Tag Archives: Hotel

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DEALS, DEPARTURES

Club Carlson Hotels – The Loyalty Program That Makes Us Fall In Love!

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By Lakshmi:

We’re in love!  Yes, we fell in love about a year ago in Sweden and then the romance was rekindled recently in London.  We can safely declare that for us, this romance is here to stay.  We are officially in a long-term relationship, with Club Carlson playing cupid in our romance with its hotels.

Ok, if you think we are going crazy, you are right.  Now let’s tell you why we are in this state of mind.

Last May we discovered and wrote about the 50,000 points giveaway from Radisson.  If you stayed a night at any Radisson property, you would be awarded with 50,000 points in Club Carlson’s program.  Siddhi and I were in Sweden, needed a couple of hotels and the bonus points steered us towards our maiden Radisson Blu experience.   We LOVED the service and better yet, loved the 100,000 bonus points we got.

Fast forward ten months later and we had a chance to use our points at the Plaza on the River in London.  This Carlson brand appealed to us for its picturesque location on the water and promising views of Big Ben.  Plus, we’d be lying if we did not admit that it was awesome to redeem our points for a pricey, waterfront property.

Now to the details on how this property made us fall in love with Club Carlson all over again.  First, we were “quadruple upgraded” to a two bedroom, two bathroom, waterfront facing suite with a living room and kitchen.  Take a look at the pictures at the end of this post and you’ll realize what a big deal that is.  We were provided late check out.  The people at the desk were incredibly friendly.  The concierge, incredibly efficient.  When we said that we were hoping to do laundry and noticed the machine in the room was not working, guess what they did?  Yes, they tried to fix the machine, but when they could not, our laundry was done free of charge and delivered overnight.

Let me not forget to mention that we had views of the Parliament and Big Ben and were within a few minutes walk of the Vauxhall tube stop.

Now to the grand finale – when we checked out, we discovered that we had stayed for FREE in a hotel that was going for 460 pounds per night that week.  And we had stayed without spending a dime for two nights.

We absolutely love the rewards offered by the Club Carlson program.  And more importantly we love how their hotels enable us as travelers.  That’s why this relationship will be forged forward.  And the next step in this romance? We are getting the Club Carlson Visa Card which will reward us nicely for signing up and for our many upcoming stays in Europe in the not too distant future.

Thank you Club Carlson for wooing us over.  We’re here to stay!

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DEALS

Points, Miles And More For January 2013 And Beyond

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By Lakshmi:

I have been a little lax in reporting the latest deals.  While there are plenty of points and miles bonanzas happening all the way around, here are a few that have caught our attention.

Club Carlson:

Club Carlson is offering triple points on hotel stays, food and beverages charged to your room between January 8 and March 15, 2013 at any of their more than 1,000 Carlson Rezidor hotels worldwide.  To earn these bonus points, you need to register your Club Carlson account at

https://www.clubcarlson.com/secure/offers/5962135?hotelBrandCode=

The second offer that is very enticing is a $75 annual fee Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature Card.  Here are the key highlights which make the card well worth the annual fee.

  • Receive 50,000 Gold Points after your first purchase.  Plus 35,000 points once you spend $2,500 on your card within the first 90 days.  50,000 points is enough to snag a free room at many of the best Radisson Blues around the world which go at $300 plus a night.
  • Earn 10 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels worldwide.
  • 5 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else.
  • Bonus Award Night - When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free when you are a cardmember! We love this one.
  • You get Club Carlson Gold Status after you activate and use your card.

To learn more about this offer, click here: http://bit.ly/XuJu8N

Marriott:  

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus 2013 is here.  Once you register your account, you need to

  • Stay twice at any participating hotel between February 1 and April 30, 2013
  • You will earn 1 free night after every second paid stay, up to 3 free nights
  • Your free nights can be redeemed at nearly 3,ooo category 1-4 hotels

To register, call 888-MARRIOTT (627-7468) by March 15, 2013 or register online at https://www.marriott.com/rewards/promotion.mi?promotion=MS13

In conjunction with United Airlines, Marriott Vacation Club International has a sweepstakes where you can enter once daily for the chance to win a trip to Australia, China, Hawaii or Italy.  The rewards include business class tickets, hotel, spending money are more.  The bummer for me?  It is not open to residents of New Jersey!  To register for this, click here:

https://www.marriottvacationclubsweepstakes.dja.com/

United:

If you have an upcoming trip to London from the US between now and January 31st, you can earn bonus miles. Here are the details for Promotion Code: TB4M63

  • Offer valid on paid qualifying roundtrips in United Global First, United BusinessFirst and full-fare Economy fares (F, A, J, C, D, Z, P, Y and B booking classes).
  • Offer valid on tickets purchased between October 4, 2012, and January 31, 2013, with travel completed between October 4, 2012, and January 31, 2013.
  • MileagePlus members can earn 15,000 bonus award miles for the first qualifying roundtrip, 35,000 bonus award miles for the second qualifying roundtrip and 50,000 bonus award miles for each additional roundtrip.

To register for this promotion, click here:

http://bit.ly/QixtzI

US Airways:  There is a targeted offer out from US Airways offering 15,000 bonus points if you spend over $750 each month each for Jan, Feb, March, 2013 on the US Airways Dividend Miles MasterCard.  Watch out for credit card snail mail/email notifications from the US Airways Dividend Miles team to see if you are targeted.

Happy traveling:)

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DEPARTURES

Movenpick Amsterdam – A Hotel That Won Us Over

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By Lakshmi:

A few years ago, we had made plans to spend Christmas in Amsterdam.  It is one of our favorite cities and we were very much looking forward to staying at Dam Square and found a great deal at the Swissotel.  But alas, an illness with a family member forced us to change plans and move our trip to peak Spring season and the best value we could get was away from Dam Square at a property on the water known as the Movenpick Hotel Amsterdam.

We had heard good things about the brand, but had never stayed there.  We were still saddened about not being in the heart of the city at Dam Square.  But we relented and decided to go for this property.

From our very first interaction over the phone to the support provided after we returned home, this hotel made our stay amazing and won us over.  Here’s how they did it.

- The hotel offers a shuttle pick up from Central Station.  We called from the station and due to construction were given explicit instructions on the right exit to take to the spot on the street where we would be picked up.  First handshake - success!

- The property is modern, designed beautifully and occupies prime real estate on the water adjacent to the beautiful Muziekgebouw concert hall.  We loved the aesthetics.

- The front desk staff could not have been any friendlier.  Given the girls excitement, they gave us a room facing the water that simply made each morning and evening that much more special.  And they always had pointers for us on things to do.

- Our concern about not being on Dam Square was more than addressed by these facts.  It is a short 15 minute walk or a few minute tram ride to the Square and most importantly being on the water helped us escape the bustle of the city whenever we wanted to.

- The breakfast was awesome.

- At the basement of the hotel is a bike rental place that we used to rent bikes and do a tour of the dutch countryside.  Great convenience.

- Now for the ultimate in service.  Upon getting to the airport, we realized that we had forgotten a key purchase at a locker in one of the city’s museums.  We called the museum, asked if they could ship it which they declined.  We called the hotel concierge and they immediately set the wheels in motion to help us.  Not only did they pick up our purchase, they mailed it to us without charging us a dime.  This despite our multiple offers to pay.

Amsterdam is absolutely one of our favorite cities in the world and we are glad to have found a gem to return to on future journeys.

To learn more about this beautiful property click here:

http://www.moevenpick-hotels.com/en/europe/netherlands/amsterdam/hotel-amsterdam/overview/

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