Review: Sofitel Brussels Le Louise

April 6, 2018June 21, 2018 ~ j ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: Flying The Nordic Shortcut to Europe
Cathay Pacific 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Oriental Residence Bangkok
Finnair A350 Business Class Bangkok to Helsinki
Hilton Helsinki Airport
Finnair A321 Business Class Helsinki to Amsterdam
Hotel Des Indes The Hague
Hotel Le Royal Luxembourg
Sofitel Brussels Le Louise
Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht
British Airways Lounge Amsterdam
British Airways A321 Economy Class Amsterdam to London
My Bloomsbury London
Finnair A350 Business Class London to Helsinki
Finnair A350 Business Class Helsinki to Hong Kong

We arrived at the Sofitel after a long drive from Luxembourg. The Sofitel is located just off of Avenue Louise, which is basically the Brussels shopping district.

Sofitel Brussels Le Louise Entrance

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Review: Hotel Le Royal Luxembourg

April 4, 2018June 21, 2018 ~ j ~ Leave a comment

We arrived after driving from The Hague to Luxembourg. At first glance, the hotel’s exterior wasn’t exactly visually appealing. The odd design looked quite odd, especially coupled with the facade, which didn’t look like it had been washed since the hotel was opened.

Hotel Le Royal Luxembourg Exterior

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Review: Hotel Des Indes The Hague

March 28, 2018June 21, 2018 ~ j ~ Leave a comment

We arrived at the Hotel Des Indes after driving straight from Amsterdam Airport. We were greeted by the bellmen who directed us to the check-in area and offered to park our car.

Hotel Des Indes The Hague Entrance

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Review: Hilton Helsinki Airport

March 22, 2018June 21, 2018 ~ j ~ 1 Comment

Following our missed connection, Finnair put us at the Hilton Helsinki Airport Hotel. It appears that Business/Finnair Plus Elite members were put up at the Hilton, while Economy passengers were put at the Holiday Inn. The Hilton Helsinki is connected to the airport terminal by an outdoor covered pathway. It takes around 5 minutes to walk to the terminal from the hotel.

This leads me to my disclaimer: this review will be a short one, as we literally got to the hotel at night and left early the next morning for the flight we were rebooked on.

I appreciate that the hotel’s designers tried to incorporate some local design elements (e.g. exposed birchwood columns) and Nordic-style furniture, which spruced up the aesthetic of the lobby quite a bit.

Hilton Helsinki Airport Lobby

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Review: Oriental Residence Bangkok

March 17, 2018June 21, 2018 ~ j ~ Leave a comment

This will be a short review, as we literally got to the hotel at night, and left for Bangkok Airport for our flight to Helsinki early the next morning.

We arrived at the Oriental Residence Bangkok after our flight from Hong Kong. The hotel is located in Lumphini and is within walking distance of the newly opened Central Embassy mall (where the Park Hyatt is located). The hotel also offers a shuttle service to the closest Bangkok Sky Train Station.

There’s a small seating area to the left as you enter. Next to that is the concierge, which wasn’t open for the entire duration of my stay.

Oriental Residence Bangkok Lobby

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Review: The Westin Sydney

February 26, 2018February 26, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Since we’d booked a Cathay Holidays package for our trip, our ticket included a four-night stay at The Westin Sydney. The Westin Sydney was right by Sydney’s central business district, and it looked pretty modern, so all else being equal we decided to go for it for our four-night stay. Our flights to Sydney in Cathay Pacific business class were retailing for HK$24,300 per person, so the overall cost breakdown from the package brought the hotel price to around ~HK$2,500 per night. The hotel was retailing our room type for ~HK$2,700 per night, though I’m not sure if Starwood was doing their fourth-night free promotion at the time – if they were, that would’ve saved us quite a bit of money, though the promotion never crossed my mind at the time of booking.

The Westin Sydney is a category 5 hotel, so an SPG redemption would cost 12,000 points. In this case we weren’t staying in an entry level room (though the biggest difference was probably the floor we were staying on). An entry level room cost ~HK$2,100 for our dates, so paying cash would’ve been a marginally better deal.

The Westin Sydney is integrated into the No. 1 Martin Place complex, so the general impression of the hotel’s exterior is the classic, dainty building that No. 1 Martin Place is. That’s where most of the public areas of the hotel are housed, though the real hotel is in a more corporate-looking, though still nice building located behind the complex.

