Hugo Schwyzer
Aug 29, 08, 4:35 pm
My wife and I just returned from a 17 day trip to England, Croatia, Austria, and Belgium seeing family and friends.
We flew to Vienna on British Airways, our first chance to fly in the Next Generation Club World. I'd flown in Club years ago, but more recently have had some fortunate long-haul experiences in F -- as well as in World Traveller Plus. As BA Silvers, we were able to reserve for our outbound flight (BA 282) the two seats most highly recommended for NGCW on the 747: 62J and K. On the return, we sat in 62A and B across the aisle.
I've never flown on the upper deck on a BA flight before; I've done it on Virgin in both PE and Upper Class. It's comfortable and fairly roomy, especially in the emergency exit rows where we were placed.
The great question: how does it compare to the classes below (WT+) and above (F)? Well, NGCW is miles ahead of World Traveler Plus in comfort and service, and noticeably but not painfully below F. The F seats are more comfortable, and the food and service are better -- but if I were paying cash, I'm not sure that F would be worth substantially more. The food -- we had veggie meals -- was delicious on the return and mediocre on the outbound (I've never liked ex-LAX catering as much as ex-LHR). I was able to sleep on both segments.
I don't like the configuration of the Club World cabin; the way in which those passengers in window seats must climb over the legs of sleeping passengers in aisle seats is really inconvenient, as is the awkward way that the crew have to serve window seat passengers.
For these reasons, I'd prefer Virgin's Upper Class to BA's Club World any day, though I'd of course prefer the F product of BA to what is essentially a very nice J class on VS.
Honestly, the best business class I've been in in the last year is LAN's Business Premier on their new 767s; it's better (IMHO) than Club World. My wife and I flew LAX-SCL return at the beginning of the year and were very impressed with both the food and the seat.
In London, transferring to the flight in CE to VIE, I got to have my first visit to the Galleries lounge in Terminal 5. Very nice and comfortable, and I had a good shower and a pleasant lunch. The wifi was excellent.
As many commenters here and there have noted, Club Europe on the A320 is a hopeless product. We had 2A and 2C, and given the ridiculous 34 inches of leg room, were glad that we were redeeming miles for the flight -- who on earth would pay cash for what is really a coach seat? Given that we deplane at VIE onto a remote stand anyway, the advantages of being at the front of the aircraft are moot. Very nice pursers both ways, however; BA's crew still makes me very happy.
In Vienna, we stayed three nights at the Sacher. I often visited Vienna as a child and was taken to have Sacher torte at the eponymous cafe. This was my first visit to Vienna with the means to afford a nice hotel, and though many folks pushed for the Bristol, my childhood memories pushed for the Sacher. We had booked through Amex FHR, and we did indeed get our complimentary upgrade to a nice junior suite overlooking the Albertina; we also got a lovely Sacher Torte in the traditional wooden box. Service at the hotel was impeccable, breakfasts were magnificent, and the whole experience was as romantic and special and consummately Viennese as possible.
We were next on to Croatia, flying from Vienna to Split on coach in Austrian Airlines. (I was not going to pay an extra $500 for a cramped J seat). Austrian is a fine airline, still serving hot meals on short flights in Y class. The Fokker 100 was packed to the gills, but the flight was comfortable and on-time to SPU.
Our one disappointment of the whole trip was the hotel in Split (or technically, Podstrana, south of Split). We stayed at the recommended Le Meridien Lav. We paid more than 400 euros a night for an oversized king room with a balcony; the room was not very big, the furniture smacked of Ramada, the service was sullen and there were stains on the carpet. The hotel was packed with German and Russian families with large numbers of children (man, if there's a demographic crisis in Europe right now, it was not on display in the Le Meridien!) Children ran unsupervised through the hallways at almost all hours.
We did order some lovely room service; the catering department at the hotel is clearly on a different level than the housekeeping. The food is excellent, if overpriced; the overall experience was disappointing. I would not recommend another stay.
