My review of Renaissance Paris Republique
I booked one night at the InterContinental Paris Le Grand hotel with my expiring IHG voucher, and was looking for another hotel to spend a couple of nights more. With the ongoing double elite night credit promotion my preference went with Marriott, and I was tempted to try the Prince de Galles hotel.
It’s very expensive though (in both points and cash), and they didn’t confirm my suite night award, so I cancelled my reservation. Seeing the overwhelmingly positive reviews on Flyertalk, I picked the Renaissance Republique Hotel instead.
The hotel is just a couple of minutes from the Republique square, which is a busy area with a lot of restaurants etc. Gare du Nord (Eurostar station) is about 20 minutes’ walk, and Pompidou (Soho of Paris) about 15.
The building has a small front which isn’t very noticeable. As you can see, the street facing rooms have these quirky submarine windows.
The lobby extends deep down and there’s a nice-looking atrium.
The hotel’s busy, and I only received a one-level upgrade to a Bobo Room. The receptionist told me it’s the best room of the hotel, which I just dismissed as a business pitch. But wow he’s not lying.
Entrance:
Bathroom on the left:
It’s got a massive bathtub and they are considerate enough to provide bath minerals as well.
And finally the bedroom:
The TV set is fixated to the bed frame, but unlike Hotel Indigo Kensington I think it’s a smart design here, as it creates the separation between the bedroom and bathroom / entrance. There’s also a control for withdrawing the TV into the cupboard.
Not sure what type of design the hotel is going for, but feels Scandinavian to me and very refreshing. I estimate the room to be between 40sqm and 50sqm in size, which is the same as the suites of the hotel. It is probably one of my favourite hotel rooms in the last few years.
The room is inner facing which doesn’t bother me. I prefer quietness to any view, if I have to choose.
Espresso machine and capsules are available. There is a bottle of mineral water on the table – I have to double check to make sure it’s drinking water as the packaging looks very similar to the SKII essence I’ve been using…
Breakfast is a small buffet.
There a few things, including omelettes and pancakes to order.
I’m not a big fan of the food here.
Gym:
All staff I’ve met during the stay are very nice, and they do their job to make sure you enjoy the stay. Although breakfast is disappointing, I love the room, staff and location of the hotel, and would highly recommend it.
My review of Eurostar Business Premier Lounge, London
Eurostar is the most convenient way to travel between London and Paris, and thanks to its partnership with American Express you can transfer membership rewards points to Eurostar to redeem tickets cheaply.
Another benefit that comes with American Express is, if you hold the Platinum or Centurion card, you can access the Eurostar Business Premier lounges (but no guest allowed). The card must be issued in the UK, France or Belgium though, and the London staff do inspect it very carefully.
Unfortunately it doesn’t come with the Business Premier fast track lane, and you can only enter the station approximately 90 minutes before departure, so don’t arrive too early.
One interesting find – my ticket was booked with points which comes with one free change that has already been used, however on the ticket machine I’m able to change it again for free.
After passing security, the Business Premier lounge is on your right.
The lounge has two floors. The ground floor is long, narrow and a bit cramped.
I recommend to stay on the second floor, which is much nicer.
If I remember correctly, the bar is manned on weekday evenings.
Wireless aircharge is available, but it’s very slow.
There are quite a few drink options on offer, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
But when it comes to food the selection is very poor. A couple kinds of nut mix, popcorn, biscuits, and that’s about it. And they don’t taste good…
As you can see, the Eurostar lounge isn’t comparable to an airport lounge, and most importantly don’t expect any kind of meal here. However, if you need a place to work or want a few drinks before your journey, feel free to kill some time here.
TAP Portugal: London – Brazil in business class for £1,200
TAP Portugal has launched an Executive (business) class sale for flights from Europe to Brazil. You can depart from multiple cities (including London) and arrive at Rio or Sao Paolo.
Many dates are available from September to March.
London – Rio de Janeiro, Nov 24 – Dec 4
London – Sao Paolo, Feb 21 – Mar 1
You need to book by May 16. Stopover in Portugal (Lisbon or Porto) is possible, but your itinerary will be repriced.
IHG Q2 offer: earn up to quadruple points
(Registration is now live)
IHG has revealed its new global promotion, although the registration link doesn’t work yet and will go live on May 4.
You can access the offer page here.
- Pre-register by May 17
- Stay between May 18 and August 31
- The following bonus structure applies:
- 1st night – no bonus
- 2rd – 5th night – 2x points
- 6th – 14th night – 3x points
- 15th night onwards – 4x points
- Total bonus points is capped at 100,000
Only paid nights count, and stays at Six Senses / Mr & Mrs Smith hotels are eligible too.
Staircasing the bonus points by number of nights stayed isn’t rare, and makes particular sense as IHG is introducing the milestone rewards in June.
Note that you must register before the promotion starts, so don’t forget to come back to the offer page in two days.
