Tag Archives: Outstanding Service

DEALS, TRAVEL

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

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By Lakshmi and Siddhi:

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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TRAVEL

The Park Hotel Tokyo – A Tablet Discovery Hits All the Right Notes

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By Lakshmi:

As someone who can think of travel any time of the day or night, it should come as no surprise that I can devour travel magazines cover to cover, read about hotels and journeys non stop and of course drool at all the beautiful properties that the most creative architects and designers keep conceiving and delivering.   It is this innate desire that led to my discovery of Tablet, a website whose purpose is “to put the ease, the romance, the glamour back in travel, from inspiration to confirmation”.

For a while, I kept browsing their one of a kind hotel finds and when points could be redeemed for air tickets to Tokyo last Christmas, Tablet  was the first stop to uncover hotels and it delivered better than we thought possible.  We read about the Park Hotel, a property located in the heart of Tokyo, above the Shidome station and a few minutes walk from Shimbashi.

This description bowled us over…the core of the building has been hollowed out, so that its 274 rooms all face outward. The result is a sun-drenched ten-story atrium, extending 120 feet straight up to the skyscraper’s glass ceiling — far more refreshing than the enclosed lobby floor of some Tokyo tower hotels.

Our first exposure to the outstanding service we would receive over the week was when we could not find our way from the train station to the hotel.  We called the concierge and when despite her instructions, we were looping around the building, she sent someone to fetch us who of course after many an apology, led us over to the beautiful property.  “Zen Like” were the first words that came to mind as we walked into the lobby.  A discreet friendly staff, a view of Mount Fuji and very modern surroundings.

Here are all the ways in which the staff delighted us.  We asked for a breakfast recommendation and the staff said there was a Starbucks in the basement and walked us over.  We wanted to get tickets for Tokyo Disney and a staff member said we could get it at a vending machine downstairs, but since it was in Japanese, he walked over to do the transaction for us.  When we asked if we could use a gym close by, a reservation was made immediately, a taxi arranged and when we returned, the manager hurriedly walked over to make sure everything was to our satisfaction.  We asked for walking paths and were given multiple maps and follow ups at the end of the day on whether we were successful in our endeavors.

We go in expecting so little in terms of support that when we encounter this kind of service we are both a bit embarrassed and bowled over.  Besides the people, the infrastructure provided was excellent.  We had a lovely room, free hi-fi access, just some amazing toiletries, a laundry down the hall and of course the most comfortable robes and slippers.

You could read a million reviews of a hotel and still be disappointed or pick one as we did based on a curator’s recommendation and come out completely delighted on every front.

To look at some truly drool worthy hotels around the globe, please visit.

http://www.tablethotels.com/

To learn more about the Park Hotel Tokyo, click here:

http://www.tablethotels.com/Park-Hotel-Tokyo/Tokyo-Hotels-Japan/4335