Anne and David had a fantastic honeymoon – they hadn’t been on holiday for many years, so they made the most of it! They travelled to Las Vegas, Hawaii, and San Francisco, and did a bit of sightseeing and a bit of beach lounging. Here’s their honeymoon story and amazing pictures!
The couple: Anne, writer and David, road manager
Wedding date: Friday 24th August 2012, in Bath, UK – ceremony at the Little Theatre Cinema, reception at Bath Guildhall.
Honeymoon date: 4th-16th September 2012
Honeymoon location: Las Vegas, Hawaii’s Big Island and San Francisco
How long did you go on your honeymoon for? 3 nights in Vegas, 6 nights in Hawaii and 3 nights in San Francisco
How and why did you pick your destinations? We loved the idea of mixing a city break with a gorgeous beach location. We wanted to go somewhere that wasn’t too hot, plus I’d been dying to visit Hawaii since watching Lost.
Who booked the honeymoon? Trailfinders. They found flights and hotels to meet our budget and requirements, and made everything go smoothly by keeping us informed of things like changes to flight times.
How did you travel there? We flew. We had a total of six flights with United Airlines. Happily they were all on time and our luggage went everywhere we did!
How much did it cost? Around £3,500.
What sort of holiday was it? Part city break, part beach holiday.
Did you spend the entire holiday in one place or did you travel around? We stayed in three places: the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Outrigger Keahou Beach Resort in Hawaii, and Hotel Rex in San Francisco.
What was a typical day like? The sun rises and sets early on the Big Island so we woke around 6am, even though we’re not normally morning people! We’d have breakfast, then go swimming and to the beach. Sometimes we went sightseeing, e.g. to see volcanoes. Then we’d go out for dinner, watch the sunset and maybe catch some live Hawaiian music. We didn’t stay long enough in the other locations to really have a typical day.
What was the food like? We ate so well while we were away. In Vegas, we loved the crazy breakfast buffet at the Bellagio which has anything anyone has ever wanted to eat for breakfast, ever, for about $17 a head. Food in Hawaii is plentiful and cheap, e.g. freshly-caught swordfish for $15 and Kona coffee ice-cream, while San Francisco is really buzzy and full of great restaurants, including the Library Bar at Hotel Rex where we stayed.
What was your favourite part of the honeymoon? Seeing Cirque de Soleil’s show ‘O’ in Las Vegas, stargazing and swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii, sailing round Golden Gate Park in a pedal boat in San Francisco and going to the zoo there as we both love animals.
Were there any worst bits? We were initially put in a twin room on our first night in Las Vegas by someone who claimed that was all they had but probably just wanted a tip. We drew the line at tipping just to get the double room we’d booked, so I rang reception and asked if they really thought this was suitable for honeymooners and a king-size room magically became available, so it worked out well in the end.
What is your favourite honeymoon picture? The pictures from Hawaii where we both just look so happy, relaxed and loved-up! Also, we took our Moomin cake toppers along and took some extremely silly photos of them, which make me laugh every time I see them. Our friends loved them too – everyone said it reminded them of the film Amelie!
What is your advice for other couples who are planning to travel there? It’s definitely worth using a travel agent for a multi-centre trip because they’re responsible for your whole honeymoon and will sort out any problems. It’s a myth that this is more expensive – our flights would have cost a lot more if we’d booked independently, and we would have had to pay daily resort fees in Las Vegas. We were also really glad we stayed near Heathrow the night before instead of travelling on the day as we chilled out, got an early night and didn’t have to worry about public transport delays.
Any other detail/advice/help/stories you would like to share? Have your first dance song with you. We danced ours again by the sea in Hawaii, by the light of fire-lanterns. For multiple flights, be sure to bring lip balm, moisturiser, a pashmina and your own earphones, and make your luggage easy to spot – buy brightly-coloured cases or add ribbons and eye-catching luggage tags. We reused some ribbons from our wedding for this purpose!
Las Vegas
Hawaii
San Francisco
Moomins!
