Weekend Blitz

On the eve of Jeffrey’s & my big Asian Adventure, I wanted to spend some quality time with my mom before Jeffrey and I packed up and headed out for months.

Disclaimer: I’m an idiot and haven’t signed up for the referral to make any money off any of the below credit card offers. This is this genuine advice as I see things. I have both of the cards listed below, however, take my advice with caution: I’m far from an expert on financial/credit matters, but happy to help where I can!

My mom had just applied for the US Airways Premier World MasterCard over Thanksgiving, so she received the Companion Certificate in the mail in late December. A little more on the [...]

Everything about the W Retreat & Spa Bali Seminyak was fun, lively and the perfect place to begin our honeymoon. As I’ve covered in a previous post about the hotel (you can read it here), our very own pool villa was everything I always wanted in a honeymoon + more.

But, when we ventured away from the private pool and quiet oasis of our villa, the rest of the W always had a lot going on and plenty to experience. There was always a lively party, plenty of Balinese culture to take in and rum drinks overflowing by the pool – no matter what time of day or night. Much of the crowd was always gathered at one of the two on-site restaurants, so this post will [...]

After a wonderful few very sunny and warm days in Bordeaux (more on the Bordeaux trip here: Walking Tour of Bordeaux, France), we headed north to the region of Pays de la Loire to visit my sister, Leslie.

BOOKING

We purchased our tickets at the Bordeaux train station, aka Gare de Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, about an hour before departure. We made sure to skip booking way in advance using a USA-specific site such as Rail Europe (read more about the best way to book a French train ticket in advance here: How-to: Booking French Trains (RailEurope vs SNCF)).

We were able to book our tickets for 37.30 euros each (~$46.43 USD); in contrast, the RailEurope version of the [...]

Fresh off of multiple amazing flights (Lufthansa Boeing 747 First Class and Thai Airways A380 Royal First Class), numerous world class lounge experiences (Lufthansa First Class Lounge – New York and Lufthansa First Class Lounge – Frankfurt) and, most recently, a full spa and massage experience at the Bangkok lounge (Thai Airways Royal First Lounge and Royal Orchid Spa – Bangkok), we had been traveling for about 54 hours so far and were getting ready to reach our (first) final destination of Bali, Indonesia. That being said, we weren’t entirely “over it” by this point, but getting pretty close, so, when the time came to board, we were more than ready to embark on our [...]

As I’ve written about before, the Park Hyatt brand is my very favorite hotel group. In addition to celebrating several milestones at Park Hyatts, there’s nothing that makes you feel like a princess if not a stay at the Park Hyatt. Our recent stay at the brand new Park Hyatt New York was nothing short of luxurious and was the perfect home away from home while we celebrated our first anniversary. Just a block from Central Park and overlooking Carnegie Hall, the location – in the center of Midtown – is top notch.

This brand new building houses the Park Hyatt in the first 25 [...]

Once we arrived in Santiago, we took a cab from the airport straight to our hotel — the W Santiago in the Las Condes area. Like all W hotels, the best word to describe the hotel was “glamorous.” Like, it seems like Kim K is going to be staying in the suite next door to yours. All W’s, although decorated differently with their own motif, all share the same party atmosphere and glam decor. The W even has a signature scent… to go along with their signature house music. When you’re at the W, you know you’re not going to sleep before 4am.

CHECK-IN

We arrived at the hotel after one 10-hour, nearly sleepless flight [...]

Our first flight of the trip was Delta flight # 1543 from Charleston-CHS to Atlanta-ATL; Delta Gold Medallion status doesn’t often get me too much, but in this case it did get me an upgrade on the short, 41 minute flight. The only issue is that McCown, for some reason, wasn’t grouped with me for the upgrade pool so I ran over to the gate counter and tried my best to get an additional upgrade. We almost had one of these situations on our hands: Damnit Delta, why are you trying screw me?!

The gate agent was nice enough to add McCown to the list…here’s a note we had jotted down mid-flight:

Well, off to a good start. When leaving Charleston, we both [...]

149 Wentworth French/American $$$$- Fine dining experience How to save $: Best bet is to go during restaurant week but even that will put you at $85+ a person after wine, tax and tip!

Eager to jump on Restaurant Week early, we made reservations at Circa 1886—a restaurant we’ve always wanted to try.

Deriving its name from the construction of the Wentworth Mansion that it shares a property with, the restaurant is housed in a great historic building with lots of character.

The first thing I noticed is that Circa 1886 is much more formal than I imagined. Plenty of men were wearing blazers and ties, but you’d be fine in nice slacks and a button-down [...]

Our experience with the Thai Royal First Ground Service was short and speedy — just like it’s supposed to be. After touching down from our Frankfurt, Germany to Bangkok, Thailand journey (read more about our flight here: Thai Airways A380 Royal First Class – TG 921 Frankfurt-FRA to Bangkok-BKK) at 6:01am, we were welcomed at the gate by a Thai Airways staff member. Once she gathered us together with one other First Class passenger, she led us to a golf cart and promptly whisked us away through connecting security and masses of other passengers to the First Class lounge. We were inside the lounge (clear across the airport) by 6:25am… that’s what you call first [...]