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Hilton Suhkumvit, Bangkok
While trying to grab some more distant locations, I ended up popping off to Bangkok again for cheap luxury hotels and gratuitous lounges. While bandying about on the Hilton website, I saw the Hilton Sukhumvit was cheap, and even the suite was a good buy. So, instead of de ...
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Johnnie Walker, Edinburgh
If you have heard of any Scotch Whiskey, it's almost guaranteed it was about Johnnie Walker at some point. Some purists are against the 'blended' drink, but it is a consistent and enjoyable range of drinks (Ok, Red and Black can go hang, but the rest are good).In addition, ...
YouTube Video - Ritz Carlton Resort Langkawi
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Hilton London Heathrow
On my last full day in London, knowing I had a very early flight the following morning, I decided to stay at the Hilton Heathrow, located at terminal 4. This was a closed terminal during Covid, so there was no public transportation, but there is a shuttle bus that goes around ...
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American Airlines Flagship Lounge - O'Hare International Airport
Hours
5:3 ...
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Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I was going to a very nice resort in Malaysia, and I wanted some time to acclimate to the time zone so I didn't waste a day there just getting 'sleep aligned'. Since the resort was a Ritz, I looked at the Ritz Carlton in Kuala Lumpur as an appetizer and an after ...
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Edinburgh Castle
First documented around 100 AD by the Romans as "Alauna", or Rock Place, where some people were living. Local history, being in Scottish, is impossible to understand if any Rs are in the words, so this is what we have.
Around 400-600, various local kings and leaders had a settlemen ...
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Hilton, Newcastle England
I was on a trip slowly making my way up England (on the way to Scotland), and Newcastle upon Tyne seemed like an interesting spot to me. Home of a premier league soccer team, an industrial town quite decent in size, a river port to the ocean, and by far the friendliest peo ...
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Plaza Premium Lounge Langkawi
Hours
7:0 ...
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W Hotel, Edinburgh Scotland
I was in Edinburgh just for the sheer fact I had not been here before. I had heard wonderous reviews of the W here and had a large free night certificate to utilize literally within days of expiration. Also, I had a few Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards, so I applied thos ...
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Gardens by the Bay, Singapore
The gardens aren't that old, opened in 2012 as something for people in Singapore to do, it became a national icon (the super trees are definitely photographed widely). A very large space, the interior shuttle bus can be useful, but does cost per trip.
The Arrival
I to ...
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W Hotel, Montreal Quebec
I'd spent too long in the USA, and I wanted a quick weekend getaway. Montreal has been on my list a long time, and Ws are another group of hotels I like to experience. Some great, some interesting, and some make you wonder how they are even a W anymore. So, of course, I b ...
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Qantas International Business Class Lounge, Singapore
Hours
Mon ...
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Hilton London Hyde Park
I was finally able to reasonably get back to London in March of 2022 based on their new rules at the time for fully vaccinated individuals, to attend some events for International Woman's Day with some institutions I belong to over there. It was a long trip and I was rate sh ...
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Montreal Botanical Gardens
Founded in 1931, helped along by years of campaigning by local Friar Marie-Victorin, it drew in Henry Teuscher - a fairly well known Quebec landscape artist - and the first buildings were designed by an architect I can't find any info on, so I'll leave his name out. Yeah, ...
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Artist Residence, Penzance Cornwall
I took a trip down to Penzance to meet up with a friend of mine who lives there. I was told that in the town of Penzance, there is only one location for a proper gentleman to stay, and that is the Artist Residence. It's affiliated with Hyatt, so I was able to boo ...
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Travel Club Domestic Lounge, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Hours
4: ...
YouTube Video - JW Marriott Nara
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Sheraton, Zagreb
While traipsing through more of Europe I hadn't visited, I was making a plan to do a car/train ride from Croatia to the other Balkan states. Well, seems trains are pretty messed up, and renting a car was a challenging prospect as I wanted to do a one way down to Athens. Nobody wou ...
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Zagreb Archaeological Museum
First off, it was named the National Museum when this was part of the Austrian Empire in 1836 and was housed in the State Academy Mansion in a square I cannot find on any map, go figure. In 1866, it was renamed to the State Institute of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, b ...
