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Experience Grand Hyatt Kauai

 

 

Recently I had the pleasure of staying at the luxurious Grand Hyatt Kauai, and let me just say it was beyond my expectations. When planning travel I look at a few things; location, surroundings, cost, and of course the property itself.

When looking at Kauai its almost broken up into three different sections, north, east, and south side. A lot of the west side is not accessible nor are there many places to stay. I narrowed our options to the north and south, west seemed too busy for what we wanted out of this particular trip. We were going to choose the St. Regis Kauai on the north side, but after some research we decided on staying south in hopes for better weather being we were visiting end of November onto December. Not sure if it actually made any difference, but I wouldn’t have changed it! So Grand Kyatt Kauai Resort and Spa it was. We even booked with our American Express Platinum card through Amex Travel to utilize the Fine Hotels and Resorts Perks. *(more on that later)

One of my favorite parts of this partials property is how lush and green it is!!! Okay, now I know what you’re thinking it’s not called the ‘Garden Island’ for nothing! Regardless, the property is incredible! Check out the minute long video below over the Grand Hyatt Kauai.

 

 

 

 

Experiencing A Hammam In Morocco

la-mamounia-entranceHammam, turkish bath, roman bath, they’re all relatively the same. You my have heard of these spa services, or perhaps you haven’t. I will tell you before moving to Las Vegas I didn’t have a clue what a Hamamm was. Hammam is particular spa treatment originating from Turkey, known as turkish bath. Turkish bath in arabic means Hammam, reason behind the different names. With a price tag for these services generally over $400 they’re certainly not the most popular!

Recently, I was treated to a spa day at the Sahra Spa & Hammam at the Cosmopolitan by one of my gal pals. (Thanks again Chrissy @garciachristan! I owe you big time!) During my amazing massage I told my masseuse that I was traveling to Morocco soon, and that I was excited to experience their spa treatments, primarily their Hammams. His voice lit up, and said “once we’re finished here, I’ll show you our Hammam room”. How cool right? A private tour! And it was beautiful, and sooo luxurious. The masseuse began telling me about the treatment, but I was in such a daze from my massage and enamoured by the beauty that I kind of forget to listen. Opps! That would have been nice info to know! ha!

Fast forward to one month later…..

My girl friend and I are in Morocco. Marrakech, to be exact. We have our eyes set on many adventures while we are in Marrakech, and one of them happens to be this mystical, skin-silkening hammam service. I told my friend about this spa treatment, and after a bit of convincing she reluctantly she said she’d try it. As to our surprise there were very, VERY nice spas in Marrakech. One in particular being at our hotel the Es Saadi Palace, the famous Dior institute and spa. Supposedly there are only two of these in the world! However, we wanted more of a local vibe, and prices were also more affordable off property.

es-saadi-spa

Herbal room at Es Saasi Palace Spa

Luckily our kind friends in Marrakech booked us a 2 hour Hammam plus massage treatment at Les Bains de Marrakech. They told us it was very popular amongst locals and tourists, and a few days after arriving we were to have our first hammam!

The scrub down… I mean, Hammam treatment

Once the day arrived, I was a little nervous, because by now I’ve heard so many mixed views on hammam’s. From- “Like, you lay on this floor, it’s wet, your naked and someone scrubs you” to “You’re doing what” and “don’t worry it doesn’t hurt that bad”….ha what could go wrong right?! Okay, it was a bit intense sounding, a bit strange, but for the most part I was trying to keep an open mind. After all, we were in Morocco, and this is something that’s very much part of their culture.

After check in we were showed to the women’s facilities. We were told to undress keeping underwear on, and get in our designated robes and spa sandals. Once changed a woman immediately came to collect us and took us to begin our afternoon of festivities. Yay! After many minutes of walking down hundreds of corridors we made it to our hammam room. There we were passed off to another worker who tells us in french to de-robe, or I assume to de-robe because she was tugging on my robe belt. Okay robe off! She then began pointing at one side of the room, where I assume she wanted to me to lay given by her hand gestures. She then motions the same to my friend.

For some reason I thought my friend and I would be in separate rooms, this came to a screeching halt when we were both being forced into the same room. Let me tell you if we weren’t close friends before, it was about to get a lot closer!! Not embarressing at all… nope not one bit! Plus, neither of us spoke french so it was useless. *nervous laugh* The worker walks away and closes the door behind her. Allow me to paint this picture- she leaves us in this small room, which is about a million degrees, laying on two plastic type cushion beds with water drenched on them to sweat. In that very moment I literally had no idea what I got ourselves into, and I know my friend was thinking the same. All we could do in that moment was break out in uncontrollable laughs.

After the giggles and crying-laughs subsided, the woman finally returns says “le virage” about ten times (which means to turn over in French, I guess we were laying the wrong way) then she began putting some black rock soap on us. Once applying was over she again shuts the door and leaves us for about another 10 minutes, or in our minds an eternity! Finally, the lady again returned, allowing some fresh air into the small room, thank god! She then began administering this small glove to her hand, making her way towards me..  I knew now there was no going back. What she did from there, was something my skin had never endured before. I thought she was going to give be third degree burns from scrubbing so hard. After she finished doing devil practices to my friend, she then rubbed what looked to be mud (I think they said it was an algae mask) to our bodies and faces, and once again exited the room. I then began having thoughts like “I’ve never felt this much pain everywhere, like ev-er-y-where” and “I don’t want to look because I think I might be bleeding” it was that serious! After another long while she came back and one by one were told to rinse off and leave the room. Yay back to our fresh, comfy robes!

