How to Book Discounted Rooms at Top Hotels

It's a minor mystery-some locals might even call it a conspiracy: Why isn't Berkeley better known as a destination for travelers? Perched on the edge of San Francisco Bay, this midsize city ab ounds with delights: fascinating and free lectures, savory, affordable food at ethnic restaurants, historic architecture, heart-stopping vistas, tranquil parks, and a vibrant cafe scene. Add to that world-class museums, concerts, theater, dance productions, and perhaps the top public university in the country, and it's a wonder travelers don't spend more time in energetic and progressive Berkeley. Perhaps Berkeley's fiercely independent politics have kept away some potential visitors. Known in some circles as the "People's Republic of Berkeley," the city was a hotbed of social activism in the 1960s. The Free Speech Movement was born here in 1964, when campus officials tried to crack down on antiwar protests. The movement spread to campuses across the country, fueling a national outpouring of sentiment against the Vietnam War. While protest still simmers, the fires of the 1960s have given way to embers of intellectual ferment. Today, Berkeley is better known for its Nobel laur eates and alternative shopping (used and collectible books, vast music stores, imported crafts from around the world) than for its demonstrations. Approaching campus, stroll along the university's key location, Telegraph Avenue, to get a sense of what makes Berkeley special. Outdoors, the avenue has the feel of an exotic market-the smell of incense merges with the aroma of coffee and curries. Fat Slice and Blondie's sell hefty slabs of pizza by the slice. Street vendors hawk hemp necklaces, Che Guevara T-shirts, and bumper stickers declaring: "If you're not outraged you're not paying attention." Between Dwight Way and Haste Street, you'll find three literary bookstores: Moe's, Cody's, and Shakespeare & Co. On the same block is Caffe Mediterraneum, where beat poet Allen Ginsburg allegedly wrote part of his epic poem Howl. Continue north on Telegraph to two expansive music stores, Amoeba and Rasputin's, where you'll find thousands of used and new CDs and some good, old vinyl LP s. A campus free for all Situated on 1,232 acres in the heart of Berkeley, the University of California at Berkeley was founded in 1868 as a public campus, a radical idea in the less-than-egalitarian nineteenth century. A good first stop is the Public Affairs office at 101 Sproul Hall, where you can pick up a map listing top campus attractions. Also grab a copy of the Daily Californian, a student newspaper that lists events and lectures. For more information, stop by Visitor Services (2200 University Ave., 510/642-5215), just west of campus, where helpful staffers can assist or give you a brochure for a self-guided walking tour. Campus highlights include the 9,000,000-volume Doe Library, and because Berkeley is a public institution, all 9,000,000 are available for your perusal (but you can't take anything out of the library without a card). Near the reference desk is an Internet-connected computer you can use for free for ten minutes. Near the top of the steeply ascending Centennial Drive is the Lawrence Hall of Science, a hands-on museum that's an essential stop for families, with interactive exhibits for kids of any age. Feed your head Every night of the year brings a new attraction to Berkeley: Recent lecturers have included author Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman) and politicos of every outlook. To find out about events before visiting, see berkeley.edu/calendar-and note that the main page lists highlights only; for a comprehensive list of events, use the calendar on the left side of the page and click on a date to see everything taking place that day. Another good site is berkeley.edu/visitors, which has updated information about free campus tours (offered Monday to Saturday at 10 a.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.). The Pacific Film Archive (2575 Bancroft Way, 510/642-1412, bampfa.berkeley.edu; $8) screens art films by legends like Akira Kurosawa and recently hosted a program entitled, "The Sixties, Spirituality, and P sychedelia," featuring the "visual music" of the period. Adjacent to the Pacific Film Archive is the Berkeley Art Museum (2626 Bancroft Way, 510/642-0808; $8), open Wednesday through Sunday, which houses exhibits ranging from early Buddhist ink paintings to modern photography. Zellerbach Hall (510/642-9988, calperfs.berkeley.edu), on the south side of campus, welcomes internationally famous musicians such as Senegalese guitarist Youssou N'Dour and dance productions from Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, and more (tickets start at $18). The off-campus Berkeley Repertory Theater (2575 Bancroft Way, 510/647-2949, berkeleyrep.org) is known for such provocative