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Airline Reviews EVA Airways Reviews

Airline Review: EVA Air – Business Class (Airbus 330-200 with Angled Flat Seats) : Taipei – Hong Kong (BR 867)

Flight:  EVA Air BR 867 from Taipei to Hong Kong Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes Aircraft: A332(Airbus 330-200) Class: Business (Premium Laurel) Seat: 7A (Window) Seat Specification: Angled-Flat Seats, Seat pitch: 61.0 “. Seat width: 22 ” EVA Air operates an Airbus 332 (and occasionally an MD-90) in Taipei – Hong Kong route. The business class (Premium Laurel) on the A332 consists of 24 angled-flat seats in 2-2-2 configuration over 4 rows. The charging port is located below the armrest at a very awkward angle and it took me a while to get the plug inside there. Before takeoff we were given menu for …

Airline Reviews EVA Airways Reviews

Airline Review: EVA Air – Business Class (Boeing 777-300ER Royal Laurel Class with True Flat Beds) : Los Angeles – Taipei (BR 15)

Flight:  EVA Air BR 15 from Los Angeles to Taipei Duration: 13 hours 55 minutes Aircraft: B773(Boeing 777-300ER) Class: Business (Royal Laurel Class) Seat: 2K (Window) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 81.0 “. Seat width: 26 ” EVA Air joined the Star Alliance in June 2013. They operate the newly configured Business Class (Royal Laurel Class) as well as old configuration (Premium Laurel Class). The Royal Laurel Class features 38 fully flat beds in reverse-herringbone 1-2-1 pattern. All three daily flights between Los Angeles and Taipei feature this product. Passengers for EVA Air can use the Star Alliance Lounge at the Tom …

Trip Summary

Dec’14 – Jan’15: India and SE Asia Trip – Introduction

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 …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports North America

September 2014: Aruba Trip Report

We visited Aruba for a weekend trip in September. I have always wanted to go to this small Caribbean island (located less than 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela). Lying outside the hurricane belt, this dry, desert island is perfect to visit any time of the year. Our Itinerary: Flight: Los Angeles – Orlando on Delta Airlines and Orlando – Queen Beatrix Airport, Aruba on Southwest 2 Nights at Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa 1 Night at Holiday Inn Resort Aruba – Beach Resort & Casino Flight: Queen Beatrix Airport, Aruba – Orlando on Southwest and Orlando – …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

July 2014: Paris Trip Report

We arrived in Paris Orly Airport by EasyJet from Rome pretty late at night (around 11 PM). The Orly Airport is much closer to the city than Charles De Gaulle airport. Even though a cab is a perfectly economical mode of transportation for 4 passengers, we wanted to use the public transportation. The OrlyVal train was already closed by the time we got out of the terminal. We took the OrlyBus shuttle from the airport to Denfert Rochereau and took the RER B from there to Charles De Gaulle Etoille station (after transferring in between to Paris Metro). The exit …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

July 2014: Rome Trip Report

Day 1: We took the FrecciaArgento #9423 train from Venice Santa Lucia station to the Termini station in Rome. The Termini station also has the Metro station outside the train station. Rome has only two metro lines, Line A (Red) and Line B (Blue). Our hotel for our stay in Rome was Holiday Inn Express, San Giovanni which is closest to the Ponte Lungo stop on Line A. We took the Line A metro outside the Termini train station to the Ponte Lungo stop and walked for 10 minutes to get to the hotel. After checking in and freshening up, we …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

July 2014: Venice Trip Report

We got on a FrecciaBianca train bound for Venice from Milan Central station in the late afternoon. There were luggage racks at the end as well as mid compartment. I had read warnings on online forums regarding putting luggage at the end of the passenger car so we kept it in the mid-compartment luggage racks. The train had a dining compartment too but we had already had lunch at the Milan station. We arrived at the Venezia Santa Lucia station in the early evening. The weather Gods were not kind as there was a thunderstorm going on in Venice. Heavy …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

July 2014: Trip Report – 4 Hours in Milan

After breakfast, we got to the Lucerne Train station. We picked up some more sandwich supplies from the Coop store at the train station. We were heading to Venice and had a 4 hour connection in Milan. The journey to Milan was on Eurocity (EC 253) train, a 4 hour trip. I had opted for the shortest route from Lucerne to Milan, not necessarily the most scenic route. There are other scenic routes available between these two cities (although not as direct and more time consuming). Since we had around 4 hours in Milan, we wanted to utilize the time …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

July 2014: Lucerne Trip Report

We arrived at Zurich Airport from London in the evening. After clearing immigration, we walked towards the train station which is at the airport itself (there are plenty of signs). The automated kiosks and ticket booths are at the ground level and the train platform at the lower levels. This was the only train journey (Zurich Airport – Lucerne) for which I didn’t have a reservation and so we paid the regular fare which came out to be 24 Euro/person. The train journey from Zurich Airport to Lucerne train station only takes about 1 hour. Some trains go directly from …

Hotel Reviews Reviews Wyndham

Hotel 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 Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

July 2014: London Trip Report

We flew from Amsterdam Schipol Airport to London Heathrow on July 7 late evening. We met up with my parents at the airport who had flown in from Kolkata about 2 hours earlier and were going to be with us for the rest of the Europe trip. It was pretty late at night around 11 pm and we took a cab to the nearby Renaissance Heathrow Hotel where we were going to stay the night. I had researched about free public buses to the local hotels around Heathrow but it was very late at night (some buses don’t run this late) …