Tagging Miles

Bermuda Labor Day Trip – Conclusion and Observations

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A few weeks ago, my wife and I visited Bermuda, its a short 2 hour flight from the East Coast of the US, and has beautiful beaches, and is generally, a great place to visit. I have previously talked about the place Bermuda has in my life last week. You can also search #BDALaborDay on Twitter to see some more photos.

Our brief trip to Bermuda was a bit of an eye opener for me. It was truly great to get back, even just for a short time. We really enjoyed returning to the Fairmont Southampton, which I’d put among one of the more beautiful hotels I’ve stayed at.

But perhaps the thing that was most striking to me, is the expense:

Bermuda is Expensive!

I’d like to think I’ve been doing the miles and points game well. Yes, sometimes I take things a bit too far, I dive too deep on promotions, or with pre-paid cards–aka being shutdown by GoBank in less than 30 days, not just me, but my wife too–but, overall, I like to think I do things right.

So when my wife and I returned to Bermuda–where we went for our Honeymoon–and a place that holds a special place in my heart, it occurred to me just how expensive Bermuda is.

My wife graciously applied for a Chase Fairmont card to get us 2 free nights at the Fairmont Southampton (because, where else would we stay?), which not only provided the 2 free nights, but also a handful of dining and breakfast vouchers. I think we had spa vouchers too, but looking at the spa prices, I almost needed an ambulance, especially after the spa prices at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake

So, here we were, in Bermuda, a country and island that I love, and I’m looking at the prices left and right. I’ve only traveled 2 hours (plus about 2 hours drive from home to Philadelphia airport)and I’m thinking to myself that prices were a whole lot more favorable in Bali, Indonesia — halfway around the world away.

There is clearly a disconnect here.

So here’s my observation: You can travel long, in some cases, take 2 days to get to your destination, and make it to a place like Thailand or Indonesia, probably other places in Southeast Asia, and get affordable prices–I dare say, reasonable prices.

Or, you could travel 2 hours, and pay Las Vegas prices, or even Hawaii prices.

Miles and points can only take you so far. They can cover your hotel, they can cover your flight. Yes, you could do cashback cards like the Barclay Arrival, or Citi Double Cash, but, I feel like if I’m paying cash for something (whether I use cashback or not), high prices are still high.

I haven’t figured out a solution to this dilemma, but I will say, I’ve been searching for flights to Southeast Asia, and, I do like Southeast Asia, even without the quite favorable price point.

Out and about in Hamilton, Bermuda

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A few weeks ago, my wife and I visited Bermuda, its a short 2 hour flight from the East Coast of the US, and has beautiful beaches, and is generally, a great place to visit. I previously talked about the place Bermuda has in my life last week. You can also search #BDALaborDay on Twitter to see some more photos.

We didn’t have a ton of time in Bermuda, just over 48 hours in fact, however there were some places that we just had to stop at.

The Swizzle Inn – South

The most popular restaurant on the island, I think, is the Swizzle Inn. Well, 9 or 10 years ago, they expanded to a second location in Southampton. Since time was short, we opted to take the 10 or so minute drive (via taxi), to the Sizzle Inn – South. It is the home to the world famous Rum Swizzle, which is a cocktail similar to a Yellow Bird or a Ram Thai.

The Swizzle Inn South, courtesy of Bermuda.com

The Swizzle Inn South, courtesy of Bermuda.com

Hamilton

Our one full day, we took the Fairmont Southampton’s complimentary ferry to downtown Hamilton.

Hamilton is fairly quiet by many standards, but it is one of the more lively places in Bermuda.

We wandered through a number of shops, including the English Sports Shop.

 

Walking through Hamilton is kind’ve one of those things you do, it seems. There’s also this fascinating artifact of a different time, called the Birdcage. In it, a policeman would direct traffic. I’m not sure its really used a whole lot nowadays, but its still there and cool to see.

We also grabbed a bite to eat at Flanagan’s Irish Pub, it was a good Irish pub, meaning the drinks were good, and the food acceptable (actually, more than acceptable in this case).

Conclusion

Hamilton is one of what I would call 3 major tourist attractions in Bermuda (other than the beaches). The other two being the Royal Dockyards, and St. George. All three are worth visiting, however, for our limited time, we chose Hamilton, partially for it’s ease, and partially for the shopping (I picked up a new tie at the English Sports Shop).

 

 

Review: Fairmont Southampton – The room

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A few weeks ago, my wife and I visited Bermuda, its a short 2 hour flight from the East Coast of the US, and has beautiful beaches, and is generally, a great place to visit. I talked about the place Bermuda has in my life last week. I will cover our trip in 3 parts, and will have a 4th for observations. You can also search #BDALaborDay on Twitter to see some more photos.

We had, what I believe was a Deluxe Sea View room, overlooking Little Sound (aka Northward facing). Overall the room was pretty much as expected.

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The bathroom was spacious, with what seemed to be high quality amenities (Rose 31 to be specific).

Entry way

 

The room also had a substantial walk-in closet, something I’m not nearly as used to, when in a standard room.

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In addition to all of the space inside, there was a small table and chair set-up on the balcony overlooking the water.

While not to the caliber that we’ve grown used to receiving when we stay at Hyatts, or even Marriotts, we did return the first night to a nice welcome amenity of truffles and a personalized note.

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Wrapping Up

Overall, the room was as one would expect. It was perfectly spacious enough for us, and the we felt it to be nicely done.

Review: Fairmont Southampton – Public Areas

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A few weeks ago, my wife and I visited Bermuda, its a short 2 hour flight from the East Coast of the US, and has beautiful beaches, and is generally, a great place to visit. I talked about the place Bermuda has in my life last week. I will cover our trip in 3 parts, and will have a 4th for observations. You can also search #BDALaborDay on Twitter to see some more photos.

  • Part 1: Fairmont Southampton – The public areas
  • Part 2: Fairmont Southampton – The room
  • Part 3: Out and about in Hamilton, Bermuda
  • Part 4: Conclusion and Observations from a quick trip

The Fairmont Southampton (or as I like to call it: The Southampton Princess)

The hotel gets it’s name from it’s location, that is, Southampton Parish, Bermuda. It is set on a gorgeous property, with amazing sight lines, and is walking distance to Gibbs Lighthouse.

View From Hotel Balcony

When I first visited the property with my folks, as a young lad, it was called the Southampton Princess. I won’t go into the history, but if you’re curious, you can read about some of it here.

The property is pretty expansive, including a golf course, two separate areas for pools, a spa, and a number of restaurants. In addition, the Princess has a private beach, and tennis courts to the South, and to the North, has a restaurant, the Waterlot (more on that in a bit), and a ferry that provides Southampton Princess guests a free ride to downtown Hamilton (the main city in Bermuda).

The lobby itself really epitomizes the kind’ve colonial resort experience, at least in my opinion. It makes me think of places like the Raffles Hotel in Singapore or the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok.

Lobby

Lobby

 

Check-in was feast or famine, due to the nature of how most folks get to the Princess from the airport, that is, $15 per person in a shared jitney, so you can imagine that when arriving, a good strategy is to split up one care for the bags, the other check in.

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The Jasmine Lounge, as well as Windows, and a pub all accessible from the lobby. The Jasmine Lounge overlooks the main pool, one level below.One floor up is the Spa, which we did not partake of, however, the Spa also has an indoor pool — which is open to all guests after 6:30pm. We particularly enjoyed the indoor pool, with the two hot tubs outside, one with a spectacular view.

 

 

The food at the hotel in general was very good. We ate lightly our first full day, order via the a la carte menu at Windows, and the second day we enjoyed the larger buffet.

For dinner, we went down to Waterlot, and had a particularly nice meal, to celebrate my father’s birthday. The service is phenomenal at the Waterlot, and oh by the way, they prepare Bananas Foster table side.

Bannana foster

 

 

Alas, we were only there briefly this time, but we are hopeful to return.

Miles and Points helping us to come full circle

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This weekend, my wife and I returned to Bermuda. It is the place that has significance importance within my family.

My parents met in Bermuda. I’ll spare you my father’s story, although if we ever meet in person over a beverage, you may be able to get it out of me. I remember traveling to Bermuda as my earliest travel memories. In fact, we had a friend of the family, Jack, who was a pilot, who would occasionally change his schedule to fly the shorter route from New York to Bermuda. One flight, he left the cockpit to say hi, as you’d imagine, as a child, I made the obvious faux pas, but luckily those were different times.

Furthering the significance of Bermuda to my family though, it was a family tradition (or I suppose became a family tradition?) to honeymoon in Bermuda, so when my wife and I got married, my father had a small gift for me at our Rehearsal Dinner. It was a fusion of–at the time–my most recent address, and perhaps my first address.

So, all that said, in early summer, I had this wacky idea that maybe Labor Day weekend could be a fun time for my wife, and my parents to return to Bermuda. At first it was just pie in the sky, my folks said that it’d be outside of their budget, my wife said the same.

But then I thought to our hobby. I soon advised my father (and wife) to apply for the Chase Fairmont Credit Card. After meeting minimum spend, you get a 2 free night stay. For my wife and I, who have less vacation time than my folks, that was our entire stay. Next, it was a ~$300 American Airlines flight, and a drive to Philadelphia. My folks had to make a longer flight, but alas, they were able to make it work.

That Chase Fairmont Signature Visa saved my wife and I more than $1,000 bucks, and it got even better because you get a collection of vouchers that can be used at whichever stay you want, for breakfast, dining, spa, golf, etc. Yes, there is always an opportunity cost, but, when you incorporate emotion into it, the real value is when you can make something that you really want to work, work. The Fairmont Southampton Princess in Bermuda may be the only Fairmont I’ve ever stayed at, and I’m sure there may be more expensive Fairmonts, or better values for the 2 free nights, but, I would argue that if you get what you really want, the opportunity cost is minimal. Points are, after all, only a path to achieving your dreams, besides, it left more resources for the Rum Swizzles.

In this case, they have helped me achieve my dream, and helped me spend a weekend with my wife and parents. To steal from Mastarcard’s marketing campaign, I’d call that Priceless.

 

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