Vdara Hotel and Spa (Las Vegas, USA)

For the past 15 years, I've been trying to find an excuse to come back to Sin City and my best bud St Paul finally gave me one - a pair of tickets to tomorrow night's Canucks-Golden Knights game at T-Mobile Arena.



It's St Paul's home field so he's going to choose our hotel as well. He ended up picking Vdara and Spa which he said it's in the heart of Vegas' new city center, a "Bermuda Triangle" between Vdara, Aria and Mandarin Oriental. 



My first impression of Vdara was a good one because unlike most hotels in Vegas, it didn't have a casino on the ground floor. What does it mean, you said? Well, for one, it's much more quiet and that's crucial for a family trip with a 2-year old.



I like the way they've organized the room, starting with the open kitchen behind the front door.



That was followed by the spacious bedroom and living room. The only thing I didn't like about it was the color tone. It's a little bit dark when we put the shades down.



Unfortunately, we didn't have much view from the window.



The only thing we could see was the back side of another hotel and the express train going back and forth to Aria Hotel and Crystal Mall. That's about all.



To the contrary, the bathroom looked so much brighter than the living room. 



There's just enough space to fit in a bathtub. I don't think you're allowed to have a hotel room in Vegas without a bathtub!



I'll just take a quick nap and then we'll be off to Mastro's Ocean Club for dinner. Can't wait to check out their super juicy steaks.



Rating: ❤❤❤
Price: $$$
Address: 2600 West Harmon Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89158, USA
Tel: +1 866-745-7767
Website: www.vdara.com

Fairfield Inn & Suites (Washington, USA)

Finishing up our 2-week trip in North America was a short stopover in Washington DC which saw us stay at the Fairfield Inn for 2 nights. Located in the heart of the city's Chinatown, the hotel is just 1-2 minute walk from the Verizon Center and the other main attractions (ie. The White House, different museums etc.) not too far away (15-20 minutes).

I admit I wasn't the one responsible for picking the hotel. I was happy that someone did all the research for me this time around so I didn't have to lose all those sleep reading reviews on Tripadvisor.



But this turned out to be quite decent. Both the hotel lobby and rooms are modernly decorated with a nice oriental twist. The bed and linens were clean and comfortable and yes, I slept pretty well on both nights.





The bathroom was fine.



Breakfast was included (isn't that a rarity in US?) but it was only served until 9am on weekdays (weekends till 10am) so we had to scramble a bit waking up early. And even if we did show up in time, that didn't guarantee much coz there were way too many hotel guests squeezed into a very little space. Not the most comfortable situation to be in and we didn't manage to get much to eat.



Another issue we needed to tackle was parking. There's no garage available in the facility, only valet parking which cost $33 per night. During our check-in, they indicated to us that our car would be ready as long as we told the front desk 10 minutes in advance. But it ended up taking almost an hour on the morning when we were driving back to the Big Apple. I sympathized with the one and only valet parking staff who had to deal with so many customers in one morning; however, everyone including us has a tight itinerary to follow and an hour wait was really unacceptable any way you put it.

In addition to parking, we had a water leakage problem. We stayed on the top floor (10/F) and during a weekend of heavy rainfall, we had leakage in the ceiling with water drilling down. At the end, we had to switch room at 10pm but to the team's credit, they did a good job arranging a new room for us in very short notice and we had everything taken care of in approximately 10 minutes. 

All in all, I found Fairfield Inn to be serviceable but whether we would stay here again, well that's another question.



Rating: ❤❤❤
Price: $$$
Address: 500 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20001, United States
Tel: +1 202-289-5959
Website: Link

New York Marriott Marquis (New York, USA)

To soak up the atmosphere in the Big Apple, there's no better place to stay than Times Square.

We have very high expectations for New York Marriott Marquis and are certainly paying a premium for its prime location on top of Times Square.

It was a little dark to check out the view from the window so let us just focus on what's inside the room for the time being. Everything from the design of the room to the carpet, furniture and decoration, I think they are all due for a major revamp.

The bathroom has probably seen better days.

Other than the fact that it's in the heart of Times Square, and that it brings all the energy of Broadway and the city that never sleeps into the hotel, I could not find another reason why I would stay here as opposed to some place newer and cheaper.

During our 3-night stay, we woke up to this stunning view from the window and it's truly something special but it won't be enough to lure us back for a second stay.

We did cover a lot of ground thanks to the hotel's fabulous location.

The Late Show with David Letterman!

