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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) …

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 …