Tag Archives: hotels

How to find really cheap hotels using Google

Posted on March 21, 2013 | 5 Comments


Pic: Search all hotels in Belgium at once using Google Hotel Finder!
Google Hotel Finder allows you to search hotels the Google way: a neat interface with some really cool sorting and filtering options.  The first great find of the day: You can search all hotels in Belgium at once! (at least for now)

Pic: Use Google Hotel Finder to spot amazing hotel deals!
The search query above returns 2532 available hotels for a Sunday night stay in Belgium.  If you apply the ‘Sort by Price Compared to Usual’ function, you can spot some really good deals.  In this case Google Hotel Finder revealed the Park Inn by Radisson Leuven was available for just $46 (€37,50) which is indeed 50% less than the usual rate we see at this hotel.

Pic: Park Inn by Radisson Leuven for €37,50 via Booking.com (Mar 2013)
This makes Google Hotel Finder an awesome tool for Best Rate Guarantee claims!  What other great hacks did you find using Google Hotel Finder?  Please share them in the comments section of this blog post, thanks!

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Loyalty Programs: Account Statuses (July 2012)

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 10 Comments

Back in May 2011, I published an insight in my loyalty program statuses including the number of points and miles earned.  More than a year has passed since then, so it’s time for an update:

HOTEL LOYALTY PROGRAMS

1) PRIORITY CLUB

  • Membership Level: Platinum Royal Ambassador
  • Expiration date: Jan 2014 (Platinum) Feb 2013 (Royal Ambassador)
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 11
  • Number of points: 117,574
  • Points earned in 2012: 77,545

How did I earn these points?
Obviously by resting my head for 11 nights on qualifying rates at IHG properties in the first 6 months of 2012, but more importantly, by signing up for every possible Priority Club Promotion (check FrequentFlyerBonuses.com and FlyerTalk.com for more details)  I also made some changes to my London 2012 Olympic Games reservations.  I cancelled my 7 nights at Hotel Indigo London Paddington reimbursing me 175K points.  I retained my two night booking at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill for the opening weekend and added one extra night at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street using Club Carlson points.  This shortened my London 2012 Olympics trip to 3 nights instead of 9, but allowed me to use some of the points to book my upcoming French Polynesia trip.
Where did I spent points?
Past stays:
30K points for two nights at City Ocean View room at Holiday Inn Pattaya
25K points for one night at King Suite at Crowne Plaza Changi Singapore
5K points for one night at Crowne Plaza Venice East-Quarto d’Altino
Upcoming stays:
60K points for two nights at InterContintal Resort Tahiti
150K points for five nights at InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa
90K points for three nights at InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa
Video: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

2) HYATT GOLD PASSPORT

  • Membership Level: Diamond
  • Expiration date: Feb 2013
  • Suite Upgrade Award vouchers left: 4
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 0
  • Number of points: 40,820
  • Points earned in 2012: 452

How did I earn these points?
I only stayed once at Hyatt this year and it was on points.  During award stays you only earn points on food & beverage charges, in my case 452 points.
Where did I spent points?
30K points for two nights at Club View King room at Grand Hyatt Seoul

3) HILTON HHONORS

  • Membership Level: Gold
  • Expiration date: Mar 2013
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 6
  • Number of points: 3,066
  • Points earned in 2012: 9,236

How did I earn these points?
Stays at Hilton Millennium Bangkok and Hilton London Tower Bridge.  Interesting detail:  I didn’t stay a single night at Hilton properties in 2011, still I managed to achieve Hilton HHonors Gold status for free.  I posted this opportunity several times on my twitter feed, make sure you don’t miss it next time, follow me on twitter! 
Where did I spent points?
170K points for four nights at Ocean View Pool Villa at Conrad Koh Samui
Note: 153,435K points were bought for this stay, read the blog post for all details.

4) STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST (SPG)

  • Membership Level: Preferred Guest
  • Expiration date: N/A
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 4
  • Number of points: 2,524
  • Points earned in 2012: 4,040

How did I earn these points?
Stays at Honeymoon Suite at Sheraton Seoul D Cube City and Caroline Astor Suite at St. Regis Bangkok
Where did I spent points?
3K points for one night at Four Points by Sheraton Barcelona Diagonal

5) Club CArlson

  • Membership Level: Silver
  • Expiration date: Feb 2013
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 3
  • Number of points: 64,214*
  • Points earned in 2012: 108,722*

How did I earn these points?
Stays at Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit, Park Plaza Soi 18 Sukhumvit Bangkok and Park Inn Leuven.  Check my Club Carlson post for more details.
* Points from my Park Inn Leuven still need to post (including 44K bonus)
Where did I spent points?
50K points for one night at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel (Opening weekend London 2012 Olympics)

6) LE CLUB ACCOR

  • Membership Level: Platinum
  • Expiration date: Oct 2012
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 1
  • Number of points: 1,676
  • Points earned in 2012: 452

How did I earn these points?
One night stay at Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Interesting detail:  I acquired free Le Club Accor Platinum status using a simple sign-up link.  I posted this opportunity several times on my twitter feed, make sure you don’t miss it next time, follow me on twitter! 
Where did I spent points?
No Le Club Accor points spent in 2012.  Le Club points have a very low value, you need a minimum of 4K points to convert them to 2000 airline miles or 2K points for a €40 discount voucher (which can only be used to lower roomrates, not on F&B)  In general, this loyalty program is really weak,  with platinum benefits rarely honored.  The only really positive experience I had as A Club Gold member was at Sofitel Paris La Defense back in 2010.

AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAMS

1) MILES AND MORE (LUfthansa)

  • Membership Level: Senator – Star Alliance Gold
  • Expiration date: 02/14
  • Number of Award miles: 346,564
  • Number of Status miles earned in 2012: 59,093
  • Number of eVouchers: 2

How did I earn these miles?
I earned more than 280,000 miles in the past year.
150K miles were ‘butt-in-seat’ miles (by taking flights)
32K bonus miles for business flight to Rio de Janeiro
75K miles were earned using the Brussels Airlines American Express cards.
23K miles were earned from various sources like hotel stays, shopping, etc…
On what did I spent miles?
70K miles to upgrade GIG-FRA from Business Class to new Lufthansa First Class

2) MILEAGEPLUS (UNITED)

  • Membership Level: MileagePlus member
  • Expiration date: N/A
  • Number of Award miles: 521
  • Number of Status miles earned in 2012: 0
  • Number of Award miles earned in 2012: 61,200

How did I earn these miles?
I bought 98,000 Wyndham Rewards points for $308 (€237,85) during the yearly U.S. Travel Association “Daily Getaways” campaign and converted them to 39,200 United Mileage Plus miles.  I also bought 20,000 Mileage Plus miles for $451 (€347,86) via a facebook 40% discount sale.
Finally, during an award reservation, I was 1479 miles short, so I had to buy a set of 2000 Mileage Plus miles for $70 (€58,47).
Conclusion, in total I bought 61,200 United Mileage Plus miles for €644,18
On what did I spent miles?
70K miles on an itinerary including Singapore Airlines First Class & Business Class + Air New Zealand Business and Economy Class.  More details to follow! :)

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Koh Chang (Thailand)

Posted on June 24, 2012 | 3 Comments


Pic: The Pool at AMARI Emerald Cove, Koh Chang, Thailand (May 2012)

Pic: Palm Tree Swing at Lagoona Beach Resort, Koh Chang (May 2012)
On previous trips to Thailand I visited Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai (Songkran), Koh Tao, Hua Hin and Pattaya.  My latest trip to Thailand (May 2012) had Koh Chang (Elephant island) as main destination.  Getting to the island is convenient and cheap.  The Lonely Beach Express minibus service runs three times per day between Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and Koh Chang.  The journey takes between 5 and 6 hours and includes a ferry ride from Laem Ngop pier to Ko Chang.  A return ticket for the minibus only cost THB800 (€20) and includes the fee for the ferry.  No reservations are required for the Bangkok -> Ko Chang journey, just show up at door 8 Ground Floor (G) of the Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal.  Contrary to what the minibus service website states, you do get dropped of at the entrance of your hotel on the island. For the trip back to Bangkok, you’ll need to call the phone number on your ticket to confirm the shuttle pick-up time. 

