There weren’t enough towels in the room, just a couple of bath towels at a time, and the toiletries weren’t refreshed except for the shampoo on the fourth day. I had run out, and was about to ring up for some, when housekeeping appeared apologetically for having forgotten to replace the shampoo. (They didn’t bring other items, but none were needed, apparently they replace only those which are virtually used up.) For a brand new hotel, and a stylish one at that, I was disappointed that the bathroom had a standard shower head and not something more interesting. We ran into a couple of snags shortly after our arrival. First, a bug infestation in and around the sugar packets that accompany the in-room coffee. We rang the desk and the sugars were replaced while we…
Le Meridien Chiang Rai – Part One of Four
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…
Service Cuts at Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Related Brands
It’s tough times for the hotel industry, and unsurprisingly hotel brands are looking to cut back on expenses. Intercontinental Hotels Group has announced a series of changes delaying large expenses for their hotels (.pdf) and also lowering service and amenity standards (.pdf) for their varous brands. On the capital expense front, they’re delaying the date by which all hotels have to have flat screen TVs, and the date by which Crowne Plazas have to have more comfortable banquet chairs. They’re also pushing back the requirement for Holiday Inns to purchase new beds. On the service expense front, all brands can skip leaving newspapers at each room door and make them available in lobbies instead. Crowne Plazas won’t be required to have bellmen, can reduce restaurant hours and room service hours (eliminating lunch service), can offer…
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…
United Mileage Plus is Still Worth It.. Sort of
One Mile at a Time wonders whether Mileage Plus is ‘worth it’ anymore, with their much more expensive award charts (post-December 31) and extensive Starnet blocking of partner awards (just go try to book anything on Lufthansa most days). And he’s right to a certain extent, United has massively devalued their mileage. And most Star Alliance carriers offer more valuable currency. United’s award chart used to be favorable, but now is average at best. Air Canada’s is better, US Airways’ is better. And United frequently prevents you from booking awards with their partners, whereas the rest of Star Alliance carriers offer currencies without such restrictions. But that doesn’t mean there’s no more value there. It makes sense to credit flight miles to United to requalify for 1K (or until one requalifies). Because United 1K and…
AA.com 10% Discount for Bookings by Tomorrow
American is celebrating 10,000 Facebook fans by offering 10% off flights booked by May 17. In celebration of reaching 10,000 fans, we want to give you 10%* off your next flight. Just go to AA.com and type the code FCB10K in the box titled “promotion code” when you book a flight. The code is good for travel between May 15 and August 31, 2009, and you can even use it to take an extra 10% off the great sale fares we announced yesterday. But hurry – this offer is only good until May 17, 2009 Blackout dates are June 27-28, 2009 and July 2-6, 2009.
Register for a Free Mystery Bonus from United
So United says they’re going to give away a small bonus to everyone following them when they hit 10,000 followers on Twitter. My guess is it’s a 10% discount electronic certificate, or 100 or 250 miles. But who knows? You can sign up to follow them.. or not. Apparently all that is required to get the bonus is to register for it, which should work even if you don’t follow them on (or even are a member of) Twitter. But since they’ve still as of this writing got over 5000 followers to go, you might as well follow them so that I can get my bonus faster…
Podcast Discussing the Minutest Details of First Class Award Travel
I’m a guest on the new Upgrd.com Podcast, give it a listen.
