Category Hotels

Note: Hidden in this post is a stupid mistake I made, but realized before any significant consequence.   If you spot it before I reveal it, you get a gold star!

Lufthansa Flt. 2229, Paris CDG to Munich, 1h 30 min, A320, Business Class

The Hilton CDG is on the airport property, but given the size of CDG, that’s not saying much.  It wasn’t too bad, though, as I took the CDGVAL airport shuttle train two stops to the Terminal 3/Train Station exit, and the Hilton was a few minutes walk from the station.  The property is modern and a fairly typical airport hotel.  As I arrived, a Qatar Airways flight crew was checking in, so I waited patiently.  Then two French people walked up and literally stood about 3 feet in front of me, as if I were a hologram.  My face must have shown my repulsion/shock/anger and the clerk called me over, and said, “Sir, it’s okay.”

Hilton

I had booked the Hilton because of a competitive rate, about half that of the CDG Sheraton, its location, and my Hilton HHonors Gold status – though before the recent massive devaluation of Hilton HHonors points.  Hilton treats its mid-level elites very well, though, with upgrades, free internet, and free breakfast, which all came through on this stay.  I was pre-assigned to the Executive Floor, the highest in the hotel, and given access to the Executive Lounge.  The room was fine, with cool views of the runway, but nothing remarkable.  I decided I’d head to the gym first as I was fighting to stay awake to get my body closer to New York time.  I was exhausted though, and lasted only about 25 minutes.  The gym was also adequate, and there was a small indoor swimming pool which French teenagers were enjoying.  I then headed up to the Lounge, only to find it’s hot hors d’ouvres service had ended, and though the lounge was open for 2.5 more hours, there was no food available at all except a fruit bowl.  (The sign suggested there was “salty mix and beverages” til 11pm, but alas, no salty mix.)  The lounge was nothing special, so I had a diet coke (no booze available) and an apple and then headed back to my room.

Penang is an island off the coast of the Western Malay peninsula, connected to the mainland by bridge.  It was very important to the British when they controlled Malaysia and Singapore, and was known as Prince of Wales Island.  The British influence remains in a number of areas — most notably the architecture and the tourist industry.

The island is pretty much a square, The two centers of tourism are the capital, George Town, located on the northern part of the east side of the island, and  Batu Ferringhi, the beach town where most of the resorts are, in the middle of the north side of the island.  The airport is in the Southeast corner of the island, alas.

I had been torn whether to stay in Batu Ferringhi or George Town.  The two areas are not that far apart, about 10 miles, and there is regular bus service.  Batu Ferringhi has more international chain hotels, including a Holiday Inn Resort, a Hard Rock Hotel and Resort, and a few Shangri-La resorts.  The prices were quite reasonable, and the Holiday Inn seemed like it would be fine.  Although not a luxury resort by any means, the reviews suggested an adequate, clean, fairly recently renovated property right on the beach.  Good enough.   There are some really lovely properties in George Town, as well, particularly in old British colonial buildings, including the renowned Eastern and Oriental.  The George Town properties ranged in price from a little more expensive to very expensive, though, and I wasn’t sure there would be that much to see/do in George Town that I couldn’t do on a daytrip.

The Holiday Inn Resort Penang

Althou...

Hotels in Hong Kong are expensive.  Originally, I wasn’t supposed to be going to Hong Kong at all, and my boyfriend cares less about hotel loyalty then I do (and doesn’t have status).  So when I saw a deal on Travelzoo for the Eaton Hotel in Hong Kong, it seemed like a fine option.  Eaton is a full-service brand of Langham Hotels, and the location was pretty convenient, a few blocks from the subway in Kowloon.

The deal wasn’t a bargain by any means – still costing about $160 a night.  It had two options – a “smart” room with continental breakfast, or a larger room with a full breakfast buffet.  We booked the larger, more expensive of the two rooms. At the same time, Langham’s loyalty program, the 1865 Club, was offering free status to certain credit card holders, which my boyfriend signed up for, giving him Explorer (mid-tier) status, which is supposed to include an upgrade and other amenities.  Reviews on TripAdvisor suggested the smaller rooms were really tiny, but I thought we’d be okay, given that we had status and had booked an upgraded room.

