Its December again which means its Vacation Time !! This trip I am leaving for India 10 days before Karen and will spend some alone time with my family before Karen will join me. During the second week of January, we will be going on a 9 day trip to South East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand) with my parents. I have been to both Bangkok and Phuket before (Bangkok trip report and Phuket trip report) but it would be the first time for Karen and my parents. There will be a lot of trip reports, airline reviews and hotel reviews following this trip. Airline …
Asia Destination Trip ReportsDec’14 – Jan’15: India and SE Asia Trip – Introduction
Hotel Reviews IHG Rewards Club ReviewsHotel Review: Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino
Holiday Inn Resort Aruba – Beach Resort & Casino – Aruba J.E. Irausquin Blvd 230, Noord, Aruba Holiday Inn Resort is located in the High-Rise area, right on Palm Beach. It is located about 2 hotels down from the Radisson Resort on the same beach. A free night at this hotel costs 30000 IHG rewards points. Just before our stay, IHG was running a 50% off points promotion and I switched our reward night booking to Points + Money booking (70$ + 2500 points). Since the rooms go for about $180/night – $300/night, I was pretty happy with this redemption. The …
Club Carlson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa
Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa J.E. Irausquin Boulevard 81, Noord, Aruba Radisson resort is the lone Club Carlson property in Aruba. It is located next to the all inclusive Riu resort on Palm Beach in the High-Rise area. A free night at this resort costs 50,000 and 75,000 Club Carlson points for standard room award and premium room award respectively. We arrived at just after 1 pm and check-in was fairly quick. Front desk agent told us she upgraded us to an oceanview king deluxe room. As a Club Carlson gold member, we are not eligible for complimentary breakfast …
Hilton HHonors Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Hilton Dublin Airport
Hilton Dublin Airport Northern Cross, Malahide Rd, Dublin, D17, Ireland Hilton Dublin Airport is a Category 4 Hilton property located less than 10 minutes drive from the Dublin International Airport. A free night at this hotel costs 20,000 – 30,000 Hilton HHonors points. The hotel provides complimentary shuttle service between the airport and the hotel. However, it is not a 24 hour shuttle service (the website does not make any mention of it). We found out the hard way when we arrived at the Dublin airport at close to 11 PM (partly due to the 1 hour airline delay) and after reaching …
Club Carlson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Radisson Blu Le Dokhan’s Hotel, Paris Trocadero
Radisson Blu Le Dokhan’s Hotel, Paris Trocadero 117 rue de Lauriston, 75116, Paris, France Radisson Blu Le Dokhan’s Hotel is located in the Paris Trocadero area. It is about 8 minutes walking distance from the Trocadero Metro station (Metro Line 6 and 9) and 15 minutes walking distance from the Eiffel Tower. This is a true boutique hotel with eclectic interior decoration and furnishings. This hotel is the home of the Le Dokhan’s Bar, the oldest champagne bar in the city of Paris. A free night at this hotel now requires 70,000 Club Carlson points (for standard room) and 105,000 Club Carlson …
Club Carlson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysees-Paris
Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysées, Paris 78bis Avenue Marceau (8º Arr) Paris – FR-75008 Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysees is located in the heart of Paris, only minutes away from the iconic Arc De Triomphe and providing great views of this Paris attraction. A standard award room at this hotel costs 70,000 Club Carlson points (for standard award and 105,000 for premium award) at the new redemption rate. We redeemed for 50,000 Club Carlson points/night for standard award and 75,000 for premium award in July 2014. If you have Club Carlson credit card, the last night during each stay is …
Hotel Reviews IHG Rewards Club ReviewsHotel Review: Holiday Inn Express, Rome – San Giovanni
Holiday Inn Express Rome – San Giovanni Via Assisi 51 Rome, 00181, Italy Holiday Inn Express Rome – San Giovanni is located a bit away from the historical center of Rome but available within convenient reach by metro. The hotel is located about 10 minutes walk from the Ponte Lungo metro station (Line A) and 5 minutes walk from Tuscolana Train station. Rome Termini station is only 5 stops away on metro Line A and one can get to and from Fiumicino airport by using FR 1 train that stops at Tuscolana station. An IHG reward night redemption at this …
