Origins Online (ELC)
The Leading Hotels of the World Presents US$19.28 promotion
The Leading Hotels of the World is celebrating its 80th anniversary by releasing a limited number of their most-coveted hotel rooms at the unprecedented rate of USD 19.28 per night.


At 12 noon GMT (8 a.m. EST/Eastern Standard Time) on October 1, 2008, it will release the hotel rooms at the celebratory USD 19.28 rate.



Too good a deal to believe? Well, if you read the fine lines, there are some restrictions of course:

- This special offer will only be available for 80 minutes at 12 noon GMT (8.a.m. Eastern Time) on October 1, 2008.

- Only pre-registered customers are eligible for the offer. You can sign-up here http://www.lhw.com/1928_SIGNUP.aspx?ext=1928

- Registered customers can only reserve up to a maximum of two nights at USD 19.28 per night (exclusive of taxes, VAT or other supplemental charges) at a single participating hotel for travel between November 1 and December 15, 2008.

- All purchases are restricted to one reservation per customer and are non-transferable.


Still a pretty good deal if you are looking at a short trip to a single neighbouring country. For me, I am hoping to book a room at the Langham Hong Kong or Banyan Tree Bangkok. If I manage to redeem air tickets using my frequent flyer miles, this will be a really cheap holiday for me!

Langham Hong Kong Banyan Tree Bangkok




So which are the participating hotels? Here, I will only highlight the participating hotels for the more popular holiday destinations in the Asia Pacific region for Singaporeans:


Participating Hotels in Asia & Pacific
Hong Kong - The Langham, Hong Kong (Kowloon )
Indonesia - The Legian (Bali)
Korea - The Shilla Seoul (Seoul)
Malaysia - The Club at The Saujana (Shah Alam)
Myanmar - The Strand (Yangon)
Taiwan, R.O.C. - The Sherwood Taipei (Taipei )
Thailand - Banyan Tree Bangkok (Bangkok)
The Chedi Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai)
Bo Phut Resort & Spa (Koh Samui, Suratthani)
Santiburi Golf Resort & Spa (Koh Samui, Suratthani)
Vietnam - The Nam Hai (Quang Nam Province)


The full list can be obtained from http://www.lhw.com/1928_SIGNUP.aspx?ext=1928

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posted by blossom179 at 11:14 PM | 0 comments |
Tips on Booking Your Hotel Accommodation
Today, I want to share with you some tips on booking your hotel accommodation overseas. After spending days searching for a good deal for my accommodation in San Francisco, I think I have found a way to cut short the time required to locate that perfect hotel.

1. Identify the area you want to stay in

For me, I know I wanted to stay in the Union Square area in San Francisco. Why? It is the main shopping area of course! Ha!

Don't know where to stay? Just do a Google search, say, main shopping area in that city as a start.

2. Identify nearby hotels using Google Map

Go to Google Maps and do a search of hotels in that area. For me, I just type in “Hotels in Union Square, San Francisco” and all the hotels around Union Square appear as pins in the map.



3. Check out the reviews

Shortlist a few hotels in the area and read the reviews from TripAdvisor.Com about these hotels. TripAdvisor.com is a travel information website, covering reviews from users for more than 212,000 hotels and 74,000 attractions in over 30,000 destinations worldwide. It even has pictures of the hotels taken by users. Definitely give you a more accurate picture of what you will be getting than the pretty pictures from the hotel's website! So if the hotel you shortlist is rated highly by the users of Trip Advisor, chances are it is pretty safe to book it if the rate is acceptable.



4. Get the best rates

To get the best rate available, check out the following:

  • Hotel’s own Website: Check out the online rates available, especially any special packages or promotions.

  • Online wholesalers or consolidators:

Wholesalers refer to websites that have longstanding contracts with the hotels so they can afford to provide attractive rates. If you book through a wholesaler website, you will need to pay the entire stay in advance with your credit card through the website. Examples of wholesalers include Hotels.com, Hotelclub.com, Priceline.com, etc. Different countries have different wholesalers that specialize in the specific country or region. Here are some examples of wholesalers I have used before:

Thailand: http://www.latestays.com/, http://www.agoda.com/, http://www.asiarooms.com/, http://pyotravel.com/

Japan: http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/en/, http://www.asiarooms.com/, http://www.agoda.com/

Hong Kong: http://www.asiarooms.com/, http://www.priceline.com.sg/, http://zuji.com.sg/

As for consolidators, they do not own or control the room inventory. Their discounts are determined by the hotels with rooms to fill and vary enormously. If you book through a consolidator, you pay for your room as usual when you check out of the hotel. An example of a consolidator is Quikbook.com.

  • Airline’s Boarding Pass Privileges: Some airlines tie-up with hotels to provide their passengers with preferential hotel rates. For example, when I fly to London on Singapore Airlines, I will always book my stay with Millennium London Knightsbridge hotel which has a tie-up with the airline as its preferential rate allows me to book the room at GBP130 per night inclusive of breakfast! Great location at a great price! Check out http://www.singaporeair.com

For me, I finally booked my SFO room stay directly with Hotel Palomar’s website which has a promotion that makes it way cheaper than to book from wholesalers or consolidators.

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posted by blossom179 at 10:26 PM | 9 comments |