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11 Pet Friendly Hotel Chains for your next vacation with Fido

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Hipmunk did an interesting study on which US Cities and States are most pet friendly. Its interesting that at the top level, only 41% of US hotels are pet friendly. That’s actually higher than I expected, until I did some more digging of my own. In fact, I was quite surprised with how many big hotel chains are dog friendly. Here’s something of a roundup, for those of you, that like me, want to bring Fido (or in my case, Indy) on your next domestic trip.

Hyatt Hotels and Resorts

The first place that I think of when I think of pet friendly hotels, is Hyatt, they have a pretty nice program. For Park Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, and Grand Hyatts, you would receive some special treatment, including a dog welcome letter and door hanger at check-in; this way Fido will get to experience your Hyatt Diamond status, because, it’s just not the same without the welcome letter. Additionally, Hyatt will provide a dog bed, bowl, ID tag, and a welcome amenity in the guest room — I can see it now: paw’s off the wine, Fido! 

For Hyatt Place and Hyatt Houses, you can also bring Fido, but won’t get the Diamond experience. I will note, for all Hyatt’s, there will be a non-refundable cleaning fee which may vary by the hotel — I’ve seen anywhere between $75-100.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Unfortunately, not every Four Seasons embraces Fido as we would like. They do offer some nice amenities (see the above link for an example, courtesy of St. Louis), including beds and water bowls. Not really that Diamond experience that Hyatt boasts, but, still nice.. It’s also important to note that generally they are only accepting of smaller dogs (under 25 pounds), and unlike Hyatt, don’t charge a fee.

La Quinta

Ok, so I had to google this one (I’ve never stayed at a La Quinta hotel personally), apparently they are welcoming of pets, but, this is more your economy approach. It’s not clear that they provide pet beds or bowls, but, its also not clear that they assess an additional clean-up fee.

Kimpton Hotels 

Kimpton’s perhaps the most generous that I’ve seen. If your pet can fit through the door, he or she is in. So if Fido is a Great Dane, then you are in luck with Kimpton! Some hotels even have Directors of Pet Relations! They provide plus pet beds, food and water bowls, door hangers, and here Fido can get his paws on the wine, as pets are welcome to join the nightly complimentary wine reception!

Loews Hotels and Resorts

Not a big chain, but, Lowes Hotels and Resorts even have in-house Pet Chefs… So Fido will eat like the Dog American Prince (or Princess) (DAP) that they are.

Marriott Hotels and Resorts

Marriott has only 1411 pet friendly hotels in the US. Unfortunately, beyond that, and vague references to additional fees that vary by location, there isn’t a whole lot. You might want to bring Fido’s food and water bowls, just in case, if you’ll be staying at a Marriott.

Hilton Hotels

I can’t seem to find any overarching policy for Hilton, just hotel specific ones. I did however find a 5 year old post reviewing Hilton’s pet friendliness, but all the links seem to be gone. It is not clear to me, whether this is an about face in Hilton’s policy, or a casualty of ever changing websites.

Starwood Hotels

You may need to create a cribsheet for Starwood. Rather than trying to summarize it, I’m just going to paste it in below, because it’s kind’ve complicated:

In order to determine the Pet Policy for an individual hotel, please visit the Customer Assistance Center and enter the Hotel Name or City in the search field. Pet Policy will be listed under the ‘Contact Us’ topic in ‘Announcements’.

Aloft accepts dogs up to 40 lbs. If your dog weighs more than 40 pounds, please contact the hotel directly to discuss a waiver.

Four Points by Sheraton does not have a standard policy regarding pets for our hotels. If you would like to have your pet join you, please let us know when making your reservation so that we can confirm the policy of the hotel where you will be staying.

Element accepts dogs up to 40 lbs and owners must sign a waiver upon check-in and are liable for costs related to any damage or extra cleaning needed..

Le Méridien does not have a standard policy regarding pets. If you would like to have your pet join you, please let us know when making your reservation so that we can confirm the policy of the hotel where you will be staying.

