LHR-HKG-BKK-SIN-HKG (and others!) CX/SQ F TG C Long, part work!
Mar 31, 2003, 12:04 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Wirral, UK
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LHR-HKG-BKK-SIN-HKG (and others!) CX/SQ F TG C Long, part work!
This is a trip report covering a total of 9 flight segments and 5 hotels, travelling to 4 locations (transfers not counted 
)
I'm intending to do this as a 'part work' as and when I can get to upload the updates.
This is pretty much my first 'full' trip report, I've posted a few odd flight and hotel reports before, but not, as they say, the full monty!
Full planned itinerary:
MAN-LHR (BA Shuttle)
X/LHR-HKG (CX First)
Sheraton HKG
HKG-BKK (CX First)
Sheraton Royal Orchid BKK
BKK-KBV (TG Biz - Thats Krabi, in case you are wondering!)
Sheraton Beach Resort Krabi
KBV-BKK (TG Biz)
X/BKK-SIN (SQ First)
Oriental SIN
SIN-HKG (CX First)
Regal Airport Hotel
HKG-LHR (CX First)
X/LHR-MAN (BA Shuttle)
The core CX flights are a Swiss F-class award (the getting of which was a saga for another time!), the "glue" flights are full-fare tickets, MAN-LHR-MAN and BKK-KBV-BKK-SIN.
Fit the First - Manchester to Hong Kong
Flight BA1393 17Mar03, Seats 5A,B - Scheduled 12:25 - 13:25 (Arrival roughly 10mins late)
Arrived at MAN in plenty of time for our flight (10:00AM for a 12:15 flight, but I had a few final business commitments that I had to take care of in the lounge)
BA Check-In:
Refreshingly painless - one of the reasons I'm not a BA Silver anymore is that I got so annoyed with the BA shuttle that I defected to BD, so I feared some problems as a BA Blue attempting to check-in at the First class check-in. However, I would have to give BA their due by saying that there was absolutely no visible hassle, even with two seperate tickets, one of which was an LX award on a CX flight, booked in award class (Z). The queue gorgons were not in evidence, so we approached check-in un-molested, our bumper-sized hold baggage did not raise any eyebrows, neither did our collection of carry-ons, and we sucessfully got boarding passes for both segments, with baggage checked through to HKG.
Check-in was, overall 5/5.
Security at MAN was noticeably stricter than usual, and this was a theme that would run through the whole day. I don't consider discussing specific details of security arrangements as appropriate, but, as a regular traveller through both MAN and LHR I was acutely aware that both us and our bags got a much more thorough check. Why, anyone would have thought there was a war on....
BA Lounge:
Perhaps it's because I usually inhabit the BD diamond lounge thesedays, but I'm sure that the Terraces in MAN get larger every time I'm in them! No problems getting into the lounge, access was granted purely based on our C-class domestic tickets, they did not appear to look at our onward boarding passes. Overall the MAN lounge is a very good mix, with plenty of plane-spotting options for those so inclined. My only negative was that there are only two internet workstations, one of which was out-of-order, and the other spent most of the two hours surrounded by a crowd of my fellow business travellers viewing who-knows-what. I started my Monday conference call (main reason for the early arrival) and, as luck would have it, our flight seemed to be the only one running on-time, so I was on the call right up to the gate.
Lounge is, to be fair, 4/5 (get some more PC's!!)
BA Shuttle boarding:
No boarding hassles, even with 2pcs carry-on each. Process was orderly but slow, and there was no shortage of stowage. I could have continued my call all the way on board, but elected to make my apologies at the aircraft door, which we reached at roughly 12:15.
5/5 can't complain.
BA Shuttle flight:
Front cabin of this european configured plane was pretty full, and as so often happens on the shuttle, we had 5A,B but 5C was allocated to another pax (even though there were spare rows). BA's seat allocation algorithm seems to favour single travellers! Meal was actually quite good, and consisted of a Chicken Ceasar filled bun, water, and a round from the drinks trolley. BA shuttle catering seems to have improved since the days of the "multi-coloured lunchbox", and, since BD introduced those, erm, wonderful "bento boxes" on short-haul, the comparison seems to be getting better. Flight itself was unremarkable, with the usual 15min hold over LHR, and long taxi after landing.
