Trip Report Index: Introducing and Strategy New York JFK – Abu Dhabi, Etihad First Class Park Hyatt Dubai Touring the Burj al Arab Tea at the Burj al Arab Abu Dhabi – Male, Etihad Business Class Male – Kaadedhdhoo, Maldivian and Transfer to the Park Hyatt Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives Kooddoo-Male-Abu Dhabi, Maldivian and Etihad Business Class Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi – Dusseldorf – London, Etihad First Class and British Airways Club Europe London Heathrow – San Francisco, British Airways New First Class The day prior to my arrival I received an email from the property offering me a complimentary car transfer to and from the airport. Suites at the hotel come with that, and I had booked my room the same way that Ben had and I applied an expiring Hyatt Gold…
Trip Reports
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Return to the Maldives: New York JFK – Abu Dhabi, Etihad First Class
Trip Report Index: Introducing and Strategy New York JFK – Abu Dhabi, Etihad First Class Park Hyatt Dubai Touring the Burj al Arab Tea at the Burj al Arab Abu Dhabi – Male, Etihad Business Class Male – Kaadedhdhoo, Maldivian and Transfer to the Park Hyatt Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives Kooddoo-Male-Abu Dhabi, Maldivian and Etihad Business Class Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi – Dusseldorf – London, Etihad First Class and British Airways Club Europe London Heathrow – San Francisco, British Airways New First Class After checking in for my Etihad flight — a bit of a process in and of itself because the check-in counters are roped off and there’s a staff member there to keep people away who don’t belong, though I didn’t have to show him an itinerary to get through.. and…
Grand Hyatt San Francisco: A Large Modern Hotel With a Small Hotel Feel
This past Monday I reviewed the Hyatt Regency San Francisco down on the Embarcadero. It’s a large atrium-style hotel that feels busy though I quite liked it (even though they failed to honor my confirmed suite upgrade). If I wanted to be in that part of the city I’d gladly stay there again. During the past week I made another trip to San Francisco and stayed at the Grand Hyatt. The Hyatt Regency is about 800 rooms, the Grand Hyatt about 660 so still a very large property but it feels much smaller. That’s mostly, I think, because the Grand is a much taller building with smaller individual floors and also a smaller lobby area. So you don’t feel the size of the property, since you aren’t walking around a ton, and you also aren’t…
A Lovely Stay NOT in a Suite at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco
I posted about downgrade experience at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco and about getting compensation at check-in. It turned out to be a pretty get stay, though, with an excellent club lounge. And the points I was given for the hotel not honoring my confirmed suite upgrade were worth more, to me, than the suite would have been. So I don’t hold a grudge at all. I just wish it had been a smoother, more proactive process on the part of the hotel instead of having to argue. Instead of a suite I had a ‘club floor’ room with a balcony. Not bad. I’m not sure the difference between a club floor room and a regular room, club rooms are not on the same floor as the club lounge. But you need your key card…
Enjoying a Special Rate at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman
Regular readers know that I offer an award booking service, and it’s gotten quite a bit of attention since I launched it about 3.5 years ago. It’s been covered in the New York Times and in USA Today, for instance. And I’ve been selected by Conde’ Nast Traveler as one of their ‘World’s Top Travel Specialists’ in 2010, 2011, and now also in 2012. Conde’ Nast hosts an annual gathering for this group, the first one I attended was in January 2011. This year’s event was held at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman. I’ve stayed at several Ritz-Carltons, but always on someone else’s dime or once for a night on Marriott Rewards points. This time I’d be paying, albeit as a business expense. The going rate on the Ritz-Carlton website was somewhere in the $700s for…
New Years in Paris: British Airways “New” First Class, London – Washington Dulles
A trip report in five parts Air France A380 Business Class, Washington Dulles – Paris Park Hyatt Vendome Mostly Eating in Paris British Airways Paris Orly – London and the Concorde Room British Airways “New” First Class, London – Washington Dulles I’ve only ever departed terminal 5 from bus gates. But that took me past the Starbucks, and it was going to be an (admittedly short of a Westbound transatlantic) long flight and I really didn’t want to sleep much, I wanted to arrive in DC tired and fall straight to sleep, adjusting back to my own time right away. Which isn’t to say I wouldn’t allow myself a nap – I was happy to for a couple of hours — but I felt like I could conk right out. Here’s an interesting thing about…
New Years in Paris: Air France Business, British Airways First, and the Park Hyatt Vendome: British Airways Club Europe Paris Orly – London and the Concorde Room
A trip report in five parts Air France A380 Business Class, Washington Dulles – Paris Park Hyatt Vendome Mostly Eating in Paris British Airways Paris Orly – London and the Concorde Room British Airways “New” First Class, London – Washington Dulles The return trip was going to start at Paris Orly airport, that’s the ‘close-in’ and some would say convenient airport, which mostly services intra-Europe flying. Really, though, it’s a pit of an airport, old and without modern facilities. But since the goal is to get in and out, and not spend time there, it’s relatively compact. If you can time it so that you breeze through formalities and without much to do airside, it’s a perfectly convenient place. I had checked in online, having learned from my outbound with Air France that I don’t…
New Years in Paris: Air France Business, British Airways First, and the Park Hyatt Vendome: In and Around Paris
A trip report in five parts Air France A380 Business Class, Washington Dulles – Paris Park Hyatt Vendome Mostly Eating in Paris British Airways Paris Orly – London and the Concorde Room British Airways “New” First Class, London – Washington Dulles The first night’s dinner was a bit impromptu, the Park Hyatt’s concierge stepped in with a recommendation based on my request for something nearby (walkable), casual bistro, reasonably priced (I didn’t want to spend 50 euros per person), and good food — that was available at the last minute by reservation, so that it wouldn’t entail a wait. The recommendation was for Restaurant L’ardoise, which fit the bill perfectly. We walked in and the place was packed. I mentioned that we had a reservation and the woman greeting us said, “You talked to me??”…
New Years in Paris: Air France Business, British Airways First, and the Park Hyatt Vendome: A Wonderful Place to Stay in Paris on Points
A trip report in five parts Air France A380 Business Class, Washington Dulles – Paris Park Hyatt Vendome Mostly Eating in Paris British Airways Paris Orly – London and the Concorde Room British Airways “New” First Class, London – Washington Dulles By the time I made it to the hotel from the airport it was a little bit after noon. There weren’t rooms ready, which is reasonable, and they offered of course to store bags and ring me on my mobile when they could accommodate. But then the woman assisting with our checkin said she thought they could have something ready fairly quickly, offered us complimentary coffees and to be seated while they checked into things. We sat down and ordered cappuccinos, and just as it was arriving she came back over, let us know…
New Years in Paris: Air France Business, British Airways First, and the Park Hyatt Vendome: Washington Dulles-Paris Onboard the A380
A trip report in five parts Air France A380 Business Class, Washington Dulles – Paris Park Hyatt Vendome Mostly Eating in Paris British Airways Paris Orly – London and the Concorde Room British Airways “New” First Class, London – Washington Dulles Looking for something to do for New Years I settled on Paris, there was non-stop business class availability on the Washington Dulles – Paris non-stop. And it’s their Airbus A380. I’m not one to chase aircraft. I’m much more interested in the inflight product than the model of the plane itself. And believe it or not (it’s sort of something I hadn’t even realized until I stopped to think about it), I hadn’t actually ever been on an A380 other than crawling around one of Qantas’ during the oneworld MegaDO back at the end…
