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My review of Hilton Cardiff

13 February 2022 / Leave a comment

I booked Gainsborough Bath Spa via FHR because of the annual $200 credit offered by the US Amex Platinum card. As a result I was also looking for another hotel nearby, ideally with executive lounge and spa facilities, and Hilton Cardiff turned out to be the obvious choice.

The hotel sits comfortably next to the Cardiff Castle, about 15 minutes’ walk from the railway station.

On the day of arrival I inquired about suite upgrade, and got offered a Junior Suite which I’m more than happy about. One feature I love about Hilton is the floor plan and online check-in, with which (and Google Street View) you have enough information to choose the room you want.

They have very few suites, but plenty of junior suites available, so upgrade to the latter shouldn’t be difficult for Diamond members.

The room has an unconventional shape, but quite spacious nonetheless. It’s clearly refurbished in recent years, and generally very comfy. However like the former Le Meridien Piccadilly the bedside sockets are of a very old type, by which you can tell the hotel has some history.

I selected a west-facing room, as the view appears to be much nicer despite being smaller. It turns out to be a great decision, as others have shared online that the east-facing rooms can be heavily disturbed by the bars downstairs.

The bathroom is also big with both a shower and a tub.

The spa at the hotel is quite popular. It’s a member of Hussle so in case you are based in Cardiff, you could probably get a free day pass via Hussle’s various promotions to give it a go.

Swimming pool:

Jacuzzi:

Sauna and steam room:

The gym is next door. Although not large, it’s got enough lighting and view of the swimming pool is quite refreshing.

Breakfast buffet is served in the main restaurant. You must book a one-hour slot for weekends.

My day of arrival is the last day before Wales relaxes its Covid restrictions. The executive lounge is closed and relevant services are moved to the lobby bar – it’s an applauded move, as most hotels that have closed their executive lounge don’t bother to provide any alternatives.

The executive lounge on the 7th floor reopens on the second day. It has a magnificent view of the castle, but unfortunately it rains a lot during my stay.

Afternoon tea is served 3pm-6pm.

Happy hour is served 6pm-8pm, with a couple of hot items, some canapes and the usual beers and wines.

The lounge is decent enough. However it’s not open until 3pm, which prevents you from having soft drinks or a cup of coffee there which is annoying.

In general I’m very happy about the stay: a hotel at central location, with executive lounge, swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room and sauna, and costs less than £70 a night. If you are looking for a weekend getaway as well, I’d definitely recommend Hilton Cardiff!

10,000 bonus points for joining InterContinental Ambassador

10 February 2022 / Leave a comment

A reader has got in touch to share an incentive that he received for joining the InterContinental Ambassador program.

The email text says:

As a thank you for your recent stay at InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, we would like to grant you 10,000 bonus points upon enrolment into InterContinental® Ambassador. This elevated member benefits programme provides a suite of indulgences to enrich your global travel experiences at over 220 InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts and participating Regent™ Hotels & Resorts* worldwide.

He redeemed an award night at an InterContinental hotel last month, which seems to have triggered this special offer for 10,000 bonus points as long as he joins the program. Remember the other enrolment promotion which also entitles you to 20,000 bonus points, and I believe the two offers are stackable.

If you are yet to join the Ambassador program, and have stayed / will stay at an InterContinental hotel, watch your inbox for the offer.

4 days only: Fly business to the U.S. for £999 with TAP Portugal’s Valentines sale

9 February 2022 / Leave a comment

TAP Portugal is starting a Valentines’ sale for departure from certain origins including the UK.

The landing page for Economy is here, with some headline prices:

Lisbon £74
Porto £69
Faro £93

The landing page for Executive (business class) is here, with some headline prices:

New York / Boston / Chicago / San Francisco £999
Toronto / Montreal £1249

And the rules are:

Book between Feb 10 and Feb 14
Travel by September 30
You also earn double status miles

£999 for business class to the U.S. is especially good, although you need to transit in Portugal. For such promotions you usually get free stop-overs at Lisbon or Porto too – and if you stay in Portugal for more than 24 hours before your onward travel, your ticket potentially gets even cheaper due to the lower APD charged by the UK.

My review of Hotel Indigo Kensington, London

5 February 2022 / Leave a comment

Hotel Indigo Kensington has a pretty good 3-for-2 offer via the IHG Luxury and Lifestyle program, and I also had a targeted 5,000 bonus points offer, so I decided to spend my first 2022 hotel stay here.

The hotel is only two minutes away from Earls Court, which is especially convenient if you want to visit the museums. Sat on the Piccadilly Line it’s also handy to travel to the city centre or Heathrow.

Unsurprisingly the front desk has no clue what the Lifestyle rate is, although being very friendly. After checking with the reservation team the second day he confirms the $50 / £40 credit for my stay.

I booked the Premium Room directly as its rate is only a touch higher than the standard room. The only upgrade option available at the time was for a Premium Room with Extra Bed on the basement floor, which I declined.

The room feels pretty Indigo-y, and big by London standard.

The positioning of TV is a bit weird. Air conditioning doesn’t work (in my room) so they provide a portable heater instead.

Minibar is free to all hotel guests. There are two bottles of water, two soft and two alcoholic drinks.

I was upgraded to a Suite the next day.

It’s not noticeably larger than the Premium Room, but has a separate living room, one more TV and better natural light. However the bedroom is quite squeezed.

It’s totally down to personal preference, but I think the Premium Room is more comfortable.

If pre-booked breakfast costs a very reasonable £10 per person. It’s got a small buffet area which doesn’t offer much:

But you can also choose one main and one hot drink from the menu. The mains include full English, pancakes, eggs Benedict and porridge etc.