Luxury Collection does not have a standard policy regarding pets for our hotels. If you would like to have your pet join you, please let us know when making your reservation so that we can confirm the policy of the hotel where you will be staying.

Almost all Sheraton Hotels & Resorts welcome dogs as guests into their hotels, in accordance with local health codes. Some hotels may require an extra per night charge and/or a deposit. There is a weight limit of 80 pounds though dogs exceeding the weight limit and pets other than dogs may be accepted into the hotel at the General Manager’s discretion and should be confirmed before arrival. Pet owners will be responsible for their canine companions and for any excessive damage they may cause and you will be required to sign a pet waiver upon check in. Dogs may not be left in guest rooms unattended at any time for the duration of their stay. Individual hotels may also have additional restrictions. If you would like to have your pet join you, please let us know when making your reservation so that we can confirm the policy of the hotel where you will be staying.

St. Regis Hotels & Resorts do not have a standard policy regarding pets. If you would like to have your pet join you, please let us know when making your reservation so that we can confirm the policy of the hotel where you will be staying.

W pampers pooches and, in some cases, other furry friends as well. The room rate with a pet will include an additional fee above the room charge plus a non-refundable cleaning fee. We allow only one pet per room at no more than 40lbs. However, dogs exceeding the weight limit and pets other than dogs may be accepted into the hotel at the Hotel Management’s discretion. Pet owners will be responsible for their canine companions and for any excessive damage they may cause. You will be required to sign a pet waiver upon check in. Additional restrictions may apply and full hotel details are available upon request.

Almost all Westin Hotels & Resorts, within North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific welcome dogs as guests into their hotels, in accordance with local health codes. Some hotels may require an extra per night charge and/or a deposit. There is a weight limit of 80 pounds (40 pounds at Westin). However, dogs exceeding the weight limit and pets other than dogs may be accepted into the hotel at the Hotel Management’s discretion. Pet owners will be responsible for their canine companions and for any excessive damage they may cause. You will be required to sign a pet waiver upon check in. Additional restrictions may apply and full hotel details are available upon request.

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts

Fairmont has a great link that outlines what their pet policy by property. It looks like there are varying fees, but not all hotels even have fees. In fact, the Fairmont hotels in Washington DC have a Very Important Dog (VID) program, where Fido will be greeted with healthy treats made by the Executive Pastry Chef, as well as bottled water (because drinking out of the toilet bowl is so drawl), and will even donate 5% of the room rate to the Washington Animal Rescue League. Other hotels vary, but suffice it to say, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts are pretty pet friendly.

Best Western

Best Western has more pet friendly properties than Marriott, in fact, more than 1600 of them. There may be a fee of up to $20 per day, or $100 per week, and it isn’t clear to me what additional amenities Best Western provides. Fido may not be feeling as enjoy cherished as he would at some of the other hotels identified above.

IHG Hotels

IHG Hotels have policies for a bunch of countries, however, it isn’t entirely clear to me what the corporate level policy is. If you go to the links I’ve included here, it looks like it just continually drills down to the hotel, and things may vary by property.

Wrapping Up

Suffice it to say, when I started working this post, I didn’t think there would be as many pet friendly hotel chains as there ultimately ended up being.

Have you taken along your pet on a trip? Do you plan to in the future?

H/T to Elaine

Saturday Special: Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort and Spa

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Pool
We had the opportunity to visit the Hilton Seychelles Northolm when we took advantage of an Etihad Mistake business fare from the Seychelles to Dublin.

Reason for choosing:

We chose the Hilton Seychelles Northolm for a few reasons, the first was that at the time, the only options we had on points were 2 Hiltons, and 1 SPG property. The other Hilton (The Hilton Labriz Resort and Spa) was on a separate island. Ultimately, we realized we’d need to rent a car regardless, and the Hilton Northolme beat out the Le Meridian Fisherman’s Warf. It also helped that it was a short drive from Beau Vallon, a nice little beachy area.

Lobby and Check in/Check Out Experience:

We arrived after about an hours drive (I made at least one wrong turn), and parked in the upper parking lot. From there we were first led to a “mini” reception, then driven via a golf cart down to main reception. It took a bit of time, but we were on vacation, and they gave us a fantastic room.

