Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna Hotel

22:17 Luxury Travel Discounts
While in Abu Dhabi we were working on a software implementation at a power station located about 250 Kms from the city, basically a drive straight into the desert for 2 1/2 hours! I love the UAE and enjioy staying in Abu Dhabi itself for the sheer opulence that you find yourself surrounded with, so I was a little miffed about having to stay out in the dessert in an area where the only hotel is a little run down and rough around the edges. On arrival however I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we had actually been booked into a new hotel in the area... the Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna.


There is not much in the area except for a power station, an oil refinery and a housing complex for the 6000 employees and... this wonderful resort. The hotel has a private, white-sand beach, a large outdoor pool and tropical gardens plus all the usual things you would expect from a 5 star resort.

It is a lovely place, the staff very accommodating and friendly, the 5 restaurants and bars open 24/7 and the well appointed bedrooms were all very much to my taste and conformed to the levels of comfort that I have come to expect from the UAE. But I did wonder why anyone would actually stay there rather than in the city itself - it turns out that people seeking an oasis of peace and tranquility away from city life but with all the home comforts are regular visitors. Also if you happen to be driving between the UAE and Saudi Arabia then this hotel is a good midway stop over point.

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Etihad Limo service

22:08 Luxury Travel Discounts
It was about 5am when the Etihad limo turned up outside my house, I was pleasantly surprised to find the driver smartly dressed, friendly and eloquent. I am not at my most conversational at that time, I can tell you and had I wanted to have a sleep in the car that that would have been fine, but I was quite excited about the trip that I chatted all the way to Heathrow with the driver.

The car was lovely, a nearly new Mercedes E class, it was a brilliant start to the journey - door to terminal service in comfort and style, the only problem was that it was far to early for any of my neighbours to have possibly seen :-)

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Which are the window seats on the A340-600

08:59 Luxury Travel Discounts

In response to a question that was rasied in a forum I frequent recently, here are some cabin shots from the Etihad A340-600 flight from Abu Dhabi to London, showing the true window seats in the forward business class cabin.

These windows seats are very private and have full aisle access, without having to climb over anyones legs. Essentially you can see that the odd number rows contain the window seats in positions A and K. The window seats are great not only becuase of the privacy but also becuase of the additional storage space between the seat and the wall of the aircraft, plus the seats in row 9 have an additional flat surface that can be used as a side table during the flight.

Also, the online check in represents the cabin accurately but these seats plus the central "couples" seats get taken very quickly so best to get online and check in immediately the check in opens 24 hours in advance of the flight.



Seat 5A














Seat 9A












Seat 9k



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Etihad A340-600

15:41 Luxury Travel Discounts

The Etihad A340-600


I'm not sure I particularly like the colour scheme that Etihad have used in their business class cabin, lots of light blue on the seats and around the windows makes it look a little tacky IMHO, but the levels of comfort, service and food are as far from tacky as it is possible to get!






In this photo you can see that the window seats are brilliant for lone passengers who value their privacy. Once cocooned in your seat you cant see another passenger and totally free aisle access without having to jump over anyone elses legs. This is better than British Airways club world where they have squeezed a few extra seats into the cabin at the expense of unhindered aisle access.






Etihad also have double seats in the centre of the cabin which are great for couples travelling together. Again with full aisle access and a very private space for two people to relax in comfort. This is better than Virgins herringbone arrangement where it is difficult to be close to your partner.

For business collegues travelling together the seats across the aisle from each other allow you to have a chat during the flight but also to have a little separation.
In my opinon Etihad have designed the ideal business class cabin with seating arrangements to suit all travellers - just a shame about the colour!

The seats do, of course convert into fully flat beds and have built in massagers or the vibration variety rather than the kneading sort. These are not bad and a bit of fun but are more invigorating than relaxing!

The TV system has good large screens and a great selection of the latest movie releases. At seat telephones allow you to call a friend from the air ans show off a bit whilst electrical sockets at all seats allow you to get a little work done should you so desire. Be aware though that adapters are needed for most plug types.






Finally, the food is fabulous. The main menu comprises international cuisine prepared to the highest standards, with venetarian options available and along with the generous drink and snack menus is available at any time throughout the flight.






