(Hat Tip to Dominik @ Travelling The World for the inspiration)
Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend. With the end of May quickly approaching, I am running out of time to use my Club Carlson points for hotel stays under the current Last Night Free redemption rate. Therefore, I need your collective help, to help me figure out where to burn my Club Carlson points. I currently have 275,000 Club Carlson points between my personal and business Club Carlson accounts. For this post, I used Seth’s Hotel Hustle tool for research.
I have 7 2-night stays to book for next January for my epic Eurotrip and I will be booking 3 2-night stays for my parent’s Scandinavian trip this July. Some cities in Europe have several Club Carlson hotels (I’m looking at you London with your 20+ properties), while other cities only have 1-2 properties to choose between. If you have stayed at any of the following Club Carlson properties, please let me know which hotel you stayed at and whether you would recommend the hotel or not. Tell me if the hotel is in a good area, if it is easy to get to from the airport, and if the hotel is in a good area of town.
- London (LHR)
- Paris (CDG)
- Nice, France (NCE)
- Zurich (ZRH)
- Dublin (DUB)
- Copenhagen (CPH)
- Oslo (OSL)
- Bergen, Norway (BGO)
Here are a few of my tough decisions that I need to make…
I have stayed at 3 different Club Carlson properties in Europe and here are my thoughts:
- Radisson Blu Amsterdam (50,000 points / night): hotel is relatively new, near tourist places and a few blocks from the Red Light District. Beautiful lobby and nice hotel rooms.
- Radisson Blu Rome (44,000 points / night): hotel is relatively new, but not in a great location in the city. Near the train station and not close to any tourist attractions.
- Park Plaza Amsterdam Airport (~$100 / night): complimentary airport shuttle from 6am to midnight, complimentary buffet breakfast, and nice hotel rooms.
Thank you for all your help, I really appreciate your insight and feedback. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
We stayed at Radisson Blu Mercer Street and May Fair last year and really liked them. Actually liked Mercer St better. Wrote some reviews in the Our Trip Report section if u want to check them out
Thank you PointsMD, I will check out your review of the hotels. What made you originally book those hotels? Good location?
May Fair I picked because I knew it had a great location in May Fair area with an easy walk to Piccadilly, Buckingham Palace, etc and Mercer street I knew was also a good location but little else about it. Turned out to be great choice though.
Thank you, sounds like the May Fair is a great option.
Loved Mercer street too. Excellent location, rooms and staff!
Thank you Edward.
We stayed at the Mercer street hotel recently too. It was very good all around. Only problem is that it’s on a corner next to a bar so be sure to request a room on the other side (or just drink enough pints to not care, but don’t do it at that bar because it’s terrible).
Plus the Harry Potter area of Universal Studios is a replica of the Leicester Square station (which is the stop you’ll be getting off at) so the old lady really enjoyed that, but I didn’t get the relevance…..
Haha, thank you for sharing your experience. I’ve been to Universal Studios Orlando and remember the Harry Potter World, so I may have to check out Leicester Square.
Hi grant I’m in europe now and just stayed a few weeks ago at park inn LHR and the location is close to airport and there is a bus they call it the hoppa and for 5 pounds they drop you off in front of hotel.
As for the hotel it’s nothing great but most park inn’s are nothing great but the location is great if your staying at the airport – if your wanting to be in central London the location sucks
Thank you CJ, I agree with you on Park Inns – nothing special but usually convenient for travel to/from the airport. Since I have a few days in London, I will probably want to be closer to central London.
Hi Grant, sorry, unrelated question. Which airline/s will you use or think is best if you were to travel from PDX to MCO (2-week stopover) then Southeast Asia on first class? I have enough AS miles for a one-way trip and if necessary, would buy enough AA miles for a similar trip, thanks!
Great question, it really depends which city in SE Asia you will fly to and which airline you have miles with. AA would be my first choice and you can probably book partner awards on other airlines.
If the SE Asia city is SIN, which airline in first class would you recommend – in terms of ease of redemption as well of great service like Cathay Pacific, Japan or SIA? I have both AS and AA miles.
Singapore Airlines would be great, but you need Singapore miles or United miles. I’m pretty sure JAL or Cathay Pacific can get you to Singapore with AA or AS miles.
Thanks.
Radisson Blu Nice is right on the beach and has a wonderful rooftop pool overlooking the Med. Room was nice but not spectacular. Hotel has shuttle (hourly?) to old town area.
Radisson Blu Oslo is directly next to the main train station and walking distance to opera house and city centre. Rooms OK, lively top-floor bar.
