Thursday, May 01, 2008

Hotel Review: Warwick Barsey Hotel, Brussels, Belgium

Forgot to post that review I made during my stay in February 08 in this excellent boutique hotel on Avenue Louise - the "chic" district in Brussels.

Another visit in Brussels over the weekend needed a decent hotel considering how good value for money is the hotel market in the Belgium capital. Even luxury hotels are affordable.

Warwick Barsey Hotel is quite a unique hotel, formerly known as Hyatt Barsey, and presents some nice decoration features. The same guy behind Hotel Costes in Paris - Jacques Garcia - decorated the hotel.

We arrived on a late Friday evening where we were invited to join a dinner table at the “Boudoir” night organized every Friday in the restaurant of the hotel. From midnight, the restaurant turned to be a nightclub with very chic people coming in.

Our room was absolutely fantastic. We had one of these suites on the top floor with a living room, a bedroom and a huge bathroom with Jacuzzi, fantastic shower and all amenities from Eau de Thé Vert from Bulgari. The hotel has a very welcoming staff from the reception to the bar & restaurant.

This hotel is what you need if you need a weekend breakaway in a centre of Brussels and want to impress. The weekend rate is around €120 per night if you book a bit in advance.

Check out as well the interview I have conducted with the General Manager, Stéphane Vohl.



Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Hotel Review: Grosvenor House, Dubai, UAE

Forgot to post that review I made during my stay in September 07 in this excellent hotel in Dubai.

Our first trip in Dubai led us to stay in this Starwood property Grosvenor House thanks to great advice we had from Trailfinders. We stayed there 4 nights from Sunday the 9th until 13th September.

The check-in was very quick and one of the receptionist came with us to show us our room. In fact it wasn't a room. We were upgraded to have an apartment on the 8th floor instead. We were so lucky.

The hotel is split between hotel rooms and apartments. Elevators lead to rooms, others to apartments only. Both products have a separate reception and concierge as well.

The apartment we had was very functional with a fully equipped kitchen with complementary tea and coffee. A living - dining room with the latest technology available on a plasma screen (video on demand, music on demand, international channels, Internet, ...). We have a huge bathroom with a separate shower with toilets. Another toilet room was near the living room as well. Our bedroom was also equipped with this plasma screen with same technology. Both bedroom and living room were giving you a view of the street side with all the building in construction and the one finished. Windows must have been soundproofed as we were never disturbed by the noise. We were very delighted by the comfort of the king size bed. Matrice, duvet and pillows were so comfy that we need to ask the hotel where they found those to equip our house in London.

Every day we had complimentary fruits and petits fours + water bottles. In the bathroom, all amenities were provided by Molton Brown. I have heard that in the hotel, amenities are from Bulgari with their superb fragrance Thé Blanc.

The hotel has plenty of restaurants to choose from. We tried the best buffet I ever come across at Sloanes where you eat oysters, sushis, lobster on the grill, ribeye steak and so many dishes. The dessert buffet is also very impressive with a chocolate fondue. Breakfast is also served at Sloanes and is very good and full of choices. On the last night, we tried the Indian restaurant Indego which is probably one the best Indian restaurant I have ever eaten. Don't expect the usual Korma or Madras but more original and innovative dishes from a clever and talented chef.

There is so much to say about this hotel. One more thing, the hotel is not on the beachfront. But you can take a bus provided by the hotel who will take you to the sister hotel Le Méridien Beach & Resort and then take the facility of the hotel (it's just a 3 mins drive). At the hotel, they will provide you a towel and you have full access to both swimming pools and the beach.

Finally, the hotel has also outside the Budha Bar recreated which quite impressive and very busy at night.

If you are looking for a modern hotel with comfortable rooms in Dubai, Grosvenor House is for you whether you are Leisure or Business.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Hotel Review: Le Méridien Garden Beach, Juan-les-Pins, France

Juan-les Pins in the winter is not the most exciting place to be in French Riviera. But I was there for business and I was lucky enough to stay at the Méridien Juan Les Pins for 2 nights in November.

I think I was upgraded because I got a seafront view double bedroom where my reservation says “city view”. The joy of sleeping with the sound of the waves is really exquisite. The room was of neutral cream white colour with a big sofa chair to watch the TV. I also had a nice balcony to enjoy the fantastic view of the Mediterranean sea. The bathroom needs a bit of renovation. You can see it has been used for a while and things like shower head need to be replaced.   

Breakfast was very good and offers different kinds of bread and hot dishes like scrambled eggs, bacon.

I also found the staff at the reception very helpful on couple of occasions. We were looking for a restaurant in the city and they clearly helped us out. The next morning, I was stuck at the hotel reception waiting for a taxi and one of the receptionists managed to get me a taxi by sharing with other guests on my way to Sophia Antipolis.      

The week after my stay, I have received an online questionnaire to give my feedback about the hotel. The questionnaire is signed by Roland Vos, the EMEA Starwood VP. This is the first time I ever receive an online questionnaire from a hotel. Usually, they are coming from online travel agents.

Again, Starwood has really met my expectations.

Interested to read more of my hotel reviews? They are here.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Hotel Review: Radisson SAS Hotel, Nice, France

My last stay in Nice was at the Radisson Nice in early November where I have been given a business room on the 7th floor.