Front Desk

Front Desk

Where the hotel stood out:

The Seychelles are expensive, there is no mincing words there, but the Hilton Northholme also had a number of attributes that allowed us to really enjoy ourselves without spending a whole lot of money. For starters, the bungalow was absolutely amazing. Each unit is standalone, and each has a gorgeous view of the ocean. Sunsets from our lanai were some of the best we’ve ever seen.

Four poster bed

Four poster bed

Sunset

Sunset

 

In addition to the great room, we really enjoyed the beach. It is a semi-small beach, but this is also a “boutiquie” small hotel, so it worked. They had a number of kayaks, both singles and tandems, which were at no cost. I found myself really enjoying that, especially with the clearest blue waters I can recall. I must’ve kayaked out a mile offshore, and yet still could see the bottom (or the coral reefs). Absolutely amazing.

Ocean View Bar and Beach

Ocean View Bar and Beach

Of course, returning from a day of kayaking left me with a bit of a burn, which brings me to what I will argue is a great amenity that every other beach resort (at least that I’ve visited) thus far has forgotten. Aloe Vera. The benefits of Aloe Vera, while not as trumped as Sunscreen, are many, such as shorter sunburns, less headaches for my wife, etc.

Single best amenity for a beach destination.

Single best amenity for a beach destination.

Where the hotel fell a little short:

Our biggest complaint was probably the food (aside from breakfast). Between the price and the quality, we found ourselves going off property for nearly every meal. Normally when we’re in a destination-type property, we don’t mind paying a little bit more, but the quality just wasn’t there, especially for me, a non-seafood eater. The last night of our trip, we did find a pizza on the room service menu that was well priced, and tasty, but aside from that, I’d say that’s the hotels biggest shortcoming.

Wrapping Up:

Overall, we really enjoyed our time in the Seychelles. It was truly one of those destinations dictated by the mistake fare, but it was so worth it. There are few beaches I remember as fondly as the one at the Hilton Northolm (the other one memorable beach being Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia). The challenge of getting there was an added bonus because of how few airlines serve the Seychelles, you can check out how to find what airlines do fly there with tools like Openflights.org.

 

Starwood Announces SPG Double Play – But Is It Worth A Double Take?

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SPG Double Play Time! Woo and Yay!

Photo: W Chicago – Lakeshore, Illinois, USA/Courtesy: Starwood Hotels/DMCA Fair Use

You may have already received the e-mail this morning – but for those who haven’t, it’s time to register for the latest Starwood promotion: SPG Double Play. Starting now, those who sign up online can earn double points on eligible Starwood stays.

What is SPG Double Play

Like many seasonal promotions, SPG Double Play offers travelers the opportunity to earn bonus points through the spring by registering for the promotion on the SPG website. Once registered, guests with stays between January 5 and April 15, 2015, can earn double Starpoints on stays of two or more eligible nights. In addition, every five nights stayed will earn travelers 1,000 bonus Starpoints. This can be repeated for twenty nights, for a total bonus of 4,000 bonus Starpoints.

Is SPG Double Play a good promotion?

According to the terms and conditions from Starwood, the promotion will earn guests four points per dollar spent if the guest spends at least two consecutive nights (or more) at the hotel. Directly quoted from the terms and conditions (truncation is mine):

Registered members will earn double Starpoints on eligible stays of two or more consecutive nights…Members who earn double Starpoints will earn an additional two (2) Starpoints per eligible US$1 spent (for a total of 4 [four] Starpoints per dollar).

As always, the bonus is posted on the base points, and elite multipliers won’t count towards the bonus. And while the bonus Starpoints from the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Card (not an affiliate link) still applies, it won’t be multiplied. Also quoted from the terms and conditions:

Offer is eligible with other Starpoints promotions; however, each offer will award bonus Starpoints independently of each other, and offers are not combinable.

Therefore, if you play your cards right (pun intended), it appears possible to earn more than four Starpoints per dollar during the promotion, when elite and credit card bonuses are applied. While this is definitely better than the regular earnings, it really seems to be targeted towards Starwood loyalists – like most hotel promotions.

