The excitement about planning a friend’s bachelorette party seems to quickly fade after the planner realizes that everyone wants to do something different, go to a different city, and spend different amounts of cash (usually zero). Here is a quick guide to help you avoid the major pitfalls of planning a bachelorette party and get it done in 20 minutes.

Step 1: Get a list from the Bachelorette of girls that she wants to join. Do not ask those on that list what they want to do unless you want a major headache. Don’t waste your time using Evite and just send an email.

Step 2: Be sure to ask the Bachelorette what she wants. If she says she is up for anything, then game on. Here is what to look out for if she suggests the following:

Destination Bachelorette Party – Several girls will not be able to attend due to the travel cost and might become unhappy with you or the Bachelorette.
Clubs / Bars – Some will want to go dancing while others want to sit at a piano bar. If you are in a major city, find a Bachelorette Package company for discounts that include grouping bottle service with limo service, but still prepare to spend a lot of money. Make sure everyone is of legal drinking age.
Spas – Always a favorite. Negotiate a group rate with several in the area, or wherever the destination. Ask about alcohol if you or some of the girls plan on partaking.
Wine Tour – Be careful not to ruin the night with everyone getting drunk too early.
Painting / Pottery – Might have been a good idea when it came out or depending on the speed of the crowd, but most girls have done this already.
Dinner – Pretty much a must do option for as much of the group as possible. Overestimate the number of girls and take a reservation early – you can always change it.
Stripper – Have a plan to get rid of the stripper at the end of the night (if you want), as he usually just tries to stay around for the “after party”.

Step 3: When the invites go out, let the girls know 1) what the estimated cost is and 2) when you need to know who will attend. AVOID the “you bring the balloons and I’ll bring the alcohol” bit. Just take care of it all at once and include a PayPal link in your email. Sending 10 girls out to pick-up one of 10 items for a party is a crime.

Step 4: If you plan on going out to the Clubs / Bars in a city you are unfamiliar with, search “City Club Blog” and you’ll have a pretty good idea in a few minutes.

Step 5: If you are having a destination bachelorette party, you can research hotel packages on our site and save money while booking a Bachelorette Party Package. Get a final head count and book the rooms together for the best deal. This step is the most time consuming, yet can be done with a five minutes of research.

Step 6: Decorate the Party or Hotel Room with only the most popular bachelorette party items. Our research has discovered the best items from recent bachelorette parties and put them together in package deals. For a destination bachelorette party, Überoom will have the room decorated before you arrive.

Step 7: If you head out to the Clubs / Bars, use the scavenger hunt included in Überoom Bachelorette Party Packages. Save money by using a camera phone and if not everyone has one, team up in pairs of two.

Congratulations, you’re done! If you avoided most of the back and forth about who wants to do what and just focus on the Bachelorette’s desires, you can now get back to your busy life. Understanding that everyone will want to do something different is the key to saving your sanity. Good luck and have fun!

Have you been too busy working to plan summer vacation plans? Wait no longer because select Marriott, Holiday Inn, and Renaissance, among others, are offering a half-off summer hotel sale for arrivals between May 26, 2011 and Sept. 5, 2011. But hurry, book before March 4th at 5pm because this is a 48 hour sale.

For family vacations, book the Glenn Hotel in Atlanta and visit the Georgia Aquarium. If you like your fish well-trained, visit the Seaworld in San Antonio, Texas and stay at the Hampton Inn San Antonio-Northwest/Seaworld Area. The Six Flags Amusement park is nearby as well. Another great Amusement is the Carowinds Amusement Park, which is near the Marriott Charlotte Hotel Executive Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. Or, if your idea of a roller coaster is wading in the ocean, then hit the beach and book the Holiday Inn Downtown Historic District in Fort Myers, Florida.

Summer means America’s favorite past-time is in full swing. Book a baseball package and watch your MLB team take on the Colorado Rockies while staying at The Oxford, a luxury boutique hotel in downtown Denver. Nearby hotels also include the Courtyard by Marriott Denver Downtown or The Curtis: A Doubletree by Hilton Hotel. If your team is taking on the Cleveland Indians, book the Crowne Plaza Cleveland City Centre near Progressive Field.

If you like the Midwest but aren’t much of a baseball fan, stay downtown Chicago and watch a symphony in Grant Park. Book the beautiful Essex Inn, right off South Michigan Avenue.

