Grande Ol' Dame in Portland, Oregon

Portland on the Willamette River

Our family stayed at the Embassy Suites-Downtown in Portland Oregon this past year.

This is a really wonderful city--great places to eat, visit, shop, and grab a cup o' jo.  Our hotel was right in the middle of it. Built in 1912, it has all the inherent charm of that era plus a spa, swimming pool and exercise room.  We stayed in a two room suite with two queen beds in one room and a pull out sofa bed in the small salon.  Our room was  located on a sunny corner of the hotel with views of downtown Portland.  

What I especially liked about this hotel was the location--easy walking distance to China Town and the Pearl district, across the street from Stumptown Coffee shop and a block and a half from VooDoo donuts (you will know you are there when you see the long line coming out the door).  Breakfast at the hotel is complimentary including made-to-order items.  We were able to find a very budget-minded rate through the internet, a great value with a lot of charm.

Happy Travels

Holly
www.sleeps5.com

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Blog article, Portland, Oregon: 3 Days for Family with 3 Kids

Resources for Family Travel - Cell Phones, Credit Card Foreign Fees, Kids on Planes

Great advice from the experts: Three links for your international family travel. (photo is of my experienced-traveler-kids)

1. Prevent unexpected cell phone charges
JD Rinne, of Budget Travel, explains Europe's cell phone network and how to determine your best options from roaming fees, disposable phones, disabling features, voicemail charges, and service providers. Links to other sources are included.
Using Your Cell Phone in Europe - Budget Travel


2. Avoid extra credit card fees for purchases outside your country
Leslie McFadden, of Bankrate.com, describes the foreign transaction fees that are a percentage of every purchase, from shops to restaurants, outside your home country and how to find the credit cards that will save you money. I've found that some internet purchases, such as used travel books, from providers outside my home country (US) also incur foreign transaction fees.
Lowest Credit card fee for foreign travel?


3. Prepare little ones for travel
Rick Seaney, of FareCompare.com, has a flare for providing information in an easy-to-read and entertaining style. His practical and direct "do this not that" recommendations are some we've heard before, but he gives them a new slant that is positive, despite the title.
Five Ways to Ruin a Family Plane Trip


Sandy Nielsen

www.sleeps5.com

Nice, France Apartment Hotel for Family of 5

Promenade des Anglais, Nice, French Riviera

A budget hotel located in Nice, France, Nice Fleurs' rooms are apartments with kitchens and weekly cleaning, though there is no minimum reservation length. The one-bedroom can sleep 5 and the two-bedroom can sleep 6.

The Promenade des Anglais and the beach are within walking distance. Internet, parking, and breakfast are available for extra fees. Online reviews are mixed, but on par with economy accommodations.

Two more Sleeps 5 hotels in Nice: See Nice, France: The Riviera for a Family of 5.

Related:

Hotels in Paris and Disneyland with a Family Room that Sleeps 5

Paris with Kids - Things to Do Links to websites and blogs

Paris Dining with Kids - Skip the Fast Food

Another Disney Paris Sleeps 5 Hotel


Sandy Nielsen
Sleeps5.com

Children and Airport Security: Scanners, Pat-Downs, Worries

Parents are worried, and seek answers for family travel. Here are three items that illustrate the intense concern over new pat-down and scanner airport security measures.


1. A parent of 3 children had an airport pat-down question for travel reporters from the Bay Area News Group, in California. The answer, posted Nov. 28, 2010 on mercurynews.com, includes advice from TSA and information about best ways to comply with security measures.

The article, titled "Travel Q&A: Helping children with new airport security measures", has a calm, matter-of-fact tone. The readers' comments, however, contain vociferous objections and well-spoken outcries about loss of personal freedoms and civil liberties and how wrong it is for a stranger to touch the 'privates' of anyone, let alone a child.

One reader included a version of Benjamin Franklin's oft paraphrased quote: "If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both." (Or, those who do that "deserve neither", depending on the quote version.)


2. Comparing security practices in Europe with those in the US, the Nov. 19th CBS News video, below, includes a comment from Chris Yates, an Aviation Security Expert: "Looking at the inner thighs, the buttocks, and so on, -- that is simply not something we would do or ever countenance here over this side of the Atlantic."

Titled Foreign Airport Screenings "Less Intrusive", the video shows scanners being utilized in Europe, and describes newly developed scanners that do not show body details.




3. In her Nov. 18th blog post, Shelly Rivoli, mother of three children and author of Travels with Baby, expresses concern about pat-downs, evaluates potential scanner radiation, and decides it is preferable to have her children scanned than to have them subjected to 'physical groping by a complete stranger'. She muses that crotch-sniffing dogs could detect more threats than scanners (with a few false positives), match scanners' invasion of privacy, and cost less.


Policies are changing, and the screening practices for children have already been modified. The debate and study continue.

Sandy Nielsen
Sleeps5.com