Should I sign up for SPG Double Play?

While your earnings may vary, anyone with substantial Starwood stays coming up will be well served by signing up for SPG Double Play. But if you don’t have a lot of Starwood stays during the next three months, I’m not sure this is worth going out of you way to stay here versus a hotel that you do have status with. As always, make sure that your selected hotel is participating in the promotion.

Are you signing up for the SPG Double Play? More over, how many stays do you have coming up through Tax Day 2015? Share your plans and ideas to maximize the SPG Double Play in the comments below!

AMEX Disclaimer: No compensation nor incentive was given to mention or link to any product or service in this article. This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express.

Saturday Special: Grand Hyatt Beijing

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Grand Hyatt Bejing Oriental Plaza

Grand Hyatt Beijing
at Oriental Plaza

This is part of our Thanksgiving Round the World trip, you can find my initial thoughts / intro here, and The Grand Hyatt Tokyo review here. 

Reason for choosing:

We chose this hotel primarily because of its location. Its only a few blocks from Tiananmen Square, and there’s an attached mall. We were also rather keen on choosing a Hyatt because we had the most available points at the time, and Beijing can be expensive (I generally view anything over $200 a night as expensive).

Location of the Hyatt

Location of the Hyatt

Lobby and Check in/Check Out Experience:

Lobby

Lobby

Check-in was actually not in the lobby, it was in the Grand Club, which was rather extensive at the Grand Hyatt Beijing. We were surprised (more later) that we would have to pay an additional $50 per night for my mother in law’s room so she would have lounge access. It’s in Hyatt’s terms and conditions, however based on my research it’s more common for hotels to just comp it, especially when a diamond member is paying for two rooms. Check out wasn’t especially eventful. We were able to check out the night before in the Grand Club and the following morning at ~5am we just turned in our keys.

Where the hotel stood out:

Well before we embarked on our trip, I reached out to the hotel to set up transfers from the airport and a tour to the Great Wall. For transfers, they stated that they would meet us at the “airbridge” not knowing if they really meant the jetway or not, we were optimistic. I ended up having to take a separate flight which arrived about 10 minutes earlier than my wife and mother in law, and was pleasantly surprised to see an escort waiting for me. There was a second escort at my wife and mother in law’s gate. By the time we made it to customs, I felt like we had an entourage. Before we knew it, we were in a BMW 7 series and on our way to the hotel. For the price (which I think was less than $150 from memory), it was a steal. I highly recommend it.

The hotel also set up our Great Wall tour. The tour guide they linked us up with was wonderful, but I’m only really going to give the hotel tangential credit for this one.

My mother in law had a standard room and see seemed to enjoy it very much.   Though we had to pay for the lounge access for her the hotel staff took note that she might prefer to be closer to the lounge and thus put her on the same floor as the lounge with a nice view of the hotel entrance.

Mother in laws room.

Mother in laws room.

View

View

We had a suite on a lower floor thought it looked a little aged.  We had a similar view as the lounge looking out towards the Forbidden City.

Suite

Suite

View of the Forbbiden City

View of the Forbbiden City

The pool was indoor, and more of what I would expect in Las Vegas. In fact, the pool had the level of attention that reminded me of Paris Las Vegas casino. It was especially comfortable, had two hot tubs, more than enough room to swim laps, or just meander through the pool, very comfortable lounge chairs, and rather intricately detailed ambiance. Even the ceiling was painted.

Pool 2

Pool

Pool

Pool

 

Finally, we did enjoy the Grand Club. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was more than sufficient for our needs. The Grand Club also had longer hours than we’d seen at other hotels, from 5-8pm.  For us this was especially nice, as we exhausted my mother in law each day to the point where it was more enjoyable to just regroup and enjoy a light evening meal in the lounge over drinks. We especially appreciated Vincy (sp?), a lounge attendant who was there most of our trip. She spent a fair amount of time with us, and even taught, then gave us a chance to practice some Mandarin.

