Travel Planning: Fall in Asia
Review: LAX Star Alliance Lounge
Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class LAX - NRT
Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo
Recap: Time in Tokyo
Review: HND JAL First Class Lounge
Review: JAL Business Class HND - GMP
Review: IP Boutique Hotel Seoul
Recap: Time in Seoul
Review: ICN Cathay Pacific Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class ICN - HKG
Review: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui
Recap: Time in Hong Kong
Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific First Class HKG - SFO


Background

First, a little background on the (very special) IP Boutique Hotel in Seoul... 

As you will remember, we chose to stay at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo. By we, I mean Chris. He was dead set on staying at the Park Hyatt, but I was just not willing to pay for half of the stay (it's exorbitantly expensive). Unfazed, Chris decided that since we had three nights in Tokyo and three in Seoul, I could pay for the Seoul hotel and he would pay for Tokyo. As long as he could stay at the Park Hyatt, I was free to choose literally any hotel in Seoul. Even a hostel. I accepted the challenge and found the best hotel I could under $200 a night - enter: the IP Boutique Hotel. 

The Hotel

Online, the hotel looked quirky and kind of fun. The rooms are decorated in a very interesting way. Admittedly, the design wasn't quite what we were used to, but I thought it could be fun. After combing through Trip Advisor and Hotels.com reviews, I decided it was at least decent, so I booked it. After finding a 15% off coupon for Hotels.com (seriously, always Google for a coupon code before booking ANYTHING), I ended up paying $158/night for 3 nights. I was satisfied. 

We arrived at the hotel around 8 PM after our flight in to GMP. Traffic was absolutely insane and it took almost two hours for us to get from the airport (which is much closer to the heart of Seoul than ICN) to the hotel. The hotel is located in Itaewon, which is an area of Seoul known for having a lot of expats, which we figured meant we could find some different food and some English speakers. We actually liked the area a lot. It was lively and had a ton of choices for restaurants, bars, and shops. The hotel was also about a 5-10 minute walk from Itaewon Station, which was super convenient for getting around the city.

Your first impression (and your last impression) of the hotel will be almost an assault of color and odd design choices. Coming from the Park Hyatt, we literally could not have found something more different. Gone was understated, muted luxury. It was replaced with rainbow colors, white leather, and glass and mirrors. So much glass and so many mirrors. 

The lobby was something. It had several hanging swings along the side of one wall, a lot of mirrors, and various pieces of funky artwork. After such a long taxi ride from the airport, we were pleased that check in was very easy. The front desk agents spoke English and processed us quickly. Somehow (I have no idea how), we had even been upgraded to a suite. 

We took the elevator up to the third floor (which had a bit of a funny smell) and were greeted with a dark hallway. We made it to our room and were met with some combination of sterile, yet rainbow decor (if that exists). The furniture was all completely white. The chair and sofa in the living room were white leather. All of the furniture in the bedroom was white. The color was on the floor and in the accents around the room. Bright red carpet, a giant strawberry decal on the wall over the bed, a rainbow comforter. 

It was really quite something. 

After getting over the initial shock of the decor, the hotel really is completely functional and wasn't bad at all. For the price, you really couldn't beat it and it had everything we needed. The hotel offers free wifi, which is awesome, and the room has everything you would need. We had a safe, two TVs, a closet, a desk, a nice bathroom and there was also a coffee maker, free water bottles, and a minibar.  

The bathroom was one for the books. It's just glass and mirrors. Luckily, the glass is frosted, but not all the way up or down. The glass also doesn't extend all the way to the ceiling. This means that the bathroom is not enclosed. At all. This means that "bathroom sounds" can be heard with absolutely no effort whatsoever by anyone sitting in the bedroom. 

You'll want to be very secure with the person you're staying in this room with. The bathroom leaves almost nothing to the imagination and I was certainly not prepared for it. 

That being said, it was still nice. We had a large tub, the shower had a nice rain shower head, and the toilet was Japanese, so it had all the bells and whistles you could ever need. 

At the end of the day, we had a decent place to stay and it was cheap. Would I stay here again? Probably not. It was a bit too weird for my taste and I probably would just bite the bullet and spend a bit more if I ever find myself back in Seoul. However, it honestly wasn't bad and if you're okay with funky decor and an exposed bathroom experience, go for it - the location was great, the hotel was clean and the wifi was free. 

Happy Travels!