We transferred by private car to Dubrovnik, where we stayed at the Hilton Imperial. Vastly improved service; we had a deluxe king room with a small balcony and executive club access. Hands down, the nicest Hilton I've ever been in anywhere. The difference in politeness between the staff at Le Meridien and the staff at the Hilton was stunning; Croatians are not renowned for their hospitality, but the folks in Dubrovnik were infinitely friendlier and warmer than the folks in Split. Great location, helpful concierge, definitely a wonderful place to stay. We paid 80 euros less per night for the Dubrovnik Hilton than we did for the Le Meridien -- and got a much better experience.
We flew on Austrian from Dubrovnik back to Vienna. Thanks to a mix-up with our travel agent, we needed to spend the night in Vienna before catching the early morning BA flight to London. VIE has one airport hotel, the NH Vienna. Though the rooms were small, they were clean and comfortable. The public areas of the hotel were marvelous, and the restaurant -- wow! "Mundo" is the name of the hotel restaurant, and the food was stupendous. My wife and I were laughing with delight at the quality and inventiveness of the cuisine, all at a very reasonable price. Whoever the executive chef is at the Vienna Airport NH, he or she is a keeper.
We actually stayed in two hotels in London, as we were staying with friends in Belgium for a few nights in between two separate stays in the capital. Ou first two nights we were at the Mayfair on Stratton Street, and the second batch of two nights at Claridges. We got the Mayfair through lastminute.com, and it was adequate but hardly anything special. Packed to the gills with Eastern European and Arab tourists, we were given a room right next to a small kitchen for room service. We could hear virtually everything from within our room, and had to sleep with ear plugs. Free wireless was nice, but overall the experience was not compatible with the advertised 5-star experience.
Claridges was marvelous. We splurged on the Dorchester last year, and despite a double upgrade (Amex FHR) weren't impressed. Claridge's was stunning. No upgrade beyond our king deluxe, but a gorgeous room with the best service I've ever had in England. Wonderful breakfasts, delicious room service, helpful valets to press my trousers when I wrinkled them before an important talk. I'm not an expert on London hotels, but when it comes to Mayfair-area luxury, Claridges beats the Dorch hands down.
I'm happy to answer any questions; sorry for the disjointedness of this report -- still a bit jetlagged.
We flew to Vienna on British Airways, our first chance to fly in the Next Generation Club World. I'd flown in Club years ago, but more recently have had some fortunate long-haul experiences in F -- as well as in World Traveller Plus. As BA Silvers, we were able to reserve for our outbound flight (BA 282) the two seats most highly recommended for NGCW on the 747: 62J and K. On the return, we sat in 62A and B across the aisle.
I've never flown on the upper deck on a BA flight before; I've done it on Virgin in both PE and Upper Class. It's comfortable and fairly roomy, especially in the emergency exit rows where we were placed.
The great question: how does it compare to the classes below (WT+) and above (F)? Well, NGCW is miles ahead of World Traveler Plus in comfort and service, and noticeably but not painfully below F. The F seats are more comfortable, and the food and service are better -- but if I were paying cash, I'm not sure that F would be worth substantially more. The food -- we had veggie meals -- was delicious on the return and mediocre on the outbound (I've never liked ex-LAX catering as much as ex-LHR). I was able to sleep on both segments.
I don't like the configuration of the Club World cabin; the way in which those passengers in window seats must climb over the legs of sleeping passengers in aisle seats is really inconvenient, as is the awkward way that the crew have to serve window seat passengers.
For these reasons, I'd prefer Virgin's Upper Class to BA's Club World any day, though I'd of course prefer the F product of BA to what is essentially a very nice J class on VS.
Honestly, the best business class I've been in in the last year is LAN's Business Premier on their new 767s; it's better (IMHO) than Club World. My wife and I flew LAX-SCL return at the beginning of the year and were very impressed with both the food and the seat.
In London, transferring to the flight in CE to VIE, I got to have my first visit to the Galleries lounge in Terminal 5. Very nice and comfortable, and I had a good shower and a pleasant lunch. The wifi was excellent.