Lounge

Where the hotel fell a little short:

The internet was beyond bad. For a previous job, I had the chance to spend a significant time in Ghana (in West Africa). While I look back positively on my time there, the hotel (a non-chain) however had horrible internet. That would’ve been magnitudes better than what we had at the Grand Hyatt Beijing. I’ll be blunt: That should be an embarrassment. That is irrespective of the fact that Twitter and Google (including much of Google Mail) are banned in China. In fact, when I made a comment to one of the lounge attendants that I needed to check something in my e-mail, she asked what e-mail, when I responded gmail, she smugly said: “Google is blocked in China.” That left a bad taste.

The second piece, which I mentioned earlier was that we ended up paying $50 more per night for my mother in law to have lounge access. Of course, this is within the terms and conditions, and they did ensure her room was on the same floor as the lounge, but, I’ve stayed at other hotels where they’ve extended the courtesy. I suppose it made a bigger deal to me, because if she had been staying in our suite (which could take up to 4 people), there would’ve been no extra cost, however getting a second room for her (reference the earlier definition of “expensive”), we had to pay.

Ultimately, I ended up sharing my experience with Hyatt’s Diamond Customer Service, and they were kind enough to credit us some miles for the poor internet.

Wrapping Up:

I really don’t like to be a negative person, and this hotel had a lot of positives. Their transfer service was some of the best that we’ve had. We really appreciated Vincy in the lounge. But really between the internet and the additional charges, this hotel left a bad memory. For a night or two stay, I’d recommend the hotel if you think you’ll use the transfer service, but, absent other hotel experiences in Beijing, I’d still recommend for longer stays to look elsewhere.

Saturday Special: Grand Hyatt Tokyo

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This is part of our Thanksgiving Round the World trip, you can find my initial thoughts / intro here.

RTW Nov 2014 052

Reason for choosing:

My wife and I had stayed at this hotel back in 2011 on our first mileage award (I know, crazy right? before that we “wasted” miles on upgrades). We actually stayed at all three Hyatt hotels (there’s now a fourth, the Andaz Tokyo) part for the Hyatt Diamond Challenge, part because we didn’t have the points for the Park Hyatt Tokyo the entire time, and part because we wanted to sample the Hyatts. This was our favorite of the three because of the balance between location, staff, and comfort (aka lounge and room). Don’t get me wrong, we really enjoyed the Park Hyatt Tokyo, but, traveling with my mother in law, proximity to mass transit was a pretty big deal.

Lobby and Check in/Check Out Experience:

We checked into the  Grand Hyatt Tokyo late in the evening but the small amount of staff that they had to check in guest were fantastic.  Everyone was very efficient and prompt, plus they showed us to the room.

Lobby

Lobby

Check out was very similar is speed and efficiency.  Though if you decide to take a cab to the airport or just have an early morning flight that doesn’t leave enough time to take one of the buses or mono rail it would be good to call down for the cab prior to check out.  The night before check out we were able to set up breakfast to be delivered to the room.  The lounge staff were able to put together a nice spread.

Breakfast Prior to Flight

Breakfast for Three Prior to Flight

Where the hotel stood out:

Since we were only spending a couple nights at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo we decided to share a suite.  They provided a roll away for my mother in-law that she says was very comfortable.   Given the size of the suite it would be a nice option for a family with small children. Mind you we did end up moving the roll away into the living room the first night which gave everyone a bit more privacy. The bathroom featured a toto “washlet” toilet (thus the photo in the collage below), I’m happy to say that no one got shot with water in the eye.

Room

Room

The lGrand Club is nicely laid out with multiple seating areas and almost every table has an outside view.

Lounge

Lounge

The Grand Hyatt Tokyo’s Grand Club is one of the most well run Hyatt lounges that we’ve spent time in. Their afternoon snacks are pretty nice too. You can’t go wrong with gummy bears.

Afternoon lounge snacks

Afternoon lounge snacks

The breakfast and evening spreads were nice; below sums up my wife’s favorite part of the evening spread.