I was wrong, and the hotel was horrible – one of the worst I’ve ever stayed at, in terms of both the room itself and the service.

We had a minor...

There are two main areas to stay in Macao:  the Macao peninsula, and the Cotai Strip.  Cotai is actually a new area of reclaimed land, and its name is actually a portmanteau of the two (former) islands it connects – Coloane and Taipa.  Cotai is now the home to new mega-Vegas-style casinos and hotels.   Several of the complexes have multiple hotels, including the Sands Cotai Central, which has a Holiday Inn, Conrad, and Sheraton.  (If you’re a Marriott fan, you’re out of luck.)  On the exterior, the three hotels are pretty much identical, and the rates are similar at all three.  The hotels are interconnected by a bunch of malls, and the three hotels share two casinos.  I was able to get a pretty good deal at the Sheraton for a Club Room with lounge access (with a hot breakfast buffet), free wifi, and a credit for about $50 good in any of the shops and restaurants in the Sands complex.

The Sands Cotai Central

Rear view of the hotel tri-pack

As with many of the hotel casinos, the Sands has a free bus that runs between the complex and the airport, the two different ferry terminals, the Macau peninsula, and the border with China. It was easy to find it leaving the tiny airport, and was definitely one of the nicer shuttle buses I’ve ever been on.

Bangkok has a ton of relatively affordable hotel options.  That being said, rates were higher the week we were going than usual.  Starwood happens to have an extremely wide footprint in Bangkok, with at least one properties from eight of its nine brands! (There is no “Element” in Bangkok.)  Everyone recommended the Le Meridien in Silom, based on its location and quality, but rooms were going for over $200 a night, more than the newly opened W, and more than double the price of the well-reviewed Aloft and Four Points properties in the Sukhumvit area.  Originally we were going to stay at the Aloft, but upon poking, it seemed the Aloft was much more about hipness and style, whereas the Four Points was a little bit of a nicer hotel, so we switched to the Four Points.  In retrospect, I don’t think the Sukhumvit area would be my recommended place to stay, but it was convenient and the hotel was excellent and a great value – and I imagine one of the nicest Four Points, Sheraton’s mid-market non-full-service brand, properties in the world.

Phuket is much larger than many people think, and is actually an entire island in Southern Thailand, with several different towns on it.  The largest is Phuket Town, in the center/east of the island.  Most of the bigger resorts are on the west side of the island, which has nicer beaches, but is also more crowded- particularly in the area known around Patong, which is essentially the Waikiki/Cancun of Phuket.  Since we were spending most of our trip in cities we decided we were fine with a quieter locale for our brief stay on the island, and settled on the Radisson Blu Plaza Resort Phuket, located in Cape Panwa, on the far southeast corner of the island.  As a result, we weren’t super close to much, which was fine for two days, and we ended up not leaving the hotel much, but if I were there longer I’d want to be on the west side of the island, and experienced some more beaches and nightlife.

The airport is in the far northwest of the island, so the taxi from the airport was about an hour, and we were battling traffic through Phuket Town on the way.  Between the Bangkok Airways delay and the traffic, we didn’t get to the hotel til dusk, but hoped to have a nice relaxing evening anyway.   The lobby of the hotel is a large, open-air space with a big bar in the middle, overlooking the main pool area and bay.   When we went to check in, we were told to take a seat in a seating area of the lobby, and someone would be with us.  What followed was a rather inefficient check-in, and I repeat my plea to hotels-  just let us check in quickly at the front desk and be done with this.  Someone came over and gave us tasty welcome drinks that we think were some sort of hibiscus tea, then the check-in agent came over to us and proceeded to walk back and forth as she took our passports, then my credit card, etc.  Finally, we were checked in and ready to be escorted to our room.

Lobby

Initi...