The hotel is located right at the intersection of Pitt Street and Martin Place – two huge streets if you’re looking to shop or eat. There’s also a side entrance by George Street, another huge shopping street. It’s a couple of minutes from the Martin Place subway station, and a 10-minute walk from Circular Quay, so location-wise this hotel gets full marks.

The Westin Sydney Exterior

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Review: Park Hyatt Bangkok Park Twin

October 14, 2017August 11, 2018 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: To Bangkok For The Weekend
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Business Class Lounge Hong Kong
Thai Airways A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Park Hyatt Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse D
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse E
EVA Air Lounge Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C East
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C West
Thai Airways 747 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

I was so excited to be staying at the Park Hyatt Bangkok. The Park Hyatt Bangkok was originally slated to open in 2014, though their opening was pushed back a couple of years, so they only officially opened in mid-May 2017. I was able to see a couple of photos of the hotel when it first opened, which only added to my excitement of staying at the hotel.

After our Thai Airways flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok, we had arranged our own private transport to the Park Hyatt. The Park Hyatt is located above Central Embassy, one of the newest malls in Bangkok. The mall is big, beautiful and contains everything you would possibly want (from a plethora of shops to many great Thai restaurant options), though everything is quite expensive as well. Nonetheless, the hotel looks beautiful from the outside.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Exterior

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Review: The Ritz-Carlton Haikou

August 21, 2017 ~ j ~ Leave a comment

Booking The Hotel

My father and I decided to take a trip to Haikou to play some golf, so we started looking for hotels. Seeing that there was a brand new Ritz-Carlton in Haikou’s Mission Hills golfing complex, we found a nice package that included buffet breakfast for two people as well as a one-way car transfer on their website and decided to bit the bullet. Overall, the stay cost CNY2342, which I’d say is actually a half decent deal.

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Review: Mandarin Oriental Munich

August 20, 2017August 28, 2017 ~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Introduction: 20,000+ Kilometers In Three Days
Virgin Atlantic 787 Premium Economy Hong Kong to London Heathrow
How Is It Like Staying At An Imperial College Dormitory?
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse London Heathrow Airport
Virgin Atlantic 787 Premium Economy London Heathrow to Hong Kong
Qatar Airways 787 Business Class Hong Kong to Doha
Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Lounge Doha Airport
Qatar Airways A350 Business Class Doha to Munich
Hotel Bayerischer Hof Lindau
Hotel Kempinski Berchtesgaden
Mandarin Oriental Munich
British Airways Galleries Lounge Munich Airport
Qatar Airways A350 Business Class Munich to Doha
Al Maha Lounge Doha Airport
Qatar Airways 787 Business Class Doha to Hong Kong

The Mandarin Oriental Munich is housed inside a building that served as the city’s opera house in 1880. In 1990 it was taken down, and was purchased by a hotelier that converted the building into the Hotel Rafael. The building was acquired by Mandarin Oriental in 2000, who has managed the hotel since then, with a minor refurbish completed in 2015.

I’ve stayed at the Mandarin Oriental Taipei before, though as far as I can remember that was the first Mandarin Oriental I’ve stayed at. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay, though it certainly wasn’t the most memorable stay I’ve had in my life (which is fine – the price point wasn’t high at the time). The Mandarin Oriental Munich admittedly is part of a much more highly priced hotel market (the Kempinski was going at ~HK$3000, and the Westin was going at ~HK$2500 for our dates), though it was 600 EUR (~HK$5,520) per room per night, so I was interested to see how the hotel measured up. Personally, I was skeptical if an entry level room here was really worth that much, though due to how the cost of our other hotel stays during this trip worked out, we were able to get our stay under our final budget, so I was happy to try out the property as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Mandarin Oriental Munich Entrance

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Review: Hotel Kempinski Berchtesgaden

August 19, 2017August 28, 2017 ~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

The Hotel Kempinski Berchtesgaden opened in 2005 and was managed by InterContinental for ten years, before being acquired by Kempinski. I had heard many good things about the hotel, so I was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to check it out for myself. The Kempinski can be seen from the Eagle’s Nest, and is shaped like somewhat of a horseshoe.

Hotel Kempinski Berchtesgaden Exterior

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Booking The Hotel

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