Hilton HHonors Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Hilton Molino Stucky, Venice
Hilton Molino Stucky Venice Giudecca, 810, 30133 Venezia, Italy Hilton Molino Stucky Venice is a Category 8 (3rd highest category) Hilton property located on the island of Giudecca, a short boat ride away from the main tourist attractions of Venice. The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle to St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) as well as another water-bus stop, Zattere. The hotel used to be a flour mill that was renovated and converted to this wonderful property. It sits right on the water (Giudecca Canal). You can sit on the bench in front of the hotel by the canal and …
Club Carlson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Radisson Blu Hotel, Lucerne
Radisson Blu Hotel, Lucerne Lakefront Center Inseliquai 12 – 6005, Lucerne, Switzerland Radisson Blu Hotel in Lucerne is located in the very convenient location of being very close to the Lucerene Train Station (Lucerne Bahnhof) only a 5 minutes walk. The hotel offers amazing lake and mountain views. A free night redemption at this hotel costs 50,000 Club Carlson points a night. I would consider this hotel one of the better top tier redemption’s in the Club Carlson program. Check-in was quick and we were upgraded to a lake-view room. The lobby looked very chic, a bit different than the …
Hotel Reviews Wyndham RewardsHotel Review – Days Hotel London-Waterloo
Days Hotel London-Waterloo 54 Kennington Road, London, SE1 7BJ GB Days Hotel London-Waterloo is located in the south bank of the Thames, minutes from the London Waterloo Train Station. The closest metro station is Lambeth North (Bakerloo line). Also minutes away is the Waterloo metro station (Bakerloo line, Jubilee line and Northern line). Being a good location is the prime selling point of this hotel. Another selling point is that a reward night at this centrally located property only costs 20,000 Wyndham Rewards points. We arrived early and the front desk informed us that they had both rooms ready for us. I was …
Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG ReviewsHotel Review: Renaissance Heathrow Airport Hotel, London
Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel Bath Road Hounslow England TW6 2AQ United Kingdom Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel is a Marriott Category 6 property located about 10 minutes driving distance from the London Heathrow airport (depending on the terminals as there are 5 of them). A free night at this property costs 30,000 Marriott Rewards points (25,000 points for Pointsavers).The hotel doesn’t have any complimentary shuttles to the airport but there are multiple transportation options available. The easiest (and most expensive) is of course the cab. There are also plenty of Heathrow Hotel Hoppa buses available. Not all buses go to every hotel and …
Club Carlson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam
Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam Rusland 17, 1012 CK Amsterdam, Netherlands Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam is located in the heart of Amsterdam, only about 15 minutes walk from Amsterdam Centraal Station and about 5 minutes walk from the “infamous” (Red Light District) from De Wallen neighbourhood. It is also within close walking distance from other tourist attractions of Amsterdam, namely Dam Square (650 m), Bloemenmarket (650 m), Anne Frank House (1.4 km), Jordaan neighbourhood (1.7 km), Rijkmuseum (1.5 km). A free night at this property costs 50,000 Club Carlson points. In my opinion, it is an excellent redemption option for Club Carlson …
Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG ReviewsHotel Review: Sheraton Waikiki
Sheraton Waikiki 2255 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815 Sheraton Waikiki is a Category 6 SPG property located in the heart of Waikiki Beach. It is located right next to another SPG property, The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection resort. A free night at the Sheraton Waikiki goes for 20,000 – 25,000 SPG points, depending on season. I was able to book this hotel while it was still a Category 5 with Cash + Points (6000 SPG Points + $ 110) before the 2014 SPG changes took effect and it moved to Category 6. The hotel charges a resort fee ($31) which …
Hotel Reviews IHG Rewards Club ReviewsHotel Review: Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort
Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort 2300 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815 Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort is located in the heart of Waikiki, not an oceanfront property but close enough to walk to the beach in 5 minutes. A reward night at this IHG property goes for 35,000 points. The location of the property is awesome. There are plenty of dining and shopping options all around the resort. Compared to it, Hilton is a bit away from all the action. We arrived at the hotel around afternoon and the front-desk agent informed us that the room was not ready and …
Hilton HHonors Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort
Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort 2005 Kalia Road, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96815, USA Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is a Category 7 property of the Hilton HHonors program where a free night redemption at the hotel goes for 60,000 Hilton points. Located on a wide stretch of the Waikiki Beach, this property is only 10 miles from Honolulu International airport. The resort boasts as many as 18 restaurants and lounges and also is conveniently located close to other shopping complexes. The hotel charges for parking (Self Parking: $27/night and Valet Parking: $33/night). There is also a resort fee of …
Destination Trip Reports North America US, Canada, MexicoMay 2014: Hawaii Trip – Introduction
Disclaimer: The trip report and hotel reviews for 2014 May Hawaii trip are solely the work of my wife Karen. I was not a traveler on this trip. During the second week of May, Karen is going on a 6 day trip to Hawaii with her sister Danny. Since I am running low on vacation days especially with a mega-trip coming up in July and then again in December, I had to opt out of this one. Bummer !! Itinerary for the trip: Flights: Los Angeles – Honolulu – Los Angeles (American Airlines) Hotels stays and reviews for this trip …
Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG ReviewsHotel Review: Springhill Suites Las Vegas Henderson
SpringHill Suites Las Vegas Henderson 1481 Paseo Verde Parkway Henderson Nevada 89012 USA The SpringHill Suites Henderson is a Category 3 Marriott property located about 11 miles from the Las Vegas strip. It is right next to the TownePlace Suites, another Marriott property. For the two nights during the March weekend trip to Las Vegas, I stayed 1 night at each property. By switching hotels rather than staying 2 nights at the same property allowed us to get the Free 1 night Category 1-5 certificate with the Marriott Megabonus promotion. The interior is the same standard light green color scheme with …
Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG ReviewsHotel Review: TownePlace Suites Las Vegas Henderson
TownePlace Suites Las Vegas Henderson 1471 Paseo Verde Parkway Henderson Nevada 89012 USA The TownePlace Suites Henderson is a Category 2 Marriott property located about 11 miles from the Las Vegas strip. It is right next door to another Marriott property, the SpringHill Suites. For the two nights during the March weekend trip to Las Vegas, I stayed 1 night at each property. Just for switching hotels rather than staying 2 nights at the same property allowed us to get the Free 1 night Category 1-5 certificate with the Marriott Megabonus promotion. Right by the entrance is the free coffee …
Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG ReviewsHotel Review: JW Marriott Hotel, Bangkok
JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok 4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2 Bangkok, 10110 Thailand The JW Marriott Bangkok is a Category 5 Marriott property with a free night award redemption of 25K Marriott rewards points. It is about 30 km from Suvarnabhumi Airport and 25 km from Don Mueang Airport. Located on the Sukhumvit road it is near BTS Nana station (and within walking distance to BTS Ploen Chit station). There are 24 floors with over 400 rooms including about 40 suites. Plenty of dining options on the property including 3 Japanese restaurants, 1 steakhouse and a Chinese restaurant. When I arrived …
Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG ReviewsHotel Review: Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa, Phuket, Thailand
Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa 555, Moo 3, Mai Khao, Talang Phuket Island, 83110 Thailand Renaissance Phuket resort is a Category 6 Marriott property (Free one night redemption: 30,000 points per night) located close to Phuket International Airport. It takes only about 15-20 minutes cab ride from the airport to the resort. The standard cab rate for the ride is about 500 THB. The resort is located right on Mai Khao Beach. There are 2 other Marriott properties in the vicinity, the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa and Marriott’s Phuket Beach Club. This is the northern part of Phuket which is opposite …