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Waldorf Astoria, Chicago
I had a free night expiring from one of the various credit cards I have (I have ones specialized for each property group just to earn more points) and then a pile of more points I never used in Hilton, and I was easily able to grab two nights at the Waldorf Astoria in Chicag ...
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Asuka International Lounge, Osaka Japan
Hours
Dep ...
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Hilton Kuala Lumpur
I've had a few short layovers in Kuala Lumpur, and although there are a series of amazing hotels in the city, a lot take a while to get to. I don't feel it's worth it for just one night, so I choose convenience. The one I find the easiest to get to and most well located is the K ...
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Sir Walter Scott Monument
This is a large impressive gothic monument made of pink sandstone (black now from coal exhaust over the last 100+ years). It was created for Scottish national treasure Sir Walter Scott who invented the genre of historical fiction. Because of his high station in life, he wr ...
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Hilton Okinawa Sesoko Resort
While in the Kansai area of Japan, on an extended, but failed, mission to try to photograph the legendary fall colors (fall was many weeks delayed this year and I had to be back in USA), I found myself with some free time.
I was looking around the area to see if there we ...
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Concordia Domestic Lounge, Surabaya Indonesia
Hours
4:0 ...
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Hilton Osaka
Ok, spending a week or two in Osaka, well, Rob gets bored in one hotel and was looking for something with maybe a little higher experience. There was quite reasonable rates at the Hilton Osaka, and its location at the main train station with access to the airport and everywhere, did no ...
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Cloud Nest
Details
...
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Hilton Kyoto
Arrival
So I took a bus from the Kansai airport way down in Osaka Bay, and then a taxi from there to the Hilton Kyoto. I had found it as a newer property, and well, it was fall color season ...
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JAL Diamond Premiere Lounge, Okinawa
Hours
6:3 ...
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JW Marriott, Nara
I purposefully searched out for an JW Marriott's in the Kansai region. It had been a while since I updated my global list (I have a thing for JW's and I purposefully look for them). I found that to the east in the original capital of the Japanese Empire, Nara, there is a newer JW ...
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Australian Museum, Sydney
This place was talked about and thought about for years. I'll bypass all of that because it wasn't super material to it actually starting in 1827. (Which is super old especially for an active penal colony? Kinda crazy)
From originally housing collections in an office of th ...
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Hilton Surfers Paradise Resort
I was purposefully going back to Surfers Paradise because I wanted to rollerblade the ocean path. I had already stayed at the JW, but I needed more things for people to know about, so I found a good rate at the Hilton Surfers Paradise Resort and booked a few nights t ...
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JAL Sakura Lounge, Osaka Japan
Hours
7:3 ...
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Governors Lodge, Norfolk Island, Australia
I am chasing my great uncle's world travel record, and it's quite a task to visit everywhere. While I was in Australia, I was checking out the 4 territories that are part of the official list. Of all of them, only Norfolk Island was reasonable in cost at ...
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Nagai Botanical Garden, Osaka
The gardens were built in Nagai Park in 1974, which is in the south part of Osaka. There are over 1,000 trees which is its primary focus, but also has major seasonal floral installations.
And that's all the info I have! Wiki fail, people.
Anyways it was a last-minute ...
YouTube Video - JW Marriott Dubai
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Lounge Kansai, Osaka Kansei Airport
Hours
5:3 ...
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Marriott Resort, Miri Malaysia
While arranging to visit various places on the Century Travelers Club world list, I noticed that Borneo is segmented into 4 places. Two for Malaysia, one for Indonesia and one for Brunei. I had a few days of open commitment for my trip and started looking for reasona ...
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Kyoto Railway Museum, Japan
With trains being such a vital part of the Japanese island and culture, as far back as 1967 they were looking at creating a museum to the railway in an old roundhouse in Kyoto at the Umekoji Depot. The president of Japanese National Rail was even involved, and in 1972 th ...
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Chase Sapphire Lounge, La Guardia, New York
Hours
4:3 ...
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Kingston, Norfolk Island
The area was first recorded in 1774 by Captain Cook on his second world voyage. After his return, sharing knowledge of the island, an expedition set out from Australia with convicts to "settle" the island. This was a fairly common practice at the time as punishment for min ...
