After our Bali trip, we didn’t have another planned. Which saddened me. There was much discussion about the next one. We nailed down a time (October) but we had to negotiate a destination. I wanted to do another Aman, and I really pushed for Turks and Caicos but my wife overruled me and chose Ireland. So, I started thinking hard about Ballyfin. Really hard. But, then she played another trump card and decided on Vienna and Prague. So, I set about looking. Now, I’m different than a lot of you guys here.. it seems that many of y’all all are what my generation would call “ballers.” I don’t mind paying the $$$ if it’s worth it, but I’ve found for me that that has meant mainly Aman (based on my N=3). So, the next step is to figure out how to make my money do more for me. Thank you Virthosos/FSPP/FHR. Also, thank you third night free promos. So my research led me to the MO Prague with the Suite Dreams deal netting a suite with the 3rd night free. Sweet easy. Except MrsFlyingDoctorWu found out Prague has a Four Seasons. And in her mind, Four Seasons represents the pinnacle. So, we rang up the lovely DavidO and canceled the MO and booked a Renaissance room at the FS with the 3rd night free. So actually Prague was easy. Vienna proved difficult. I didn’t really find a hotel that really really appealed to me. Things I like are nice bathrooms (must be greater than or equal to my bathroom at home) and a comfortable bed (see above requirement). Plus I like space. I don’t particularly care for “historic charm” unless its been meticulously updated with 21st century amenities. For instance, I love what they’ve done with Wentworth Mansion. Big rooms, great bathrooms. Perfect. So I searched all over Vienna. I didn’t really find a hotel that really made me terribly interested in spending money at. I considered the Imperial, the Bristol, and the Ritz. Actually the Ritz was the leading contender for a while because the rooms looked great, the bathrooms looked great and there was a pool. Plus the booking included breakfast and 3rd night free.. what’s not to like? But alas, the Park Hyatt opened and it looked great! So, being that the other 95% of FT is about “travel hacking” and I do spend time there I looked to figure out how to maximize my stay. Skip ahead because that sort of stuff doesn’t interest you guys and I book a room for 5 nights on points and cash and then the Diamond line arranges a suite upgrade. I also have the Diamond desk note our anniversary date on the reservation. The trip report will be in my usual stream of conscious aka verbal diarrhea style. Poorly organized, often straying it will be difficult to read but hopefully hit the high points.