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Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

July 2014: Amsterdam Trip Report

We arrived at the Schiphol Airport around 9 PM from our flight from London. After immigration, we proceeded towards the train station which is located at the lower level of the Arrivals section. The fare from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal station is 4 Euro. I tried to purchase the tickets at automated kiosks at first but was unable to do so with my chip and signature card. I then went to the ticket booth and the same credit card worked fine this time. In my experience, the chip and signature cards work most of the time at the credit …

Trip Summary

July 2014: Our 2 Week Europe Trip – Introduction

Question:1.1 million miles and points !! What does it get you? Answer: A once in a lifetime two-week trip for four people to Europe !! 🙂 Yes, we are going on a 2 week Europe trip starting the 4th of July. We will visit 6 cities on this trip, starting with Amsterdam, then London, Lucerne, Venice, Rome and finally Paris. My parents will be skipping Amsterdam and will join us in London to travel with us for the rest of the trip. There will be no airline reviews on this trip as we are flying coach for the entire trip …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports North America

May 2014: Hawaii Trip – Day 5 and 6 – Hanauma Bay, Luau

Day 5: One of the most popular places in Oahu to go snorkeling is Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. Wanting to beat the crowds, we headed out around 8 AM. There is a $1 per vehicle parking fee and a $7.50 per person entry fee. We didn’t wait long to get our tickets but were then ushered into a small waiting area (interesting reading) before going in to see a 15 minute video. The video explains the history and rules of Haunama Bay. Once that is done you are headed down the hill to the beach. There is a rental stand where you …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports North America

May 2014: Hawaii Trip – Day 3 and 4 – Dole Plantation, North Shore, Aloha Swap Meet

Day 3: Wanting to get an early start for this longer trek to North Shore, we checked out of the Hilton around 8 AM. We arrived at the Dole Plantation around 9 AM. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully open until 9:30 AM. So we roamed around and looked at the Pineapple garden and took pictures. There are a few attractions available: the Pineapple Express (train ride through the plantation $8.50), a Garden Tour (guided tour through the garden so you can learn the history $5), and a Pineapple Maze (wandering through a plant maze $6). Keep in mind you can see …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel 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

May 2014: Karen’s Hawaii Trip – Day 1 and 2 – Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head and Manoa Falls

Day 1: Me and my sister Danny arrived at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki Beach Resort at approximately 2:00 PM. I had booked a resort view room with Hilton HHonors points and the front desk upgraded us to the Rainbow Tower Ocean-view room. The Gold status entitles you to 1,000 bonus points per stay or $10/person per day credit at any of the property restaurants. We chose the credit of course. We headed up to our room to drop our luggage and check out the resort. We decided to grab a quick bite to eat so went to the Pronto …

Trip Summary

May 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 Reviews

Hotel 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 Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Destination Trip Reports North America

March 2013: Las Vegas Weekend Trip Report

Even though I have been to Vegas over two dozen times over the past decade or so, I still like to visit this city whenever I get a chance. I had some Southwest vouchers that were expiring in mid-March and this gave us the perfect excuse to plan a weekend trip. We had already attended the Celine Dion concert in our previous trip and this time we wanted to see a Britney concert at the Planet Hollywood. But a few visits to the Ticketmaster website put that notion to rest when we saw how expensive the tickets were !! Finally …

Airline Reviews Reviews Singapore Airlines

Airline Review: Singapore Airlines – Business Class (Fully Flat beds) : Seoul – San Francisco (SQ 16)

Flight:  Singapore Airlines SQ 16 from Seoul to San Francisco Aircraft: Boeing 777 – 300ER (B77W) Duration: 10 hours 20 minutes Class: Business Seat: 11 A Seat Specification: Fully Flat Beds, Seat Pitch: 51″ , Seat Width: 30″ I was really psyched ever since I booked my ticket for my India trip which had a flight segment on Singapore Airlines Business class from Seoul – San Francisco. Although I have traveled in Singapore business class previously, they were only short-haul flights during last year’s Maldives trip. A long-haul flight on the other hand gives ample time to enjoy and savor their world …

Airline Reviews Reviews Thai Airways

Airline Review: Thai Airways – Business Class (Angled Flat seats) : Bangkok – Taipei – Seoul (TG 634)

Flight:  Thai Airways TG 634 Bangkok to Seoul (with 1 hour stop in Taipei) Duration: 5 hours 65 minutes Equipment: A333 (Airbus 330-300) Class: Business Seat: 14 A Seat Specification: Angle flat seats, Seat pitch:58.0 “, Seat width: 20 ” I arrived at the Suvarnabhumi airport early in the morning about 1 hour before the check-in desks for Thai Airways opened. I just hung out the terminal taking a few pictures. Pretty soon the Royal Silk Class check-in counters opened. After check-in I made my way through security to the lounge but not before stopping to take a picture of this statue based on …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

January 2014: Phuket, Thailand Trip Report

Day 1: I arrived at the Phuket Airport around noon and after looking at the various published fares for different taxi companies negotiated one down to 500 THB. I am not sure if I overpaid by a little or by a lot but I wasn’t going to let that ruin my vacation. 🙂 The cab ride is a short 15 minutes and after passing the other two Marriott properties (JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa and Marriott’s Phuket Beach Club) I arrived at the Renaissance property. Hotel Review: Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa  After getting to my room, I took a shower …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel 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 …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Radisson Suites, Bangkok Sukhumvit

Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit 23/2-3 Sukhumvit 13, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 This is a Category 3 property (28,000 points for a reward night) of the Club Carlson program located on Soi 13 just off of Sukhumvit road in Bangkok. It is within walking distance to two train stations (BTS Asoke and BTS Nana) but the hotel also provides complimentary tuktuk service to both stations as well as the nearest MRT station. Arrived at the hotel really early at 7 AM and requested early check-in but was told to wait till 11 am. I was dismayed to see only …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

December 2013: Vizag – Araku Trip Report

For the last 2 years my parents (and our extended family in India) have decided that we will take a short 3-4 day trip when I visit India each year in December. This is one trip where I don’t use any miles or hotel points. In fact my parents and rest of the gang don’t even let me take my wallet out for anything, not even meals. This year the plan was to take the night train from Kolkata (my home city in India) to Visakhapatnam (Vizag for short) on Christmas Eve and stay there till December 29 and then take another …