We always wanted to see Mexico but not the usual tourist spots. We wanted something different but quick and easy vacation; where we could eat good food and just stroll around. That's when Mexico City popped into our heads. We did a little research, saw the colorful and artsy neighborhoods, the colonial architectures and realized that Mexico City is a great gastronomic destination - we got hooked and booked our flights! After our plans were set, we read that the New York Times ranked Mexico City as the number 1 place to visit in 2016. What a coincidence! 

Right in the center of it all, Four Seasons Mexico DF offers an oasis in the city.

Harmony of charm and character. The design of the hotel is Spanish colonial hacienda-style nestled amongst the new high-risers of the Reforma neighborhood of Mexico City D.F.  While the façade hangs on to the old world, the interior was recently catapulted into the new, with modern sophisticated furnishings. The renovation provides guests with elegant-chic retreat in one of the busiest cities in the world. 

Excellent location. The hotel is conveniently located in the boulevard of Paseo de la Reforma, very near Mexico's pride - Chapultepec Castle, as well as the artsy and food trendy neighborhoods of Polanco and Condesa.  The hotel is nearby 75 museums and archeological zones. 

Rightfully 5 star in its class. As soon as you step inside the hotel, the ambiance radiates luxury. The lobby is a daisy-chain of urbane sitting and meeting spaces filled with bold colors and interesting fabrics.  The polished atmosphere is perfect for informal business get-togethers or just relaxing with friends. The interior courtyard is a picture-perfect green-space that insulates guests from the bustle of the city. Manicured gardens, a Moorish fountain, a secret garden and aesthetically pleasing colonial style architecture surrounds you with elegance while sitting down at the courtyard.

The hotel boasts 240 rooms including 40 luxury suites. ​The rooms can be described as spacious, light, and refined. The color tones that they used in the room gives a very relaxing and calm atmosphere. The bathrooms are elegantly designed with marble and features a separate soaking tub.
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Of course you cannot forget to mention the beds.  All rooms contain the signature Four Seasons beds, and we can attest our sleep was perfect.  Another nice treat are the high-end L’ Occitane toiletries. Despite the luxury, sometimes it’s the simple things that make your trip.  In our case it was the windows that actually opened! (Note: This hotel is the only hotel in Mexico City that offers this!) Our room faced the courtyard and to have our window open and see the lights at night from our room was just amazing. 

P.S. The room also has iPod docking station as well as USB charging station bedside and at the desk. We definitely love this feature because we had more than ample ports to charge all our gadgets.

Meeting Rooms. The hotel caters to a lot of corporate and business people. The hotel offers a fully equipped business center, with a multilingual Concierge and fast internet service. It does not matter if you are on a business trip or local seminars, the hotel can definitely cater to your meeting/seminar needs, no matter how big or small it is. 

Health Club and The Spa. The hotel has a fitness area, pool, whirlpool, locker room area and sauna. The Health Club has two treatment rooms wherein guests can enjoy tailored massage, facial treatments and other treatment packages. Sadly, we did not have time to try their spa treatments but Tanj would definitely loved to! The gym is fully functional and the pool is well maintained. 

Gentleman's Tonic. The hotel just had this newly opened upscale British barbershop. The very first location in Latin America! The very sophisticated and stylish barbershop is a pampering haven for men.

Coffee Service.  The hotel offers a complimentary coffee service with newspaper in the morning, upon request.

Pan Dulce. Definitely, Tanj's favorite. As you all know, she has the sweet tooth in the family! Four Season Mexico DF's pastry chef has already won several awards making this in-house pastry shop top notch. Pan Dulce offers gourmet pastries from Mexico and France. Every day that we stayed, we stopped by here at least once. We highly recommend to try the orange cake, its delicate, simple and perfect with a coffee or expresso.  Be it afternoon tea, or desert cravings, this is the place to go.

Fifty Mils. The new management have made a concerted effort to make the bar, Fifty Mils, one of the best places in the city to get an excellent cocktail.  The stylish but eclectic bar features a gorgeous white and red marble top, with plush red cushion stools that one could sit on for hours. The mix of old and new adds a distinctive charm to the whole atmosphere of Fifty Mils. Behind the bar, are top notch mixologists who can make you your favorite classic or something new to match your current disposition. We suggest the bourbon based Billy the Kid or the refreshing Fresca Pepino; which is a combination of cucumber and mescal.  We cannot say enough how much we loved hanging out at this bar. Watching the mixologists make drinks is like watching Top Chef making their exquisite meals. Fifty Mils also boasts a gastrobar menu that features traditional Mexican street food prepared the Four Seasons Hotel way with the freshest ingredients.  Definitely order the Grilled Calamari, we absolutely loved it! 