Pic: Jacuzzi at Mercure Koh Chang Hideaway (May 2012)

Pic: Narak at The Spa Koh Chang Resort (May 2012)
When I visited Koh Chang in May, it was very quiet on the island.  I learned low season runs from May till early October as it rains a lot during those months.  If you don’t mind cloudy skies and like a deserted island, this is the time to visit, otherwise stick to the dry months!  As the island only has one international chain hotel (Mercure Koh Chang Hideaway) which doesn’t have a particular good loyalty program (Le Club Accorhotels) I went for an independent hotel.  I didn’t have much time to research on hotels and made my choice based on Tripadvisor reviews and room rate.  I chose Garden Resort near Kai Bea beach rated number 4 out of 68 hotels at Ko Chang.  The bungalows were quite spacious and clean, breakfast was inclusive and the owner Mause, a friendly (but quite frank) Dutchmen, was always willing to provide local advice.  At €38 per night it wasn’t expensive, but while exploring the island I learned I could have gotten better value at other places.  For budget travelers (with less than €20 to spend per night) there are many options available, including TK208, a small bed and breakfast at Kai Bae with rooms from THB700 (€17).  For cheap (less than €5/day) and reliable motorbike rentals near Kai Bae, check with Bobby Food Shop.

Pic: Nature Rocks at Lonely Beach Koh Chang (May 2012)
During my three day stay at the island, I visited a number of hotels and resorts.  The most spectacular ones were Amari Emerald Cove and The Dewa.  Together with a German guy which I met at Bangkok airport, we drove our scooters around the island from one beach to another.  Siam Bay Resort’s great view on uninhabited island, tasty banana shakes and chill atmosphere at Nature Rocks Lonely Beach,  Palm Tree Swing at Lagoona Beach Bar, funky looking huts at Independent Bo White Sands Beach, Rotee Pancakes at Bobby Food Shop.  Just to name a few of the highlights on the island.

Pic: Sunset at Lonely Beach Koh Chang (May 2012)

Pic: Filou Cocktail Bar at Kai Bae Koh Chang (May 2012)

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Welcome Studio Brussel travel fans!

Posted on March 20, 2012 | 2 Comments


A quick post to welcome my new blog readers after my ‘last-minute’ talk at Sound of Sam on Studio Brussel (Belgian radio station).  Returned from an extended weekend trip to the Portugese Algarve this afternoon.  At Brussels Airport, I got a call from Studio Brussel asking me if I could talk a bit about my extensive traveling and provide some travel advice to their listeners.  Didn’t have much time to prepare myself, two hours later I was live on the air.  A lot of people are now asking for a list of practical tips and tricks to book their next cheap luxury vacation.  Unfortunately, there’s no easy one click solution to cheap luxury hotels and flights.  You’ll need to invest some time to understand the ‘system’ to get the best deals for your specific needs.  If it would take no effort, everyone would apply the ‘tricks’ and hotels and airlines would immediately anticipate and make it much harder to book their flights and rooms at low prices.  In the next couple of weeks, I’ll post some more practical guidance on how to book flights and hotels.  For those who can’t wait, here are some links to site which can help you book great deals:
Flights:
http://kayak.com
http://skyscanner.net
http://bravofly.com
http://qfly.nl
http://bruxx.be
Hotels:
http://hotelscombined.com
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/
Learn the ‘tricks’:
http://flyertalk.com
http://milepoint.com
http://frequentflyerbonuses.com/

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Superior room at NH Ghent Belfort

Posted on July 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

Pic: Superior room at NH Ghent Belfort (July 2011)
Pic: Superior room at NH Ghent Belfort (July 2011)
After experiencing the comfort of staying at a downtown hotel during the Gentse Feesten last year, I couldn’t resist booking a room for this year’s edition.  In 2010, I had an excellent stay at Marriott Ghent (ranked #1 for Ghent on Tripadvisor) with a memorable check-in experience.  Check this funny review “Belgium’s Marriott Ghent formerly a brothel“  Marriott was bookable at Marriott.com for 149 euro for a 1 King Guest Room stay on July 20, 2011.