works as its recent staging of Salman Rushdie's fable Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Cheap eats Berkeley's diversity of ethnic cuisines enhances any visit. Naan 'n' Curry, on Telegraph near Durant, features platters of tender tandoori chicken and veggie curries starting at $4. A plate-size loaf of naan (Indian bread) costs only $1. Cafe Intermezzo (2442 Telegraph Ave.) usually has a line out the door waiting for its heaping $5 salads piled high with avocado, eggs, garbanzo beans, and tomatoes. Le Petit Cheval (2600 Bancroft Way) serves bowls of steaming Vietnamese noodle soup with meat or veggies for $4 to $5. If you're in Berkeley on a Sunday, visit an Asian temple called Wat Mongkolratanaram (1911 Russell St., 510/849-3419), which serves the most authentic Thai food this side of the Pacific, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's a grand place for lunch after shopping at the sprawling weekend flea market near the Ashby BART station. A room of one's own Where to stay at an affordable price? Best value near the Berkeley campus (about six blocks away) is the Capri Motel (1512 University Ave., 510/845-7090), with comfortable and clean rooms starting at $65. Or you might try the Berkeley Travelodge (1820 University Ave., 510/843-4262), just four blocks from campus and nicely furnished. Singles cost $79, doubles $89-but rates may be slightly higher on crowded weekends, especially at graduation time. Two alternatives in the budget category: The YMCA (2001 Allston Way, 510/848-6800) has singles starting at $39, doubles $50; bathrooms are shared. And the Ramada Inn (920 University Ave., 510/849-1121) has rooms for $79. The latter is far from luxurious and a hike or bus ride to campus, but the rooms are serviceable. Moving up in price, to $99 single, $109 double including Continental breakfast, you may want to splurge at the quaint and centrally located Beau Sky Hotel (2520 Durant Ave., 510/540-7688). On the hotel's ground floor is a Thai restaurant with rice plates starting at $4. Another well-decorated and conveniently located upscale option is the Bancroft Hotel (2680 Bancroft Way, 510/549-1000), with rooms starting at $129. But bear in mind that all 22 rooms at the Bancroft have one queen-size bed apiece. Berkeley basics The easiest air access is via Oakland Internatio nal Airport, 14 miles from Berkeley. Board an AirBART shuttle (runs every 15 minutes; $2 adults, 50> for kids and seniors) to the Oakland Coliseum BART station. From there it's a 15-minute train ride to Berkeley for $1.65. Plenty of taxis and rental cars are also available at Oakland's airport. Parking in Berkeley is a challenge; consider this before renting a car. AC Transit buses can haul you to the Lawrence Hall of Science and other attractions around Berkeley. For more advice on attractions, dining, shopping, events, and transit, see visitberkeley.com or call 800/847-4823.

Having a good night out in the Big Easy is, in fact, easy. But the perfect night? The French Quarter is so densely packed with historic and atmospheric venues for food, drink and music that settling for the first open doorway is sacrilege. After extensive research, we've assembled an itinerary which, barring interference from Mother Nature or Lady Luck, is as close to a perfect night as one can come in the French Quarter. It features a little of everything the Quarter is known for: drinks, dinner at an old-time Creole restaurant, top-drawer live music, po' boys, and a stop at America's most famous coffee shop. A night in the French Quarter doesn't really end until noon the next day, even if you break it up with some sleep. So, we have mapped out your perfect morning after, as well, assuming the following: It isn't Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest Although these are good reasons to be in the Quarter, the perfect night doesn't entail fighting through teeming masses of morons loaded beyond all capacity for reason. You are capable of pacing yourself. Pat O'Brien's, the first stop on the itinerary, is your acid test. It will be very tempting to go off the rails with one too many potent and sugary Hurricanes (for some, in fact, one is too many). Don't succumb. The ideal night starts at 4pm and goes until you feel it should end. Stay out all night if you'd like. But, if you can't make it out of bed for breakfast, it probably wasn't so "perfect." So, here is the recipe for a night to end all nights in the Vieux Carre: 4pm: Pat O'Brien's 718 Saint Peter St., 504/588-2744 Start the evening off with the famed tipple--the Hurricane ($6). Although the drink menu runs several pages, stick with the rum punch that turned Pat O'Brien's into a French Quarter institution. It is sweet and deceptively easy to drink, but at 24 ounces, you should stick to one and one only. There are actually three bars within the Pat O'Brien's complex, but for your first visit, stay out of the piano and locals bar, and head to the bar in the garden. If you make friends with the right waiter, you may be selected to light the flaming fountain in the center of the courtyard. 