My review of Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
My second time in South America and first time in Argentina! Marriott had a great 2x elite night credit back then so I was going to prove them my loyalty in Buenos Aires, until I saw a very good deal with Park Hyatt.
Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, a.k.a. Palacio Duhau’s nightly rate usually hovers around $700. Somehow I managed to find a Hyatt Prive rate of $1,050 for three nights – remember what I explained about how the exchange rate works here, so in the end I paid only ~$600. I have never been to a Park Hyatt hotel so it’s exciting!
The area where the hotel sits is called Recoleta. Recoleta is an affluent neighbourhood and you can see beautiful French-style “chateaux” everywhere, with Palacio Duhau being one of the them. The Four Seasons hotel is just around the corner although it looks pretty modern.
I took an Uber from the airport – it’s a 40-minute journey and costs less than $20. The Park Hyatt is comprised of two architectural parts: the main / old building is called The Palace, with two restaurants and a spa, and the rooms are more expensive.
The newer building is called The Tower, which is much taller (20 stories) and has one restaurant. The two buildings are connected by an underground gallery:
It’s a long walk with a few flights of stairs, although you could cut short by crossing the restaurant instead. Each building has their own entrance, so make sure you locate the right one when you arrive by Uber.
Of course I wasn’t aware of any of these so just went straight to The Palace when I arrived. The check-in agent was polite and professional but she didn’t notice I booked the Hyatt Prive rate and I had to remind her. I was granted 2pm late checkout as an Explorist.
A porter carried my bag and showed the way to The Tower. I received a double upgrade to a 1 King Bed with Balcony Deluxe room, located on the first floor.
Like what many people have suggested on Flyertalk, being a modern building The Tower probably doesn’t immerse you in the exquisite history as much as The Palace does. But to me personally, a modern and functional setup wins hands down, and I’ve stayed at a handful of real “palaces” in Europe already anyway.
This is the first time I’ve been to a Park Hyatt so I don’t know how representative this style is, but I quite like it. The room is rather monochrome and you don’t see things like marbles, granite or crystal, but the materials are definitely not cheap.
There’s a small wardrobe in the bathroom.
I wasn’t quite satisfied with receiving a room on the first floor. But it turned out to be the only floor with balconies!
The Boston Ivy adds a cute green touch to the building, and protects your privacy.
My welcome gift is a bottle of local Malbec and several macarons.
I had a tour around the old building on the day. Guest floors can only be accessed with dedicated room keys and I didn’t want to bother the staff.
You’ll find the gym and (mediocre) swimming pool in the basement. There’s no sauna or jacuzzi.
Breakfast starts at 7am and you can choose between two restaurants. Gioia in The Tower becomes a vegetarian restaurant after breakfast.
The buffet doesn’t offer a lot of variety.
And an a-la-carte menu.
You don’t get many to choose from but the quality is good. The other restaurant, Piano Nobile is in The Palace and it’s a-la-carte only.
I thought food here would consequentially be better, but the menu is almost the same with The Gioia. Personally I prefer the latter as it’s easier to fetch from the buffet yourself when you need anything.
The two restaurants are connected by the very instagrammy garden, with outdoor seating.
Locals may be confused when you say Park Hyatt, but everyone knows Palacio Duhau. Coming here for breakfast or afternoon tea is a ritual that many enjoy, kind of like The Ritz in London I suppose.
To use my credit I had lunch at Piano Nobile and ordered the most expensive Wagyu steak, which costs just $40 at the MEP rate. Unfortunately the Hyatt Prive credit is awarded at the official rate, which converts to $60 effectively instead of $100.
The steak is very good, but I wouldn’t say it’s much better than what you can have at local restaurants at a much lower price. Argentina is heaven for beef lovers!
When checking out I needed to request them to remove my 21% VAT, and that involved scanning a QR code to enter my immigration information. Remember that you must pay by card for the tax exemption.
It is no doubt a very solid hotel but service-wise I wasn’t very impressed. To name a few: no one proactively helped with my luggage when I got out of the taxi; not all staff greet guests; I asked the receptionist a question and he forgot to answer. As for the Park Hyatt brand standard I believe there’s room for improvement.