Desert

Desert

Where the hotel fell a little short:

We didn’t really have any complaints about the hotel. If anything – just call down for an early morning cab before you go down to check-out, but not sure that’s a ding against the hotel.

Wrapping Up:

As this was our second stay at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo our expectations were meet and exceeded by the staff. We highly recommend this hotel for their great staff and location. It was especially nice to see a member of the staff that we had the chance to talk with at length on our first stay to be promoted. I happened to ask about him at breakfast, and he was kind enough to come up to say hello that evening. Those personal touches really make quite a difference to me, and its great to see good people get promoted.

Saturday Special: Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows

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SAMSUNG CSC

Reason for Choosing

My wife ended up staying at the Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows for few days while in Denver for work. It’s not to0 far from the airport, only about 30-40 minutes with no tolls. Also, there are good places to grab dinner and go shopping near by. Plus if one wants to go into Denver the light rail Lincoln station is within walking distance.

Lobby and Check-in/Check-out Experience

The Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows has a large lobby that includes a restaurant and bar.  Check-in was efficient for a Monday afternoon, and check-out was a breeze for a very early Friday morning.

Lobby

Lobby

Where the hotel stood out

One phrase for where the hotel stands out is in their personnel.

They serve breakfast, dinner and dessert during the working week (so Sunday night dinner through Friday morning breakfast). It is a good size lounge but it can get a bit cramped in the morning if there are a lot of elites in the hotel.

Lounge

Lounge

If one prefers to work in their room there is plenty of desk space and it seems that every room has pretty good natural light.

SAMSUNG CSC

Desk

The rooms are good size and the closet has a full  length mirror which is great for when you’re rushing out to a business meeting (and want to make sure you’re put together).

bedroom

Bedroom

Where the hotel fell a little short

While the room and the hotel in general are great for work travel, the bathroom was only okay. Given the fact that the room was handicap accessible it was a good size but the tub was a bit on the high side (not nearly as high as United Kingdom style, which requires a step ladder). It didn’t bother my wife but she was a little concerned that it could be hard to get into and out of easily.

Bathroom

Bathroom

Wrapping Up

This has become one of my wife’s favorite hotels to stay at while in Denver. I fully expect that I’ll be staying with her at some point in the upcoming year. Boiled down – its good for work, and I think it would be good for folks trying to stay in Denver economically and traveling via the light rail into Denver proper.

 

Hotel loyalty, status and fighting for upgrades

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So I returned from a trip around the world (ok, like 3 weeks ago). In the course of this trip, my wife and I stayed at three of the primary hotel chains–SPG, Hyatt (x2), and Marriott. Of those 4 hotels, 3 out of the 4 provided us with beautiful upgraded rooms. I suppose that makes sense, since we only have SPG Gold status, vs. having top tier status with Hyatt and Marriott. As for the Marriott hotel, we had e-mailed the JW Marriott Khao Lak weeks in advance to request an upgraded room which they graciously agreed to. I’m still left feeling like there are some hotels you must fight to get an upgrade that is clearly a benefit in the elite status terms.

To that end, I thought I would highlight what hotels say they offer, and offer any of my (or others that I can link to’s) experiences. I think that’s important as you choose where to be loyal too. I don’t believe its the only qualifier, really, price and location matter a great deal more, but its still important, especially as you gauge the marginal cost to make that next status level. So, with this post, I’ll cover the three hotel chains that I visited on the trip, and will follow-up with a second post to cover additional hotel chains/groups.

Starwood Preferred Guest

Full disclosure – we were staying at an airport hotel, for a single night and had pretty much zero expectations. Here we were provided a perfectly reasonable room, with access to the lounge. It was not upgraded (aside from access to the lounge), but we had no expectation. I’ve also heard most of folks needing to “fight” for upgrades at SPG properties – which is something I don’t want to deal with if I can avoid it.