6pm: Sunset at Café Du Monde 813 Decatur St., 504/581-2914 Café Du Monde is so pleasurable, and so cheap, that more than one visit over the course of your New Orleans stay would not be unusual in the least. Its frothy chicory-infused café au lait is only $1.50, and an order of three fritter-like beignets runs $1.50, as well. Keep in mind, however, that every tourist in town wants to visit the famous cafe between nine and eleven in the morning, and again between three and five in the afternoon--its busier hours. So, plan to arrive for your last caffeine shot of the day after the rush, and enjoy watching dusk fall over Jackson Square. 7pm: Dinner at Tujagues 823 Decatur St. (at Madison St.), 504/525-8676 It won'' be your best meal during your stay, but it will be the best bang for your buck. It's unlikely the atmosphere has changed much since the place opened in 1856, only the advent of electricity making a difference. Five courses run $30-35 prix fixe, and there is no a la carte option. Choose from the three or four options the kitchen has prepared that evening. The courses are a walk through the Quarter'' Creole past, with shrimp remoulade, brisket with Creole sauce, and bread pudding. If none suit your fancy, there is an off-the-menu dish, Chicken La Bonne Femme, which will provide you with enough garlic to keep the famed voodoo priestess Marie Leveau away for the duration of your stay. 9pm: Jazz at Preservation Hall 726 St. Peter St., 504/522-2841 Since 1961, Dixieland Jazz has continued to thrive at Preservation Hall. A rotating cast of musicians, one more talented than the last, plays from 8pm until midnight every day. Each set lasts about a half hour, but your $5 will let you stay for as many sets as you'd 'ike. Requests will run you $5 and up (despite what the sign says), and they must be traditional Dixieland numbers. 10:30pm: Live Zydeco at Old Opera House60 1 Bourbon St (at Toulouse St.), 504/522-3265 If New Orleans is the closest you can make it to the heart of Zydeco (Lafayette, LA), you shouldn'' miss an opportunity to catch some squeezebox and rub-board in the Big Easy. The Old Opera House isn'' the best place in town to see live Zydeco (that would be the Mid City Lanes Rock & Bowl), but it is the best Zydeco on Bourbon St., especially Monday through Wednesday when Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers own the stage. Dwayne was named the "Hottest Accordion in America" by the American Accordionists Association, and his band is hotter than a good gumbo. 11:30pm: A Stop in Lafitte's Blacksmith 941 Bourbon St. (at Dumaine St.), 504/523-0066 Local legend has it that this was no smithy, but was instead a front for the Lafitte brother'' privateering and slave smuggling racket. Regardless of whether or not there was a pirate in its past, the building--the oldest freestanding structure in the French Quarter--a big draw for artists and photographers. Aside from the somewhat jarring presence of a TV and ATM near the bar, the lighting is solely candlelight. There is a piano in the back which attracts the drunkest revelers. Wee hours of the morning: Po' Boy at Verti Marte 1201 Royal St., 504/525-4767 On your way back to your room, stop at the Verti Marte and get yourself a Po' Boy. A local favorite is the "Royal: ($7.50), which has cold cuts, shrimp, cheese, and warm brown gravy. Lettuce is extra. Choose wisely (with the help of the counter-people) and you are in for a late-night treat. If you can'' make it to the store, they deliver in the Quarter 24 hours a day. The Morning AfterRoyal Pharmacy 1101 Royal St., 504/523-5402 If you did't' successfully pace yourself and need an elixir, stop in this old soda shop for your medication of choice. Although the soda counter is no longer functional, it looks as if it could jump back to life at any moment. With the right eyes, you can still see the ghosts of soda jerks turning out malted milk. Clover Grill 900 Bourbon St., 504/523-0904 Let the pikers wait in the too-too bright sun at Café Du Monde! Wander over to the Clover Grill for your medically-mandated greasy breakfast and caffeine. This little greasy spoon does a fine breakfast, or, if you prefer, a hubcap burger. This is not a burger the size of a tire (down boy!), but instead it's a cooking method --frying the burger under a hubcap keeps the juices in. Coffee at Café Du Monde 813 Decatur St., 504/581-2914 Betcha thought this was going to end with beignets and coffee! Right you are! Wait until the morning rush dwindles, and you are feeling more human, put on your darkest shades and while away the rest of the morning getting your sugar and caffeine fixes at the most famous coffee shop in the USA.