Note: You have to check in online and do so early to get the best seats though, if you leave it then you will only be left with the aisle seats.

The flight time from London to Abu Dhabi is a tad under 8 hours and after having settled in, had a chat with my collegue, enjoyed dinner and a nap I managed to fit in about half a movie before it was time to land. Quite a nice way to spend a day!



One of my favourite things about this aircraft configuration is that there is a window in the bathroom, so when standing having a pee, the view is somewhat unsual!









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Etihad Airways

15:24 Luxury Travel Discounts
The Etihad Business Class Experience


Travelling to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, on Etihad Airways is certainly a pleasurable way to travel. Etihad provides a chauffeur driven limo (in my case a Mercedes E class saloon) which picked me up from my home and delivered me to Terminal 3 at London's Heathrow airport. The drivers are professional, polite and coerteous and are happy to have a chat on the journey or just as happy to let you sleep in the back, if you have an early flight to catch!






Once at the airport the business class check in queue was... non existant. Here's a picture of the check in desk, just waiting for customers to roll up.

I had of course checked in on line before arriving at the airport but still I needed to drop off my bags and not having to wait in line meant a speedy trip through the priority security channel and onto the lounge.








Etihad uses the SAS lounge, which is nowhere near as good as the Virgin lounge just down the corridor but it is still much better than being out in the general waiting area.










The SAS lounge is spacious, has TV and internet facilities and a reasonable selection of pastries, coffees, juices, alcoholic drinks and salads for a pre-flight snack.







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Sheffield Station

22:31 Luxury Travel Discounts
Sheffields shiny new railway station with the amazing water feature in the fourcourt, with the massive stainless steel water wall paying tribute to the cities industrial heritage. It's about time the railway stations of the UK got some much needed attention!






I stayed in the Premier Inn at Sheffield Arena and whilst I dont have time for a full review right now I can say that for £77 including cooked breakfast you cant go wrong! Basic but friendly and comfortable with a well stocked bar and good on site restaurant.


I wasnt very hungry so just had a couple of starters and desert, duck truffel pate, Ceaser salad and sticky toffee pudding to die for :-)


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Winter in Moscow

18:53 Luxury Travel Discounts
Feb 2008 saw myself and a colleague stopping off in Moscow for a few days on our way down to Kazakhstan. We had selected a routing using BMI and Transaero, because they are affiliated and the points scheme is applicable to both airlines. That meant that we could earn points for our entire trip and use them in future for BMI or Transaero.

BMI is brilliant, what a lovely airline, nice new clean planes and very friendly cabin crew. Highly recommended. If you want to get some good deals on BMI then pop over to my web site http://www.luxury-travel-discounts.com/lowcostairfares.html and check the low cost provider there.

Anyway I digress, the aircraft seating was arranged in a 3/3 formation, i.e. 3 seats either side of the aisle, so we thought we would be clever and sit in the aisle seat and the middle seat, figuring that it was unlikely that anyone would elect to sit in the window seat next to 2 strangers. A bit cheeky I know but worth a go! My colleague got the aisle seat due to his unfeasibly long legs and I got the middle seat. Unfortunately for me a rather surly Russian guy came and sat in the window seat so I was pretty much hemmed in! What is worse, after take off, this guy produces a paper bag from his hand luggage and starts swigging sherry (sherry of all things) from a bottle hidden in the paper bag! During the four hours of the flight as the sherry took hold he became ever more friendly and started chatting to me. I did my best to carry on reading my book but there was no stopping this guy, so eventually I ended up having a semi coherent conversation with him.

We arrived at Domodedova airport in the early evening and once we were out of the main area of the terminal and through customs we found our way to the train station which is quite a walk from international arrivals but well sign posted. We were looking around trying to find where to buy tickets and figure out how much they cost and which train we should get on and who should appear but my new friend from the plane. He immediately jumped to our assistance and helped us buy tickets and board the correct train.

These trains are a sight to be seen too. They look about 100 years old and are enormous old things with torn lino on the floors, cheap vinyl seating and grubby net curtains at the windows. I really felt like I was in the USSR as all my 1980's childhood pre-conceptions seemed to be coming to life!

