Home » Regions (Page 3)
Category Archives: Regions
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.
20% off and free lounge access at Japan’s Oriental Hotels
Quite a niche offer I know, but it might come handy when you visit Japan. Smart Traveller, Plaza Premium’s membership program, has an ongoing promotion with Japan’s Oriental Hotels group which gives away upgrade to their Oriental Partner Passport status.
Oriental owns a few hotels in Japan, some branded Hilton, Sheraton and Holiday Inn. Only the Oriental branded hotels are participating though, and there are a handful in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Okinawa and Kobe etc. You can expect the following benefits at these hotels:
- 20% off best flexible rate
- 25% off restaurant bills
- Free lounge access when applicable
It turns out the room discount can sometimes be greater than 20%, for example at 30%, and is still flexible.
Only three hotels have an executibe lounge:
- Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel
- Oriental Hotel Okinawa Resort & Spa
- Okinawa Harborview Hotel
You must book the special rate for lounge access, and it generously applies to up to 3 rooms!
It seems that you don’t have to be a staying guest to avail the dining discount.
Once you’ve signed up with the link, the upgrade should be added to your account within a few days, after which you could start booking the special rate.
My review of Hotel Indigo Stratford-upon-Avon
I managed to burn my BA companion voucher and Hyatt’s free night voucher eventually, but still struggling to find anywhere decent to redeem my 40K free night voucher from the Chase credit card. It happens that IHG launched a 15%-off sale on reward nights, and the two IHG hotels at Stratford-upon-Avon became an option.
There’s a Crowne Plaza with larger guestrooms, swimming pool and a club lounge. The Hotel Indigo however, is ranked #1 on TripAdvisor and has a marginally better location, so we chose them instead.
The Hotel Indigo is just opposite to Shakespeare’s New Place, and about 10 minutes’ walk from the train station.
It is a Grade-II listed building that started off as a small house in circa 1500, and after centuries of renovation it became a hotel and joined IHG. The timber-framed Tudor architecture is commonly seen in Stratford-upon-Avon and some other English towns.
Entrance of the hotel is at the back, which in contrast is very modern.
The lobby has a very boutique-y style, as you would expect from an Indigo.
The hotel has a small storefront, but it is actually quite big with three buildings. The older Tudor and Georgia buildings have 32 guestrooms, whereas the new building has 61. Premium Room (above standard rooms) can be redeemed at the same cost, and I got one in the new building.
The room’s tone is dominated by blue and yellow, and measures just about 20sqm. The suites are not much bigger either at around 30sqm, but it is not unusual in Europe.
Ceramic tiles in the bathroom are the most shiny that I’ve ever seen and look quite expensive!
To be honest I’m surprised that they manage to squeeze a bathtub in. The bathroom is so small that there’s nowhere to place my washbag.
An Indigo perk: the minibar is completely free, including two bottles of water, two cans of coke, one sparkling wine and one lemonade. Safe to say that I’m drinking (or taking) them all…
A big trouble emerges when we are going to sleep. Soundproofing is terrible as we can hear our neighbour’s TV clearly. We have to phone the front desk to remind them.
Rooms in the new building are prefixed 1 or 2, and the old buildings with 3-7. Personally I prefer the new building – I can’t imagine how bad soundproofing is like in the old building.
Breakfast is complimentary for Diamond members, served at the Feasting Room. You can find all the buffet on one table:
An a-la-carte menu:
The eggs are tasty.
However compact the room is, the hotel has a lot of public space, with quite a few bars and lounges.
And even a private garden:
Regular checkout time is 11am. My late checkout is only extended till 12.30pm, which is understandable on a Saturday. Although soundproofing is a main issue, the hotel is really nice overall and I think it lives up to the #1 ranking on TripAdvisor.
My review of The Grand Hotel Eastbourne
Thanks to a generous promotion from Hyatt, I received a Category-4 free night voucher but it was only valid for 6 months. Hyatt has few properties in the UK. There are a handful of nice SLH properties but reward availability is difficult to find and many of of them are hard to travel to.
My persistence paid out eventually though, as I managed to book The Grand Eastbourne for the August bank holiday. The Grand Eastbourne is, to quote them, the finest 5 Star hotel by the sea in Sussex. I haven’t been to Eastbourne yet so it works out perfectly.
The hotel is 30-seconds’ walk from the beach, right next to the Ferris wheel and easy to find. The hotel is also known as “The White Palace”, and that name does justice. Compared to Brighton I find the urban plan much newer and prettier in Eastbourne.
We arrived at 1pm and the room was not ready yet. The sightseeing bus stop is just in front of the hotel, which brings you to the beautiful coast.
The hotel was purposely built in 1875. It’s maintained very well considering that history, and you barely see wear and tear anywhere.
Upon entering the lobby, there’s the Palm Court Strings restaurant on the left-hand side that serves afternoon tea.
And a lounge bar at the end of the hall.
The receptionist thanked me for being a World of Hyatt member. As it’s a bank holiday I wasn’t expecting any upgrade at all, and it really surprised me when they mentioned an upgrade to the sea-view room. The sea-view however, needs to be taken with a pinch of salt:
As a lowly Explorist I’m not really disappointed.
The room is up to the standard of an old five-star hotel, except for that tiny TV from the last century.
Nespresso machine and tea kettle:
I don’t like the single bed or the stiff mattress so much. The key holder looks classy:
World of Hyatt bookings all come with complimentary breakfast, served at the Garden Restaurant.
The buffet’s spread is quite limited and I don’t praise its quality either. I find the breakfast at UK five-star hotels below average in general.
We ordered the traditional breakfast, porridge and pancake from the menu, which are so-so.
There’s an outdoor swimming pool and it is heated – have to give the hotel some credits for this.
In addition there’s an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi and steam room.
Gym:
In a word, The Grand Eastbourne is a decent five-star hotel that gives you a resort experience to some extent. If you have a World-of-Hyatt Cat 4 free night certificate to redeem, it is probably one of your best options in the UK.
£5 Free Voucher for Streaming Amazon Music
Try your luck on another Amazon voucher code promotion!
You can check your eligibility here. If targeted, you only need to stream one complete song on Amazon Music and a £5 free voucher will be deposited into your account within 7 days.
A minimum order value of £20 is required for redeeming the voucher. The offer runs until January 23rd and is limited to 2,500 redemptions only. Note that the offer is for Amazon Prime members only and in theory you must not have streamed Amazon Music before.
Other Amazon offers:
- £10 off your first Amazon App purchase
- £20 off your first Amazon Fresh and Morrisons order
- Get £10 Amazon voucher for using its Photos app
- £4 off your next Amazon pickup order
- £5 Amazon bonus when topping up £60
- £5 Free Voucher for Streaming Amazon Music Free
- £5 Free Voucher for Streaming Amazon Podcast
- Earn £5 voucher for using Amazon Pay
- Free £5 Amazon voucher to claim
- £5 voucher for watching Amazon Prime Video
- £5 reward for creating an Amazon wish list
- £15 free money to spend at Amazon Fresh stores
- Amazon Warehouse £5 free voucher
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.