| Tip of the Month: Early Booking Discounts By Mr X. Concierge |
| Featured Topic: Arts and Music By Rezvia Hotel Specialist |
| Hotel Packages |
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There’s an old Cole Porter ‘cowboy’ tune called Don’t Fence Me In. In hotel lingo, being fenced in can be a very good thing for travelers. Hotels often offer ‘fenced’ rates that require you to book early—the earlier the better the discount can be—AND prepay your entire stay. In turn, you get killer savings. Example? Book at least 14 days before your arrival date and get 15 per cent off the regular rate, or book seven days out and maybe score a ten per cent discount.
Besides paying in full when you book, another ‘fence’ is that you can’t change anything—no date changes and no cancellations—you’re totally locked in. If you’re 100 percent sure that you’ll be traveling on those dates, you can save big. Usually the further ahead you book, the bigger the discount. Fence me in!
With a few more weeks of glorious summer left there’s no time to like the present to take in Vancouver’s magical Bard on the Beach (the season ends September 27), Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park (to August 15), or Festival Vancouver’s stellar lineup of classical, jazz and world music at venues around Vancouver (August 3 to 17). See www.tourismvancouver.com for these and more. If a concert is more your thing, try the River Rock Casino—Pat Benatar and the Gipsy Kings are featured this month (www.riverrock.com/entertainment), and the Red Robinson Show Theatre (www.blvdcasino.com/entertainment) has the Doobie Brothers and Boz Scaggs in its lineup. Tickets Tonight in the Tourism Info Centre sells tickets for everything, and features deals on theatre and comedy club tickets (www.ticketstight.ca).
Victoria is brimming with options too. Your quickest way to scope the scene is Tourism Victoria’s events section (www.tourismvictoria.com) that lists everything from the Inner Harbour’s Sunday Harbour Ferry Water Ballet, Butchart Garden’s summer evening concerts featuring country, classical, rock and jazz artists, and the 7th Annual B.C. Culture Crawl.
No slouch when it comes to artistic endeavours, Nanaimo is more than worthy especially as the Government of Canada has designated it one of five Culture Capital of Canada cities for 2008. Check out the likes of the Nanaimo Blues Festival August 15 to 24, the Nanaimo Nine Art Gallery tour, August 15th’s Summertime Blues Concert, and plenty more at www.tourismnanaimo.com.