Thank you Ken. I’ll be in Nice in mid January, so I’m not sure the pool will be used much. The shuttle will be useful, I will also take the bus to Monaco. The Oslo location sounds great for my parents since they will take the train to Bergen.
OSL: Radisson Blu Plaza is great, right in the center near the train station. Definitely upgrade to the business class room, as the room is full of fun electronic gizmos, and it comes with a spectacular morning breakfast buffet and evening wine/cheese reception.
Thank you Jeff. If memory serves me right, the normal room is 50k and the Biz room is 70k? My parents do love wine and cheese.
ZRH Radisson is attached to the airport, accesed down below by the train and underground shopping. Nice hotel. Works for us because we had a 24 hour layover and needed to sleep and shower. Easy access into Zurich.
Thank you Maria, the hotel sounds very convenient. I will have 2 days in Zurich, so I might want to be closer to the city center. How long is the train ride from the airport?
The train ride is very short from the airport to hbf, something like 10 minutes.
Thank you, that is really good to know.
Totally agree! ZRH Radisson Blu is a perfect option for short stays in Zurich. Can be pretty expensive, making using points even a better option!
Yes, hotels are very pricy in Zurich.
Stayed a few nights at the LHR Mayfair and was not impressed. But they put us in a room adjoining a suite, where there was partying to the wee hours as well as a lot of smoking. The smoke drifted in our room. The Mayfair is a haven for the young, wealthy international crowd. It is in a great location though. Zurich has a nice Marriott, though not really convenient. If you use the tram system it is o.k. The Radissons in Paris are not in a great place for tourists. Safe but limited restaurants, etc. I think you would lose the true feeling of the city by staying there. The Hyatts are better there.
Thank you Zippy, I appreciate the honest feedback. Which hotel would you recommend in LHR, CDG, and ZRH then? I have many options.
I’d have to disagree about Paris, we stayed at the Radisson Blu Le Dokhan and it was terrific (small boutique with 40 rooms tops). True it is in a very quiet neighborhood but why would you want to fight the crowds in Paris if you didn’t have to? It kinda defeats the purpose. Skip the tourist shit, how many paintings or sculptures of male genitalia does one really need to see? When I do Paris I prefer to be a flaneur and walk the streets, eat food, and drink wine — and this hotel puts you very close to the Latin Quarter / Eiffel Tower.
Save the Hyatt points for less trendy uses, you’re better than that!
Great advice, I do love walking the city and eating my way through Paris. I may have to stay at this hotel and check it out.
Hey Grant,
I blew a bunch of Carlson points on my Europe trip earlier this month. I stayed at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London, which was pretty conveniently located – walking distance to two Tube stations at least two National Rail stations, and right next to Big Ben, Parliament, and the walk along the Thames near Festival Hall. The hotel was nice and pretty modern; I got upgraded to a suite because my assigned room wasn’t ready at checkin, so my room was in a separate bank of elevators from most of the hotel which was lovely.
In Dublin I stayed at the Radisson Blu Royal, which was great – very conveniently located, walked all over the city from there, the staff was super friendly and helpful, and the complimentary breakfast (with my Gold status from the credit card) was a fairly impressive spread. One thing that was odd about this property is that my king bed was two twins pushed together, with a clear separation between the two – even the bedding was seemingly two sets of twin sheets and comforters rather than a single king-size bedding set. If I stay there again I’d probably go with a queen room.
oh, and both of the properties I stayed at were pretty easy to from the airport by public transit – the Blu in Dublin is an easy walk to O’Connell Street where several bus services pick up, and coming from Heathrow I think you have to change trains once to get to Waterloo or Westminster stations (I took the Piccadilly line rather than the Heathrow Express).
Btw, in Dublin there are several airport bus options; the AirCoach (which shows up on Google Maps as route 700), is coach buses that are €8 one way or €14 roundtrip, and is cash only unless you make a reservation online; the Airport Express bus (route 747) is like €12 roundtrip, is run by Dublin Bus and takes the Leap card (Dublin’s transit smart card); or the Dublin Bus route 16, which is a standard double decker bus that takes a bit longer (~56 vs. 45 minutes) but only costs €2.60 (and obviously also takes the Leap card). You can get both regular and tourist Leap cards at the SPAR convenience store at the airport after you come out of security.
Excellent, I love the multiple transportation options. I get to London on Sunday afternoon around 1pm, so I will try to take the tube. I figure my SF Bart experience will help. As for Dublin, we get in pretty late (around 10pm), so I will just take whatever bus is leaving the soonest and figure something out for my return to the airport. Thanks for your help, Tonei!
Thank you Tony, I was actually leaning toward both of those hotels for their locations. I’ve seen similar “2 twins = 1 king” bed before, it is kind of stupid. Thanks for the up-vote on the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge and the Radisson Blu Royal Dublin.
