Trip Quips » News and Views

Rooms with a BOO!

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:11:40 +0000

Hard to believe, but Halloween is just around the corner.

How about staying in a haunted hotel this year? Here are a few choices:

*Anchorage, Alaska: Ghosts roam the halls at the Historic Anchorage Hotel so frequently that the manager keeps a journal to keep track of them all. Among the resident ghosts is John J. Sturgus, the first chief of police in the city, who was shot outside the hotel in 1921. Guests also often see a young woman wearing a wedding dress who wanders the second floor. Reportedly, she hanged herself when her husband-to-be left her standing at the altar.

*Estes Park, Colorado: Of course, The Stanley Hotel is famous for serving as the inspiration for Stephen King’s novel The Shining, but King stayed in Room 217 – not 237, the room number in the movie – where he wrote most of the novel. One of the more popular ghosts is F.O. Stanley, founder of the Stanley Steamer company, who built the hotel. The fourth floor is even more haunted than the second; find out on the hotel’s ghost tour. If you get the heebie-jeebies, head downstairs and relax in the spa until your nerves unjangle.

*Fall River, Massachusetts: The site of the infamous parenticide supposedly committed by Lizzie “Did She Or Didn’t She” Borden in August of 1892 is now a bed-and-breakfast where guests can see the room where the murders took place. They can also sit at a breakfast table set with the very foods the Bordens ate on that fateful morning: bananas, johnnycakes, and cookies. As expected, the ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. Borden roam the house. Watch for an unexplained mist in the parlor and a body-shaped dent that suddenly appears on an undisturbed bed.

*St. Louis, Missouri: Professional ghost hunters consider the Lemp Mansion – with five guest suites and a small restaurant – one of the most haunted houses in the country. The three-story mansion was home to a local beer baron whose family experienced three suicides and one family member murdering another over a short period of time. New Yorker Michael Dolan has visited the Mansion and heard stories about guests who ran outside in the middle of the night and never came back. “It’s a gorgeous mansion, but I had an uncomfortable feeling the whole time,” he said. Haunted tours are given weekly on Monday nights.

*Granville, Ohio: The Buxton Inn is frequented most often by the ghosts of former owners. Massachusetts industrialist Orin Granger built the inn in 1812, and today he appears as an elderly gentleman dressed in knee breeches. The staff knows he’s to blame whenever a pie disappears from the kitchen. Major Buxton, who ran the inn from 1865 to 1905, likes to show up on cold winter nights. Some guests have seen him sitting in a chair near the dining room fireplace while others have watched as a pair of hands suddenly appeared next to theirs as they warmed up by the fire.

*Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Whenever the player piano turns on by itself at The Historic Hotel Bethlehem, the staff knows that the ghost of May Yohe, a famous Victorian actress who grew up at the hotel, is paying a visit. Other familiar ghosts include local resident Francis Thomas and guest Mrs. Brong. But there’s one ghost, in Room 932 to be exact, whose identity remains unknown, but nevertheless causes trouble by sending a stack of paper flying into the air or turning the bathroom wallpaper pink. If you want to help the hotel with their investigation, check into 932.

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Food Straight From The Source in New Hampshire

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:51:34 +0000

These days, many people want to eat and drink food that’s produced close to home. There are plenty of places throughout New Hampshire where you can buy local wine, cheese, meats, and other foods straight from the source and to witness their creation.

Candia: Candia Vineyards winemaker Bob Dabrowski produces award-winning zinfandels and chardonnays and more exotic Frontenac and Diamond vintages.

Canterbury: At Fox Country Smoke House, Matthew and Sarah Fox cure a variety of smoked meats, including ham, smoked trout, and duck.

Dorchester: The folks at D Acres Farm love to spread the word about organic agriculture and sustainable living. Tour the fields or take a composting workshop.

Lee: Flag Hill Winery makes wines in traditional vintages and blueberry, peach and raspberry flavors. Ask for a taste of Sugar Maple Liqueur, vodka infused with New Hampshire maple syrup.

Littleton: At Littleton Grist Mill, watch millstones two feet in diameter grind wheat into flour in a mill that dates back to the 1800s.

North Sandwich: At the Sandwich Creamery, visit the cows then taste the cheddar, brie, and Cow Tracks ice cream: vanilla with peanut butter cups and fudge chunks.

