Home (Page 2)
Destination Trip Reports Europe

August 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 4 – Eldhraun Lava Field, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon and black sand beaches (Diamond Beach, Stokksnes Beach)

After breakfast at Hotel Katla we started driving towards the city of Hofn along the southern coast. We were going to cover about 275km today so it was going to be a long day. We passed by the Eldhraun Lava fields. The moss covered lava fields was a sight to behold. After driving for a while, we started seeing glaciers for the first time at a distance. Soon we arrived at Jokulsarlon Glacial lagoon. I hadn’t pre-booked the Zodiac tour in time and it had been showing sold out for the previous 10 days. Then the amphibian boat tour started …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Hotel Katla by Keahotels

Hotel Katla by Keahotels Höfðabrekka, 871 Vík, Iceland Hotel Katla by Keahotels is located just 5 minutes drive from the town of Vik in very picturesque surroundings. We stayed here 1 night, booked direct with the hotel. The property had various buildings of different shapes and sizes but the 2 storey building below is the one we stayed in. We received complimentary breakfast with our stay at the hotel. The breakfast is served at the main restaurant and had quite a few options such as bread, juice, cold cuts, waffles, eggs etc. Thumbs up: Located in very picturesque surroundings near …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

August 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 3 – Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui Waterfalls, Reynisfjara and Víkurfjara Black sand beaches

We stayed the night before at Hotel Laugarvatn after traveling our Golden circle route. We drove from Laugarvatn area to the town of Vik, located in south coast of Iceland. After spending quite a bit of time at Seljalandsfoss falls, we took the path in front of the falls along the side of the mountain for only 10 minutes to approach the next falls, Gljufrabui falls. Since the crevice is narrow and a stream flows through it, to get inside the cave there was a queue. Soon we were in. After spending a short time in Gljufrabui Falls, we resumed …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Hótel Laugarvatn

Hótel Laugarvatn Dalbraut 10, Dalbraut 12, 840 Laugarvatn, Iceland Hotel Laugarvatn is located next to Lake Laugarvatn and also the Laugarvatn Fontana geothermal baths on the Golden circle route. The hotel does have a front desk but I rarely saw anyone sitting there. However, day before arrival, I received an email with the room number and passcode to the room electronic lock. Thumbs up: Very affordable by Iceland standards. I would rate the hotel as great value Beautiful surroundings and great location on the Golden circle route Thumbs down: Did not see anyone at the front desk during the stay. …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Center Hotels Klopp, Reykjavík

Center Hotels Klopp Klapparstígur 26, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland Center Hotels Klopp is located in the city of Reykjavik. It is within short walking distance to a few of the tourist attractions in the city – for example, 6 minutes walking distance to the Sun Voyager, 9 minutes to Hallgrimskirkja, 8 minutes to Harpa Concert hall. The hotel has complimentary breakfast buffet for all guests. However, I was disappointed at the lack of options here. Thumbs up: Location!! Conveniently located within short walking distance to a lot of Reykjavik attractions (such as Sun Voyager, Harpa concert hall, Hallgrimskirkja) Thumbs down: Only …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

August 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 2 (Golden Circle)

One of the most popular things to do near Reykjavik is the Golden circle route. There are quite a few attractions along this 200 mile loop and we intended to cover most of them in 1 day. We started our morning drive from our Reykjavik hotel (Center Hotels Klopp) to Þingvellir National Park. All attractions in Iceland have parking lots near it and in most of them you can pay for parking at kiosks located on site. For the few, where there are no kiosks, there are signs to pay for the parking through online apps like Parka. Our first …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

August 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 1 (Whale Watching & Reykjavik City)

We checked out of our airport hotel in the morning and drove our rental car from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik (about 50 minutes drive). We parked our  car at suggested free parking area near the harbor, and after checking in at the designated booth, made our way to Amelia Rose, our yacht for todays whale watching trip. After the yacht left the harbor for the cruise, it passed by Harpa Concert Hall. The entire trip was 3 hours but 50 mins each way was just to get to the whale feeding area. During this time of the year its mostly …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Park Inn by Radisson Reykjavik Keflavík Airport