If you get a great rate like mine it’s very worthy of the experience. Otherwise just come for breakfast or afternoon tea – for $200 you can book a very good hotel in Buenos Aires.
Earn Skyteam Elite Plus after two China flights
China made a drastic response in cutting almost all its international flights during the pandemic, and the recovery didn’t really start until the end of 2022. Although most of its international routes have resumed some level of service, there are still very few flights to/from the U.S. as a consequence of political wrestles.
The ice seems to have started breaking finally, and China Eastern, a member of Skyteam, launched an interesting promotion.
- Book by November 15
- Travel by December 1
- Buy one return flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai and earn Gold or Platinum status
- The upgrade take effect immediately after your first flight
- Both Economy and Business Class tickets are eligible
Like most of the promotions you see in China, the terms and conditions are very ambiguous. My assumption is that if you travel in economy then you get Gold, or Platinum if you fly business. Both statuses are Skyteam Elite Plus though so there isn’t much difference. Lounge access is granted even on domestic flights when you fly China Eastern or Xiamen Airlines.
It’s restricted to certain fare buckets though, which isn’t specified. If you are interested, call their customer service line 1-626-583-1500 for more details.
15% off your Airalo eSIM purchase
I’ve been using Airalo for the past year when travelling abroad, and I’m very content with the product. It’s true that they aren’t as cheap as if your purchase a physical SIM card locally, but being able to sort it out before the trip without moving SIM cards in and out is a deal-breaker for me.
If you are interested in placing an order, Airalo just launched a new promotion with Mastercard. Up until April 30 2023, you can use the promo code MASTERCARD15 for 15% off all your purchases.
In theory it’s a deal for Mastercard users in Asia Pacific, however I don’t think any check is performed.
My spending strategy in Argentina under the new foreign tourist dollar policy
Argentina is a great country to visit, but unfortunately they’ve been experiencing extortionate inflation over the last decade. Spending money there as a foreign tourist becomes unnecessarily complicated as a consequence, as there’s an official exchange rate that is almost irrelevant, and another “blue dollar rate” at which people actually exchange currencies.
Luckily the Argentinian government has finally decided to do something. They introduced a thing called Foreign Tourist Dollar this year, which allows credit cards issued in countries other than Argentina to trade at a preferential rate, which is great news!
[How it works]
Per the official announcement, only Visa and Mastercard are mentioned in the new deals. However from my personal experiments, as well as online reports, American Express works the same way too. I’m not sure how other credit cards such as Discover and Union Pay work, but I hope you have at least one of the three cards above.
They work slightly differently though:
- Visa transactions post at the preferential MEP rate immediately
- Mastercard / Amex transactions post at the official rate initially, and an adjusted refund posts a few days later (5-10 days)
I noticed transactions in Argentina took longer to process too. Under normal circumstances it’s about two days before a transaction becomes confirmed from pending for me, but in this case it’s about four days for the ones I made in Argentina.
Although there’s no fundamental difference between the three card issuers, some might prefer to use a Visa card as it tracks the correct amount sooner.
[What the rates are]
MEP rate is already reflected in Visa’s and Mastercard’s exchange rate calculator. I couldn’t find a calculator for Amex.
I made quite a few purchases with all three cards and got the same exchange rate: 1 USD = 366 ARS. All transactions were made on the same day (April 4th, 2023).
Meanwhile, Blue Dollar rate or the black market rate is 385, which is what you get for exchanging mint $50 / $100 bills at the local Cambios. Double check the rate they offer though, as one attempted to fool me with a very poor 300 quoting the festive period (Easter holiday).
So the MEP rate is still about 5% worse than the Blue Dollar rate.
- Exchanging cash is still the cheapest deal, but you’ll have to carry bricks of money around in your bag! That said, personally I found Buenos Aires to be rather safe.
