aaahhh…summer
Month: July 2010
Old Travel Guidebooks
If you travel and collect guidebooks…great. What happens when they get old, outdated or you are just not going to use them again? Dust collectors? Book shelf fillers? Food for your storage closet?
Recently I came across some suggestions and have added some of my own. Take a look…
You could always sell them online. www.guidegecko.com allows you to list guidebooks for free and then takes a 15% commission when they sell. There are other sites as well. And just maybe someone is looking for a guidebook on Los Angeles or cheap sleeps in Italy.
Some bookstores buy gently used books. Check out your local store to see if they have such a program.
You could trade them. Look at Swaptree to see how they work.
Give them to a friend…provided the friend wants them.
Leave them. You are finished in Finland and know you won’t be coming back in the near future…leave it with the B&B owner. Just don’t leave it in your room. You may get it mailed back to you!
Give them to a library. Any gently used books are welcome and you can ask for a receipt for tax purposes.
Villas with a Twist
According to concierge.com you can rent some pretty amazing places…check them out.
Twin Palms Sinatra Estate, Palm Springs, California
The dish: Built for Ol’ Blue Eyes and his first wife, Nancy, the 4,500-square-foot Twin Palms Sinatra Estate has 3 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, mid-century furnishings, and Sinatra’s original sound system. A large patio surrounds the cabana and the grand piano-shaped pool.
The details: $1,950 a night, or $650 per room
L’Isle House, Oxfordshire, England
The dish: Play a round while playing lord or lady of the manor at L’Isle House, an 8-bedroom English country house dating to the seventeenth century. The 140-acre estate comprises manufactured gardens, a pool, a tennis court, three fishing lakes, and a private 9-hole golf course. For a full 18 holes, start the course in one direction, then do it again in reverse.
The details: From $25,570 per week, or $456 per room per night
Villa Lyrica, Santorini, Greece
The dish: The 5-bedroom Villa Lyrica, with its traditional Cycladic exterior and modern interior, features a state-of-the-art recording studio (past guests have included celebrity music producers Kevin Shirley and Peer Astrom). The spare, earth-toned décor won’t distract you from your work; for inspiration, head to the terraces, which provide panoramic sea views.
The details: From $11,050 per week or $315 per room per night
Villa Andrea, Glen Ellen, California
The dish: The 5-bedroom, 7-bathroom Mediterranean-inspired Villa Andrea sits on 30 acres of a cabernet sauvignon vineyard in the heart of California’s wine country. The large swimming pool has stunning views of Sonoma Valley, and guests can throw dinner parties in the property’s 7,000-square-foot cave, where the wine is distilled and aged, then show a flick in the villa’s screening room.
The details: From $19,000 per week, or $542 per room per night
Golden Dolphin Villa, Cabrera, Dominican Republic
The dish: The Golden Dolphin Villa, on a 100-acre hilltop estate, overlooks tropical forests and the ocean, and features its own private baseball diamond. With 9 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, the mansion is big enough to accommodate a full field of players.
The details: From $2,100 per night, or $233 per room
