The Park Hyatt brand has always been one to provide the wow factor, and sure you get what you pay for. As the most elite brand in the Hyatt portfolio; Park Hyatt hotels have proven to be a sure thing.

The Park Hyatt Istanbul is a very modern a cool boutique hotel located in a very new and modern part of Istanbul. The hotel is located around many shops and high end international stores. It looks far from most of the tourist stuff in the city and it is a bit off t he tourist ...

Transiting through Jeddah on my way to Afghanistan, I had about 23 hours in Saudi Arabia between Saudia flights. A transit visa had been granted by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC and without even looking at other properties, I reserved a room at the Park Hyatt Jeddah.

This isn't the proper venue to delve into Saudi Arabian culture and politics, but let me first say Saudi Arabia was not what I expected. Admittedly, Jeddah is by all accounts a ...

Much has changed since my last vacation to Istanbul. Five years earlier, I journeyed to the crossroads of east and west for the first time with my younger brother. We had a great time, though our accommodation—a small hostel in the Sultanahmet district—left much to be desired. After flying through Istanbul several times on Turkish Airlines in the interim, this was my first time actually being stamped back into Turkey ...

When my brother and I decided to drive up to Hamburg for a weekend, there were many considerations that shaped our travel plans. Hamburg, Germany’s second largest city, is a nice change of pace from Frankfurt and it was a city I had only briefly seen on a business trip earlier in the year—my brother had never been. Hamburg boasts Binnenalster, Michel, and the famous Reeperbahn. But I would be lying if I did not say what primarily drove me to ...

$135 for a $500 suite on a business trip?  Yeah, I'll take that deal.  

This is the first time I've ever stayed in a Park Hyatt for work, as well as the first time I've ever paid rather than used an award redemption.  These hotels are typically outside the my personal budget, as well as beyond what I can typically justify for a business expense.  I've been very impressed with my past Park Hyatt stays in Washington, Melbourne, and Tokyo. ...

Visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been near the top of my travel list for years, though getting there is not easy. There is no such thing as a tourist visa in the KSA and even obtaining a business or transit visa is difficult, or so I heard. Well, my experience was different.

This is just a teaser post--you won't read about the trip for another month or so--but I am enjoying a refreshing stay at the Park Hyatt Jeddah, had a good experience on Saudia, the Saudi national carrier and now a member of Skyteam, and have been impressed that Saudi Arabia--at least Jeddah--is not as conservative as I had imagined. Warm Arab hospitality and good food have made for a wonderful trip thus far.

Now I am going back to the pool...