Spring Lake Candlelight Inn Tour

There’s something magical about visiting a home that’s all lit up by candles. A warm welcoming glow takes over, curious shadows dance in hallways, and there’s an instant festive feel.

We are looking forward to attend the 2011 Spring Lake Christmas Inn Tour on Saturday December 3rd.

The festivities kick off with a complimentary tea party at the Breakers from 2:00-3:30.  From there, visit the christmas boutique at the Ocean House from 2:00-7:00.  The tour starts at 3:30 and wraps up at 7:00.


Tickets are $25 per person.  For tickets and information, call 732-449-0577 or 732-859-1465. 


Here are a list of the Historic Inns of Spring Lake.

Cyber Monday Deal for Your Jersey Shore Vacation

Thinking about your next summer vacation at the Jersey Shore? 

Happy Holidays!

Take $20 off online orders over $100 with coupon code CYBERMONDAY2011.  Visit www.relaxconcierge.com to place your order.  Offer applies to rental items only, cannot be combined with other coupons, excludes taxes and delivery.  Offer valid on 11/28/11.

Don't know your vacation rental address or the week you will be visiting the Jersey Shore?  

That's okay! For delivery address - enter  TBD for street address and enter city, state and zipcode. For week, select "Other".

Don't want to pay now? 

That's cool. Select "Reservation" at checkout.   Payment can be coordinated two weeks before your vacation.  

Happy Holidays! 

Small Business Saturday: Spring Lake

Here are a few of our favorite stores in Spring Lake for holiday shopping on Small Business Saturday.  

Juli Mei  1303 Third Avenue
(732) 449-0021
http://julimei.com/




Juli Mei is a wonderful place for jewelry!  We especially love their Chan Luu bracelets.  Here are a few of their holiday picks. 


Nest Home Garden & You
1317 3rd Ave
Spring Lake, NJ 07762
732-974-8900
http://www.facebook.com/nesthomegardenandyou?v=wall


Nest is a great spot for home items.  Nest was also recommended in the "Best of the Shore 2010" issue of Philadelphia Magazine.Waterlily
1203 3rd Avenue
(732) 449-0912 
http://www.waterlilyshop.com/ 



Perfect for teens and young adults.  We just love their Hudson jeans, Tom's shoes and Minnetonka boots.

Whimsicality 
1219 3rd Avenue
(732) 449-9337
http://www.facebook.com/pages/whimsicality/199717935629


Whimsicality has great home items.  We love their ornament selection especially the whale and walrus!


While shopping, stop by Cafe Artise for a cup of coffee.


Here's a link to all the shops in Spring Lake:
http://visitspringlake.com/pages/shopping

Small Business Saturday: Holiday Shopping Jersey Shore Style

For Small Business Saturday we look forward to telling our readers where the best stuff is at the Jersey Shore.  

The 2nd annual Small Business Saturday® is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses
on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

On November 26, millions of people will shop small at their favorite local stores and help fuel the economy. 

Relax Concierge will focus the next few posts on the best boutiques to make your holiday purchases in the following towns:

• Long Branch
• Asbury Park
• Spring Lake
• Manasquan
• Point Pleasant
• LBI
• Ocean City
• Avalon
• Stone Harbor

While shopping, make sure to enjoy the ample parking, stop by one of your favorite local restaurants and while you are at it swing by the beach.  Shopping at the Jersey Shore sure beats any shopping mall! 

Hurricane Irene

Our trip to Vermont brought back memories of Hurricane Irene.

There was way more destruction than I imagined. When visiting Woodstock, the historian at the Woodstock Inn told us that 4feet of water came rushing through the ground floor doors similar to the scene in titanic. The inn was closed for over a month to repair the damage on the first floor and the golf course.

During a drive to Killington we saw what looked to be spots where covered bridges once were located. Temporary bridges have now been built next to spots that once had iconic Vermont covered bridges.

Businesses have been closed for months during one of their most busy seasons.

When thinking back to the Jersey Shore evacuations - I still remember the uncertain feeling of what was going to happen to our beaches. It was crazy to return to the beach to find very limited damage.

We had a really nice time in Vermont. I strongly recommend a winter visit to woodstock to enjoy all that the area has to offer.

Trip Report: Woodstock Inn Vermont

Mom and I in front of the lobby fire.

It's so nice to get away and check our new places. We will be meeting with Killington Group tomorrow to discus winter rentals so we decided to stay nearby in Woodstock.


The Woodstock Inn is just beautiful.  The Woodstock Inn is voted as one of the TOP 100 resorts in the U.S. by CONDE NAST readers.   From their website:



The Woodstock Inn & Resort, a Preferred Hotel, offers modern amenities and services within a quintessential Vermont setting. 142 Spacious rooms, plush bedding and breathtaking grounds create a cozy, welcoming escape any time of year. 


We especially love the amenities from the Egyptian cotton linens and towels to the in room Keurig coffee maker. We also love the personal touches like the towel fan and full size bottles of toiletries!

Trip Report: IHMRS Show In NYC

Yesterday we attended the International Hotel Motel & Restaurant Show (IHMRS) and Boutique Design New York (BDNY) at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC.    The IHMRS is considered the international showcase for the hospitality industry.  The Javits Center was set up with 700 exhibitors and 30,000 attendees each year.


