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The Selfish Years

~ Over 200 cities, 42 countries, 6 continents and counting.

The Selfish Years

Category Archives: Accommodations

Heading to Bora Bora: Tahitian Dreams

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, French Polynesia, IHG, Oceania, Travel Hacking

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Intercontinental Tahiti, Oceania, Roulottes, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tahiti

When Mrs. Selfish and I originally planned our Selfish Year of travels, we had no intention of visiting the South Pacific. That all changed in March when Hilton announced a massive devaluation in their HHonors Award Program. Hotels that once cost 50,000 points a night we’re suddenly going for as much as 95,000 points – an almost 100% increase!

Having acquired a taste for the Hilton’s nicer properties after staying at the Conrad Koh Samui, I started looking into other places to burn Hilton points. So when my cousin in Sydney proposed we meet up at the Hilton Bora Bora, I jumped at the chance.

Especially after seeing pictures of Bora Bora.

Aw yeah.

Unfortunately, getting to Bora Bora is quite difficult. Only a limited number of airlines fly to Tahiti, and once there you have to catch one of the inter-island flights, which are quite expensive.

To make things even trickier, you’re more or less required to spend two nights in Tahiti as well. Fortunately, Mrs. Selfish had a number of Intercontinental Hotel Groups points saved up, so we ended up booking two nights: one for the flight in, and one for the night before our morning flight out.

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Finishing Sydney with a Bang at the Park Hyatt

15 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Australia, Hyatt, Oceania, Sydney, Travel Hacking

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Oceania, Park Hyatt Sydney, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Sydney, Travel Hacking

Mrs. Selfish and I visited Sydney a total of three times during our Selfish Year of travels, since Sydney is the major airport in the Oceania region. During our first stay, we stayed with family in the Manly area. For our second stay, we rented a flat downtown – in the seedy red light district.

Our third and final stay was different, however. Having booked us flights to Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef I was having a heck of a time finding a flight that would connect us through Sydney in time to catch our flight to Tasmania.

Finally giving up, I decided we’d have to spend one more night in Sydney. And we’d have to do it in style.

At the Park Hyatt Sydney.

Aw yeah.

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5 Nights of Pampering in the Park Hyatt Tokyo

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hyatt, Japan, Tokyo, Travel Hacking

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Japan, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Travel Hacking

For our last five nights in Japan I booked us at the mother of all hotel redemptions – the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Famously shown in “Lost in Translation,” the Park Hyatt Tokyo has become a point-collector’s dream redemption: a luxury hotel in the middle of Tokyo, with killer food, killer views, and a killer price tag.

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Relaxing at Ryokan Sanga

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Kurokawa, ryokan, Ryokan Sanga, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

During our previous trip to Japan, Mrs. Selfish and I had the pleasure of staying at a ryokan in Hakone.  A Ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel, known for a three things: kaiseki meals, traditional rooms and garb, and onsen.

Last time we only stayed for one night, so this time around we decided to splurg and stay for two nights at the Ryokan Sanga.

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18 Hours in Fukuoka: The Grand Hyatt

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hyatt, Japan, Travel Hacking

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Grand Hyatt Fukouka, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

After bidding farewell to the Westin Chosun in Seoul, Mrs. Selfish and I boarded the 5am airport bus for Incheon Airport.  Two flights and 9 hours later we arrived in Fukuoka Airport, Japan!

When looking at Japan, Mrs. Selfish and I knew we wanted to spend the majority of our time split between Kyoto and Tokyo, and about a week in less visited areas of Japan.

After further research, we determined we’d spend 2 nights in Kurukawa Onsen Town – a charming town on the southern island of Kyushu. The most direct way there involved flying into Fukouka for a one night stay.

Within moments of hitting the city, I knew we’d made a big mistake.  Fukouka is an amazing city, worthy of at least a few days of exploration, and is considered by some to be the food capital of Japan.

And the Grand Hyatt is no slouch either. Coming in as a category 3 hotel, the Grand Hyatt cost us a paltry 12,000 Hyatt points – which I transferred from our Ultimate Rewards pool.

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Staying at the Westin Chosun

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Seoul, South Korea, Starwood, Travel Hacking

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Selfish Year, Selfish Years, SPG, Starwood, Westin Chosun

Since we were spending our 4-year anniversary in Seoul, I decided to book us in a hotel I knew Mrs. Selfish would love: the Westin Chosun.  After staying at the Westin Munich and the Westin Bangkok, Mrs. Selfish and I were solidly in the Westin camp, thanks largely due to their “heavenly bed.”