As many commenters here and there have noted, Club Europe on the A320 is a hopeless product. We had 2A and 2C, and given the ridiculous 34 inches of leg room, were glad that we were redeeming miles for the flight -- who on earth would pay cash for what is really a coach seat? Given that we deplane at VIE onto a remote stand anyway, the advantages of being at the front of the aircraft are moot. Very nice pursers both ways, however; BA's crew still makes me very happy.
In Vienna, we stayed three nights at the Sacher. I often visited Vienna as a child and was taken to have Sacher torte at the eponymous cafe. This was my first visit to Vienna with the means to afford a nice hotel, and though many folks pushed for the Bristol, my childhood memories pushed for the Sacher. We had booked through Amex FHR, and we did indeed get our complimentary upgrade to a nice junior suite overlooking the Albertina; we also got a lovely Sacher Torte in the traditional wooden box. Service at the hotel was impeccable, breakfasts were magnificent, and the whole experience was as romantic and special and consummately Viennese as possible.
We were next on to Croatia, flying from Vienna to Split on coach in Austrian Airlines. (I was not going to pay an extra $500 for a cramped J seat). Austrian is a fine airline, still serving hot meals on short flights in Y class. The Fokker 100 was packed to the gills, but the flight was comfortable and on-time to SPU.
Our one disappointment of the whole trip was the hotel in Split (or technically, Podstrana, south of Split). We stayed at the recommended Le Meridien Lav. We paid more than 400 euros a night for an oversized king room with a balcony; the room was not very big, the furniture smacked of Ramada, the service was sullen and there were stains on the carpet. The hotel was packed with German and Russian families with large numbers of children (man, if there's a demographic crisis in Europe right now, it was not on display in the Le Meridien!) Children ran unsupervised through the hallways at almost all hours.
We did order some lovely room service; the catering department at the hotel is clearly on a different level than the housekeeping. The food is excellent, if overpriced; the overall experience was disappointing. I would not recommend another stay.
We transferred by private car to Dubrovnik, where we stayed at the Hilton Imperial. Vastly improved service; we had a deluxe king room with a small balcony and executive club access. Hands down, the nicest Hilton I've ever been in anywhere. The difference in politeness between the staff at Le Meridien and the staff at the Hilton was stunning; Croatians are not renowned for their hospitality, but the folks in Dubrovnik were infinitely friendlier and warmer than the folks in Split. Great location, helpful concierge, definitely a wonderful place to stay. We paid 80 euros less per night for the Dubrovnik Hilton than we did for the Le Meridien -- and got a much better experience.
We flew on Austrian from Dubrovnik back to Vienna. Thanks to a mix-up with our travel agent, we needed to spend the night in Vienna before catching the early morning BA flight to London. VIE has one airport hotel, the NH Vienna. Though the rooms were small, they were clean and comfortable. The public areas of the hotel were marvelous, and the restaurant -- wow! "Mundo" is the name of the hotel restaurant, and the food was stupendous. My wife and I were laughing with delight at the quality and inventiveness of the cuisine, all at a very reasonable price. Whoever the executive chef is at the Vienna Airport NH, he or she is a keeper.
We actually stayed in two hotels in London, as we were staying with friends in Belgium for a few nights in between two separate stays in the capital. Ou first two nights we were at the Mayfair on Stratton Street, and the second batch of two nights at Claridges. We got the Mayfair through lastminute.com, and it was adequate but hardly anything special. Packed to the gills with Eastern European and Arab tourists, we were given a room right next to a small kitchen for room service. We could hear virtually everything from within our room, and had to sleep with ear plugs. Free wireless was nice, but overall the experience was not compatible with the advertised 5-star experience.
Claridges was marvelous. We splurged on the Dorchester last year, and despite a double upgrade (Amex FHR) weren't impressed. Claridge's was stunning. No upgrade beyond our king deluxe, but a gorgeous room with the best service I've ever had in England. Wonderful breakfasts, delicious room service, helpful valets to press my trousers when I wrinkled them before an important talk. I'm not an expert on London hotels, but when it comes to Mayfair-area luxury, Claridges beats the Dorch hands down.
I'm happy to answer any questions; sorry for the disjointedness of this report -- still a bit jetlagged.