Condensed vacations: Mmmm, Mmmm good, and quick, too

April 6, 2008

Speed dating. Speed dialing. Speed reading. Speed Pass.

And now ... speed vacations.

No, not a trip to racing school to play Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a day.

We're talking about faster, get-to-the-point-already getaways.

A good example: the venerable Golden Door Spa's new three- and four-day Spa Interludes getaway program, designed for "time-starved travelers." It's the latest in the "evolution" of the 50-year-old spa's seven-day program, offering the rest, relaxation and balance of the original in an "abbreviated version, customized for a new generation of spa goers."

In three or four days, you'll get the six or eight treatments massages, wraps etc. as well as hikes, labyrinth meditations, lectures, yoga and exercise classes and evening programs. Just quicker, shorter and faster. OK, you have to fly to Escondido, Calif., but for the return flight, maybe you can ask for a seaweed wrap to go.

Other top spas are offering similarly condensed programs.

But spas are just one segment of the travel industry going after the time-starved and workaholics among us. Obviously we're not capable of dragging ourselves away from the daily grind: Americans gave back a total of 438 million unused vacation days last year, according to Harris Interactive, a polling and research group.

Long weekend getaways have become increasingly popular because that's all we can spare for relaxation. So the travel industry, which was built around those grand tours of the continent and two- week packages, has shifted its thinking and realized that travel for the time-starved is a niche just bursting with possibilities.

From an opulent splurge just 10 minutes from home or a dash to Tahiti to soak up some rays, speed-chilling has become a real marketing category, complete with catchy labels.

ou don't stay at home on a "staycation" (that's the "insperience," and we'll get to that). A staycation involves getting out of the house for at least one night, maybe two, and checking into a hotel or B&B or inn or just someplace different from your own maddeningly familiar four walls. It doesn't have to be far; it can even be in your own hometown. A 10-minute drive is acceptable.

Since it's only one night, you can splurge. The suite room, the massage, the breakfast in bed, hot tub. A pool! Best of all, the staycation requires little planning no airfare shopping, in particular. And many hoteliers offer packages geared to short stays for all types of guests and occasions.

The Teaneck Marriott offers a romantic getaway package designed "so you can unwind and enjoy ... from check-in to checkout, we've got everything covered," including deluxe accommodations, champagne and breakfast for two; prices from $199 to $209.

At Crystal Springs Resort in Vernon, packages are offered combining accommodations with golf, spa treatments, romantic getaways, skiing in winter and fun at Mountain Creek's water parks in summer. The Wine Gourmet package at the Minerals Hotel includes accommodations, a bottle of wine from Warwick Valley Winery, a wine pairing dinner at the resort's four-star Restaurant Latour and a tour/tasting at the Warwick Valley Winery; prices start at about $489 a night.

The Restful Runaway package ($299.99) at the Chimney Hill Estate in Lambertville appeals to your dream of "running away and doing something very special for yourself. A retreat filled with comforting care. Returning home as if you spent a week on vacation, looking and feeling great!"

Beyond hotels, destinations are focusing a big hunk of their advertising dollars on wooing the time-deficient. Connecticut, for instance, added the tagline "Closer than you think" to its ad campaign. Working with its five tourism regions, the state's tourism commission created one- and two-night packages including lodging, meals and entertainment, making fast getaway planning easier for visitors. The Web site ctvisit.com has a list of 52 Great Getaways to pique interest.

ocooning to the max: That's the insperience. Traveling can be so time-consuming, not to mention such a hassle, that many have opted to re-create experiences from the outside world inside at home, as trendwatching.com, an Amsterdam-based marketing firm, explains it. Home theaters are just one example; home spas, complete with hotel- style robes, towels and slippers and expensive oils and muds, are the modern version of the Calgon take-me-away. There are high-tech game rooms, basketball courts, billiards and cigar rooms and if money can buy it, someone will have his or her favorite getaway experience built.

Insperiences are not limited to the very rich. Some take a stay- at-home getaway simply by changing their mind-set, eschewing everyday chores and responsibilities and enjoying the simple comforts of the nest alone or with a traveling companion. And a growing number of eco-conscientious travelers have decided to forgo that flight to Mongolia and its mega carbon footprint and live more lightly on a home-style vacation.

or couples who: 1) have taken so much time off planning the wedding that they have no time left, or 2) can't face one more thing to plan, there is the scaled-back honeymoon: the mini-moon.

And now many popular honeymoon destinations are offering package deals in the abbreviated format.

Disney World, which averages 10,000 weddings a year, recently set up a registry for mini-mooners who want to take their "real" honeymoon at a later date.

Many of the Caribbean's all-inclusive resorts, including the couples-only Breezes, offer three-night mini-moons with all the pampering bells and whistles. Breezes Bahamas, on Nassau's Cable Beach, offers a three-night getaway starting at $1,290 per room, including extras such as a welcome gift of champagne and chocolate- dipped strawberries, a couples massage etc.

ot only have cruise lines responded to the demand for shorter itineraries, they've made cruises more convenient for the time- starved by departing from a wide variety of domestic ports.

Royal Caribbean sails from Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne; Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas offers five-night cruises to Bermuda from April through October.

If that's too much of a time commitment, Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Spirit will sail six one-night Dinner & Dance cruises to nowhere in September and October.

Carnival Cruise Line's Miracle has a two-night cruise departing Oct. 16 from Bayonne. In fact, short cruises make up about half of the cruise line's departures, and in September its Imagination and Destiny ships will offer three-, four- and five-day cruises from Miami, year-round.

hough it might sound like nonsense, the long-haul short break is a reality. Factor in an airplane ride and you can go just about anywhere on a long weekend. What you'll get out of your visit is another matter.

But more professional tour planners are making it possible for you to see and do quite a bit in a compressed time frame. Pleasant Holidays is just one of several companies making the South Pacific an option with its "Tahiti Quick Getaways Package," with round-trip air from Los Angeles to Papeete (8 hours) and three nights' accommodations for about $1,400. You have to get to L.A. first, but that'll seem like a mere puddle-jumper, right?

Tripwizards.com can offer you the "Best of Thailand" in six nights this May, for $1,569 from New York; that includes airfare, two nights in Bangkok, a flight from there to Phuket for three nights, then back to Bangkok for another night. You'll undoubtedly spend half your waking hours in standstill Bangkok traffic, and you won't get to the really "best" destinations of Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya. But, well, save that for another week ...

aving time is the greatest luxury among travel trends. That's why today, the concierge is king.

And several concierge services have sprung forth, just to help the time-deprived and well-set American on that much-needed trip with nary a spec of a second wasted.

Luxe Concierge of Freehold, for instance, organizes getaways "from inception to conception to execution." Its president, Nashid Braswell, said, "We're looking to make the lives of glamorous people even more glamorous, by working on the tedious, insignificant tasks that they should not have to get involved with." Like chartering private jets and yachts on short notice.

A new real estate development in Umbria, Italy, offers vacation homes/farmhouses with on-site architect, contractors, artisans and maintenance staff, so the owner can move in with just a suitcase.

But Effortless Vacations arguably wins the doing-absolutely- everything title. "We develop a plan to deliver the vacation you want," it says, offering clients a "menu of services" from what you want out of the trip to a postmortem on the trip after you're back.

My favorite is its first step, the "Vacation Objective Evaluation: client consultation on purpose of vacation, vacation companions, how the client wants to feel during and after their vacation etc. to determine the appropriate vacation type for the client."

In effect, it even takes on the effort of choosing a getaway; one fewer burden for your brain. Leaving even more time for you to obsess about work!

 

 

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