Chris' Travel Videos

Waikiki Beach Hawaii

chris — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:44:04 +0000

A travel guide for visiting the beaches of Waikiki in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii.

Chris, your entertaining guide, visits all of beaches of Waikiki, from the south end at Diamond Head, to Kuhio Beach, to Fort Derussy Beach, to the beach at north end in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Each part of the beach has a distinct character. Some better for surfing, some better for wading, some parts of the beach without any sand at all. Find out which part of Waikiki beach is the one you want to visit.

Lake Balboa Cherry Blossoms 2012

chris — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 03:27:48 +0000

Yes! There are Cherry Blossoms in Los Angeles at Lake Balboa. I visited on March 18, 2012 and about 20 of the Cherry Blossom trees were blooming around the lake. Full bloom should be within the next couple of weeks. Watch the video to see what they looked like when I visited. Or take a look at some of the pictures that ocgirl took here.

Lake Balboa is located at 6300 Balboa Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406, near the intersection of the I-405 and the 101 freeway. More information on Lake Balboa can be found at the LA Parks website.

Hakone Japan Travel Guide Video

chris — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:08:54 +0000

A helpful travel guide for anyone planning on visiting Hakone Japan. Includes tips on taking the train, Hakone Ropeway, cable car, and sights to see.

Hakone is located less than 100km from Tokyo and is a popular day trip or weekend destination. Most people visiting Hakone take the Hakone Circle Route, which goes around the area in a circle using five different modes of transportation, train, cablecar, ropeway, boat, and bus. If you’re visiting Tokyo, I’d highly recommend at least a day trip to Hakone. The scenery is beautiful, and just riding the transportation is fun too!

If you’re staying in Tokyo near Shinjuku station, the best value is to buy the Odakyu Hakone Free Pass for 5000 Yen. The free pass covers all of the transportation from Shinkjuku to Hakone, and all of the cablecars/ropeways in Hakone as well.

Spitting Cave of Portlock in Hawaii Video

chris — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:51:35 +0000

The Spitting Cave of Portlock is located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

It is called the Spitting Cave because it appears that this sea cave actually “spits” back at the ocean. The wave swell has to be right, but it’s definitely a fun and unique sight to see.

Honolulu Hawaii Travel Video

Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo Video Review

chris — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:01:52 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I stayed at the Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo in Naples Italy. A video review of the hotel is below:

The Mediterraneo is located in downtown Naples, near the bay, and just a few blocks from the main shopping street, Via Toledo. There are plenty of restaurants and shops nearby, so it’s a convenient place to stay if you’re in Naples for business.

Overall it’s a decent hotel, but they just do some things different in Italy. For example — you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get in to the hotel from the street, which is pretty inconvenient with luggage. The parking garage also doesn’t have an elevator, but you have to walk up and out of the parking garage using the ramp you drove in on, then up the outside stairs to get in the hotel.

The lobby is a fairly big, 2 story open space. On the side of the lobby is a coffee shop/hotel bar, and above the lobby is the hotel’s restaurant which is open for dinner. Breakfast is served up on the 12th floor of the hotel on the rooftop. The views from the breakfast restaurant at sunrise are particularly pretty. Breakfast is free for gold and platinum members, it’s also included in some room rates. It’s a pretty good breakfast in my opinion. Many good Italian pastries, and also the standard eggs, bacon, and hot dog sausage like things.

The hotel does NOT have any ice machines. You can get ice in a glass at the hotel bar/cafe when it’s open in the evening. But other than that, don’t expect much in the way of your own cold drinks.

There are 2 types of rooms, regular rooms, and executive rooms. The executive rooms have extra bathroom amenities like mouthwash, a coffee machine/teapot in the room, and a bigger bed than the regular room.

The rooms overall are fairly decently furnished and a good size. Although a decent room, they could use a remodel… the televisions are still CRT tubes and the bathroom is lacking counter space. The most important thing for me is that the rooms are quiet, which these are. Like many European hotels, the hotel only has heat OR air conditioning. So in the winter, the air conditioning doesn’t work… which can make the room a bit stuffy. The window does crack open a bit, so that was a saving grace for me for making the room a comfortable sleeping temperature.

Fremont Troll in Seattle Video

chris — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:22:10 +0000

The Fremont Troll is a large 15 tall sculpture of a troll that lives under a bridge in Seattle Washington.

The Troll is located under the Aurora bridge that carries state route 99, in the neighborhood of Fremont. The Troll was originally built in the 1990′s to clean up an area that had become a haven for drug dealers. Now it’s a haven for tourists!

This is definitely one of those “wild and wacky” things to do in Seattle. But if you’re like me, and you like the quirky attractions, go check out the Fremont Troll.

Corona Del Mar Beach Video

chris — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:31:07 +0000

The main beach in Corona Del Mar is a 1/2 mile sandy beach in Newport Beach, CA.

This video is an overview for visitors to the Main Beach in Corona Del Mar. Corona Del Mar is popular with ocean swimmers, sun bathers, and body boarders. It is a great beach in Newport Beach that is often less crowded than the Balboa Peninsula.

