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Vacationing Students Seek 'Hot, Cheap Spots'; Club Mediterranee at $750 a Week Is Popular

By Mary G. Gotschall

Harvard students planning vacations over intersession are seeking respite at what one local travel consultant yesterday called "hot cheap places with good dope."

"We generally recommend Negril, in Jamaica," said the consultant, who works at Whole-World Travel and would not disclose her name. "Good smoke, nice beaches, quiet, relaxed atmosphere."

The consultant added that there are no special student rates to Negril, as this is the peak season. Air fare costs $248 round trip, and camping out runs to an additional $50 a week.

Bourgeois

"For the next Harvard vacation in March, we're sponsoring a half-fare group flight to Montego Bay--only one and a half hours to Negril," she said.

Another popular vacation retreat for students is Yucatan, Mexico, which is attractive for its Aztec ruins and generally unexploited atmosphere.

"Yucatan hasn't been built up yet, and at $6 a week, Mexico is definitely still a bargain," the consultant said.

Round trip plane fare to Yucatan is $300, but, the travel agent insisted, "Their tacos are out of this world."

Social Concerns on the Rise

Harvard students also seem to be free about spending money for intersession vacations, a travel agent at Crimson Travel reported.

"The Club Mediterranee in Martinique is very popular--always sold out--and it runs you $750 a week," she added. "Students are casual about the expense, though. It doesn't phase them, because it's just more of the their parents' money."

The agent said students' behavior is a contrast to that of the families who came in to make vacation plans "who acted like they've been saving for it all their lives."

Once students graduate, however, and make summer touring plans in Europe, she said they look for something "cheap." "They're spending their own money, then, and I guess when you graduate, you suddenly become poor," she said.

Florida, Puerto Rico and Nassau were also cited as popular travel spots.

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