Jani Miller, CTC, DS, LS

Interests & Specialties

Jani Miller joined Central Travel in 1977 due to a passion for travel and she hasn’t stopped traveling since! She specializes in the following areas:

• Golf
• Adventure Travel
• Africa – East & South
• Health & Fitness
• Spa

Jani Is located in the Heatherdowns Blvd office in Toledo and can be reached at 419 897-2070 ext. 110. 800 633-5577 ext. 110 or jani@centraltravel.com

Expert Bio

In addition to being a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC), Ms. Miller holds a Destination Specialist certification for Africa, is an Adventure Travel Lifestyle Specialist, a Certified Lifestyle Specialist for Golf, a Uniworld River Cruise Specialist, a Langham Hotels Specialist and has completed Lindblad's LEXpert course.  She has been listed as one Travel+Leisure’s A-List Agents for the past 9 years as a golf specialist.  Locally she is a member of Stone Oak Country Club and the Toledo Women’s Golf District Association.

Some of her favorite golf destinations include:

• St Regis Princeville, Kauai HI, with the newly renovated Robert Trent Jones Jr. Makai Golf Club - a must play!
• Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma Bahamas featuring Greg Norman's award-winning Emerald Reef Golf Club.
• The Lodge at Sea Island which features 54 holes of extraordinary championship golf.
• Puerto Vallarta which features several great golf venues including the Four Seasons, Punta Mita and the new Marival Residences which offers free unlimited golf green fees at the Vista Vallarta courses and the Marina Vallarta course
• Capella Pedregal or Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach in Cabo SanLucas wih golf at Cabo Real, Cabo del Sol and Querencia which is the area's only private course.  
• The island of Lanai is a golfer’s dream with The Experience at Koele and The Challenge at Manele Bay and The Lodge ay Koele is just the best!
• The Ritz Carlton Kapalua Resort, one of the few in Hawaii to offer three 18-hole championship layouts - The Bay, The Village and The Plantation.
• The White Witch in Jamaica – stay at The Ritz, Half Moon or Round Hill.
• Torrey Pines Lodge where you received guaranteed tee times at both the North and the South course. 
• Bermuda – stay at Cambridge Beaches and play Mid Ocean Club, the new Belmont Hills, Port Royal, Riddell’s Bay and St George’s Golf Club.
• The Ritz at Amelia Island - play The Golf Club of Amelia Island, Fernandina Golf Club, Osprey Cove, and Royal Amelia Golf Links.
• The Gleneagles Hotel which features the challenge of the King's, the secluded charms of the Queen's, or the  nine  hole Wee Course.  The exceptional PGA Centenary Course designed by Jack Nicklaus is the venue for the 40th Ryder Cup matches in 2014.
• The Homestead in Hot Springs which features The Cascades Course, The Lower Cascades, and The Old Course.
• The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island which is a golfer’s paradise with five competitively designed master golf courses.
• The Grand Del Mar Resort in San Diego
• Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in southwestern PA
• Ocean Dunes and SeaLinks Golf Club in Phan Thiet, Vietnam
• I hosted a golfing group to South Africa in March of 2006. The group played The Links at Fancourt, Pezula, Gary Player Country Club at Sun City and Arabella.  South Africa has some of the best golf in the world!

My Recent Trips

Puerto Vallarta Mexico is one of my favorite destinations.  Thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Marival Residences this year (we were just here last December).  Once again, accommodations, service and food and beverage were excellent.  This is a great property for couples, families and golfers at an excellent value.

The January issue of Golf Odyssey raved about the new St. Regis Punta Mita (an Ensemble property) and the new 18-hole Bahia course so I contacted the sales manager on property for a site visit. She arranged for us to play the Bahia course – it was excellent (copies of the Golf Odyssey article are available – just let me know). 

Punta de Mita now has two, 18-hole Jack Nicklaus courses available exclusively to Four Seasons or St. Regis clients.  Having played both courses, I would suggest clients would be very happy playing these and a new Greg Norman course called LaTranquila nearby all week long.

I then took the 4 hour flight from Narita to Beijing and stayed at the Shangri-La Beijing. This property has a brand new Valley Wing – rooms were great – spectacular lounge on 12the floor with view and free F&B for Valley Wing guests.  Destination China was the on-location supplier I used to set up private car and driver for weekend sightseeing.  They provided airport to hotel transfers and 2-days of sightseeing which included a visit to the Great Wall – Mutianyu section (the most scenic), Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  I experienced lunch in a local family’s home in Hutong.  Kevin, my guide was delightful!  He was 24 years old, spoke excellent English and was very polite yet fun.  We hiked the wall together for 6 miles! The lunch with Mrs. Chen in her home was a highlight. She made a vegetarian lunch for Kevin and me then we chatted in her living room as Kevin interpreted. 