Check-in in the evening was very quick and I got to my room in less than 2 minutes. My room was overlooking the city residential area with a large balcony. The room is quite spacious with a long corridor with enough drawers to put your clothes for 2 weeks. The bathroom is designed in a similar corridor. I have really enjoyed the fact that Radisson has taken the decision to make WIFI / Internet access in all rooms free of charge to the guest. This rule applies to other hotels from the hotel chain.

The décor of the room is quite warm with red and yellow colours. I was amused to see an ashtray by the bedside and see the warning message stating it was a non smoking room.

I didn’t have a chance to try the breakfast but I did take a couple of drinks at the bar.

Checkout in the next morning was done in 10 minutes besides the fact that quite a lot of guests were doing the same thing at the same time. Pricewise, the "business" room +  2 drinks at the bar  was around £110 for one night. Not cheap but still reasonable for an upscale hotel (other people call it 4*).

I was impressed by the quality of the room and I will certainly recommend it if you stay in Nice for a weekend. Make sure you ask for the business room.

Interested to read more of my hotel reviews? They are here.


Monday, November 26, 2007

Hotel Review: Melia Palacio De Tudemir, Orihuela, Spain

This hotel is supposed to be the best hotel in Orihuela. We stayed there for a wedding. The hotel used to be called Palacio and has beautiful decoration throughout the hotel. Especially the dome when you walk up the stairs. After 5 mins check in, we went to our room on the 4 floor, 418.

The room is spacious with a bathroom in marble. We had also a small balcony. The bathroom amenities are of good quality. There is also a lot of place to store your clothes. There aren’t many international channels which work on the TV. This is probably the only negative point in our stay (not even TV5 for French speakers like me)

The breakfast is very good and varied from cold meats, smoked salmon, cheese and more.

Melia is A very good 4 star hotel at affordable price. We only paid €85 for 1 night, breakfast included. Very good deal for a good hotel between Murcia and Alicante.

Interested to read more of my hotel reviews? They are here.

Technorati Tags: melia hotels, sol melia , melia palacio de tudemir, hotel videos

Monday, November 19, 2007

Hotel Review: Yotel Gatwick Airport, South Terminal, UK

I was looking forward to experience this new hotel concept. I have heard some many times about Yotel. I have booked on their website a premium cabin room (room #6) for 8 hours.

The hotel is located on the South Terminal of Gatwick not too far from arrivals. I arrived at their automatic front desk to try to check in but unfortunately I couldn’t succeed. My reference number stored on my mobile (after the booking, the website allows you to SMS the booking reference) contains 5 digits and 1 letter but the automatic check only allows 5 characters. The guy at the reception gave us our key card.

The room is quite compact but has all the comfort you need for an 8 hours sleep. The premium cabin offers a proper double bed. Each room comes with an en-suite shower room. You have the LCD screen showing on-demand movies, about 30 TV channels and Internet. You can also plug your laptop to a broadband connection or via WIFI for free. Another feature in the room is the difference light ambiance you can adjust by the bed (full light, purple, bed light, just shower).

I was annoyed by some constant noise in the middle of the night probably coming from the ventilation system. 4am, I gave the room key card back at the reception and was on my way to catch my flight. This is hotel is really good to avoid the pain of getting very early to catch an early flight (with all the stress coming with it). 8 hours of sleeping in Yotel cost me £67 only.

Interested to read more of my hotel reviews? They are here.

Technorati Tags: yotel, gatwick airport, hotel in gatwick, hotel cabins

Monday, October 29, 2007

The Hotel Fairy: Denver Marriott City Center

Airhostess_3 Once in a while, an air hostess - who will remain anonymous - will act like my Hotel Fairy who will share with you on video the hotels she experience across the world. No words, no music background, no editing, just plain video taken from her mobile phone about her room...

5th video is of Denver Marriott City Center, Denver, USA.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Hotel Fairy: Swissôtel Chicago

Airhostess Once in a while, an air hostess - who will remain anonymous - will act like my Hotel Fairy who will share with you on video the hotels she experience across the world. No words, no music background, no editing, just plain video taken from her mobile phone about her room...

4th video is of Swissôtel Chicago, Chicago, USA.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

The Hotel Fairy: Mövenpick Resort & Residence Aqaba, Red Sea

Airhostess_4 Once in a while, an air hostess - who will remain anonymous - will act like my Hotel Fairy who will share with you on video the hotels she experience across the world. No words, no music background, no editing, just plain video taken from her mobile phone about her room...

3rd video is of Movenpick Resort & Residence Aqaba, Red Sea.

Friday, October 19, 2007

The Hotel Fairy: Petra Marriott Hotel, Wadi Moussa, Jordan

Airhostess_3 Once in a while, an air hostess - who will remain anonymous - will act like my Hotel Fairy who will share with you on video the hotels she experience across the world. No words, no music background, no editing, just plain video taken from her mobile phone about her room...

2nd video is of Petra Marriott Hotel in Wadi Moussa, Jordan.

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  • Please note that the author's opinions published on this site are of his alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Guillaume's current employer. This site is neither sanctioned nor endorsed by Guillaume's current employer and is a personal effort and initiative by Guillaume Thevenot. All care but no responsibility is taken for errors and ommissions. All material on this site may be reproduced with permission of the author - Guillaume Thevenot and appropriate acknowledgement.
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