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Ritz Carlton Langkawi
I had found this place accidentally while searching around Asia for resorts, and despite having a friend who is native Malaysian, I had never heard of Langkawi. After some research I found it is basically the Malaysian Smokey Mountains, the park/nature/tourist location most vi ...
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Doubletree, Kyoto Station
Arrival
I took a taxi from the previous hotel, because Kyoto, while walkable, is not bag-carrying walkable and the subway was strange to me, so yeah, anyways, taxi.
Also, I chose the Doubletree, Kyoto ...
YouTube Video - JW Marriott Surabaya Indonesia
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W Hotel, Bangkok
I was already supposed to be back from Vietnam (a failed trip attempt of epic proportions) so I had the W Bangkok already booked, and I used some of my upgrade nights (a Bonvoy status award option) to try for a marvelous suite.
Well, the upgrades worked, and I was given a great room ...
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B Bar, Osaka
Details
...
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National Museum, Bangkok
Established in 1874 by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V, considered the greatest king of Thailand) to show his father King Mongkut's collection of items. They were housed in the former palace of the vice king (typically the brother of the reigning king), near the current royal pal ...
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West Curio Collection, Sydney
As part of my trip through Australia, I was in Sydney for the last few days before flying home and wanted to check out a different hotel. Luckily, I found a really attractive rate at the West Hotel near, well basically everything. This area by Darling Harbor is much m ...
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Le Meridien, Kuala Lumpur
Arrival
I was only originally planning on staying one night in Kuala Lumpur before I went over to Vietnam, but I had waited too long to apply for a visa and nothing cle ...
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The Wing First Class lounge by Cathay
Hours
5:3 ...
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Marriott Sydney
While on a trip to Australia to see some unvisited locations and honestly because it was a ridiculously cheap first-class round trip flight, I needed a few spots to stay in Sydney. Having kinda gone through the Hiltons there, I was looking at a Marriott property to stay. After loo ...
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The Philadelphia Zoo
Labeled America's First Zoo, although it was chartered in 1859 because of the London Zoo being made public in 1847 and wanting to keep up, it didn't really open in until 1874. Some kind of civil war was interfering at the time. It started out huge with 1,000 animals, was even ...
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Octave Rooftop, BKK
Details
...
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Cathay Bangkok First/Business Lounge
Hours
5:1 ...
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The Notary
I was going to Philadelphia to meetup with a group of people who kinda travel around and drink (do not judge me!). In my planning, I had to find a couple hotels, and The Notary which is an Autograph Collection, had a great rate, perfect location, and fit the bill for a place to let the r ...
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MacArthur Museum Brisbane
The General Douglas MacArthur museum is housed in the building occupied by his staff during World War 2 in Brisbane Australia. For the time, it was a recently built, very modern office building, commandeered by the General as his HQ for Pacific Operations of the US Army un ...
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Sheraton Royal Orchid, Bangkok
Rob, having planned originally on going to Vietnam but his visa not clearing in my scheduled arrival and, found himself looking for a way to kill some time. In a few days, I would be leaving Asia from Bangkok, so it seemed fairly straightforward to just go there earli ...
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Heli Lounge and Bar, Kuala Lumpur
Details
...
YouTube Video - Ritz Carlton Jakarta
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Qantas Airlines Domestic Business Class Lounge Melbourne
Hours
One ...
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Sheraton Sonoma Wine Country Petaluma
I was off to wine country in California for a few days and even though it was offseason, a lot of hotels were exceptionally pricey. I managed to find one listed as wine country, and it kinda is close enough to count, well-placed for Sonoma and Russian River, ev ...
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Qantas International Business Class Lounge, LAX
Hours
6:3 ...
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The Franklin Institute
In 1824, 200 years ago, the Franklin Institute was formed to promote mechanic arts, which is the functioning of machines. Steam engine research was a key item in the early years as it was the newest form of power developed.
Its original building was quite small and located ne ...
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Hilton, Nottingham England
A lot of my friends I have around the world I have gotten from gaming online on cooperative type games. As many notice on here I go to London a lot and my friend David in Nottingham kept saying coming up. Finally, I did! But in the process I needed a place to stay, whic ...
