Thanks to an incredibly cheap flight from San Francisco to Puerto Rico, I will be spending a glorious (albeit short) weekend in the Caribbean come Friday. In anticipation, I curated a few of my favorite beachy photos from past trips to share below. 

Cheers to a quick week!

In early May, I took a weekend trip to Portland, Oregon. It seems like everyone mentions Portland and all really seem to love it. Personally, I would pick Seattle or Vancouver over Portland if I were planning another trip to the Pacific Northwest, but Portland definitely has its share of things to do and see (and eat!).

For my second city guide, here are some thoughts on what to do next time you're in Portland. Feel free to share any additional recommendations in the comments below!

To See

Portland Japanese Garden
japanesegarden.com

We honestly almost skipped the Portland Japanese Garden but I'm so glad we didn't. It was absolutely gorgeous! It was rainy and cloudy on the day we went, but it really just made the garden that much more beautiful. The foliage is absolutely gorgeous with so many colors and textures and it was surprisingly huge! There were a bunch of little areas throughout the garden with koi ponds, other water features, a pagoda and a zen garden. It was probably my favorite thing I saw in Portland and it's really not to be missed. 

I'm not sure how many of you have seen this yet, but Reddit has popularized a video that a man made on his iPhone after he got stranded overnight at the Las Vegas airport. It's pretty hilarious and really goes to show that there's always someone who knows how to make the best of a bad situation! Next time you're stuck in an airport overnight (which is hopefully never), consider having some fun with it. 

Enjoy!

City Guide: Vancouver, British Columbia
Review: Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver
Review: Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver
Review: YVR Maple Leaf Lounge

American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts

When we visited Vancouver for a weekend back in March, Chris, and I wanted to take advantage of American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts' hotel deals so we stayed one night at one hotel and one night at another. If you've never heard of AmEx FHR, it's an awesome program that you get to take advantage of if you're anAmerican Express Platinum card holder. Since the Platinum card comes with a pretty hefty annual fee ($450), I don't have the card myself, but luckily, Chris does. When you book through FHR, you get the following benefits: 

• Noon check-in upon arrival, when available
  
• Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
  
• Daily breakfast for two people
• 4pm late checkout
  
• Additional special amenity unique to each property, such as a $100 food and beverage credit or a massage for two people

Depending on how often you travel and stay in hotels, this can be an awesome value. Back in March, all of the big Vancouver hotels were having awesome deals, so AmEx FHR's pricing was extremely reasonable as a result. 

Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver

There are really no words to describe how much I loved the Shangri-La hotel. It was, without a doubt, the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at with the nicest room. It was simply amazing! 

We decided to relocate right after breakfast at the Fairmont so that we could drop our stuff off and take advantage of the noon check-in from AmEx FHR. When you walk in from the street-level, you will see a concierge desk to your left and seating to the left and in front of you. Interestingly, you don't check in here, you have to take the elevator down a level to the front desk. Luckily, the concierge noticed the confused looks on our faces and walked us down to the front desk right away. We got our early check-in and were thrilled to hear that we had been upgraded to a one-bedroom suite. I was in Heaven.

City Guide: Vancouver, British Columbia
Review: Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver
Review: Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver
Review: YVR Maple Leaf Lounge

American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts

When we visited Vancouver for a weekend back in March, Chris, and I wanted to take advantage of American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts' hotel deals so we stayed one night at one hotel and one night at another. If you've never heard of AmEx FHR, it's an awesome program that you get to take advantage of if you're an American Express Platinum card holder. Since the Platinum card comes with a pretty hefty annual fee ($450), I don't have the card myself, but luckily, Chris does. When you book through FHR, you get the following benefits: 

• Noon check-in upon arrival, when available
  
• Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
  
• Daily breakfast for two people
• 4pm late checkout
  
• Additional special amenity unique to each property, such as a $100 food and beverage credit or a massage for two people

Depending on how often you travel and stay in hotels, this can be an awesome value. Back in March, all of the big Vancouver hotels were having awesome deals, so AmEx FHR's pricing was extremely reasonable as a result. 

Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver

Because we usually fly out late on Friday nights, we got into Vancouver around 12 AM and hopped on the SkyTrain into the city. From Waterfront Station, we walked over to the Fairmont Waterfront, which was about a 10-15 minute walk (depending on how much wine you drank during the flight). The lobby was expansive with a restaurant and bar to the right of the entrance, although it was mostly deserted by the time we arrived. The front desk agent was very nice and checked us in quickly while outlining the FHR benefits for our stay. We then headed up to the 5th floor to our room. 

The room was very nice and we lucked out with a larger king room that had a full sitting area to the right when you walked in and a desk near the window. Although you can't tell from the pictures below (taken around 1 AM), we did get a view of the Harbour, which was nice, but we ended up with gray, cloudy weather the next day, so the view wasn't as great as it could have been!