Side Note: Fifty Mils is named after the 50-millimetre size jigger, the classic bartenders’ measuring glass.

Zanaya (Coming Soon!). The hotel's up and coming restaurant will definitely be a new culinary powerhouse in the city. This restaurant will serve Mexico's Pacific coast cuisines. The restaurant will showcase warm palette and eclectic furnitures matching the hacienda-style elegance of the hotel and it will open in May 2016. 

The service was impeccable and exhibits Mexican hospitality at its finest! From the front desk to room service and everyone we encountered in between. The hotel staff was very warm, helpful and unpretentious  We had no problems with language barriers. Everyone we talked to was always ready to help. They gave us tips on where to eat, how to get to places and the feel of the different neighborhoods. We had a great time talking with the mixologists. The hotel staff are the unsung heroes of our stay, they are running the background scene, ensuring every guest's experience is as comfortable as it could be.

Overall, we definitely enjoyed our stay and Four Seasons Hotel Mexico DF more than exceeded our expectations. When you are on a trip, you need to have everything at your fingertips and that is what Four Seasons Hotel Mexico DF offers. From convenient location to quality food, from luxurious setting to a comfortable stay - this is the hotel to stay at in Mexico City. Our hearts cannot stop singing praises for this hotel, most specially the staff. If you are looking for a perfect balance of contrast, this is THE PLACE to stay.

P.S. We would like to thank the whole staff of Four Seaons Hotel Mexico DF for your warm hospitality and making our Mexican getaway memorable. Special thanks to Israel Lara, Michelle Meyer (who's blog was our source of places to eat in Mexico City - Michelle on Bell), Emily Farca, Natalia Gimenez and the friendly mixologists - Axel and Fran plus the whole staff of Fifty Mils. 

Categories: North America, Mexico, Travel Reviews, Travel Tips

Dine with the locals around the world.
It's a delicious experience like no other.
- BonAppetour

For us, the best way to experience traveling at its finest is doing it the "local way" as much as possible. Whenever we travel, we try to research or ask locals what to do and where to eat. We always try to experience the country as authentic as we can, specially when it comes to food. Luckily, the website BonAppetour makes it easy for everyone to taste local food when you travel. You can now have the most authentic local experience by booking through this website! 

BonAppetour is an online social platform where a global community of hosts and guests bond over authentic home-cooked food. BonAppetour believes in creating memorable cultural experiences through something that is common across the world - the love for food! Hosts will be able to share their home-cooked dishes, their passion for cooking and culture with guests from all around the globe. Guests will get the taste of home away from home or, perhaps they can even learn a recipe or two!

BonAppetour can work with guests as well hosts. The explanation on how it works for two audiences is written below. 

Booking for an experience is as easy as ABC. Here are the steps:

STEP 1: Sign up and register

Self explanatory.

STEP 2: Explore unique home restaurants

Discover home restaurants with unique dining experiences like a cosy dinner on the rooftop in Rome, or a paella-making workshop in Barcelona.

STEP 3: Book a dining experience

Connect with hosts, confirm dates, arrange for any dining preferences, and make payment through BonAppetour’s secured services.

STEP 4: Visit and feast! Bon Appetit! 

Indulge yourself in authentic home-cooked food, make friends and have great fun. Bon Appetit!

Everyone can host on BonAppetour, as long as you’ve got that passion to host and make new friends, hosting will be both fun, and much of a breeze! 

STEP 1: Sign up as a host and register

Wait for someone at BonAppetour to verify your application.

STEP 2: Create your menu

Create your dishes that you find most meaningful to you. Add photos & descriptions into your dining experience. Photos of guests savoring your meals around the dinner table help guests picture themselves feasting at your place.

STEP 3: Respond to request

After your dining experience has been approved, guests who like will book. Be sure to respond to requests by guests. Do seek inquiries of any special dietary requirements from them. Invite friends too so that they can help spread the word!

STEP 4: Welcome your guests! 

Once payment has been made, cook your awesome meal for the day of feasting. Add some love with a decorative table setting, refreshments or sharing of backstories.

1. A lot of dining activities plus cooking classes to choose from.

BonAppetour lets you experience and taste local food from different cities and countries across 6 continents. From tasting authentic chilli crab in a cozy Singapore home to seafood paella on a terrace in Barcelona, or even an exquisite Italian feast on board a Tiber River cruise. A plethora of dining experiences to choose from. 