For a golf vacation, book one of these summer hotel sales and check out the links near the Courtyard by Marriott Brighton, Michigan, the Courtyard by Marriott Lansing, Michigan, the Hilton Garden Inn Denver South/Meridian in Englewood, Colorado, the Hilton Garden Inn Hoffman Estates, Illinois, or the Holiday Inn Renton, Washington. If you haven’t already played on the numerous courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama, stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Mobile Spanish Fort/Eastern Shore or the Fairfield Inn & Suites Mobile Spanish Fort/Eastern Shore and get your fix. Prepare for your round the easy way with a golf room package and hit ‘em straight!

To take advantage of the beautiful weather in the Rocky Mountains, enjoy summertime hiking in Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, or Wolf Creek ski hills and book at Marriott Ogden Hotel in Ogden, Utah. To hike the Pike National Forest, stay at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Colorado Springs in Colorado. Hike in the San Gabriel Mountains and then catch horse racing at the Santa Anita Park by staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles Pasadena/Monrovia in Monrovia, California.

If you prefer more adult-themed enjoyment, stay right off the strip in Las Vegas at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Las Vegas. For a more hoppy experience, drink in a few brewery tours near the Residence Inn by Marriott Milwaukee Downtown.

Blackout dates apply and only a limited number of rooms are available at the sale rates. We hope this hotel sale helps you have a great summer!

If you haven’t started making plans for New Years, let us help you out. Überoom understands our customers and we know this year hasn’t been the easiest on everyone. We want to help you turn over a new leaf with a good time on our dime. 201 dimes to be exact.

Book an Überoom New Years Hotel Package for the night of New Years Eve and get $20.10 off. Just use the coupon code 2010 when you check out.

If you are new to Überoom, welcome! Our company partners with hotels to decorate your room in different party themes. You just choose your theme, enter your hotel information, and open the door! We work with all hotels, and if we haven’t partnered with them before, we contact them and ask their staff to decorate your room before you arrive. Überoom’s 110% GUARANTEE means your room will be set-up before you arrive, or you get to keep everything and we refund you 110%.

If you need suggestions as to what hotels to stay in this New Year, read my earlier post: Happy 2010: 8 Epic Hotels to Celebrate the New Decade

If you plan on staying in the U.S. and want to save on a New Years hotel party, book one today. The coupon is good for hotels booked for this New Years Eve only! Whether you plan a romantic evening for two or want to invite all your friends, go to www.uberoom.com and choose from our New Years Hotel Packages. Don’t forget to use code 2010!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone!

(EHZGAYTHDFAJ)

Welcome to a new decade: the 2010′s. Sure its no 2000 but on the bright side, there will be no over-hyped Y2K fears to dampen our spirits. So it’s time to start planning on where to experience such a momentous event, and to get the best view of 2010′s first sunrise, its also time to start booking.

1) The Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa, Canada $250 and up
Named for Sir Wilfred Laurier, the Prime Minister of Canada during construction (1909-1912), the Château Laurier grew in importance due to the wealth of its 2nd owners, the Canadian National Railway. So many of Canada’s elite had stayed at the hotel it was called “the Third Chamber of Parliament”. Charles Melville Hays, who commissioned the construction of the Château Laurier, is reported to haunt the hallways after he died on the Titanic, 12 days before the hotel opened.

2) Ulleung Marina Tourist Hotel, Ulleung-do (Ulleung Island), South Korea $90 and up
The two Dokdo Islands are the easternmost territory of South Korea, and locals flock here every New Year to catch first light and bring good fortune. The islands have been the center of controversy for hundreds of years between South Korea and Japan (referred to as Takeshima islands). The islands provide important fishing water boundaries that support the livelihood for the natives of both countries. South Korean police are currently stationed there. There are no hotels on the islands, and only 4 hotels on nearby Ulleung-do. Stay at the Ulleung Marina Hotel so you can participate in the annual New Years ferry to Dokdo Islands. The ferry operator usually features an animated film of a giant robot fighting off Japanese invaders. I highly recommend booking your room and the ferry ride as soon as possible, because some locals do so as much as a year in advance.

Visit the controversial Dokdo Islands for the 2010 sunrise (Source: fass6832)

3) The Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates $600/night and up
Sail into 2010 at the famous Burj Al Arab. Everyone knows how they promote themselves as the world’s only 7-star hotel. But did you know it took 3 years to build the island base and 3 years to build the hotel? If you have the dough and enjoy being waited on hand and foot, book now. Like 99% of the world, the UAE has been hurting for tourism, so you should be able to negotiate down from last year’s sky-high rates.

Everyone knows the Burj Al Arab. Just make sure you get a view facing East. (Source: jonrawlinson)

4) The Yurt at Bogus Basin, Boise, Idaho $125/night
The Yurt, like those of the same name, is a 27 foot diameter mongolian style tent set atop a large deck. The access road is closed when snowed in, but it’s a short 2/3 mile hike from the Frontier Point Nordic Lodge.

