Yesterday morning we finally booked the final hotel for our upcoming trip to Southeast Asia.  I won’t get into travel specifics — while I am pretty open online, I don’t want people to have my itinerary while traveling. Let’s keep it a bit private, shall we?

I will tell you that we have hotels booked in Hanoi, Saigon, Bangkok and Phuket.  We are staying in places that range from local hotels to large international chains.  Each room we have reserved gives us a private room with a bathroom.  I don’t do the whole “toilet down the hall” thing.  From the TripAdvisor reviews, each of these hotels look great.

We did decide to splurge and book a room at the Peninsula Bangkok. A colleague stayed here about 6 weeks ago and he really loved the property.  While we won’t have much time here and we’ll be spending most time exploring the City, I’m pretty excited to stay at this hotel. I’ve read that is is arguably the second best Peninsula in the world.  We shall see.

This trip is coming up in less than 6 weeks. I cannot wait to get into the heat of Southeast Asia.  But before I make my first trip to Asia, I have a few domestic trips to take.  Early next week I am going to Los Angeles for the night and then later next week I am going to Palm Springs with the bois for a longer weekend.  By the end of January I will have earned 18,450 Elite Qualifying Miles on United — well on my way to keeping Premium Executive (or whatever the new United is calling it this year).

When is your next trip? Are you heading someplace warm or cold?  Do you try to find luxury hotels while on the road or do you prefer to spend your money on experiences while visiting new locations?