Condo vacations rock and save $$$!
I’m staying in a condo in Hawaii for our vacation and loving it! For a long list of reasons, I prefer to stay in a condo, even over a 4 star resort. Of course, if you know me, if I stay in a 4 star resort, I got a deal! But even with a “deal”, condos save more and are better for me and my lifestyle. Saves money, saves time, more enjoyable, more relaxing…
Saves Money. You can usually book a 2 bedroom condo in a good vacation location for half the cost of a 4 star resort for one tiny room. But that’s not all. We’re just getting started on the savings potential of a condo vacation…
The cost of food and drink is a mind blower at hotels and resorts vs. what you can do in a condo. Unbelievable! I quit those years ago for our vacations! Of course, I don’t want to cook or do dishes on vacation. I buy easy breakfast options, like cereal, bagels and cream cheese, frozen breakfast hot pockets, etc. But on this trip, I’ve been making breakfast burritos. It’s so easy, and the guys love it! To save on dishes, I buy paper plates, and I’m still saving vs. going to a restaurant for breakfast. Sure, we can still go out to breakfast or lunch if we want to. But we have options! Yesterday, we ate breakfast at Hawaiian Style Cafe, where the locals eat in Waimea. VERY good!
Saves on lunch, and I still don’t have to make it! Since we have a fridge, I can throw sandwich makings and drinks into an ice chest each day. I also pack a bag of chips, bread, cookies, paper plates, napkins, etc. We take off for the day, and when we get hungry, we pull into a picnic area, or tailgate it! Everybody makes their own sandwiches. Tip: I splurge on squeezable mustard and mayo. SO much easier on vacation for everyone to make their own! Love it for beach days here in Hawaii. We don’t have to leave our spot for food and drink. Besides that, we like remote snorkel spots. There are no concessions off the beaten path!
We eat dinner out! We’ve saved plenty of money on other meals. So we stop for dinner before going back to the condo. For night snacks, we have ice cream sandwiches, microwave popcorn, and lots of other fun vacation junk!
Saves time to stay in a condo. I figure we don’t waste valuable vacation time looking for restaurants, trying to find parking, and sitting in restaurants waiting for food three times a day. Eating out for dinner each night is special, unless we’re wiped out, and want to stay in, like last night, I made a simple spaghetti dinner. When we do eat out for dinner, we eat where the locals eat. Nothing fancy. Just yummy, and cheap!
Parking is SO much better in a condo! If you stay at a hotel or resort, sometimes, you can walk 15-20 minutes to get to your car. Our car is parked right outside our door at the condo!
Love the living areas in a condo! All four of us can watch a movie at night in the living room. Or most often, the boys go to their room to watch TV, and Greg and I have the living room to ourselves to watch the Lakers!
Staying in a condo is more enjoyable and more relaxing. Greg and I have privacy on our patio overlooking the ocean, having coffee, reading… Kids are sleeping in… I’m thinking they’ll have a “cereal breakfast” when they come crawling out. Very nice… :)
