My review of At Six Stockholm
After two days at the Clarion Sign hotel, I’m splashing out and changing to the At Six hotel. By splashing out I mean the cost has doubled, but still I paid like just $105 for the 20,000 points.
At Six is one of the best hotels of Stockholm and very centrally located, as in you can reach the main places within 10 to 20 minutes. Next-door in the same block is Hobo, another Strawberry hotel.
I was wondering what its name actually means, until my friend reminded me that the hotel’s street number is six…
As you can see from the plate at the entrance, At Six is also part of the Preferred Hotels group. It is not uncommon for high-end boutique hotels to join multiple groups at the same time, and you can expect to see crosses between Preferred Hotels / LHW / Mr & Mrs Smith / Melia / SLH.
Right in the middle of the lobby is a spotlight of the hotel: Mar Whispering by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. I’m not an art person but I find the sculpture quite interesting, and I saw another piece of artwork from him at St Regis Venice a couple of months later.
The concierge welcomed us warmly with a glass of Prosecco upon entering. I just became a Strawberry Platinum member thanks to their tier match offer, but the staff never mentioned that at all during the check-in process. I did however get free breakfast and 4pm late check-out.
The hotel is almost full and no room upgrade was granted. The levelling is a bit weird – Ground floor is Floor 4 and the underground gym is Floor 1.
Our standard room is on Floor 8.
The room size is even smaller than Clarion Sign, but the materials and finish make a whole world of difference.
All the small pieces here and there show you it is a lavish hotel. I have only one complaint: the extensive use of granite and black wood dims the whole tune, and they should install more (brighter) lights to compensate that.
The room key:
There’s no swimming pool, but the gym and sauna room are free to all guests.
Breakfast buffet is priced at over 300 SEK pp which isn’t cheap.
In terms of spread it’s not much better than Clarion Sign, but the quality is finer and they make eggs too. Croissant is especially tasty.
All hotel staff are very enthusiastic and go out of their way to make sure your need is satisfied. Except for the lack of a pool I’m fairly impressed by the hotel, and my 20,000 points is well spent.
My review of Clarion Hotel Sign Stockholm
I’m heading to Stockholm for a few days, and it’s finally an opportunity to burn my Choice points. When showcasing Choice points we usually use Oslo’s The Thief as an example, but Stockholm is also a sweet spot – all hotels are available for between 10,000 and 20,000 points.
The only five-star property amongst them is At Six. It’s not available for my first two nights though so I booked Clarion Hotel Sign instead. It costs only 10,000 points ($52) per night, with breakfast included and a swimming pool. From the online pictures I thought the two hotels are more or less in the same league, which turns out to be a huge misunderstanding.
The hotel is at the edge of the city centre, not very close to the main attractions but still within walking distance. There’s a small park in front.
I checked in at 2.15pm, slightly earlier than the regular check-in time. Many of Strawberry’s staff aren’t very familiar with Choice’s integration, so you might need to explain that you booked with points.
Family Room and Superior Room are redeemable at the same price as standard rooms. I thus booked a Superior Room which has a bit more space.
Honestly speaking the room is too basic for a four-star hotel even by European standard. It’s reminiscent of the Ibis set-up, but with a tad more budget for the furniture – regular-sized table, coffee machine and bathtub.
According to this plate in the elevator, floors are designed by different artists:
I’m on the Danish floor. Finnish:
Norwegian:
Swedish:
I hope they are more distinguishable in the interior.
Spa is located on the eighth floor. Unfortunately the pool is closed for renovation. Sauna is open but you need to pay 100 SEK entry fee.
Gym:
Like many other hotels in the North, breakfast is complimentary to all guests.
The buffet:
SEK has been devaluing over the last few years – dining out in Stockholm is much cheaper than London!
Service here is not super warm but friendly enough. As you can see there’s nothing spectacular about this hotel – in fact it’s just mediocre. At the price I paid however, it is definitely a bargain worth going for.
My review of Valiant Lady, Virgin Voyages
This is the review of my first ever cruise trip – Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady Barcelona route for 7 nights. I wrote a guide on virgin point redemption and cruise benefits a while ago, and it is finally the exciting time for me to start the journey!