By 2050, nearly a quarter of U.S. citizens will be Hispanic, and Latin influence is giving everyone's holiday calendar new occasions to have fun. The Day of the Dead, the flamboyant Mexican festival honoring the dearly departed with parades, food, and dancing, happens November 1 and 2: Chicago In Pilsen (around 18th St. and Ashland Ave.), people paint their faces to resemble skeletons and hang up papel picado (paper cutouts of grinning ghouls). Nearby, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum displays the country's biggest annual Day of the Dead folk art exhibition. 1852 W. 19th St., 312/738-1503, mfacmchicago.org. Denver After a traditional candlelit procession, piñatas are bashed--the candy-packed targets are usually in the shape of unpopular politicians. 3659 Navajo St., 303/458-6058, pirateart.org. Los Angeles As mariachi bands stroll along Olvera Street, revelers in face paint and calaveras--papier-mâché skull masks--eat skull-shaped pan de muerto, the "bread of the dead" flavored with anise and orange peel. Meanwhile, kids batter piñatas. 213/485-6855, olvera-street.com. San Antonio Texas's oldest such celebration includes willowy, white-clad dancers doing the light-footed Dance of the Dead. Las Palmas Mall, 803 Castroville Rd., 210/432-1896, sacalaveras.com. San Francisco In America's largest Day of the Dead march, some 10,000 celebrants head to Garfield Square (Balmy Alley and 25th St.), where dozens of colorful, homemade altars to loved ones will be on display.

For many travelers, booking a vacation online is like going on a virtual scavenger hunt. They pick up a hotel at one site, search two others for a good airfare, and then turn to two more to compare rental car costs. Phocus Wright, an industry research organization, estimates that consumers check an average of three websites before ever making a booking. But all that may be about to change thanks to a new breed of websites that have been making inroads into the way consumers research and book travel. Called "aggregators," they're the bloodhounds of the web, travel commerce sites that don't actually sell anything. Instead, they "google" travel offers, scurrying from site to site to find the best rates. If the consumer ends up booking a flight, hotel, rental car or (soon) cruise through one of these aggregators, that site gets a commission from the website that made the sale. Sounds like a simple concept, right? But as more and more engines join this increasingly crowded field, they're bringing to it a wide range of services and user interfaces; and raising the hackles of the more established players. Bad for the "big boys," good for consumers? The larger, more established sites have good reason to worry about these new players; according to PhoCusWright, of the $40 billion dollars spent on online bookings in 2003, 75 percent were made through Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. These giants want to keep their customers right where they are. "Customers trust us and they know that they can do it [book their vacations] on one site," contends Stewart McDonald of Expedia. "We believe that our business is about providing the whole trip." But that model may be shifting as these new sites achieve prominence. Just today, Kayak.com (one of the newest of the aggregators) announced a partnership with AOL that will give it a much-needed infusion of cash and a serious dose of credibility. The other three we profile below all have plans in motion to expand their offerings and are picking up new users on a daily basis. Just as importantly, these sites are much more cost effective for both the suppliers of travel and consumers. The New York Times recently interviewed Henry Harteveldt, of Forrester Research, who explained that airlines typically pay $10 to $17 for tickets processed by the global distribution systems travel agents use; with aggregators, they pay on average $5 or $6. Consumers also pay a significant price for booking with one of the big boys. Users of Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity are shelling out, on average, an additional $5 in service fees for airfare bookings (on top of taxes and security fees); for hotels these charges can be much higher. This is on top of rates for hotels and airlines that are inevitably higher (at least in our searches) than the ones found through aggregatores. The aggregators also tend to offer a more objective search. Unlike many big online agencies, which give a more prominent position in their searches to the airlines, hotels and rental car companies that pay more for placement, most of the aggregators don't play favorites. "We all saw that online travel is broken. Consumers are cross-checking incessantly because they know they can't trust the first price they get," says Steve Hafner of Kayak. "It's a frustrating shopping experience. So we decided