The Wandering Salesman

Wow!

Simply amazing. I’ve stayed in my fair share of hotels over the years and as someone who spends 60+ nights a year in them, I think I have become fairly blase about the quality and service you receive. For the most part, staying in a hotel is so monotonous.

Same check-in experience. Same ride up the elevator. Same damn issue with the key not working in the door. Same drab room decor. Same food. Same robotic service. Same. Same. Same.

So for a hotel to “break” that heavily entrenched view, in my mind, it would have to be remarkable.

And the W Hong Kong is just that. I was travelling with a client and he said on check-out, “that’s easily the best hotel experience I have ever had”.

This from a man, who has the patience of a 2-year old who has just inhaled a red bull and eaten a entire block of chocolate.

Or something like that…

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When was the last time you checked into a hotel and the first thing you noticed when you arrived was the smell of the place, both inside and out?

I’ve stayed at a lot of airport hotels. The convenience is obvious.

But the Sheraton JFK takes the cake. To be honest, it was a bit of an effort to get there. United lands in Terminal 1 at JFK, which means you get on the AirTrain thing and hoof it 3 stops to the hotel shuttle pick up point.

It’s where the rental car offices are located.

Fair enough. Easy to figure out.

Then you hit that “Noo-York” attitude. Which I love by the way, but it’s been a while since I’ve been here so you have to remember where you are.

It’s the attitude that no one is bigger than the city. If you complain, the average service worker will get back up in your face.

The other thing you have to remember about JFK and New York is that this is the mecca of opportunity.

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This was so traumatic I don’t even know where to start.

I was in Korea this week. Booked into the Westin Chosun, Seoul. All pretty standard stuff. You know, the normal Asian trip.

Anyway, for those of you who haven’t been to Seoul, the Koreans have built a new airport. It’s a cracker. Regularly competes with Hong Kong and Singapore and according to Skytrax, Incheon has won best airport in the world for the past 6-years running.

Although I am a bit dubious about the fact that the majority of people who vote for these types of awards are always drunk British expats.

Or something like that.

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No, not Singapore Party Girl. Starwood Preferred Guest.

The super brand takes in Westin, Sheraton, Le Meridien etc etc. Best bang for your buck, hands down. I used to ensure all my hotel stays were Starwood but then I lost status I think and for some strange reason ended up using Hilton. I’ve just come back to SPG this month.

Unlike the US, there’s no SPG Amex card here in Asia that I’m aware of so all of your points earning is achieved via stays. I think we have a good range of properties to choose from in the region.

The best feature I find with SPG is that its mile for mile to transfer to your preferred airline. In my case, UA. So when you’ve racked up 20,000 Starwood points, SPG will add a 5,000 point bonus and then transfer 25,000 miles to your frequent flier program.

Much better than Hilton, which was 1 mile per 10 points. So, if you have 200,000 Hilton points, you only end up receiving 20,000 miles into your frequent flier account. Cheap arse bastards.