[Before the trip]
Once you’ve made your booking you can download the Virgin Voyages mobile app, as all the cruise details and planning happen in here. Remember to link reservations if you know someone else on the same trip, as you’ll receive a bottle of champagne as a gift.
Although you could make dinner reservations well in advance, only very limited slots are open before sailing so it’s unnecessary. Remember to do online check-in two days in advance, and once you are on board book your dinner and activities as soon as possible.
From this moment on the app only works with onboard wi-fi though, which is inconvenient whilst you are doing shore activities. The app is slow and can crash very often.
[Boarding]
After staying one night at the W Barcelona hotel, we are ready to get on the ship. The cruise terminal is next to the WTO centre.
Virgin promises a VIP boarding lane for Sailing Club members but I didn’t see any. Not that it upsets me in any way, as the boarding is quite swift.
I was handed two wristbands. The red one acts as a key fob which you need throughout your trip. The blue ribbon is a sign of your Sailing Club status – however you really don’t need it, as all your Sailing Club benefits are coded in your fob already.
On the first evening there’s a special social event for all solo passengers. They organise a Whatsapp group where people discuss and organise things to do, so it shouldn’t be too boring even if you are travelling alone.
By my rough estimate – half of the passengers are American, and ~30% are British or Irish.
[The Room]
Each of us four has a room to our own, and we paid 360,000 Virgin points in total. They three are at level 13 and 14, all in the Central Sea View Terrace which is the best room type that’s redeemable with points.
Don’t underestimate the value of being “central”. Valiant Lady is over 300 metres long, and I easily score a few thousand steps simply by moving around the ship for my daily routines. Being close to the centre of the ship saves you a lot of time.
I on the other hand won a bid at £180 for an upgrade to an XL Terrace room, which is 4sqm larger.
The bedroom has very little difference but the bathroom is much more spacious. £180 for seven nights is a fair price to pay in my opinion.
The only downside is, all XL Terrace rooms are located at the front or the rear of the ship. Even worse mine is at the lower eighth level and right above the Red Room which is a theatre / dancing hall – my wall pulsated hard during some performances! Fortunately all events finish at 11pm so it barely bothered me – in fact I slept very well throughout the whole trip.
The balcony is cool.
The satellite TV has a few live channels but reception is poor. There are quite a few movies / dramas though including latest releases, similar to an in-flight IFE.
The gifted champagne and my ice coffee:
Towels are replaced and drinking water is replenished daily by the housekeeping team. They don’t provide complimentary toothpaste or shaving kit.
[Facilities]
Valiant Lady has 17 decks / levels. Guestrooms are between Deck 8 and Deck 14. Restaurants and facilities are mostly on Deck 5, 6, 7 and 15.
Designs are different but they all have the boldness and vibrancy in common which is in the blood of Virgin’s branding.
There are many bars both indoors and outdoors, so you can always find a spot to snack or work easily.
This terrace on Deck 7 is my favourite spot.
The casino, which I assume is a main revenue stream for the cruise company.
Also a few board games to choose from:
Shuffleboard and Power Hockey for the sportives:
Arcades as well with all the classic games installed for the old-fashioned:
[Gym]
There are two larges gyms on Deck 15, where you can find many treadmills, bicycles and other equipment. I tried out some exercise classes: yoga, bike and roller massage.
The yoga class is nothing to write home about. However the view in the classroom is amazing!
It’s worth mentioning that headcount is very limited for these classes, so make your booking as soon as possible.
There’s a 250m track on Deck 16 for running and jogging.
The white Virgin logo, backed by the vivid red painting, adds a big wow factor and personality to the ship.
There are two pools on Deck 15.
As you can see it’s more of a relaxation area, and no one actually swims here. There’s a big pool party on the Scarlet Night which is a lot of fun!
And a basketball court:
[Entertainment]
There are non-stop entertainment programs every day, some of which require pre-booking. On the first night we watched the (slightly underwhelming) magic show:
An acrobatics-blended theatre performance:
Unfortunately The Ship Show was fully booked so we weren’t able to check out this signature program. Other programs include talk shows, Drag, live DJ, dancing party, drawing lessons and makeup lessons.
