeymoon.

"Aside from picking a gown, honeymoon planning might be the most nerve- wracking part of planning a wedding," said Michele Perry, TripAdvisor spokesperson. "It's the one trip that is guaranteed to create lifetime memories and you want to be sure they are happy. Our best advice is to listen to fellow travelers and get their secrets to picking the right destination, finding the perfect hotel and taking all the stress out of the honeymoon, making it a blissful escape from the frenzy of the wedding day."

In other findings from the TripAdvisor survey, respondents said that one to two weeks, tops, is long enough for a honeymoon. Rest and relaxation, luxurious accommodations, great food and beautiful sunsets were rated highly, while hot tubs and champagne have lost their luster on the "honeymoon essentials" list.

TripAdvisor offers travelers an honest guide to honeymoon success with an insider's look at what's hot and what's not, based on the opinions of real travelers.

TOP DESTINATIONS -- TripAdvisor's 10 most romantic destinations, according to TripAdvisor editors based on user interest

   1. Paris
   2. Bora Bora
   3. Venice
   4. Maui
   5. Buenos Aires
   6. Vienna
   7. Santorini
   8. Napa Valley
   9. Anguilla
   10. Las Vegas

TOP HOTELS -- TripAdvisor's best bets for romantic honeymoon accommodations in the Caribbean, Europe and the South Pacific

  CARIBBEAN
   The Caves, Negril, Jamaica
   22 Reviews, most recent posted May 9, 2005
   Average price, U.S. $551

"The resort itself is like nothing I had ever seen and the pictures on the website simply do not do it justice. I kept telling my husband that I can't believe a place like this exists and that we were actually staying here!!!" -- TripAdvisor User, posted May 9, 2005

  EUROPE
   San Clemente Palace, Venice, Italy
   72 Reviews, most recent posted May 27, 2005
   Average price U.S. $502

"Wow, this hotel is simply amazing. It really is a 'Palace'. This is one of the only hotels that we have stayed in that has actually superseded our expectations. On arrival, they congratulated us and greeted us [by name], they then upgraded us into a suite on arrival with a bottle of champagne in our room. This absolutely made our honeymoon!" -- TripAdvisor User, posted May 27, 2005

  SOUTH PACIFIC
   Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
   18 Reviews, most recent posted May 27, 2005
   Average price U.S. $692

"My husband and I just got back from seven wonderful days at BBPBR. I wish I could hop on a plane and go back. Our room was an over-water premium bungalow and it was gorgeous. Room #15 it was truly a postcard view. The room was wonderful and the view just took our breath away. The resort is great the staff was very helpful and kind." -- TripAdvisor User, posted May 27, 2005

Note: TripAdvisor calculates an average price for each hotel, which is based on the rates of available rooms obtained from booking partners and other independent sources of pricing information. In addition, average hotel prices are updated nightly based on prevailing conversion rates. These are only estimates and not guarantees. Rates are subject to seasonal fluctuations.

TRAVEL BUZZ -- TripAdvisor's tips for a perfect honeymoon in select destinations

  1.  Food is boring in Bora Bora -- "We stayed at the Nui last year (OWB)
      and checked out the other resorts to make sure we made the right
      choice. There is really no comparison. The Nui is by far the nicest in
      Bora Bora. The food is not the greatest, kind of bland, but I think
      all of Bora Bora is like that, they seem to like simple foods." --
      TripAdvisor User, posted May 29, 2005
  2.  Trite but true, in Venice, ride the Gondolas -- "There are divided
      opinions on this forum about gondola rides and the expense, but we
      found as a romantic experience an evening gondola trip was one of our
      most treasured memories. Venice in the moonlight down the quiet canals
      is hauntingly beautiful, yet just around a corner you can come upon a
      noisy trattoria with customers and laughter spilling out onto a patio.
      There is nothing to compare to Venice. Have a wonderful honeymoon! --
      TripAdvisor User, posted May 6, 2005
  3.  Skip the scooters in Jamaica -- "My advice is forget it! The Jamaicans
      drive like they got their driving license free out of a box of corn
      flakes! The roads are not the best in the world, pot holes appear from
      nowhere! Hire a taxi for the day they are cheap enough and you get a
      white knuckle ride for free.  Remember a stay in J is great but you
      don't get a lot of sun in a hospital!!" -- TripAdvisor User, posted
      May 25, 2005

  About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor.com is the leading global travel information and advice destination, with nearly 1.9 million unbiased reviews and opinions and covering more than 200,000 hotels and attractions. A popular travel homebase with more than 13 million unique monthly visitors, TripAdvisor.com offers easy access to major worldwide online travel sites, including Expedia, Orbitz, hotels.com, American Airlines and Travelocity, for the best deals on the Web. TripAdvisor offers travel suppliers a cost-per-click marketing platform, guaranteeing the budgeted number of leads (not just impressions) with every campaign. Winner of dozens of awards, including PC Magazine's Top 100 Web Sites and Forbes Best of the Web, TripAdvisor is part of IAC/InterActiveCorp .

  CONTACT:
   Kelly Burke, Mullen
   (978) 468-8936
   kelly.burke@mullen.com

SOURCE: TripAdvisor

CONTACT: Kelly Burke of Mullen, +1-978-468-8936, kelly.burke@mullen.com