LA RÉSIDENCE D’ANGKOR

Posted on May 30, 2021

During my trip to Cambodia in November of 2019, I was tossing between the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor and the Belmond La Residence d’Angkor for my accommodations. After reading multiple reviews and watching countless Youtube videos, I decided to go for Belmond. The hotel features Khmer architecture surrounded by a lush tropical garden creating a sense of being in the middle of the forest despite being situated right in the heart of the city. The resort is one of the first luxury hotels to open in Siem Reap and is renowned for its luxurious accommodations and excellent service. Here are some of the photos I took around the hotel as well as of my suite overlooking the magnificent pool, which I think is the centerpiece of the entire resort.

Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Architecture, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, City, Destinations, Elements, Engineering, Entertainment, Flowers, Forest, fountain, Gardening, GoPro, Hotel, iPhone Pics, Landscapes, Nature, Panorama, People, Photography, Plants, Random, Sculpture, Statue, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, WATER, Weather Tagged: 5-star hotel, angkor wat, Architecture, Art, asia, Belmon Hotels, Belmond, buddha, buddhism, buddhist, cambodia, Canon, Canon DSLR, Canon photography, Canon Rebel, Canon Rebel T6s, city, clouds, destination, dslr, fine hotels & resorts, five star hotel, gopro hero 7 black, GoPro Photography, hotel, iPhone, iphone 7 plus, iphone photography, Kingdom of Cambodia, La Residence D’Angkor, luxury, luxury hotel, nature, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, photos, resort, siem reap, southeast asia, temple, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, Traveller, travelling, vacation, WATER, Weather

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PARK HYATT BANGKOK

Posted on October 20, 2020

The Park Hyatt Hotel-Bangkok was our home away from home during the Thailand leg of our Asian trip fall of last year. We were considering other hotels (Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula and Shangri-La) but being one of the newest hotels in town and having stayed at some of their properties we decided to book our stay with them. This 5-star luxury hotel is located in one of Bangkok’s nicest neighborhoods with access to the sky train making travel around the city highly convenient. The hotel sits on top of a massive shopping mall, which was a great perk for someone who loves to shop, although my favorite part of the complex was the infinity pool with amazing views of the city. The photo above was taken by the pool (yes those are my legs) while the photos below were taken around the hotel as well as inside our suite using my GoPro Hero 7 Black. We booked their Diplomat Suite, which was a huge and luxurious 1-bedroom suite with floor to ceiling windows providing us endless views of the city. The hotel was beautiful and well maintained but the service was unfortunately not at par with other Park Hyatt hotels we’ve stayed at. The hotel staff seemed to lack the warmth, hospitality and even the professionalism expected of a luxury hotel. Some staff had to be reminded repeatedly to deliver basic service, a waitress had to be followed-up 3 times for a cup of coffee while during dinner in one of their restaurants the waiter took away our unfinished bottle of wine (we had to call his attention) then hovered over after giving us the bill as if we were gonna sprint off without paying. They did apologized after we complained but first impressions last. Prior to Bangkok, we were in Hong Kong, Manila and Siem Reap and also stayed at 5-star hotels and resorts and we were amazed by the level of service they provided. Would we recommend this hotel? Most definitely not…the facility is impressive but if you’re willing to spend so much for a hotel stay then there are far better options around Bangkok.

Below are photos of our one-bedroom suite (Diplomat Suite)

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THE HONG KONG PARK

Posted on September 28, 2020

During my visit to Hong Kong in October of 2019, I stayed at two hotels to experience both sides of the city. The first few days were spent at the InterContinental Hong Kong on the Kowloon side of the city while the second half was spent across the harbor at the Island Shangri-La Hotel. The InterContinental neighborhood was a concrete jungle with block after block of skyscrapers while the Shangri-La neighborhood had more green spaces around it maybe because it was the mountainous side of the city. Across the street from Shangri-La was a park called the Hong Kong Park (I wish they came up with a more unique name), which featured a man made lake, waterfall, an aviary and even a sports center. I didn’t really spend much time at this park as I just passed by it to catch the cable car to Victoria Peak. During the two times that I crossed the park, I was able to take a few photos using my GoPro Hero 7 Black. I also wanted to capture the buildings around the park so I used the wide angle lens setting of the camera. The only thing I don’t like with wide angle lens is the curvature that happens at the edge of the photos. On the other hand, capturing more of the scenery creates a dramatic effect to the photograph. Here are some of the photos I took around the park.

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PASTEL PARADISE

Posted on March 27, 2018

I was on a cruise to the Western Caribbean last week and our first port of call was the southernmost point of continental USA…Key West, Florida. I’ve been to this island multiple times and for me the best part about visiting Key West is the scenic drive through multiple keys (islands) and seeing the beautiful blue waters on both sides of the highway. Since I only had a few hours to enjoy Key West before we set sail to our next destination, I decided to limit my walk around town to a few of my favorite stores. Unfortunately, my favorite soap store, Fantasea, along Duval Street closed business a few months ago. I also planned to eat lunch in Blue Heaven but the wait time for a table was more than an hour so I ended up eating somewhere else. The only itinerary that I actually got to experience was the Key West Butterfly Museum where I was able to take a lot of photos that were featured on this page a few posts ago. I decided to return to the ship earlier than planned and found myself on my stateroom balcony staring out at this resort island across from the ship. I also noticed a pinkish haze in the atmosphere, which contrasted well to the blue waters of the sea, reminding me of the pastel colored soaps I used to buy at Fantasea. Key West is magical when seen on land but I was amazed how magical this island looks as well from the air.

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VENICE…CITY OF CANALS

Posted on January 24, 2018

When I visited Venice, Italy I prayed so hard for my trip not to end that I would wake up really early in the morning and stay up late at night just to stretch each day. The city was just magical…from the architecture, to the rich history and culture and of course the canals, which are uniquely Venice, making this city one of the most visited in the world. During my stay, I went to watch a Vivaldi concert at a theater right beside St. Mark’s Square, hopped on a gondola that cruised around the city and took long walks along narrow alleyways and across bridges connecting the multitude of islands that make up this remarkable city. I also joined a tour of the St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace and visited the former home of American socialite Peggy Guggenheim, which is now a museum showcasing her extensive art collection. Harry’s Bar, which was right beside my hotel, was also visited to try their signature Bellini and to check out the favorite hangout of Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock to name a few. The icing on the cake to my vacation was my suite at the luxurious Baglioni Hotel Luna, Venezia where my room had a view of the lagoon and my bathroom a view of the St. Mark’s bell tower. The hotel lived up to it’s five star reputation providing me with the famous Baglioni luxury and first class service. The photo above was taken in the front of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum while below are photos taken at Harry’s Bar, Peggy Guggenheim Museum and the Baglioni Hotel Luna, Venezia.