It is an adult-only cruise, in other words a haven free of screaming and run-around kids!
[Dining]
Virgin Voyages is an all-inclusive cruise (food and soft drinks are complimentary), and I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed. Speaking of “all-inclusive”, we are not talking about mediocre buffets, instead you’ll sit down for a fine dining experience.
Pink Agave
Mexican restaurant which is generally regarded as the best one out of the six. The design is probably inspired by submarines.
I can’t speak highly enough of the prawns, salmon, seabass, duck and steaks that we’ve ordered! This is the only restaurant that we visited twice – not that the other restaurants were bad, but we just didn’t have enough time.
Extra Virgin
This is an Italian restaurant. To be honest I’m not a big fan of Italian and suggested to skip it, but I’m very grateful that we didn’t!
The steak is simply incredible and even better than that of Pink Agave’s, and I’ll place it side by side with the steaks I had in Argentina. The creamy Spaghetti is also very impressive.
We ordered so much here making it look like a buffet, and we were a little bit embarrassed. The waitress was super professional and polite, always wearing a nice smile.
The Test Kitchen
The Test Kitchen has a very interesting concept which provides experimental cuisine. The restaurant’s layout resembles that of a laboratory.
There’s one set menu of five or six courses for everyone. The portion is quite small, which is expected as it’s more something for you to taste.
The cuisine here might not be the best, but it’s a unique experience that you don’t buy easily elsewhere. They are also the only restaurant which changes the menu mid-week.
Razzle Dazzle
British pub food mostly, so nothing exciting here.
It is however one of the only two restaurants that make breakfast, and the quality is awesome. I especially like the rainbow churros.
Gunbae
Korean barbeque – Gunbae means “cheers” in Korean (very similar to Chinese and Japanese). Service here is the best, food on the other hand is worse than an average barbeque restaurant you find in London.
The rule here is they gather six people at the same table and play games. If you want to socialise with strangers you might like it.
The Wake
Seafood steakhouse, least memorable out of the six in terms of service and food.
One party can only make one lunch or dinner reservation per day. Don’t worry though, as there are many other eateries available. The Galley takes half of Deck 15 and is open 24 hours.
Breakfast is more or less what you expect at an European hotel restaurant, and I think they should add an international flavour to it.
Lunch / dinner is much better. There are food stalls for ramen and tacos.
The pizza restaurant on Deck 7 is yummy.
They have Spanish tapas and Greek mezzes served in the bar restaurant, but we didn’t get the chance to try this time.
Each restaurant has some premium dishes that require a surcharge. My friend who came last year ordered some and was underwhelmed, so we didn’t pay for anything this time.
Based on London’s prices, you can easily consume £100 worth of food and drinks a day, which earns you back that 80,000 points in a week already – even better if you come in a pair.
[Sailing Club]
It turned out to be a very wise move to match to Sailing Club beforehand. All benefits (barring the non-existent Priority Boarding) are very handy:
- Premium wi-fi: powered by Starlink and fast enough for video streaming. Upgrade from free wi-fi costs $30 a day.
- $100 bar tab credit: alcohol pricing is very reasonable (beer $6.6 / cocktail $10 – $20), and we struggled to use up the credit
- $10 daily coffee credit: enough for two barista coffees (filter coffee is free)
- Laundry: one (large) bag
- Exclusive cocktail event: on Day 2 all Sailing Club members are invited to the event on Deck 17 for cocktails and live music performance
I’m proud to say, besides the £180 for cabin upgrade, I didn’t spend a penny on the cruise!
[Shore Activities]
Our trip had four stops, each for one day except for Ibiza where the ship parked overnight.
Toulon:
La Spezia:
Ajaccio:
Ibiza:
That’s my first-ever cruise experience with Virgin’s Valiant Lady. With the full capacity at 2,500, our trip has a comfortable load of 1,700 people but I was informed that the next one has 2,200! I wouldn’t hesitate to return next year, but if the occupancy remains high I’m not sure if they’ll open up point redemption again.
My review of W Barcelona
Back from Cancun and I’m going straight to Barcelona to commence my first cruise trip with Virgin Voyages! For the peace of mind I arrived one day before, which gives me the chance to try out the W hotel as well.