The Westin Chosun was a great pick.  Not only did it match the Westin brand (even maintaining the Westin smell, which is kind of creepy), but the location is extremely convenient.  It’s within walking distance of many of Seoul’s historic sites, and only a short metro ride away from Gangnum and other areas.

It also gave me an opportunity to take advantage of Starwood’s buy 4-nights, get 1-night free redemption policy. The Westin Chosun is a category 5 hotel, so booking a room cost us 48,000 SPG points.

Getting There & Check-In

Seoul 036

Getting to the Westin from Incheon Airport was a very smooth process, thanks to the airport limousine bus service, which departs from bus stop 4B/11A.  Mrs. Selfish and I purchased two tickets on the bus for about 15,000 won each (around $14.50), and only had to wait 5 minutes.  An hour later, we arrived at the Westin!

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JW Marriott Beijing – One Classy Category 4 Hotel!

11 Saturday May 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Beijing, China, Marriott, Travel Hacking

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

JW Marriott Beijing, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

Redeeming for miles and points is a strange beast.  On the one hand, part of me (and I suspect part of many miles & points addicts) wants to redeem my points for the most expensive hotel I can get. On the other hand, another part of me wants to stretch my miles and points across as many days as possible since we’re in this for the long haul.

Sometimes there’s a happy intersection where a quality hotel, for whatever reason, is a complete steal at its current redemption rate.  The JW Marriott Beijing is one such hotel.

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Saving money by renting apartments

07 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Travel Hacking

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, AirBnB, Chiang Mai, Paris, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Shanghai, Travel Hacking

While staying at luxury hotels can be quite exciting, nothing beats the feeling of coming home.  Before we started our selfish year of travels, Mrs. Selfish and took tons of weekend trips, culminating in our once-a-year international trip over the Thanksgiving holiday.

While getting out of the States and traveling to new countries was exhilarating, it was also exhausting. If you’re from the States, vacationing is about three things: maximizing, maximizing, maximizing.

By the end of each international trip, we were more tired then when we had started.  Coming home in itself was a treat – a chance to catch up on sleep and get back into the ol’ routine.

Traveling for a year straight is the same deal, except now there is no home to come home to.  It’s exciting, but also tiring – not to mention expensive.  Fortunately, that’s where apartment rentals come in.

Our loft in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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How Suite it is… at the JW Marriott Hong Kong!

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, China, Marriott, Travel Hacking

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

JW Marriott Hong Kong, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

For our stay in Hong Kong I booked a last minute 5-night award to the JW Marriott HK only a week before we arrived.  Under the old category definitions, the JW was a category 7 hotel, meaning it cost 35,000 Marriott reward points a night.  Thankfully, Marriott Rewards gives you the 5th night free on award bookings, so our stay cost 140,000 Marriott Reward points.

Since Mrs. Selfish and I both applied for the Chase Marriott Rewards card, we both had a free night and 70,000 Marriott Reward points to burn!  Marriott is also nice because multiple family members can apply points toward one award, allowing me to Mrs. Selfish’s points if I fell short.  This was especially useful, because for our time in China I was planning on getting platinum status.

Unlike other hotel chains, Marriott allows just about anyone to try their “Taste of Platinum” challenge. By completing 9 paid stays in 3 months, plus the month you request the challenge, you’ll earn Marriott’s platinum status for the next calendar year.  Although it’s an amazing shortcut, the biggest benefit is the “taste” itself – for the duration of those ~3 months you’ll actually get platinum status, which gets you free internet, breakfast, a welcome gift, your choice of amenities, and an upgrade to a better room. We pulled a similar trick in Spain with Mrs. Selfish, but the AC Hotels didn’t really recognize platinum status quite the way Marriott-branded hotels in Asia do.

In Asia, they do one better, since there’s a great chance you’ll be upgraded to a suite.

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One last day in Singapore

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hilton, Singapore, Travel Hacking

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Conrad Singapore, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

After surviving many cab debacles in Kuala Lumpur, Mrs. Selfish and I finally got wise and arranged for a cab to pick us up from the Sheraton Imperial.  After 3 days in Kuala Lumpur, surprisingly our most honest cab driver was the one that took us to the airport.

Nevertheless it was slightly uncomfortable with all of our bags.  The standard cabs in Kuala Lumpur were slightly different from home, and we found we always had to put one of our bags up front next to the driver.  The reason being that a lot of the trunk’s space is occupied by a natural gas tank!

But no matter!  We were off to our last stop in South East Asia, a one day stopover in Singapore.

