For my short weekend conference in Bangkok, I was placed in Holiday Inn Bangkok which is located in the city centre (within walking distance to Erawan Shrine and many big Shopping Complexes). There are plenty to go around in this area – from entertainment to food to shopping! This hotel certainly ranks high in terms of location and accessibility. Even more convenient is the city monorail which is just a stone throw away from the hotel.
Having recently joined the Intercontinental Ambassador program, I decided to do my short stay in one of the Intercontinental Hotels in Hanoi. There are 2 Intercontinental in Hanoi, the older one is situated in West Lake while the newer one is in Landmark 72, a fairly new office cum hotel tower in Hanoi. Intercontinental Landmark 72 was just recently launched in September 2017 and they have yet to have their own website (the hotel website is currently hosted on IHG website). After 2 nights stay, I have only praises for this hotel while the only downside about this hotel is the location (which is quite a distance from the Old Quarters).
As the year end break is still another 3 months away, I decided to give the kids a break by doing a short getaway to Legoland during the school holiday. I was contemplating between Legoland Resort vs. Hotel Jen. Guess which hotel got my vote?
After a disappointing stay I had in 2016, I blacklisted the Berjaya Group of hotels from my list. Not only was Berjaya not able to live up to what it promised, they completely screwed up my dinner booking which I made for my staff (as part of my company retreat). After a negative feedback, they reached out requesting that I give them another chance and so here I am.
This hotel is operated under the same chain as Royal Park Hotel The Shiodome. The hotel is conveniently connected to Haneda International Airport (but on the extreme end) hence there is no need to wait for a shuttle bus (unlike that in LAX).
The hotel is situated at the departure level but one must walk about 5 to 10 minutes from the subway station. Given the hotel layout, expect more walking as the hotel has a very long corridor (try getting a room nearer to elevator). The corridor however is wide enough to accommodate the luggage trolley, hence there is no worry about lugging your luggage.
This hotel / ryokan was booked as part of my 2D/1N Mount Fuji and Hakone tour. I had initially wanted to book another ryokan which is only 3 minute walk from Yumoto station but alas, I was too late. Yoshino is about 10 minute from Yumoto station which is alright if you are traveling light. Put in 2 -3 luggage coupled with narrow roads and rain, getting there can be a challenge. Fortunately, there is a regular shuttle to the hotel that cost 100 Yen per person. However, it only operate 2 trips per hour. Getting all your luggage onto the crowded bus can be a challenge as well!
Tokyo hotels are famous for their minute sized room (unless you pay good dollar for top rated hotels) and Royal Park Shiodome is of no exception. I made this booking via Expedia (and shopback) as the Citibank Expedia promotion has ended. I got the room during the promotion period, hence it cost about SGD $305 per night (excluding cash back, but including tax and breakfast).
I was supposed to stay in this hotel as part of my 2015 North American getaway. In the end, I did not do a Seoul stopover as I had problem breaking my SQ15 flight due to lack of availability. Fast forward one year later, here I am.
As part of my trip, I utilized my voucher from Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Ascend card for a free stay in Kuala Lumpur Grand Millennium Hotel. I had used the Ascend Amex card before but I discontinued it as the perks were not great. I recently re-applied the card to make use of the 35,000 miles bonus for $10,000 spend (which has since been discontinued). That worked out to be about 4.8 miles per dollar spent (including the miles accelerator program) which is an excellent figure. The benefits of this card were recently changed and the current benefits are:
For my Hokkaido Trip this time, I will be traveling with my parents (both in their mid-70s). The tour group they signed up with is Organised by Parlo Tours (of Malaysia), which I will try my best to review as well. Instead of following the tour group from Kuala Lumpur itself, I chose to fly in from Singapore via Haneda instead.
I had to arrive one day earlier before the group do on October 9. After some research, I chose Terminal Hotel for its convenience as it is located inside the Domestic Terminal of New Chitose Airport. I made my booking via Expedia using my Citibank Premier Miles Card (for the 6 miles per dollar promotion). I paid about SGD $110 (inclusive of tax) and the rate comes with free buffet breakfast and entry into the airport Onsen (located at 4th floor in the Oasis Park). The entry fee for the Onsen cost about 1500 JPY (about SGD $20). The price I paid is for a single room.
That Time Of The Year! 