Vietnam has been high on my travel must visit us for years now from New York the
quickest route are via Asian hubs like Tokyo or Hong Kong but for my first trip
there I wanted to play the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and their brand
new Airbus A 350 and that meant routing from Paris but first an overnight
stopover in London
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I loved London, and one of the reasons I wanted to stop through with the check
out the Great Northern Hotel which is now part of Starwood Hotels new Tribute
Collection the Great Northern was also super convenient because it's right
across the street from St. Pancras Station where I would catch the eurostar
to Paris for my Vietnam Airlines flight
Rates were 227 pounds or $325
however the Great Northern was a category 5 property at the time where you
needed just 12K points per award night the Great Northern has since
moved up a category so it now cost 20K points per night to say there
Although I booked a standard couchette room thanks to my SPG platinum status
I was upgraded to a club room which is named in honor of the hotel's architect those
typically go for 50 pounds more per night than the couchette room and are more spacious
The overall aesthetic felt very nineteen-thirties Art Deco with
leather furniture and walnut furniture, high ceilings and huge windows overlooking Kings Cross
Elite upgrades are one of the perks I'm most worried about being affected by Marriott
impending takeover at Starwood because Marriott platinum currently do not get
suite upgrades, and I hate to see that to policy remain when the program's emerge
As an SPG platinum I get confirmable suite upgrade certificates but this is not the hotel to use them at
since their one-bedroom suites are really just normal Wainscott
guestrooms with the small separate living room the hotel's restaurant
Plum & Spilt Milk was great for breakfast as an SPG Platinum elite I can
choose complimentary continental breakfast during stays as my bottom
amenity but like many other SPG hotels the Great Northern treated me to a full
breakfasts where I could ordered dishes a la carte so I opted for the eggs benedict
juice and an Americano since I had just a single day there to explore I asked my
friend Fletcher Cowan as a TV host and general man about town to show me
around some of London's more colorful neighborhoods
We met in Neil's yard a borderline psychedelic ally in Covent Garden and caffeinated up Free
Range People Cafe a hidden gem with some great drinks
Speaking of drinks our next stop was the Gin Journey with Leon Dalloway
after some samples, and some more samples, and even some specialty cocktails in between
We came down to the signature batch number 2
In just a short time with Leon, I learned more about Gin then I thought there was to know.
After tasting all that gin I promptly I forgot most of it.
As evening approached I was getting a little tired but I was excited to have
dinner at London's highest restaurant
To get to it you took a high-speed glass elevator 40 floors up London's Heron Tower
From hear the views of London are spectacular but we didn't come here just for the
panorama chef Daniel Doherty has been making a big impression on the London
dining scene since the restaurant opened back in 2012 we were treated to a spicy
ox cheek donut with apricot jam and smoked paprika sugar and a thirty
eight-day angus bone in ribeye with winter vegetables ingribiche sauce
but of course we had to try the signature dish duck & waffle
a fluffy waffle topped with a confit duck leg and a fried egg as well as mustard maple syrup
As dinner went down we toasted to a busy, but amazing day in London and my trip to Vietnam
On the next TPGtv
Going from York to London to Paris was all worth it just for the chance to fight
Vietnam Airlines new A 350 and you're coming along with for the ride