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American Airlines Flagship Lounge - Miami International Airport
Hours
5:3 ...
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The Gantry London
I was in London for a bit to meet my good friend Tim, and as is my usual practice, I picked a few spots to stay for a few days each. The Gantry was one I had been looking at since it opened in 2022. Finally rates and timings of my visits aligned to my benefit.
Arrival
I took the ...
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Apple Park Vistor Center
Apple Park, the highly secured but amazingly beautiful and environmentally friendly (including energy consumption) complex which is now the global headquarters to Apple corporation has a visitor center, which is kinda of an enhanced Apple store but contains items you can onl ...
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Plaza Premium Lounge, Terminal 2 Singapore
Hours
24 ...
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Hilton London on Park Lane
I want to stay in nice places when I can, and I kept looking and looking for good rates at the Hilton London on Park Lane as it's a hotel I like to actually repeat visiting. Hey, there are a few! Anyway, anytime I can get a good price here, I go. Its location is ideal f ...
YouTube Video - W Minneapolis
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The British Museum
Let's go back to the late 1600s with physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane who had more money and time than he knew what to do with. He collected 71,000 objects across the natural and human made spectrum which he willed to the King (George II) for a return of 20,000 pounds. I ...
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British Airways First Class Lounge Terminal 3
Hours
5:0 ...
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The Pier First Class lounge by Cathay
Hours
5:3 ...
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American Airlines First Class Lounge - London
Hours
5:0 ...
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London Transport Museum
Established in 1980 in an old flower market building located in the piazza of Covent Garden, the museum originally was dedicated to just trains and busses. When all the transport was combined in 2000, the museum also branched to all forms of transportation for its collections ...
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Qatar Premium Lounge Singapore
Hours
7:4 ...
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Doubletree, Woking England
I was in London for New Year's Eve, and to say that hotels in London were out of my price range would be a understatement of the extreme. So I widened my search to the hinterlands, concentrating the search to near train stations. I found an exceptionally reasonable prope ...
YouTube Video - Conrad Dubai
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Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle is an ancient castle built in 1068 - most of you probably heard of it first from Robin Hood. It holds a pivotal place in English history, with Prince John and King Richard fighting here. King Edward III used a secret entrance to enter with his men and capture his ...
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JW Marriott, Surbaya Indonesia
Believe it or not, I flew to Surabaya expressly to stay at this JW Marriott. Yes, I am fixated aren't I?
Arrival
I flew from Medan to Surabaya but through Kuala Lumpur (this was a bit of a misjudgment as I had to then get another visa on arrival after landing in the I ...
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Saphire Plaza Premium Lounge Jarkarta
Hours
3:0 ...
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JW Marriott Medan
Traversing through Asia to get more JW Marriotts (I know, I need help), I saw the least expensive one in the world in Medan, a very short flight from Kuala Lumpur. So off I went for 3 days at the JW Medan which initially was intended to be a bit of a tourist trip but air pollution ...
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Golden Lounge Kuala Lumpur Golden Domestic Lounge
Hours
5:0 ...
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Zurich Tram Museum
In 1967 the museum was formed by a bunch of tram lovers as part of a terminus station on the lines. Then in 1989, they added the old service shop at the Burgwies stop in the south eastern part of the city. Can't have a more ideal location that the actual storage/repair facility ...
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Sala Montale Lounge Milan
Hours
7:0 ...
YouTube Video - Waldorf Astoria Dubai
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Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
My good buddy had just graduated with his Masters in Science and wanted to celebrate. I figured I'd get the room because it was a Friday night, and there was no way anyone could drive the 55 miles home. I was working on earning Hyatt points and looked up the best rates for ...
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Cathay Singapore First/Business Lounge
Hours
3 h ...
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Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan, Jakarta
Arrival
I was jumping around southeast Asia staying at JW Marriotts I had not yet documented or visited before, and since I had already been to the JW in Jakarta, I looked at the Rit ...
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War of the Worlds Walk
I was staying in Woking for financial reasons during New Years (London was... ridiculous costs) and I had no idea the HG Wells had lived in the city, and not only that, had patterened much of the War of the Worlds novel on locations in and about the city.
I had a few hours to ...