Lawcus Farm Guest House in Ireland Video Review

chris — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:44:46 +0000

On my last trip to Ireland I stayed at the Lawcus Farm Guest House — an old Irish farm that has been converted in to a bed and breakfast.

The Lawcus Farm Guest House is located in Kilkenny County Ireland, about a 2 hour drive south of the Dublin Airport. It is definitely located in a rural part of Ireland, so driving is the only way to get here.

The Lawcus Farm has a few farm animals on the property including pigs, sheep, chickens, cows, and horses. Although the farm aspect is more of a hobby of the owners rather than a real “working” farm, it is still a nice addition to the bed and breakfast.

The guest house itself is a renovated stone building with a new all-glass kitchen. In addition to the kitchen, there is also a living/sitting room that is part of the common areas of the guest house. I booked a double room, which was one of 2 rooms that are upstairs.

The room itself was small, but functional. There was a double bed, a small television, and a fireplace. There was also a really small bathroom that had an even smaller shower. It’s not the Marriott that’s for sure — but it’s also a farm, so I’ll cut them a little slack here. The bed wasn’t really very comfortable, but after a 12 hour flight to get here, I was pretty tired, so that didn’t matter. The room was very quiet — I didn’t hear any other neighbors or noises during the night. The room had 2 windows, one on each side that could be opened to get a cross breeze.

The breakfast was served in the kitchen that was a custom addition to the farm house. The kitchen is all glass, with glass walls, and a glass ceiling. There are about 5-6 tables in the kitchen. The breakfast served is a full Irish breakfast with toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, mushrooms, tomatos, and blood pudding. A pretty filling way to start the day. Cereal and fresh fruit were also available for those folks “on a diet.”

The guest house doesn’t take credit cards, so payment can only be made in cash. Our room was 100 Euro. Pretty reasonable considering it included breakfast as well. Although next time I think I’d pay 50 euro more for one of the bigger rooms.

Overall I’d highly recommend staying here. The rural farm aspect of this place was truly one of the highlights of our trip to Ireland. The owners are also super friendly, and chatting with them over breakfast made our trip to Ireland seem even friendlier.

Shelbourne Dublin Hotel Video Review

chris — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:41:43 +0000

On a recent trip to Ireland, I stayed at the Shelbourne Dublin Renaissance Hotel.

Below is the written review of the hotel which goes in to much more detail – however a picture is worth 1000 words, and a video is worth 1000 pictures – so watch the video .

The Shelbourne is a historic hotel built in 1824 located in the city center of Dublin Ireland, across of the St. Stephens Green Park. Getting to the hotel from Dublin airport is very convenient using the Air Coach bus. It leaves from Dublin airport, and stops just about one block from the hotel. The bus trip takes about 30-40 minutes and the stop for the Shelbourne is about the 4th stop.

Gold and platinum members get a free full Irish Breakfast in the Saddle Room only on weekdays. The full Irish breakfast consists of eggs, pancakes, waffles, mushrooms, bacon, sausage, and black/white (blood) pudding. It was a very good breakfast, but I’d only recommend the breakfast from the saddle room if you’re getting it for free, because the regular price is over 30 Euro per person. The concierge lounge is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2012. In the interim, gold and platinum guests receive 2 free drink vouchers from the hotel bar. The drink vouchers can be redeemed for any “regular” alcoholic drinks. Since it is Ireland after all, Jameson Whiskey and Guinness are the logical choices in the bar.

The Shelbourne is well known for the afternoon tea at “Lord Mayors Lounge.” In addition to tea, Lord Mayors lounge also serves breakfast and snacks. I had the oatmeal on one of the weekend mornings that I couldn’t get a free breakfast. The oatmeal was served with lavender honey, and was truly one of the best bowls of oatmeal I’ve ever heard. I would highly recommend the oatmeal! The scones and jam are also pretty tasty if you’re in to that kind of thing. The oatmeal is also available on the buffet in the saddle room.

The hotel gym is a bit of an oddity, because the gym consists of three converted hotel rooms. They’ve converted one hotel room in to a weight room with weight lifting equipment. Another room has been converted in to a Cardiovascular room with tread mills, and the final gym room has bicycles and an elliptical machine.

In the hotel rooms, the bed had very nice comfortable sheets. Also in the room was a flat panel television, a desk, and good size closets. The bathroom in my room was recently remodeled and had a combined bathtub and shower. I asked for a quiet room, so I had a view of the courtyard. Indeed my room was also very quiet. The air conditioning and heating also both worked well in the room.

As a platinum member I got a choice of welcome gift. For my beverage I chose the chilled Erdinger, a beer. For my snack, I chose the “Selection of Irish Fruits.” The room also comes with a four bottles of complimentary Irish water. Two of the bottles are still water, and two of the bottles are sparkling water. Each day the bottled water was replenished by the housekeeping staff which is nice for those of us that are thirsty.

Ice machines are not available in the hotel, but ice is available by calling the housekeeping staff. I was actually quite amazed at how quick the staff would bring the ice up to my room. Usually the ice would arrive with one or two minutes.

