On our many past trips we have usually stayed at business hotels. Nice, but not usually luxury hotels. On this trip we got to see what the next level up of hotels are like. Each of our hotels were the best in the area. Two were located at the entrance of what we were visiting. We were definitely treated well.
Our first hotel was the Hay Adams across from Lafayette Square and the White House. See the Washington page for more views from the hotel.
From Washington we travelled to Trujillo, Peru via Lima. The Costa del Sol Trujillo Centro was a nice hotel, but not as remarkable as the Hayes. It was located on the main square of Trujillo. We spent two nights there and then returned to Lima after a long day of travel.
Back in Lima we stayed at the Belmond Miraflores Park which was definitely an up scale hotel. We departed the next morning.
Unfortunately we did not capture pictures of the Hangaroa Eco Village.
We crossed the date line for a single night in Samoa. The next day we toured in the morning and then flew to Australia
In Australia we stayed in Port Douglas which is about an hour north of Carnes
Again no pictures of the room which was really an apartment complete with a full kitchen and a washer/dryer. The hotel was quite something with a huge pool right outside the room
Cambodia was surprise. We expected the Angkor Wat area to be remote. In reality it was in the middle of a major city that at the time was having a festival.
Around midnight it sounded like I was in war zone. I realized that I was at ground zero for the end of the Water Festival. Best just enjoy it. After all I could sleep in the next morning
🤣.
Nepal is chaos incarnate. Thus our pleasant surprise when we arrived at our hotel. A lovingly restored building served as an oasis from what was happening only on the other side of the bricks.
Now for the place we took Diamox for. Tibet is definitely a part of China now and the Chinese did everything they could to make that clear. The hotel was nice, but the rumor was that we were discouraged from traveling out onto the street unescorted.
The Winter Palace was visible in the distance from the hotel lobby.
From Tibet we returned briefly to Nepal and then caught our plane to India. We landed at the military airport and thus avoided the 5 hour bus ride from New Delhi
The air in India was for me harmful. It was filled with smoke with a high PM 2.5 which for me is the worst case. My Singulair (Montelukast) was overwhelmed and I was in a N95 mask when I ventured outside. I could not stand to be near an open door.
This hotel is at the entrance to the Taj Mahal park. Literally as close as you can get. On the day of arrival our porter insisted on taking a photo of us with the Taj in the background. Nothing. The photo below is from the next day when the air was at least a bit more transparent.
Talk about a hotel that is right at the site! The &Beyond Lodge was on the edge of Ngorongoro Crater. The rooms were little bungalows that were a fair walk from the main building. The Lodge had fireplaces roaring to remove the chill of the night air.
Unfortunately after Yak Butter candles in Tibet and burning fields in India my lungs were overwhelmed by the smoke.
The trip page contains some addition interior photos of the lodge.
Another long day of travel. We left the crater after breakfast, caught the shuttle to Kilimanjaro International Airport (Arusha), boarded our jet, flew to King Hussein International Airport (Aqaba), and did a long bus ride to Wadi Mousa. Fortunately Petra was now across the street.
I appreciated the clear dry air. My lungs started recovering on the morning walk.
This hotel was your basic tourist/business class hotel. Still it was comfortable. The room was well laid out. We enjoyed it more than the room on Easter Island where we needed a flashlight during the day.
They also had the most expensive Baileys I have ever bought.
Our last hotel and also one of the best. The inside was a maze. The outside had wonderful gardens. Unfortunately, the weather picked our arrival day to present us with the second rainstorm of the trip.