Category Archives for Trip Reports.
The hotel became part of Marriott when Starwood was acquired, and then moved over to Hyatt in early 2023. That was a boon to elite members, because the breakfast benefit was upgraded to Hyatt standard and suites became confirmable at the time of booking. Late checkout is proactively offered, not just honored.
There’s no question that the Westin Denver Airport is a top 5 airport hotel in the United States, behind probably the Grand Hyatts at San Francisco and Dallas-Fort Worth airports and perhaps alongside or even a little bit ahead of the Westin Detroit.
American Airlines is eliminating Flagship First Class in favor of more business and premium economy seats on its fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The end of first class on the last U.S. carrier to offer it internationally is sad to me, but the project has been pushed back. As American has planned to wind down the offering, they’ve really let the product slide.
The Chicago Athletic Association building, a Venetian‑Gothic landmark, dates to 1893. It was a private men’s athletic club for the city’s Gilded‑Age elite. The building sat vacant for years, and narrowly escaped demolition.
The best airport hotels in the United States are the Grand Hyatt SFO, Grand Hyatt DFW, Westin Denver and Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport. Other notables include the Westin Detroit, Intercontinental Minneapolis, Hilton O’Hare and Hilton Boston Logan.
There’s not a single American or European carrier amongst the world’s top business class offerings. However if we were to pick one to include it would have to be Air France? And their best business class is onboard Airbus A350s with their newest seat.
I’ve stayed at the Park Hyatt Vendome Paris about a dozen times over the past dozen years, taking a couple of years off during the pandemic. It’s an absolutely lovely hotel, but also a bit of a controversial one amongst frequent travelers.
After a less than impressive visit to the Air Canada Signature Suite, we were headed down to our gate next door for our flight to Paris. Disappointment in the lounge might have put me in a sour mood, but I was actually very excited for this flight to Paris.
I wanted to break up the flight as much as possible and Toronto – Paris is a fairly short route (spoiler: baby was fine on the flight, and also on our longer Air France return).
I enjoyed my stay, even a bit more this time. This property has so much potential. Though I imagine that while rates are high, there are too many periods of low occupancy and this isn’t helped by how limited air service is to St. Kitts.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