to change it with a site that offers comprehensiveness of rates and information, is easy to use and objective. We're a technology company, not a travel agency. We don't care what you buy or where you buy it." Trying to hold onto their market share, the largest sites have been fighting back in the area that they can control: searches of their sites. Says Stuart McDonald of Expedia, "We have informed all of those small scraping sites that we will not be working with them and we do not wish for them to scrape [search] any of our prices. That's not just Expedia, but Hotels.com and Hotwire." Michelle Peluso, CEO of Travelocity, told the New York Times that her site would be doing the same, and two weeks ago Orbitz made a "low fare promise" that anyone who finds a lower fare than on their site will be eligible for a $50 coupon from Orbitz towards their next trip. (The pledge is so full of caveats and deadlines that we doubt many consumers will be able to catch them on it. Still, it's a potent PR move.) But it may turn out that the aggregators don't need the biggies; they may be able to carve out quite good business models simply searching the airlines', car rental companies' and hotel chains' booking engines directly. Which travel gumshoe for you? In looking at the various search engines, it's important to first figure out what type of traveler--and shopper--you are. Are you flexible enough to schedule your air travel based on price? Are you particular about how many connections you'll take? Can you wait an extra 45 seconds to get four times as many searches, or do you want your results in 15 blinks of an eye or less. These are the issues that separate the four big players; and may some day determine which succeed, and which go the way of Urbanfetch.com. Best for super-flexible travelers: Cheapflights.com Searches: Flights only Strengths: Cheapflights gathers ticketing information from sources that no other website--that we know of--searches: the small and medium-sized discounters (or consolidators) that specialize in very specific parts of the globe. "We bring the recognition that the big names in travel don't have the best deals," says Hugo Burge, Chief Executive of Cheapflights, USA. "This is especially true of international travel, where these smaller consolidators may have specially negotiated deals with the airlines for one particular route, which can save the traveler between $50 and $100 per ticket." It does this by searching such relatively obscure discounters as 800-FLY-EUROPE, AirlineConsolidator.com, and Brazil Projects. Since these companies are so small, they don't have the capability to fulfill online searches by specific date. Instead, they give Cheapflights a range of dates with their lowest possible prices listed; consumers then contact the companies directly to get quotes for specific dates. "There's no magic bullet that will allow you to always get the cheapest flight," says Burge. "But we aim to offer consumers a broader spectrum of flight deals so that they'll have a better shot, at least, of finding the right fare." Cheapflights also has the capability to search for business- class seats. Weaknesses: Because Cheapflights.com cannot offer date-specific searches (except through a side engine which only searches the big three: Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia), sometimes using the site can be a wild goose chase. You finally find a fare that looks right, only to contact the company and find it cannot be booked for the dates you wished to travel. Cheapflights is also a bit limited in its departure gateways. At this point, it only allows searches from US gateways to the rest of the world. Best for international travel...sometimes: Mobissimo.com Searches: Flights and hotels Strengths: Founded by Stamford computer science PhD Svetlozar Nestorov (he was in the same class as the Google guys) and entrepreneur Beatrice Tarkas, Mobissimo wants to go where no other search site has gone before: to Europe, to Asia, Down Under. Instead of just searching US-based sites, it also scans the offerings of dozens of sites based in other countries, with a built-in currency converter to allow American consumers to see, in real time, ticket prices. So for flights within Asia, it will go to Zuji, the Asian equivalent of Travelocity; for France, it scrapes the offerings of Anyway, a French site owned by Expedia. "We believe that just like Google, if you want to provide good information, you have to search everywhere," says Tarkas. Sometimes this global approach works like gangbusters: In repeated searches for tickets from foreign gateways to other gateways (for example, Lima to Hong Kong), Mobissimo won the price war by a significant margin. It was especially helpful when we were searching for airfares to get to the Olympics, being the only aggregator to search the smaller, low-cost