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)

Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Architecture, Art, asia, City, City Skyline, clouds, Destinations, Elements, Engineering, Entertainment, fountain, GoPro, Hotel, Landmarks, Landscapes, Monument, Panorama, People, Photography, Plants, Random, Sculpture, sky, Skylines, Skyscrapers, Statue, Street Photography, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, Uncategorized, WATER, Weather Tagged: 5-star hotel, Architecture, Art, asia, Bangkok, city, clouds, GoPro, gopro here 7 black, hotel, hotel suite, luxury hotel, park hyatt, park hyatt bangkok, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, photos, southeast asia, Thailand, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, Traveller, travelling, vacation, WATER

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.

Category: Adventure, Architecture, Art, asia, birds, butterfly, City, City Skyline, clouds, Destinations, Elements, Engineering, Flowers, Forest, fountain, Gardening, GoPro, Historical Site, hotel, Hotel, lake, Landmarks, Landscapes, Nature, Panorama, People, Photography, Plants, Random, sky, Skylines, Skyscrapers, Street Photography, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, WATER, Waterfalls, Weather Tagged: Architecture, Art, aviary, bank of china building, cantonment hill, china, city, city park, clouds, destination, fountain, GoPro, gopro hero 7, GoPro Photography, green space, hkg, hong kong, hong kong park, hotel, Island, island shangri-la, lake, manmade, nature, park, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, photos, shangri-la, Skyscrapers, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, Traveller, travelling, vacation, WATER, waterfall, wildlife

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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.

Category: Adventure, Art, beach, Canon, Canon DSLR, Cruise, Destinations, Elements, Islands, Landscapes, National Park, Nature, ocean, Panorama, Photography, Plants, Seascapes, Skylines, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, WATER, Weather Tagged: Art, beach, beach house, boats, Canon, Canon DSLR, Canon photography, Canon Rebel, Canon Rebel T6s, Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Silhouette, clouds, Cruise, Cruise ship, dslr, Florida, florida keys, Gulf of Mexico, hotel, Island, Key West, nature, ocean, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, photos, resort, sailboat, sand, Sea., South Florida, Sun, sunset key, sunshine state, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, Traveller, travelling, USA, vacation, WATER, yachts

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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.

Harry’s Bar

Peggy Guggenheim Museum

Dining Room at Baglioni Hotel Luna, Venezia

Baglioni Hotel Luna, Venezia

View from my hotel suite

Living area of my hotel suite

The luxurious bed in my hotel suite

Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Architecture, Art, Canon, Castle, City, City Skyline, Destinations, Europe, Historical Site, hotel, iPhone, iPhone Pics, Islands, Landmarks, Landscapes, Monument, Museums, Nature, Panorama, People, Photography, Random, Seascapes, Skylines, Street Photography, Sunset, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, Uncategorized, WATER, Weather Tagged: Archeology, baglioni, beach, church, city of canals, Europe, first class, five star, gondola, harry’s bar, hotel, hotel luna, hotel room, iPhone, iphone 7 plus, iphone photography, Island, ITALIA, Italian, Italy, luxury, museum, nature, Peggy Guggenheim museum, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, photos, Sea., suite, Sunset, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, Traveller, travelling, vacation, venezia, venice

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TAJ 51

Posted on March 12, 2016

The Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites was my home away from home while I was in London on vacation for a week. This was once the home of the Lords and Ladies of the Royal Court and just a few minutes walk to the Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. This 5 star heritage hotel boasts of providing its guests with one of the most spacious and luxurious accomodations as well as the finest personal service in London. The hotel also features a Michelin-star Indian restaurant named Quilon, which I thought the food was just okay although the service was quite impressive. The photo above was taken in the central courtyard of the complex where one can sit and enjoy the Edwardian Victorian architecture of the hotel complex, which I think has the most colorful walls I have ever seen. I included below some photos of my residence suite taken using my iPhone. My one bedroom residence suite featured a living room, dining area, kitchen, washer and dryer and a colossal bedroom suite with a view of the 175-year-old Westminster Chapel. Overall, I would say this hotel was one of the best I have ever stayed at and the service was truly at its finest. The highlight of my stay was seeing the Dalai Lama, who was also staying at the hotel, at the hotel lobby.