Overall, 3.5/5 (for a C ticket I still think I deserve C service...)
LHR Transfer:
One of the drivers for flying BA, rather than my usual choice of BD C-class was that CX had already told me that their connection desk did not open until 15:00, and so, if we were to be sure of connecting airside, I needed to be in possesion of a boarding pass, which BD could not issue. Having not made the T1-T3 connection before, I foolishly followed the signs, got to the Flight Connections Centre, and ended up on one of those inter-terminal busses. For anyone who has an advanced certificate in LHR navigation, and a premium boarding pass, I'd be inclined to do this transfer landside, exiting via domestic arrivals, through the Heathrow Express tunnel, and up into T3 and thence through fast-track security. However, this is how we learn new things! We got to T3, and commenced looking for the AA Flagship Lounge. And looked.... and gave up and asked.....
Flight CX250 17Mar03, Seats 3D,G - Scheduled 18:05 - 14:00++
CX/AA Flagship Lounge:
Well, Concorde Room, it isn't. I really feel for anyone who does this trip in the opposite direction, as the FL at LHR must be a huge let-down for anyone who was cosetted in the Wing on the way out!
Lounge access was no problem, even though our boarding passes were on BA stock, and didn't say F on them anywhere. The lounge staff were friendly and helpful, and this certainly helped to make up for the dire lounge, that was definitely more Aeroflot than Cathay. What happened to Champagne, premium drinks and chairs that don't look like they've seen more passengers than the QE2? Canapes were appreciated but a bit boring (mini-quiches, finger sandwiches etc.) but business facilities (at least for the 21st century) were a bit lacking - a photocopier is good, but wireless internet and a few LAN connected PCs would have been better!
Lounge is 3/5 only because of the helpful staff - lounge itself deserves less, I'm afraid.
CX250 Boarding:
Called in the lounge at 17:35 (due to distance to gate) however, the gate (18 I think it was...) was a relatively short distance away, via two travelators. From the point of view of a passenger that has not taken this flight (and doesn't know the score) boarding was a bit of a mess. There was someone at the door to the gate who was checking passports, and so naturally a queue had formed, though it turned out we could bypass this and walk directly through to the "real" gate, where there were seperate entrances for F/J and Y. We were waved through to the Y line, but this was OK since it was empty! Boarding of the 747 was via two bridges, so we went straight through the forward airbridge and turned left (which, I have to say, is always a nice feeling!). We were greeted and offered drinks virtually immediately, and so, after stowing my and my partners carry-ons, getting our jackets hung up, and getting sat down, we were happily cosseted in two of the centre seats with matching champagne flutes (Champers on the ground appeared to be Billericart-Salmon, not Krug, admitedly, but not plonk either, a good compromise, IMHO).
Overall, boarding as a "green" F-class passenger was 3/5, but this was entirely due to ground ops - as is true on most airlines, once through the door, service was flawless.
CX250 Flight:
Pushed back at 18:15, slightly behind schedule, but we were in the air pretty sharpish, certainly by 18:40, though I wasn't looking at my watch during takeoff. Cabin was 9 out of 12 seats filled, and Pat took a window seat for takeoff, with no problems. Amenity kits (luminous green bumbags for the ladies, grey, erm, things for the gents) full of Biotherm toiletries, a choice of two sizes of sleep-suits (which were light olive, and looked unnervingly like combat fatigues), togther with slippers and eyeshades. Service commenced with the drinks we had ordered during taxi, and the Krug started flowing together with canapes . Menus appeared and shortly afterwards our MdC introduced herself and took orders for dinner (full menu below, and what a menu it was!). We both opted into the full set of appetisers, soup and salad, Pat went for the Skate, whilst I had the Beef tenderloin. The cabin crew were willing to serve at your pace, though the initial appetisers were served from a trolley. Caviar is an expensive taste to acquire, which is probably why I usually steer clear, but I would have to say that it was very good with the warm new potatoes, though I did decide not to go fully Russian and take the offered shot of Wodka (I doubt it would have mixed well with Krug). I think I may have fazed our host somewhat when I turned down an additional dollop of Caviar for an extra-large serving of Balik Salmon, which was absolutely out of this world!