European airlines. Weaknesses: Unfortunately, Mobissimo is not often in first place, price-wise, when it comes to travel directly from American gateways. Though it sometimes matches other sites it rarely beats them, especially for domestic travel. There are also issues with language and follow-up. Mobissimo translates prices on its site but when it shuttles consumers off to a foreign site they are often faced with booking engines in another language (thought to be fair the site does allow you to limit your choices to English-only sites). It's also unclear what the consumer would do should a problem arise with a booking; foreign sites are governed by different regulations than those in the US, and may be staffed by non-English speaking customer service representatives. One final weakness: Mobissimo doesn't clearly distinguish between the fares that have taxes and service fees included and those that don't meaning you're often looking at apples...and kumquats. Most convenient site: SideStep.com Searches: Airfares, rental cars and hotels Strengths: If you've ever wanted to see how the site you're searching compares with others--within 20 seconds or less--SideStep is the site for you. The only one that needs to be downloaded (it's a simple, quick process), SideStep creates a toolbar to "the side" of whichever site you're searching to run its own alternate search. The results are often impressive, partially because SideStep has partnered with such a wide range of sites (it's the only aggregator or booking engine out there with permission to post Southwest Airlines fares). While it does a good job on international travel, domestic travel is its strongest suit. It's currently the fastest, and may also be the biggest of the sites, with over seven million travelers downloading its tool so far. Weaknesses: Though we find the side-by-side searches quite useful, many consumers are hesitant to download, worried about privacy issues. Phil Carpenter, Vice President of Marketing insists, "We have a really solid privacy policy, we never sell email addresses to make income, we wear the white hat. We're blessed by TrustE" (the web privacy watchdog group). But consumers and others in the industry continue to snipe (rival Tarkas of Mobissimo told us that your privacy was "better served" with her company as Sidestep would "trace your transactions"). This issue should be solved come January when Sidestep unveils its latest incarnation: A web-based search engines that won't need to be downloaded. The new site will also be accessible to MAC users--a big step forward. Most bells and whistles-laden site: Kayak.com Searches: Airfares, hotels, car rentals Strengths: If big names guaranteed success, this site would be on its way to becoming the McDonald's of web travel. Of course they don't, but there are a lot of highly respected minds behind this newcomer, including Steve Hafner (a founder of Orbitz), Terry Jones (former CEO of Sabre and Travelocity), Greg Slyngstad (his last gig was Expedia) and Paul English (once a veep at Intuit). Their site is still only in its BETA infancy but it already has some comely features, including an option to share the search with a travel partner working on a different computer (in real time); and a whiz bang tool bar that allows consumers, with a smooth flick of the wrist, to shape their search, eliminating airlines they don't like from the mix, departure times that would be inconvenient, and flights that have too many stops. It's a bit hard to describe, but this new tool bar is certainly one of the most user-friendly, and just plain fun, that we've encountered thus far. The site will also soon be customizing information, a la Amazon.com. "Finding hotels online, in particular, is an area where consumers feel frustrated," explains CEO Steve Hafner. "But we'll have the ability to personalize your experience. If you tell us which hotels you like in Chicago, we'll be able to cross-tabulate to hotels that people like you have picked for London." Travelers may eventually set up two profiles for themselves, one for business travel (where nonstop flights and fancy hotels may be de rigeur) and one for leisure travel (where saving money is the top priority). Weaknesses: The site is currently the slowest of the aggregators, sometimes taking a full minute to cycle through all of the options. Though Hafner claims that that's because of the comprehensiveness of the search, it can be a frustrating wait. Hopefully, it will speed up once it's out of BETA-mode. One other small glitch: Sometimes there's a discrepancy between the fares on the Kayak site and the quotes once a user clicks through to the seller's own website. On four separate test searches there was a difference in price by three or four dollars, and in one case the rate listed on the sellers site was a full $20 cheaper than Kayak displayed.