Amazon Local has expanded its hotel bookings. Hotels can now offer rooms at published rates in ongoing listings; previously they were limited to discounted rooms and finite sales. According to a report on Skift, "[i]n the past couple of weeks Amazon Local updated its iOS and Android apps and began on-boarding a handful of independent hotels offering their rooms at published rates, which is a big departure from the steeply discounted, distressed inventory that has been the mainstay of Amazon Local over the past couple of years....Amazon is trying to give hotels the flexibility to work with Amazon on an ongoing basis and not just when they have rooms to sell at 40 percent or 52 percent cheaper than published rates when the hotels are feeling the pinch. Among the hotels that have loaded their published rates, availability and photos through the Amazon Local extranet over the last week or plan to do so in the coming days are sister properties Ledges Hotel and The Settlers Inn in Hawley, Pennsylvania, as well as Ocean Place Resort & Spa in Long Branch, New Jersey, and Salishan Spa & Golf Resort in Gleneden Beach, Oregon."

The rest of the story: Amazon’s New Hotel Business Begins to Take Shape by Dennis Schaal (Skift).

Any day.

Mural and outdoor furniture, Isla Mujeres, Mexico (photo: ©The Detourist)

If you've never heard Baby Huey, here's your chance. He could hold his own against Otis Redding or Howard Tate or Solomon Burke, and his band, the Babysitters, would have fought the JBs to a draw. This, his only album, was released after he was dead. Legendary, indeed. I tried to do an album with him in the mid-60s that never came to anything; just as well: the masterful producing here is by Curtis Mayfield (I think). Baby Huey: another great talent undeserving of obscurity.

Source: This Is Colossal

Have to agree pretty much with this morning's post by Carly Ledbetter on the many reasons to include Belize in your vacation planning, among them fewer than average numbers of tourists, fabulous beaches, terrific scuba diving and snorkeling on the second longest coral reef in the world, and numerous Mayan ruins. My only disagreement is over the recommendation to visit between November and April; off-season prices drop precipitously, plus from May to October you'll pretty much have the place to yourself. Summers are hot, for sure, but you'll be in the water most of the time, anyway. Just keep an eye out for the occasional hurricane.

Robles Point, northern Ambergris Caye Photograph by Julian Rivero

The rest of the story: 9 Reasons To Head To Belize For Your Next Vacation Getaway by Carly Ledbetter (HuffPost Travel). See, also: 10 Things You Must Do During Your Next Trip to Belize by Sucheta Rawal.

Belize

For even more exclusivity, avoid touristy Ambergris Caye for a spot on the mainland. Our recommendation: Robert's Grove Beach Resort, a hacienda-style hotel on 22 acres of white sand beach in Placencia, not only close to the barrier reef, diving tours and fly fishing trips, but also within easy reach of tropical rainforests and Mayan ruins.

For a rainforest experience, book a stay at Black Rock Lodge, a cozy eco-resort nestled in the dense rainforest above the Macal River in the Mayan Mountains, 2.5 hours west of Belize City, south of San Ignacio. The forest surroundings offer opportunities for canoeing on the Macal, horseback riding to Xunantunich, hiking various canyon trails among verdant local flora and fauna, and bird watching (the Lodge is one of the few places in Central America where you might see all three species of Toucan in one morning). Add in roomy rustic cabins

Where is Belize?

and a restaurant featuring fresh, organic vegetables grown on site, and you'll never want to leave. At least we didn't want to.

Resources: AmbergrisCaye.com, Belize in the CIA World Factbook, the Belize Audubon Society, and Belize by Lebawit Lily Girma (Moon Handbooks). Belize is a hair over two hours from Miami and just under two and a half hours from Houston. Air service is provided by American, Maya Island Air, United, US Airways, Tropic Air, TAG, Avianca and Delta.