- Swiping the plastics on the other hand is much more convenient and safer, and if you have a rewards credit card it may partially or even fully offset the 5% loss
I used credit cards as much as I could but also had some cash with me just in case. Credit cards are welcome at most tourist attractions and restaurants. Remember that it’s a very cheap country (a very good meal costs $15~$20 per head), so don’t over exchange at the beginning.
I paid everything with my US-issued credit cards, but I assume cards from other countries work in a similar way.
[Hotels]
On the other hand, it is very important to understand that you should never pay cash at a hotel! Like many other South American countries, foreign tourists are exempt of a tax that would otherwise be payable by local residents. In Argentina the tax rate is as much as 21%!
In addition to being a non-resident, you have to settle your accommodation bill with a foreign credit card, i.e. you mustn’t pay cash. You can either pay cash for that 5% exchange rate advantage, or pay by card to save the 21% VAT – we are not looking at advanced mathematics here…
Check your final bill before you pay, as not all hotels waive the tax automatically. I stayed at two hotels – one was very chill about it, whereas the other one asked me to fill out a form, carried out some identity checks before they removed the charge from my invoice.
And it brings another interesting topic. Hotels in Argentina, at least the better ones, tend to be priced at USD. However, you will be billed in local currency exchanged at the official rate.
That means in fact you pay much less than what the price tag suggests. For example, if a hotel is priced at $100, you will pay 100 * 215 (official FX) = 21500 ARS at checkout. But if you use a foreign card that would actually convert to 21500 / 366 (MEP) = $58.7 only.
In short, you only pay around 59% of what the hotel asks, so Argentina turns out to be even cheaper than what we had thought 🙂
Final tip: use Uber or Cabify in Buenos Aires, as I tried the local taxi once and the meter was twice as expensive! Despite all this money chaos, Buenos Aires is an amazing city and I definitely recommend you visiting.
Unboxing HSBC’s LUXURY thank you gift!
(The original post was submitted by a friend and published here. This is my attempt to coarsely translate it!)
I applied and was approved for the HSBC Elite Credit Card (US-issued) last year, which comes with an annual fee of $395.
One main incentive for me to apply for this card was the mysterious Luxury Thank You Gift – each year when you spend $50K, $75K and $100K on the card you will earn a “surprise luxury gift”, a suspense or marketing trick they’ve created for this product.
I did my research using Google and going through all the blogs and forums, yet shockingly couldn’t find any answer to what the gift actually is. Even the customer representatives from HSBC knew no more than “it’s something from Tiffany”, which was why I started putting a lot spend through the card out of curiosity.
I finally reached all three targets in November 2022, and was looking forward to the arrival of my gifts!
It was a long wait as they needed to courier the gifts to China, but I received the package in February 2023 eventually.
They are indeed Tiffany boxes as expected!
My three gifts are shipped in the same package, with a lovely thank-you card in each of them.
Hold your breath while I reveal the grand LUXURY gifts!!!
This is definitely not something that I had expected or hoped for. So it turns out that each gift is pair of Tiffany wine glasses, and I got a package of six. Don’t forget that I spent $100,000 in order to receive them!
They look much better IN the boxes.
The retail price is $125 per pair on Tiffany’s website.
If you’ve been wondering what the luxury thank you gifts are from the HSBC elite credit card, now you have the answer. Whether it is worth spending at least $50,000 annually will be totally up to you😉
My review of Palace Hotel, San Francisco
I spent my first two nights in San Francisco at the InterContinental hotel, and for a change of scenery I’m moving to the Palace Hotel from Luxury Collection for the third night. Thanks to the $200 credit from my U.S. Amex Platinum card, I paid just over $100 for the FHR stay.
The general manager sent me a few emails before my stay to ask for any special requests and offer some general information. He sent me another email to ask for any feedback on the day I checked out. Although many people may find it unnecessary, I think it’s a nice touch to show that the hotel cares.
Palace hotel is not far from the InterContinental, and right next to the Montgomery metro station. However, I find its location more handy than the InterContinental, as it’s closer to the metro station, and walkable to more local attractions including the Chinatown.