I grow up watching this show night in and night out. Too bad we didn't have time to catch the show live while we're in NYC,.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: $$$$

Address: 1535 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, USA

Closest Subway Station: 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Ctr/ Times Sq - 42 St/ 49 St

Tel: +1 212-398-1900

Website: www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycmq-new-york-marriott-marquis/

The Strathcona Hotel (Toronto, CANADA)

We will be staying at The Strathcona Hotel in Downtown Toronto during our 48 hours in the city. To be brutally honest, it wasn't our first choice (nor second) but we like the centralized location near Union Station. The Hockey Hall of Fame is just a couple of blocks away.

The hotel lobby which we never got to use, was a pretty spacious one. It's just a short walk to the financial centre from the entrance, making it a fairly decent choice for business travelers.

Our room was a very small one. They could barely fit two single beds in and we had to work really hard to get our luggage into the room. It almost felt like we're in one of those micro hotels in Japan. 

To give you an idea how little space there was in the room - They had no place for a television that the only way to fit it in was to mount it onto the wall (the TV was almost touching the door of the cabinet!). And see how tiny the bench was (underneath the window)!

The bathroom was a pretty standard one. Not much to report there.

Despite all the bad things I had to say about the hotel, I thought its location was nearly perfect. It's in the heart of a very busy part of Downtown Toronto.



It is just walking distance away from a lot of different places including Roger's Place (and by the way, there's a hockey game tonite I think). 

If not for our decision to stay here, I probably won't have the chance to check out the Hockey Hall of Fame, which is really a must for all hockey fans.

Rating: ❤❤

Price: $$$

Address: 60 York Street, Toronto, ON M5J 1S8, Canada

Tel: +1 416-363-3321

Website: www.thestrathconahotel.com

Best Western Premier Freeport Inn Calgary Airport (Calgary, CANADA)

Our original plan was to stay in Downtown Calgary; even Fairmont Lake Louise received some consideration (but we didn't have the budget) but at the end, we decided to stay close to Calgary International Airport. Good thing we did cuz we have a very early morning flight to catch to Toronto.

Best Western Premier Freeport Inn Calgary Airport wasn't directly connected to the airport but we could literally see the airport runway from our room. Yeah, it's that close.

I like the size of our room. Even with two double size beds, there were still enough space for a couch and more.

The bathroom was a fairly decent one.

I was kidding when I said we could see the airport runway. But no time for us to admire the view cuz we needed to pack our bags and get ready for our morning flight.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time for an in-depth view of Jasper and Calgary. Until next time!

Best Western Premier Freeport Inn Calgary Airport is a pretty nice airport hotel considering its proximity to the airport and car rental company. It was exactly what we needed to get us ready for Toronto.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: $$$

Address: 86 Freeport Boulevard NE, Calgary, AB T3J 5J9, Canada

Tel: +1 403-264-9650

Website: www.bestwesterncalgary.com

Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre (Jasper, CANADA) ★★☆☆☆

Following a drive that lasted almost 4 hours, we finally arrived at Jasper National Park, the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies and part of UNESCO's Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site. We were immediately greeted by some wildlife upon our arrival.



It was about to get dark so rather than finding a dinner venue, we decided to first check into our hotel, Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre.

The lounge, restaurant and bar were all located on the ground floor of the hotel.

Wow, is this real!?

We finally decided to have supper at Walter's Dining Room, a casual restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel, which is known for its wide selection of Canadian inspired dishes with indigenous twist. But first, it was time to check out our room. 

Not the most stylish design but it's at least reasonably sized.

The bathroom was spotless but like the bedroom, it was a little boring.

After enjoying a good night of sleep, we spent some time to explore the hotel front and back the next morning. A heated pool, nice.

Very nice mountain view from the front. Too bad we didn't have it right from our room.

We got a full day of activities ahead of us. Time to take off.

And it didn't take long before we had to pause our drive for some beautiful shots.

       Beautiful Athabasca River with mountains in the backdrop.

       Athabasca Pass

       Athabasca Pass

      Columbia Icefield

      Bow Lake

      We finally arrived at Lake Louise just before sunset.

The budget approved wasn't enough to cover the cost for us to stay at Chateau Lake Louise.

But that didn't stop us from coming in for a quick look.

If it wasn't for our tight schedule, we would have sat down here for a drink while we admire Lake Louise at sunset.

Rating: ❤❤

Price: $$$

Address: 76 Connaught Drive, Jasper, AB T0E 1E0, Canada

Tel: +1 780-852-5111

Website: www.sawridge.com/our-hotels/jasper/