Mushroom soup, garlic bread, and a Chicken salad that would have passed happily for a main course in most places we frequent, were all wonderful. When the fairly small main course portions arrived, it was almost a relief, as I doubt we could have eaten much more without permanent damage. Beef was just right, and I chose this point to swap to the Lynch-Bages, which was, as reported by my fellow FT-ers, wonderfully rich, but really, really young. Pat found her skate to be delicious, and had also done the wine switch, this time to the Montrachet.
Thankfully, there was a short pause before the cheeses arrived, and though Pat resisted, I couldn't. Black Pepper Ice-Cream turned out to be quite an interesting choice, especially with hot-fudge sauce.
Now, the real delight! A real cup of Cappucino on a plane! And none of the "Well we can't really make it properly, but we will try" that we have got from BA-F, this was even in a cafe-style cup labelled "Cappucino", just like they do it every day (which, I suppose, they do). So, after a few cups of Cappuchino, and a glass of Congac, sleep became less of a requirement, and more of a foregone conclusion!
I reclined and resumed the movie that I'd seen about the first 10 minutes of earlier, whilst waiting for dinner (when I say resumed, I mean, re-selected and fast-forwarded, as the IFE kept re-booting) and started to watch. Virtually immediately, one of our FA's appeared with a duvet to cover me up - Bless! Not surprisingly I didn't get very far with ST:Nemesis, and soon gave up the ghost, fully reclined and slept soundly for, I'd guess, about 4-5 hours. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Pat woke up earlier than I, and was invited to join the cabin crew for a chat in the galley as she passed, and happily enjoyed "girl-talk" for an hour or so. I think this sums up our crew, they were flawless, but approachable, and very, very friendly.
After I awoke (and located Pat in one of the jumpseats), I went back and finished off the movie, with a few pauses for system resets and the dreaded "Fatal Error" boxes (note to sad techies - StudioCX runs on Windows) I got through it eventually. After the huge meal, I didn't find it difficult to resist the "Refreshment" options, and dozed again until about 2 Hrs before landing, when the crew noticed we were both stirring (or stirred, in Pats case) and started Breakfast for us. I went for a pretty standard breakfast, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon etc., but Pat had a huge bowl of fresh fruit, and muesli (far too healthy for me I'm afraid). We changed back into our standard clothes, and the flight landed reasonably close to it's scheduled arrival of 14:00.
Overall, the flight was 5/5 (though Studio CX could stand a bit of debugging, I can't bring myself to drop a point for that!)
HKG Arrival:
Deboarding was painless, and immigration was pretty empty, we got through within 15 minutes maximum. Somewhere in LHR, I think the priority tagging on our bags went (predictably) horribly wrong, so our bags came off with the masses (after the crew bags, even) so we were delayed at the carousel for around 25-30 mins, but, to make up for it, this time our driver from the Sheraton HKG was waiting for us after customs, so the rest of the transfer was relatively painless.
Overall, 2/5 for arrival, though we checked through BA, this is no excuse for CX not correctly marking and prioritising our bags.
CX250 Menu:
Dinner
Oscietra Caviar & Balik Salmon "Tsar Nicolaj"
with warm new potatoes and Creme Fraiche
Wild Mushroom Cream Soup
Salad with Coriander Chicken, Marinated Artichoke and Cherry Tomatoes
Grilled Beef Tenderloin on Red Wine Sage Sauce
or
Stir-fried Prawns with Chilli Bean Sauce
or
Seared Skate Wing with Beurre Blanc, Couscous and Spinach
or
Pearl Barley Risotto with Green Beans, Roma Tomato and Creme Fraiche
International Cheese Board
Fresh Fruit Salad
or
Gooseberry Crumble
or
Black Pepper Ice Cream with choice of toppings
(And the usual breads, tea/coffee/chocolates etc)
Breakfast
Juices
Fresh Seasonal Fruits
Natural/Fruit/Low Fat Yoghurt
Corn Flakes, Muesli or Rice Crispies
Eggs - Freshly Scrambled, boiled or fried
or
Spanish Omelette
or
Dim-Sum with Stir-fried Noodles
or
Scottish Kippers
with
Grilled Back Bacon, Saussage, Leek and Potato Souffle, Grilled tomato, button mushrooms
(and again, breads, pastries, french toast, tea/coffee)
Refreshments (any time)
Chicken Tikka Panini
Noodle Soup
Chicken Congee
Ice Crean
CX250 Wine List
Champagne
Krug Grande Cuvee
White
Puligny Montrachet 1999
Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2000
Red
Chateau Lynch Bages 1994,1993
Gevrey Chambertin 1995
Marques de Riscal Gran Reserva 1994
Next episode (or "Fit", if you will) - Sheraton HKG, CX to BKK, and BKK.
