I usually don’t blog my average domestic stays, or even my average international ones, but when I snap a few photos and since I write more for myself than my readers much of the time (sorry!) sometimes I feel like it’s worth posting only to remind myself. I admit, I frequently search my own blog for links and offers. That’s one of the reasons I started the blog way back in 2002, as a way of memorializing the things I had learned about travel so that I could refer back to them later. So here I am, writing about of all things the Hyatt Regency Baltimore. This was my first US Airways hit, as I mentioned yesterday. The one-night stay would have earned less than 1000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, so I wasn’t really giving…
Trip Reports
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Not All Blogger Travel is Glamorous!
Last year I wrote about my very mundane travel routine. It was really about sharing what most of my travel is like, as well as providing a window into the minutiae of how I think about my travel day. Very ritualized, very much ingrained habit. I don’t write about most of my trips because quite frankly they’re boring. I don’t have the wry sense of humor about travel that Ben has. There aren’t that many lessons to be gleaned from a trip out to Phoenix, Chicago, or Denver. I fly more boring domestic segments than first class international ones, but I write about the first class international trips. Some readers get the impression that’s how I travel most of the time, nothing could be farther from the truth. “My So-Called Travel Life” is a good…
Trying Out the OTHER Andaz in New York, Wall Street
My regular hotel in New York has become the Andaz 5th Avenue but this past weekend I stayed at the Andaz Wall Street for the first time, in part because I’ve really wanted to try it out to experience the difference since so many Diamond members rave about it, and in part because the 5th Avenue property was pricing quite high and I didn’t want to burn the requisite points for that room. The Wall Street Andaz is frequently favored because they treat Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members well with room upgrades. At the 5th Avenue Andaz I’ve been fortunate to either be in an XL King View room or using a confirmed suite upgrade, many members report that the 5th Avenue property is fairly tight-fisted with upgrades but that the Wall Street property is…
Park Hyatt Aviara: Some of the Best Hotel Service in the United States
I spent last weekend at the Park Hyatt Aviara, a former Four Seasons property, and I was really excited to be there. The story as I understand it is that the ownership didn’t want to make the sort of capital investments necessary to maintain it as a Four Seasons given general economic conditions so they had a parting of the ways with their former flag and hence the re-branding. I tend to think of Park Hyatt as a modern brand, and Aviara was a Four Seasons in the ‘old school’ model, so other than the signage the place doesn’t really fit my mental model of a Park Hyatt. But what did strike me more than anything other than the old fashioned furniture and draperies was the service. Every single person that I encountered at the…
And the Award for Worst Airline Lounge in North America Goes to…
Some of you are going to say that the honors go to the United Red Carpet Club at Dulles that had the rats. But I haven’t seen reports of Red Carpet Rodents in some time. Though I’d at least agree with the overall sentiment, that the very first thing a lounge should offer is a clean respite from a sometimes-dirty terminal. Sure, there are other minimum conditions necessary to qualify as a lounge that is actually an improvement over sitting at the gate, such as peace and quiet, wireless internet and comfortable seating. But it starts with cleanliness. And given that standard, I wonder whether there’s any worse lounge than the US Airways club at La Guardia? Here’s where I headed in the lounge today, the only open seats by the window over looking the…
Return to the Andaz 5th Avenue, Andaz Suite with Balcony