Rental will include an outhouse (porta-potty style), firewood, gray/waste water system, 3-burner propane cooking stove,propane lanterns, table & chairs, bunks and futon, dishes, utensils. All minors must be accompanied by an adult (21 years of age). No groups of minors are allowed at the yurt without adult supervision.

The yurt is primarily a “pack-it in / pack-it out” facility with guests bringing their own food, drinking water, sleeping bags, and propane gas for the lanterns.Propane is provided for the 3 burner cooking stove. Staying in a yurt is a perfect “easy” camping experience; a shelter with wood heat, no electricity, or running water – yet much more comfortable than tent camping! User groups should be prepared to deal with the many variables that can present themselves in any outdoor adventure.

Reserve Bogus Basin’s Yurt for an unforgettable ski experience (Source: Peg Havlovick)

After you get set-up, head over to Bogus Basin for their beautiful bowl skiing and snowboarding. There are two accounts as to how Bogus Basin got its name, but both involve gold prospectors getting swindled out of their hard-earned cash. In 1998, Bogus’ general manager Mike Shirley was credited with starting a ski industry revolution with deeply-discounted season passes, dropping the price from $500 to just $199. Almost 4x as much revenue was generated and hill managers across the country scrambled to follow suit.

Wow. Your view on the way to Boise to stalk @aplusk and @mrskutcher.
(Source: jmcarver)

5) Timberline Lodge, Oregon $100/night and up
Located on the south-east face of beautiful but potentially treacherous Mt. Hood, Timberline Lodge is the quintessential place to stay for a winter getaway. Just because the movie “The Shining” was filmed here doesn’t mean you should be too scared to enjoy this Great Depression era treasure. Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the lodge in 1937 as another great achievement of the Works Progress Administration. Visit Timberline Resort and ride the historic (and renovated) Magic Mile chairlift. When this lift was constructed in 1938 it was the longest in existence and heads so far up the glacier on Mt. Hood it has to close on windy days. Don’t miss the other Mt. Hood must-dos: the breathtaking Heather Canyon at Mt. Hood Meadows and America’s largest night skiing area at Mt. Hood Skibowl.

Timberline Lodge basks in majestic beauty atop Mt. Hood (Source: Jesse Estes)

6) The Buccaneer Hotel, Christiansted, Virgin Islands $350/night and up
The Buccaneer was founded in the 17th century and is the Caribbean’s longest running resort. This fall and winter they are featuring 20% off several rooms. The Buccaneer’s location makes it a great place to stay if you are to be the first people on U.S. soil to see the 2010 sunrise from Point Udall. The point was named for JFK and Lyndon Johnson’s Secretary of State Stewart Udall. For trivia’s sake, the westernmost U.S. soil is off of Orote Peninsula, Guam, and also called Point Udall for Stewart’s brother, Mo Udall. Bring a headlamp and flashlights, as the pre-dawn hike is a bit rugged in the dark.

Be the first on U.S. soil to see 2010. Just don’t yell “First!” (Source: Mr. Usaji)

7) Trump International Hotel and Tower, New York City, New York $400 and up
The 52-story hotel will provide breathtaking morning-of 2010 views through floor-to-ceiling windows IF you book a room facing Central Park. The hotel was originally constructed as the Gulf and Western building in 1971 and the Trump Organization finished the current renovation in 1997. Located on the south-west corner of the park, I envy anyone that throws a party long enough in that locale to watch the first sunrise over a snow-dusted New York City. You might be able to negotiate some decent rates before they start their latest renovation, appropriately starting in January of 2010.

Come play in New York City’s Central Park (Source: James Trosh)

8) Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, Machu Picchu, Peru $900 all inclusive
Even though the Incan year is believed to have begun in December, visiting the Lost City of the Incas is a breath-taking experience. If you can afford it, the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge is the only hotel located adjacent to the ancient citadel. Their packages are all inclusive and sometimes offer special photographic privileges after the other tour buses leave. The perfect view over Machu Piccu is from Huayna Picchu, which is normally closed during evenings. More power to you if you can see first 2010 light from there, otherwise you should try your luck at the Sun Gate. Either way, if this trip does not top your list of favorites you might consider never boarding a plane again!

Few places are more magical to start the 2010s than Machu Picchu. (Source: Ivan Mlinaric)

Here’s to planning ahead and have a Happy New Year everyone! As I wrote in Accommodation Game Changers: The 14 Most Influential of this Decade, make sure you always check for Twitter Deals before booking. Please let me know why other locations might also be epic hotels to celebrate the new decade in the comments section below. Finally, if you want to make your New Year celebration extra special, order a room theme package for New Years from Überoom.