The building and its lobby have an ordinary look. The agent who checks me in is very familiar with the FHR benefits. In fact if you are Marriott Platinum or above, the main add-on is just the $100 on-property credit. Some hotels (especially in the U.S.) refuse to honour Marriott benefits when you prepay your FHR booking because it’s backed by Expedia, but this time she explicitly offers me the 1,000 welcome points since breakfast is already included.
A truffle chocolate box is offered to me as a welcome gift, then another two white chocolates at the turndown service.
The serenity of the guest room areas is reminiscent of my stay at St Regis New York.
I fared a free upgrade to the Junior Suite. I had thought about using a suite night award here, but then the so-called Superior Suite is only 480sqt, so I backed off.
When you enter the room, there’s a walk-in wardrobe on the left.
Overall the room looks very classy, and the (oversize) bed is quite comfy. The bathroom has no tub, but does have a Washlet seat which isn’t commonly seen even at five-star hotels.
Slippers are quite fluffy.
I assume it’s a board game?
The hotel has only nine floors and I’m on the fifth. If you expect a view, then the InterContinental hotel is a much better option.
You have to give some credits to their guest room, but the most prestigious thing about this hotel is far more than that. Right next to the lobby there’s an extensive and glamorous gallery:
And there’s some memorabilia on display, which tells the history of the Palace Hotel. It may remind you of museum – and there is indeed a small museum, named Landmark 18, in the gallery.
When it opened in 1875, the Palace Hotel was the biggest hotel in the world. Unfortunately the hotel was hit by a fire in 1906 and it took three years’ restoration for the hotel to reopen. In 1954 it became a Sheraton hotel and a lot of its original features were lost to accommodate the brand standard, which was then reverted in 1973 when the hotel was finally purchased by the Japanese Kyo-Ya group.
The most stunning piece of the hotel has to be the Garden Court restaurant, which became a landmark of San Francisco in 1969.
Many people come here for the afternoon tea experience, and I’m here for breakfast. FHR comes with $30 credit per person, and as I’m travelling solo that’s $60 for myself. I thought it would buy me loads of food until I saw the menu:
Yogurt for $6 and orange juice / coffee for $8, so $60 doesn’t really get you far at all, and don’t forget the tips. I didn’t notice the buffet option at the top for $43, which is probably what I should have gone for.
The $100 FHR credit can be spent at the Pied Piper restaurant, which is famous for that painting. I ordered some chicken wings and a steak, which came to 90-odd dollars including taxes and tips. If you are travelling with a partner, the $160 credit is just enough for the breakfast buffet plus a couple of drinks.
The swimming pool is on the fourth floor. Similar to the Garden Court it has a nice glass dom.
But the pool is only 1.2m metre deep, so more like a children’s playground.
The jacuzzi is broken, although the water is still warm…
Sadly there’s no sauna or steam room.
The Palace Hotel is a landmark of San Francisco, full of history, and a hotel well worth experiencing. If you happen to be in the city, I recommend popping in and have a look even if you don’t stay at this hotel.
My review of the United Polaris Lounge, San Francisco
At the end of the U.S. west coast trip, I’m heading back to London from San Francisco. In sheer contrast to the abundance of lounges at LAX, SFO is almost barren. United is the only Star Alliance airline that has any lounge here, and the same awkwardness applies to Skyteam and Oneworld too.
I arrived at the airport three hours ahead to make sure I have enough time to review the United Polaris Lounge. As it is the only decent Star Alliance lounge at SFO, the entry rules are quite strict: only business and first class passengers on a long-haul Star Alliance flight are allowed.
If you are a Star Gold member but flying economy, sadly you can only visit the United Club, which is like an average dull lounge that you expect in this country. Interestingly, anecdotes from my readers suggest that you may be invited to the Polaris Lounge if you are under 21, as you cannot enter the United Club due to alcohol restrictions.
The lounge is huge, occupying two floors and measuring about 2,600 square metres. The ground floor is a very nice area itself, but usually pretty quiet as the main food offerings are on the upper floor.