We stayed at the Radisson Blu Royal in Dublin just about two weeks ago and would definitely stay again. It was an easy walk from the bus stop – we took the airlink 747 bus to city centre, which is 10 euros for a return trip per person. The hotel was maybe a 7-10 min walk from the bus stop (it’s the stop right after Temple Bar – Lord Edward St/Christchurch). It was close to some good restaurants (Fade St Social was excellent, as was Boxty’s in the Temple Bar area) and the breakfast spread was very good – they included it with the room for having gold status. I’d definitely recommend the hotel. We also stayed at the Radisson Blu Berlin, which wasn’t on your list, but was also excellent.
2 votes for the Radisson Blu Royal Dublin. Thanks for sharing your experience at the hotel and getting to/from the airport. No trip to Berlin this time. I went last January.
If you’re going to be near ZRH, you may want to spend 2 nights at the Radisson Blu in Lucerne. Lucerne is about a 1 hour train ride from ZRH (I think train tickets were about 25 CHF). The Blu in Lucerne is right by the water front and within walking distance of the train station, the ferry, a big park, and a bunch of attractions like the glacier garden, the oldest covered bridge in Europe, and the Lion Monument. If you do go to Lucerne, I would recommend visiting the tourism office in the train station right when you arrive, where you can buy multi-day passes for the ferry/cogwheel trains/trams, etc. This will save you a lot of money if you want to adventure out around the area.
Thank you Travis. I only have 2 nights in Zurich, but maybe I will do a day trip to Lucerne. What would you recommend if you were visiting Lucerne for 1 day?
Lucerne is IMO the loveliest city in the world. That said, don’t go in the middle of winter. It’s almost worthless. So much of the beauty and charm is in walking around the old town area, and that would be abrogated by the weather. With two days in January, stick to the Zurich area, then see some of the more scenic areas on another visit, when the weather is a bit more agreeable.
Thank you, I will try to return to Lucerne during the warmer months. I love Paris in the winter though.
For a day trip, I’d suggest shopping, fondue, and taking the tram up to the top of Pilatus Mountain. It really is a nice, quaint little town. Christian is right that winter time isn’t the most beautiful time to visit Lucerne…but Zurich won’t be much better in my opinion. We were in Lucerne last November and a thick fog hovered over the lake for most of our visit. HOWEVER, when we took the tram up to the top of Rigi Kulm, which is another mountain near Pilatus (Pilatus was closed due to tram maintenance when we were there), we got some spectacular views being above the clouds. Here’s a photo from that trip (you can see Pilatus in the background): http://imgur.com/pbZM3Ep
I really want to visit the mountains around Zurich, which mountain would you recommend and how should I get there?
Beautiful photo above the clouds.
I enjoyed the Radisson blu eifiel and liked it a lot but that was before the increased the rates. Very close to trocadero with beautiful views of the tower as soon as you exit.
Thank you Jordan, I think the price went from 50k to 70k, would you still pay the higher rate to stay at that hotel?
My brother and I, on different trips, have stayed at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel in London. The location couldn’t be better right on the Square and just around the corner, literally, from Trafalgar Square. There’s not a more central location in London. Would highly recommend.
Thank you Hans, that sounds like a perfect location to explore London from.
Stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysees in Paris this past February. It’s in good part of city, near the Arch of Triumph. Air France shuttle stop is by the Arch so this provides easy transportation to CDG.
Thank you Art. How much does the shuttle cost and how long does it take to get to the airport?
Cost was 17 Euros one way, but if you buy round trip it’s 29 Euros total. We had an early morning flight so not much traffic to deal with, trip took about 45 min with 1 stop to pick up more passengers. Depending on time of day, allow up to 1 hr. Bus dropped us right at our AA/US Airways terminal. You can buy tix directly from driver as well.
Thank you Art, that is very helpful.
Radisson Blu Royal is the one conveniently located in Dublin if you want to walk around town and what not. The rooms are fine, modern, and the free breakfast is a nice perk.
Radisson Blu St Helen’s is located pretty far from the “tourist center” of Dublin, though the Aircoach stops right outside of it so at least it isn’t hard to get to from the airport. There is a bus stop right outside the front gate to get you into the city. The grounds are nice, they upgraded us as Gold to a business class suite with a nice box of truffles awaiting us.
Thank you MJC. I think the Radisson Blu Royal is in a better location, but I’m glad you got a nice upgrade at the St. Helen’s hotel.
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Wife and I stayed at Radisson Blu Le Metropole last November for two nights. I would say it is more of a local vs tourist neighborhood in a good way. I would stay there again.