Piermont: At Robie Farm on Route 10, Lee and Betty Sue Robie sell eggs, sausage and beef direct to visitors. Try the heavenly raw milk. Call ahead at 603-272-4872.

South Hampton: Winemaker Dr. Peter Oldak of Jewell Towne Vineyards pampers his grapes. Visit for a tour, wine tasting, or a pruning demonstration.

Thornton: During sugaring season, Benton’s Sugar Shack serves up pancakes topped off with maple syrup still hot from the evaporator.

Walpole: The motto at Boggy Meadow Farm? One visit with the cows will help their cheese – including baby Swiss and Jack – come to life for you.

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Test Drive a New Career on Vacation

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:33:43 +0000

Who doesn’t dream of chucking it all and starting a brand-new career or business? You don’t have to leave everything behind to see if your dreams match the reality. Instead you can test out a new career on your next vacation. The list of possibilities is endless: Doggie daycare, chocolatier, farmer, hat designer, even a member of a pit crew.

“It’s wise to look before you leap,” says Brian Kurth, author of Test-Drive Your Dream Job and founder of VocationVacations, a service that matches the dreamers with experienced mentors in their field, who then spend an intense two or three days together. Though this may not sound like much time, it’s usually enough for most people to decide if they’re cut out for a particular field.
Others choose to work independently and design their career test drives at a more leisurely pace, conducting research and contacting mentors on their own.

Either way will work. The important thing is to just do it.

Once your plans are set, it’s time to consider your goals. “What do you want to take away from the experience?” he asks. “What kind of advice do you need to help you move forward?”

Not everyone decides to proceed afterwards, and that’s okay. “It’s far better to realize you may not be cut out for your dream job before you invest time or money,” says Kurth.

With this in mind, here are three popular choices for a career test drive:

*Bed & Breakfast Innkeeper: Darlene Proctor, a registered nurse from Baltimore, had long dreamed of owning a bed-and-breakfast inn. In March 2008, via VocationVacations, she arranged to spend a few days with Chloe Tuttle at The Big Mill Bed and Breakfast in Williamston, North Carolina. She hit the ground running, shadowing Chloe for the entire weekend, greeting guests, making breakfast, and cleaning rooms and toilets.

One important lesson Darlene learned: as the owner, the show must go on no matter what. She had an attack of bronchitis just as Chloe had to leave for a few hours, but Darlene had no choice but to take charge, ironing sheets, folding towels, and answering guests’ questions in Chloe’s absence.

After she returned home, Darlene was undeterred. In fact, she felt the entire experience was invaluable and decided to go full speed ahead with plans to purchase a couple of bed-and-breakfast inns.

*Travel Company: Though she had worked in a variety of professions over the years, Wendy Storch of Los Angeles always wondered how to turn her love for food and travel into a new career. Her DIY career test drive took several years of on-and-off planning and traveling.

She visited different parts of Italy for a week each year to take cooking classes, practice her Italian, and sample tours. On one trip, she brought along a friend and she discovered that being a tour guide required finesse and diplomacy since her friend wanted to do different things. “I learned that it’s very important to listen, ask questions, and read between the lines,” she said. “And it’s impossible to please anyone entirely since people have very different expectations.”

After that trip, she started Travelicious to run culinary group tours in France and Italy. “Everything that I’ve ever done has led me here,” she said.

*Professional Golfer: Even though James Suttie of Vancouver, Canada, works with The Green Room, an indoor golf performance center, and has golfed throughout North America and Scotland and Ireland, he’d always dreamed about living the life of a professional golfer. He headed for Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, for ten days of eating, drinking, and breathing at the Church of Golf.

Though he took lessons and played twice a day, Suttie didn’t spend all of his time with a golf club in his hand. The program is designed so aspiring pros can learn about the business behind the sport, and Suttie spent time with the maintenance crew mowing grass, and hung out with the executive team as well as caddies.

In the end, he admits that his pro golfer test drive was half pleasure and half test drive. “It’s hard to imagine what a new vocation will be like based on a short sampling, but it was a great experience,” he said.

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Don’t Just Sit There…Learn Something!

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:16:04 +0000

If you’re the type who doesn’t like to loll on the beach on vacation, taking a trip where you learn how to do something new might be just the thing.