2. Trust and safety is important for BonAppetour.

Host experiences are verified by BonAppetour's staff to ensure that guests will be fully satisfied with experiences booked. Host profiles that are verified are marked with a green icon with a tick, and labelled "BonAppetour Verified Host". The same green icon will appear alongside the title of their experience.

BonAppetour also provides our hosts and guests with certain features on our site to help build a trusted community. Aside from verification, they have a secure messaging system, user reviews, as well as a secure payment system.

3. Most of all, Its affordable! 

Breakfast in Turin, Italy for $6, home-cooked meals in Bangkok, Thailand for $17, a taste of Cape Town's cuisine for $29! Need to say more? They have wide variety of options for different budgets. 

BonAppetour and A Travelogue by Brock and Tanj partnered to give you - our readers a chance to experience a fun twist of dining out while traveling. We are giving away 3 vouchers worth $30 so you can avail a one-of-a-kind dining experience around the world. Since BonAppetour's pricing is reasonable, you can have an unforgettable dining experience for free OR you can also choose higher priced experience with the $30 off voucher. 

1. Sign up or register at the form below via e-mail or by using your Facebook account. 
2. Follow the 5 required steps shown below. Each line item will give you 1 entry and you are one step closer in winning a BonAppetour experience.

1. This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE.
2. The prize does NOT include any flights or airfare.
3. This giveaway will start on June 30, 2015 (Eastern Standard Time or GMT -4:00) and will end on July 14, 2015 (Eastern Standard Time or GMT -4:00).
4. Winners will be picked randomly and will be announced on July 15, 2015 (Eastern Standard Time or GMT -4:00) at A Travelogue by Brock and Tanj's Facebook page. 
5. This giveaway is hosted by A Travelogue by Brock and Tanj in partnership with BonAppetour; but prize distribution will be the sole responsibility of BonAppetour. 
6. Terms and conditions of BonAppetour is also applied.
7. The giveaway is valid till December 31, 2015. 

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE! Please share this awesome giveaway to your friends and family! 

Follow our adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Bloglovin to get updates on our newest posts and adventures!

Categories: Contests and Giveaways, Travel Tips, Travel Reviews

Upon arrival at the welcome lounge, the clouds are covering the bay, and I uttered to Brock, "I hope this won't ruin Halong Bay for us." It’s a special experience having the opportunity to tour around Ha Long Bay. From exploring an island with sandy beach, the cave, the floating villages to paddling around the bay on a kayak. Definitely worthy to be added in everyones bucket list. The limestone formations seems to go on like forever and the landscape will definitely wow you. Who wouldn't want to see this place with sun shining bright with blue skies, right? 

A boat took us to our main ship and as it slowly approaches, the cloudy haze was slowly going away and yes, it wasn't ruined for me like I initially thought. Instead, the sky created a dramatic entrance, as if this place is waiting to surprise us even more. Certainly, the dramatic haze didn't ruin anything for us. It enveloped the bay, with ghostly shadows like a scene from a haunted pirate ship movie.

This was our junk ship - Signature Cruise.

The smaller boat that brought us to our junk ship and on different tours. 

The staff on board the ship gave us an excellent customer service and catered to whatever we need. They were friendly and attentive, at the same time not intrusive. Sadly, our last night was cancelled because of an impending storm and the government commanded all of the cruise ships to go back to the port and dock. Signature Cruises handled the situation very well and they refunded our money that wasn't incurred on our last night.  When they cancelled our tour, they immediately ask us on what we want to do and arranged it for us. They where there for the customers every step of the way. 

Our Junior Suite

The cabin rooms exhibited French colonial style. The rooms are perfect for the whole Indochina experience since the windows offer the view of the bay from dusk to dawn. The rooms are comfortable and clean and has all the amenities that you need. 

Vung Vieng Floating and Fishing Village

They have pets too! 

The school at the Floating Village.

The pearl farm.

How to harvest pearl and make pearl jewelries.

Overall, this cruise gave us the experience that we are looking for. It is a great experience from start to finish. We highly recommend this to anyone. Truth be told, there are a lot of companies that will provide you with the same activities but sometimes the adventure is on how you travel. This was a great experience that will stay with you forever and worth indulging for. We researched the prices of other ships that provides the same service, and we felt at that time, they gave us the highest value for our money. For a company that is new in this business, they have given us the total travel experience that is Halong Bay. 

P.S. If Halong Bay has been part of your travel must-do's, visit it now. We are quite disappointed how the Vietnamese government is taking care of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some parts of the bay where we kayaked around are full of trash. We sincerely hope that it won't get spoiled for future generations to come and they will do a better job preserving this magnificent natural wonder.

Categories: Asia, Vietnam, Travel Reviews, Travel Tips