A Hotel Back-Up Plan

[trip style = any]

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WARNING: today's topic is going to sound a lot like a one-on-one travel therapy session. Relax. It won't be that bad. In fact, it might free you from the travel fears that bind you...

Planning a trip takes time {late nights}, research {multiple browser windows} and savoir-faire {knowing the best travel sites to book for your trip style and destination}.

A huge cog in the pre-trip planning wheel is securing a hotel. Fear sets in. If you're only partially through your research and don't know a city's up from down or left from right, what to do? To commit or not to commit at the "right" property, in the "right" area, with the "right" trip style. Just breathe.

One tried and true Trip Styler Tip for avoiding booking trepidation is to arm yourself with a trusty back-up plan that works 100% of the time and results in a more serene booking process. For example, if I'm waffling over what hotel to book {always}, I secure a cancellable "B" booking---a solid hotel choice that gets my foot in the door of a destination, but doesn't require the all-in {financial and otherwise} commitment.

How To Book A Back-Up Hotel 1/ Do a little research and book a back-up hotel with a cancellable rate for your top hotel choice. 2/ The best resources for this are: Booking.com and hotel websites {ie - fairmont.com} 3/ Once you're more confident about your destination, confirm or deny your initial choice. 4/ If it's solid, maintain the booking {and consider scouring the web for an even better deal}; if it isn't up to snuff, book elsewhere and cancel the initial rate.

Trip Styler Tip :: When searching for a hotel with the option to cancel on booking.com, scan each page for "free cancellation" or click control f {command f on a mac} to find options quickly. At present, you can't filter results by free cancellation.

Related Google Traveler Tricks Book A Hotel Online With Expert Recommendations STOP, Are You Using A Promo Code? Trading Airline Points The Six-Week Rule For Buying Airline Tix

[photo of The Back-up Plan movie found online and updated for today's purposes]

Roam+Board :: The Saguaro

[trip style = sun + extended weekend getaway] {more pics below}

{Editor’s Note :: This month we’re featuring one of our favorite trip style = sun destinations: Phoenix/Scottsdale. So far, we’ve been singing its praises with odes to girls' getaways, a stay at the Arizona Biltmore and a Spring Training baseball game. More to come.}

What Picture a contemporary art gallery where stark white walls and pops of color commingle like a rainbow with Pantone precision. Now, insert piles of palms, water features, quiet and be-seen pools, a spa, and a vibe that's more approachable than "accessory dog" and you've got The Saguaro, the newest notch on Scottsdale's hotel belt.

When hotels create an environment that makes you never want to leave, they've done a good job. Such is the case at this hip hotel. The lobby is where the magic happens. With one panning glance over lime green banquettes and purple equipale seats, note: - Garces Trading Company // a woodsy coffee outpost with design features like an apothecary chest housing the sugars and stir sticks; - Old Town Whiskey // a lounge with a den-like demeanor carrying 100 varieties of whiskey, bourbon, rye and scotch; - Distrito // helmed by Jose Garces {the Food Network’s 2010 The Next Iron Chef winner} where a fiesta of colors surround street-style Mexican food served on sparkly tables.

And if you're coming for a trip style = sun + extended weekend, consider skipping the car rental. The hotel is located in one of Scottsdale's most walkable areas near a park, contemporary art gallery, major shopping mall and the Old Town.

I just stayed at this hotel last week and it passes the Trip Styler test with flying colors!

Where Scottsdale, AZ, about 25 minutes from the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport {PHX}.

When High season is between November and April due to mostly sunny, 20 - 30-degree Celsius weather. Summer is desert-hot with cool rates.

Who/Why With an eye for design, you seek out where the cool cats hang in every city; plus, color blocking is HOT this season, so obviously you'll stay here. Bring your bathing suit, a lengthy lap pool awaits.

Cost From $289 in peak winter season and $109 in the summer. There is no resort fee. Internet is free in the lobby, and avoid the $9.95 in-room wifi charge if you join the hotel's Joy of Life loyalty program. Parking is $14/day. Bark meow, pets free.

*Traveling to PS versus PHX? A Saguaro just opened in Palm Springs too!

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More Roam+Board Arizona Biltmore - Phoenix Llipimpac Guesthouse – Cusco, Peru Postcard Inn At Holiday Isle – Florida Keys Nira Alpina – Switzerland Rockhouse – Jamaica Hotel Bellevue – Near Seattle Rolling Huts – Methow Valley {WA} From ice hotels to Anna Wintour’s steal-of-a-deal holiday escape, find all featured R+B properties here.

