Guest Reviewer: Chris

An avid traveler and obsessive points and miles hound, Chris is my travel buddy extraordinaire. I love him for his enthusiasm, his sense of adventure, and his many lounge access credit cards. Hope you enjoy his perspective! ​

Recently I took a weekend trip to Puerto Rico in order to earn some elite-qualifying miles with American Airlines (maintaining Executive Platinum status is hard work!). To book my hotel, I decided to use Hotel Tonight, which is an app that offers deals on last-minute hotel reservations. One of the hotel choices for my one-night stay was the Condado Vanderbilt, located about a 15-minute drive from the San Juan airport. It wasn’t the cheapest option at $269 including taxes, but it was listed as a 5-star hotel and was in the “Luxe” category of the app, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
​
The Condado Vanderbilt was built by the Vanderbilt family in 1919 and was the first luxury hotel to open in Puerto Rico. Normally I’m not a fan of old hotels - while I appreciate their historic architecture and charm, I find that they usually have musty, cramped guest rooms. Fortunately, the Condado Vanderbilt went through extensive renovations a few years ago, so you get the best of both worlds. It’s located in the Condado neighborhood of San Juan, which is an area containing many restaurants, shops, and resorts. There was a lot more to do in the surrounding area than there was at the last hotel that Jen and I stayed at in Puerto Rico, the Ritz-Carlton San Juan.

In my past experiences with Hotel Tonight, the hotels have usually stuck me in the worst possible rooms. There was one memorable case in Portland where I’m pretty sure they put me in a converted janitor’s closet. Since you’re booking the most discounted rates, you end up at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to room assignments. So, as I was taking the elevator up, I had really low expectations for how the room would be.

This time, however, things were different. When the front desk lady said the room would be a little bit bigger, what she forgot to mention is that they’d upgraded me to a suite instead. My room had two entrances, two foyers, a bedroom, a living room, and two bathrooms. Needless to say, it was way beyond what I was expecting.

The bathrooms weren’t large, but they were clad in white marble so still felt luxurious. One of them had a shower with a rain head, and the other had a shower-tub combo. The toiletries were C.O. Bigelow branded, and were pleasant enough.

After changing into my swim trunks, I headed outside to explore the property. The hotel has two pool areas: the main tower has a large pool and an ocean-facing infinity edge pool, and the east tower has a smaller adult pool and hot tub. There’s also a small private beach (the main Condado beach is only a few minutes walk away, for those who prefer a larger beach).

I stopped by the pool desk to pick up a towel, and the attendant accompanied me to set up a lounge chair of my choice. There were plenty of available chairs to choose from, and many were even in the shade, which I appreciated. The staff regularly stopped by to check if I needed anything, and I enjoyed a few beers while I lounged by the pool. All in all, it was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

The hotel has five onsite restaurants, but I only dined at one of them during my stay: Ola, where I had breakfast. I was given the choice of indoor or outdoor seating, and opted to sit outside. The waitress soon came by with a glass of ice water, and I also ordered a cappuccino, which was delivered promptly. The were two buffet options to choose from: the continental buffet ($28) and the full buffet ($40), along with some a la carte options. I decided to go with the full buffet since I was feeling rather peckish.

The buffet had enough to satisfy even the hungriest man’s cravings. There was an omelette station, some hot dishes (such as sausages, potatoes, and frittata), yogurt, fruit, cereal, bread, cold cuts, cheeses, and pastries. While the selection was good, the food was hit-or-miss: I really liked the pastries, but the hot dishes were a bit lackluster.

Overall I really enjoyed my stay at the Condado Vanderbilt and wouldn’t hesitate to return, even though I doubt I’d be as lucky in getting a room upgrade the second time around. The hotel exceeded almost all my expectations, and I found it to offer amazing value for the price I paid - though it’s worth noting that rates are much higher during peak season. The service was impeccable, and I found my stay relaxing, even though I was only there for 24 hours.

Cheers!

Review: American Airlines Business Class LAX - PVG 
Review: PVG Cathay Pacific Lounge 
Review: Dragonair Business Class PVG - HKG 
Review: Andaz Xintiandi Shanghai
Review: Grand Hyatt Shanghai
Review: Hyatt Regency Suzhou


Cathay Pacific (CX) #5891, DragonAir (KA) #891
Shanghai (PVG) - Hong Kong (HKG)
Saturday, March 21st, 2015
6:20 PM - 9:10 PM
Airbus A330-300 Business Class

This flight is sold by Cathay Pacific, but it's operated by Cathay's regional subsidiary, Dragonair. Dragonair flies many of Cathay's intra-Asia routes and the level of service that I have come to expect is right on par with that of Cathay. At this point, I've taken several flights between Shanghai and Hong Kong on Dragonair and I'm almost never disappointed. For such a quick flight (just under 3 hours), you'll get a full meal and plenty of personalized service.