Park Inn by Radisson Reykjavik Keflavík Airport Hafnargata 57, 230 Keflavík, Iceland Park Inn by Radisson Reykjavik Keflavik Airport is located about 5.5km (8-10 min cab ride) from the Keflavik Airport. There is no complimentary shuttle through the hotel so if you are not using a rental car, would advise arranging a cab through the hotel (they have fixed published rate instead of metered cabs). A 10 minute ride from the airport cab stand to the hotel ran 48$ USD for me!! On arrival we were upgraded to a suite. I have VIP elite status at Radisson hotels which meant …

Airline Reviews Reviews Virgin Atlantic

Airline Review: Virgin Atlantic – Business Class (Airbus A350-1000 with Lie Flat Seats) : Los Angeles – London (VS 142)

Flight:  Virgin Atlantic VS 142 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow Duration: 10 hours Equipment: A35K (Airbus A350-1000) Class: Business Seat:  1 D – 1G (Middle Aisles) Seat Specification: Flat bed seats with seat width: 20″, seat pitch: 82″ This was the first time ever we flew on Virgin Atlantic. This carrier flies various aircraft between USA and Europe. There is the old Boeing 787 herringbone configuration seats (which are terrible to fly in per most internet forum reports) and there are newer business class seats on Airbus A330-neo and A350-1000 aircraft. Virgin Atlantic is also notorious in swapping the newer A350-1000 …

Airline Reviews LOT Reviews

Airline Review: LOT Polish Airlines – Business Class (Boeing 787-900 with Lie Flat Seats) : Warsaw – Los Angeles (LO 23)

Flight:  LOT Polish LO 23 from Warsaw to Los Angeles Duration: 11 hours 30 mins Equipment: B789(Boeing 787-900) Class: Business Seat:  1 A – 1B (Window/Aisle) Seat Specification: Flat bed seats with seat width: 22″, seat pitch: 78″ This was our 2nd ever flight on LOT after flying the outbound at this same segment at the beginning of our Europe trip. The LOT business class on Boeing 787 has 4 rows of 2 – 2 – 2 seats. I usually prefer having the middle rows in such configuration as both seats have direct aisle access. However, since I was flying with …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

June 2025: Dubrovnik, Croatia Trip Report

Day 1: Our day started with traveling 4.5 hours on Kapetan Luka – Krilo ferry from Split to Dubrovnik. We arrived past noon in Dubrovnik port and took an Uber to our hotel (Hotel Kompas Dubrovnik). For lunch we wanted to try out the Cave Bar More that I had read about. Its a short walk from the hotel on Lapad promenade (also called Šetalište Nika i Meda Pucića). For lunch we ordered a hamburger, truffle fries and mixed cocktail. The truffle fries were so awesome that I visited this bar again on Day 3 to try it out one …

Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review – Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, Warsaw

Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, Warsaw plac Artura Zawiszy 1, 02-025 Warszawa, Poland Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel is a pretty Radisson Hotels property located just 7 km from Warsaw Chopin Airport. We stayed just 1 night at the end of the trip with cash rate. Standard room was quite big by Europe standards and I liked it. We were happy to see a welcome amenity box waiting for us in the room. Thumbs up: Lots of options for breakfast including omelette station Thumbs down: A little far from Warsaw Old Town and other tourist areas

Hotel Reviews Hyatt Reviews

Hotel Review – Hotel Kompas Dubrovnik

Hotel Kompas Dubrovnik Ul. kardinala Stepinca 21, 20000, Dubrovnik, Croatia Hotel Kompas is a luxury hotel belonging to Adriatic Luxury Hotels collection and simultaneously participating in the Hyatt program. We stayed 2 nights at the hotel, one night paid with 26,000 Hyatt points and another night in cash ($450 usd). It is a beachfront hotel directly across Lapad beach on the Adriatic sea. We booked our first night through Expedia and second night using Hyatt points. This hotel has complimentary breakfast for all guests. Additionally for our first night, we received 20% off of F&B once during the stay. We …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