Hyatt

We stayed at two Hyatts – the Grand Hyatt Dubai, and the Grand Hyatt Singapore. Both times we were upgraded, without using suite upgrades. Hyatt, so far as I can tell, makes no guarantees of suite upgrades, aside from the 4 suite upgrade certificates. The do say “Enjoy the best room available upon arrival, excluding suites.” That said, both of our stays were in suites. I’m not complaining. In fact, this is quite the opposite. I had no expectations of anything other than lounge access, and both Hyatt’s far exceeded my expectations. If I had to weigh the two against each other, I would say the Singapore Hyatt wins because of their expert use of technology and checking us in, in our suite.

Marriott

Marriott’s Platinum benefits include the Gold benefits, which specifically speak of complimentary room upgrades. That said, if there was a hotel chain that I haven’t had a good percentage of upgrades, it would be Marriott. Ironically, I’ve been a Marriott Platinum for the longest that I’ve held elite status of any hotels. I dare say, that I could count on less than 2 hands the upgrades I have received over the past 6-7 years of being a Marriott Platinum member. That said, in the case of this trip, I specifically e-mailed the hotel requesting an upgrade and they were able to oblige.

Wrapping Up

As far as SPG – I know, folks complain most about SPG, with respect to upgrades. Most of the folks that post about SPG are Platinum, I’m a gold, so my expectations are lower. With respect to Hyatt, I pretty much expect lounge access but nothing more, so, my experiences on this past trip far exceed my expectations. With respect to Marriott, well, I think I said my peace in yesterday’s Saturday Special. I was happy to have the upgrade, but other aspects were lacking.

Saturday Special: Grand Hyatt Singapore

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Reason for Choosing

My wife and I have been to Singapore at least 3 times. Each of those times we stayed at the Marriott (roughly, a block away, if that). We wanted to try the Grand Hyatt Singapore (@GrandHyattSing), and we were able to get a cash and points rate that worked for us (and still got us the stay credit – which Marriott does not give).

Lobby and Check-in/Check-out Experience

We spent barely any time in the lobby.

Lobby

Lobby

We were met at the car (which, was organized by Emirates, and not the hotel) by an associate with a tablet. She asked our names, and escorted us right to the elevators and checked us in in the comfort of our room. I was pretty impressed with her efficiency given no advance notice. As a side note, we were also upgraded to a beautiful suite here as well.

Beautiful Suite

Beautiful Suite

Check out was uneventful and fairly efficient.

Where the hotel stood out

The Grand Hyatt Singapore’s use of technology to enhance the guest experience was impressive. Not only on check-in, but, also when you go up to the lounge, there is an attendant that asks your room number. By the time you make it upstairs to the lounge, another associate is ready to meet you, and escort you to a seat, greeting you by name.

Lounge Dinner Spread

Lounge Dinner Spread

Where the hotel fell a little short

We really didn’t stay in the hotel long enough to identify any “real” short falls. Perhaps the only one I would offer is that when you go to the lounge, you exit the elevator and still have to climb another set of stairs. For my wife and I, that’s not an issue, but if we had either set of parents, it would be inconvenient.

Wrapping Up

Overall, we only spent an overnight in the hotel. Having been upgraded to a suite, and such a seamless arrival experience, made this short overnight an experience onto is own. It was really impressive to see such efficient use of technology to enhance the guest experience, we haven’t seen that nearly as much as one would expect in this day and age. That said, we would definitely stay at the Grand Hyatt Singapore again.

Weekly Travel News Roundup: August 22, 2014

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The Weekly News Roundup is a collection of headlines from around the internet that caught the attention of the Tagging Miles team. Content on these blogs do not necessarily reflect the positions of Tagging Miles, and should not be considered endorsements. Have a great story we should read? Contact us now and let us know!

Do Now (if you haven’t already)

On Blog Content and Credit Card Affiliates

  • Ariana at Pointchaser made her stand to Barclays when they threatened “modify your content or else.” We’re proud to be part of the Saverocity team, as we’ve run into similar issues, and decided that our controlling the content is the right way to go. Kudos for Ariana for doing the same.
  • While I don’t think we’ll see Matt changing his content, he’s embracing credit card affiliate links as a small way to do good. We would definitely encourage you to offer your thoughts on preferred charities.