To spend all my credit I had a dinner at the hotel restaurant too and ordered Penang Curry Chicken, with the complimentary cocktail for Spire members. The food is good.

The hotel is too small to have a gym, let alone a swimming pool or other facilities. In total I paid £260 for three nights in a Premium Room inclusive of £40 credit, which is a deal well worth considering in central London.

Hotel Loyalty Programme Series – Leading Hotels of the World

29 January 2022 / Leave a comment

The Leading Hotels of the World, or LHW, is a collection of 400 luxury hotels in over 80 countries in the world. Like other hotel groups LHW has a membership program which entitles you to additional benefits when you book directly with them.

[LHW Brands]

LHW acts mostly as a marketing platform, so there’s no strong branding within the group and many hotels are actually independent. It’s also common to see LHW hotels affiliated with another hotel chain.

For example, the Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin is also part of GHA Discovery – actually all Kempinski hotels belong to GHA Discovery because of the deal, but the same isn’t true for LHW. LHW also has a few Gran Melia hotels in Spain, which are part of the Melia group.

In terms of geographical distribution, LHW is best represented in Europe, with especially strong footprint in Italy and Switzerland.

[Membership Tiers and Benefits]

You used to have to pay $175 a year to enrol in the LHW program, but it has been made permanently free since mid 2021. LHW has three membership tiers: Club, Silver and Aurelian.

Club – entry level

One Pre-Arrival Upgrade each year after their first paid stay as a new Club Level member
Upgrade priority at arrival based on availability
Early check-in and late check-out considerations upon availability
Complimentary Wi-Fi access throughout their stay
Complimentary continental breakfast for two for each day of the stay

Silver – $5000 annual spend requirement

Five Pre-Arrival Upgrades each year
5% stay points bonus in addition to 1 point for every USD 1 spent on qualifying stays.

Aurelian – invitation only (top 1% spend)

Unlimited one-category Pre-arrival upgrades
No Black-Out dates for redeeming free nights
10% stay points bonus in addition to 1 point for every USD 1 spent on qualifying stays.
A USD 1000 Annual Premium Ground Transportation Budget
And a Guaranteed 4 PM Late Check Out

Everyone can start enjoying Club benefits by signing up to the program for free. There’s some value here, especially the free breakfast and room upgrade – the latter doesn’t look great on paper, but some of my readers suggest it tends to be quite generous (including suite upgrade) in practice.

Silver status doesn’t sounds exciting to be honest. Its top-level invitation tier Aurelian is exclusive to the heaviest spenders only which is quite similar to the Royal Ambassador status in InterContinental Ambassador, but the benefits are weaker.

[Earn and Spend]

You earn 1 point for each USD spent on qualifying room rates for up to three rooms in the same reservation. Until recently it was only possible to earn points on direct LHW bookings, but it’s now expanded to some other channels:

Luxury consortiums such as Amex FHR and Virtuoso
Business travel bookings made via corporate travel agencies and corporate booking tools

Be careful that direct bookings with the hotel don’t qualify for points accrual. This is one main difference with other hotel groups.

Points can be redeemed towards an award night, at the rate of 100 points = $8. Note that cash + points is not an option so you must have enough points to cover the entire cost, which can be an issue if you only have a small stash of points.

Given its earning structure, you basically earn 8% cashback when making an LHW booking, which is just okay.

[Summary]

The only time I stayed at an LHW hotel was at the Gran Melia Fenix Hotel in Madrid, where I booked using Melia points. It’s unlikely I’ll ever use LHW’s website to make any booking, as the perks don’t excite me.

On the other hand, a lot of people do think very highly of their hotels. Now that FHR / Virtuoso are also qualifying rates, you might as well bag some points when you book a relevant hotel.

Get £10 Amazon voucher for using its Photos app

26 January 2022 / Leave a comment

Amazon has brought back its offer to promote the Photos app, which you may avail for a free £10 credit.

You can view the offer on this page, and there should be a message about your eligibility. You must be a paying Amazon Prime member to be eligible.

To participate, you need to download the Amazon Photos app and upload at least one photo via the app by January 31. You will receive your £10 Amazon credit within 7 days, and have until February 15 to redeem it.

There is a minimum purchase value of £25 to use the credit, and like usual it only applies to items sold and fulfilled by Amazon.

Other Amazon offers:

Register Now: Marriott Q1 Every Night Counts promotion

25 January 2022 / Leave a comment

Marriott’s Q1 promotion Every Night Counts is now open for registration.

You can access the offer here.

Register by April 20th
Stay between February 8th and May 4th
1,000 bonus points and 1 additional night credit for every paid night
Homes & Villas, Marriott Vacation Club and Marriott Executive Apartments excluded

It’s quite similar to what Marriott offered last year, except that double points becomes 1,000 bonus points. The offer is very enticing, especially as Marriott is not giving free night credits this year like the last two, so maintaining elite status is not that easy anymore.

There was a sweet spot last year, where you could do 5 award nights + 1 paid night and earn double points/credits for the entire stay. I don’t think it will work this time, as it says every paid night instead of every paid stay, however the official FAQs should follow suit very soon to confirm.

My review of Sala VIP Roja at Tenerife South Airport

24 January 2022 / Leave a comment

After spending five nights at Ritz Carlton Abama I’m on my way back to London. There’s a huge queue in front of the Eurofins covid test centre at the airport, which are presumably mostly British tourists, but fortunately the pre-departure test requirement will be scrapped soon.

Sala Montana Roja is the only lounge available at TFS, or at least the only one that’s open.