Some news! We just launched a new partnership with LocalGetaways.com. We’re writing tips and advice for their Kid-Friendly Great Getaways section. The first edition covers the California wine country vacations with kids. Napa and Sonoma are right outside of Dana’s front door and she’s provided an array of fantastic suggestions of things to do with kids other than dragging them to wineries.

Local Getaways is a great resource to bookmark for boutique hotel stays in California.

We’ve been busy bees lately writing custom kid-friendly guides for the NileGuide, a travel planning website where you can research trips and create customized travel guides.

With the help of our travel blogging friends around the world, we created initial guides for London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Singapore, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. Orlando, Paris, and more will be coming soon.

As kids get older, finding an ideal vacation venue often means more than finding functional guest rooms and a kid-friendly attitude. Specifically, many parents seek properties with kids clubs.

We’ve had many inquiries for Ciao Bambino recommended properties in Asia over the past year. In order to launch Asia coverage, I needed to find a good local resource. I’m thrilled to report that I’ve found one!

Conde Nast Traveler released their 2009 Hot List this week and I was thrilled to see two Ciao Bambino Approved properties, Borgo Santo Pietro and The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort, included in the list.

For American travelers, one interesting event happening right now is that the Dollar is rising against all major foreign currencies (other than the Japanese Yen)—see Arthur Frommer’s post on this topic on his blog. This is a welcome …

As of Monday, Travelers visiting the US under the Visa Waiver Program must now register online ahead of time, instead of filling out paper forms on the flight. The program is designed to improve …

This year’s holiday party chit chat centered around predictions for 2009. People ask me continually how the current state of the country impacts Ciao Bambino and the decisions people are making about family vacations …

I was surprised and disturbed to read an article in the recent National Geographic Traveler about post-trip surprise charges added to client credit cards from rental car companies and hotels.