Tag Archives: Marriott Hotels

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Hotel Review: Courtyard Marriott Guatemala City & Amazing Guatemalan Restaurant Nearby (Casa Chapina)

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After leaving the cable cars of La Paz and the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, our next stop was Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala.  We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Guatemala City. The hotel is a category 2 Marriott hotel (10,000 Marriott Points / night) and is a ~15 minute drive (depending on traffic) from the Guatemala City International Airport (GUA).  There is also a complimentary airport shuttle that arrives every hour.  The hotel is in a great part of the city and has many restaurants nearby and lots to see within a short distance, including an amazing zoo that we walked to from our hotel (blog post coming later today). I will also share a very good Guatemalan restaurant that was a 2 minute walk away from the hotel.

The airport shuttle was waiting for us when we exited the airport. After a short drive, we arrived at our hotel and then we took the first elevator up to the lobby. The lobby is big, beautiful and well decorated. We checked in quickly and took the second elevator up to our room.  I wasn’t planning on writing a hotel review for this hotel, so I didn’t take that many pictures of the hotel, so some of the below photos are from the Marriott website.

a reception desks in a lobby

Hotel check in desk with beautiful artwork on the back wall and ceiling. Image source: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/guacy-courtyard-guatemala-city/

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2 Product Change / Conversion Options for JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card

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Good morning everyone.  A few days ago, the $395 annual fee posted to my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card.  A few months ago, I wrote this post: Should I Keep Both Chase Sapphire Reserve & JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Cards?  In that post, I basically decided that the $300 travel incidentals credit and unused Ritz Carlton perks were not worth the $395 fee.  So when the $395 annual fee posted on my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card, I knew I had to call Chase and see what options were available.  I didn’t bother asking for a retention offer since I probably spent about $350 on the credit card during the past year, and $300 of that was reimbursed due to the travel credits.  Instead, I asked the JPMorgan Chase rep what my conversion options were.  He said there were 2 credit cards I could convert to…

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Most of my 2017 Travel Predictions Were Wrong (Who Could Have Predicted That?)

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Good morning everyone, happy almost New Years Eve.  Earlier this month, Doctor of Credit wrote how bad travel bloggers are at making predictions (I came in last at 33% correct), but he only reviewed our credit card predictions.  I made a lot of other predictions in January 2017, so let’s see how good or bad my predictions were.  I covered airlines, hotels, credit cards, and MS.  I will put my thoughts in bold at the end of each prediction.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.  Southwest Airlines did eliminate hotel transfers counting toward the Companion Pass, but credit card spend and sign up bonuses still count toward the Companion Pass.  I am also the proud companion on my girlfriend’s Companion Pass.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).  No, I don’t think any other airline added a companion fare as a credit card benefit.
  • American will introduce a basic economy fare class to compete/copy Delta and United.  Yes, I got this one right!
  • Alaska Airlines will introduce a new level of elite status (maybe MVP Gold 100K?)  No, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K is still the highest elite level.
  • More airlines will get away from the 12,500 one way domestic ticket and start to introduce 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000 mile awards.  Yes, I think Alaska Airlines announced cheaper awards on shorter flights.
  • British Airways will kill the 4,500 Avios award band globally and possibly remove one of their lower award tiers.  No, 4,500 British Airways Avios tier is still available outside the US.
  • Singapore Airlines will allow us to book Star Alliance awards online, rather than calling in.  Partially true, but not rolled out completely.
  • Hawaiian Airlines will get bought by a low cost airline, Southwest Airlines or JetBlue.  No, no one bought Hawaiian Airlines.
  • We will see 1 or 2 more mileage matching promos, this time from a big legacy airline.  No, no mileage matching promo like the JetBlue / Virgin America match last year.
  • My ~20,000 Spirit Airlines miles will expire and I won’t care.  Sort of, my Spirit Airlines miles did expire, but I still shed 1 tear.

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Marriott 2018 Changes: Rollover Nights, Status Buy Back & New Hertz Benefits

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Marriott is making changes for 2018 that are worth noting! Being able to rollover nights in excess of our elite requirements is a great benefit of some hotel chains. But now with Marriott, we’ll have to track nights more closely! Going forward, in 2018 our excess nights earned will no long roll forward into 2019. It was great while it lasted! Do you track your hotel nights closely? If not, and you’re a Marriott loyalist, will you start keeping closer tabs on qualifying nights, or does this change not matter much in your hotel choice patterns?

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Wednesday Wakeup: How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep in Hotels

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Do you sleep well in hotels? Maybe that’s even too broad a question to be asking, or maybe you have a simple yes or no answer. Friends, knowing I spend a lot of nights each year in hotels, often ask if I sleep well in hotels and if I have any tips for them. It turns out, when I started talking with other travelers about this, many people don’t sleep well in hotels! That being the case, I thought I’d offer up some ideas and tips. As we all know, sleeping well, and especially when we travel, really is essential to functioning well and enjoying our travels. Hotels are unfamiliar territory and often offer us obstacles to sleeping well, so we have to be strategic and creative in order to get a good night’s sleep.

Tip #1

Many of us are hotel loyalists. And with each hotel chain, comes a certain bed type and mattress brand. Chances are you’re nodding your head and thinking about how you sleep better at a Westin on their bed versus at a Hyatt on their bed. It does take our bodies time to get accustomed to mattresses, so take this into account when looking at and booking your hotel options. You can also ask the hotel what their mattresses are made of. If you’ve ever slept on foam, for instance, you’ll know that these mattresses don’t breathe well. No matter how high you turn up your air conditioning, it’s likely you’ll still sweat and heat up. Cotton mattresses do tend to keep you cooler and this often leads to a better night’s sleep.

a person's feet on a bed

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/alone-bed-bedroom-blur-271897/

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