Ken and Pat.
"Quote, Unquote, Misquote - One more Quote and you would make a gallon!" - Groucho Marx
)I'm intending to do this as a 'part work' as and when I can get to upload the updates.
This is pretty much my first 'full' trip report, I've posted a few odd flight and hotel reports before, but not, as they say, the full monty!
Full planned itinerary:
MAN-LHR (BA Shuttle)
X/LHR-HKG (CX First)
Sheraton HKG
HKG-BKK (CX First)
Sheraton Royal Orchid BKK
BKK-KBV (TG Biz - Thats Krabi, in case you are wondering!)
Sheraton Beach Resort Krabi
KBV-BKK (TG Biz)
X/BKK-SIN (SQ First)
Oriental SIN
SIN-HKG (CX First)
Regal Airport Hotel
HKG-LHR (CX First)
X/LHR-MAN (BA Shuttle)
The core CX flights are a Swiss F-class award (the getting of which was a saga for another time!), the "glue" flights are full-fare tickets, MAN-LHR-MAN and BKK-KBV-BKK-SIN.
Fit the First - Manchester to Hong Kong
Flight BA1393 17Mar03, Seats 5A,B - Scheduled 12:25 - 13:25 (Arrival roughly 10mins late)
Arrived at MAN in plenty of time for our flight (10:00AM for a 12:15 flight, but I had a few final business commitments that I had to take care of in the lounge)
BA Check-In:
Refreshingly painless - one of the reasons I'm not a BA Silver anymore is that I got so annoyed with the BA shuttle that I defected to BD, so I feared some problems as a BA Blue attempting to check-in at the First class check-in. However, I would have to give BA their due by saying that there was absolutely no visible hassle, even with two seperate tickets, one of which was an LX award on a CX flight, booked in award class (Z). The queue gorgons were not in evidence, so we approached check-in un-molested, our bumper-sized hold baggage did not raise any eyebrows, neither did our collection of carry-ons, and we sucessfully got boarding passes for both segments, with baggage checked through to HKG.
Check-in was, overall 5/5.
Security at MAN was noticeably stricter than usual, and this was a theme that would run through the whole day. I don't consider discussing specific details of security arrangements as appropriate, but, as a regular traveller through both MAN and LHR I was acutely aware that both us and our bags got a much more thorough check. Why, anyone would have thought there was a war on....
BA Lounge:
Perhaps it's because I usually inhabit the BD diamond lounge thesedays, but I'm sure that the Terraces in MAN get larger every time I'm in them! No problems getting into the lounge, access was granted purely based on our C-class domestic tickets, they did not appear to look at our onward boarding passes. Overall the MAN lounge is a very good mix, with plenty of plane-spotting options for those so inclined. My only negative was that there are only two internet workstations, one of which was out-of-order, and the other spent most of the two hours surrounded by a crowd of my fellow business travellers viewing who-knows-what. I started my Monday conference call (main reason for the early arrival) and, as luck would have it, our flight seemed to be the only one running on-time, so I was on the call right up to the gate.
Lounge is, to be fair, 4/5 (get some more PC's!!)
BA Shuttle boarding:
No boarding hassles, even with 2pcs carry-on each. Process was orderly but slow, and there was no shortage of stowage. I could have continued my call all the way on board, but elected to make my apologies at the aircraft door, which we reached at roughly 12:15.
