We stayed in some great hotels this past year. We started off the year with a weekend in Southern California ahead of our SE Asia trip. We spent a night at the Mission Pacific in Oceanside and really enjoyed that hotel. It was a great use of an expiring Hyatt Category 1-7 certificate, and we maximized our time there staying from 11am until 4pm the next day. Despite some rainy weather, it was the perfect place to relax and recharge ahead of our 17+ hour flight to Singapore the next evening.

In SE Asia, we stayed in some iconic hotels starting with the Conrad Centennial Singapore booked through American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program. We got both the Amex benefits and the Hilton Diamond benefits. We were able to check in at 9am local time and enjoy their amazing breakfast buffet.

In Siem Reap, we stayed in a Park Executive Suite at the Park Hyatt that included a private plunge pool. That hotel also had my favorite breakfast of the trip.

Another favorite on that trip was the Park Hyatt Saigon. It’s an iconic property that used to be the US military HQ during the war but has been extensively renovated and we got a beautiful suite there thanks to a Hyatt Suite Upgrade Award.

One last great property from that trip was the Hyatt Regency Da Nang Resort. We actually got a double upgrade there. Our Suite Upgrade Award was applied, and the hotel further upgraded us to an oceanfront suite which was huge and had amazing views.

On our other domestic trips, we stayed at some old and new places. We stayed at the Park Hyatt DC again, but that hotel is showing its age, although the breakfast remains a highlight. A couple of New York trips provided some memorable stays for different reasons. The Grayson Hotel was a fun and quirky place to stay, although I’m not sure I would necessarily stay there again as we like to try different places in New York City each time. However, one place we will go back to is the Marriott Luxury Collection Manhattan. The reason is because of the screaming deal I got using Marriott points when this property re-flagged from a Hilton. That deal was only available for a day or so before Marriott wised up, but it was long enough to book a stay last October and another one for next March. It’s an all-suite property so it gives lots of space for Manhattan and the location is very good. As for the breakfast prices, well that’s another story.

Our trip to the UK late in the year provided one of our favorite ever hotel stays, the Great Scotland Yard. This is a quirky Hyatt property (I was able to use my Category 1-7 certificate for one of the nights). We really loved the artwork, theme and location of this hotel and I expect we’ll be back again next time we’re in London.

Even though we didn’t travel quite as much this year, we stayed in some amazing properties. Next year we have some great stays booked already. We will be staying at three different luxury properties in Bali, the Park Hyatt in Paris, a nice looking Marriott property in Lille and some other fantastic properties that will be added along the way. Thanks for following along with our travels this year and I hope you have a great holiday season and Happy New Year!

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