Next was to board Seabourn Pride cruising from Xingang China to Kobe Japan visiting the ports of Dalian China, Incheon (Seoul) South Korea, Yeosu South Korea, Busan South Korea, Nagasaki Japan, and Kagoshima Japan.

Some of the highlights included; a visit to the DZM (Demilitarized Zone), 35 miles north of Seoul where the truce talks were held and the armistice that ended the Korean war, a visit to a temple in the mountains where we had a private meeting with a resident Budist nun, the bustling fishmarket in Yeosu, the United Nations Memorial Cemetary in Busan, the Nagasaki Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum.  My last stop was the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Osaka The hotel received the top rating of 5-pavilion by Michelin and its two restaurants, La Baie and Xiang Tao, both received one-star Michelin in 2009.   

In spring of 2010 I had the most wonderful adventure in Vietnam with Trails of Indochina.  My journey began in Hanoi, the 1000 year old capital of Vietnam.  Showing signs of modern development, the city has retained much of its ancient culture, traditions and charm. 

We then spent time in Halong Bay aboard the luxury Halong Jasmine junk cruising through the magical bay and visiting a fishing village which has been living in the bay for generations.

The Royal capital, Hue was the next stop where we explored the Imperial Citadel and saw a Royal Martial Arts performance from a darling group of young people.  Then on to Saigon, a city that never stops with some of the best shopping in Southeast Asia.

A special treat was a visit to the luxury resort of Princess d’Annam resort on the South China Sea where we played golf at the award winning Ocean Dunes Golf Club and watched the sunrise on top of magnificent sand dunes. The final leg was a visit to the Mekong Delta where we had a chance to interact with the local people who make their livelihoods on the river.  If Vietnam is on your list, I would be happy to share my personal experiences with you.  It was a fascinating destination!

I had the most fascinating expedition to The Galapagos Islands!  I chose to travel with Lindblad Expeditions aboard the National Geographic Polaris.  In 1967, Lars-Eric Lindblad became the first adventurer to bring nonscientific expeditions here.  Lindblad has more experience than any other operator in Galapagos, and in my opinion have the most knowledgeable and experienced Naturalists.  As an Adventure Travel Specialist, and a huge animal lover, Galapagos has been on my list for several years.  Nowhere else can you experience up close encounters with remarkable animals like giant tortoises, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, Galapagos penguins, and sea lions galore.  The animals have no fear of humans and observing these magnificent creatures up close and personal is unbelievable!

The 10-day experience includes an overnight in Guayaquil, Ecuador on the outbound and return and 7 nights aboard one of Lindblad’s expedition ships.  Everyday offers the opportunity to hike, kayak, swim, snorkel, zodiac or glass bottom boat rides.  You may also enjoy the LEXspa services, yoga classes and great lectures. In addition to the animals, the expert naturalists and the activities, we met the most fascinating people!  All seasoned travelers, our evening cocktails and dinner discussions were so much fun.  

While on the trip, Rodrigo Marra, the ship’s Video Chronicler asked me to share a few thoughts about my experience. See this link for a copy of the video: 

http://www.expeditions.com/DER_Details113.asp?DailyReport=148709&SearchSource=Results&Month=2&Year=&Ship=&Destination=294&Keyword

Please see this link for a few snapshots of the trip:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/treetopwoody/

I would be happy to assist you with your adventure to Galapagos!

In 2007 I had the opportunity to go back to Africa for my 4th visit (big birthday!).  The highlight was gorilla trekking in Rwanda.  I went with Volcanoes Safaris and stayed at Virunga Lodge.  We went trekking for two days with Francios, the most experienced guide in the business who actually worked with Diann Fossey.  We visited the Kwitonda family which included an 8 week old baby! 

Following Rwanda, I went on safari in Tanzania at 3 different camps, staying at Sasakwa Lodge in Grumeti Reserves, Mwagusi Camp in Ruaha National Park and Sand Rivers Camp situated on the banks of the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve.  The Tanzania private journey was arranged with Brad Horn of Epic Private Journeys. This was a custom trip hosted by Rob Barbour, a partner in Epic. Rob was awesome and I would highly recommend a private guide for this type of adventure. Rob spoke perfect Swahili and took care of every detail. He made the trip extra special!