Our mission here at WendyPerrin.com is to make your travel extraordinary. Here’s how we do it. Of course, it’s always nice when you can reap those extraordinary benefits and get a deal—and that’s why we’re introducing our new Exclusive Travel Deals column. Thanks to the clout and connections of the trip designers on The WOW List, they can often negotiate special offers for WendyPerrin.com travelers, and we want to make sure you know about them. These deals are not for budget travel. They’re for the same high-caliber experiences you expect from WOW List travel specialists.
These special offers are only available to travelers who use the black buttons below and thus are marked as a VIP sent by Wendy.
Literature Comes to Life in Moscow: 3 Days of Extraordinary Access and Value
Where: Moscow
Why: It’s fun to see the real-life locations used in movies, but it’s rare to have the chance to learn about—and get behind-the-scenes access to—the locations that have inspired books. Fans of Amor Towles’s acclaimed 2016 novel A Gentleman in Moscow can spend three nights at the famed Metropol Hotel, where the eponymous gentleman, Count Alexander Rostov, is sentenced to house arrest by a Bolshevik tribunal. The fashionable Count is not prone to self pity and strives to maintain the same high standard of class and elegance to which he held himself as a regular of the hotel before the Bolshevik Revolution. This makes for many funny, touching and insightful moments that captured the interest of a worldwide readership (including Bill Gates, who reviewed it on his blog) and several award committees (including the Kirkus Prize, for which Towles was a finalist). Interest in the Metropol has boomed too since the book came out in 2016, and through this special itinerary, travelers can walk in the Count’s shoes as they visit some of the real-life haunts depicted in the book (except for his hotel attic rooms, which don’t really exist).
The deal: Literature fans will spend three nights at the Metropol, where they will be treated to a private A Gentleman in Moscow tour of the hotel to see sites featured in the book (along with a complimentary novel-themed cocktail). They’ll get V.I.P. access to other top Moscow cultural sites too: a private backstage tour of the Bolshoi Theater (which features heavily in the Count’s reminiscences) and a privately guided visit to the Kremlin and its Armory Museum to admire its collection of imperial Fabergé eggs and historic thrones and crowns, including the golden 14th-century Cap of Monomakh. Travelers will also gain access to the Armory’s Diamond Vaults, where Catherine the Great’s scepter—bejeweled with the Orlov Diamond—is kept. When Wendy got special access to all this in Moscow, it blew her away and changed her entire perception of Russia. These WendyPerrin.com readers were dazzled too. This itinerary is being offered to WendyPerrin.com readers at a $600-per-person discount, compared to the usual cost.
When: Book and travel through December 2019 for $1,600 per person based on double occupancy and two guests touring. The deal will also be available into 2020, but at a slightly higher price to be determined soon.
How: To get the exclusive rate on this trip, reach out to Russia expert Greg Tepper, the Russia specialist on Wendy’s WOW List, via the black button below:
A Spectacular Villa Vacation for a Big Family or Group Of Friends
When: Now through December 20, 2019
Why: Some of us need a luxurious option for getting a group together in one beautiful, sunny place. Consider this for a vacation with kids and grandparents, a fall getaway with friends, or a family reunion over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Where: The postcard-pretty beaches of Cabo San Lucas, located at the southern tip of California’s Baja peninsula, are only a 2.5-hour flight from Los Angeles or a 6-hour flight from New York. Cabo draws sun seekers looking to fill their days with snorkeling, swimming, fishing, and surfing, as well as sophisticates wanting to explore the quaint towns and up-and-coming food scene. In Cabo, though, location is key: Base yourself in the wrong area and you could end up at an unswimmable beach or overrun by tourist crowds. Choose a smart villa as your homebase, and you will bypass those challenges.
What: This state-of-the-art, 10-bedroom, staffed villa is located high up in the gated neighborhood of Pedregal. Safe and private, with panoramic ocean views, the villa comes complete with infinity pool, hot tub, al fresco dining area, outdoor fire pit, two kitchens, wine cellar, gym, sauna, massage rooms, an indoor home theater and an outdoor TV and media system, a poolside bar, Xbox gaming system, and views from almost every room (including the gym). The villa sleeps 24, has 14 bathrooms, and easily accommodates kids (the owner has two small children, so if you need a high chair, crib, or playpen, they are available). It comes with Wi-Fi, central air conditioning, and a staff of four who will take care of house cleaning, laundry, setting up lounge chairs, bringing drinks to you poolside, etc.
The deal: The villa rate of $5,400 per night represents 10% off. If you can fill the villa with the maximum number of guests (24), you pay only $225 per person per night. That’s for your own 28,000-square-foot private playground. By comparison, a five-star hotel room in Cabo will likely cost you $350 per person per night (once you factor in taxes and service fees) and will give you far less privacy and space per person. The villa rate includes transportation from the airport, delivery to the villa of your AVIS rental car, a dedicated local concierge throughout your stay, 24/7 customer service, an hour of butler/bartender services upon arrival plus a bottle of premium tequila, and a $400 credit toward activities such as parasailing or whale watching.
How: To get the exclusive rate and extras, reach out to Cabo expert Julie Byrd, one of the villa-vacation specialists on Wendy’s WOW List, via the black button below:
