Newfoundland Sept 2021 – where we stayed

It’s been almost 1.5 year since we last had a long vacation, so I’m here to take you on our Newfoundland 15-night tour. This post is mainly about where we stayed, as I spent almost half our tour budget to make sure we had a sitting area in all the accommodations (all suites and cottages) so we didn’t have to work on the bed while the other was using the desk for meetings. Whether cruising or on land, I’m a strong believer to have a “home away from home” and not just a “bedroom” away from home to enhance my travelling experience. Due to COVID, we deliberately stayed away from B&B’s to avoid sharing a house with strangers with no masks on while eating breakfast.

To further lower the risk of contracting COVID during the pandemic, we decided to splurge on transport. with premium direct flights (only 7-12 passengers using the toilet in that section instead of over 100 in the economy section), flying out from Toronto to St. John’s, Newfoundland. Another reason of flying Premium was that I had over $1000 in my West Jet travel bank so I had to use the money before it expired soon. I also exchanged one of my 2 companion vouchers for 4 complimentary lounge passes since my Priority Pass membership does not cover the use of Plaza Premium Lounge in Toronto Pearson’s Terminal 3 anymore. I will talk about the details of the flights in a separate post.

Here is a summary of where we stayed on our 15-day trip:

Day 1 – St. John’s (midnight flight arrival) – Fairfield Inn by Marriott (Executive King Suite) – the only place with NO oceanview throughout our whole trip.

Days 2 & 3 – Port Rexton (Bonavista Peninsula near Skerwink Trail) – Fishers’ Loft Inn (Oceanview 1-bedroom ground floor suite)

Day 4 – Twillingate – Anchor Inn & Suites Annex (Oceanview 1-bedroonm suite)

Day 5 – Fogo Island – Finn House (Oceanview 1-bedroom cottage of a duplex)

Day 6 – Twillingate – Carriage Hill Cottage (Our favourite luxurious oceanfront 1-bedroom cottage)

Days 7 & 8 – Woody Point (South side of Gros Morne National Park) – The Rooms at Woody Point (Efficiency unit with separate sitting and dining areas in an oceanfront quadruplex)

Days 9 & 10 – Rocky Harbour (North side of Gros Morne National Park) – Crow’s Nest at Meeting Hill Cottages (Oceanfront 1-bedroom cottage in a 4-unit row house)

Days 11 & 15 – St. John’s – Courtyard by Marriott (Harbourfront 1-bedroom suite)

Here is the detailed description of each accommodation:

Day 1 – Fairfield Inn by Marriott, St. John’s (Sept 8, 2021)

A convenient & well-maintained little gem in St. John’s

I was very happy with the service provided by the hotel: from the email communication regarding current major road work in front of the hotel, to the complimentary upgrade from a regular King room to an Executive King Suite. Room number was provided to me in the afternoon of my arrival day on my Mobile Bonvoy app. Check in & check out at the hotel was super fast and easy.

Spacious Executive Suite of Fairfield Inn & Suites, St. John’s

little pantry with microwave, coffee machine & a mini fridge

Breakfast served by a waiter was just the normal fare with egg, sausages & potatoes. Muffins, boxed cereal, milk, juice and fruit were all self-served items. Tables were well-spaced to allow social distancing at the breakfast area on the main floor next to the reception.

Complimentary hotel parking was plentiful and the parking lot was well-lit. The hotel is about a 10-minute drive from St. John’s airport and there are lots of restaurants and shops around. Walmart Supercentre with a lot of other stores is only 5 minutes away. Trans Canada Highway is also a 5-minute drive so the location is very convenient. I highly recommend this hotel.

Day 2 & 3 – Fishers’ Loft Inn, Port Rexton (Sept 9 & 10, 2021)

A luxurious oceanview suite with some unexpected moments during Hurricane Larry

I booked this hotel mostly due to the raving reviews & its close proximity to the famous Skerwink Trail. Loved the well-appointed Ground Floor Oceanview Suite #5 that was in the building right beside the Lobby and the main dining room.

Yellow building with 5 suites and light green building is the Main House & restaurant

The Yellow House where Suite #5 was in with the gravel path leading to the parking lot

Check in was a breeze. There was a small parking lot opposite the reception that we could park our car then walked over to the opposite side of the road for check-in.

During check-in, we were given the map of Fishers’ Loft so it was very easy to get to the parking lot which was less than 100 meters from our suite.

parking lot with a luggage cart that guests could use to transport luggage to their accommodations on gravel road

Our suite was #5 in the Yellow House (circled) next to the Main House which is in the middle of the hotel compound; 2 seatings for breakfast were written under “5”. The black patch marked with a “P” on top of the Main House is the closest parking lot.

The 1-bedroom suite was very spacious. Knowing that there were stairs going to the 2nd & 3rd floors and it was not as easy to bring our bags up, I specifically called and asked for a ground floor suite.

Stairs next to our ground-floor Suite #5 leading to the upper floors

bathroom without much vanity space, the toilet was next to the window behind the bath tub

Unfortunately, we were there during Hurricane Larry and the window facing the ocean was leaking on the 2nd night of our stay. We had to put towels on the window to soak the water.

Leaking window during Hurricane Larry

There was also a power outage at around 2 am on the day that we’re supposed to check out, but we brought an LED flashlight so it was handy. It was almost as bright as a regular lamp. We didn’t go to bed early as we were trying to change our return flight to a direct one that just got added to the airline schedule, so we spent over 4 hours trying to talk to an operator, otherwise we wouldn’t even have noticed the power outage in our sleep.

Fishers’ Loft also provided a flashlight in the TV cabinet but it was not as bright as our own so we didn’t use it. We had no water from 2-9 am on Sept 11 since there was no electricity to pump water from the well. Fishers’ Loft gave us a few bottled water for washing and brushing our teeth so it was a nice touch.

The restaurant offered superb dinner ($66 each without drinks) and breakfast ($16-20 each). I’m going to write about food in a separate post. I would highly recommend both the lodging and the restaurant, though the accommodation rate was the highest of our 15-night Newfoundland trip. Nonetheless, the well-appointed furnishing of the suite, the hotel location with its close proximity to Skerwink Trail and the amazing restaurant all made it worthwhile.

Day 4 – Anchor Annex, Twillingate (Sept 11, 2021)

We booked an Oceanview 1-bedroom suite and was housed in the Annex of the Anchor Inn up the hill.

1-bedroom oceanview suite of Anchor Inn, Twillingate, with full kitchen

There was a big open space with loungers overlooking the ocean,

From parking, we had to get our luggage to walk up one flight of stairs so this was a bit inconvenient for us.

The view was great and the complimentary continental breakfast at Hodge Premises opposite the inn was adequate.

Breakfast house in Hodge Premises across the road

complimentary breakfast – own choice of coffee, pastry/muffin, yogurt & fruit

Check in & check out were both fast, accurate and easy. Georgie’s Restaurant provided great food and we had dinner there after we came back to Twillingate from Fogo Island.

Day 5 – Finn House, Fogo Island (Sept 12, 2021)

This beautiful property, Finn House, located in Deep Bay (about 17 km from the Fogo Ferry) was perfect for our stay on Fogo Island.

The ocean view was absolutely spectacular!

A video tour of our cottage

The cottage was clean and beautifully decorated. It’s a pity that there was no microwave so we had to use the oven to warm up our food which was a bit time consuming. Yet the beautiful view with nice seating area on the patio made it all up.

Our host Theresa communicated well with directions to the location and photos of landmarks and parking.

The only inconvenient part was the steep gravel road from the parking to the cottage.

It’s impossible to wheel any suitcase or bag so we had to lift our luggage to the house.

Lifting the luggage to walk down the steep path

The journey to the cottage continued…

Occasionally we could hear our neighbours next door from Aiden House but the noise level was quite minimal. I would totally recommend this place as driving to the main town Fogo was only 15 minutes. While driving in Newfoundland, there were road signs that we saw quite often and we thought they were rather unique and interesting!!

So true! Potholes were everywhere in all parts of Newfoundland.

Beware of Moose! Heard many scary moose stories.

Day 6 – Carriage Hill Cottage, Twillingate (Sept 13, 2021)

This is by far our favourite lodging of our 15-night Newfoundland trip. If I could give this property a 6-star, I would definitely do it in a heartbeat!

Carriage Hill Cottage in Durrell, Twillingate

The sitting room, dining area & kitchen

The bedroom

Luxurious bathroom with freestanding bathtub & separate shower

As soon as I unlocked the deadbolt of the house using the keypad, the new furniture and superbly designed layout with upscale equipment totally blew me away.

Sitting, dining areas and fully-loaded kitchen

The freestanding bath tub, the washer and dryer, plus the fully loaded kitchen with all sorts of condiments and breakfast needs were all fine touches added to make this cottage a little gem in Twillingate.

Luxurious bathroom with freestanding bathtub

The patio with gorgeous view and lovely cushioned furniture, the outdoor fireplace, the BBQ and spacious parking all contributed to a wonderful stay.

To our host Marie, many congratulations on providing us with extremely clear instructions and location coordinates so we had no problems finding this place although Durrell Street was not listed on Google Map. However, we could see the yellow cottage behind 174 Main Street on the opposite side of the road, right by the ocean. I’ll highly recommend this cottage to those looking for a great stay in Twillingate.

Day 7 & 8 – The Rooms at Woody Point (Sept 14 & 15, 2021)

After 1 week in Eastern & Central Newfoundland, we finally arrived at the famous Gros Morne National Park in the western coast.

After the 2 pm Bonne Bay Boat Tour in Norris Point, we drove for another hour to reach the south side of Gros Morne National Park. The Rooms at Woody Point were cozy little cottages with gorgeous view of Bonne Bay from the patio.

Phenomenal evening view of Bonne Bay from the patio

The best thing about this cottage was that we could drive our car all the way up the steep hill and park right in front of this fully accessible cottage. There were only 2 of the 8 units that offered direct car access to the cabins. Other 6 units all had stairs from parking to the cabins.

Parking lot & stair access of 2 more units

Both the bathroom and the roll-in shower areas were big enough for a wheelchair/walker to get by.

Roll-in shower and vanity area on the opposite side of the corridor

A huge King bed welcomed us as soon as we opened the front door, with hooks for outdoor dirty overcoat behind the door.

To the right there was a folding rectangular table that could be opened up to a square table. A well-equipped kitchenette was next to the 2 huge comfy single sitters.

I especially liked their “breakfast box” for $10 per person, as it was not easy to find any breakfast place nearby. The box was delivered to us the afternoon before after we pre-ordered for the next morning. The host put the box in the fridge with clear instructions on how to heat up some of the hot breakfast items.

$10 per person breakfast menu – emailed to us before our stay for pre-order

The well-designed blinds which could be pulled down from the top or pulled up from the bottom allowed more privacy and let in more day light even with the bottom part down.

There was a mattress under the bed which could be pulled out to accommodate an extra person in the sitting area, though we did not use it.

Internet could be very slow and spotty at times but we were still able to have Zoom meetings though with long wait time to log on.

The host Donna gave great recommendations for nearby restaurants for dinner. The Rooms also provided patio dining when the weather was warm enough. I would certainly recommend this place at Woody Point as it was a great location to access the Tablelands Trail and the Gros Morne Discovery Centre in Bonne Bay.

View of Bonne Bay from the terrace of Gros Morne Discovery Centre

Day 9 & 10 – Crow’s Nest, Meeting Hill Cottages, Rocky Harbour (Sept 16 & 17, 2021)

This was another cozy and clean cabin that we stayed in the Gros Morne area (north side) in Rocky Harbour.

Check in location was at 140 Main Street and this cabin was further down the street at 170B. It was the 3^rd unit of a 4-unit row house with parking right in front of the house.

Crow’s Nest, Meeting Hill Cottages, Rocky Harbour

Bottled water was offered to us as the town was undergoing some pipeline problems so it was safer not to use tap water for drinking, cooking and even brushing teeth. Everything was clean and well-equipped especially with the welcome goodies placed on the table.

Video of the Crow’s Nest

The only problem we found was the limited sockets for plugging in our electronic devices. Either we had to use the ones in the kitchen, or we had to disconnect light fixtures in order to use the plugs. The one close to the front door was not working so we had to move the table to get close to a plug while charging our laptops and working at the same time.

To be honest, I found the blue/green colour not quite pleasing in my own opinion, I much prefer a more neutral colour like the bedroom.

Nicely decorated bedroom in a more neutral beige colour with just a few touches of blue

Another reason to choose this unit instead of the one next door, also a one-bedroom “Cuddy Cabin”, was because we didn’t want anyone to walk in front of the window or peek into our cabin, since the long patio was shared by 3 units. Closing the blind all the time would defeat the purpose of having a gorgeous view of the beautiful ocean! The sunset view from the cabin was spectacular though it’s a little blocked by the hill.

We drove down the road to a huge public parking lot opposite the Oceanview Hotel for a more stunning, completely unblocked sunset view.

Day 11-15 – Courtyard by Marriott, St. John’s (Sept 18-23, 2021)

This check in was seamless at the Courtyard St. John’s. Front desk staff Robinson was extremely helpful and friendly. As a Bonvoy gold member I was offered a free upgrade from a Junior Suite to a 1-bedroom harbourfront suite for our 5-night stay in St. John’s. Though it was on the ground floor, the room was a little raised from street level so passers-by could not directly see the inside of the room. We thoroughly enjoyed the extra space and loved the room location which was super close to the little complimentary parking lot on Water Street. There was a much bigger complimentary parking lot for hotel guests opposite the Courtyard on Duckworth Street. For us, the one on Water Street was convenient as we didn’t even need to use the elevator to take our luggage to the suite, which was the 1^st room from parking.

Video tour of our 1-bedroom suite

The location of the Courtyard made it able for us to walk to many nice restaurants (Peaceful Loft, Merchant Tavern, Oliver’s, Adelaide Oyster House, etc.) on Water Street, Duckworth Street and George Street. It was close to Jellybean Row and Terry Fox Monument. Signal Hill & Quidi Vidi Brewery were just a few minutes drive. Since the hotel is situated on a slope, the lobby of our hotel block is on the 4^th floor, which is the ground floor of the Signal Hill block with the main entrance on Duckworth Street.

Courtyard entrance from Water Street with a little parking space in front of the brown railings & stairs

Our 1-bedroom suite location marked in green with smaller junior suites next to our room

a little foyer before entering the sitting room – perfect for our bags and shoes

During COVID, daily housekeeping was not offered at the hotel but we could request fresh towels, Kleenex and big garbage bags for our stay. Again, Robinson at the Front Desk had everything prepared in a plastic bag and handed it to us after our 1-hour dinner at Peaceful Loft, a 5-minute walk to the #1 restaurant in St. John’s. I would strongly recommend you make dinner reservations for other restaurants as many were closed on Monday & Tuesday when we were there. That’s another reason we stayed for so many days in St. John’s, as we knew many restaurants and sites were not open on Mondays & Tuesdays after Labour Day. Take into consideration when planning for your off-season trip to Newfoundland.

I highly recommend staying at Courtyard by Marriott St. John’s.

Westin Singapore (Dec 2013)

We booked 2 double-bedded rooms and paid extra to stay in premium sea view rooms. It’s so NOT worth the US$30+ per night. All we could see was the huge container terminal and it’s definitely not a pleasant view at all. It’s better to choose rooms facing the infinity pool, at least you could see the modern design of the Air Science Museum and the Singapore Flyer, or the room with nice city view. Here is the view of the pool at night.

The hotel is definitely not generous in offering upgrades to SPG (now merged with Marriott) Gold members. There was not even complimentary online flight check-in service and the front desk and concierge staff could not offer help when asked. They just kept apologizing for the inconvenience. Please remember that guests appreciate good service way more than incessant apologies.

Westin hotel lobby:

No doubt the hotel is very new and all facilities and rooms are brand new which made our stays quite comfortable with new bedding and a modern bathroom. It was indeed very relaxing to swim in the infinity pool early in the morning as there was no other guests but just our family at 8:30 am on a weekday. What a great start of the day!

We enjoyed the usual amenities and the Heavenly products from Westin. However, when we chose to have the Green Program we thought that we only requested it for 1 night, then we could have the housekeeping service the next day, but the hotel assumed that it was for the entire 4-night stay. But then we didn’t get the $6 off voucher for the 2nd day and we had to call for housekeeping the 3rd day. Housekeeping service and hotel communication was definitely not up to par to keep up with the Westin brand.

Getting a taxi could be hard on weekends but during the week there were lots of taxis at the Asia Square, all we did was just to walk 200 meters to get them.

Asia Square right next to the hotel:

The Downtown MRT Station opened on Dec 22, 2013 made going to China Town and Bay Front for Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay really easy.

The hotel was just opposite Lau Pa Sat (the Satay Street) and we had a yummy satay dinner the first night in Singapore.

Westin Singapore has lots of potentials to do well. We may stay there again when better reviews are offered and the construction work around that area is completed.

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St. Regis Hong Kong (May 12-14, 2019)

The newest & most luxurious gem in Wanchai

The posting of this hotel review has been delayed by a year, strongly hindered by the frightening political unrest and numerous protests that happened a couple of weeks after our wonderful peaceful Hong Kong vacation in May 2019, followed by the outbreak of Covid-19. I feel sorry that not many international tourists would choose to go to Hong Kong while it was so politically unsafe, as I really think St. Regis deserves a much better recommendation than anybody would have given in the past year, rather than just staycations from the local people.

In mid-May 2019, my husband and I went to Hong Kong from Canada to celebrate my father-in-law’s 90^th birthday. Originally, we booked the W Hong Kong to start our vacation, but then St. Regis Hong Kong’s opening reviews were so flattering and inviting that we decided to give it a switch, just 3 weeks before our arrival. As soon as I made the reservation, the St. Regis butler and restaurant teams sent me numerous emails, introducing their teams and asking for my arrival details so they could personalize my stay. I was totally impressed by these little touches and already felt pampered even before we left Canada.

Upon arrival, our lovely butler Lydia (now promoted to be the butler supervisor) greeted us with a huge smile at the entrance of the hotel on the ground floor.

We were so surprised that she was actually waiting for us to arrive by taxi from the airport. As a Marriott Platinum elite member, I was asked before my arrival the room type that I’d like to be upgraded to, so I knew that my harbourview corner room awaited us. Our luggage was taken care of as soon as we stepped out of the taxi and delivered to our room. Check-in was done comfortably in our 500+ sq. ft. Premier Harbour View room on the 22^nd floor.

Below was a picture of my room with the beautiful harbor view that I downloaded from the St. Regis website.

In reality, the window facing north was half blocked by a huge TV. If I were the designer, I would move the TV to the corner and have the sitting area and round table right in front of the window to maximize the “harbour view”.

Sorry to have gone side-tracked! Let’s get back to the awesome butler, telling us that she could help us unpack, do ironing, make our drinks, etc. Then she took us downstairs to the “Great Room” (lobby) where the St. Regis Bar and the Chinese restaurant Rùn were located, and showed us another elevator lobby that we had to use to go to the street level.

As soon as I stepped into the Chinese restaurant, I was greeted by name by the restaurant manager, Welly, who has also exchanged many emails with me regarding a dim sum lunch there with my in-laws and my husband’s siblings. She kindly introduced me to the table location by the window, even though it was not the restaurant’s regular opening time.

When we got back to the hotel after some sightseeing, we called the butler for some tea. Then a table of English and Chinese tea with snacks and chocolate-covered fruit appeared in 15 minutes with personalized hand-written welcome notes.

Other than a complimentary room upgrade, Marriott Platinum members also got free breakfast at St. Regis Chinese Restaurant Rùn. Four breakfast choices were offered: Continental, American, Chinese or Healthy, all served with a semi-buffet breakfast. Here is the menu.

On the 1^st day we chose the American breakfast.

Then on the 2^nd day we had the Chinese breakfast which was a much better choice with a whole abalone in the congee. Other than the congee, there were personal steamers with sticky rice in lotus leaf, siu mai (pork dumpling), ha gau (shrimp dumpling) and a spring roll.

The semi-buffet was sumptuous, with tables spreading all around the restaurant so nowhere would be crowded.

The Chinese Restaurant Rùn offered the best dim-sum lunch experience that we have ever had in Hong Kong. The ingredients were fresh and the presentations were attractive. We were always circled by numerous waiters to check if we needed anything or about the comments of the food. Best of all, they made everything to 6 pieces for the 6 of us so we could all taste the same food and no one had to split the food or have extras. It was a lovely pre-birthday lunch to celebrate my in-law’s 90^th birthday.

After breakfast, we were so fortunate to have a hotel tour led by 2 of the hotel personnel so we were able to see different types of hotel rooms and hotel facilities. They showed us a suite that we could have stayed instead of the corner room that we chose, with a much less promising view, though the room size was definitely much bigger.

The sitting area of the suite was very spacious but there was no harbour view, whereas the bedroom had quite a good view. The bathroom was super big with 1 shower stall, one stall for the toilet, and a bath tub on the other side of the mirror. You could see the reflection of the bath tub on the glass panel of the toilet.

This was the grand lobby of the hotel on the 2^nd floor,

where the bar with the famous mural was located.

There was also a beautiful terrace with a moon-shaped gate.

All in all, I highly recommend the St. Regis Hong Kong with its fantastic location, top-notched service and incredible food.

Amazing…Incredible…Spectacular Harbour View Junior Suite of InterContinental Hong Kong

My husband, my adult daughter and myself stayed at InterContinental Hong Kong on Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui for 5 nights from Dec 20 to Dec 25, 2015.

No words could actually describe the WOW factors of our stay. We were treated like royalties from the beginning to the end. Staff members from the front desk, concierge, housekeeping, bell service, business centre, reservations and hotel managers were just unbelievably professional. I am so excited to share my fantastic experience at the InterContinental Hong Kong here in my blog.

Pros:
1) Every morning, my family of 3 woke up to a stunning panoramic view of the beautiful Victoria Harbour (so rare & expensive in HK), sometimes sunny, sometimes foggy, sometimes overcast. There’s nothing we could do but to be thankful to God.

2) Being an InterContinental Ambassador, I accumulated a lot of points & were able to redeem my stay using 50,000 points per night. (I just got an email announcing that starting mid-February in 2016, this hotel needs 60,000 points for each standard room redemption!!) Then I paid HK600 per night to upgrade it to a harbourview deluxe room when I made the booking. When I got to the hotel, they gave me a complimentary upgrade to a harbourview junior suite (Room 716) with a sitting area, walk-in closet, separate toilet & a Jacuzzi. An extra single bed was added for my daughter sleeping in the sitting area beside the single sofa…a perfect spot in terms of privacy…we couldn’t see each other while in bed.

Ultra spacious Harbour View Junior Suite

Sitting area with an added bed for my daughter

A glimpse of the Cultural Centre on the right

View of Hong Kong Convention Centre from room

It would be quite unpleasant if I didn’t upgrade the city view room to harbour view as there were still 2 big construction sites on both east & west sides of the hotel. When we were swimming in the pool or enjoying ourselves in the whirlpool, it’s hard to totally relax with the noises and views around us.

Smaller infinity pool facing the harbour

3) The hotel offered a free mobile smartphone for us to use with data & WIFI, and it’s the best to bring with us while touring around Hong Kong with all the apps & free unlimited local calls.

4) The location of the hotel is super convenient as it’s close to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, with lots of bus routes & Star Ferry nearby. Eateries were everywhere, less than HK$40 for a breakfast with coffee/tea, or highly recommended expensive restaurants on Michelin lists.

Cons:
1) Since we were there on Dec 24, Salisbury Road where the hotel is located was closed to all traffic. It’s only for pedestrians so we had to make a LONG detour to go from Nathan Road back to the hotel. A normal 5-minute walk became a 30-minute one with the crowds & the constant stops as we were not allowed to “CROSS” the road using the intersection. We chose to use the Tsim Sha Tsui East detour as we would like to see more light decorations but we could also use the “U-turn” outside the HK Cultural Centre, but not directly from the Peninsula Hotel as we normally crossed from. Underground exits from the Sheraton Hotel were also blocked so allow more time if you are there on Dec 24, Dec 31 or when Chinese New Year Fireworks are on.

Main roads were closed for pedestrians only

2) There was no airport hotel free shuttle from the airport. A one-way taxi was HK$240. With 3 adults, 3 large suitcases, 3 carry-ons plus 3 backpacks, we could load everything in a taxi sedan with the trunk half-closed. This is the phone number to reserve a taxi van: 8191-1219 for more passengers. Taxi vans were not easy to get at the airport without prior reservations.

3) Not many rooms & suites could accommodate 3 adults. Extra beds need to be reserved in advance. That took up quite some space in the room if staying in a standard one. There was also an added cost for the 3rd adult.

Since both my husband & myself got our IHG Capital One MasterCards linked to our IHG rewards accounts, we were able to get a lot of signing up bonuses. We also put most of our daily expenses on the credit cards to enable us to get free points. Joining the IHG InterContinental Ambassador program also gave us free points and free nights, that’s why we got so many points to redeem for expensive stays at InterContinental hotels in Hong Kong, London (England), Wellington (New Zealand) and Sydney (Australia).

My family stayed in many luxurious hotels when we travel, the InterContinental Hong Kong was by far the best. At least it’s a much better choice than another 5-star hotel that we stayed at after our Asian cruise on the other side of the Victoria Harbour in January 2016. I would totally recommend the InterContinental Hong Kong to everyone.

Hotel Bristol, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Vienna, Austria

Wow! Wow! Wow! Just 3 Wow’s are simply not enough to show the WOW factors of Hotel Bristol! Its location, its authenticity, and best of all, its hotel personnel are just incredible! We were so blessed to stay there for 2 nights after our Danube River Cruise on Crystal Bach in July 2018.

Unbeatable location opposite the Vienna State Opera

Being an SPG Gold member, I got a free upgrade to the most gorgeous Opera Suite of over 1,000 sq. ft., opposite to the famous Vienna State Opera.

Vienna State Opera at night (photo credit to my photographer husband Brian)

Our suite was Room 475, with a balcony wrapped around the corner suite from the sitting room to the bedroom, providing a stunning panoramic view.

We were in the Chinese Suite full of precious antiques and pictures.

entrance area of the room was full of Chinese antiques

free champagne on the coffee table and dining table by the window

We even invited our friends who also stayed at the same hotel to enjoy the complimentary champagne with us. For both nights that we stayed we bought take out to enjoy eating in the sitting room at the round dining table. We also used an HDMI cable to connect to the large flat screen TV to watch our Danube river cruise pictures and videos.

The concierge was extremely helpful and gave us lots of tips on how to get to various attractions using public transport. They helped us make reservations for the guided tour of the Spanish Riding School, the morning horse show “Piber Meets Vienna”, and confirmed our taxi that we booked in advance. With the red Vienna Card that included public transport, we loved using Bus Route 2A to go from the hotel to most famous sights like the Spanish Riding School, Sisi Museum and the Vienna Ring Tram at Schwedenplatz. Tram D or #71 took us to Upper/Lower Belvedere. Mozart’s statue was only 1 bus stop away. All these bus/tram stops were just right outside the hotel, super duper convenient!

While we were there, we had a fabulous lunch at the restaurant.

A great restaurant with excellent service

For dessert, we thoroughly enjoyed the coffee and delicious apple strudel at Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker, just a few shops next to the hotel on Kärntner Strasse.

A huge and special thanks to Kathleen S. for showing me around the hotel and shared Hotel Bristol’s history with me.

Classic Room #368 is the most basic room in the hotel.

Then we were in Penthouse Suite #663. All rooms on the 6th floor have beautiful terraced views.

The penthouse suite bedroom in the tower building

President Suite #174 was absolutely incredible with so many rooms. Guests were also offered free limousine service from the airport.

Another bedroom corner *of the President Suite* leading to the sitting room

separate bathroom and toilet in the *President Suite*

Double sink in the bathroom with tons of towels

Here comes the Grand Deluxe Bristol Suite Room 52.

The Grand Deluxe suite offers a much more modern feel

I would definitely recommend Hotel Bristol to everyone to enjoy this “home away from home” in Europe.

University Arms Hotel, Autograph Collection, Cambridge, England

My husband and I stayed at the University Arms Hotel, Autograph Collection, on a warm sunny day in early Spring 2019. Being a Marriott Platinum Elite member, I used my Suite Night Award to get a complimentary upgrade on top of my free night certificate, so the room cost us nothing but just a very steep parking fee of £30 (equivalent to CA$57) per night.

Check-in was fast and easy. We were greeted by the bell boy/concierge who took care of our luggage immediately after we stopped our rental car in front of the hotel. A few days before arrival I already received an email from the hotel saying that they have reserved the Terrace Suite on the top floor for us. Though we already had some expectations of what the room was like, we were awed by the lay-out and loved the ambience of the super comfortable and well-designed corner suite #907. After the fire, many areas of the hotel were remodelled to keep the authentic look with modern comfort. Kudos to the architect and the designer!

Cornered terraced Suite #907 marked with a red rectangle in the bottom right corner with double balconies

Spacious room with a lobby, a sitting area and a bedroom area

The bell boy from the concierge who was like a butler explained to us all the special room features like the 2 terraces.

The bathroom located in the tower between the 2 terraces

A smaller terrace that overlooked the side street next to Parker’s Piece

A bigger terrace that spans the whole room from the bathroom in the tower to the lobby

The bathroom has 7 big and small windows and heated bathroom floor that was controlled by a thermostat behind the bathroom door.

It would take you a while to close all window coverings before taking a bath or a shower.

We were offered complimentary alcoholic drinks like brandy & whisky and the tea/coffee machine with numerous selections.

The suite was so wonderful and relaxing that I just wanted to spend the whole afternoon lying around on the terrace with a glass in my hand, watching the passers-by on Parker’s Piece. However, with just 1 day to spend in Cambridge before attending a wedding on the following day, we had to leave the hotel for some sightseeing and punting on River Cam.

The hotel was so well-located that we felt safe walking around in the area after dinner. There were lots of restaurants and shops on Regent Street.

The next morning, we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast buffet in the restaurant as there was no club lounge for Platinum members in the hotel. The food was nicely-presented with bread on one table, hot entrees on another table and drinks,
fruit and cold meat/cheese selections on the 3rd table. It was a sumptuous breakfast though they didn’t offer our favourite big and lean English bacon.

Plentiful selections of juice, hot items, fruit and cheese

sausages & bacon, eggs, grilled tomatoes and hash browns

Check-out was prompt and valet parking staff were quick and efficient. We would definitely stay at the hotel again if we’re in Cambridge.