Hotel: Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort, Thailand 221 / 2 Moo 20 Kwaewai Road, Tambon Robwieng, Amphur Muang Chiang Rai 57000 Thailand Phone: (66)(53) 603 333 Fax: (66)(53) 603 330 I had arranged hotel pickup at the Chiang Rai airport, they bill 600 baht one-way or 1000 baht roundtrip. A hotel concierge was waiting just past the arrivals hall, took us out to the waiting vehicle, assisted with luggage, and got in with us. Instead of acting as a dispatcher and sending us on our way, we were accompanied to the hotel both by the driver and concierge. In addition to being offered cold towels and waters, we were also offered an array of soft drinks. Wholly unnecessary for the very short (10 minute?) drive, but a nice touch. As we exited the car on…
Trip Reports
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Thai Airways Domestic Business Class, Bangkok to Chiang Rai
1:25 pm Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) to Chiang Rai, Thailand (CEI) Thai Airways Flight 134 Business Class Seat Assignment at Check-in Duration: 1h 20m Airbus A300-600R 414 miles traveled Our driver was right on time at 11:15 am for our return to Suvarnabhumi. A quick 20 minutes and we were there. This time it was dropoff at the domestic checkin, heading to the business class line. No one ahead of us, no line to speak of at security, and we headed down to the domestic business class lounge. Royal Silk Lounge Entrance Lounge Lounge restroom Lounge hallway (to vip area, there were a couple of soldiers there, so…) Lounge food After a quick check of email, and a too-sweet can of fruit juice, it was time to head over to the flight. Boarding was a zoo,…
Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok
Royal Orchid Sheraton 2 Charoen Krung Road Soi 30 (Captain Bush Lane), Siphya, Bangrak Bangkok 10500 Thailand Phone: (66)(2) 266 0123 Fax: (66)(2) 236 8320 Rate: THB3000+tax We arrived at the Royal Orchid Sheraton after a 25 minute drive from the airport. I was torn about where to stay, since it was just a brief overnight. The river is quite far off the airport, but it’s almost all freeway, the only issue is traffic in and around the hotel itself. But we were arriving quite late and leaving the hotel at nearly noon, I figured traffic wouldn’t be much of an issue. And I really did fancy waking up to breakfast on the river. The hotel is somewhat disfavored, at least among Starwood properties. I know that many like the new Meridien, and the ROS…
A Quick New York Trip: Le Parker Meridien, Burger Joint, and Katz’s Pastrami
Took the US Airways Shuttle up to LaGuardia, and I had to lug a whole bunch of stuff along – actually wound up checking a bag. Now here’s the rub. With the new baggage fees, US Airways actually makes it difficult to credit miles to their program. My Dividend Miles number was in the reservation, and they couldn’t waive the baggage fees simply by my showing my Star Alliance Gold card. The agent insisted the elite number has to be in the reservation. “Ok, but I just thought I’d save US Airways the money buying miles from another program… I gave them another frequent flyer program, they waived the baggage fee, and then I changed the frequent flyer number back at the customer service counter by the gate (there was no time to visit the…
Lufthansa First Class: Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok
9:10 pm Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) to Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) Lufthansa Flight 773 First Class Seats 83H, 83K Duration: 1h 30m Boeing 747-400 461 miles traveled Since we had a late flight, I asked about 6pm checkout but was told that would incur a half-night’s charge. But they extended 5pm checkout complimentarily, and offered that we could enjoy the evening h’or douerves in the lounge rather than leaving for the airport straight away, but we we decided we’ve rather be off. We caught a cab to the airport and despite significant traffic (it took better than an hour) the cost was ~ US$8. We entered the terminal just as Lufthansa was about to open its counters, all of the staff were huddled in a meeting while passengers began to queue. It was rather…
In and Around Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City Tour: Based on a recommendation from Flyertalk I emailed Tony with Ann Tours to arrange a driver and guide for the day. A full day guide, driver, and vehicle including entrance fees where applicable was US$90, prepaid by credit card. We were picked up as planned at 10am in the lobby of the Sheraton, and packed most of the well-known city sights into the day. Specifically the Presidential palace, War Remnant museum, Notre Dame cathedral, Central post office, Emperor of Jade pagoda, the museum of alternative medicine,, a couple of markets, and had our lunch at a Pho restaurant down on Pasteur street. Very happy with the guide, and would use Ann Tours again (they have an office in Hanoi as well). Palace Post office: Market: Lunch time! In addition to…
Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers
Hotel: Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers 88 Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Phone: (84)(8) 827 2828 Fax: (84)(8) 827 2929 The hotel Mercedes pulled into the driveway, a porter hopped into action, and we walked into the hotel lobby. Didn’t get much of a feel for the lobby, though, because a hotel staff member intercepted us and asked me, “Are you mr. gleff?” She guided us directly to the right of the entrance to the bank of Towers elevators. She had our room keys in her hand and brought us to our suite to check in. All formalities were taken care of there, bags were promptly delivered, and she showed us the room and explained Towers benefits. Now, a quick word about how we wound up in a Towers suite…
United’s New First Class, Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City
Wednesday, April 15 8:40 pm Hong Kong, Hong Kong (HKG) to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) United Flight 869 First Class Seats:04F, 04E Duration: 2h 30m Boeing 747-400 935 miles traveled After checking out of the hotel we grabbed a cab down in front of the W. The hotel staff member assisting us on our way was a little bit concerned that we were heading off to the airport ‘only’ 2.5 hours before our flight, but I wasn’t in the slightest. There was a bit of traffic heading in the opposite direction but the roads were all clear for our drive. We pulled up to the airport and headed inside, strangely there wasn’t anybody in either the business or first class checkin lines ahead of us. I say strangely because even though I knew…
W Kong Kong 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon Station, Kowloon Phone: (852) 3717 2222 Fax: (852) 3717 2888 Cash & Points Rate We arrived at the W Hong Kong around midnight and no one from the hotel was there to greet our cab at the entrance. There were two staffers standing inside the door but we turned up and nobody moved. We brought our bags inside ourselves and then the bags were taken from us (not delivered to our room very quickly either, I might add). The lobby of the hotel is a bit confusing, we came up the driveway and had to take the elevator upstairs, the checkin desk was down the hall and around the corner to the left. I was tired, and it would have been nice had one of the staff…
Washington-Dulles to Narita in ANA First Class
Monday, April 13 Washington, DC (IAD) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT) All Nippon Airways Flight 1 First Class Seats 1D, 1G Departure: 12:20pm, Scheduled Duration: 14h 5m Boeing 777 6,752 miles We arrived at Dulles around 10:45 a.m. and walked up to the check-in counter. First and business were more or less being taken care of together, and we waited for the first available agent. Boarding passes issued, bags tagged to Hong Kong. Lounge passes issued for Dulles, which strikes me odd as at this time of day it’s a dedicated lounge for ANA, no lounge pass printed for Tokyo which also seemed odd because passes are much more common in Asia. Headed down the underground walkway and up to Terminal B, the ANA lounge is opposite gate B46. During the late morning it’s an ANA…