NH Ghent Belfort (ranked #3 for Ghent on Tripadvisor) was my choice for 2011.  After reading the reviews, it was obvious to me I had to book a Superior room (129 euro).  They were recently renovated and only 15 euro more expensive than the Standard rooms (114 euro).  At check-in I requested a late check-out which was promptly refused; “It’s weekend and we are fully booked”  When I countered with the fact I had checked the website with rooms still available a few moments before, the frontdesk lady went to the backoffice to see the manager on duty.  A few moments later I was confirmed a 1pm check-out time.  Not impressed, the InterContinental Ambassador program guarantees 4pm late check-out for every stay.  The room was clean, spacious and had a modern design.  Also remarkable was the complete silence in the room while the concerts and events of the Gentse Feesten were ongoing just outside the hotel.

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InterContinental Royal Ambassador

Posted on May 24, 2011 | 17 Comments

Pic: My InterContinental Paris Le Grand – Royal Suite Bedroom (March 2011)
Twitter is my number one internet and mobile phone application since 2007.  It has provide me with some incredible value in the past four years.  Here’s an example on how twitter created travel value for me.  After checking out at the InterContinental Seoul Parnas last month, I tweeted my disappointment about the high bill for internet access and minibar usage.  One of my fellow twitter followers responded with an incredible offer.  He had achieved Royal Ambassador status (highest elite status at IHG) in 2010 and was offering me his InterContinental Royal Ambassador Referral Certificate.  The qualification criteria to become an InterContinental Royal Ambassador are unpublished, but anecdotal evidence indicates Ambassador members need to stay 50 to 60 nights in one year at IHG hotels (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites) with at least 3 hotel stays at different InterContinental Hotels.  That’s quite a challenge!  Once you achieve the Royal Ambassador level, you can also invite one member.  Thanks to my tweets I was invited by a very generous Royal Ambassador follower.

Pic: My room at the InterContinental Shenzhen, China. (January 2010)

It took IHG a while to process my Royal Ambassador Referral Certificate, but today I finally unlocked the InterContinental Royal Platinum Ambassador badge.  That one word ‘Royal’ comes with some great additional benefits:
• Guaranteed two level room upgrade (i.e. Executive Room, Suite or Club Room)
• Complimentary mini-bar: unlimited mini-bar beverages free of charge
• Guaranteed early check-in (8 am)
• Free internet access
• Complimentary Platinum level membership in the Priority Club program which is applicable to the other brands of the InterContinental portfolio (Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Starbridge Suites and Candlewood Suites)
• 1000 Priority Club Royal Ambassador Bonus Points per stay

Pic: My room at the InterContinental Hua Hin, Thailand (February 2011)

As an InterContinental Ambassador I already had these benefits:
• Guaranteed room upgrade
• Guaranteed late check-out (4 pm)
• Free movie – One complimentary Pay-TV film per stay
• Fresh fruit and mineral water – in your room upon arrival
• Guaranteed room availability with 24-hour advance reservation
• Complimentary newspaper each morning
• Complimentary use of health club facilities (fitness gym, swimming pool, jacuzzi etc most hotels)
• Welcome gift upon arrival (often something reflecting the local culture at participating Hotels)
• Complimentary weekend night

Pic: InterContinental Hua Hin lobby, Thailand (February 2011)

As I’ll be staying at the InterContinental London Park Lane tomorrow, I’ll have the opportunity to benefit my Royal Ambassador status from day one. :-)

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