I boarded the flight and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the cabin. This particular flight had a 3 cabin configuration and the business class was configured as 2-2-2, which is absolutely fine for a short flight.  Each seat has a pillow (with funky orange metallic fabric) and blanket available as well as an in-flight entertainment screen with the same amount of movies and TV shows that you will find on a Cathay longhaul flight. Even though the airplane was a bit dated, the cabin still felt fresh and clean, which is very appreciated. 

As the flight was boarding, the flight attendants came by to welcome us aboard and offer newspapers and pre-departure beverages. In addition to the standard orange juice and water, they were also offering a very lovely alcoholic fruity something, which I took without hesitation. It was excellent, but I have no idea what was in it. 

The seats were comfortable and were able to recline as well as extend a foot rest, which is amazing to have for such a short flight. The seat controls as well as the IFE remote are next to the seat and they're intuitive enough to operate, which is not always the case. 

As expected on Cathay, the flight attendants address each passenger by name when asking for beverage orders and meal orders, which is always amazing. Sure, they use a cheat sheet at the beginning, but almost every time, they've been able to remember my name when de-planing, which is impressive! (And no, I don't think this has anything to do with the fact that I'm very blonde and there are usually very few other blonde passengers on flights in Asia.) 

As I mentioned, you can expect a full meal service on this flight, which is impressive. The crew will hand out trays with a salad, appetizer and bread plate along with your drink, then come back a bit later to add the entree. When it comes to bread, there should be no hesitation - nothing is better than Cathay Pacific garlic bread. Don't even bother with anything else. 

Aesthetically, the menu looks very similar to what you will find on American or Cathay and there's quite the selection given how short the flight is. There are three entree choices, including an "Asian Delight" which is found on a special addition to the menu and changes every couple of weeks. 

​The menu read as follows: 

...

Starters
Chicken and mushroom terrine with zucchini

Mixed lettuce salad with Italian vinaigrette dressing

Main Courses
Braised duck in five spices braising sauce

Roasted cod fillet with lemon cream emulsion, leek with bacon Gratin potato and broccoli

Asian Delight: Thai green curry beef brisket, coconut rice and vegetables

Dessert
Haagen-Dazs ice cream

​...

Since I'm not a fan of duck or fish, I went for the Asian Delight. It wasn't something I ever would have ordered in another setting, but it wasn't bad. I definitely felt proud of myself for trying something new. Dessert was ice cream, which was simple and delicious.

Shortly after the meal service concluded, it was time to prepare for landing in Hong Kong.

There is really no better way to travel between Hong Kong and China and I really enjoy Dragonair. Aside from the fact that the hard product and service are excellent, there's also the fact that the airline has a very cool name, so you really can't go wrong. 

Review: American Airlines Business Class LAX - PVG 
Review: PVG Cathay Pacific Lounge 
Review: Dragonair Business Class PVG - HKG 
Review: Andaz Xintiandi Shanghai
Review: Grand Hyatt Shanghai
Review: Hyatt Regency Suzhou


I fly out of Shanghai Pudong International (PVG) on a pretty regular basis these days (5 times in the past year and counting) and since I'm flying Business on either American or Cathay Pacific/DragonAir, I receive access to the Cathay Pacific Lounge. The lounge can be found near gate 68 after you make it through security in Terminal 2. You'll see plenty of signs for the lounge and will take an escalator up one level to get to the entrance. 

Upon entering the lounge, you'll notice a long main hallway with seating to your left, along with a small kitchen area, another seating area, and a "business center" with computers available for use. When the hallway comes to an end, the lounge opens up to reveal another kitchen area and a large open seating area which is all open to the terminal below. I find the roof of the terminal to be rather impressive, but that's really where the feeling ends. The lounge is usually quite crowded and this day was no exception. It can be tough to find a seat, but it's even tougher to find one next to an outlet and it's nearly impossible to find one next to an outlet that actually works! 

The food is unfortunately not the best that I've seen in Cathay lounges and as such, I've never actually eaten anything in the lounge. I also rarely find myself drinking anything, but you'll find a selection of hot and cold items available, including noodles, sandwiches, fruit, instant noodles and some small dessert. Drinks are serve yourself and include soft drinks, juices, wine, and liquor.

There is wifi in the lounge, but remember that you are in China, and you won't be able to get anything beyond the great firewall, so it's essentially useless. If you decide to use it, the password, as always for Cathay lounges, is "cathay1234" and you'll find that posted throughout the lounge. 