It was the perfect day for the event and for walk around NYC.  We left Manasquan after a nice sunrise walk around 8:30 to get to the show by 10:30.  We took the ferry from Weehawken and walked over to the show.  


Once at the show we met with several of our current suppliers and met many prospective new suppliers.  Here are a few vendors we met with: Bed Bath & Beyond, T-Y Group, Frette, Lather, Tivoli, Marietta.

Following the show we visited the offices of Glamour Magazine and enjoyed a great lunch before returning back to the beach.


We strongly believe staying "in the know" with hotel innovation is important to providing vacationers with these amenities.  We look forward to incorporating some new rental items for 2012 following attending this event.  

http://www.ihmrs.com/

Bed Sizes Around The World

Here's an interesting wiki for all bed sizes in different countries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_size

Linens and towels are not provided?!

This is a statement/question realtors and homeowners receive from many vacationers staying at the Jersey Shore.

While many vacation destinations include this service - it is not common at the Jersey Shore. In most cases, this is all figured out before the start of a vacation but sometimes it happens upon arrival at the destination.

Last night we were happy to help a homeowner and vacationing family with this service. Both the homeowner and vacationer were glad we were open and available for a drop off within a few hours.

Thanksgiving at the Jersey Shore

Most vacationers think the Jersey Shore is for Memorial Day, Fourth of July and maybe even Labor Day but some folks love the Shore so much they are vacationing there over Thanksgiving!

We love this idea.  If you are from the PA, NJ, NY area and you aren't planning a flight out of town - why not head to the Shore?!

We are looking forward to working with vacationers headed down to Ocean City for the week and long weekend.      Depending on whether this is a new tradition or just something different to do - the Jersey Shore has a lot to offer.  There are great restaurants offering Thanksgiving dinners or you can dine in the comfort of your very own rental.   There are also lots of great shopping specials for Black Friday and the casinos always have something fun to do.

There are great rentals available at discounted rates.  Please call us at 609-601-5077 if you are interested in making your Thanksgiving vacation more relaxing and enjoyable.

Ladies Weekend At The Beach

Ladies having a good time together.
We dont exactly know these women but
we love that they are all smiling!

We thought today's post should be about Ladies Weekends following two recent orders.  

One weekend was a late September stay in Avalon with a bunch of fun ladies looking to hang out and relax with ol' friends.    It was the perfect time of year for shopping, exploring restaurants, etc.  These women were siked they didn't have to pack linens and towels from home and then deal with all the laundry.

Our most recent weekend was planned by a HUSBAND.  This awesome guy planned for all his wife's friends to fly in and surprise her at work.  It wasn't her birthday or any major milestone.  It was just a celebration of his wife.

Following the surprise - the women were all whisked away to the Jersey Shore for a weekend at a beautiful beachfront.  While visiting, the ladies were sent from the shore to NYC to see the sights!  Why not - the beach is only 1-2 hours from the best city ever.    He even planned for us to provide their linens and towels so that they didn't have to deal with all the laundry!

It is very cool to hear all these stories cause you realize more and more that time with friends and family so important.    We are happy to be a small contributor to these good times.

Square Dancing

We are looking forward to providing linens and towels to the Blast Class Square Dancing weekend this Friday-Sunday. Blast Class is a series of classes designed to teach you how to square dance in a weekend.  

We will be traveling up from the Jersey Shore to Liebenzell Retreat Center in  Long Valley, NJ to drop off our rental items.  Unfortunately we wont be able to stay for all the fun!  

When researching the dance, we learned that square dancing is the official dance of NJ. Who knew?! 

Are you hosting a retreat weekend?  Relax Concierge  would be happy to provide you a quote for linens and towels for your stay.  During the winter months, we can deliver to most towns in NJ. 

What do the Beatles, Ocean City, Relax Concierge and Santa Have In Common?

This may sound like an odd combination since each are all so unique - or maybe not.  

Ocean City Magazine recreated the Beatles Abbey Road cover for their November/December issue at the cross walk  at 9th Street/Asbury Avenue in Ocean City, NJ..   

The cover includes our owner, Erin Visalli, as George Harrison outfitted in the daringly fashionable denim on denim combination.  To the right is Sir Paul McCartney or an employee from Collette.  Santa is filling in for Ringo and John Lennon is the owner of Accent Gallery. 

It was so much fun to be a part of the photoshoot.  Ocean City magazine is a great resource for everything Ocean City. We are happy to advertise with the magazine and also to include their magazines and books with orders for guests staying in Ocean City, Avalon and Stone Harbor.  To subscribe, visit http://ocnjmagazine.com/.

Dinner "In" Tip for Vacationers

We look forward to providing vacationers with tips for their vacations at the Jersey Shore. We hope our tips will make the vacation more relaxing and enjoyable.


Here's our first tip to vacationers in Southern Monmouth County and Northern Ocean County beaches:


Joe Leones
400 New Jersey 35
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
(732) 701-0001


Joe Leones is our favorite go-to spot for lunch and dinner take out. Everything is delicious. The experience at the store also is part of the fun.


The other night we purchased their Sunday Sauce. The sauce is enough for 10+ people. The sauce includes a few meatballs, sausage and Braciole. Some homemade pasta and the sauce is almost a necessity for a dinner in with minimal effort.