Відео

Wait for the next video, as we just spent several weeks in Bora-Bora, China and Seoul :-D Not sure how much more this cupboard can handle :-D

The pools are heated and there were always people in the pool. Temperature outside in December is around 20°C/68°F Even two years later, I would say this is a great place and if you check the TripAdvisor Reviews, they all say the same. The executive lounge has been removed in the meantime, however - a friend of mine told me, who was there recently. :-(

@@GaJaDreams thank you.

Thanks so much for the lovely feedback! I will do for sure an update soon. Some information will be the same, some others might be new. Stay tuned! :-)

Thanks, Jimmy! We booked plenty of our luxury stays with Impresario. It's not always useful - sometimes, points or non-refundable rates might make more sense. In the US it was great, in China it only makes sense in combination with 3-for-2 etc. promotions, as the executive lounges offer so many free meals, that we usually were not even able to use our $100. :-D

"Balcony" is a bit too much. You might get a feeling directly in the first shot. You can step outside and there is something like a 2 feet by 6 feet "balcony" with a curvature, so actually, the 2 feet apply only to the center. But yes... you can step outside a tiny little bit. :-)

Careful with the room categories as they changed the names in the meantime. Yes, only the Premium Room with Jacuzzi will have one. Spent three nights there, but were also at Hilton Northolme, Hilton Labriz (our favorite back then) and at Mango House - for 10 days in total. The rooms in the DoubleTree were a bit dated, but food, pool and beach were great 👍

The rooms with Level 45 in the name will give you access to the club lounge on the 45th floor. The apartment will be larger and have a kitchen and dining area, but will be without Level 45 access. By the way, booking with Impresario benefits currently has a pay 3 stay 4 offer. Details on hotels.gajadreams.com

@@GaJaDreams the club lounge on the 45th floor, provides free alcohol bevarege ?

@@Jay-b8w Yes, but only during the evening happy hour. The rest of the day, you get soft drinks only.

If everybody gets access, then it would be full up there ;-)

Wow... sad to read about the poor service and the lack of common sense. :-( Hope you enjoyed your trip anyway. We've had a few times empty shower gels and I also never understand how such a large bottle can get empty and why they don't briefly check. I mean, they clean the shower anyway - it is a matter of few seconds to check shampoo and shower gel - or simply replacing them every two weeks and refill the bottles.

alex@gajadreams.com

Thanks for the feedback. This video is 4 years old. Yes, it's shit 👍

Great, that you enjoyed the video and found something helping your decision. 🙂 Was a great hotel in that area - we had a good time.

Thank so much! A lot of Conrads are coming up - particularly all the missing US Conrads. ;-)

Thanks for the feedback! Fully agree. The Centennial is a great hotel - despite of their removal of the second lounge on the 4th floor. The only real downside is they also got rid of the bears, which is a no-go for Conrad hotels. Even the ones in the US mostly give them out for free (apart from Florida). Anyway, comparing the 2 Conrads in SIngapore with each other, the Centennial is the clear winner and the go-to place.

Habtoor Palace was one of my all time favorite hotels. Sad to see they left. :-( I'll make an update on SLH as soon more information are available! :-)

Thanks for joining and watching. :-)

We will definitely get them for max. 150k and 5th night free will also be possible. That's not too bad and not all of them are super expensive. Stayed once close to Frankfurt, Germany at a 300-400 € hotel. A fair point price would be around 70-80k in that case. Let's see how it turns out.

Thanks for watching!

The only hope is that there might be special promotions from time to time giving you some bonus on the transfer. Let's see. For the moment it's ridiculous.

Thanks so much. We've been to the V hotel just one month ago. The lounge is now on the top floor, where the lobby was previously - a much more impressive setting. I guess, I'll make an updated video on that soon! Enjoy your trips!

Nothing is black or white. ;-) Often it's about personal preference. For me hotel cards/points are worth more than airline miles. This particular card, however, is not worth it.

Thanks for sharing! I'll double check in July ;-) Is the German so obvious? ;-)

@@GaJaDreams Trust me :D I think I've written this before under the Kuwait video, but you're missing out on so much if you only stay in Hilton hotels. Shenzhen and Guangzhou have so many really good hotels. Not really, I just had a hunch :) Liebe Grüße

I trust you, I just want to go back to the Conrad Shenzhen in summer - it was planned anyway ;-) I agree, that there are also other great hotels out there. Particularly, the luxury segment of other brands like Marriott usually have higher standards. I don't say that Hilton is the best choice - it's just that this channel is dedicated to Hilton travels. ;-)

For us, it was clearly Labriz due to the private island and the large area. It was really an experience. Northolme is nice but super small. Without a car, you are quite stuck. Getting a taxi is also a problem on Seychelles as you need to book them one day in advance... Conclusion: Looking for relax: Labriz If you want to explore the main island Mahe: Northolme

If I understand the terms and conditions right, you should still be able to get that even on new cards: "Priority Pass Select The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card will no longer offer a complimentary membership to the Priority Pass™ Select program per the following schedule: Priority Pass Select™ Membership Enrollment Deadline: Through June 30, 2024, you may still enroll in the benefit by calling the American Express customer service number on the back of your card." www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card-application/apply/prospect/terms/hilton-honors-american-express-business-credit-card/57460-9-0?key=tncBody&rwdFlag=rwd#offer-terms

I will go back when they give out toys ;-) (insider joke)

¡Gracias por tu recomendación! Nos alegra saber que disfrutaste el video. ¡Saludos!