[photos taken by @tripstyler (+ a few from the saguaro) while a guest of The Saguaro]

Tech Tuesday :: Phoneography

[trip style = any]

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I know, we favor the iPhone just a tad here at Trip Styler. Blame our former Blackberries, which really nailed it on the email and bbm front...

Basic smartphone functions aside, when you can make your iPhone look like a classic camera and enhance its photos, we're sold.

Meet the Photojojo Rangefinder {$65 usd}, a phoneography system equipped with a shutter button, viewfinder, aperture numbers {just for show}, camera strap loops and tripod mount. Add on the fisheye, wide angle/macro and 2x telephoto magnetic lenses {mentioned in my 2012 wish list when I was interviewed by The Calgary Herald}, and you've got a triple threat {total for rangefinder and lenses $99 usd}.

Details - Case turns 'volume up' button into a shutter button - Surround doesn't block the charging dock or any buttons - Works with iPhone 4/4S

PS - Self-portrait perfection? A mirror is built into the faux front lens.

More Tech Tuesday Google Traveler Tricks Book A Hotel Online With Expert Recommendations STOP, Are You Using A Promo Code? Trading Airline Points The Six-Week Rule For Buying Airline Tix

[photos via photojojo]

Jetset Jingles :: A Gals' Getaway Soundtrack

[trip style = gals' getaway]

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{Jetset Jingles publishes once monthly. The 'soundtrack' is written, mixed and mastered by Nicole, amateur DJ by night and movie maven by day.}

Last weekend some of TS gals packed their bags and headed to sunny Phoenix, Arizona for a girls weekend away---one of my a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e favorite trip styles! There’s nothing like leaving the men behind, over-packing your suitcase with shoes and too many outfits, and hitting the road for a week{end} of fun with the girls.

Before the recent baby-boom within my group of friends, we used to take a few girls' getaways a year. Depending on the season and our state of mind, our trips looked like this: summer // lounging lakeside at the cabin and shopping crusades to Los Angeles; fall // spa weekends somewhere off the beaten track; winter // cozy ski weekends in Whistler; spring // high-octane trips to Vegas. Even now, with the addition of babies, we still try and plan at least a couple of girls-only weekends a year!

No matter what trip style we choose for our gals' getaways, I have always been and remain in charge of providing the soundtrack. This month I’ve created the ultimate girls' getaway playlist---one with a mix of iconic hits from the past and current singles that will get you and your girlfriends excited for whatever adventure lies ahead.

Happy Listening.

Song List 1/ Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - To Memphis With Love 2/ Holiday - Madonna 3/ Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) - I Am... Sasha Fierce (Deluxe Version) 4/ We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) - We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) - Single 5/ I Gotta Feeling - The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) 6/ Born This Way - Born This Way (Bonus Track Version) 7/ Good Feeling - Good Feeling - Single 8/ Fire In Your New Shoes (feat. Dragonette) - Fire In Your New Shoes (feat. Dragonette) - Single 9/ You've Got the Love - Lungs 10/ Don't Stop Believin' - Journey: Greatest Hits

Playlist {Can't view the playlist?}

More Jetset Jingles Portlandia - The Mecca Of Indie Rock Palm Springs Rat Packin’ Caribbean R+R Best of Coachella Turbulence Calm

[photo via nicole]

Arizona Spring Training

[trip style = sightseeing]

{Editor’s Note :: This month we’re featuring one of our favourite trip style = sun destinations: Phoenix/Scottsdale. So far, we've been singing the praises of a GG in AZ & Roam+Board :: Arizona Biltmore. More from our AZ choir sheet to come.}

Every March Arizona gets a littler hotter than its norm {read: 23 degrees Celsius average} with the body heat of t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d-s of fans who storm the desert for Spring Training Baseball. And it's not just out-of-towner's, the locals get fever pitch too. With 15 Major League baseball teams batting up, it's like an outdoor beer garden with pretzels, and peanuts---now if only they made radlers... I had the opportunity to sit in the eighth row behind third base and watch the Arizona Diamondbacks versus the Colorado Rockies in their sold-out season opener last weekend. I've been humming "take me out to the ball game" ever since....

{Trip Styler Tip :: Spring training baseball is a guaranteed good time, and tickets are cheap. Perfect for mancations, girls' getaways and family vacays. And if spectating on a grassy knoll picnic-style appeals to you as much as it does to me, some parks have this type of seating. BYOB: bring your own blanket.}

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More IMG_FRI Tipping Etiquette Infographic Harrison’s Secrets Bora Bora Portlandia Honolulu Urbanesque Coffee Shop in Bellevue, WA

[photos by @tripstyler]