Waking up to beach views in Mexico, shopping at The Shuk in Jerusalem, the clean mountain air of Northern Italy… Some of my vacations, I’ll remember forever.

Vacations can be the best, can’t they? Especially for the family. You pack everyone up, skedaddle to the perfect spot, and everyone is blown away. Ideally.

But have you ever been disappointed? Most of us have. Remember Murphy’s law. Anything can go wrong. But what if it’s a Passover vacation? The stakes seem a little higher then, don’t they? In this case, sure it’s a vacation, but on top of that, it’s also your favorite Jewish holiday. It just has to be right.

But how do you make sure you’ve picked the best program, the one that fits your family’s needs and desires best? There’s really no way to know. Not really. If you’re lucky, maybe you know someone who went on a program last year and had a great time. But what if they went to Palm Springs and you want to go to Miami? Or maybe they had a great experience, but a lot of other people on the same trip didn’t.

In most areas of day-to-day life, this problem has been solved. Want to find reviews on hotels? No problem. Go to Trip Advisor or hotels.com. Need to find a great plumber or locksmith? Try Yelp. Want to find out which airline has the most comfortable seats? There are even websites for that.

How can it be that there is no place to go for dependable reviews about Passover vacations? A few years ago, a few friends had this very question. Brandyss Katz, Daniel Kramer and Doni Schwartz had all been going to different Passover vacations for years, and they were frustrated. Some were good. Some not so much. There had to be a way to modernize the search for a good Passover vacation.

We can all complain. We’re good at that. But these three friends decided to do something about their frustrations. Katz got the ball rolling, founding the Facebook group “Passover Program Reviews” in 2018. Buoyed by positive reactions and grateful vacationers, Passoverlistings.com was born. And just in time for your 2020 Passover plans.

So far, there are over 140 program listings, which is good if you’re picky. The website is pretty amazing. You can scroll through different Pesach programs by location, or search based on budget or ratings. Want upscale? Check. Want to search for a particular destination? No problem. Want to lounge by the beach between Seders? They’ve got you covered. Looking for a mixed crowd? Easy!

So far, their approach seems to be working for all sorts of people, from vacation-goers, to the Pesach-program owners listing their programs.

One user raved about her holiday in Salou, Spain: “Everything was fresh and clean. The view was magnificent! Food was fantastic!!!”

Another gushed about the cuisine in his Fort Lauderdale Passover: “My wife says I am a foodie, but I just like good food. We’ve been regulars at the Majestic for the last three years. While it was always very good, their introduction of all-day barbecue was amazing!”

A user from Houston was impressed by the website itself: “It’s so easy to use! Over lunch, I’d looked at half a dozen programs and found exactly what I wanted! The kids are going to be so excited!”

Of course, some of the Passover program reviews point out problems, which is exactly what you want. If the ice cream isn’t so great, or there’s freeway noise, you need to know about that too. It’s all there, honest and transparent, just like a Pesach-program Yelp.

The program owners seem to appreciate the service.

Alyson Feldman, with FFH Events out of New York, said, “We decided to list our program because we enjoyed the Facebook group so much. We like to read all the different feedback on programs to see what guests are happy and not so happy with.

We are very impressed with the knowledgeable sales team. We can tell they know the industry and it’s not just another ad in a travel section.”

Ben Camille at Upscale Getaways agreed. “We saw the potential of Passover Listings and the hole that they are filling in the industry. We wanted to partner with them to guarantee our online influence would be tops in the industry.”

So, if you’re looking to take a Passover vacation this year, you might want to check out Passoverlistings.com. Especially if you have some special desires for your trip, or want to get detailed information about all the programs in a certain area.

By Matt Aaron