Fine white sand between your toes,  70-80+ degree weather, glistening blue water year round, a beach side pool overlooking the water for those who don’t enjoy ocean swimming, a tiki bar and a beach side restaurant all in one place can only mean you’re at a phenomenal beach resort and of course the one I’m talking about is the North Redington Beach Doubletree Beach resort in Florida. The resort sits not even 100 feet from the sparkling Gulf of Mexico on one of ...

With over 170 hotels across in 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Marriott today announced new benefits for their most elite guests who travel and stay in JW Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Courtyard by Marriott within the region. Starting today, guests who stay 75 qualifying nights at Marriott hotels and reach Marriott’s Platinum Elite Status will be eligible for not only room upgrades, but guests will now qualify for FREE suite upgrades, based on ...

One of my colleagues was organizing a meeting in San Diego, and she asked me for suggestions as to where to hold it.  The places she was considering included the Westin Gaslamp Quarter, the Omni, and the Andaz.  I've stayed at the Westin before and its fine, but I encouraged her to look at the Andaz.  I didn't hear anything for a while, but I was pleased when the meeting was eventually scheduled for the Andaz San Diego. 

The Andaz in West Hollywood is the only ...

This last week over the 4th of July I had the opportunity to cash in on my gambling habits in Vegas for a free room at the Total Rewards Casinos (Harrah's, Paris, Caesars, Flamingo, Bally's, Rio, etc).  Being that it was the week of 4th of July rooms on the strip were not their typical Monday-Thursday night lows and nights like the 3rd and 4th were going for $150+ at the lower end resorts (Harrah's, Flamingo, Bally's) and well over $250 at ...

Before I begin sifting through the mountain of choices this promotion offers, please understand one thing.  ONCE YOU SELECT YOUR OFFER, YOU CANNOT CHANGE IT.  I suggest you do your homework (reading this blog is a good start) before you register. You have until June 30, 2012 to analyze your summer travel schedule and determine which of the 11 Nice Choice offers will provide you the most reward.  Don’t worry, your activity will be applied retroactively to the promotional ...

For those of you sitting on Aeroplan miles and considering a trip up to 330 days in the future, it might be wise to get your trip booked before July 15th. On Friday, the many award rates changes and some awards will go up dramatically in price.

For example, right now a first class award from North America to Asia is 120K miles. On this ticket, you can route through Europe, choose two stopovers and an open-jaw, and even make the trip into a mini-RTW journey. On Friday, that award jumps ...