Back to reality...

We are back! Well, we have been for a while but as soon as we landed, sadly reality took over, and Andy's grandad died a few days after we returned. So we've had a busy and sad time since, but everything is OK and life is settling down.

Our honeymoon was perfect.

Saigon was brilliant; perfect combination of culture, history and delicious food. The Park Hyatt was a highlight for our suite (yes, suite!) feeling like a luxurious apartment rather than a hotel. The Six Senses Hideaway is a destination in itself and was exactly what we needed: tropical seclusion. Anything in the world could have been happening and we wouldn't have known it. Except when Andy used the free in-room WIFI to find out what was happening with the federal election... Singapore, where we stayed at the Four Seasons (in another suite!), was green, shopping heaven for me (Andy was a very patient observer) and full of fantastic food experiences.

More from me in a real life honeymoon story on the website, and in an upcoming edition of Holidays for Couples magazine... Watch this space - I'm sure we'll update this post when the other stories are done so you know where to find them. Oh, and I'll add a pic to this story too, one last one to round out the blog.

First day as a wife... and a hotel booking!

Yep, wedding was yesterday and it was wonderful! It went in a flash, as anyone who's been part of a wedding will tell you, but it was a combination of hectic and fun. Despite Friday the 13th superstitions we had beautiful weather, everything went smoothly and our guests had a wonderful time. Can't ask for more really. We've had a lovely day today, a relaxed lunch with family in the sun then some packing for a certain holiday... A perfect day after the controlled and romantic mayhem that was yesterday.

Despite my claims last entry, we booked our Singapore hotel today. Too many other things with a more pressing deadline took over last week. And the booked hotel is.... Four Seasons.

Why? A combination of many reasons. We've never experienced the renowned Four Seasons service. From friends and family, to well seasoned travellers and the all important internet, we've heard many great things about the service. Hopefully, nothing is too much trouble! Also, location. It's on Orchard Road. So, hello shopping. Plus, a lovely pool that will be frequented when shopping etc becomes too much. LT. That combined with great food and some beautiful looking in-house bars for a late afternoon G&T is all we can ask for.

As a final summation, here's how our honeymoon will look - Ho Chi Minh City at the Park Hyatt for three nights, Nha Trang at the Six Senses Hideaway for six nights then Singapore at the Four Seasons for four nights.

So, off to bed now as we have an early flight. Going to dress up and see if we can ask about an upgrade. You never know, so we'll see what happens. There'll be no more updates from me until we get back in two weeks' time. Til then!

Which Singapore hotel to check in to...?

Selecting a Singapore hotel has been trickier than I planned. Firstly, there are loads of them! Plus, I've never been to Singapore so I'm not sure what's what and where's where. Orchard Road seems like a good bet because I know that's a shopping haven. And I plan to shop. Have I mentioned that? I know I've warned Andy about that.

When we first started looking, the rates seemed high compared to other cities we've stayed in. A situation that remained a mystery until one of the hotels I enquired with told me the Youth Olympic Games were on in Singapore. Mystery solved. Not sure youths combine well with coupledom but it should bring some excitement to the city... But it also means that the the vast majority of the lower priced rooms are booked out.

So, where I'm at now (and yep, I'm aware I'm four days out from the wedding and six days from the honeymoon but my two excuses are: I've been busy and making the call has made me put it off) is deciding between luxury boutique and luxury mega brand). For boutique the contenders are The Fullerton and the Quincy. For mega brand the Mandarin Oriental, the Shangri La and Four Seasons.

We won't go wrong with any of them. Decision will be made by Wednesday. Nothing like a deadline. The criteria? Unbelievable service, great pool, easy access to shopping, bars and eating out options. We'll toss up all these elements tonight and tomorrow and let you know what we decide.

Singapore mayhem

Singapore sure has its fair share of hotels to choose from. Having never been, we're not really sure which area is the place we want to stay. I'm figuring we can't go wrong with Orchard Road... but who knows.