According to the Travel Industry Association, about thirty million adults have taken a learning vacation in the last three years, whether for a weekend or a week or longer. Though some vacationers choose photography classes or surfing lessons, there are more adventurous choices. How about learning the art of blacksmithing, playing the bagpipes or learning to drive a Porsche on a professional racetrack? They’re all here and more. For more ideas, check out the online Shaw Guides.

1. Race a car. If you’re an early adopter when it comes to new radar detection devices, the Porsche Sport Driving School is for you. You’ll learn high-performance vehicle skills in a one- or two-day workshop taught by former racecar drivers at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. And you’ll be happy to know that you’ll spend most of the time zooming around the state-of-the-art 2-1/2-mile track with both on- and off-road driving opportunities. An eighty-foot change in elevation makes the course particularly challenging, which is perfect for learning the finer points of high-performance driving. Then of course, let’s not forget about the cars: you’ll test your newfound racing skills with the cream of the crop: the Boxster, the Cayman S, and the 911 Carrera.

2. Hit an anvil. The Heritage School at The Conservancy, 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, offers numerous three- to five-day courses teaching techniques that were necessary skills in the 19th century. In Basic Blacksmithing, you’ll learn how to weld and design a tool with an anvil over gas and coal forges. Extend your learning vacation in old-school arts by signing up for additional courses in knifemaking, coopering (barrel-making) and period cradle-making.

3. Paint in Italy. If the idea of spending a week painting in a small mountain town in Italy is your idea of paradise, how about painting by moonlight and candlelight? Painter Patricia Antonucci runs The Abruzzi Mountain Workshop, which offers classes for beginning and advanced artists in the town of Anversa, 75 miles east of Rome. You’ll start the week off with a two-day intensive drawing class before diving into fresco or mural painting, or learning collage.

4. Play the bagpipes, speak Gaelic. If you’ve always had a hankering for the Celtic Arts, head for The Gaelic College. Dabble in the Gaelic language, master a few Irish dance steps, and learn the right way to wear a kilt in a series of five-day workshops in a small log cabin overlooking St. Ann’s Bay in Cape Breton, the earliest Scottish settlement in Canada.

5. Pretend you’re a Scottish land baron. The Gleneagles resort in Perthshire, Scotland, lets aspiring genteel countrymen can partake in falconry, clay shooting, and gun dog school all in the shadow of an early 20th-century hotel, which was billed as the Riviera of the Highlands when it was built in 1924. For the less adventurous, there’s a full-service spa and three legendary golf courses, one of which predates the hotel.

6. Be a winemaker. Kids go to a wide variety of different camps, why not adults? Indeed, why not Wine Camp? Over the course of four days in Long Island’s Wine Country you’ll go through Winemaking 101 as you work alongside winemakers and winery owners to make wine, and discover what it takes to manage a vineyard. You’ll learn about the chemistry of winemaking as you blend your own wines, prune vines in the vineyards and match food with the perfect wine.

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Seven Family Summer Vacations That Won’t Break the Bank

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:48:21 +0000

If you think you have to pass up a summer vacation because your finances are a bit squished, think again. The key to an affordable family getaway is to choose a package deal at a hotel, resort, or farm with a wealth of activities for kids and grownups alike.

Here are seven summer vacation packages your family will long remember.

1. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina A great way to save money on a family vacation is to book a room with a kitchen. The Marina Inn at Grand Dunes is located in a quiet section of this seaside resort town and each large two- and three-bedroom suite has a fully-equipped kitchen.

2. Cancun, Mexico With the dollar still strong against the Mexican peso, heading south of the border is a good choice for a bargain family vacation. The Escape! Family Package at the CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort includes breakfast, a pizza and movie night, and milk-and-cookies turndown service. At the Kids Club, guests between four and twelve can make a mess in arts and crafts, take a few Spanish lessons, and whip up some enchiladas in Mexican cooking classes at the Kids Cocina.

3. Tamarack, Idaho Summertime in the mountains of Central Idaho brings warm days and cool nights, and plenty of outdoor family activities at the Tamarack Resort. Biking, hiking, and golfing just scratch the surface of the activities here: zipline tours, whitewater raft trips, rock climbing, kayaking, fly-fishing, and a bungee trampoline are also available.

4. Traverse City, Michigan Though the suites at Great Wolf Lodge look like the inside of a mountain cabin, the resort’s greatest attraction is a 38,000 square-foot indoor water park. A giant treehouse waterfort towers over suspension bridges and waterslides, an extreme tube ride, a water rollercoaster, and enough smaller pools and hot tubs to guarantee hours of exploration for kids and adults. If you get waterlogged, there’s an arcade, a spa for kids and adults, an interactive fantasy adventure game, and an 18-hole miniature golf course.