Travel Planning: Fall in Asia
Review: LAX Star Alliance Lounge
Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class LAX - NRT
Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo
Recap: Time in Tokyo
Review: HND JAL First Class Lounge
Review: JAL Business Class HND - GMP
Review: IP Boutique Hotel Seoul
Recap: Time in Seoul
Review: ICN Cathay Pacific Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class ICN - HKG
Review: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui
Recap: Time in Hong Kong
Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific First Class HKG - SFO


When we found out that our award routing would take us to Tokyo for three nights, in Chris' mind, there was only one place to stay - the Park Hyatt Tokyo. The Park Hyatt in Tokyo is actually an incredibly iconic hotel and we found it was very well-known around the city. We never had a problem when telling taxi drivers the name of the hotel in English and they all knew where it was. As its biggest claim to fame, for those of you who have seen Lost in Translation, virtually the entire movie takes place at the Park Hyatt Tokyo and in the hotel's signature bar, the New York Bar.

We landed at Narita around 7:30 PM and grabbed a train and a taxi from the airport, then arrived at the hotel around 9 PM. Despite getting quite a bit of sleep on our Singapore Suites flight, we were still pretty tired. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were greeted by several employees who helped us get our luggage out of the taxi and another who met us and asked for the name our reservation was under. She then proceeded to escort us through the entrance lobby and up to the hotel's actual lobby on the 41st floor of the building. Upon stepping out of the elevator, you will arrive into an atrium area with seating and amazing views of Tokyo. The area is mostly unused except in the evenings when it turns into the Peak Lounge. As Diamond guests, we were able to attend a complimentary happy hour in the Peak Lounge, which happens every day from 5 PM to 9 PM. The happy hour offered a full bar, several bottles of white and red wine and champagne, and a few snacks. The snacks were not substantial, but the happy hour was nice and I would recommend checking it out if you're back from sightseeing early enough.

From the atrium area, she took us right and led us past one of the hotel's restaurants, Girandole, which is where you can get breakfast in the morning, then through the library and finally, into the reception area. At that point, we were met by another employee who took us straight to our suite to complete the check-in process. 

As I mentioned, check-in was completed in our room but I honestly was not a fan of the courtesy. To me, it was incredibly awkward to be walked into our room and to sit down in our living room, then be asked all the standard check-in questions and not be able to just relax once we arrived in the room. Luckily, it was a fairly quick process and of course the staff member was incredibly polite and professional. He explained the features of the hotel, asked us to select our Diamond benefits and then thankfully, we had the room to ourself.

Chris paid cash for a standard room and then used a suite upgrade that he received for participating in the Hyatt Diamond Challenge, so we were upgraded to a Park Suite King. We took a separate elevator that only goes to the guest floors up from the lobby to our room and the same bluish color scheme from the reception area continued into the hallways. Our doorway was flanked by ducks on pedestals, which made it look incredibly special and when we made it inside, the room was incredible. 

We walked in to a completely separate front entrance hall and only after walking through that could you see any of the suite. The layout was well thought-out and had distinct areas, but was only actually separated by an accordion style wall. The suite had a living room with dining table and desk, a large bedroom, an incredible bathroom and even a dressing table and large closet to place our luggage in. 

The room was beautifully appointed and the decor was timeless. There were light Japanese touches throughout, which really made us feel like we were in Japan despite actually being in a Western hotel chain.

A few weeks ago, we visited Miami and decided to stay at the SLS Hotel in South Beach. The SLS is a boutique hotel and it has a great location right on the beach. It was a bit of a departure from our usual hotel stays because if I'm being honest, we are kind of boring and unexciting. The SLS is probably best known for Hyde Beach, which is essentially a giant all-day pool party. (Hotel guests have the option of a separate pool area, but they get free entry to Hyde Beach while non-guests have to pay to get in.) Needless to say, we didn't get to Hyde Beach, but we did really enjoy our stay at the hotel. It was unique and interestingly decorated and the location worked well for us. 

In our usual fashion, we arrived early Saturday morning after a Friday night red eye. Unfortunately, we were so early that our room wasn't ready, so we left our bags at the front desk and went searching for some coffee in the scorching heat. After about an hour and a half, we got a call that our room was ready and we were really looking forward to a shower. 

The check-in area is quite small and the front desk is next to The Bazaar, a tapas restaurant at the hotel. There's really no lobby to speak of, so if you didn't have a room or a reservation at one of the restaurants, there is literally no place for you to go. Our check-in was processed quickly and they had already sent our bags up to our room, which was a very nice touch. 

We headed up to our room and on the way, I noticed a live video feed of the beach right behind the hotel. In case you didn't want to walk all the way out there to see what it was like, you could get an idea right after stepping off the elevator. It was basically like the Huntington Beach live feed in Hollister, but cooler. 

