LiveTraveled
  • Blog
  • About
  • Basics
  • Trip Reports
  • Contact

Monday Inspriation

6/23/2014

0 Comments

 
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!
Picture
Key West, Florida
Picture
Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
Picture
Key West, Florida
Picture
Laguna Beach, California
Picture
Miami Beach, Florida
Picture
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Unless stated, all photos posted on this blog are my own and should not be used without my permission.
0 Comments

City Guide: Portland, Oregon

6/17/2014

0 Comments

 
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. 
Picture
Portland Japanese Garden
Picture
Portland Japanese Garden
Picture
Portland Japanese Garden

Read More
0 Comments

Making the Best of a Bad (Airport) Situation

6/11/2014

0 Comments

 
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!

All by myself from Richard Dunn on Vimeo.

0 Comments

Review: Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver

6/5/2014

0 Comments

 
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.
Picture
Shangri-La Vancouver Street Level Entrance

Read More
0 Comments

Review: Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver

6/2/2014

0 Comments

 
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!

Read More
0 Comments

    About

    Just a girl with a full-time job and a full-time obsession with traveling. It's best to LiveTraveled.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Air Canada
    Airport Lounges
    American Airlines
    AmEx FHR
    Andaz
    Beijing
    Booking Sites
    British Airways
    Burj Al Arab
    Cathay Pacific
    China
    City Guide
    Conrad Hilton
    Credit Cards
    Dragonair
    Dubai
    Emirates Airlines
    Etihad Airways
    Fairmont
    Flight Review
    Grand Hyatt
    Hilton
    Hong Kong
    Hotel Review
    How To
    Hyatt
    Hyatt Regency
    Iberia Airlines
    InterContinental
    Japan Airlines
    Jumeirah
    London
    Los Angeles
    Lufthansa
    Madrid
    Maui
    Miami
    Misc
    New York
    Park Hyatt
    Photography
    Qatar Airways
    Recommended Blogs
    Ritz Carlton
    San Diego
    San Juan
    Seattle
    Seoul
    Seville
    Shanghai
    Shangri-La
    Singapore Airlines
    Sites To See
    SLS Hotel
    Starwood
    Tips
    Tokyo
    Vancouver
    Weekend Write-Up
    Westin
    W Hotels

    Archives

    March 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

#livetraveled
  • Blog
  • About
  • Basics
  • Trip Reports
  • Contact