Facilities at Les Bains de Marrakech - Photo courtesy of @DreamySpas

Facilities at Les Bains de Marrakech – Photo courtesy of @DreamySpas

Final thoughts

Hammam reflections; after it was said and done, the treatment was great, awkward with another person, but great. Would I chose to go alone next time? Most likely yes, but going with a friend or loved one is not unheard of. It actually looked like the room could even hold a third person judging by the three beds. As for my skin, it felt freaking fabulous! Those dry layers of skin finally off, and the magic mud bath at the end seemed to really seal the deal. But, maybe it was my imagination? At a small price of, $60 USD for Hammam treatment plus a 1 hour massage, I would do it again in a heart beat! You can’t even get a 1 hour massage in the US for $60, let alone two treatments for $60. Les Bains, all I can say is, thank you so much for not scrubbing off all my skin so that some day I may return to Marrakech experience more hammams!

Top Hammam Spas in Marrakech

Let me know if you have any embarrassing spa or hammam treatments below!
From,

Jessie xx

How I Flew First Class From Asia to U.S. For $105!

Flying… we love and hate it. It gets us to our next destination fast, but surely not without its’ fair share of headaches! Lines everywhere, tacked on fees at check in, and don’t forget about those dreaded middle seats! Oh, the agony! What if least some of those annoyances could be alleviated? Would traveling be a bit more pleasurable? Would you consider traveling more often? I’d say yes!

I found the trick to skipping those long lines, never paying for my first checked bag again. I found this through signing up for Gold Delta Skymiles® Credit Card. This card has literally SAVED me, not just financially, but physically too. The benefits of this card are endless, and at a mere $95 annual fee (*first year waived), it’s worth the sign up.

I already knew I liked flying Delta Airlines. This airline is a bit more “business forward”, but business travelers know how to travel! Business travelers are efficient in traveling, they know what they’re doing and they do it quick. This makes it more comfortable for someone who’s a frequent traveller/flyer as well. Us frequent fliers also know the “ins and outs” of an airport, and we tend to roll our eyes are those who aren’t as savvy as we are! (Don’t deny that you haven’t had an eye roll or two at the person who has no idea how to get to their seat, put their bag in the overhead bin, or follow any sort of directions whatsoever!)

What’s the Deal?

After flying with Delta Airlines for some time I started to accumulate miles, but I wanted more. It dawned on me that I could achieve status with my favorite airline quicker by signing up with the Gold Delta Skymiles® Credit Card. Heres what you get:

  • Earn 30,000 Bonus Points*
  • Priority Boarding
  • Every dollar spent counts towards miles
  • $50 Statement Credit**
  • Earn 2 Miles per Delta Purchase
  • First Checked Bag Free *for companions too
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees
  • Travel Accident Insurance
  • Much more…

Annual Fee: $95; waived your first year

*Earn 30,000 bonus points after $1000 spend within the first 3 months. **Statement credit added after you make your first first on delta within the first 3 months.

UPDATE 11-28-16 To earn your 35,000 Bonus Miles and $50 statement credit, please email me! 🙂

american-express-delta

 

How I used my Delta Bonus Miles!

I won’t hold you in suspense any longer! At the time when I signed up Gold Delta Skymiles® Credit Card, they were offering 50,000 bonus miles. I booked a few delta flights on this card once I received it, and boom! Before I knew it I racked up that $1000 spend, and was able to get my 50K bonus miles. Not to mention DOUBLE points for booking delta flights. It was like I earned almost an extra 4,000 miles when it was all said and done after flying.

Also, at the time I was about to fly to Asia, though I hadn’t booked my return flight home. I knew my last destination before flying back to the U.S. was going to be in Hong Kong. After I received my bonus miles I began looking at flights from Hong Kong back home. I found a First Class – YES – Delta One First Class, from Hong Kong to Seattle for 75,000 points ++.

Taxes and fees had to be paid separately, which were only $105 USD!! How exciting right? First class, plus access to lounges at the airport, and private car transfers in-between the gates all for points 75K + $105. Definitely, a steal! Of course, I already had 25,000 points already in my account.

Had I not had those points I could a flown on an economy ticket for 30,000 points + taxes (roughly $50 USD).

A bit tired from a long night in Hong Kong, but I made the flight!

A bit tired from a long night in Hong Kong, but I made the flight to Shanghai.. home bound after my next connection!

 

 

My Delta Skymiles card is perfect for me. I’ve had the card just under a year and if I had the annual fee it would have already paid for itself because of the free checked baggage benefits. Plus, every dollar I spend gets matched for Skymiles and transferred directly into my account at the end of each billing statement.

 

If you have any other tips, or suggestions; please leave them in the comment section below! Happy Travels!

Destination Discovered: Singapore, Singapore

My next addition of ‘Destination Discovered’ is the time I went to Singapore… check out my tips for traveling to Singapore!

Destination Discovered: Hanoi, Vietnam

Coming at you with week two of ‘Destination Discovered’! This time I will take you on a journey to a thriving metropolitan city in Southeast Asia called Hanoi.