San Jose "cosmopolitan"? Now that's funny! I saw more chains in San Jose than I ever did while working in snow country in January. And a lot of Chevrolets. I guess The Gap does have high fashion.
As for money, ever hear of the
"dot-gone" industry? I agree that the best thing to do in San Jose is leave and go to the "proximate" ocean and Monterey.
The "Care Not Cash" measure passed yesterday in SF so Mayor Wille Brown, who knows how to wave like a flag in the wind of public opinion, will try and make it his legacy. Good luck SF.
San Jose-Cosmopolitan. funny!

Gettobea!!!!! get over it!!! You are clueless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Cape is boring and awful.. we made our way from falmouth to P town!! It was awful!!!nothing but trees and rocky sand and greenish brown water!! in the ocean!!! 300.00 a night for hotel rooms?? I can see if it was California ....but not Cape cod!!! all the small towns wereboring... and the people had personalities of wet dishrags!!

Good Morning Rick, the clueless traveler. Let me guess, you took route 6 all the way from Falmouth to Provincetown, right? And you wonder why you didn't like the Cape.

We get it already. You won't be coming back to the Cape-ever. It's OK, really, we can see that it isn't your thing, all those rocks and trees. And it's not a place to go if you don't want to spring for first class accomodations, that's for sure.

Now please, I'm dying to know, where DO you like to vacation? Have you ever vacationed anywhere else?

I thought the San Diego Marina area was very dull and the zoo overrated. Also, Monterrey, Ca. was just a bunch of tourist shops. Not worth the time, especially when compared to the beauty of Carmel, CA.
Loved Germany - Rothenberg and Bavaria and the Rhine were wonderful. Liked Cancun...

Why is the original post basing so much on the hotels?
If its all about the hotels and restaurants why not stay at the local Hilton?

In terms of destination, Venice, Italy. The crowds that come for the day from the cruise ships ruin the inherent charm.

I'd also add Bali to the list. The impact on the culture from Westerm tourism has clearly left its mark.

In terms of specific site, the long bar at Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The haunt of famous British writers that is most well known for the invention of the Singapore Sling, has now become a place to get a pre-made drink in a souvienier glass.

Interesting reading! Some of the posters I really disagree with, like about Puerto Rico--we stayed in this "boutique hotel" in the walled part of the city and it was really nice. If we'd been on the "strip" I doubt we would have like PR at all. And Sandals at Dunns River Falls in Jamaica?! Come on! It's an all inclusive. Of course it's cheesy. I went there for a couple of days (not nights) and found the food good (of course we'd been eating true Jamaican curried goat in our villa we rented so that could be why) and the entertainment predictably cheesy. But I got to have trapeze lessons, which was cool! For most disappointing city I'd have to say Florence, Italy. Very loud with the traffic and the scooters and no sidewalks. I was soooo ready to leave--the other small towns and cities of Italy are so much better (Assisi, Verona, Rome). Oh, and I liked Portugal too, especially Sintra, although I was very sick of the food by the time we left.

Been to 44 states--
Pigeon Forge worst town I've ever passed through..However, I did tolerate the area because of all the warnings I've read on this site!!!!
Nashville is also on my list of places I will not visit again. I just found it to be mostly "nothing" Maybe I missed something??? I did really enjoy the Operyland Hotel-beautiful landscaping,good food and great service AND included my daily exercise walking to and from my room!!!

Travelboy, bless you! I am an LA native and won't ever leave again (lived in Boston and Philly). Every New Year's Day, when the sun shines warm and the clouds break over snow capped mountains, millions of Americans wake up and watch the Rose Bowl parade from their winter wonderlands and START PACKING TO MOVE TO LA!
I love this city, have my favorite things to do and see as does every native and hope everyone who is unhappy here would leave and allow our real estate and apartment prices to "normalize."

I think of L.A. as one of those places that is better to live in than to visit - which is a good thing for the locals. And if it weren't a great place to live, the real estate wouldn't be so high, it's all about supply and demand.

China--any of it.

Las Vegas. Truly the ONLY vacation I'd rather forget. Went several years ago. It snowed! 1st time in 5 years that happened. Lost our shirts the first day. Was disgusted with the porn peddlers everywhere on the street. Miserable trip. We live in Colorado and have gaming here now which we love and usually win and when it shows, we're prepared!

Oops, I meant "snows".

One persons paradise is another persons hell.

China was a vacation of many wonderful memories. I was fortunate to tour on my own and saw some small villages, as well as the big metropolitan cities.

I'm actually glad to hear that someone didn't like Asheville because that means they won't be moving here. Asheville is a city of nearly quarter million people (if you include the suburbs, which you might as well), with well over a thousand people moving in every year. I wonder where the person who didn't like Asheville saw that one horse, anyway...

Cuncun, tacky, tacky, tacky........

To: Rick, Erin, XXX, Rod et. al.

It doesen't really matter what you think of Cape Cod...We get 6 million+ visitors a year.

So we don't really need you and your cheap budget vacations.

I just want to make sure I understand Mar (btw, is your real name "Maryl"?) correctly.

On Jan. 1 of every year, several million people pack up their belongings and move to LA., after watching the Rose Bowl game. Who knew? That's why I read this board. You never know what you're going to learn. And by my calculations, every person in America will be living in LA by the year 2058.

Oh, and those "snow-capped mountain." Those would be the ones that hide behind that brown ball of smog that hangs there about 300 days a year.

Happy breathing!

Rick, Erin and XXX (very poor job of disguising the fact that you are one poster -Rick, by the way), I've been all over the world, including but not limited to Thailand, the Amazon, Hawaii, France, Spain, Italy, England, Canada, Mexico, the caribbean, etc., etc.,. One of my very favorite spots in the world is Nantucket. We return every year.

I'll second Gene's request that you stay away. I'm quite sure that if you did find your way to a first class establishment, you'd be mistaken for the cleaning help anyway. You obviously don't "get it". Lesser individuals seldom do.