At this stage, Singapore will be about indulging in great food and giving the bank account a work out with some serious shopping. We're there for four nights, so we'll have time for chilling out as well.

So, the next week is about navigating which hotel to choose. Raffles, Grand Hyatt, Fullerton, Conrad, Mandarin Oriental... I could go on for paragraphs, But I won't. It's not interesting reading.

I'll come back when I've narrowed the field. And have a better idea about the best location to stay in...

Saigon sorted

The Park Hyatt has won the Saigon accommodation toss up. I can't go past its beautiful decor, the rooms look very un-hotel like and it gets rave reviews. Doesn't look bad at all, does it?

I'm pretty tired at the moment (pretty sure I've mentioned that before!) so I really want the Saigon and Singapore accommodation to be a refuge for time by the pool and sleep-ins. Not that we don't want to get out and about to see the cities (I've been to Vietnam before, but can't wait to go back as it's been ages and there's lots to experience in Saigon) but a balance is what we're after I'd say.

People keep telling me to let the hotels we book know it's our honeymoon. We've done that with the Six Senses and their service has been exceptional. So I'm going to let the Park Hyatt know and see what happens.

We lodged our visas for Vietnam last weekend, so once I get our Singapore accommodation booked (need to start researching - fast) it's down to the fun bit - reading up about the cities and deciding what to see.

Have a great weekend!

Saigon accommodation...

We have three nights in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, at the start of the honeymoon. Saigon is a much more romantic name, so I'm sticking with it.

In Saigon we plan to gain insight into the city's war torn past, with Reunification Palace and War Remnants Museum, as examples, combined with much eating of the country's delicious cuisine, as well as time to relax. It's the first few days of our honeymoon and if we're as tired then as we are now then we'll need down time.

With that in mind, we're going to stay in one of Saigon's beautiful luxury hotels. As we get further down the road of planning this honeymoon, it seems we're not prepared to skimp on anything... We've narrowed the options down to the Park Hyatt Saigon and InterContinental Asiana Saigon. The first image is the pool at the InterCon and the second is a room at the Park Hyatt.

Both look beautiful, and offer what we're after - respite when we want to chill. The Park Hyatt is more expensive, but a level above the InterCon. Also, it was formerly the Brinks Hotel, the site Vietcong agents car bombed in an attempt to show the South and the US what would happen if they launched air raids against northern Vietnam. Not many hotels have such a place in history.

I don't think we'll be disappointed with either hotel, so this weekend's decision is which one.

Flights sorted

I've been remiss with my entries! Sorry, many wedding tasks and a last minute trip to Melbourne for work last week swallowed my time.

So, flights are booked! Fortunately Singapore Airlines had some great prices for the time we wanted to fly so we're able to have the honeymoon we wanted - Vietnam and Singapore. We're spending nine nights in Vietnam, three nights Ho Chi Minh City and six nights Nha Trang, then four nights Singapore.

We're also giving the A380 a whirl to see what all the fuss is about.

Next step - accommodation in Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore. Does anyone have any recommendations? We'd love boutique, well located, gorgeous accommodation with a lovely pool, as it's going to be hot. Love to hear your thoughts.

Decision made!

Xin Chao! That's Vietnamese for 'hello', so obviously we've decided on Vietnam for our honeymoon. Brilliant.

The gorgeous place above is going to be our romantic and indulgent home for six luxurious nights. It's a beach villa at the Six Senses and at 176m2 it's bigger than our apartment.

We've spent the past week deciding between living it up at this place or being more budget conscious and staying in Australia. I'm not sure if this is the case for everyone, but I worry from time-to-time about how much money we're spending on our wedding. I love what we're planning and we'll have an amazing party but it's a lot to part with for one day. And we're being pretty conservative! Our figure is far below the the average wedding spends I've been reading about recently. So, until the wedding, it's all about spending Saturday nights in and making dinners that will double as lunch the next day. Thankfully - with all our penny pinching - we're coming out ahead.

