As you are reading this, I am winging my way to Curacao in the southern Caribbean, for a four day stay courtesy of Marriott Resorts. The press trip, appropriately named “Blog Paradise,” is sending nine bloggers to nine different resorts included in Marriott Resorts’ Paradise by Marriott Caribbean and Mexico collection to promote special limited-time offers at each of the properties.
Entrance to Marriott Curacao Resort and Emerald Casino
The promotion is different for each of the resorts; for example, at Marriott’s Curacao Resort and Emerald Casino, guests get the fourth night free and a free breakfast. Check out the other offers at the “Shake Up Paradise” website – just choose the preferred resort, click to shake up the giant snow globe, and watch as the offer is revealed.
I’ll be blogging about the trip, but for real-time impressions, events, and updates follow me on Twitter. All nine bloggers will be tweeting throughout the trip using the hashtag #BlogParadise. If you’d like to check out where the other eight bloggers are headed, follow the links to their blogs shown below:
Nancy D. Brown will be at J.W. Marriott Cancun Resort in Mexico
Blog: Nancydbrown.com Twitter: @nancydbrown
Lisa Overman is headed for Aruba Renaissance Resort
Blog: Wanderlustandlipstick.com Twitter: @islandstyle29
Aaron Hotfelder will be at Aruba Marriott Resort
Blog: Gadling.com Twitter: @aaronhotfelder
Pam Mandel is winging to Casa Magna Cancun Resort in Mexico
Blog: Nerdseyeview.com Twitter: @nerdseyeview
Chris Gray is off to St. Kitts Marriott
Blog: caroundtheworld.com Twitter: @caroundtheworld
Robin Locker will stay at Grand Cayman Marriott Resort
Blog: mymelange.net Twitter: @mymelange
Julie Schwietert will be visiting Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Blog: matadornetwork.com Twitter: @collazoprojects
Charyn Pfeuffer is headed for CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa in Mexico
Blog: hotelchatter.com Twitter: @global_gourmet
For now, I’m brushing up on the local lingo, so I’ll close by saying Ayo – Papiamento for goodbye.
Disclaimer: Although Marriott Resorts is providing this trip free of charge, including accommodations and airfare, my commitment, as always, is to write honestly about my experience.
After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. 
December 16th, 2009 - 4:24 pm
Have fun!!
December 16th, 2009 - 6:06 pm
Sounds fantastic, I wish Marriott would do something similar in Europe, then I could pop along easily, not that I wouldn’t love to be off to the Caribbean
December 17th, 2009 - 9:04 am
Watch out for that Blue Curacao and stop by Kura Hulanda for a tour of the museum. Bring the tissue with you for that one.
December 17th, 2009 - 10:39 am
Have a wonderful time, Barbara. I’ll be looking for your tweets and posts about the Marriott experience.
December 17th, 2009 - 4:31 pm
What a fantastic opportunity. Have a great time. Curacao sounds so exotic – not that I could mark it on a map among all those islands.
December 17th, 2009 - 4:59 pm
Have a great trip Barbara! Wish I could have taken this one, but instead I made plans to go to freezing places. Looking forward to hearing your insights from the trip.
January 7th, 2010 - 5:13 pm
This sounded like a lovely trip.Have you returned and if so I would love to hear about it
January 7th, 2010 - 7:21 pm
Hi GFCB: I have returned from Curacao. I’ve written a couple of posts about it already, and more are planned, but for the moment you may enjoy these two: http://holeinthedonut.com/2010/01/02/curacao-queen-emma-swinging-bridge and http://holeinthedonut.com/2010/01/07/curacao-bright-colors-dutch-architecture. Barbara
February 9th, 2010 - 4:26 pm
That is a really great post, sir… I just added you to my RSS-feed..
February 22nd, 2010 - 5:23 pm
Thanks for the post – this is right up my husbands alley and am going to bookmark for him. Thanks
March 1st, 2010 - 10:50 am
Awesome post, Definitely very informative
March 3rd, 2010 - 9:24 pm
Really Enjoy reading this post..
Thanks!
March 7th, 2010 - 2:34 pm
I’ve found your site on yahoo by mistake but I’m glad i did .
March 9th, 2010 - 8:58 am
This really looks fantastic. I’d love to find myself there for few days and enjoy in this great climate under the sun.
March 10th, 2010 - 8:28 pm
I think there’s some problem with the RSS feed. I just can’t seem to add to Thunderbird.. Can you have a look?