Big Hole Kimberley South Africa (10), originally uploaded by garybembridge. In the end of the 19th century diamonds were found in South Africa. It all began when some kids playing near a river found a stone they liked and used it to play games with. Someone spotted the stone and verified it was a diamond. An almighty diamond rush began. Until then it had believed diamonds were only to be found in South America and some parts of Asia, At first all…
Watch video of my room above at the Grand Palace Hotel in Tokyo, Japan above. What did I think of the Grand Palace Hotel in Tokyo, Japan? Not a lot. Although it is one of the more popular and recommended of the Tokyo hotels. This hotel is so typical of what I find depressing when travelling on business. It is a large, very dated and beige hotel situated out of the main buzzing centre of town in a suburb full of uninspiring office blocks. It gets…
…needed to be popped in a slot to keep the electricity (though a gym membership card left in the slot while out rather naughtily worked). The room had great marble (or marble like) floors throughout and a small balcony. Ideal for sitting on looking at the road…. There are some rooms that face onto the pool area so worth asking for! The food is ok, served in a large buffet restaurant with a lot of choice. It is not great but passable for a few days…
…se too much inconvenience. I will of course let you know the result of the review, which is expected sometime during May. We really value our In Flight Beauty Therapists and if the review concludes that the service should be withdrawn we will be able to offer them alternative Cabin Crew jobs. Additionally, in due course, we would like to boost the number of treatments that we offer you on the ground by increasing the number of beauty therapists at…
We stayed here for a few hours between our flight back from Koh Samui and our flight back to London just after midnight. It was very reasonable to book a room for a night and we decided that it was definitely worth it than hanging about the airport. The hotel runs a shuttle bus service from the airport, and it only takes about 5 minutes. The hotel is large. It has this vast reception atrium. It is massive, and it looks like a large percentage of…
Radisson Bolougne Paris Room 426 (2), originally uploaded by garybembridge. The trip did not start that well, as I had to hang around and wait for my room to be ready for over 3 hours, with conflicting stories from reception during that time. Basically I think the hotel had been very full the night before with large parties that all only checked out late so they had a huge catch-up. They implied as I was here they would give my room priority – bu…
Gran Melia Don Pepe Marbella Spain, originally uploaded by garybembridge. The Gran Melia Don Pepe Hotel, Marbella, Spain is a five star hotel. Though I am not really sure why. It is a decent hotel with decent rooms and okay service. But it does not have the style, flair or sense of specialness that a 5 star hotel should have. This was the 2nd time that I stayed at the hotel. Both times were attending a work conference. It is perfect for out-of-se…
Swissotel Krasnye Holmy Moscow Room 1803, originally uploaded by garybembridge. The Swissotel Krasnye Holmy in Moscow is fantastic. The rooms are fantastic, but so largely speaking is the price. My room was around $300 a night. I spent 4 nights there, although I was only due to be there for 3 but the BA crash landing at London Heathrow meant I stayed another night. That was actually a sort of test for what I thought of the hotel for, although I w…
Hilton Hotel Dusseldorf Room 1012, originally uploaded by garybembridge. It has been a number of years since I stayed at the Hilton in Dusseldorf. I was not looking forward to the stay as it used to be a regular place I stayed at during one of my work assignments. I was, though, very pleasantly surprised by the change. The hotel has been renovated and many good changes have been made. One of these is the fitness centre. This used to be dire, but…
This was actually the 2nd time I have stayed at the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona. The first was about 3 or 4 years ago on a long weekend break. This time I was here for work. I cannot work out if I like it or not, and probably overall am indifferent and think there are much better hotels offering better value and service in the city. On the plus side, it has a great location right in the centre of the upmarket shopping area on a very wide and attr…
I stayed at the hotel twice recently – both stays exactly one week apart. Both trips had a different experience. The hotel is not actually at the airport but is near to the airport. There is a shuttle bus that runs very regularly (about 4 or more time an hour) from a hotel bus area outside the terminal. It is always busy as the hotel is large and seems popular. On the way to the hotel it stops at a Hilton Apartment Hotel and then the hotel. On th…