5. Maine Get your sea legs ready for a trip on a 19th-century sailing ship with the Maine Windjammer Association. Twelve schooners offer trips to explore coastal villages and uninhabited islands, watch for seals and whales, and build a beachside campfire. You can even pretend you’re a pirate.

6. Aruba Even though this tiny island is less than ten miles long and six miles across, you won’t run out of things to do at the Tamarijn Aruba resort. Snorkel, play tennis and swim, and learn to speak Papiamento, the official language of Aruba. After dinner, the whole family can learn to salsa, watch a Latin dance show or water ballet, and go to movie night on the beach.

7. Disney World We know that Florida in August is not the best place in the world to be. But going to Disney World in summertime has its advantages, and six nights in a standard room at a Disney Value Resort for a family of four is about the cheapest you’ll find all year. Pat Curry of Watkinsville, Georgia, took her kids to Disney World in August once and here’s her advice: “Go to the park early and stay until just before lunch, then go back to your hotel and chill out at the pool for the rest of the day,” she suggests. “You’ll be cooler and the lines will be shorter. And wear sunscreen or you’ll be fried by the end of the first day.”

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America’s National Parks: Advice for Families

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:20:37 +0000

For many families, a trip to one of America’s National Parks is as important as that first trip to Disney World: It’s a significant rite of passage for parents and children.

While Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are must-sees, there are a number of lesser known parks across the United States with fewer crowds and more adventurous activities. You can all spend a week on a houseboat in northern Minnesota, or your kids can explore a network of Kentucky caves on a no-parents-allowed journey. But before you plan a park trip, it’s important to make sure everyone will be happy.

“The most important thing parents can do is pick a park with activities appropriate for every family member,” says Kurt Repanshek, author of Frommer’s National Parks with Kids. “Parents need to be sure they don’t settle on a park where the activities like climbing, rafting or even hiking, are more challenging than their kids can handle,” he says. “Most parks offer a wide range of activities, so a family with children of different ages could split up for a day or two with mom and some kids going in one direction and dad and the other kids in another.”

For example, at Yosemite a teenager might like the challenge of a climbing school while a younger child would prefer an easy hike around a lake. At Acadia in Maine, a teen can learn to sea kayak, and a younger child could ride a bike on the carriage paths or paddle a canoe on Long Pond.

In fact, your biggest problem may be finding there’s too much to do, especially with the Junior Ranger programs which are similar to a scouting merit badge program. Upon arrival, each child receives a booklet with a list of activities, ranging from a scavenger hunt to a park ranger-led nature walk. When the child completes the list, the ranger presents him or her with a badge.

Kids can get a headstart before they leave home by signing up for the online WebRangers program where they can play games, decode secret messages and learn about the different badges they can earn.

No matter which park you choose, Repanshek says the best way is to pace the trip for the entire family. “National parks are not designed to be enjoyed on the fly,” he says. “Don’t over-schedule your vacation by trying to squeeze as many sights and activities as possible into it, and don’t be afraid to say, ‘We’ll come back next year.

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Post tags: Acadia, Disney World, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite

5 Great Eco-Resorts

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:39:53 +0000

Bucuti Beach Resort as seen from the ocean.

In the past couple of years, as environmental awareness has spread like wildfire, the increase has naturally spread to the choices we make about travel.

“People are interested in going to eco-friendly resorts because they’re acting more environmentally responsible at home and want to visit places that care as much as they do,” says Kit Cassingham of EnvironmentallyFriendlyHotels.com. “Hotels and resorts historically have been extremely wasteful but are now starting to act with more environmental sensitivity. As a result, more travelers want to support green hotels and to practice their environmentally friendly activities on the road.”

Though we don’t like to think about it, traveling consumes a lot of energy, not only to get to a destination but also upon arrival. While some vacation spots may tout their green-ness by boasting that they don’t wash sheets or towels everyday unless the guest specifically requests it, if that’s all they do it’s just lip service. It may take a little extra effort to uncover resorts that go well beyond the basics and practice environmental conservation in every corner of their operations, but it’s well worth it. The best eco-resorts pay equal attention to greening the services guests can see as well as those behind the scenes.

