The Omni Royal Orleans in New Orleans

Over the last couple years, my preponderance for travel has shot through the roof. Thanks to the AWESOME occasion of my wedding in New Orleans last year, I started spending quite a bit of time at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel. While this experience was pretty fantastic on its own, it provided a launch pad into a rewarding relationship with the totally rad people at Omni Hotels.

Not long after my then-fiancee and I surveyed the Royal Orleans as a potential hotel for our wedding guests, Omni’s digital marketing team was all over me. I tweeted about how great the Royal Orleans’ sales manager, Ben Picone, treated us while we were in town. The next thing I knew, I was getting all kinds of attention from Omni’s official Twitter account. This wasn’t just your standard conversation marketing either. Instead, the people behind the account were genuinely interested in how our stay went in New Orleans. That’s a personal touch for which I really give Omni Hotels credit: they made us feel WELCOME.

As these conversations continued, I asked about other Omni hotels and if the Twitter team would ever consider hooking me up at any of their other properties. What followed was a year of me literally cajoling employers and clients into letting me stay at Omni Hotels so I could take advantage of the perks. From the New York City Omni Berkshire to the San Antonio Omni La Maison del Rio, I made every effort to stay at as many Omni properties as I could. In reciprocation for all the excellent treatment from the digital team, I made sure to share my experiences – positive and not-so-positive – on Twitter and Facebook. Not every hotel stay was perfect, but for the most part, Omni went out of their way to make me feel like a luxury guest.

Omni’s Select Guest program enables you to get free coffee, water and other goodies every morning. Once you reach a certain level (they count stays AND nights), they’ll also try to upgrade you to any empty suite for nothing. It’s a truly compelling loyalty program that I adore because EVERY member of Omni’s guest relations team is dedicated to making sure you have a great experience.

I should have written an individual post about each hotel experience but unfortunately, I lost a lot of notes over the last year. However, I have no doubt I’ll be back at every one of Omni’s properties I’ve had the pleasure of staying at as well as some new ones in the near future. Omni Hotels is the OFFICIAL hotel of @Du4.llc and all things AWESOME.

Welcome to all of my new readers and visitors, and thanks for making my work here a better basket of radness. I hope you stick around for more AWESOME.

Here’s to better places…

View from the balcony of our suite at the Omni Royal Orleans in the French Quarter, New Orleans. March 2010.

This is Must. Be. AWESOME!!! Dot com.

Not dead yet, pisos. Still recovering from many days of awesomeness in New Orleans, Louisiana, the future wedding site of El Du4 and his bride-to-be. Working on some new content for you. In the meantime, give a listen to this little ditty I recently rediscovered from my dad’s music collection, “It’s a Long Way There” by The Little River Band.

Also, while you’re listening to that, consider the AWESOME of the New Orleans Saints remaining undefeated after their fourth quarter rally against the Carolina Panthers yesterday. Notable in this achievement is the Saints’ ability to get me to give a shit about football at all. GEAUX SAINTS!

"Suck on THAT, Trebek!"

This is Must. Be. AWESOME. Dot com.

{Image courtesy of Chris Graythen/Getty Images.}

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