1) Free in room Wi-Fi
I’m still amazed at the mid- and upper-level hotels that continue to not offer or, even worse, charge their guests for Wi-Fi. In the very least, hotels should offer free Wi-Fi in a quiet area where guests can go to conduct business, away from the bar. Hotelchatter.com does a thorough study each year and compiles a quick reference chart. If your laptop is useless to you without Wi-Fi, you can check-out these alternative uses just in time for winter.

Before you book, check the chart (Source: Hotel Chatter)

2) Online travel agencies
Voyages-sncf.com, Expedia, Inc., Sabre Holdings, Opodo, and Priceline.com have become the elephants in the hotel room booking business. Each with 2008 annual revenue in the billions plus ($USD), they continue to be a saving grace for travelers and a source of frustration for royalty-paying hotels. Only a few niche personal travel agents will survive this paradigm shift of information efficiency. To compete, fare aggregators and metasearch engines like Kayak.com, Cheapflights.com, and SideStep.com continue to stockpile their information offers.

3) Informed Vagabonding
Vagabonding is travelling on the cheap. Those that piggyback for airline points but can’t find a nearby Couchsurfing.com buddy give hotels unique bargaining challenges. Numerous last-minute hotel deals have been found by using sites like Vagabondtraveller.com. Being able to provide non-touristy information to these seasoned (and occasionally smelly Ü) travelers is a challenge front desk or concierge employees must successfully overcome.

4) The Twitter Deal
Aside from the plethora of non-informative or news-repeating tweets available, hotels have made some Twitter progress. The last minute Twitter coupon code has already made it the go-to site for smart travelers. Whether it builds customer loyalty is a matter of execution. Hotels that creatively fulfill their target guests’ needs continue to do well. Have a favorite stay? Always check their twitter feed before booking.

5) TripAdvisor
The one stop shop for hotel and bed & breakfast reviews, Tripadvisor.com now has over 25 million reviews to read and for the most part, trust. It allows travelers to find out if construction on an addition is currently waking guests up at 8 am or if the service staff is exquisitely well trained and motivated.

6) Hotel Alternatives
The 2008/2009 economic downturn was a booming opportunity for those associated with what are typically more frugal accommodation alternatives. I don’t have to look across the street at HomeAway.com’s new office here in downtown Austin to understand the benefits of structured information for deal-seeking travelers and scheduled booking for their home-owning clients. The acquisition of VRBO.com secured their spot in the United States at the top of the vacation home food chain. BedandBreakfast.com operates in a similar space for bed and breakfasts while offering a gift card service for travelers to book nights with their clients.

7) Airport, Capsule, or Mini-Hotels
The nap & shower model tries to grab travelers with long layovers or heavy hangovers. Honolulu International Airport tried it but eventually failed, yet the nearby Nimitz Shower Tree Mini-Hotel is picking-up where they left off. The model is not very popular in the States, but Europe and Japan boast a healthy demand for weary travelers looking for a convenient reprieve. A popular capsule hotel near Kabukicho in Tokyo is mostly for recovering businessmen after an evening of drunken debauchery.

Capsule hotel in Japan. One at a time please. (Source: Yesicanusechopsticks)

8) Boutique hotels in the U.S.
According to The Independent, the term “boutique hotel” was coined by entrepreneur Steve Rubell when he and Ian Schrager opened Morgans on Madison Avenue in 1984, because, for comparison, it was more like a boutique rather than a department store. The popularity of this experience blossomed with the real estate boom and bust of the past few years. Whether companies trying to differentiate their properties from the norm will continue on this path coming out of this downturn remains to be answered.

9) Green Hotels
The green hotel movement gained momentum this last decade. A percentage of travelers demand they stay in not only a LEED certified structure, but with environmentally conscious services. The hotel’s LEED plaque will state whether the hotel has silver, gold, or platinum status. Sheraton’s Element Hotels is the first hotel chain that requires all properties be LEED certified. At the far end of the spectrum, Maho Bay Camps in the Virgin Islands range from “eco-tents” to rain-collecting cottages.

10) Frequent Visitor Preferences
The last decade have seen guest services launch into a completely new dimension. The Seinfeld episode where George injures his hamstring trying to kick out his tucked-in bedsheets has some truth to it, as the maid actually left the correct bed untucked (George and Jerry were in different beds when the request was made). Some hotel chains now keep track of your favorite soap and shampoo, what radio station to have your alarm dialed to, and yes, whether or not to leave your sheets untucked. Guests have become less paranoid about allowing their hotel to keep this information and the smart managers have taken advantage.