5/5 can't complain.
BA Shuttle flight:
Front cabin of this european configured plane was pretty full, and as so often happens on the shuttle, we had 5A,B but 5C was allocated to another pax (even though there were spare rows). BA's seat allocation algorithm seems to favour single travellers! Meal was actually quite good, and consisted of a Chicken Ceasar filled bun, water, and a round from the drinks trolley. BA shuttle catering seems to have improved since the days of the "multi-coloured lunchbox", and, since BD introduced those, erm, wonderful "bento boxes" on short-haul, the comparison seems to be getting better. Flight itself was unremarkable, with the usual 15min hold over LHR, and long taxi after landing.
Overall, 3.5/5 (for a C ticket I still think I deserve C service...)
LHR Transfer:
One of the drivers for flying BA, rather than my usual choice of BD C-class was that CX had already told me that their connection desk did not open until 15:00, and so, if we were to be sure of connecting airside, I needed to be in possesion of a boarding pass, which BD could not issue. Having not made the T1-T3 connection before, I foolishly followed the signs, got to the Flight Connections Centre, and ended up on one of those inter-terminal busses. For anyone who has an advanced certificate in LHR navigation, and a premium boarding pass, I'd be inclined to do this transfer landside, exiting via domestic arrivals, through the Heathrow Express tunnel, and up into T3 and thence through fast-track security. However, this is how we learn new things! We got to T3, and commenced looking for the AA Flagship Lounge. And looked.... and gave up and asked.....
Flight CX250 17Mar03, Seats 3D,G - Scheduled 18:05 - 14:00++
CX/AA Flagship Lounge:
Well, Concorde Room, it isn't. I really feel for anyone who does this trip in the opposite direction, as the FL at LHR must be a huge let-down for anyone who was cosetted in the Wing on the way out!
Lounge access was no problem, even though our boarding passes were on BA stock, and didn't say F on them anywhere. The lounge staff were friendly and helpful, and this certainly helped to make up for the dire lounge, that was definitely more Aeroflot than Cathay. What happened to Champagne, premium drinks and chairs that don't look like they've seen more passengers than the QE2? Canapes were appreciated but a bit boring (mini-quiches, finger sandwiches etc.) but business facilities (at least for the 21st century) were a bit lacking - a photocopier is good, but wireless internet and a few LAN connected PCs would have been better!
Lounge is 3/5 only because of the helpful staff - lounge itself deserves less, I'm afraid.
CX250 Boarding:
Called in the lounge at 17:35 (due to distance to gate) however, the gate (18 I think it was...) was a relatively short distance away, via two travelators. From the point of view of a passenger that has not taken this flight (and doesn't know the score) boarding was a bit of a mess. There was someone at the door to the gate who was checking passports, and so naturally a queue had formed, though it turned out we could bypass this and walk directly through to the "real" gate, where there were seperate entrances for F/J and Y. We were waved through to the Y line, but this was OK since it was empty! Boarding of the 747 was via two bridges, so we went straight through the forward airbridge and turned left (which, I have to say, is always a nice feeling!). We were greeted and offered drinks virtually immediately, and so, after stowing my and my partners carry-ons, getting our jackets hung up, and getting sat down, we were happily cosseted in two of the centre seats with matching champagne flutes (Champers on the ground appeared to be Billericart-Salmon, not Krug, admitedly, but not plonk either, a good compromise, IMHO).
Overall, boarding as a "green" F-class passenger was 3/5, but this was entirely due to ground ops - as is true on most airlines, once through the door, service was flawless.