It's about an hour into the centre of Moscow by train and we ended up wandering around the very large station at the other end wondering where we might find a taxi or metro and if we did find a metro how on earth we might get off at the right stop. Remember all the signs were in Russian and Cyrillic so being silly tourists who didn't speak Russian it was a bit tricky. Anyway our friend stepped in again and rescued us by taking us to the taxi rank and pre-agreeing a price with the driver. It is VERY important to pre-agree the price for taxis in Moscow as we found out later on that same trip. I wont give the details but suffice to say - pre-agree the price!

We had spent quite a bit of time looking for hotels and I was astonished than the main hotels charge upwards of £200-300 per night. However if you look around you can find "Tourist class" hotels for around the £100 mark. We had booked into one of these hotels and I was expecting it to be a bit rough. Luckily it turned out to be surprisingly comfortable, if a bit basic. For a few nights it did the trick. The most important thing for us was that it was right in the middle of the city. Moscow is a very big place and to have to get around by taxi or metro would be a bit daunting, however walking has its disadvantages too.

In the morning I looked out of the window to see that about 2 feet of snow had fallen overnight! Not to be deterred by "a bit of snow" though we headed on out roughly in the direction of Red Square and The Kremlin (yep we were in tourist mode!) The temperature was around -15c and you really do need good warm clothing and boots for this type of weather.

I am really pleased that we visited during the winter as it just seemed to add to the authenticity of Moscow as it was supposed to be in my minds eye, but next time I will definitely go in the Summer!

All in all, Moscow was an experience and not one that I would have a problem repeating. The people were friendly, the city was exciting with many things to see and do, but it was a bit pricey.

You need a visa and a letter of invitation to get into Russia, this company can arrange these for you and has some good low cost hotels listed. Russian Visas and Travel


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Holiday Inn Express Peterborough Review

21:15 Luxury Travel Discounts
Holiday Inn Peterborough (East of England Way)
I stay in a lot of Holiday Inn Express hotels when I travel around the UK, mainly because I have a loyalty card with the group on which I manage to accumulate a lot of points in a year. For example on my recent holiday to Mauritius I managed to get 4 nights at the brand new Intercontinental (usually 300 odd Euro per night) purely on the points I had accumulated from staying in HI Express hotels throughout the previous year. If you are going to use this strategy make sure you look out for the points deals that they run periodically. Essentially these consist of a scheme where you sing up in advance for the deal on their web site and then when you stay for a given number of nights during the promotion period you get a whole bunch of points added to your membership. It’s well worth it since these can really make a difference to your balance.
So these hotels all look the same to me, seen one seen ‘em all, but for the uninitiated they are clean, modern, low cost hotels that are ideal for a few nights here and there. Much more than that and you would soon get bored as there are no real facilities like Gym’s, pools etc.
They do all tend to have a bar and are usually associated with a Harvester pub/restaurant which again is fine for a few nights. They also tend to be a bit out of town so to go anywhere else to eat of an evening you would usually need to take a taxi.

The Check In Test

I was greeted by a very pleasant, smiling receptionist who checked me in and directed me to my room very efficiently. I have seen some awful check-ins – for example the Hilton at Gatwick airport leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to waiting times,
often I have had to wait 10 minutes inthe queue to simply check in. I’m sure it depends on the time of day but the HI Express chain never fails to impress with fast check in times.

The Iron Test

No this isn’t some kind of strong man competition! When I travel on business I need to iron a shirt so that I can look suitably “smooth” for my clients, so when I stay in a hotel that doesn’t provide an iron in the room I have to ask for one. This is one of the down sides with the HI Express as they will willingly provide you with an iron at reception which you then have to carry to your room and then bring back after you have finished with it. Also the iron is a standard no-steam device so I always carry a little water spray bottle that I got from Sainsbury’s so I can wet those tough creases and flatten them with ease.

The TV test
This is a fairly new hotel and the TV is a 32” LCD by Samsung. Quite nice and an OK size but with only a dozen or so of the standard freeview channels, so if you are used to satellite TV heaven then you may find there is not much on.

Broadband Test

Wireless broadband is available at a cost of around £6.00 for two hours, booked online with a credit card.