My review of Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel
After one night at the Bristol Hotel to spend my D$, I extended my stay by a couple of nights at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel. The hotel has a good reputation, and it’s not every day that you see a hotel call itself Royal.
The hotel is on the other side of the canal, opposite to the Bristol Hotel. It’s a more lively area with quite a few shops and restaurants nearby. It’s a lovely weekend and the park in front attracts many sunbathers.
The hotel boasts its Victorian style, and has been welcoming guests for 150 years. The design of its public areas is very carefully curated to reflect its history and elegance, and I can’t say I’m not impressed.
Although it’s definitely not at that level, the hotel reminds me of Hotel Bristol in Vienna in a lot of ways.
Unfortunately the hotel is fully booked, and I was only given one-level upgrade to a Superior Room. Some guest rooms are located in the Royal Wing, but from what I can tell it’s not really physically separated or come with additional perks.
The room is okay, just what you’d expect from a standard Marriott hotel, and there isn’t really anything Royal about it.
The room is back facing and very quiet.
Breakfast is served in the restaurant, which is complimentary for Platinum members and above.
Pastry offering is excellent – the croissants and pains au chocolat are very fresh, and amongst the best quality ones that I’ve had at any hotel for a long time.
However, only black coffee is free and you’d have to pay for Cappuccino etc, which is quite stingy.
I’m not a fan of hotel gyms in general, but this one is quite nicely decorated.
Some reviews I read online spoke very highly of this property, which almost made it an attraction in Bristol itself. I also agree it’s a good one, but nothing outstanding – it’s possibly one of the top accommodation choices in the city, however don’t be fooled by the Royal name, as it’s still just a four-star hotel.
My review of The Bristol Hotel
The $100 credit that GHA offered to me was going to expire soon in May, so I needed to spend it very soon. There aren’t many GHA hotels in the UK, and $100 isn’t going very far at the London ones, so I decided to use it towards one night at The Bristol Hotel eventually.
The Bristol Hotel is part of the Doyle Collection, which also has three properties in London and a few more in Ireland and the US.
The hotel is nicely located between Queen Square and the canal.
Check-in is very swift and they know proficiently how to redeem the D$ on my account. I booked a promotional rate which was available on GHA’s, but not the hotel’s website. This is a weird thing that you should keep in mind when booking GHA hotels.
I’m upgrade to a Deluxe room on the sixth floor.
The room is very plain – I’m not saying it in a negative way though.
Curiously it is one of the best sleeps I’ve had recently.
A bottle of Prosecco is waiting for me in the room. I’m also given two drink vouchers as a Titanium welcome amenity.
View from my window:
The rate I booked is inclusive of breakfast. The restaurant looks very nice by the riverbank.
Breakfast quality is decent.
Just as I had imagined, the stay and elite treatment etc. are pretty much on a par with an average Hilton or Marriott hotel. I’ll still stick with other mainstream chains unless GHA has another impressive offer, but The Bristol Hotel is a decent choice if you visit the city.
1,000 free Sinagpore Airline miles for joining their KrisShop program
Similar to Lufthansa Worldshop, Singapore Airlines has launched its online KrisShop where you can redeem your miles for merchandises, or earn miles when buying them. It may not sound interesting to you, but there’s an incentive to earn 1,000 free miles with little effort.
You can view the Earlybird offer here. Basically, you can
- Earn 500 miles for linking your Krisflyer account
- Earn another 500 miles for subscribing to the KrisShop newsletter
- Earn a S$20 promo code if you are among the first 5,000 signups (already fully redeemed)
You should see the following popup when landing on the page:
1,000 miles isn’t a lot, but if you are already a Krisflyer collector then it doesn’t hurt to click some buttons.
The promotion runs until June 30 but only the first 30,000 participants are eligible for the bonus miles. The miles will post within 10 business days after the promotion ends.
Earn up to 1,800 points ($120) with Shangri-la
Shangri-la’s new program has officially launched today, and I hope you had converted your points into vouchers before the devaluation kicked in. Anyway, to celebrate the program refresh Shangri-la has started an Unlock Your Rewards promotion.
- Offer ends July 31
- New members receive 300 points ($20) after one qualifying transaction
- All members receive
- 600 points ($30) for three qualifying transactions, or
- 900 points ($60) for four qualifying transactions, or
- 1,500 points ($100) for five or more qualifying transactions
So if you create a new account now and make at least five transactions by July 31, you’ll earn a total of 1,800 points which is equivalent to $120. Existing members can earn 1,500 points at most, which isn’t bad either.
A qualifying transaction is to spend at least $20 or 300 points on room stay, dining, spa or the Shangri-la boutique. You can earn maximum two qualifying transactions per day.
It’s unclear whether our converted vouchers count – my gut feeling is no, but if you pay an additional $20 for the meal it should be fine. If you have a few of those vouchers at hand, might as well spend them by July 31 to bag a few more Shangri-la points.