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International Jazz Day is coming up fast on May 26 and what better time to be in New Orleans! This is the home of jazz, the home of the blues and the home of music! Don’t panic – Cheap Rooms has plenty of cheap hotels in New Orleans to choose from. All you need do is choose your favorite venue!

Finding a hotel in New Orleans is easy, after all, there are over 200 to choose from. You can stay close to the action around Bourbon St or stay by the waterfront. Either way, the choices are excellent – just select the style you’re after and go for it. Check Cheap Rooms for deals right now to get you there!

Bourbon Street is in the French Quarter and it’s reputation for being the center of all things pleasurable is well deserved. It’s reputation as the city’s red light area goes back more than a century. The stylish townhouses and the Bourbon St strip itself held many brothels and late night drinking bars. Jazz got it’s start here in the brothels which in those days were also drinking and entertainment dens. King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton were just two of the house players who refined their skills on the strip. Some of New Orleans most famous restaurants are here also, including Galatoire’s, at 209 Bourbon.

Some say that Royal Street is a way better experience than Bourbon. You be the judge. The ambience is less touristy and kitsch and the clubs and restaurants just as good. There are opulent antique shops and plenty of art galleries tucked into little cottages. It’s a little more upmarket than Bourbon and thus a little more orderly. Part of the street is closed to traffic every afternoon and the pedestrian atmosphere makes for great people watching. Check out Rouses grocery store.

Do you want to hang ouit wherew the locvals hangout? The best jazz venues in New Orleans are in Frenchmen Street and this is where you’ll also find R & B, rock and roll and dancing. You can have a pre-dinner drink in a funky bar, wander into a fine restaurant for some excellent food at a budget (or premium) price and then choose your poison. The Spotted Cat is a low key place that does excellent local jazz. La Maison de la Musique is a big venue with a great atmosphere and plenty of action. You’ll often find Zydeco at DBA. Wander the street during the sdaytime and you’ll also love the different colors and the unique boutiques.

New Orleans has a lovely town square called Jackson and it’s at 615 Pere Antoine Alley. It’s a fun place full of artists and street theater in the heart of the French Quarter, surrounded by historic buildings including the St. Louis Cathedral, the Presbytere and Cabildo (Louisiana State Museums), not to mention the Lower and Upper Pontalba Apartments, the oldest apartment buildings in the U.S.! Local artists work the Square, drawing caricatures, painting landscapes and the like. It’s the ideal place to take home a memento of your trip.

Extreme sports may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but done in slo-mo it’s pretty cool!

…you’re tired of life, as the saying goes! If you’ve never strolled across Pont Neuf, climbed to Montmartre, looked out over Paris from the Eiffel Tower and queued to see the Mona Lisa, well, you haven’t lived! Paris is indeed everything they say it is – romantic, impossibly chic, exquisitely dressed and a gourmand’s natural habitat. And expensive – unless you check out Cheap Rooms, and their vast range of cheap hotels in Paris – in whatever location suits you best.

Getting flights to Paris is easy – almost every airline in the world connects to Paris and there are deals from most major hubs in the US. The City of Lights is an exciting, cultured city with all the expense that means – so make sure you check Cheap Rooms for the best deals (and don’t forget the lowest price guarantee).

So, you’ve landed in Paris, squared away the luggage in your (cheap) hotel room, and now you’re looking for something to do. Easy! If it’s first thing in the morning, get yourself up to Montmartre. You’ll know where it is by searching for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and once you get there you’ll love the marvellous views across Paris it delivers. It’s an arty hangout, full of touts and sidewalk caricature artists, but it’s also genuinely pretty, with loads of little shops, boutiques, cafes and bars. At night it’s a clubby hangout with plenty for the night owl.

So you’re not really the arty type and all you really know is the Mona Lisa? (You can see that at the Louvre.) But what you really should see are the Impressionists at the Musee d’Orsay. This most impressive of art galleries boasts the best collection of Impressionist paintings in the world. The biggest names in the world – Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Auguste Rodin – sit side by side in room after room. It really is a jaw-dropping place and you’ll see why they’re regarded as the best artists in the world.

