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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 …

Airline Reviews Reviews Singapore Airlines

Airline Review: Singapore Airlines – Business Class (Angled Flat seats) : Singapore – Kolkata (SQ 516)

Flight:  Singapore Airlines SQ 516 from Singapore to Kolkata Duration: 4 hours 5 minutes Aircraft: A333 (Airbus 330-300) Class: Business Seat: 11 A (Bulkhead Window) Seat Specification: Angle Lie Flat, Seat pitch: 60.0 “. Seat width: 24.5 ” I landed in Changi International Airport after my flight from Haneda around 1 PM. I had no plans to go out of the airport this year. I had already taken the Free Singapore Tour twice over the past decade, once with Karen. Last year we also ventured out on our own and visited the Marina Bay Sands hotel, the location of the highest infinity pool in the …

Airline Reviews Reviews Singapore Airlines

Airline Review: Singapore Airlines – Business Class (Angled Flat seats) : Tokyo (Haneda) – Singapore (SQ 635)

Flight:  Singapore Airlines SQ 635 from Haneda to Singapore Duration: 7 hours Aircraft: A333 (Airbus 330-300) Class: Business Seat: 11 A (Bulkhead Window) Seat Specification: Angle Lie Flat, Seat pitch: 60.0 “. Seat width: 24.5 ” After landing in Tokyo at Haneda Airport, my next flight to Singapore was leaving in only 1 hr 30 mins. I decided to check out the ANA lounge. The lounge was pretty empty, it being early in the morning. I decided to check out what kind of food was being served over there. There were small finger sandwiches, sushi, noodle, soup, bread and pastries.  I really liked the pork …

Airline Reviews ANA Reviews

Airline Review: ANA – Business Class (Angled Flat seats) : Los Angeles – Tokyo Haneda (NH 1005)

Flight:  ANA NH 1005 from Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda) Duration: 12 hours 10 minutes Aircraft: B772 (Boeing 777-200) Class: Business Seat: 2A Seat Specification: Angle Lie Flat, Seat pitch: 63.0 “. Seat width: 20 ” I arrived at the Tom Bradley International Terminal about 2 hours before departure. Check-in was quick and the agent handed me the boarding card and directions to the new Star Alliance lounge on the 6th floor of the Tom Bradley International Terminal in LAX. The new Star Alliance lounge is much better than the old one at the recently renovated Tom Bradley Terminal. The food selection is fairly limited …

Trip Summary

December 2013 – January 2014: India – Thailand Trip Introduction

I will be traveling for about 3 weeks for my yearly family visit to India starting mid-December 2013. Towards the end of the trip I will stop by at Bangkok and Phuket for 4 days. I earned 2 Marriott Category 5 certificates during our Portland and Fort Lauderdale trips with the Marriott quarterly promotions. I will be using those to stay at the Renaissance Phuket Resort for 2 nights. I will be doing several reviews on both airlines and hotels during this trip. Airline Review – ANA Business Class – Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda) Airline Review – Singapore Airlines Business …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Otay Mesa, San Diego

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites San Diego Otay Mesa 2296 Niels Bohr Court , San Diego , California   92154 This hotel is located at the last US exit on the 905 freeway on the way to Tijuana, Mexico. Me and Karen have stayed there a couple of times when we were doing a mattress-run for the “Big Win” promotion as well as when we were in San Diego to watch Whitney Cummings on her comedy tour. This is one of the very few hotels where they actually call you a few days before your stay to ask if …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn, Dulles Airport

Holiday Inn Washington-Dulles Intl Airport 45425 Holiday Drive, Dulles , Virginia 20166 Holiday Inn Dulles Airport is located only 2 miles from the airport and provides complimentary shuttle to and from the airport. It is located in a commercial real estate area and the exterior is very ordinary. The interior however is actually pretty nice (considering its a Holiday Inn of course). Check in was quick and smooth. They offered 1,000 IHG Reward points or a free breakfast for platinum members and I chose the free breakfast. Business Center had only 2 computers with a printer. Thumbs up: Only 2 …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Buffalo-Airport

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Buffalo-Airport 131 Buell Avenue, Cheektowaga , New York – 14225 This hotel is located right across from the Buffalo International Airport (BUF). The hotel provides 24 hour complimentary shuttle to and from the airport. Check-in was quick and smooth. The front desk clerk inquired what time we were checking out and when we said that we were leaving very early in the morning next day, let us know that we will have our morning breakfast packed-to-go at the front desk during checkout. Excellent !! We had a 2 Queen room for this hotel and …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Niagara Falls

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Niagara Falls 10111 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Niagara Falls,New York 14304 Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Niagara Falls is located on the US side of the border, about 6 miles away from the Niagara Falls. It is about 20 miles away from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. There is no complimentary shuttle to the airport so a rental or personal car is needed. This is basically a no-frills, basic amenity hotel for staying close to Niagara Falls. Our flight arrived late night at Buffalo airport and after picking up our rental car we drove …

Destination Trip Reports North America

September 2013: Niagara Falls Trip Report

We reached Buffalo Airport from New York by a late night JetBlue flight. After picking up our rental car from the airport, we drove to our hotel in Niagara Falls (Holiday Inn Express) which was less than 20 miles from the airport. Since it was around midnight by the time we reached the hotel, we went straight to bed. Next morning, after waking up and having complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and drove to the Niagara falls (US side). We used the Niagara Falls official parking which was only $10. Niagara Falls is comprised of 3 separate falls, …