Overall the Shelbourne is a very lovely, historic hotel in the heart of Dublin.

Renaissance Paris Arc De Triomphe Hotel Review

chris — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:30:11 +0000

On a recent trip to Paris I did a video trip report of my stay at the Paris Renaissance Arc De Triomphe Hotel on youtube here:

Below is the written trip report which goes in to even greater detail.
The hotel is located convienently just about 3 blocks from the Arc De Triomphe and the Champs Elysee. A taxi to the hotel from CDG airport is about 45 Euro (not during rush hour). Or a cheap and also convienent alternative is to take the Air France bus, direct from the Airport to the Arc De Triomphe for about 13 euro, and then walk three blocks. Note, when you take the Air France bus, take the bus from the airport that stops at the “Etoille.” Charles De Gualle Etoille is the name of the metro stop at the Arc De Triomphe, so those names are often used interchangeably for the location. Also the metro here is very convienent, because metro Line 1 stops at the Etoille, which can be used to get the Louvre, and many of the other touristy sites in Paris. And for those of you that can’t live without McDonalds and/or Starbucks, both are within 2 blocks of the hotel as well.
The hotel itself is has a modern architecture and style with a bit of French / Asian fusion flair. It’s 8 stories tall, and the street side has a set of curvy/wavy windows that glow at night. The lobby is surrounded in dark wood tones, with red and yellow lighting that are meant to simulate candles. The lobby itself is small as most Paris hotels are, but is typically very well staffed. There were often not one, but two doormen that would open the doors to the hotel upon my arrival.
Off of the lobby is the hotel’s restaurant, Makkasar. A French/asian fusion restaurant. As the hotel doesn’t have a concierge lounge, Gold and Platinum members get a free breakfast in the restaurant on weekdays. The breakfast is a full American breakfast that was really quite good. The breakfast included eggs, pancakes, sausages, oatmeal, mushrooms, potatoes, fruits, yogurts, cereal, and typical French pastries.
I had e-mailed the hotel a couple days before arrival asking for an early check-in at 9am. When I arrived at 9am, it wasn’t quite ready, but was ready within 15 minutes of my arrival. It’s really nice to be able to check in early after a long flight from the US – so this really earned the hotel extra points in my opinion. Most hotels in Paris are pretty strict on the “no check-ins before 3pm” rule. As a platinum member, I was offered my choice of welcome gift. I picked 2 glasses of iced tea, and chocolates. The iced tea was a very interesting cinnamon flavored tea. But I think it’s a different type of iced tea each day.
Heading up to my room, I went in to one of the two hotel elevators. Each elevator glows in a different color…… one glows with blue neon, and the other glows with red neon. The blue elevator is a bit more soothing than the red one.
The room itself was relatively spacious, and continued with the dark wood tones from the lobby with bright pink accents on the bed. The room had the standard amenities, king bed, desk, desk chair, side chair. The room has a mini-bar that is only half-full, which leaves room for any beverages that you might want to keep cold. Two interesting items for sale on top of the mini-bar were an umbrella, and a power plug adapter.
My sleep quality in the room was great. The room itself was very quiet. The bed was comfy. The air conditioning was cold when I wanted it to be, and warm when I wanted it to be warm. Unlike many Paris hotels, the air conditioning and/or heat works all year round here. Many older hotels in Paris will only offer heat *or* air conditioning depending upon the time of the year, which is always sucky on those hot days in the middle of winter when the air conditioning doesn’t work.
The bathroom was nice and new, although a little dark as far as the lighting was concerned. The tub/shower had the typical French half/glass curtain. I always find these weird, because water seems to get everywhere when you don’t have a full curtain in the shower…. But maybe I’m just a messy shower taker. One of the coolest things in the room was actually in the bathroom… in the corner there was a piece of art with half of the Eiffel tower on it, then a mirror that reflected it, and made a whole Eiffel tower. See the video to understand what I mean.
My room faced the interior courtyard of the hotel, so it also had a small balcony with a table and single chair. I always like being able to get fresh air in to a room, so the balcony was nice.
The hotel really went overboard with the turn-down service each evening. My first evening, the turndown service included the regular chocolate you might expect, but also a bottle of wine, some olives, chips, and a small metal notepad. Each night the chocolates and office supply item were different, and there was also a printed weather forecast for the next day. My 2nd evening, there was the chocolate again, and also another notepad, but this time with post-it notes inside. And on my final evening, again the chocolate, and a paper holder to be used on a desk. I’ve never been in a hotel with office supplies as part of the turndown service… but I was always excited to come back to the room to see what was going to show up that evening. Much better than the just the standard mint on the pillow.
Each floor of the hotel has its own small ice machine, that in addition to dispensing ice, also dispenses filtered water.
My only real complaint staying here is that the internet was extremely slow. I don’t know if they were having issues, but it took like 15 minutes to download a 5 megabyte file. For a high-end hotel, this is really something they should fix.
Overall a very nice hotel, in a convenient location in central Paris. I’ve also stayed at the Marriott Rive Gauche, and the Renaissance Trocadero, and this one is my favorite of the three.