The lounge is a bit of a nicer place to sit than the terminal while waiting for your flight, but it's really not much to write home about. 

Review: American Airlines Business Class LAX - PVG
Review: PVG Cathay Pacific Lounge
Review: Dragonair Business Class PVG - HKG
Review: Andaz Xintiandi Shanghai
Review: Grand Hyatt Shanghai
Review: Hyatt Regency Suzhou


I have already written about my flight experience on American after being upgraded from Business class to First class on the reverse of this flight (Shanghai to Los Angeles) here, but despite the fact that I've flown this flight in Business multiple times now, I haven't had a chance to review it yet. I took this particular flight back in March and it was my second time flying this route. In all honesty, I do my best to fly Cathay Pacific when traveling to Shanghai, but sometimes it isn't within my budget, so I resort to flying American. 

American Airlines #183
Los Angeles (LAX) - Shanghai (PVG) 
Friday, March 20th, 2015
10:55 AM - 4:10 PM (+1)
Boeing 777-200: Seat 11H (Business Class)

I fly to Shanghai for business quite often and since I am loyal to oneworld, I will often get stuck flying American Airlines metal internationally. I will admit that in some cases, i.e. when a route has a 777-300 or uses the newest American Airlines Business class layout, flying American internationally is not bad, but this particular route is a bit rough with the extremely dated 777-200.

American Airlines boards even this international flight directly out of American's terminal 4 at LAX, which is a bit of a nightmare to begin with because none of the boarding areas are really large enough to comfortably support such a large group of people. It's also disappointing because Tom Bradley International is the nicest terminal at LAX and terminal 4 is probably the worst, but I digress. 

Prior to takeoff, the crew will come by to take meal orders and sometimes will introduce themselves. Service on these flights is usually hit or miss, but I'd say more often a miss. The first time I took this flight, I had service items sit on the table at my seat for no less than 6 hours without being taken away even though I had given all indications they were no longer needed. After ringing the call button, no one came for more than 20 minutes, so I had to wait for my seatmate to get up, then finagle my way out of the seat without knocking things over, then just took the glasses to the galley and put them somewhere because it was clear that a flight attendant was never going to do it. Generally, US airlines never have service on the same level as Asian airlines, which I find very disappointing, but it's something I accept as a given.

Shortly after takeoff, drink service began and we were offered warm nuts along with our drink of choice. 

The "dinner" menu read as follows:

...

Starter
Thai Chicken with grilled five-spice pineapple, watermelon, and Asian mint dressing

Salad
Mixed greens with artichokes, roasted tomatoes and feta cheese

Entrees
Peppered Beef Filet with thyme jus, smoked mac and cheese and haricots verts

Cashew Chicken with ginger garlic sauce, egg fried rice, stir-fried vegetables, and baby bok choy

Soy Glazed Halibut with miso sauce, green tea rice, snap peas and baby carrots

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom with mixed vegetables, wild rice, sauteed spinach and roasted red pepper sauce

Dessert
Traditional Ice Cream Sundae with your choice of butterscotch, hot fudge, or seasonal berry toppings

Gourmet Cheese Plate

Black Forest Mousse Cake

...

True to form, I ordered the peppered beef filet as my entree. In general, I somehow think beef is better than chicken on an airplane (up for debate) and I don't eat fish or like mushrooms. The starter was pretty odd. The combination of chicken, fruit and mint was a bit too weird for me, but I at least finished the fruit and some of the chicken - separately. I really enjoy this salad and have seen it on multiple American flights. They love to pile on the dressing, which is more than I would have liked, but it has a lot of flavor with the artichoke and feta, which is great. The beef is honestly never great, but somehow it's the lesser of the evils for me, so beef it is. In this case, it was suspended in a pool of watery liquid and the mac and cheese was a bit too smoked for my liking, but it was edible so I'm not complaining. For dessert this time around, I went with the ice cream, but I've since found that my stomach is happier if I skip dessert while flying for long periods of time - imagine that!

As soon as meal service was complete, the flight attendants turned down the lights and straight up disappeared for the next 7-8 hours. Rarely have I seen them stroll the aisles to check and see if anyone needs anything and it's almost always the case that I won't see them again until the lights come back on and it's time for the "breakfast" service to begin. This is disappointing to me as someone who does not like to ring the call button and hates to be a bother, but would definitely appreciate it if the flight attendants came by every once in a while so that I could feel comfortable grabbing them if necessary. 

