Hotel Review: Clarion Collection Hotel Griso, Lecco Italy

Last month I took a much needed vacation to northern Italy thanks mostly in part to bargain basement fare that I found from New York to Milan for $220 round-trip. Our trip included 3 days visiting Lake Como (of George Clooney fame) in northern Italy, 3 days in Cinque Terre along the Mediterranean Coast in two days in Milan.

Not wanting to have hotel costs eat into my savings, I looked for ways to use point redemption's for my accommodations. The Clarion Collection Hotel Griso in the picturesque town of Lecco was my choice as a base for exploring Lake Como. This hotel was a bargain at 10,000 choice points per night. Choice privileges routinely runs promotions where two stays can earn you 8,000 points. Considering that most of Choice's domestic properties are very budget friendly, you can easily earn several thousand points by taking short trips.

Cost: My booking was made with points for 10,000 points/night. Booking was for a large superior room. Out of pocket cost for this room would be around 180 euro/night. The cheapest rooms are around 95 euros/night. All rates include breakfast.

Location: Hotel is located in Lecco across a bridge and a short walk from the city center and main train station. Lecco is a very picturesque town and the views of Lake Como from the hotel and other spots around town are hard to beat. Lecco was easily accessible from Milan. Direct trains run from both Milan Centrale (45 minute trip) and Porta Garibaldi (1hr trip) stations. Cost is around 5 euros each way. Hotel is about 1 mile from the train station. A pretty easy walk but it might be a bit far for people with lots of luggage. From lecco there are seasonal ferries which go to other towns along the lake.

Lecco and Lake Como

 Room:  The room was very large for European standards.  There was a queen bed which was separated from a sitting area with a "sofa" and desk by a partial wall.  The TV was on a swivel so that you could face it in either direction.  The online room description mentioned a sofa bed but our room had something closer to a padded chair that could not under any circumstances have doubled as a bed.  This wasn't really an issue for us but something to keep in mind if you want to fit an extra person in the room.  The bathroom was pretty standard with a bidet and shower.  I only wish it had a bath tub as well.   By far the highlight of the room and the hotel was the view.  All rooms in the hotel have balconies overlooking the lake and the town of Lecco.   It was one of the best views I have ever had from a hotel room.  The balcony was very large and had a small patio table and two chairs.  The arrangement made for a very enjoyable evening with some wine, cheese and meats that we bought at the grocery store in town. Our room was on the second floor towards the right side of the hotel (if facing the lake).  I would recommend a higher floor but on the same end of the building for the best view.

 Facilities:  In general the hotel seemed well maintained and well staffed.  from our experience service was both attentive and hands off.  They were helpful when we needed them and non intrusive when we wanted privacy.  The hotel bar and restaurant both share the same view as the rooms.  Breakfast was included in the price of the room and was very well presented.  As you can see from the photos there was a nice selection of cold offerings with the addition of scrambled eggs and sausage.  All in all, the highlight of breakfast was the view rather than the food.

Summary: I would highly recommend a trip to Lecco and a stay at this hotel to anyone visiting Milan.  It is very easily accessible and is a very nice break from the chaos of Milano.   At 10,000 points including breakfast this hotel is a steal.  I would also certainly consider paying the standard rate of 95 euros to stay here. 





View from our room



Hotel entrance



Sitting Area

Bathroom

View from our table

Breakfast Room

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

 Bread and Pastries

View from breakfast

 Restaurant/Breakfast Room

USAir lounge laGuardia

 A couple weeks ago I had a chance to spend a few hours before my flight in the USAir lounge at LaGuardia Airport.  The atmosphere was very inviting and the decor was very sleek and updated.  I believe they have done a recent renovation as i have seen other reviews calling this the "worst lounge in  America".  Older reviews have commented on worn out carpet and tired chairs, but this was not the case on my visit.  This was one of the smaller lounges that i have ever been in and I could imagine it getting crowded during certain times of the day.  There was a nice view out over the tarmac. 

