One of my best friends had a graduation party in May in LA, so Chris and I booked a room at the Andaz West Hollywood for the trip. Chris was in the middle of a Hyatt Diamond Challenge, so he wanted the chance to check out one of Hyatt's more unique properties. Hyatt's Andaz properties are designed as boutique hotels and there are currently only 12 of them located around the world. According to Hyatt's website: 

The Andaz West Hollywood had an awesome location right on Sunset Boulevard and was previously known as the Continental Hyatt House and the Hyatt on Sunset during its heyday, which, according to Wikipedia:

The property was transformed into the Andaz West Hollywood in 2009. It was definitely a unique hotel and a lot of the renovation was tastefully done. However, it was also obvious that the hotel was older and that it had been repurposed from its previous iterations.

Since we drove down from San Francisco on a Friday night (terrible idea), it took ages and we didn't arrive until very late at night. You can look forward to paying $36/night for valet parking if you drive! 

One unique aspect of the Andaz properties is the lack of a traditional front desk. There's an iPad that the staff uses at check-in and that's really it. 

We were upgraded to a one bedroom suite after Chris used one of his Hyatt upgrade certificates from the Diamond Challenge and headed immediately upstairs since it was about 2 AM. 

Where: www.12hrs.net
What: Short and sweet travel itineraries for cities around the world - all made for 12 hours each.

Today I came across 12hrs. It's a great concept and so far has 12 itineraries for various cities around the world, each providing a full 12 hour itinerary. As of today, you can find guides for San Francisco, Paris, Barcelona (x2), East London, London, Berlin, Portland, Hyéres, Antwerp, Copenhagen, and Vancouver. 

I love this concept because I take a lot of really quick weekend trips. I usually have a bit more than 12 hours, but I love looking at city guides anytime I'm heading to a new city, especially if I want to fit a lot into a small period of time and I'm not sure what to prioritize.

12hrs guides include a hotel recommendation, food and drink recommendations, shopping, sights, and a map of all the recommended locations. Best of all, the photos on the site are absolutely beautiful!

Check it out and happy travels!

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

When we visited Vancouver a few months ago, the hotels were having awesome deals but of course, we couldn't find a good deal on flight prices. There also didn't happen to be any coach award seats either, so we bit the bullet and booked a couple of first class awards on Air Canada. One of the benefits of that was getting to check out the Maple Leaf Lounge at Vancouver International Airport on our way home. 

There are three Maple Leaf Lounges at the Vancouver airport. One in the international terminal, one trans-border, and one in the domestic terminal. We were flying back to the US, so we visited the trans-border lounge.

The Maple Leaf Lounge was on the second floor overlooking the rest of the terminal. There was plenty of seating, a television, a business center with a few computers, and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the runway.

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.