After trying Lao food at a few restaurants in Luang Prabang, a friend who has been here a lot of times recommended the Blue Lagoon restaurant. It has been in Luang Prabang for more than 10 years and moved to a new location about 2 years ago, down an alley of a side street and […]
In this week’s Travel News, I’m looking at the pending acquisition of Carlson Hotels by the Chinese conglomerate HNA. After IHG buying Kimpton last year and Accor buying Fairmont and Marriott buying Starwood, this is the fourth big acquisition in the hotel industry. How will this impact your experience at Carlson Hotels and your travel
The Sofitel Luang Prabang is a fantastic luxury hotel with great service and impressive private pool villas, all located in a beautifully renovated colonial villa with lush grounds, providing a peaceful retreat outside the old town of Luang Prabang. The Suites are very large and decorated with tasteful, local touches! If you want to enjoy
If you are looking to book a hotel, there are certainly enough booking portals to choose from, with hotels.com and agoda.com among my favorites. The challenge is that each of these portals has their strength and weaknesses: Agoda is very strong in Asia and good in Europe, but looses out regularly against hotels.com in the
Sofitel is the top luxury brand of the Accor family of hotels – and they are positioned far up the luxury ladder from the budget ibis hotels that make up the majority of Accor properties. So, how good can a luxury hotel be, when it is run by a budget chain? Read on to find
We picked the Holiday Inn Chelsea as our second hotel in New York mainly based on the location – it’s a short walk from the Hotel Indigo we stayed previously and in the neighborhood we wanted to be in. While I was expecting to get less for less in comparison to the Indigo, I was
This week’s DealDispatch brings you a selection of travel gear from Acer – with tablets starting below $50 and Chromebook laptops under $100 and Nikon – with a selection of cameras starting from $80, you can get some good gadgets for little money!
There has been news of a number of mergers and acquisitions in the hotel industry lately and of course travelers, points enthusiasts and the media have been wondering what it will all mean to them. The mergers in the airline industry in the US have shown that reduced competition can have a negative impact on
For a recent trip to New York City, I chose the Hotel Indigo in Chelsea, again! It is in a great neighborhood, with easy access to all that New York City has to offer, has stylish rooms and is available on IHG Rewards points and free night certificates, making a visit to New York much
I have been looking for a chance to fly Air Asia’s Premium Flatbed seat, their business class offering, it’s rated by SkyTrax as the World’s Best Premium Cabin on a low-cost carrier. I had a chance to try it out on an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney and for a fare that wasn’t
Whenever friends or family visited and they only had time to see one thing in Singapore, I’d take them to the Gardens by the Bay – among all the things to do in Singapore, it’s the single most beautiful sight in the city! Most people wouldn’t expect a beautiful garden in this dense, busy city
In this week’s Travel News I’m focusing on global hotel chains expanding in Asia, launching new brands or hotel concepts and opening new properties, with news from Hilton, Accor and Wyndham!