Although its quality is debatable (its TripAdvisor rating is only 4), the W hotel is one of the most known and popular hotel in Barcelona, thanks to it being the only building standing out on the city centre’s beach.
The hotel is located at the southeast corner of the beach, making it not the easiest to reach by public transport or walk, but there are always cabs waiting outside. The beach is very nice though, and you are come down for a stroll anytime.
As I’m staying with a friend I booked a twin room. Although I still had a few suite night awards, the best room I could have ticked was some kind of studio so I decided against it – and it is a decision that bites me hard!
The front desk gentleman thanked me for being a Titanium member, and told me although they couldn’t upgrade me they’d put me in the best room in the same category. And to compensate they would offer me free breakfast instead.
It is very rare that I receive no upgrade at Marriott properties, and the hotel is definitely not full. Complimentary breakfast is a Titanium benefit at W hotels.
It is a pretty big hotel so they have multiple elevators, but half of them don’t go beyond the fourth floor, whereas there are 26 floors in total. Thanks to being on the lowly fourth floor, our room is reachable by all elevators which saves us from waiting, how thoughtful!
The hallway reminds me of old Hong Kong horror films.
The room is actually decent enough, if you ignore the mouldy smell.
This is the “bay view” from my room.
For comparison, this is the suite my friend received last year, using his suite night award.
Breakfast is served in the Fire restaurant, and Saturday morning is so busy!
The buffet:
An a-la-carte menu too. My Eggs Benedict is quite good.
There is a swimming pool outside the restaurant. All the spots are taken at 8am!
There is another larger pool upstairs, with a better view.
The gym:
The bar on the top floor is very busy, but disappointing to be honest. It is very small and there isn’t much of a view at night.
Can’t say I’m surprised at its average reviews on TripAdvisor and other booking platforms. If you’ve got a good deal however the prime location and some of its facilities are still worth it, but I highly recommend to use your suite night award to score a decent room.
Business class deal: £500 Europe-China o/w
[Air Serbia]
Air Serbia has very few routes outside Europe, whereas Tianjin, a Chinese city just next to Beijing, is one of them. Air Serbia operates two weekly flights from Belgrade to Tianjin.
If you are looking for a business class flight from Europe to China, the best sweet spot is Berlin to Tianjin, which costs only £564.
Even better:
- This is Business Freedom fare, which implies free cancellation and change
- One free stopover is permitted
The ticket is issued in C class, accruing 175% miles in Etihad Guest. You can book a return ticket for around £1,200. Other cities than Berlin are available too but they are more expensive.
[Xiamen Air]
Xiamen Air, a Skyteam member, has some equally attractive fares between China and Europe as well.
- Valid for many European cities, including London, Barcelona, Rome and Athens
- You need to depart from / arrive at Xiamen in China
- Can be booked as one-way or return, valid at both directions
- XMN-AMS is operated by Xiamen Air, whereas the European leg is by KLM
As far as I know the trip must origin from or end in Xiamen, although this post on Flyertalk has a contradictory statement.
Your chances are the best for January departures, but there’s scattered availability in February too.
Remember that you can get a further £10 discount by booking on Trip.com’s app.
If you have a French, German, Italian, Spanish or Dutch passport you can now visit China visa-free for up to 15 days. Failing that you could always do transit-without-visa as long as you are flying to a third country afterwards.
Black Friday Flight & Hotel deals roundup
Etihad
- Book by November 27th
- Travel between January 15th and June 12th
- Use promo code WHITEFRIDAY20 or BLACKFRIDAY20
- Save 20% on economy and business class fares
Note that the 20% discount applies to the base fare only, which means in reality the savings will be much less.
Aegean
- Book by November 27th
- Travel between January 15th and October 26th
- No promo code needed
- Save up to 50% on all tickets across the network
The actual discount depends on your travel date.
ITA Airways
- Book by November 27th
- Travel between December 1st and December 31st
- Use promo code BLACK
- Save 30% on all tickets except Economy Lite
The offer is available to many markets including UK, Europe and US (20% off).
Cathay Pacific
- Book by November 26th
- Travel between December 1st and June 28th
- Use promo code UKBLACKFRI for flights departing from the UK
- £100 off business class and £75 off economy / premium economy
Similar deals are available for France and Germany etc.