After the excitement of the video feed, I was a bit overwhelmed by the oddness of the hallway. The halls are nearly completely black from floor to ceiling and when you come out of the elevator, there is no sign or sense to which direction the rooms can be found in. The numbers don't seem to go in a sensical order and there are several rooms that must be accessed by heading into the emergency exit stairwell. 

In a pretty stark contrast to the hallway, our room was completely white with light pink accents. It was actually quite gorgeous and was a little flamboyant, but still tastefully done. According to the hotel's website: Philippe Starck channeled the ghost of Madame de Pompadour. Fit for Louis XV's legendary mistress, the trendy boutique design reflects the sophistication of old French aristocracy while naughty nods such as mirrors on the ceiling and a box marked "sinners" keep things historically accurate.

The room was simple, with a king bed and a long sitting area that ran nearly the length of the room. The "closet" was interesting and housed the minibar as well as a small gift shop of sorts. In case you were dying to get your hands on a SLS Hotel baseball cap, there was no need to leave the room. The mirror on the ceiling was also quite hard to miss. 

We visited D.C. earlier this month and Chris insisted that we stay at the Park Hyatt. He's been a huge fan of the brand for a while now and really couldn't resist the idea of staying here during our quick weekend trip (aren't they all?). It was in a great location in the heart of D.C. - we were walking distance to Georgetown and a quick bike ride away from all of the monuments. What more could you want?

When we arrived at the hotel, it was way too early for any rooms to be available, which unfortunately always happens due to our penchant for red-eye flights, so we stored our bags and went for a walk around the area. I love D.C. and always enjoy walking around whatever neighborhood I find myself in and this time was no different. There were quite a few other high-end hotels on the same street (Fairmont, Westin, etc) and lots of cute, colorful homes just a few streets away. We got a call from reception not long after we left saying that they had a room available, so we headed back.

The hotel is gorgeous from the outside and is home to The Blue Duck Tavern, which is their amazing in-house restaurant (more on that later).

The lobby is quite unique with large glass walls on either side of the entrance decorated with cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, the chairs the Park Hyatt seems to fancy are absolutely awful. You'll find these same slip-covered chairs throughout their properties and I'm really at a loss as to why.

The front desk was rarely unattended, but I managed to catch it that way since it was pretty early in the morning. The agent who checked us in was extremely friendly and helpful and we really appreciated being able to shower prior to meeting friends for breakfast. Unfortunately, we ended up with the curse of the early check-in - our room was one of the smallest in the hotel according to the floorplan, which was a bit disappointing.

Weekend Write-Up: London, Part I
Weekend Write-Up: London, Part II
Review: InterContinental London Westminster
Review: LHR BA Galleries First Lounge

During our whirlwind weekend in London earlier this month, we stayed at the InterContinental London Westminster. Making our stay somewhat comical was the fact that on the day we checked out, the hotel was re-branded from InterContinental to Conrad Hilton. It is now actually the Conrad London St. James.

One of the best parts about my surprise trip to London earlier this month was the absolutely wonderful hotel that we stayed at while we were there. Chris booked two nights at the InterContiental London Westminster (now the Conrad London St. James) and the hotel was absolutely amazing. Not only was the hotel gorgeous, but the location was absolutely perfect. It was a 5 minute walk to Westminster Abbey, the Thames, Big Ben, and the London Eye, a 10 minute walk to Buckingham Palace, and it was directly across the street from the St. James tube station, which runs both the Central and District lines. It really could not have been any better in terms of location and since we were in London for such a short time (less than two full days), it made a huge difference for us being able to get where we needed to go!

We arrived at the hotel at around 5PM and noticed that the signage outside had been taken down in preparation for the change-over. We arrived on August 30 and the switch was set to happen on September 1 - the day we were checking out.

We made it into the lobby and were able to check in. Unfortunately, we got a room on the second floor, which meant there was no view to speak of, but that was no matter, because we really were not planning on spending much time in the room anyways. 

The entire hotel was decked out in gorgeous wood walls and accents and I really loved it. Our room also had a heavy dosage of wood and was a bit small (although that's what you expect in London), but was definitely beautifully appointed. Our room had a small hallway when you walked in that led to the bathroom and the bedroom. We had a king room with a desk and a very nice bar area with a Nespresso machine and a glass to suit your every need. The television was cleverly mounted behind a very unique glass panel and the sound was also piped into the bathroom in case you wanted to listen to Top Gear while you're in the shower.