Thank you James, that would be a new experience for me.
I live in Copenhagen. #3 is going to be central and best option for a short stay as a tourist. Quick to get to from the airport and only one that’s walkable.
Thank you, I think that is the location that I booked for my parents.
What is the name of this hotel #3 in Copenhagen? I also plan to visit there so this would be helpful, thanks a lot.
If you use Hotel Hustle, you should be able to see all the information about hotels in Copenhagen.
Thanks!
As others have commented, the Radisson Blu Royal in Dublin is nice. It’s a short walk from the 747 airport bus stop. The morning breakfast spread is impressive also. In London, I’ve stayed at the Park Plaza Victoria. It is a fine hotel. The carpet in the hallways is a bit dated but overall a very nice stay. I got a sweet rate back in January that included access to the executive club which had free beer & wine every evening, that was awesome and really improved the experience.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m going to book this hotel today. Glad you enjoyed your stay in Dublin.
R blu zrh is 70000 points as of June 1, often 300 francs on weekdays, crummy ugly hotel over priced either way. Walk from you room to the train approaches twenty minutes, train is over ten minutes, some times of the day trains while predictable are not that frequent . From hbf you may need a few minutes to walk out of the station , and hbf is just the beginning of the city. If you actually want to see Zurich, or might need to go in your room more than once a day, stay elsewhere.
Thank you for the honest feedback, I will consider staying elsewhere. Do you recommend any particular hotel in Zurich to stay at?
@Grant and Everyone,
I hope you can help with my question since I don’t know where else I could ask for help.
Since there is couple days left to use Carlson’s free award night, I’m thinking of using it in Europe, therefore I’m planning a trip there next year for 2 people.
Couple of things in my mind, below are couple flights that I found award availability on:
1. 57.5k united miles for one way United direct flight in business SFO – FRA(Boeing 747-400), or via their partner, Air Canada business flight SFO-Toronto-LHR (Boeing 767-300)
2. 70k united miles for one way Ethiopian Air business SFO-LAX-DUB.
3. 20k AA miles for offpeak AA one way flight in economy.
4. 25k BA avios in economy (like what Grant did for his flight)
5. 30k united miles one way in economy on Lufthansa A380.
I’m thinking if business class worth it or not, since I have no idea on what kind of hard or soft product quality on 747-400 and 767-300). But I only have enough United miles for one way in business only (I have about 65k avios and 200k UR and 50k MR points). So if I do business class, I probably only for outbound since we want to arrive well rested on destination to be able to sightseeing after checked into the hotel there.
But if economy class in Lufthansa’s big airplane A380 is not too bad and if they have decent service than United for 10 hrs long of flight then maybe we can handle it. Have you ever fly Lufthansa economy in A380? And I am also thinking that we could do roundtrip award flights on United economy (will be in Lufthansa A380 economy) so we get a free stopover and layover somewhere.
Let me know what you think and if you have any other idea on using the miles or better option. It’s my first time to Europe using miles and points. Thanks a lot!
I forgot to add that I also have 100k AA miles. Not looking to burn all the miles though.Prefer to save as much miles as possible.
Decided to go with economy class as to save miles for 2 people, which one that you think is better:
1. Using 60,000 United miles roundtrip/person from SFO to Europe. Can get free one stopover and 2 open jaws. Thinking of SFO – FRA(stopover), then FRA – MXP (destination) for outbound, and then inbound is DUB – SFO.
Is this the valid routing ? let me know if this route can be maximized. Thinking of adding AMS, CDG or FCO but seems impossible.
2. Using 25,000 BA Avios for one way in Aer Lingus economy, would be 50,000 per person roundtrip SFO – DUB. and use the remaining Avios for short flight intra-Europe. Such as DUB – LHR, LHR- CDG, CDG – FCO/MXP.
I am open for any suggestion, thank you so much in advance!
Wondering if it’s possible for me to have a free stopover in south america(e.g.Brazil) or Asia if I do SFO – FRA roundtrip on outbound and then DUB – SFO for inbound using 60,000 united miles per person roundtrip as they allow one free stopover and 2 open jaws.
You can only do a stopover in the region of travel. South America is in a 3rd region.
Worry about finding the transatlantic award flights first. Intra European travel is easy by train or planes (lots of LCCs to choose from). Don’t get caught up with stopovers and open jaws.
Thanks Grant. I found the transatlantic availability on Lufthansa economy for SFO-FRA leg and Aer Lingus economy for DUB- SFO leg.
Is it possible to have a stop over in another country if Europe is my destination? or the stopover has to be in US or Europe region?
I don’t really know. If you can price it out on united.com, then it is possible.