The Restaurant test

As with most HI Express hotels there is not an internal restaurant. Some do, like the one by Slough station and the choice is enough to keep you going for a few nights, but mostly they are situated near Harvester pubs. These have a
good menu of chicken, steaks, gammon with some pretty cool deserts and an excellent salad bar. All food is well prepared, service is fast and they are find for short stopovers.

The Breakfast test

Breakfast always comprises a buffet style DIY affair with a range of cereals, toast and rather odd tasting croissants available. Coffee and Orange Juice if from machines and is nothing to write home about.

The Taxi Test

I always call reception and ask them if they can book me a taxi for the morning. No problems at this place, the receiptionist willingly obliged. You can assume if I havent posted a rant here that the taxi arrived in the morning on time:-)
The Price Test

The HI Express is a basic, yet clean, efficient, comfortable hotel which will be fine for a few nights stay. The price ranges from about £56 - £99 but check online for details of your specific required dates.

One way this hotel chain saves money (and passes those savings on to the customer) is not to put all the usual giveaway items in the rooms. You have to request them if you need them, but they also include a toothbrush and toothpaste free of charge should you forget yours.
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Preskil Activities and Entertainment

19:39 Luxury Travel Discounts

I have stayed in a few of these all inclusive resorts before and never have I seen so many inclusive activites. Here are some of the best ones....











Water skiing
Lagoon trips on the Glass bottom boat
Sailing lessons
Scuba introduction
Table Tennis
Aqua Gym
Bingo/Lotto
Volleyball
Jogging
Tennis

Entertainment

The Preskil also puts on nighly entertainment. There is always a DJ who plays up till around midnight, but before he comes on the following activites take place on a weekly rotational basis...

Taylor made suits exhibition
Footprints band
Cashmere pullovers exhibition
Variety show
Ship models exhibition
Sega dance show
Jewlery Exhibition
Dixie Jazz band
Souvenirs and craft exhibition

The exhibitions are really just market type stalls, but still quite interesting and a great opportunity to buy some souvenirs. The entertainment is mainly typical resort stuff, but the Sega show and variety show are pretty good. If you are staying for two weeks it could get a bit repetitive, so plan to go out of the resort every other night or so.
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Emirates A380

18:16 Luxury Travel Discounts
Just seen this great video of the Emirates A380 inaugural passenger flight.

The aircraft has a forward facing camera in the tail so you can
watch the take off and landing with the aircraft in view,
a bit like a video game!
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Preskil Food

17:41 Luxury Travel Discounts
OK now we are on to a subject that is very close to my heart :-) As some of you will know I travel all over the world for business purposes and I have stayed in some of the worlds best hotels and eaten at some pretty fantastic restaurants, so I am a bit on the fussy side when it comes to food!

The Preskil has 3 restaurants, one of them is a great steak restaurant, one is abeach bar serving snacks through the day and one is the main restaurant which serves an evening buffet.

I didnt eat at the steak restaurant for 3 reasons, 1 we ate out a lot (away from the resort) because my family in Mauritius owns a couple of restaurants and kept inviting us to dinner at the restaurant and at their homes and 2 because it was pretty expensive and 3 because when we were at the hotel the buffet was good enough.

The buffet is part of the all inclusive deal or you can pay seperately if you are on a B&B basis. I would recommend full board if you intend to eat in the hotel every night but for the more adventurous I would recommend B&B to give yourself the freedom of eating outside the resort.

The variety of food on the buffet was superb, loads of salads, starters, mains and a huge aray of fantastic desserts. All the food was well cooked and well presented with the only let down being that there is not a decent hot curry available! For that we had to go on a little adventure into the island - bit more on that later.


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Preskil Rooms

17:13 Luxury Travel Discounts

The Preskil is billed as a 4* resort and the rooms are clean and comfortable if a little dated. All rooms have air conditioning and then are even thoughtful enough to provide mosquito killers in the rooms so you dont have to bring your own.

The rooms are arranged in two storey blocks and spread around the resort. No room is more than about 60 seconds walk from both the beach and the central pools/restaurant area.



