Never go to a place with a palm tree, unless it has a US military base where no US soldiers have been killed for a decade (Japan and Qatar are in), or it was in the British Empire (India, South Africa, and Bermuda in), however if the "foreign language" spoken there is a corrupt dialect of something else don't go (Haiti and Jamaica are out!)
Seriously. This is how I make lots of travel decisions and I never go wrong, except in Helsinki, which was the boringest place on Earth.
Any of you guys have a travel formula?