11) The iHome
Speaking of alarm clocks, the growth mp3 popularity from Napster to today’s legal paid services forced many hotels to recognize the antiquated nature of the $10 alarm clock. Enter the iHome. There are many variations, but the iHome became the defacto standard for playing mp3s in your room. And in the future? Bittel Electronics just created an alarm clock/phone/radio/iPod/iPhone/mp3 player interface called the UNO. Nice.

phone + clock/radio + iPod dock = UNO (Source: Bittelcom)

12) HTNG: Hotel Technology Next Generation
Founded in 2002, the association exists to guide the behind-the-scenes technology into some form of sanity. Hotel managers have notoriously fought with multiple booking, room-scheduling, point-of-sale, rate-spreading, appointment-scheduling in the past. HTNG has guided vendors to unify their offerings to work together to meet the accommodation industry’s needs. They’re a “global trade association that fosters, through collaboration and partnership among hoteliers and technology providers, the development of next-generation solutions that will enable them to do business globally in the 21st century.”

These requests have help push toward advanced Property Management Systems (yes, PMS) that can be smarter in ways managers have been table-pounding their fists for years ago. Systems now exist that can handle point-of-sale transactions for multiple locations and still remotely turn-off HVAC systems in an unoccupied room.

13) Hotel and Travel Blogs
I’m sure some people still grab travel guide books like Fodor’s, Lonely Planet, or Frommer’s, but much like the newspaper industry, travel information has migrated online. The people that still do pick-up these books are half “I don’t want to stare at a computer” and half “I want people to see that I’m planning a trip.” Travel is massively broad topic to blog about and as a result, there exists a copious amount of sub-topic travel blogs. Most bloggers get paid by their advertisers, by the hotel or airline industry, or indirectly by both. At Überoom, we’re no different.

A blog review MIGHT not make or break a hotel or bed & breakfast, but high-traffic blogs like Gadling.com, Deliciousbaby.com, and Jaunted.com sure do command respect.

14) Kiosks: Check-in/Check-out/Concierge
As I wrote in Improved Customer Service: Top 3 Reasons Why, the number of employees in the broader accommodation industry has declined for over a year now. However, the decline in guests has outpaced the lay-offs.

During this downturn, hotels are quickly learning the benefits of automation and affiliation. The very same kiosk technology that helps you check-out at the grocery store or print-out your boarding pass at the airport also arrived in your hotel lobby. Not only are kiosks complimenting front desk employees, but your friendly concierge now has a department trainee as well.

All this automation is great, but in order to improve the quality of their services, hotels are increasingly affiliating with companies to provide everything from airport shuttles to special packages, but that detail is best left for another post!

What will the next decade hold for the accommodation industry? Will the current trend of automation continue or will guests push back and request more personal attention? Let me know what you think.

Customer service numbers are up almost across the board despite hotel amenities and staff cuts.

Times are tough in the hospitality industry, but even with hotel amenities and staff cuts, most are getting higher customer service marks.

The newly released survey by J.D. Power and Associates showed most hotels in the U.S. did better in satisfying guest needs from June 2008 to May 2009. We’d like to propose three major reasons for this improvement.

First, hospitality jobs are becoming scarce as of late. While we find hard to measure, employees that seek to stay employed are likely feeling more thankful now more than in past years. They will no doubt work harder to keep employed, and in the hospitality industry, this means going the extra mile to help out guests they might have said “sorry” to in the past. Employees that kept their jobs were also very likely those that were already better at customer service. Coupled with establishments pushing brand loyalty programs, hotels are no doubt working harder to keep their current guests.

Second, there are fewer guests frequenting hotels. By the end of the first full week in May, Smith Travel Research reported occupancy rates fell 14% year over year. PricewaterhouseCoopers had only forecast a drop of 3.5%, which would have already put the industry at lower rates than in 1971!

We have to roughly compare these numbers with the hospitality employment data over the same period. From June 2008 to June 2009, the ADP report shows the Accommodation Industry’s employment dropped 8.3%, from 1,955,300 to 1,793,900. Also, most of the hotels in the survey are larger or midsize organizations, which, as is the current lay-off trend in America, kept a larger percentage of employees than small businesses.

So with a strong desire to work harder to please one’s guest coupled with the strong likelihood of a decrease in customers per employee, it should come as no surprise that guests are all smiles.

What’s the third reason? Lower prices of course, by 9.4%. If any hotel guest is not feeling like royalty in their own newly discounted castle, something is not right!