One strange thing that I noticed was that there was one bathroom, literally one single occupancy bathroom for the entire lounge.  I had to wait in line for several minutes before it was my turn.     

For drinks, there was a full cash bar with complimentary house white/red wine or Bud/Bud light.  The food selection was a bit sparse (although i was visiting at an off hour) and included chips, salsa, Biscoff cookies, fruit and mixed nuts.

All in all, a perfectly acceptable lounge to spend some time between flights but certainly don't come here expecting a full buffet and open bar.  The recent upgrade is a major improvement.  

Location: Terminal C, next to gate C28

Hours:

Sun - Fri: 5 AM - 9 PM

Sat: 5 AM - 6 PM

Seating area with snack area in the background

The bar

View out the window

Great Fares to the Caribbean

There have been some great fares to the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America recently, including many destinations which usually have notoriously high airfare.  Some examples below.  Prices are round trip, all taxes included.

Washington DC (IAD) to Georgetown (GEO), Guyana: $296 Copa
Baltimore (BWI) to St Thomas (STT), USVI $264 Spirit
Baltimore (BWI) to Aguadilla (BQN), Puerto Rico $244 spirit
Philadelphia (PHL) to Oranjestad (AUA), Aruba $287 USair/American
Philadelphia (PHL)  to Port Of Spain/Trinidad (POS) $295 USair/American
Philadelphia (PHL)  to Grenada (GND) $312 USair/American
Philadelphia (PHL)  to Vieux Fort (UVF), St. Lucia $292 USair/American
Philadelphia (PHL)  to Saint Martin (SXM) $292 USair/American
Philadelphia (PHL)  to Basseterre (SKB), St. Kitts $301 USair/American
Philadelphia (PHL)  to Providenciales (PLS), Turks and Caicos $314 Delta USair/American
Philadelphia (PHL)  to George Town (GCM), Grand Cayman Island $305 USair/American

St. Lucia

Grand hyatt New York

A few weeks ago i had the chance to spend a night at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.  I got a pretty good rate of $120 (including all tax) using travelpony.com.  Check out my post on using travelpony here.

Location: The hotel is located right next to Grand Central Station at the corner of 42nd st and Lexington Ave.  It is in great location to catch the subway and there are a good number of restaurants within walking distance.  I probably enjoy walking more than most people but we walked from here to central park and the Met.  The only slight downside to the location is that if you are arriving at Penn Station as I did, there is really no direct public transportation link.  The only options are walking or taxi.  I chose to walk; its only about 10 blocks

Hotel:  The lobby and public spaces are very nice and spacious.  The decor is quite interesting with 2 giant head sculptures and a waterfall in the lobby.  Check in was quick and easy.  As a Hyatt Platinum Member I had access to the elite check in area which had no line compared to the 7 or so people waiting in the general line.  I was offered a bottle of water on check in.  One major issue I had with the hotel was at checkout.  We wanted to leave our luggage and were charged 3$ a bag.  I had asked about Club access on check in but was denied, oh well.

Room: I really liked the design of the room.  It was clear that it was recently renovated.  I especially liked the hardwood floors and the lighting behind the bed.  I think we were upgraded to a deluxe room, but I'm not 100% certain.  The room had a very large walk in closet which was about as large as the entire bathroom.  Another interesting feature of the rooms were the light switches.  They were all touch activated and you could turn all the lights off/on from the switch beside the bed.

Overall Impression:  I thought this was a very nice hotel, and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay.  The only real issue I had was being charged to leave my luggage.  Maybe its just me, but i believe that if you are a paying guest you should be allowed to leave your baggage for free.

