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My review of Crowne Plaza Liverpool City Centre
It’s been years since I visited Liverpool, and I reckon it’s about time I come back. I was leaning towards the Doubletree hotel at the beginning, but then it turned out that although the hotel has a great pool and spa, all guests have to pay £25 per person per visit which is too steep.
Therefore I’ve chosen the Crowne Plaza instead, which has a riverbank location, a club lounge and a swimming pool. According to recent reports, Diamond members are being granted club lounge access and free breakfast, which also weighed in my decision process.
The hotel sits on the Princes Dock, which is about 15-20 minutes walk from the Lime Street station. It’s ideal for a stroll by the river, or visit to the museums (for example the Tate).
The lobby features a glass ceiling, which presents it like a greenhouse when it’s sunny.
Check-in is quick. I’m asked to choose a welcome amenity between points, drinks voucher or breakfast. Besides that there’s no greeting, no breakfast hours, no introduction to the hotel facility and no smile. It appears to me that the staff aren’t happy working here and not friendly to the guests.
Contrary to what I read online, although Diamond members can choose breakfast as a welcome amenity, club lounge access is not offered unless you have the annual lounge pass. The manager explains that they were all confused by the new rules at the beginning and offered club lounge access to Diamond members by mistake. Oh well, this is the first time I’m refused lounge access at a Crowne Plaza hotel, so the new IHG policy is not all good.
I’m upgraded to a King Premium Club room with River View, but since I’ve no lounge access the main difference it has over a standard room is just the river view.
The room is okay, just about an average four-star hotel you anticipate in this country.
River Mersey from the window.
Somehow the bathrobe is missing from my room – I thought it’s not provided (which is common in the UK) but then see other guests wear them. After request it’s brought to my room.
The wellness centre is located on the ground floor. I was worried that it may only have a swimming pool, but gladly the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room are not missing.
I’m not sure how amazing the Doubletree’s spa is, but I’m quite happy with what I have here already. Like many hotels the pool becomes quite busy in the evening, so it’s best to come here during the day.
There’s a gym with river view on the first floor.
Breakfast is served in the restaurant in the form of a buffet.
The quality is decent. I quite enjoy the salami, hash brown and pork sausage.
Club lounge is right by the lobby. Surprisingly, I’ve gone past it numerous times during my three-night stay, and I’ve never seen a single person in the lounge at any time.
The stay posted as non-qualifying. It’s not the first time it happened to me but previously it was all because I booked a special rate (partner discount or Ambassador BOGOF), whereas this time I booked a normal Advance rate. I only need to submit a claim to get it rectified, but it’s very annoying and I’m not sure if the hotel is trying to save money by not posting the points or what.
I think it’s a solid Crowne Plaza given its location and facilities, but the service still leave much to be desired.
My review of St Ermin’s Hotel, London
I doubt I can make Marriott Titanium this year, but I’m just a couple of nights short of Platinum. Having already stayed at numerous Marriott properties in London I want to add one more to my collection, and St Ermins stands out after I’ve checked some reviews.
The hotel is just one block away from the St James Park tube station, and thus fairly close to the Conrad London hotel. On the one hand it’s a really quiet neighbourhood, on the other hand it’s only a few minutes from the London Eye and Buckingham Palace. I’m visiting Tate Britain in the afternoon, which is also nearby.
The hotel entrance is lightened by a small but beautiful courtyard garden.
The lobby doesn’t look bad either. The front desk is very friendly, keeps checking if I have any request. My room isn’t ready yet at 12pm so I left my bags with the concierge.
Reports say that their standard rooms are tiny. My Suite Night Upgrade cleared a couple of days before my stay for the best suite of the hotel. It’s good, but nothing spectacular I’m afraid.
Door to the small balcony is locked, but I guess you can ask the staff to open it.
The bedroom is cosy.
Bathroom looks nice although a bit tired as well.
The rain shower is controlled by a digital panel.
Breakfast is complimentary to Titanium members, and you can choose 1,000 points or $10 credit on top.
It’s mainly buffet but I think there are some egg dishes you can order as well. The selection and quality are mediocre.
Gym:
Given what I read online and that I used a SNU award, I had high expectations and I can’t stay the hotel stands up to it. It’s a bit disappointing especially considering what SNU got me at the Marriott County Hall hotel. If you would like to stay in this area, I think the Conrad is a better choice.
My review of Great Northern Hotel, London
Marriott has a “Spend £200 get £75 back” offer with Amex, and I thought it would be a shame not to use it. I decided to spend one night at the Great Northern Hotel in the end.
It is part of the Tribute Portfolio, which was brought to Marriott by the SPG merger. I doubt Marriott has given the brand any thought since, as its footprint is barely growing at all. The only other hotel that I’ve stayed at is the Abbey Hotel at Bath. In my opinion Tribute should probably just be absorbed into the Autograph Collection.
The hotel is very well located as an annex to the Kings Cross station. Although not super central, Kings Cross has arguably the best transport links within London. You may consider staying here before taking the Eurostar.
The hotel doesn’t look so Great when compared to the Renaissance across the street.
