Have you heard of Minute Suites before? I hadn’t either, until recently. On Mother’s Day, my mom and I flew to Cancun on a whim for a 3-night stay at the Nizuc Resort & Spa. We took a redeye and ended up at Dallas Fort Worth at 5:30 AM for […]
Tag: hotels
How Club1 hotels saved me almost $1,300 at the Nizuc Resort in Cancun
It was Mother’s Day and one week before I was supposed to start a new job. I needed a vacation and a Mother’s Day gift, so I decide to travel someplace and bring my mom along. My plan to travel to Asia was put on the back burner because it was raining […]
How to book Kimpton hotels with points
When IHG acquired Kimpton back in 2014, the company announced that they would keep the Kimpton Karma Rewards program intact. They’ve kept true to their word. This has kept Kimpton fans happy but left IHG loyalists disappointed because it hasn’t been possible to redeem IHG points for Kimpton hotel says. […]
Review: Pullman Zamzam Madina 2-bedroom executive suite
The Pullman Zamzam Madina is probably the best value hotel in Medina. While other hotels were charging $400+ per night for standard rooms, the Pullman had rates of just $200 for standard rooms and $450 for a 914 sqft 2-Bedroom Executive Suite. Since I was an Accor Le Club Silver […]
Review: Conrad Makkah executive lounge and Al Mearaj restaurant
While our three rooms at the Conrad Makkah were booked under two Hilton HHonors Diamond and one Gold account, all of us received executive club lounge access. In addition, we were offered breakfast at the Al Mearaj restaurant, which I think beat the Hilton Sydney in terms of the most amazing breakfast buffet […]
Review: Conrad Makkah Haram View Suite
During our Umrah trip this past December, we stayed at the Conrad Makkah. The hotel opened last summer and appears to be a Category 8 Hilton, with award rates being 70,000 points per night. It’s located in the Jabal Omar area, next to the Hyatt Regency, Hilton, and Marriott hotels. […]
Credit card spending requirements for top-tier hotel elite status
There was a time when most of us thought top-tier hotel elite status was out of reach. After all, who stays 25-50 nights at hotels every year? Mostly business travelers. Thanks to rewards credit cards, that’s no longer the case. Most hotel credit cards offer low or mid-tier status with […]
Hyatt Place Chicago Downtown The Loop Review
The Hyatt Place Chicago Downtown The Loop is probably the best value hotel you can book on points in Chicago. Last October, I visited Chicago for a few days while attending the annual Chicago Seminars. My younger sister was with me, so we decided to spend most of our time […]
The latest chapter in the Accor – Ibis Calais billing saga
A few weeks ago I wrote about a billing issue I experienced at the and how Accor had failed to rectify the situation. They kept giving me reference numbers and saying somebody would follow up. Or they would forward my inquiry to the hotel, after which the manager would refuse […]
Hotel Ibis Calais Review
The Ibis Calais Hotel is located about 2.5 miles from the center of town and the Calais Ville train station. I chose this hotel mainly because it was close to the L’Auberge des Migrants/Help Refugees Warehouse where I was volunteering. And because it was affiliated with Accor Hotels so I […]