maem

Last week, I had a great opportunity to visit the Crowne Plaza, Gurgaon, and spend a couple of nights there. I've been to some dinner gatherings / banquets here a couple of times, but this is a hotel I've always wanted to stay at, ever since one of my colleagues mentioned, way back in 2008, that his room was a virtual football field. However, logistics and other administrative (and cost) factors have always meant that I've had to stay at other hotels (mostly good, and you can read about some of those reviews here , here and here ). So when this opportunity came up, I couldn't say no. The hotel is located just off the main highway that runs from Delhi, through Gurgaon, through to Jaipur. After the mandatory security checks of the car, I was led into the rather nice looking lobby area. After I presented my booking confirmation, I was taken to a separate priority desk for IHG Platinum members, and was handed this card as part of my check-in pack. The agent then informed m...

I know this is a points and miles blog, but I thought I'd also write about some additional stuff, seeing as it is that getting to the airport is also part of the entire travel experience! Uber launched their chauffeured car services in Chennai late in January 2014. AJ of Live from a Lounge wrote about it , but other than to sign up for referral credits, I didn't really give it much thought at the time. Earlier this week, thought, I had some travel come up, and I decided to cancel the cab pick up that my office had arranged, so I could use Uber. I was initially a bit apprehensive about the whole concept, for two reasons. One, while I'm OK with *some* technology, I'm not all that comfortable with too much of it, particularly on smartphones. And two, because Uber doesn't take bookings in advance, I wasn't too sure about their on time arrival, particularly when I had a flight to catch (and so I actually had a friend prepared to drop me off at the airport, should thi...