We stayed in a Lagoon room (the lowest cost option) and these have generous sized beds, a dressing table, safe, wardrobes, sofa, colour TV and all rooms are equiped with a fridge/mini bar and free tea/coffee facilities.














All 1st floor rooms have a generous balcony equiped with 2 chairs and a small table.















The bathrooms do not have baths, only showers but the water pressure was fine and the water was hot at all times of day.

















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16:50 Luxury Travel Discounts
Arrival

The transfer from the airport to Le Preskil was only about 15 minutes, so it is really easy to get to. If you were staying on the North of the island you could find yourself with over an hour transfer time!

I booked my flights and accommodation separately and on booking I was not offered a transfer, but later when I asked they provided the transfer at no extra cost, so do lookout for this and make sure you book the transfer in advance as it is a much better experience.

The transfer company was "White Sand Tours" and they provided a 7 seater, air conditioned vehicle with plenty of luggage space, plus a very friendly driver. As a nice surprise they offered us garlands of yellow flowers when they met us at the airport.

Our flight arrived at around 7am and the official hotel check in time is not until mid-afternoon so I was hoping that we would not have to hang around in reception for most of the day waiting for a room. I did email the hotel in advance to let them know we would be arriving early and to their credit they managed to arrange a room immediately on arrival for my parents. My wife and I had to wait another couple of hours for our room but that was fine as it provided a great opportunity to have breakfast and a little walk around.

All the staff at the hotel spoke good English and were incredibly friendly and helpful, making us feel very welcome indeed. They were also very knowledgeable about the resort and the local areas and were pleased to have a chat and impart useful information whenever we needed it.

When we were shown to our room they carried our luggage for us and gave us a quick introduction to the room facilities.

Tipping: It seems that tipping individual members of staff is discouraged by the hotel owners however I ignored this and would tip a few pounds here and there. I don't feel like we would have received any less of a service had we not done this but there were a few occasions where this earned us a few free drinks at the bar so it's worthwhile!
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Preskil Beach Resort Mauritius

16:38 Luxury Travel Discounts

The Preskil Beach Resort in Mauritius is an excellent resort for the cost conscious. We stayed there in May 2009 for just over a week and had a great time. We didnt have much money to spend as we were taking my parents with us so I was concerened about booking somewhere that would provide good facilities, clean rooms, good food and had a swimming pool AND was directly on the beach.

After a LOT of searching online I finally found the Preskil and although their web site looked great there was not much detailed information on there. Anyway I made the booking and I was extremely pleased with the results.

In the following posts I'm going to give you some of the detailed information that I was hoping to find before I made my booking so that you can make an informed decision if you are considering staying at Le Preskil.
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New web site launched

16:19 Luxury Travel Discounts
I've just launched my new web site at http://www.Luxury-Travel-Discounts.com I'd be delighted if you would check it out and give me an opinion - good, bad or indifferent!

The aim of the site is to provide information about how to get good deals on discounted business class airfares so I have published a free report about this topic on the site.
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Contact

16:12 Luxury Travel Discounts
I always like to meet new people who share a passion for travel. Please get in touch.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/luxurytraveldisocunts

Web: http://www.Luxury-Travel-Discounts.com

Email: paul@Luxury-Travel-Discounts.com

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Mauritius Overview

15:21 Luxury Travel Discounts
Location

The island of Mauritius is located in the Indian Ocean about 1100 Kms off the East coast of Madagascar and 2000 Kms to the South East of Africa. Mairitius has a surface area of around 1800 suare Kms and about 300Kms of coastline, some of which is rocky but most of which is surrounded by beautiful white sandy beaches, ideal for swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving and watersports.

There are many small islands off the coast of mauritius which are great to visit by the many organised tours.
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Introduction

15:01 Luxury Travel Discounts
Mauritius is often seen as an expensive luxury holiday and honeymoon destination and whilst the island of Mauritius does offer much in the way of unparalleled luxury with it's incredible resorts and hotels and beautiful white sandy beaches it doesn't have to be this way.

Many people miss out on the holiday of a lifetime in Mauritius because of the perceived expense so after a visit to Mauritius we have created this guide with local knowledge to uncover the many ways to discover and enjoy Mauritius without spending a fortune.


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