Was actually just nice to get another FNC. With this missing, the real value went down a lot, while the price went up. You still can get some value out of it, but it's by far not the product I signed up for. :-(

​@@GaJaDreams but annual fee for the business card can be written off as a business expense. Plus I can now use the 5% as my catch all card.

Yes, absolutely. Telling the front desk to charge money from different cards, makes them crazy as well. :-D

Same opinion here. Aspire and Surpass are more useful in general. Actually the Business card went down to 5x on everything + 240 USD credit. Not toooooo bad, but a completely different product compared to when I signed up for it.

Great analysis! I agree with you that this card is targeting big spenders and those, who use Hilton points for 0.6cpp and more. What I like about your calculation, is that it shows that with your boundary conditions, you still get a benefit out of this card in all (!) the cases you calculated. There is no result, which is negative, so you would always end up chosing the Hilton Business card. I'll go on thinking about this and compare it to other options of spending (e.g. compare it to the Surpass card or to the Aspire)

Yes... we have 2 Surpass Cards, 1 Aspire and 1 Business... the quarterly credits are making things complicated. On the other hand, the value of those credits outweigh the yearly fee alone. So still a good deal, but only if you stay at Hiltons frequently. And it's more annoying.

The whole thing seems too niche. Perfect for someone who spends more than 60k, but no more than 100k, doesn't have personal versions, and would waste a FNC at the Hampton Inn. A big spender could just put $60k on a 2nd Aspire card instead.

I'll most likely get the 15k FNC before June and then keep the card for $240 on Hilton spends per year... in that case, I'll get $45 per year or of the card (+2500 HH points)... rather limited use

That's correct for the US Amex Platinum, but there are other countries, where the Amex Platinum has fx fees. That's why I said "if you have an Amex Platinum, which has fx fees". In almost all countries you get access to the FHR booking platform.

Yes, exactly. They actually upgraded to King Room, as this was the next room category (independently of really being two, as the upgrade was provided the day before arrival - so they didn't knew we were 2)

Watch again

That's a perfect match - a corporate traveler racking up points for leisure trips :-) And despite of people constantly talking negatively about upgrades in the US: just did a 20 day trip around the US and got upgrades almost everywhere without even asking. This card is a no-brainer for frequent-Hilton-travelers :-) Enjoy your trips and your card!

Unfortunately, we haven't been to the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, but I've seen mostly positive reviews about that property. The Conrad is probably very unique with the "lake-pool". But there is no right or wrong. It's most likely both right ✅️

It's like in product management: you collect customer wishes, review them, rate them and decide at a later stage which ones to implement. ;-)

It's a great place!

Thanks for watching :-) Yeah, definitely the better choice in Singapore.

Oh, come on ;-) With status and Aspire card, you almost gain money from staying there ;-)

Thanks so much :-)

Great to hear, it was better in former days. Unfortunately, we had in the lowest category the broom closet, which was even smaller than the "normal" standard rooms. I've seen also some "normal" standard rooms and the bathroom was 30% larger and also the bedroom had a bit more space. Selling this particular room in the same category is scam, however. The video on the other Conrad will be online on Wednesday - and will be way more positive. The Conrad Centennial was our very first Conrad and we enjoyed being back there. And pricewise they are usually roughly 20 SGD apart... wouldn't call that "more expensive". For me a clear choice when in Singapore. And even at the Centennial employees were a bit surprised that several guests cancelled their bookings at Conrad Singapore Orchard and moved to Centennial instead.

We had the same conclusion here. :-D We will try to avoid new openings (although Conrad Orlando won't be open too long as well next month). Definitely, a more settled property is in most cases the better choice. Some things might improve on this property, others won't (such as the size of the bathroom, which is smaller than in most Hamptons...). Waiting queues for breakfast in a luxury hotel is also a no go - and that's also something they cannot fix, as the area is too small for the amount of guests - they could offer breakfast in a second restaurant of course.

The Waldorf in Cancun is right next to the Hilton. I booked the Hilton and was so happy I did. Waldorf could’ve not been worth the difference in price

Yes, unfortunately, that's a SKIP. :-( Have seen more impressive DoubleTree hotels from a room perspective. Definitely not worth the money.

:-) February will be a touch month, as we booked all the US Conrads + Tulum. Will be a lot of stuffed toys :-D

Thank you so much Jimmy!

Yes, unfortunately.

May we get a shelf large enough to handle all those Conrad animals... Already got 10 during the current travel. All the best, my friend and see you soon!

Haha, ja die Musik konnte ich mir nicht verkneifen. :-D