Lobby featuring hordes of people and giant heads

  

The closet was bigger than the bathroom

 

Basic Shower



Comfy bed with very modern lighting behind it



Touch activated light switch

Huge (for NYC standards) walk in closet



Hardwood floors

SPG Hot Escapes

SPG's new list of discounted hotels is out this week.  The full list can be seen here

Some of my personal favorites:

Le Westin Resort & Spa, Tremblant, Quebec, $128 (late season skiing)

Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, Hawaii: $114 (good rate in an expensive market)

The St. Regis Abu Dhabi: $158 (true 5 star luxury at an affordable price)

Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi: $83

Hotel Bristol, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Warsaw: $90 (at 2 people per room, almost as cheap as a hostel)

Four Points by Sheraton Tucson Airport: $52 (good rate for a mattress run)

IHG point breaks list

Every few months, IHG (formerly priority club) publishes a list of hotels around the world which can be booked for only 5,000 points per night.

The full list of hotels can be found here

Cheap flights of the day

I spend a good amount of time browsing the Internet for flight deals.  I generally don't have a specific destination in mind nor do I have a specific time frame; I just like to see what is out there.  I figured I would add a new feature to my blog that lists any flight deals which catch my eye on any given day.

All flights listed as round trip with all taxes included in the price.  Fares are available and bookable as of time of posting, although dates and availability may vary.  In other words, these are the flights I'd consider booking if I didn't have a full time job

Cheap flights of the day:

3/4
Washington (IAD) to Jaipur, India (JAI) $771 Etihad
Washington (DCA) to Shanghai (PVG) $759 Air canada

1/7

Washington (IAD) to Bahrain (BAH): 543$ gulf

12/26
Washington (IAD) to Morelia, Mexico (MLM): $219 Aeromexico
Washington (IAD) to Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL): $227 Aeromexico
Washington (IAD) to Leon, Mexico (BJX): $210 Aeromexico

12/24
Washington (IAD) to Bogota, Columbia (BOG): $299 Aeromexico
Washington (IAD) to Buenos Aires (EZE): $679 Aeromexico

11/5
Baltimore (BWI) to Las Vegas (LAS): $120 airtran
Washington (DCA) to Azores Islands (PDL): $640 USair and SATA
Boston (BOS) to Cape Verde (RAI): $692 TACV

10/3
Baltimore (BWI) to Shanghai(PVG): $550 American

9/27
Baltimore (BWI) to Shanghai (PVG): $721 Delta

9/26
Washington (IAD) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL): $689 Turkish
9/25
Washington (IAD) to Mumbai (BOM): $814 Saudia
Newark (EWR) to St Petersburg (LED): $498 Lufthansa

9/10
Pittsburgh (PIT) to Beijing (PEK): $744 Delta

9/6
Washington (DCA) to Beijing (PEK): $753 Air Canada
Washington (DCA) to Shanghai (PVG): $773 Air Canada
New York (JFK) to Dublin (DUB): $490 American
New York to Anchorage (ANC): $348 United
New York to St. Petersburg Russia (LED): $536 Swiss/Lufthansa


9/5
New York (LGA) to Beijing (PEK): $703 Air Canada

9/4
Pittsburgh (PIT) to Shanghai (PVG): $864 American
Baltimore (BWI) to Las Vegas (LAS): $168 AirTran
New York (JFK) to Moscow (DME): $515 Swiss

8/27
Washington (DCA) to Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands (PDL): $664

8/20
New York (JFK) to Seattle (SEA): $186 Delta

7/24
Pittsburgh (PIT) to Beijing (PEK): $877 ANA

7/19
Washington (DCA) to Lima (LIM): 431$ Jet Blue
Washington (IAD) to Hong Kong (HKG): 815$ Turkish
Pittsburgh (PIT) Oakland (OAK): 206$ Delta
NYC (LGA or JFK) to Guayaquil (GYE): 365$ American
NYC (LGA) to Anchorage (ANC): 348$ United


7/17

Pittsburgh (PIT) to Burlington Vermont (BTV): 166$ United

Washington (DCA) to Martha's vineyard (MVA): 150$ Delta

Washington (DCA) to Nantucket (ACK): 160$ Jet Blue

Philadelphia (PHL) to Dublin (DUB): 536$ Aer Lingus

Baltimore (BWI) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL): 88$ Spirit