Back in December I wrote an extensive post on the Andaz 5th Avenue in New York. Bottom-line is that there were a few things that could be improved, but that I thought it was likely to become my default property in Manhattan. I spent the weekend there, this time in a suite. I had a Gold Passport Diamond suite upgrade that needed to be applied to a stay by February 28. I paid one night of the stay (always worth considering if you qualify for status based on stays rather than nights, plus when there’s a decent promotion based on stays it can be advisable as well though the new Hyatt promo which is based on nights doesn’t begin until April 1) and redeemed for the other night. The suite upgrade would technically apply only…
The Voyage Home: ANA First Class, Tokyo – Washington Dulles
This is a Continuation of “Trip Report – A Private Jet Experience: Alone in First Class on ANA and Thai, Plus Singapore First, a Suite, a Villa, and Some Incredible Food Porn” Past installments: Prologue: The decision-making and booking process Washington Dulles – Chicago in United First Class and the Greatest Airport Hotel Ever, the Intercontinental O’Hare Alone in First Class on ANA, Chicago-Tokyo Singapore Airlines First Class, Tokyo-Singapore JetQuay Planeside Pickup in Singapore Intercontinental Singapore Ambassador Suite In and Around Singapore Tetsuya’s Restaurant Waku Ghin at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore Iggy’s Restaurant in Singapore JetQuay Departure from Singapore Changi Airport Thai Airways Business Class Singapore – Bangkok – Phuket Sala Pool Villa at the Westin Siray Bay, Phuket Fly Solo in First Class Again! Thai Airways Phuket – Bangkok – Tokyo and…
Flying Solo in First Class Again! Thai Airways Phuket – Bangkok – Tokyo and the Bangkok First Class Lounge & Spa
This is a Continuation of “Trip Report – A Private Jet Experience: Alone in First Class on ANA and Thai, Plus Singapore First, a Suite, a Villa, and Some Incredible Food Porn” Past installments: Prologue: The decision-making and booking process Washington Dulles – Chicago in United First Class and the Greatest Airport Hotel Ever, the Intercontinental O’Hare Alone in First Class on ANA, Chicago-Tokyo Singapore Airlines First Class, Tokyo-Singapore JetQuay Planeside Pickup in Singapore Intercontinental Singapore Ambassador Suite In and Around Singapore Tetsuya’s Restaurant Waku Ghin at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore Iggy’s Restaurant in Singapore JetQuay Departure from Singapore Changi Airport Thai Airways Business Class Singapore – Bangkok – Phuket Sala Pool Villa at the Westin Siray Bay, Phuket The hotel’s (outsourced) car brought us to the Phuket airport, again about 45 minutes…
Sala Pool Villa at the Westin Siray Bay, Phuket
This is a Continuation of “Trip Report – A Private Jet Experience: Alone in First Class on ANA and Thai, Plus Singapore First, a Suite, a Villa, and Some Incredible Food Porn” Past installments: Prologue: The decision-making and booking process Washington Dulles – Chicago in United First Class and the Greatest Airport Hotel Ever, the Intercontinental O’Hare Alone in First Class on ANA, Chicago-Tokyo Singapore Airlines First Class, Tokyo-Singapore JetQuay Planeside Pickup in Singapore Intercontinental Singapore Ambassador Suite In and Around Singapore Tetsuya’s Restaurant Waku Ghin at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore Iggy’s Restaurant in Singapore JetQuay Departure from Singapore Changi Airport Thai Airways Business Class Singapore – Bangkok – Phuket Having landed in Phuket, grabbed our bags and walked through customs, we exited the terminal and found the man holding the Westin sign…
Thai Airways Business Class, Singapore – Bangkok – Phuket
This is a Continuation of “Trip Report – A Private Jet Experience: Alone in First Class on ANA and Thai, Plus Singapore First, a Suite, a Villa, and Some Incredible Food Porn” Past installments:Prologue: The decision-making and booking process Washington Dulles – Chicago in United First Class and the Greatest Airport Hotel Ever, the Intercontinental O’Hare Alone in First Class on ANA, Chicago-Tokyo Singapore Airlines First Class, Tokyo-Singapore JetQuay Planeside Pickup in Singapore Intercontinental Singapore Ambassador Suite In and Around Singapore Tetsuya’s Restaurant Waku Ghin at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore Iggy’s Restaurant in Singapore JetQuay Departure from Singapore Changi Airport We boarded and found Thai’s international business class seats, which are perfect for a short hop like this but I wouldn’t want to sit in them for true long-haul. Leg room was ample,…