Here are five eco-resorts that live up to green principles.

*Aruba: Bucuti Beach Resort: Environmentally-aware couples who want a healthy dose of green with their luxury should head to Bucuti, an upscale resort with a green twist. Here, a dedicated Green Team of employees encourages guests to participate in beach cleanups and recycling contests, and all the water used in showers, sinks and baths is collected in a grey-water recycling system, treated, and then used to irrigate the grounds.

*Belize: Machaca Hill Lodge at the Laughing Falcon Reserve is an 11,000-acre private nature reserve with plenty of opportunities for eco-tourists, with miles of marked nature trails to explore and watch for specific birds and wildlife, and kayaking and canoeing on the Rio Grande. The Lodge’s environmental practices include composting and recycling, and using non-toxic cleaners and non-toxic pest control.

*Weston, Florida: The Hyatt Regency Bonaventure was the first property in its county to win certification from Florida’s Green Lodging Program for its eco-friendly initiatives. Within a month of replacing the incandescent light bulbs in all 501 guestrooms and common areas with compact fluorescent bulbs, the resort’s energy consumption bill was cut by over $30,000.

*Kauai, Hawaii: The Kaua’i Marriott Resort & Beach Club has successfully tackled a massive energy drain common to resorts: it heats its 26,000 square-foot swimming pool solely via renewable energy. First, a power plant that consists of two propane-fueled Caterpillar engines produces 30 percent of the resort’s power. Then, the cast-off heat generated by the engines warms the 850,000-gallon swimming pool year-round.

*Ridgeland, South Carolina: Palm Key is a low-impact marshland resort in South Carolina’s Lowcountry that’s perfect for nature lovers. Guests can wander through 3-1/2 miles of nature trails in the resort’s maritime forest where thousands of birds congregate at a time. The resort refrains from using use chemicals on the lawns or landscape and has designed inverted crown roads throughout the property to protect the run-off into the marshlands.

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Haycations & Farm Stays

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:28:10 +0000

As the summer heat starts to sink into city sidewalks, thoughts turn to cool country escapes.

Writer Marian Goldberg stayed at Bold Point Farmstay B&B on Quadra Island, B.C. a few years back, and remembers it as a turning point for her kids. Host Rod is a licensed naturalist/interpretor and former Canadian Park Ranger, who co-owns Bold Point Farm-Stay with his wife Geraldine.

“I went with my daughter, who was then 12 — the perfect age — and my son, who was 8 and a little annoyed at not being able to eat pizza everyday and play his game boy 24/7,” she says.

“But for my daughter, it was nearly life-changing. She even said, “I want to marry a guy like Rod. Not Rod, but a guy like Rod.”

Want to stay on a farm and have the option to dig into your elbows in manure? Or just sit on the porch and watch the cows go by? Check out these farms and a few resources.

*Vermont: Liberty Hill Farm in Rochester, Vermont, has 270 head of Holsteins, and more than enough chores to go around if you’re up for it. Otherwise, it’s a short drive from Woodstock, White River Junction, and Killington. Disclosure: I stayed with host Beth Kennett at Liberty Hill way back in the early 90s, and it’s as good now as it was back then.

*Wyoming: Ladder Ranch is a working cattle ranch with accommodations in a converted cookhouse, bunkhouse, and a separate house known as Lemon’s House.

*Writer Michelle Nowak maintains a blog called The Farm Stay Project.

*SleepintheHay.com offers a directory to almost 100 farmstays in the United States.

*Farmstay UK has been around for almost 30 years.

Have you stayed at a farm before? Give your experience below!

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Dive Into Total Immersion

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:48:39 +0000

If you’re like me, you’ve always dreamed about being fluent in another language, whether it’s Spanish, French, Italian, or Chinese. You’ve probably splurged on foreign language books, tapes and CDs, or maybe even taken a few classes at the community college. And while the language-learning process usually is enjoyable, the words just never seem to stick.

To jump-start the process, serious students might consider enrolling in an intensive foreign language course. Offered in a country where that language is spoken, these programs limit exposure to English while immersing students in the language, culture and history of their choice. Immersion schools exist for every imaginable foreign language — from Albanian to Zulu — but all are designed to speed up the learning process and aid in long-term retention.