Air China
£100 discount on UK flights to China / Asia. Claim your voucher on Trip.com – they have other Black Friday offers as explained in this blog post.
TAP Portugal
London – Boston in business class for ~£1000 return, and the cost can be further reduced if you add a stopover (>24 hours) in Lisbon to avoid the UK APD. Example:
Use Google Flights and Skyscanner to find cheap date combinations. Book by November 28th.
Virgin Atlantic
- Book by November 27th
- Travel by September 30th
- Pay 30% fewer points for all reward flights
This is an incredible deal for flying to/from Shanghai:
Redemptions for US destinations are unfortunately bundled with outrageous fees, so they might not be a great deal even with the 30% discount.
Melia
- Book by November 26th
- Stay by December 20th, 2024 (hotel dependant)
- Save up to 50%
Remember to stack the Gold 20% off and App 5% off. The discount is genuine although not necessarily at 50% at most properties, and many of the rates are flexible.
Accor
20% bonus on digital gift card purchases. Gift cards are valid for 5 years, and can be used at participating hotels in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece and Poland.
Kimpton Hotels
The following UK Kimpton hotels are offering 20% discount of gift vouchers:
- Kimpton London Fitzroy
- Kimpton Manchester Clocktower
- Kimpton Edinburgh Charlotte Square
- Kimtpon Glasgow Blythswood Square
Gift vouchers are valid for 12 months and can be used upon hotel checkout. They work well with pay-at-hotel rates, including Amex FHR and IHG Luxury & Lifestyle.
Malmaison / Hotel Du Vin
Malmaison – rate starts at £100, including £50 dinner credit
Hotel Du Vin – rate starts at £145 for two nights, including £50 dinner credit
Aegean flash sale: £30 off and buy 1 get 1 free!
The Greek airline Aegean is working with Trip.com to launch a flash sale targeting the UK market. You can see the offer details here.
For our London audience, the most relevant bit is the BOGO sale.
- Going live on November 2, 10am
- Buy two economy class tickets from London to Athens for the price of one
- Travel between November 15 and March 31
- Limited availability
In addition there’s a promo code YXWFIVIWAW that you can claim and redeem until November 10. It gives you £20 discount when travelling from London / Manchester / Birmingham / Edinburgh to Athens and the Greek islands, but unfortunately London – Athens is excluded.
Remember that by booking via the Trip.com app you get an additional £10 off – £30 off a flight is not to be sniffed at, although not as good as the BOGO deal.
As you can see from the image above, your itinerary doesn’t have to be entirely Aegean, but somehow it doesn’t always work. Note that you must enter the passenger information first before being able to see whether the £20 promo code applies.
Great deal: complimentary 3rd night with Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection
If you hold an Amex Platinum or Gold card, there are some pretty good hotel deals to be had with their exclusive preferred programs.
You can refer to the promotion page here, which lists the hotels that currently offer a special deal. In my opinion the best sweet spot is Complimentary 3rd Night, as it gives you 33% discount on the best flexible rate in addition to the benefits.
Fine Hotels & Resorts – for Platinum cardholders, benefits include free breakfast, $100 credit, room upgrade early check-in and late check-out.
- InterContinental Osaka
- Conrad Seoul
- Capella Bangkok
- Rosewood Bangkok
- The Murray Hong Kong
- Capella Shanghai
- Four Seasons Hotel Shenzhen
- The Langham Melbourne
- Corinthia London
- Conrad Dublin
- Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris
- Regent Berlin
- Mandarin Oriental, Munich
- InterContinental Porto – Palacio das Cardosas
- Hospes Infante Sagres Porto
- Andaz Prague
- Raffles Istanbul
The Hotel Collection – for Platinum and Gold cardholders, two-night minimum stay required, benefits include $100 credit and room upgrade.
- The Strings by InterContinental Tokyo
- NH Collection Venezia Murano Villa
- NH Collection Venice Grand Hotel Palazzo Dei Dogi
- Fairmont Windsor Park
The lists above are not exhaustive. Although the promotion page is from Amex UK, the offer should be global – I checked with my U.S. card account and could see the same discounts.