One of the tidbits of info stored in my mental travel files is a presence of Ramada Hotels in 8 different cities around Romania. Not being too fluent in the geography of Romania, I checked out each city and looked up its location in the country and read a wikipedia brief on its historical and cultural significance.
Two aspects of my research made me shift my thinking from simply reporting on an opportunity to tour Romania using Wyndham Rewards and Ramada hotels to actually planning our summer trip with Romania as the primary destination for two weeks of travel.
The first thing I noticed as I worked through the 8 cities in Romania with Ramada hotels is their distance from each other means a real opportunity to travel around to all parts of Romania, while staying at Ramada Hotels.
Romania is about the size of Oregon or Wyoming and geographically somewhat of a circular shape. Bucharest in south-central is major entry point for airline flights, Craiova in southwest is on route to Sofia, Bulgaria, Oradea in northwest is on route to Budapest, Hungary and Iasi in northeast is on route to Chisenau, Moldova.
Four other cities with Ramada Hotels are in central Romania at Pitesti, Brasov, Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca.
Romania on Google Maps with Brasov, Romania pin.
Brasov and five other cities with Ramada hotels are shown on this map. Pitesti is on route between Bucharest and Sibiu. Brasov and Cluj-Napoca are on route to Oradea.
A direct drive 600 km from Bucharest to Oradea in the northwest will take you through Petesti, Sibiu and to Cluj-Napoca with a 20 mile detour. It is also 600 km to drive Bucharest to Oradea via Brasov and Cluj-Napoca meaning four or five Ramada hotels are on direct road routes across Romania about every 100 miles.
Bus or train travel makes these cities two to three hours apart on inexpensive public transportation.
Cluj-Napoca is Romania’s second largest city, population 325,000, behind Bucharest 1.9 million. City populations are down slightly since 1990 for both these cities. Brasov 250,000; Sibiu 150,000 and Oradea 200,000 population are all Romanian cities with established transportation infrastructure, shopping malls and core business center district for restaurants and entertainment.
Romania’s Siebenbürgen
The other interesting piece I learned about Romania checking out the eight cities with Ramada hotels is discovering two of the locations are part of seven medieval fortified villages, Brasov and Sibiu. The Siebenbürgen, ‘seven fortresses’ were built by German immigrants in the early 13th century when the threat of Mongol invasion was imminent on the Kingdom of Hungary borderlands. They are known as Transylvanian Saxons.
Sibiu, Romania wikimedia
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Ramada Sibiu
Ramada Sibiu looks out of place in the context of the medieval village environment pictured above. A check of Google Maps shows Ramada Sibiu is within a 15 minute walk to the historic center of Sibiu.
Room rates midweek in July 2017 at Ramada Sibiu start at 85.50 EUR ($91.57 USD) per night for advance purchase nonrefundable rate. A better deal is 99 EUR ($106.03 USD) for a flexible cancellation rate earning 2,000 bonus points per stay. A 2-night stay will earn nearly 2,000 Wyndham Rewards base points + 2,000 bonus points.
GoFast Reward Nights = 3,000 Points + Copay
The value of 3,000 Wyndham Rewards point can be seen immediately by examining cost for a GoFast reward night at Ramada Sibiu for 3,000 points + 41 EUR ($43.91 USD).
3,000 Wyndham Rewards points reduces the room rate at Ramada Sibiu from $106 to $44 per night. $62 savings on one room night.
Ramada Oradea has a lower 27 EUR copay for GoFast nights. The room rate shows a tax on the copay making the price 30 EUR ($32.10 USD) per night. The flexible cancellation paid rate = 127 EUR ($136 USD).
Romania is a place with both low room rates and even lower GoFast reward rates. Striking a balance between the two to earn and burn for good Wyndham Rewards points value makes Romania a place where 20,000 to 30,000 points means a cheap vacation destination.
Romania looks easy on the travel budget. A pint of beer in Sibiu averages $1.07 USD. Meal in an inexpensive restaurant is $4.26 and a three course meal in a mid-range restaurant is about $17.
Kelley can live with me on vacation for two weeks in Romania living like that. 2016 travels to Vilnius, Lithuania; Bratislava, Slovakia and Krakow, Poland has revealed to us there is a lot happening in cities on the eastern front of Europe.
Roaming Romania in Ramada hotels is looking like a top choice for our summer 2017 trip.
ROMANIA RAMADA HOTELS
A useful bookmark to keep is this link to Wyndham Worldwide hotels organized by country.