CX250 Flight:
Pushed back at 18:15, slightly behind schedule, but we were in the air pretty sharpish, certainly by 18:40, though I wasn't looking at my watch during takeoff. Cabin was 9 out of 12 seats filled, and Pat took a window seat for takeoff, with no problems. Amenity kits (luminous green bumbags for the ladies, grey, erm, things for the gents) full of Biotherm toiletries, a choice of two sizes of sleep-suits (which were light olive, and looked unnervingly like combat fatigues), togther with slippers and eyeshades. Service commenced with the drinks we had ordered during taxi, and the Krug started flowing together with canapes . Menus appeared and shortly afterwards our MdC introduced herself and took orders for dinner (full menu below, and what a menu it was!). We both opted into the full set of appetisers, soup and salad, Pat went for the Skate, whilst I had the Beef tenderloin. The cabin crew were willing to serve at your pace, though the initial appetisers were served from a trolley. Caviar is an expensive taste to acquire, which is probably why I usually steer clear, but I would have to say that it was very good with the warm new potatoes, though I did decide not to go fully Russian and take the offered shot of Wodka (I doubt it would have mixed well with Krug). I think I may have fazed our host somewhat when I turned down an additional dollop of Caviar for an extra-large serving of Balik Salmon, which was absolutely out of this world!
Mushroom soup, garlic bread, and a Chicken salad that would have passed happily for a main course in most places we frequent, were all wonderful. When the fairly small main course portions arrived, it was almost a relief, as I doubt we could have eaten much more without permanent damage. Beef was just right, and I chose this point to swap to the Lynch-Bages, which was, as reported by my fellow FT-ers, wonderfully rich, but really, really young. Pat found her skate to be delicious, and had also done the wine switch, this time to the Montrachet.
Thankfully, there was a short pause before the cheeses arrived, and though Pat resisted, I couldn't. Black Pepper Ice-Cream turned out to be quite an interesting choice, especially with hot-fudge sauce.
Now, the real delight! A real cup of Cappucino on a plane! And none of the "Well we can't really make it properly, but we will try" that we have got from BA-F, this was even in a cafe-style cup labelled "Cappucino", just like they do it every day (which, I suppose, they do). So, after a few cups of Cappuchino, and a glass of Congac, sleep became less of a requirement, and more of a foregone conclusion!
I reclined and resumed the movie that I'd seen about the first 10 minutes of earlier, whilst waiting for dinner (when I say resumed, I mean, re-selected and fast-forwarded, as the IFE kept re-booting) and started to watch. Virtually immediately, one of our FA's appeared with a duvet to cover me up - Bless! Not surprisingly I didn't get very far with ST:Nemesis, and soon gave up the ghost, fully reclined and slept soundly for, I'd guess, about 4-5 hours. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Pat woke up earlier than I, and was invited to join the cabin crew for a chat in the galley as she passed, and happily enjoyed "girl-talk" for an hour or so. I think this sums up our crew, they were flawless, but approachable, and very, very friendly.
After I awoke (and located Pat in one of the jumpseats), I went back and finished off the movie, with a few pauses for system resets and the dreaded "Fatal Error" boxes (note to sad techies - StudioCX runs on Windows) I got through it eventually. After the huge meal, I didn't find it difficult to resist the "Refreshment" options, and dozed again until about 2 Hrs before landing, when the crew noticed we were both stirring (or stirred, in Pats case) and started Breakfast for us. I went for a pretty standard breakfast, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon etc., but Pat had a huge bowl of fresh fruit, and muesli (far too healthy for me I'm afraid). We changed back into our standard clothes, and the flight landed reasonably close to it's scheduled arrival of 14:00.
Overall, the flight was 5/5 (though Studio CX could stand a bit of debugging, I can't bring myself to drop a point for that!)
HKG Arrival:
Deboarding was painless, and immigration was pretty empty, we got through within 15 minutes maximum. Somewhere in LHR, I think the priority tagging on our bags went (predictably) horribly wrong, so our bags came off with the masses (after the crew bags, even) so we were delayed at the carousel for around 25-30 mins, but, to make up for it, this time our driver from the Sheraton HKG was waiting for us after customs, so the rest of the transfer was relatively painless.
Overall, 2/5 for arrival, though we checked through BA, this is no excuse for CX not correctly marking and prioritising our bags.
