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Cosy up in Wellington this winter – events, exhibitions, activities and more!

Deals of the week | Secret Sale | My Shortlist It’s all about Wellington this month… As the weather cools, the cultural calendar fires up in the Capital. Book your winter city break and visit three incredible exhibitions canvassing the best of pop art, impressionism and Kiwi creativity. July also sees the best of world cinema at the New …

Travelbug Awards 2013 – here are your winners!

It’s that time again, time to announce the winners of this year’s Travelbug Awards! This is the third time we’ve given out these awards and we’re always stoked to be able to recognise excellent performance by accommodation operators. The the winners were selected based on the number of bookings made at each property, the quality …

Kiwis vote Coromandel #1 summer destination

A summer holiday somewhere on the Coromandel with breakfast and parking included is what most travellers want this summer. Coromandel took the number one summer Kiwi holiday spot, with Northland and Nelson / Tasman nabbing second and third. Our favourite summer spots were all spots with water, sunshine and space – all things coveted by …

Eating out – hidden treasures of Auckland

I’m not sure if these places are well known to Aucklanders or not, but as an out of towner there are a few things I always recommend to people travelling to New Zealand’s biggest city. Most recently I stayed in Parnell and I was impressed at the number of choices along Parnell Road for brunch, …

Las Vegas part two – a hotel geek’s paradise

During my stay in Vegas I both loved and hated the Cosmopolitan hotel: it was hell and it was heaven. But more on that later. I stayed in 5 hotels in my 8-night trip and that means I’ve now stayed in 8 Vegas hotels. Yes, I’m a hotel geek and and I love the whole …

Las Vegas Part one – a week in the dessert

There are times in your life when you need to forget about the consequences and let yourself go. A couple of months ago, I headed to Las Vegas and did just that, and loosened the waistband of my pants a little while I was at it. Vegas has changed a lot over the years and …

Travelbug milestones and a sneak peak

In two weeks Travelbug will celebrate its 5th birthday (yay!) and it seemed a good time to look at some of the recent milestones and give you a wee look at some of the stuff that is going on behind the scenes here at Travelbug HQ. Since we launched on our new booking engine, we’ve …

The Travelbug office gets a slide

You know how you can sometimes tell when the writers of your favourite TV show simply have an off day and look for an easy way out? They’ll write an episode that takes the cast to Hawaii for a holiday, or do a musical or even worse a flashback show. Sometimes when you write a …

Tipping in New Zealand – why don't we do it more often?

Close your eyes and imagine you’re at an Auckland hotel. You’ve just checked out, and a nice hotel employee piles your bags onto a trolley, takes them outside, waves over a taxi and helps you get your stuff into the car. Before you get in the taxi do you a) thank him sincerely and give …

Palmageddon – in defence of Palmerston North

Last week, Travelbug unwittingly started a Palmerston North slag-a-thon, and I feel it is important to set the record straight a little and make my case for why Palmerston North really is a wonderful place. But before we get into the detail, a bit of background about how Palmageddon started.