June 2025: 24 Hours in Vis, Croatia to visit Blue Cave

Day 1: We arrived late afternoon on Vis via Jadrolinija ferry from Split. The main purpose of staying in Vis was to visit the famous Blue Cave next day. You can visit the Blue Cave on a day trip from Split, but I read online that these trips last whole day and include 5-6 different islands and apparently the ride is not very comfortable. We wanted to see only the Blue Cave and there is a reliable company called Alternatura that operates Blue Cave tour out of a neighboring town of Komiza. This tour lasts 3 hours and only involves …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Vila Rosa, Vis

Vila Rosa Ul. bana Jelačića 11, 21480, Vis, Croatia We spent a night on Vis Island so we could visit the Blue Cave on Bisevo Island. We booked Vila Rosa on Agoda.com and got a great rate. The apartment is only a 7 minute walk from the ferry terminal. On the day of our arrival, we received an email with the passcode to the apartment entrance door. The apartment we booked is upstairs with 2 rooms. The apartment comes with a fully functional kitchen, although we were in no mood to cook on vacation. Our ferry was set to depart …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review – Royal Suites, Split

Royal Suites, Split Ulica kralja Zvonimira 12, Ul. Sv. Petra starog 14, 21000, Split, Croatia Royal Suites Split is located just a quick 6 minutes walk from Old Town Split. We stayed there for 1 night (booked in Agoda.com). The hotel was difficult to find. It couldn’t have been just us because we found another guest who actually seeked our help finding the hotel as we passed him by on the way to hotel. Also the building operates off of a keycard and the front desk is not always at their spot (on the 2nd floor). You might have to …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

June 2025: Split, Croatia Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived from Plitvice Lakes National Park late afternoon and after checking into our hotel (AC Hotel Split) we took an uber to Old Town for dinner. We were having dinner at Fig Split located right in the heart of Old town Split. My green chilli buritto was outstanding. This was a very highly rated restaurant on Tripadvisor and it shows. After dinner we walked around Diocletian’s Palace a bit but as soon as lightning and thunder started we quickly grabbed an Uber and returned to hotel. Day 2: We had 5 hours to do all the sightseeing …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review – AC Hotel Split

AC Hotel Split Ul. Domovinskog rata 61A, 21000, Split, Croatia AC Hotel Split, a very nice Marriott property is located 22 km from Split International Airport and 3 km from ferry terminal. The hotel is located in Dalmatia towers, the tallest building in Croatia. Check-in was quick and the front desk agent notified us that we were going to be upgraded to the corner room on the 27th floor (2nd highest floor) of the tallest building in the country. He assured us that we were going to be impressed. And indeed we were. We have stayed in many nice hotels …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

June 2025: Plitvice Lakes National Park Trip Report

Day 1: Upon arriving at Split International Airport from Poland, we picked up our rental car from airport and drove 3.5 hours to Plitvice Lakes National Park. The drive is mostly boring and not very picturesque although you pass through a lot of tunnels (one was quite a long one). We were staying at Pansion Breza for the night, located 15 minute walk from Entrance #3 of the park. Day 2: We walked from our B&B to Entrance #3 of the park. There is no ticket booth at this entrance and our host had advised us to book tickets online …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Pansion Breza, Plitvica Selo

Pansion Breza 53231, Plitvica Selo, Croatia Pansion Breza is a family owned lodging located in the Plitvica Selo area, just 15 minutes walk from the Entrance #3 of the Plitvice Lakes National Park. We booked a twin room through Agoda.com although you can book direct also. We also opted to have dinner the day we arrived as well as requested the breakfast next day. The surroundings of the property are very serene. The property itself is extremely well maintained. Check-in was quick. The owner indicated we could settle the bill at the end when checking out. Very important thing to …