Hotel Reviews

| |

Bratislava is the Most Underrated Travel Destination I’ve Been To

I’m currently in Bratislava, and it’s easily the most underrated place I’ve ever had the pleasure of traveling to. When I told people I was visiting Bratislava, most people didn’t really understand why I would bother. One friend, in fact, gave me a searing look of derision, so I quickly explained that we were just…

| | | | | | |

Sydney 2014: Introduction + Trip Planning

Earlier in 2014, there was a brief period when Qantas released a bit of first class award space to Australia. Qantas first class is a pretty challenging redemption, so I jumped on the opportunity, even though it meant that I would be heading to Australia during its winter. I redeemed 72,500  American miles for a first…

| |

China 2014: Beijing Downtown Backpacker Hostel

The Beijing Downtown Backpacker Hostel is a funky hostel located smack dab in the middle of Nanluoguxiang aka where all Chinese teenagers seem to hang out and consume sugary beverages. It’s a cool area if you get off the main street, as the hutongs have lots of cool alleyways to explore. We booked a private…

| | |

SEA 2014: Hotel Review Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay

For our time in Singapore, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay. As a category 3 IHG property, it’s 20k points a night. I don’t have much experience with IHG hotels (I guess I don’t have much experience with hotels generally), but this was the nicest and hippest Holiday Inn Express I’ve stayed…

| |

SEA 2014: Bunwin Boutique Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia

We stayed at the Bunwin Boutique Hotel for our time in Siem Reap, and I’d be happy to return again in the future. This was a solid, affordable choice with comfortable rooms, good amenities, and eager service. The hotel offers free airport pickup and dropoff, which is done via either limo or tuk tuk. We…

| | |

SEA 2014: Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi

This hotel is one of the few cheap Hilton redemptions after Hilton’s devaluation a couple of years ago. Since it’s a category 2 hotel, it’s only 10k Hilton points per night. In terms of Western hotels in Hanoi attainable using points, there’s also a category 2 Sheraton, a couple of IHG properties, a category 4 Marriott,…