Walking through the tiny entrance, turn left for the guest rooms and right for the reception.
The lobby is pretty micro too.
Jokes aside, the hotel does look very new and fresh, which gives a totally different (and maybe better) vibe than the Renaissance. The lift looks like an infinite mirror room.
I’ve received a double upgrade to an Edwardian King Room, High Floor. As far as remember there isn’t much difference between their room types though.
The room feels simple but cosy.
Being on the top floor isn’t necessarily a good thing, since the pitched roof confines the space even further. You can see the St Pancras station through the window.
Actually the hotel isn’t particularly small, but somehow they don’t even have a gym, let alone a swimming pool. I guess it’s due to it being a railway hotel.
Titanium members can choose breakfast as a welcome amenity. It’s fully a la carte and the food is quite good.
There is a Club Lounge on each floor – well that’s how I call them 😉, they are actually just pantry rooms with a coffee machine, some fruits and cookies.
In a word, the hotel is decent, but also inevitably dwarfed by the Renaissance St Pancras Hotel next door. If you want to stay at a Marriott hotel in the area, I’d definitely recommend the latter just for the experience.
Daily Getaways: 20% Marriott discount and great hotel deals for Northern Europe
Daily Getaways is an annual online sales event hosted by the U.S. Travel Association. Various travel packages (mostly hotel related) are available for purchase across a couple of weeks, usually with a very heavy discount.
Although it targets the U.S. market, some of the deals, specifically hotel point packages, are very worthy even if you reside elsewhere. Note that when you purchase you must fill in a U.S. billing address, so you need a payment card issued in the U.S., or that doesn’t verify billing address.
There are a few deals to be had next week.
July 26th – Choice Privilege
- 14,000 points = $84, qty: 1,147
- 28,000 points = $155, qty: 1,561
- 42,000 points = $220, qty: 1,300
- 55,000 points = $285, qty: 1,590
This is way cheaper than how much Choice usually sells their points, and given there are more than 5,000 packages on sale you should be able to grab some easily.
Choice has their main footprint in the Americas, and thus isn’t a popular or well-known program in Europe. However they do have some low- or mid-range properties in Europe, and with their strong ties with Nordic Choice you can redeem points on luxury hotels in Northern Europe too.
The great news is, most of the Choice hotels in Europe costs between 12,000 points and 20,000 points per night, which means under this deal you pay no more than $104. There are quite a few options in London and Paris for example, although they are only two-stars and three-stars.
The same pricing apply to those five-star hotels in Nordic Choice though, including The Thief in Oslo that typically costs €400 per night:
Unfortunately availability is scarce, but there are many other hotels with wide-open availability that are around the €200 mark.
Choice points don’t expire as long as there’s account activity in any 18-month rolling period.
July 27th – Marriott Bonvoy
- $100, qty: 1070
- $250, qty: 252
- $500, qty: 200
You can buy these e-giftcards at 20% discount. They can be used at most Marriott-branded hotels upon check-out to settle any charge, and they never expire.
It is effectively 20% off on top of whatever other discounted rate you are using. As it’s only a payment method, you earn all points and credits as usual.
July 29th – World of Hyatt
- 30,000 points = $396, qty:2
- 50,000 points = $660, qty:6
- 80,000 points = $960, qty:8
The price has gone up significantly this year, whereas the availability dropped to a ridiculous level. Although the packages are still a lot cheaper than when Hyatt sells points, it would be extremely hard (or lucky) to get any of them.
2,000 bonus Marriott points for linking your Emirates account
In 2020 Marriott offered 1,500 points to some members to sign up to its partnership program with Emirates. According to a thread on Flyertalk the offer is coming back.
@flyme2 received an email from Marriott:
Earn 2,000 bonus points1 with Your World Rewards™. Simply join by 31 July and complete a stay by 31 August to earn your exclusive bonus. Plus, you’ll earn twice on stays and flights with this exclusive partnership from Marriott Bonvoy® and Emirates Skywards®.
Bonus is slightly higher, however this time you must complete a stay to earn it.
You World Rewards allows elite members from Marriott and Emirates to receive reciprocal benefits when travelling. Marriott elites are entitled to priority check-in and priority boarding when flying Emirates, and also earn Marriott points for the flight ticket.
Note that you must have received an invitation by email to participate. Otherwise I suggest you not link the account until you receive an invitation or travel with Emirates.
My review of Seattle Marriott Bellevue
I need to stay four nights in Seattle, and following my friend’s advice I chose to split the stay and spend the first two nights in Bellevue. It’s also because I found a good Marriott deal – two nights at the Seattle Marriott Bellevue hotel costs only 48,000 points.
Departing from the airport, there was some traffic going into Seattle and it took 40 minutes to get to the hotel. The hotel is about 10 minutes’ walk away from the downtown park which isn’t too bad. The Westin and W are more centrally located, but more expensive too.
According to their website, most rooms are more or less the same, and one of the main differences is the presence or absence of a bath tub. I expressed my preference for a room with bath tub, but then it turns out to be a quest – no one has any idea what rooms that would be.
