In this economy, everyone is trying to cut costs and save money where they can. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to take a beach vacation without going broke, according to Marc Eisenmann. A well-known entrepreneur, Eisenmann is the owner of Hollywood Beach Hotels in South Florida. He says that when it comes to families who are on a budget, the best way to save money while on vacation is by choosing a hotel room with its own kitchenette or traveling in the off-season.
Here is even more of his expert advice.
Cut down on food costs.
The costs associated with dining out for three meals a day, five nights in a row can be astronomical. For most families, spending $150 to $200 for each dinner outside of the hotel during a week’s vacation is unfeasible. Eisenmann says he has a better idea for vacationers, though. “I always recommend to people with large families that they check out hotels that offer rooms with small kitchens or kitchenettes,” he says.
Having a kitchenette in the hotel room is a great way to reduces costs since it is much cheaper to buy breakfast and lunch items at a grocery store than to eat all of those meals out at cafes and restaurants. “A lot of people think that if they go to a four- or five-star hotel and they get it at a good price, that they are saving money,” Eisenmann explains. “But if the room they paid for doesn’t have any kitchen facilities, then they are going to eat up that savings — literally — by dining out 15 or more times during the course of a week’s vacation.”
At some Hollywood Beach hotels, Eisenmann warns, beverages can be priced upwards of $3 a pop, and families are forced to leave the resort if they want to spend any less than $150 or $200 on dinner with the kids. “No matter how good of a price you got on a hotel room, if you are being forced to spend that much on food, then that is not a good overall deal,” he says.
Instead, Eisenmann explains that the key to getting the most bang for your buck in a down economy is to put yourself in a situation where you can cook some meals yourself and eat some meals out at nice restaurants. “Most families who stay at our hotels will make their own lunches or order in from a nearby pizza shop and sit outside at our tables to enjoy their meals,” he says. Those same families may still go to a nice meal at an expensive restaurant — but only once or twice during the week instead of every night.
Filling a mini fridge with food from a nearby supermarket is one of the best ways to satisfy picky eaters, as well, since it allows parents to feed kids many of their favorite foods from home even while they are on vacation. And because hotels in Hollywood Beach typically have outdoor eating areas, Eisenmann says it is oftentimes more desirable to enjoy a fun family dinner at an outdoor table than to be stuck inside a restaurant spending a bunch of money on a fancy meal.
Travel in the off-season.
Certainly, as far as in-season/off-season traveling goes, people can significantly cut costs by traveling to Florida in the off-season, according to Eisenmann. “The most expensive time to go to Florida is from Thanksgiving until Easter. And then once Easter passes, it is officially the off-season,” he says. The difference in hotel pricing during the off-season can be as much 50% less than during the high-season winter months.
Vacationers who can plan trips during the week days can expect to save even more money, because it is typically much less expensive to stay at many of the hotels on Hollywood Beach from Sunday through Thursday than it would be to book a room on a Friday or Saturday.
Take advantage of last-minute savings.
Waiting until the last minute to book a hotel stay can be risky, Eisenmann explains, because there’s no telling how bookings will be during the week in which you were planning to stay. In the current economy, however, there are likely to be far more rooms available to vacationers — even for those who wait until the last minute to make a reservation. The downside to waiting until the last minute to book a hotel in Hollywood Beach, however, is that prices will not fluctuate that much depending on when the hotel room is reserved. He recommends that vacationers understand in advance that more risk might be involved in waiting until the last minute to book a hotel room than there is benefit, since it’s unlikely that you will save much money that way, anyway.