When researching available programs, it pays to ask questions. Martha Racine Taylor, the author of Spanish: Live It and Learn It! The Complete Guide to Language Immersion Schools in Mexico, suggests asking potential schools about teaching methods, student-to-teacher ratios and whether students of different skill levels are combined in the same classes.

Parents might be tempted to bring along the little ones in hopes of instilling at a formative age another language, but that may not be a great idea. “A couple can do well if both partners have similar levels and/or motivations, but not if they have children to whom they need to speak English,” says Valerie Guillet, director of the Language Exchange. “Speaking English will break the momentum and reduce the amount of confidence you gain in a short-term immersion program.”

Tips on selecting a program:

*Look for small class sizes, preferably with no more than eight to 10 students per instructor.

*Take a refresher course before you depart by reviewing college textbooks or borrowing tapes or CDs from the library.

*Do some research on the culture, history and geography of the place you’ll be visiting. It helps to know what to expect.

Have you taken an immersion program before? Leave your comments and advice below!

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Castles for Rent

Lisa Rogak for Trip Quips — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:30:04 +0000

If you’ve read the King Arthur legends more times than you can count and your family is worried that you attend too many medieval fairs, it’s probably time for a vacation at an honest-to-goodness castle. Though many medieval castles have been renovated and brought into the 21st century as modern-day hotels, a handful still retain their Middle Age roots and are open to overnight stays, public tours and private and corporate events.

“A castle embodies luxury, romance and chivalry and is laden with history and tradition,” says Freda Katritzky, publisher of Chateaux Prives, a guide to private castles, palaces and estates around the world. “They are the ultimate status symbol, and they were built to impress the beholder and to serve as the seat of ultimate power in the region.”

King Arthur didn’t have WiFi and flat-screen TVs, so living the life of a 17th-century duke or king—even for a day—may be rather spartan. But that’s part of the charm. “Many castles feature an attentive and helpful staff, but don’t expect to receive the level or variety of services you would in a five-star hotel,” says Patricia Blanche, owner of LCF Custom Travel & Tours in La Canada Flintridge, Calif. “Castles tend to be in more remote or rural areas, so fine dining and other entertainment options can be limited.”

If you’re planning a corporate retreat or family event at a castle, Blanche advises, it’s best to plan well in advance “since it’s somewhat difficult to improvise when it comes to last-minute changes in entertainment or activities.” As with hotels and resorts, rates can change throughout the year. In the off-season, a deluxe room can cost as little as $300 per night; at peak times, minimum stays may be required—and prices may run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Castles aren’t just a European phenomenon. They’ve been so important through the ages that they still turn up in some unusual places. Zhang Yuchen, a Chinese entrepreneur, inherited a passion for all things French from his father, who secretly devoured books by Dumas, Flaubert and Voltaire during the Cultural Revolution. His Chateau Beijing Laffitte opened in 2004, ten miles north of the Chinese capital, and is probably the only castle in the world with ten karaoke studios on the premises.

As one of the world’s newer castles, Chateau Beijing is, of course, in top condition. For older estates, you’ll typically come across the phrase “fallen into a state of disrepair” at some point during its history. Indeed, the Oheka Castle in Long Island, New York, has numerous before-and-after pictures on its web site to demonstrate just what “disrepair” can mean. When developer Gary Melius bought the 115-room, 23-acre estate in 1984, the castle had been abandoned for six years—during which time vandals had set more than 100 fires. Even today, after spending $30 million on its restoration, the castle is only 70 percent completed.

Unlike castles that have been converted into hotels, these more traditional properties offer a limited variety of lodging accommodations. Often, your choice is between a small building with one bedroom and a “small” guesthouse that sleeps 30. Though again, there are exceptions.

But just because they were once stately old castles doesn’t mean they’re immune from engaging in a bit of modern-day marketing. Even castles have to set themselves apart from the competition. The Chateau de Villette, for instance, makes no secret that several scenes from “The Da Vinci Code” movie were filmed there; Chateau de Brissac bills itself as the tallest castle in France. At Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, guests are invited to adopt a deer from the herd at the Deer Park at Culzean Castle & Country Park: “All monies from your adoption go towards the upkeep of your chosen animal.”

Staying in a castle is not for everyone. But if you’d like to channel your inner Lancelot or Morgan le Fay, it’s one of life’s un-missable experiences. Says Blanche, “For those who have a sense of history, a bit of an adventurous streak, and can swing with the unexpected, a castle experience can be memorable and most rewarding.”

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