Hotel Report 2015

Jul 02 2015

I needed to be in New York on Monday for meetings, so I flew up Sunday night. I spent less than 20 hours in the city.

My plan was a hotel near my first meeting of the day. And the W Times Square was both reasonably close and priced ~ $180 on a ‘AAA Hot Deal’. I hadn’t ever stayed there, so figured I’d give it a go.

I used Starwood’s app and was happy to see the hotel come up as ready for their new ‘keyless’ option — you check-in with your phone, your phone acts as a room key, and you can bypass the front desk entirely. At about 10pm, wanting to get sleep before morning meetings, that appealed to me.

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Jun 28 2015

I’ve always said if you’ve never missed a flight you spend too much time in airports. Usually the cost to miss a flight is relatively low but if you’re showing up early, each and every trip, you need to add up all that time… it’s a lot.

There are times when the cost of missing a flight can be much greater — like when you’re trying to fly from Australia to the U.S. and there just aren’t a lot of flights. And when you’re doing it on an award ticket in business class. You really do want to show up on time.

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Jun 27 2015

I stayed at the Park Hyatt Sydney back over Thanksgiving, having reserved the hotel before it went up to category 7. I had a decidedly mixed stay, largely colored by an insistence that if I wanted an Opera View room upgrade (not even an Opera Deluxe, let alone a suite) I would have to pay a $100 per night upcharge as a Gold Passport Diamond member.

That was all sorted at the end of the stay, and I was happy to return and give the hotel another shot. I was in Sydney for my cousin’s wedding, and the location of the hotel is actually perfect for me since it’s right by the ferries that take me out to the suburbs where they live.

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Jun 07 2015

I needed to be in Dallas over the weekend, and more specifically I happened to need to be in Plano and I flipped a coin between the Hyatt House Plan and the Westin Stonebriar — which is to say I actually picked the Westin because it was cheaper.

Throughout the stay they seemed to think I was someone else. And that, apparently, got me an upgrade to the largest room I’ve ever seen.

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May 25 2015

The Concourse Hotel used be the Radisson, is now managed by Hyatt, and is the closest property to LAX airport. It has a super-prompt and convenient shuttle. But man, does it need a refresh in at least the room I was assigned…

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May 17 2015

I had one night to spend in Colombo. It’s a popular stopover to and from the Maldives, since it’s inexpensive and easier to get in and out of than Male, though there the Maldives capital is increasingly accessible.

I actually wanted to spend the night in Colombo, though, and set up the trip this way on purpose. I could have done an outright stopover on my one-way Alaska Airlines-issued Emirates award, but I just booked it as a 23 hour connection. That was enough to grab some food in Sri Lanka.

For the night I chose one of the only Western chain hotels, the Hilton which is very much a business property.

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May 10 2015

The Grand Hyatt DFW is a gorgeous hotel, a good property in its own right and not even merely ‘the best at the airport’.

Since my last stay they’ve even started letting Gold Passport Diamond members order complimentary room service breakfast.. seemingly without limit.

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May 07 2015

The Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives is remote. The resort is its own island. So you’re going to be eating on property. Here’s what they have to offer you, and how much it costs.

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