They have to turn so many pages before finally assigning me a room. Then I make all the way to it only to find no tub in the bathroom at all. I have to go back to reception and they start another investigation, but this time they send a housekeeper to check the room first, and I eventually get what I wanted.
From what I understand they don’t have suites at this property, and what I’ve got – a high-floor, mountain view Executive room – is the best in their inventory.
The room is okay although nothing inspiring.
When the sky clears up – not very often during my stay in Seattle – you can see the mountains. The Westin and W presumably have better views as they are much taller.
To my disappointment, the bath tub is so tiny and low that you’d be lucky to fit a kid in it. I truly can’t figure out its purpose.
The previous room I entered has a microwave, but it’s not available in this one.
The M Club just re-opened the Sunday before.
Soft drinks and snacks are available throughout the day. I don’t think there’s any arrangement in the evening though.
Elite breakfast is served in the M Club.
Although there are a few hot items served, the quality is very underwhelming.
The hotel has no swimming pool, but a gym.
In summary, the Seattle Marriott Bellevue is just about acceptable and nothing more. If you want to spend your Marriott points and are on budget, it’s one of the better options in and around Seattle.
How to accrue 60 nights annually via Marriott credit cards only
(Warning: I must admit first that this is a clickbait, as although practically possible very few people qualify for all the credit cards required 😉)
Marriott issues co-branded credit cards in many markets including the US and UK, and one major perk of them is elite night credits which is awarded annually to accelerate your membership tier upgrade process. Usually such credits are not stackable across multiple cards, but there are rare combinations that work.
Up until recently, the maximum annual credits you can possibly accrue was 30 nights, by holding:
- A Marriott personal card (15 nights), e.g. Amex UK, Amex US or Chase US, and
- An Amex US Marriott business card (15 nights)
You can only stack one personal card with one business card, otherwise having two personal cards (e.g. Amex US & UK) only yields 15 night credits.
There was an Amex SPG card in Japan which offered another stackable 5 nights, but that card has been re-branded to give 15 nights instead which no longer works.
There has been a very recent development though. Citic Bank just started issuing the first Marriott co-branded credit cards in China this week. It comes with three versions that offer 5, 10 and 15 elite night credits respectively.
Terms say that you can only apply for one of the three cards, and the night credits don’t stack with credit cards issued by other banks. However in reality it works slightly differently: people have reported to be able to submit three applications, and whilst they are all pending, all night credits have already hit the Marriott account – and that’s on top of what’s offered by other banks.
Sorry that I don’t have a screenshot in English, but this is from someone who’s just applied for all three cards and he’s already had the US Marriott Amex card. The four cards have deposited a total of 45 nights into his account.
This could well be an error (especially as those credit applications aren’t even approved yet) and will possibly be fixed soon. But in theory, at the moment you can harvest 60 night credits for this year which gives you Platinum status straightaway, if you are eligible for credit applications in both US and China of course.
My review of JW Marriott Marquis, Miami
First time in Miami, my plan was to stay a couple of nights in downtown and then one day at the South Beach. Unfortunately there happens to be a tropical storm during my visit, so the South Beach plan was cancelled.
Miami appears to be a good place to burn Marriott points, as there are a bunch of options in downtown between 20,000 and 40,000 points – in fact the Courtyard Coconut Grove costs only 18,000 points a night. After some research I went for the JW Marriott Marquis hotel, which is 40,000 points or $400.
It’s not to be confused with the other JW Marriott nearby, which from what I’ve gathered is an inferior property.
Interestingly, there’s another Marriott inside this hotel. Hotel Beaux Arts from the Autograph Collection occupies floor 38-40 and shares the facilities with the JW Marriott. I don’t assume their guests can access the club lounge though, so you are better off booking the JW Marriott if you have Platinum status or above.
The front desk is very generous to offer me an upgrade to the Executive Suite. Sadly I need a twin bed room, so he arranges us a Bay View Room on the high floor instead.
The room is located on the 35th floor and measures around 500-600 sqft.
The bathroom has both a shower and a bath tub.
Bay view:
And views from other spots in the hotel:
Elite breakfast is served on the second floor at the 345 Restaurant:
Many hotels in the US offer very limited free breakfast to elite members, and there’s Hilton who’s eliminated the benefit and only offers some credit instead. This JW Marriott is not fooling around though – it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a full English breakfast buffet.
Breakfast is served until 11am, and then the club lounge on the 36th floor opens.
Snacks and soft drinks are available throughout the day. Happy hour is hosted between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, with a few canapes both hot and cold.
Alcohols are not free.
Desserts are served between 7.30pm and 10pm.
The hotel has a very impressive sports centre, including a basketball court, ping pong tables and a bowling alley.
The gym is fairly big too.
There’s a rooftop swimming pool on the 19th floor.
A hot tub is also available.
Overall I’m very satisfied with this stay – hotels in the US are usually under par but this JW Marriott didn’t let me down. The room is spacious and functional, the breakfast and club lounge offerings are decent, and the swimming pool is stunning. My only complaint is the $25 destination fee, but I guess I should just get used to this con which is imposed by so many American hotels.