One of the most famous museums and art galleries in the world – indeed, one of the most famous buildings in the world is The Louvre. It’s worth the queues, worth the effort. Inside this glorious building is some of the most well-known art in the world, including the Mona Lisa. It’s free to get in on the first Sunday of the month. It’s everything you’ve ever heard and more. Explore the galleries and revel in the collections of everything from paintings to sculpture, design and more. You’ll even see Napoleon’s private apartments. Our tip is to get there early on a weekday morning. Avoid peak summer season when large numbers of tourists are in Paris.

If you enjoy your shopping then Paris has something special for you! Head to an area called Saint-German-des-Pres and roam streets full of galleries, beautiful boutique clothing shops (that are priced for the average Joe), bars, boulangeries and cafes. The area is slightly edgy and there are street performers, beautiful apartments and lovely parks all within walking distance. It’s just across the river from the Louvre and close to the Musee d’Orsay.

Paris has so many attractions it’s hard to list them all. Start with the Eiffel Tower of course and walk along the Seine, but the one ‘must see’ in Paris in our opinion is Notre Dame. This extraordinary building is in the heart of Paris and is impressive from afar – and spectacular up close. This classic of gothic architecture was started in 1160 and completed almost 200 years later. If you’re lucky you’ll be there for an organ recital, you may hear the bells too. Entry is free.

A magic trick done well is a brilliant thing! Enjoy:

With Mother’s Day approaching fast, you may not have time get away for the weekend, but how about presenting her with a booking for a big-time treat in Miami Beach? It’s perfect for your mom, or your partner, (or you)! And rest assured Cheap Rooms has plenty of cheap hotels in Miami Beach to choose from. And mom will find plenty to occupy herself with in Miami Beach!

Finding a hotel in Miami Beach is easy, after all, there are over 500 to choose from. This beautiful part of the world is home to rock, pop and movie stars; it’s where the beautiful people hang out and it’s where you’re as likely to bump into a tv star as in LA. But Miami Beach is much more than movie stars and tv people. Here’s where the shopping really gets going. Here’s where fusion Cuban/American/European food has set the gastronomic world on fire. And Miami Beach is where the sun shine and beaches are truly magnificent. Have we convinced you the go? See Cheap Rooms for deals right now to get you there!

The big ‘name’ in Miami is South Beach. Art Deco to the fore in this trendy locale! The shops and restuarnts are famous throughout the country but the true South Beach charm is in its art deco look and feel. Old Miami looks good – the local authorities (after a push from citizens) have put a lot of time, effort and pastel paint in rejuvenating the South Beach area and if all you do is walk the streets you’ll still feel well-rewarded. Feeling hungry? Most restaurants offer outdoor seating so you can enjoy the ambience and beautiful weather. Whether you feel like Italian (TiramesU Restaurant, Da Leo Trattoria), Cuban (Yuca Restaurant), New World (Pacific Time), or a blues cafe (Van Dyke Cafe), roam Lincoln Road and you’ll find dozens.

If the beach gets a little too much (!), or the kids are getting restless, think Miami Zoo. … Zoo Miami is an exceptional place! Full of creatures and critters you won’t see at home. (Think big, hungry alligators!) Plus a ton of other tropical animals. The zoo itself has undergone a significant transition from a tired place to a truly inspirational and educational experience. The kids will love all the interaction and the free-range feel to the place. Gone are the cages of old, in their place is a savannah feel with animals grouped according to geography. It’s absolutely brilliant!

Do you have time for something really different? The Everglades are a world apart from anything you’ve ever seen before and it’s right here on the continental US. This vast park is accessible to adventurous types and is home to endangered species like the American Crocodile and the Florida Panther. You can tour the more accessible areas and see for yourself just how unique this sawgrass prairie is. The bird life and space, the silence and the eerie feel will be a marvellous experience to take back home – and so different to the usual beach/bar and dining out stories!

Hit the beach! South Beach is ‘Miami’ to most people, and certainly, it has the sand, turquoise ocean and all the movie stars seeing and being seen. But it’s also just a fab beach; pristine ocean swimming and clean, white sand to scrunch between your toes. It is an absolutely beautiful beach within walking distance of a multitude of shops, restaurants and a 2 kilometre boardwalk to stroll when you’ve had enough lying in the sun.

When we get to sixty, here’s hoping we’ve got this kind of attitude!