Of our three nights in Vietnam, we spent two at the Intercontinental on paid nights, and then switched over to the Park Hyatt Saigon, using my free one night that I get each year as a Hyatt Visa cardholder.  This is a perk that can make the $75 annual fee for the card well worth it.  Although the night can only be used at a level 1 through 4 property, unlike other chains (cough cough – Marriott), level 4 is pretty high up in the Hyatt hierarchy, including lots of nice properties in major cities, and several of Hyatt’s top properties, including the Andaz in West Hollywood, Savannah, and Shanghai and multiple Park Hyatts around the globe.  For our night at the Park Hyatt Saigon, rooms were going for about $400 – about 2.5 times the rate at the Intercontinental down the street.

We took advantage of my guaranteed late checkout as a Platinum Ambassador at the Intercontinental and, after a morning of exploring and pool time, made our way to the Park Hyatt.  If it weren’t for luggage and 100 degree, humid weather, we could have walked between the two properties, a straight ¾ mile walk through central HCMC.  Instead, we took a cab, which cost about $3.

Upon arrival, I went to the front desk and presented my passport, and we were shortly escorted to our room for in-room check-in (something I generally dislike – let’s get business done in the lobby and let me be).  We had a humorous exchange in the elevator with the agent, who, very professionally, first stated: “As a valued Platinum member, we have placed you in the best room in the class you booked, so you have a lovely view of the pool.  Oh, wait, I am so sorry, you have a City View.”  With his accent, this sounded like “Shitty View”, which would have been correct.

Our first two nights in Ho Chi Minh City were spent at the Intercontinental Asiana Saigon.  Intercontinental had been running a great deal in Southeast Asia for the Winter, with 35% off rates, including internet and breakfast.  I generally have had wonderful experiences at Intercontinentals, and as a Platinum Ambassador, often get great treatment.  The property had great reviews, and was about one-third the cost of the Park Hyatt Saigon, the only hotel in town consistently rated better.

Corner Room

The hotel was right in the heart of District 1, and we made it from the airport in about thirty minutes.   Before I arrived, I had already seen I had been upgraded to a Corner Deluxe Room.   Check-in was a little wonky, as the desk clerk’s English wasn’t amazing and she had us wait for a bit for an unclear reason.  But soon we were headed to our room, which was high up with a great view of the hotel’s pool.  The room itself wasn’t particularly large, but the bathroom was almost the same size as the room, with a large shower, a free-standing tub, and room to just dance or something.  There were universal outlets throughout.  The décor was very modern and the hotel was generally spotless – with the only exception being a room service tray that remained outside our neighbor’s door for a full day.

Pool...

The Radisson Blu Madrid Prado

When I booked this trip, I discovered that Madrid isn’t a great hotel city.  The few major chain properties, like the Westin Palace, are very expensive, as were the hotels available through Amex FHR and Visa Signature Hotels.  Since my flight out of Madrid was at 6am on Monday morning, I thought about getting a hotel like the Westin for Saturday night, and either staying out all night before heading to the airport, or getting a cheaper room by the airport for the second night.  On a Sunday night, I didn’t know how feasible the first option would be, and I thought it would be good to have a room for the entire day Sunday.  None of the airport hotels were that impressive.  I ended up getting a good price for the Radisson Blu Madrid Prado through its Best Rate Guarantee, though, for both nights, and figured I’d stick with that.  The reviews weren’t amazing, but for under 100 euro a night it would do.

It’s been awhile since there’s been free points out there, no?

Check out this promo from Accor hotels.  Identify the city for each picture (multiple choice and pretty easy) and get 200 points.  If you mess up, you can try again.  There is a chance this won’t be honored for residents of non-Scandinavian countries, but who knows.

Accor points are pretty useful if you convert them to airline points.  My personal favorite is Iberia Avios points. 2 Le Club Points = 5 Iberia Avios miles.  This is particularly odd, because 2 Le Club points = 1 British Airways Avios miles.  If you have Iberia and British Airways Avios accounts, though, you can swap the miles between the two.

HT: Loyalty Lobby (who has the answers up if you want to do it that way)