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Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, Times Square

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel New York City – Times Square 1568 Broadway, New York, New York, 10036-8201, USA This Hilton HHonors Category 10 property is located right on Times Square as the name suggests. This is an excellent hotel choice for sightseeing in New York as many of the attractions (Top of the Rock, Empire State Building, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise, Central Park) are all within walking distance and avoid need for a cab. I wholeheartedly recommend this hotel to prospective NYC tourists. The only downside is that it being in the highest Hilton category, it costs 70,000 – 95,000 …

Destination Trip Reports North America

September 2013: New York City Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived by Amtrak in the afternoon at NYC Penn Station from Washington Union Station. As soon as you get out of the station (which is located below Madison Square Garden), all your senses are like assaulted (in a good way). Yep, you are in New York. Since we were staying close by at the DoubleTree Suites – Times Square, we decided to just walk there instead of taking a cab. We ended up walking a lot during this trip. I would definitely recommend this hotel for its convenient location. After having lunch and taking a couple of hours …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Crown Plaza Dulles Airport, Herndon, Virginia

Crowne Plaza Dulles Airport 2200 Centreville Road, Herndon, Virginia 20170, United States This IHG hotel is located only 3 miles from Dulles International Airport and provides 24-hour complimentary shuttle. It is located next to a big shopping area with movie theater and plenty of restaurants like Qdoba, TGIFridays and other dining options like Indian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Chinese, Thai etc. Marriot Suites is just opposite of this hotel. Checkin was quick and the front desk agent informed us that both of our rooms were upgraded to Club level floor. We have never stayed at these Club levels in any chains before …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Residence Inn Arlington, Pentagon City

Residence Inn Arlington Pentagon City 550 Army Navy Drive · Arlington, Virginia 22202 USA This Marriott Rewards Category 4 hotel is located less than 3 miles away from Reagan National Airport (DCA). The hotel provides complimentary shuttle to and from this airport (although there is no shuttle for Dulles International Airport which is around 25 miles away). The hotel is located right opposite of the Pentagon and if you request a “high floor with a view” you could get a room that has great views of the Pentagon along with really awesome views of the DC memorials & monuments. The front desk …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Fairfield Inn & Suites, Dulles Airport, Sterling, Virginia

Fairfield Inn & Suites, Dulles Airport, Sterling Virginia 23000 Indian Creek Drive – Sterling, Virginia 20166 USA We stayed the first night at this hotel for our week-long DC-New York – Niagara Trip. This Marriott Rewards Category 2 hotel is about 5 minutes from the Washington Dulles airport and provides a complimentary shuttle. The hotel was undergoing renovation till 2014 and one of the floors was closed during our stay. One thing about this airport hotel is that there is not much dining options within walking-distance. There are some restaurants in the area that offer delivery (Chinese and Pizza mostly). …

Destination Trip Reports North America

September 2013: Washington DC Trip Report

We arrived in DC on a Saturday evening after a long Southwest Airlines flight from Ontario, California. My parents had arrived from India a couple of hours earlier. Since we were all pretty tired by now, we headed straight for the hotel. We were staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, Dulles Airport. Day 1: After getting up early in the morning and having complimentary breakfast at the hotel, me and Karen went to the Dulles Airport to pick up our rental car. This was the only rental booked without points for this trip. We had booked an intermediate car …

Trip Summary

September 2013: DC/NYC/Niagara Trip – Introduction

During the Labor Day week Me and Karen took time off of work and went on a trip covering Washington DC, New York and Niagara Falls. My parents were flying in from India and met us in Washington DC. Itinerary for the trip:  Day 1: Ontario – Washington DC (Southwest Airlines) Day 2: Washington DC Sightseeing (Washington Monument, WW2 Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Capitol Building) Day 3: Washington DC Sightseeing (Museum of Natural History, Holocaust Museum) Day 4: Amtrak from Washington Union Station – New York Penn Station. NYC sightseeing (Top of the Rock, Times …

Hotel Reviews IHG Reviews

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Henderson, Nevada

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Henderson, Nevada 441 Astaire Drive, Henderson , Nevada 89014 We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Henderson during our last trip to Vegas. Its about 10 miles away from the strip. I have stayed at the strip hotels many times before but this time I had signed up for a few IHG Rewards Club promo bonuses and wanted to get those points at the lowest expense. Since we were renting a car, the distance from the strip was not an issue. Check-in was quick. The front desk clerk recognized my Platinum status and …

Destination Trip Reports North America

August 2013: Las Vegas Weekend Trip

During the second weekend of August, we did a quick trip to Las Vegas. We had been wanting to see Celine Dion’s performance at the Colosseum in Caesar’s Palace Hotel for a while as we are both big fan of hers. The opportunity presented itself when I had about $165 of Southwest vouchers expiring by September and had to be used before that. Normally we would drive to Las Vegas as its only about 4 hours from our home but we flew instead. Our Itinerary: Fly ONT-LAS on Southwest Airlines Stay 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Courtyard Fort Lauderdale North/Cypress Creek

Courtyard Fort Lauderdale North/Cypress Creek 2440 W. Cypress Creek Road · Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309 USA This Courtyard is a Category 2 Marriott property located right next to the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) and about 20 minutes away from Fort Lauderdale Airport. The property looked recently renovated with very nice interiors. Check-in was quick and the front desk clerk offered extra bottles of water for Marriott Rewards members. The next day the front desk clerk volunteered information regarding different dining options in the area. The pool area was nice. They had a cabana with wicker furniture. We loved the …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port

Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port 2081 Griffin Road · Dania Beach, Florida 33312 USA This is a Marriott Category 5 hotel just minutes from the Fort Lauderdale airport. It is located right beside Homewood Suites by Hilton. Among other complimentary amenities, you get breakfast, parking and shuttle to FLL airport (not to Miami airport though). Check-in was quick. The front desk clerk was friendly and inquired about our stay as well as advised best places to go to see the July 4 fireworks. Room size was standard, no microwave or mini-fridge in the room. This …

Destination Trip Reports North America

July 2013: Independence Day Weekend Florida Trip – Day 3

This was our last day of vacation and we wanted to spend the whole time………drumroll……. pretty much at the beach :). We wanted to check out the Hollywood Beach and the famous Boardwalk. We packed our lunches and icebox and drove there just past 11 AM. We forgot that it was a Saturday and the parking lot was already starting to get full. Parking entry fee is $8 for the day. The beach was pretty crowded by the time we got there. We were there to spend our day in the water and without much ado, jumped right in. The …

Destination Trip Reports North America

July 2013: Independence Day Weekend Florida Trip – Day 2

We woke up early and decided to head out for the Keys after breakfast. The rental car agent had told us that it will take us about 5-6 hours to drive down to Key West. Since we were staying the next two nights in Fort Lauderdale, we didn’t know if we would go all the way there because the round-trip drive alone would take the whole day. We decided to get to some point midway, spend the day and return back. The drive is pretty interesting. You get through many stretches of single lane road where there is water on …

Destination Trip Reports North America

July 2013: Independence Day Weekend Florida Trip – Day 1

We arrived at the Fort Lauderdale airport just before 9 AM after an American Airlines non-stop red-eye flight from Los Angeles. I had 2 AVIS Free-rental-day paper certificates and only after arrival at the airport did I realize that I had left them at home. Bummer !! I knew that the rental rates were pretty expensive here, but remembered seeing better rates at carrentalsavers.com compared to Kayak/Southwest/Hotwire and all the individual car rental sites. So using the phone, I booked a 2 day rental with Budget through that website. After arrival at the Budget Fastbreak counter, we got a complimentary upgrade …

Trip Summary

July 2013: Independence Day Weekend Florida Trip – Introduction

When life gives you lemons, make some hard lemonade !! We had originally planned on a trip to the Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands for the July 4th weekend this year. I was planning on staying at the Comfort Suites, Seven Mile Beach using Choice Privileges Points. Since the booking window for award stay in Caribbean properties for US residents opens 90 days out, by the time the booking window opened, the award flight availability using British Airways Avios points (MIA – GCM route operated by American Airlines) had completely vanished. That meant that we were going to spend our weekend …

Destination Trip Reports North America

June 2013: San Diego Zoo Safari Park Trip Report

Last month we went on a day trip to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  We had never been to this safari park but had heard good reviews about it. There was an Amazon-Local deal where the regular entry tickets of 44$ were on sale for 20$. Obviously Karen jumped on the deal right away and got 3 tickets for us and her sister Danny. The park is near Escondido, which is around 30 miles from San Diego. The park opens at 9 AM and closes at 5 PM – 7 PM depending on the time of the year. After entering the …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: SpringHill Suites Portland Airport

 SpringHill Suites Portland Airport 11922 NE Airport Way · Portland, Oregon 97220 USA The SpringHill Suites Portland Airport is a Category 4 Marriott property located within 5 minutes drive from the airport. This property is located very close to two other Marriott properties: Courtyard Portland Airport and Fairfield Inn & Suites Portland Airport. We arrived at the hotel in the afternoon and check-in process was quick and smooth. The front desk agent explained the amenities (free wi-fi and complimentary breakfast). We told her that our flight leaves late next day and she offered complimentary late checkout at 2 PM. The …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Courtyard Portland Airport

 Courtyard Portland Airport  11550 NE Airport Way · Portland, Oregon 97220 USA This Marriott Rewards Category 3 hotel is located only about 5 minutes drive (3 miles) from the Portland International Airport. The property provides complimentary shuttle between the hotel and the airport. We arrived at the hotel in the evening and check-in was speedy. The front desk had only one staff (probably being the weekend and hotel having low occupancy). We were offered complimentary late checkout although we declined because we were leaving early next day for some sight-seeing. The room was fairly standard size and looked newly renovated. …

Destination Trip Reports North America

May 2013: Portland Trip Report

During the Memorial Day weekend, we went on a quick getaway trip to Portland. We wanted to do some hiking, seeing waterfalls, simple outdoors stuff. We flew on Southwest from Ontario to Oakland and then to Portland. For the first time, I checked in online exactly 24 hours early and we were able to get letter A boarding number. I was excited to get exit row seating without paying for Early Bird check-in. Day 1: We reached PDX around 10:30 AM and after getting our rental car from Budget, we were on our way. First up on our list of …

Trip Summary

2013 January: Maldives Trip Recap

Recap of itinerary for the entire trip. Flights (all Business Class): Los Angeles – Incheon : United Airlines (for me) / Los Angeles – Incheon: Asiana Airlines (for Karen) Incheon – Bangkok : Thai Airways Bangkok – Kolkata : Thai Airways Kolkata – Singapore : Singapore Airlines Singapore – Male : Singapore Airlines Male – Singapore : Singapore Airlines Singapore – Incheon : Singapore Airlines Incheon – Los Angeles : Asiana Airlines (for Karen) / Incheon – San Francisco: Asiana Airlines (for me) Hotels: Aloft Bangkok – 1 Night Fuana Inn, Maldives – 1 Night Holiday Inn Kandooma, Maldives – 3 Nights Sightseeing: Bangkok …