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Last stop in SE Asia: Kuala Lumpur

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Malaysia, Starwood, Travel Hacking

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Selfish Years, Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur, Travel Hacking

After catching breakfast at the Double Tree Phuket, Mrs. Selfish and I were ready for Kuala Lumpur!  We weren’t really sure what to expect, but having grown somewhat familiar with Malaysian cuisine, we were excited to see what Kuala Lumpur had to offer.

After a little research, I settled on booking the Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur, which was a little bit out of the center of town, but was highly ranked on Trip Advisor.  Since we were running low on Starwood points, I decided to pay in cash. A little searching found an offer online – 3 nights for the price of 2 at Starwood Properties in South East Asia – score!  The price was normally 444 MYR a night, which is roughly $143, so at 66% we were getting close to $96 a night before taxes.

Getting there, was a little bit of a challenge, but fortunately Kuala Lumpur removes most of usually airport taxi headaches.

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Honeymooning in Phuket

01 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hilton, Thailand, Travel Hacking

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, Double Tree, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

After escaping the tetanus-ridden raft houses of Khao Sok national park, Mrs. Selfish and I were ready to high-tail it out of there!  Unfortunately, this meant spending the night in Phuket, one of Thailand’s seediest cities!

After leaving the decidedly-beautiful-but-extremely-rustic Khao Sok national park, we were transported back to the Bamboo Orchid Tree House to pickup our suitcases. Unfortunately, midway through the hour long drive it decided to rain, and we were in a semi-open air pickup truck.  We arrive at the Tree House, slightly soaked, grabbed our bag, and hopped in a car to Phuket!  Two hours later we arrived in civilization at the Double Tree Resort Phuket, on Surin Beach.

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They have baby elephants in Khao Lak!

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Thailand, Travel Hacking

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

When planning the Thailand portion of our trip, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to spend a week on the west coast of Thailand.  We knew we wanted to dive Richelieu Rock, and visit Thailand’s Halong Bay, the man made Khao Sak lake, but getting there was a problem.  The closest airport to both natural wonders is in Phuket, which is known as one of the seediest places in Thailand – even the natives warned us against going there.

Fortunately, Khao Lak was only a one hour drive north.  While searching for accommodations, I found Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort with one important benefit: a baby elephant.

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Mr. Selfish Let Me Book Our Accommodations in Khao Sok

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Thailand

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Accommodations, Asia, Khao Sok, Khao Sok Treehouse Resort, Khaosok, Selfish Years, Thailand, Treehouse Resort

Mr. Selfish and I had a week allocated for the western part of Thailand. We landed in Phuket but knew that we had to get out of there as soon as possible. We stopped in Khao Lak for a couple of days in order to scuba dive at Richelieu Rock and then we headed to Khao Sok to spend a couple of nights in a tree house and one night in a raft house. Khao Sok is a national park encompassing 738.74 square kilometers. It is pretty rustic and not yet overrun with tourists, which means that there are no chain hotels in Khao Sok.

Mr. Selfish has been expertly collecting airline and hotel miles and points since September 2011, which has enabled us to stay at some really nice hotels during our selfish year. Because we could not use any points for Khao Sok, I was left in charge of planning the accommodations.

For our tree house, I booked the Bamboo Orchid Tree House at Khao Sok Tree House. It had air conditioning and an outdoor rustic bathroom, and cost 4,000 baht ($136 USD) per night.

Khao Sok 01Khao Sok 02BathroomKhao Sok 05Khao Sok 06

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The Delicious but Expensive Food at the Conrad Koh Samui

21 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Food & Drinks, Thailand

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Asia, Conrad, Conrad Koh Samui, Food & Drinks, Hilton, Koh Samui, Selfish Years, Thailand

Mr. Selfish and I truly enjoyed our stay at the beautiful Conrad Koh Samui. The only downsides were: (1) the location and (2) the food.

As to location, the Conrad Koh Samui is quite far from the airport and pretty much everything else on the island. Mr. Selfish already went over how we hired Mr. Samui Samui to solve the issue of transportation. However, the location also made it very expensive and inconvenient to leave the property. As a result, other than a diving trip that we took, we stayed on property, which meant that we had to eat on property.

The food was tasty but man, was it expensive! Luckily, I am a Gold Hilton Honors member so we had free breakfast at Zest. We typically ate breakfast as late as possible to make it into a brunch and then had an early dinner. The breakfast spread was quite impressive. You could order an egg selection from the menu, including eggs benedict, English breakfast, etc., and then still eat from the buffet.

Koh Samui 263Koh Samui 269Koh Samui 271Koh Samui 267

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Mr. and Mrs. Selfish are an obsessively organized couple who sold all their junk to travel abroad for a year. Now settled in San Francisco, they have since visited over 200 cities in 44 countries over 6 continents. This site chronicles their travels.

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