My Travels

I'm back! This time for fun! Went out on United to Honolulu. Like before I did have to layover on another island. This time my inbound flight had a layover in Lihue Airport . Too bad I wasn't able to direct flight into Kauai on the last trip. I'm doomed to always have a layover.... After spending a quick hour on ground in Kauai and having passable chicken katsu from the airport restaurant inside, I was able to get to Waikiki and checked into the Hokulani Waikiki HGVC . I opted to stay at this location because I had some friends who were staying at the Sheraton Waikiki and this was the nearest HGVC. There are pros and cons to staying in the middle of Waikiki. The pros is the proximity to all the eateries and the cons are the number of tourists. The rooms are not as large as the Hilton Hawaiian Village but the décor was consistent and the amenities were nice enough. The one bedroom configuration does not include a full kitchen but a small galley with an electric two bur...

A quick trip 24 hour trip to Phoenix for me. Grabbed a morning flight on United and checked into the Doubletree Paradise Valley Scottsdale Resort . After looking around in Phoenix, I had an Amex offer on a Doubletree stay and I wanted to book a spa resort to get a treatment as well as pool time. I had not stayed at this particular Doubletree before and was looking to find one with an onsite spa. The website is a bit vague and I had assumed the spa link was to services offered onsite. When I checked in, the front desk informed me that the spa was by appointment only and it was through an offsite partnership. I didn't investigate further but assume that they must have some type of space at the hotel to do massages and probably focuses on convincing guests to do in-room massages. Doubletree Paradise Valley Scottsdale King Room Despite the lack of spa facilities, I found the hotel very relaxing. There are two pools and the green space inside the complex makes you feel that th...

I'm back in Hawaii! For another conference! Went on United and checked into the Hilton Grand Vacations in the Hilton Hawaiian Village . Even though I am here for the conference, I opted to reduce my employer's cost by using my timeshare rather than booking hotel rooms for all but the last night of my conference. I don't recall ever staying at the Lagoon tower or it has been a very long time. It looks like the Lagoon tower is one of the original timeshare towers. A little dated in décor, the location is nice as you are in the middle of the hotel complex. The only drawback is that the windows are single pane and the pool below is a bit noisy during the day. Otherwise, I found the room layout functional and suitable for my needs. Met up with friends and ordered takeout from the Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill . This time I tried the fried pork chops and tasty chicken. I think the fried pork chop may have msg as I had a killer headache the next day and dehydrated. Don...