I’m currently working on efficiently publishing all the reviews from trips I took in late 2025, given just how much travel I did. However, that’s not stopping me from planning a last minute trip that I’m really excited about.

Let me explain what I’ve booked so far, and then I’d love some feedback, because there are still plenty of things I haven’t yet planned, including some of the hotels, plus the return portion.

We’re visiting Taipei & Hong Kong, and I’m excited!

Back when Ford and I met over a decade ago, we’d travel to Asia all the time. For a variety of reasons (primarily family obligations), that just hasn’t happened for us as much in recent years, aside from an annual trip to Japan. However, there’s so much in Asia to enjoy, and there’s no denying that the general service level and value for luxury hotels is often so much better than in North America and Europe.

So I realize that on the surface this might not sound like the most exciting trip to some, but we decided to plan a trip to Taipei and Hong Kong:

• I haven’t “properly” visited Taipei in around a decade, and Ford has never been before, and I think it’s such a vibrant city that’s worth spending time in
• Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities in the world, and Ford also hasn’t been in nearly a decade, so we’re excited to spend a few days there

As I’ll explain below, for both cities, there’s a bit of a hotel angle…

We’re flying American, China Airlines, and Cathay Pacific

So far I’ve only booked the outbound portion of the trip, but let me share what I have planned. First, I’ve been wanting to check out American’s new A321XLR business class, so I booked that from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) for 35,000 Alaska Atmos Rewards points.

That’s actually not terribly convenient for the purposes of this trip, but hey, I wanted to make it happen somehow, so I’m just tagging that onto the front, even if it requires me to then make an extra hop to get to the transpacific gateway.

What sort of motivated my planning of this trip is that I saw good China Airlines business class award availability from Phoenix (PHX) to Taipei (TPE), which is a new route on the carrier. Can I just point out how much I love this flight’s schedule? It leaves at 4PM, and arrives at 10PM the next day, and I just think that’s one of the best transpacific flight schedules I’ve ever seen, at least for my very strange sleeping habits.

Good transpacific awards can be hard to come by nowadays. I booked this for just 72,500 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles per person, which I acquired with a 25% transfer bonus, meaning I really only redeemed 58,000 transferable points for these tickets. Not bad, eh?

Then from Taipei to Hong Kong (HKG), we’ll be flying Cathay Pacific’s regional A330 business class, which I haven’t reviewed in some time either. I booked that for 16,000 Cathay miles per person. That’s not the most exciting product, but it’s a short flight and you can’t beat the value, so that works for me.

Here’s the thing — we don’t actually have a return ticket booked yet, so that’s as far as I’ve gotten with planning. This is a pretty last minute trip, and we’re pushing up against the Chinese New Year holiday, but I think we should be able to find something decent.

I can’t wait to stay at the new Capella Taipei!

In Taipei, we’ll be staying at the new Capella, which is now considered to be the city’s best hotel. It’s by no means cheap, but honestly, it’s a bargain compared to what you pay for a true luxury property in the United States or Europe nowadays. It’ll also be my first-ever stay at a Capella property, and it’s a brand I’ve been wanting to try out.

Speaking of Taipei, it has been so long since I’ve properly visited, and Ford has never been. We just have a couple of full days there, so does anyone have any tips for things we can’t miss, any great dining experiences, etc.?

We’ll stay at “the world’s best hotel” in Hong Kong

Since we don’t have a return flight booked yet, we’re not actually sure for how long we’ll stay in Hong Kong, and so far, we’ve only booked one hotel. We will be spending a couple of nights at the Rosewood Hong Kong, which is the hotel in the city that I’m most curious about.

Not that I place much value on this, but the recent World’s 50 Best Hotels list put this property in the number one spot. While I’m skeptical about a property this size being the best in the world, I have no doubt that this will be a great city hotel, and look forward to seeing just how good it is.

After that, the plan is to pop into a couple of luxury Hong Kong properties for one night each. Given the Amex Platinum hotel credit, nothing is too unreasonably priced, so we’re flexible.

I think the one hotel we definitely want to check out is the Upper House Hong Kong, which I’ve heard great things about, and I’m curious to see what all the buzz is about, since on the surface, it doesn’t look that remarkable — there’s no pool, dining is limited, etc., yet people seem to adore it.

What about beyond that, though? I’ll let y’all decide where we should stay, though here are my general thoughts:

• I haven’t stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong in over a decade, and I love super high hotels, so I’m considering that; however, it seems that at this point, the property might not be at its peak anymore, or at a minimum, isn’t terribly interesting?
• I’m considering the Regent Hong Kong, which is the former InterContinental; as a lover of Hong Kong, I’m convinced this hotel has the best view of any hotel in the world, so I’m tempted to stay here for that alone, even if I think the experience won’t otherwise be remarkable
• The Peninsula Hong Kong is no doubt an iconic property, and is actually the most reasonably priced; however, this strikes me as a full-on “luxury factory,” with the lobby overflowing with non-hotel guests
• I’ve heard the Four Seasons Hong Kong is great as well, with very good restaurants, though I’m not sure there’s anything particularly remarkable about it otherwise?

Let me know if there are any others I’m not thinking of, that are worth considering. I recently reviewed the St. Regis Hong Kong, which is the other one that would be on my radar. It’s nice how even the most expensive hotel in Hong Kong goes for well under $1,000 per night, quite a contrast to some other major cities.

I’m open to ideas for after Hong Kong…

Since we have two little kids (who will be staying home with Ford’s mom/my mother-in-law), we of course try to minimize our time away from home, or at least the amount of time that both of us are away from home.

So after Hong Kong, Ford will definitely be flying home. My hope is that United opens up award space in Polaris business class, which tends to happen as the departure date approaches (at least through MileagePlus). Meanwhile I’ll likely have a hall pass for a few days, and can take a more roundabout routing home, and have some fun.

What should I do? Well, I’m all over the place:

• Should I have more of a hotel focus, and finally do the Jakarta “hotel shuffle” I’ve been wanting to do for some time, checking out the Park Hyatt Jakarta, all-club lounge Ritz-Carlton, etc.? Or should I check out the Park Hyatt Tokyo, or Osaka Station Hotel and Waldorf Astoria Osaka?
• Should I take more of a flight focus, and check out Thai Airways’ A321neo and A320 business class, or Aeromexico’s 787 business class from Tokyo (NRT) to Mexico City (MEX), or try to find a way to do SWISS Senses A350 first class, or maybe Air Astana through Kazakstan (okay, that’s way out there, but I’m game!)?

Bottom line

I’m looking forward to visiting Taipei and Hong Kong with Ford soon. We’ll definitely be flying American’s A321XLR business class and China Airlines’ A350 business class, though beyond that, everything is pretty open-ended. I’m also excited about the hotel angle here, ranging from the Capella Taipei, to the Rosewood Hong Kong.

As you can see, there’s still quite a bit that hasn’t been finalized, so if anyone has feedback on the above (flights, hotels, what to do in Taipei, etc.), I’d love to hear it! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!