So, what made us decide to go for the honeymoon we've booked? It's a once in a lifetime experience for us to spend time together as a newly married couple. Plus, with seven weeks to go until the big day, we're tired. Time away lazing by the pool (our own private pool might I add) sounds like paradise, as I look out the window on yet another wintry and wet day in Sydney. I can feel the sun on my skin already.

We're sorting out flights now, so I'll post in the coming days once we've booked. Seeing as we're going to Vietnam we've decided to make it worthwhile and make our honeymoon a two week trip. Can't wait!

Why we love accommodation for couples...

While we're adding up sums to see what's not going to break the bank for our honeymoon, I thought I'd share a pic of Casa Del Mar Langkawi with you - our first experience at child-free accommodation (OK, so it's less a picture of the resort and more a pic of Andy pouring champagne as we watch the sunset, but obviously we were enjoying ourselves!). It was quiet and intimate. No sooner had you selected your beach lounge than a courteous staff member would appear with a jug of iced water and cool towels. Watching the sunset over the ocean was a daily mandatory for me (obviously!). And the food was great too.

Six Senses Hideaway Ninh Van Bay

Now who wouldn't want to be lounging out here on their honeymoon! Can we stretch our budget for Six Senses Hideaway Ninh Van Bay?

Where to?

The Casa Del Mar was gorgeous by the way, and so relaxing. While we’re both looking forward to having a family one day, when it’s just the two of you it’s bliss spending time at a very quiet, serene resort. Casa Del Mar was on the main beach, but with only 32 rooms, their outstanding service and rooms right on the beach it was divine.

We decided to research three honeymoon options – a trip to an Australian wine region, skiing in New Zealand, and a trip to Asia for warmth, culture and shopping (I’m pretty sure it was me leading the charge on the shopping front!).
The Asia option sounded great, until we started to look into weather and found most of the region is in monsoon. Less than ideal when you’re seeking sun, infinity pools and G&Ts at sunset ...
The domestic option looked promising. The flights were cheap and we looked at staying in some stunning vineyard accommodation. We would combine time in the vineyards at places like The Yarra Valley and The Clare Valley, with shopping and fine dining in either Melbourne or Adelaide. All very indulgent. However, after some dedicated hours online, we discover that Nha Trang in Vietnam experiences its rainy season October to November, so we’re OK to head there in August - YAY! Through Holidays for Couples we find Six Senses has two resorts there which both look beautiful. We look into flights and see that Singapore Airlines can get us there via Singapore for a great price. So, now Vietnam and Singapore are looking like our Asian honeymoon option. The Six Senses Hideaway Ninh Van Bay is at the top of our list for some serious indulgence, but it is looking like it will stretch our budget! Andy costs up skiing and wine tasting on the south island NZ, but it looks like it could cost as much as Asia.
After experiencing a chilly European winter at the beginning of the year (I know, life’s tough) we need to decide if for the same price we’d prefer the warm honeymoon option. I know it sounds like we got to this point quickly, but I’d say getting it took us at least a month to get this far!

So, will it be Australian wine country or the warmth, food and culture of Vietnam and Singapore ...?

Where it all started!

Hi my name is Angela and this is my honeymoon diary!
Now, a little bit of background about me, or us, I guess I should say!
Andy proposed very romantically by the Grand Canal, Venice in January. Lucky us to be in Venice, huh? We spent five blissful weeks making our way through France, Italy, Zurich, London and Malaysia. So we returned home all set to plan our wedding. We both wanted to have a winter wedding, and 2011 was too far away so we settled on August 2010.
With all that in mind, we thought we’d leave deciding where and when for a honeymoon to mid-way through the planning process, so we had ample time to seek out the best destinations for couples! Which is where we’re at now. After staying at the Casa Del Mar on Langkawi, Malaysia on our last holiday – where children under 16 aren’t allowed to stay – we set our sights on luxury accommodation for adults only. Which is where Holidays for Couples comes in, we found it the ultimate resource when you’re seeking a holiday for you and your other half.