Nonsequitars

Manufacturing Spend for Hotels

On Hotels Loyalty Programs

 

Saturday Special: The Oberoi Amarvilas – Taj Mahal Hotel Review

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View of Taj Mahal from Tea lounge

View of Taj Mahal from Tea lounge

We took our first trip to India because I needed 25k American Airlines’ Elite Qualifying Points (EQP) for my status match from United 1k to American Airlines Executive Platinum.  We found a good upgradable round trip fare on BA from Washington DC to New Delhi. Originally we had thought to fly to Chennai (I’d hit the 25k on a single trip), but decided that the Taj Mahal was on our bucket list and we’d grab that brass ring.  We only had 74 hours on the ground but for the miles it made sense, and we made the most out of it. We flew into Delhi and took a train down to Agra the next day to see the Taj Mahal.  One could do it in a day but we decided to spend the night in Agra and splurge a bit.

Reason for Choosing

We had the American Express Platinum card with gives access to their travel services, including American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts.  This was the first time that we used that benefit, but for the location of the hotel, the room, the benefits, and the personal quality that we got from American Express, it couldn’t have been better.

The location was what made the choice of the Oberoi Amarvilas so simple.  It is just a 5-10 min golf cart ride to the Taj Mahal and about a 15 minute drive from the train station to the hotel with the free hotel transfer.

Map

Map

We were able to arrange a guide and tickets to tour the Taj Mahal from the hotel and they were able to set it up such that we would be able tour it close to sunset on the day that we arrived.

Lobby and Check-in/Check-out Experience

We met the driver just outside of the train station and they ushered us through the crowds to the car.  At which point we were offered bottled water.  After a quick and uneventful (if you don’t count the cattle driven carts) ride to the hotel, we were greeted and our bags were taken to the room.  We were shown into the hotel’s amazing courtyard and lobby.

Entrance

Entrance (which we shot in the evening)

Lobby

Lobby

While we waited to check in they seated us in a drawing room with a welcome drink.   The actual check in process was a breeze.  Before we knew it, we were being shown to the room.

Tea lounge, where we were checked in

Tea lounge, where we were checked in

Check out went just as efficient and the hotel had the transfer back to New Delhi all set for us too.

Where the hotel stood out

Where do I start, The hotel was amazing.

Hotel

Hotel

All of the rooms face the Taj Mahal and are of ample size with a comfortable bed and plenty of space in the bathroom.  The toiletries are some of the best that we’ve had to this day.

Room

Room

Bathroom

Bathroom

Since we had started the day early (about 4am), we ordered room service for lunch prior to visiting the Taj Mahal.  The service was great and no problems with the food.

Room Service Lunch

Room Service Lunch

Our room rate came with dinner and breakfast included for both of us.

The dinner was amazing.  We were able to arrange for a reservation so that there was no wait once we got back from the Taj Mahal for dinner.  My wife had a chicken curry dish and I had steak (I know, eating steak in India).  It was probably one of the best steaks I’ve had, very ample in size, and quite tasting.  Once the staff realized that we were curious about and interested in trying Indian food, we were brought traditional breads and sides for the appetizer.

Dinner

Dinner

Breakfast had a lot of food. They had the traditional western foods and a small table of Indian breakfast food.  All of which was fantastic.  The staff was awesome in their service. What you see in the photo below was the result of us asking about the small table of Indian food. Again, once we expressed an interest in the local food, dishes just kept appearing, and all of it tasted phenomenal.

Breakfast

Breakfast

Where the hotel fell a little short

It’s really hard to identify a single point where the hotel fell short. Perhaps the pool might not have been big enough, or perhaps the prices were a bit high, but we clearly were paying a premium for the location.

Pool

Pool

Wrapping Up

It was well worth the splurge.  Between the great location, awesome staff, and great room, it is hard not to choose this hotel. We would recommend staying here and would definitely return if we went back. The one thing I would really highlight though, and this rang true in Delhi as well as in Agra: If you express interest in the local dishes, you will have the opportunity to try some amazing food. I’m generally not a fan of spicy foods, however, the breakfasts we had in India, were some of the best I’ve had in all of my travel.

 

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