About an hour and a half before landing, the lights come on and the flight attendants begin beverage service. "Breakfast" meals are on the cart, so they pass them out after you order your drink. I decided to pass on breakfast on this flight, but the menu read as follows:

...

Salad
Fresh Seasonal Greens with bell pepper, radish and pepper cream dressing

Entrees
Broccoli and Red Pepper Strata with smoked chicken sausage and roasted potatoes

Dim Sum roast pork bun, chicken gyoza pot sticker and shrimp shumai with e-fu noodles

Dessert
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

...

I have ordered the Strata before and it's really not appetizing at all. The egg is always over-cooked and all of the items kind of blend together, so it all has the same flavor. In general, I just don't eat anything before landing when flying this route, but I think it would be really nice if they could offer some sort of a la carte fruit or yogurt as an additional option. 

Once the meal service is complete, it's usually about 40 minutes until landing, so I'll use that time to freshen up and collect my belongings. It should also be noted that American passes out Bose headsets at the beginning of the flight, which is very nice, but they start collecting them right about now. So a word of advice here is to always have a backup pair of headphones ready in case you want to finish watching that movie that was almost over before landing.

All in all, this flight could certainly be worse, but I'm always so underwhelmed. Flying between San Francisco and Shanghai in Cathay Pacific Business is truly a world of difference and it's unfortunate that American doesn't even try to step up their game. Despite this, it should be noted - I have been told that in November, the aircraft will finally be upgraded to a 787, which I honestly think will make this a MUCH more pleasant flight due to the much nicer, newer aircraft and the fact that it offers a 1-2-1 configuration with lie-flat seats in Business. 

As of now, my recommendation is to avoid flying American international on the old 777-200 aircrafts if you can. 

During a visit to Seattle earlier this year, we decided to stay at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in downtown Seattle. Olive 8 is a "Hyatt" branded hotel and is located at the corner of Olive Way and 8th Ave (how original). Funny enough, it's also located directly across the street from Hyatt's other primary Seattle property, the Grand Hyatt Seattle. The Olive 8 is a category 4 property, which requires 15,000 points per night if not paying with cash.

The bedroom had a king bed, a chair and side table, another television, and two matching closets on either side of the entrance to the bathroom. It was on the smaller side, but there was still plenty of room, especially because the living room area was quite large.

The bathroom was quite large with a double vanity, a separate soaking tub and shower area to the right, and an enclosed toilet on the left. The toiletries were KenetMD, which is nothing special, but good enough. 

Overall, the room was well-appointed and had everything we would need. I find Hyatt branded Hyatts (so confusing) to be very minimal and modern, which is nice, but you'll not usually find anything particularly special about them either.

The gym, spa and pool are located on the 3rd floor of the hotel. The upper part of the building housing the Olive 8 is a residential space, so the building residents share these amenities with hotel guests. You'll find a lap pool and hot tub as well as a pretty well-appointed gym with plenty of cardio equipment and free weights. The gym also offers dry and chilled towels and water bottles, which are always appreciated.

As a Diamond guest, I had breakfast included Saturday and Sunday morning at the hotel's on-site restaurant, Urbane. Breakfast is served from 6:30 AM to 11:00 AM on weekdays and from 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM on weekends, so there's no reason to miss breakfast even if you have to sleep in a bit, which I really liked. 

The brunch menu had a great selection of both breakfast and lunch dishes and had a lot of really tasty looking options. In the end, I opted for my usual breakfast dish: two eggs any style with toast, potatoes and a choice of bacon or sausage. Chris had the biscuits and gravy. After we ordered, about 15 minutes went by before our server came back to let us know that the kitchen was backed up, so our orders were going to take a while. He brought out a complimentary fruit bowl, which was nice, but it did end up taking about 40 minutes for us to get our food. Luckily, we weren't in a huge hurry, so it wasn't really an issue. Since it's hard to mess up eggs and toast, I was perfectly happy with my meal. Chris said the biscuits and gravy were a little dry, but overall, it was a good meal and as always, I was happy that it was included due to Diamond status.

The Olive 8 is located pretty centrally in downtown Seattle, but it should be noted that it's still quite a hike from the main attractions of the downtown area, including Pike Place Market, the waterfront, and the sculpture park. We were fine with the location, but if you're looking to be right in the center of the action, the Olive 8 is probably not the best choice. Even though it's still downtown, the streets surrounding the hotel are pretty quiet, so that's something to keep in mind. 

Overall, the Hyatt at Olive 8 is a solid choice when visiting Seattle. The rooms are modern and nice, the amenities are there if you need them and it's close enough to walk 15 or 20 minutes to most attractions in downtown Seattle, but far enough away that it won't be too noisy or crowded.