The armchairs are probably one of, if not he best I’ve ever seen in any airline lounge. it is very wide, with a small side table and sockets included.
The views are nice.
Shower rooms, and the Quiet Suites for resting are also on the ground floor. However, make sure you reserve enough time to explore the upper floor!
Turn left for the business zone, which offers private booths for phone calls and video calls.
And there are more desks and sofas inside.
If you turn right, you will pass the very beautiful bar first. There’s no self-service so you have to order your drinks instead, just like a regular bar 🙂
And then you’ll enter the dining area.
The buffet options are:
- Lobster corn bisque
- Ginger lemongrass ramen bowl
- Roasted broccoli and cauliflower
- Dakjjim Korean chicken braised chicken
- Miso glazed cod
- Brown basmati rice
I’m impressed that they offer lobster soup! You may also notice that the majority of the cuisine are Asian, which I quite enjoy. There are even tofu and shitake mushrooms in the salad area.
I’m not particularly hungry, so just had a taste of a couple of dishes but they are nice. Don’t miss out on the Dining Room though, which gives you a full dining experience!
I came around at about 5 o’clock and was told of a waiting time of 30 minutes. Fortunately an empty table became available in just five minutes.
Here’s the menu:
I ordered a small plate (octopus) and a glass of cocktail.
To be honest, the octopus is not to my liking. But the food looks posh enough to be served in a fancy restaurant.
Finally, a picture of the bathroom:
When I was leaving for my flight, the upper floor started to become really crowded. As most flights to Europe depart in the evening, it’s hardly a surprise.
The United Polaris Lounge at SFO is the best Star Alliance lounge that I’ve ever been to, and it is definitely worth visiting when you have the chance.
My review of InterContinental San Francisco
Having been a software engineer for almost ten years, it’s weird that I’ve never been to San Francisco or the bay area. Now that I got laid off I finally have time to go on a pilgrimage 😛
Compared to LA, hotels in San Francisco are much more friendly priced, and you can find a pretty decent hotel for around $200. I decided to redeem my IHG BOGO voucher here, and there are two InterContinentals in the city – one in downtown for which I’m going, and the Mark Hopkins hotel at a less convenient location for tourists.
The hotel is about eight-minute walk from the Powell Street metro station, which takes you directly to the airport.
At 33 floors high, the hotel stands out in the immediate neighbourhood.
The entrance is small but elegant. The ground floor is a big open space with reception, bar and restaurant.
Like many other InterContinental hotels, or hotels in general in the States, the hotel has so many different rooms types that I lost count. I ended up booking Premium West Side View as it’s price difference from the entry-level room isn’t much. I was upgraded one-level to the corner room.
The receptionist greeted me warmly, and I didn’t have to ask about the Diamond breakfast benefit or 4pm late check-out.
Before I was let go, he went to the back office and returned with a bag of welcome gift. To my slight disappoint it’s only two bottles of water 😛 They also sent me a bottle of Evian the next day.
The corner room is quite impressive at first glance. The hues and finishes are soothing.
The highlight of course, is the 180-degree floor-to-ceiling windows and the views that come from it.
You don’t normally get a chance to be so up high in Europe. It’s a shame that San Francisco doesn’t have so much of a skyline, and the hotel isn’t close enough to the coast.
The curtains are electric and you only need to give it a pull for it to open or close by itself.
There is also a view from the bathroom. But beware of the construction workers on the crane!
One motivation for me to pick this hotel was its swimming pool and jacuzzi.
They are fine. But the hall is quite old and so small that no loungers can fit in. It’s weird that there’s not even any place to sit in!
The gym:
The club lounge:
I was given a voucher which entitles me to the breakfast buffet.
The whole buffet well, is spread across one single table.
There aren’t many choices as you can imagine, but they do offer congee which is a nice touch.
There is an a-la-carte menu but payable. According to the voucher taxes are not included, but I didn’t have to pay anything when I checked out.
InterContinental San Francisco isn’t the best hotel you can find in town, but I love the corner room and don’t miss out if you admire a view.