Only you...in Italy.

Robert Downey Jr. & Marisa Tomei in Only You

I'm a sap. I'll get lost in a good chic movie and I'll watch it a hundred times.  Only You is one of those movies - not because Robert Downey Jr. is especially handsome or Marisa Tomei is the greatest actress ever - my real love in this movie is...the scenery.

A lot of movies have been a boon to Italian tourism; Under the Tuscan Sun and Roman Holiday for example.  But this movie in particular introduces us to the dreaminess that is Positano and makes the romantic sap in all of us want to call a travel agent right NOW.

Positano was a poor little fishing village located about 200 miles south of Rome on the Almafi coast.  Now, tourism is now Positano's major industry along with.... Limoncello. Lemons are big and plentiful in this region and the people of Positano have mastered the art of making the perfect blend of lemons, sugar and booze. 

View from Le Sirenuse Hotel, Positano

In the movie, Marisa Tomei's character runs all over Italy chasing a man who's name she got from an ouija board when she was young.  She thinks he's her destiny.  When she reaches Positano, she meets Billy Zane's character here at the pool at Le Sirenuse Hotel.

 Frankly, I would have been a lot more excited about the pool.

 and the room....

and the restaurant...

Romantic, no? But if you still need a little help in that area, most rooms at Le Sirenuse have a balcony overlooking the sea, La Sonda restaurant (pictured above) has hundreds of twinkling candles and a mandolin and guitar player, and the hotel has an Aveda Concept Spa and an oyster and champagne bar.  Aahhh..that's the ticket.  We won't talk room rates because that will just ruin it for everyone.

In the end, Marisa finds her Mr. Right and all is well (yeah, like you didn't see that comin'). For more views of beautiful Positano see the movie below....

Diane Lane and some hottie in "Under The Tuscan Sun"

Here's a great insider's guide to Positano.
For more movies with great scenery, enter these titles in TripScout's search box: Roman Holiday, Something's Gotta Give, The Holiday and The Truman Show.

Expedia + Groupon = Yay!

I'm VERY excited about this news:  "On Tuesday, daily deal giant Groupon.com and online travel agency Expedia.com officially launched Groupon Getaways, promising limited-time offers of up to 50 percent off regular rates on select hotels and resorts."

Read more:  Groupon and Expedia team up for travel deals 

Can someone just tell me if the beach is nice?!

Friendly Marriott Staff

Like millions of people, TripAdvisor.com is the first place I go when looking for a hotel -even though sometimes I get so annoyed I vow never to do it again. It's hard to weed through the long, bitter rants followed up by someone who writes as though she's just been to Nirvana. Eventually, I do stumble on a good reviewer: one who gives the pros and cons in a fairly level-headed manner and recognizes the things the hotel actually has control over (umm..the fact that it rained the first 3 days of your vacation has nothing to do with the hotel so you can just leave that part out, ok?)  But, just how accurate are these people anyway?

Turns out that studies show TripAdvisor and other hotel review sites (whose content is user-generated) are mostly right on the mark.  You just have to remember to "be like an Olympic judge" and toss out the lowest and the highest scores and go with the meat in the middle. 

When all else fails, if it's in the top 10 it can't be that bad, right?


To read more about the study click below:
Need a good hotel room? Follow the herd.