CX250 Menu:
Dinner
Oscietra Caviar & Balik Salmon "Tsar Nicolaj"
with warm new potatoes and Creme Fraiche
Wild Mushroom Cream Soup
Salad with Coriander Chicken, Marinated Artichoke and Cherry Tomatoes
Grilled Beef Tenderloin on Red Wine Sage Sauce
or
Stir-fried Prawns with Chilli Bean Sauce
or
Seared Skate Wing with Beurre Blanc, Couscous and Spinach
or
Pearl Barley Risotto with Green Beans, Roma Tomato and Creme Fraiche
International Cheese Board
Fresh Fruit Salad
or
Gooseberry Crumble
or
Black Pepper Ice Cream with choice of toppings
(And the usual breads, tea/coffee/chocolates etc)
Breakfast
Juices
Fresh Seasonal Fruits
Natural/Fruit/Low Fat Yoghurt
Corn Flakes, Muesli or Rice Crispies
Eggs - Freshly Scrambled, boiled or fried
or
Spanish Omelette
or
Dim-Sum with Stir-fried Noodles
or
Scottish Kippers
with
Grilled Back Bacon, Saussage, Leek and Potato Souffle, Grilled tomato, button mushrooms
(and again, breads, pastries, french toast, tea/coffee)
Refreshments (any time)
Chicken Tikka Panini
Noodle Soup
Chicken Congee
Ice Crean
CX250 Wine List
Champagne
Krug Grande Cuvee
White
Puligny Montrachet 1999
Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2000
Red
Chateau Lynch Bages 1994,1993
Gevrey Chambertin 1995
Marques de Riscal Gran Reserva 1994
Next episode (or "Fit", if you will) - Sheraton HKG, CX to BKK, and BKK.
Ken and Pat.
"Quote, Unquote, Misquote - One more Quote and you would make a gallon!" - Groucho Marx
Mar 31, 2003, 1:08 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Seat 1A
Programs: Non-status paid F/J (best value for $$$)
Posts: 4,124
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by KenF:
HKG Arrival:
Deboarding was painless, and immigration was pretty empty, we got through within 15 minutes maximum. Somewhere in LHR, I think the priority tagging on our bags went (predictably) horribly wrong, so our bags came off with the masses (after the crew bags, even) so we were delayed at the carousel for around 25-30 mins,</font>
HKG Arrival:
Deboarding was painless, and immigration was pretty empty, we got through within 15 minutes maximum. Somewhere in LHR, I think the priority tagging on our bags went (predictably) horribly wrong, so our bags came off with the masses (after the crew bags, even) so we were delayed at the carousel for around 25-30 mins,</font>
In my opinion, the Oneworld carriers should have a unified "Priority" baggage tag (in addition to the carrier specific tags) just like the Star Alliance carriers.
Mar 31, 2003, 5:22 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Silicon Valley
Programs: AA:PLT&3MM, HGP:DIA, SPG:GOLD
Posts: 1,896
Great report! CX is normally good at retagging luggage. I find this to be true at LAX (e.g. SJC-LAX-HKG, AA will priority-tag my bag with theirs but when I retrieve them in HKG, lo and behold, CX also attached their priority tags). I wonder if it's more a function of LHR than CX. Eagerly awaiting your next installment(s) as I'll be traveling to BKK in May.
Mar 31, 2003, 11:40 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: South Bend, IN
Programs: AA EXP 3 MM; Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite
Posts: 18,562
I had the same experience coming off of an AA flight from JFK. At SFO, CX put tis own tags on and the bag was one of the first off at myu final desitnation of KIX.
Apr 2, 2003, 11:12 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Wirral, UK
Programs: BA-Gld, BD Lifetime Gld, LH Pleb, *Wd GPG, HH-Dmd, Amex: can take their Cent card and <CENSORED>
Posts: 756
Fit the Second - Hong Kong, Hong Kong and Hong Kong
Sorry, but it turns out we had far too much to say about Hong Kong, so I'm giving it it's own episode - Next one is half written, honest!
And so, in our last thrilling episode, we left you exiting arrivals at HKG Chep Lap Kok relived to find our driver from the Sheraton waiting for us with name-board in hand. The transfer to the hotel went smoothly (last time we did this, we spent 15 mins touring the airport looking for our driver, who had missed us coming out of the arrivals door.) And so, we re-join you at:
Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers 18th March - 25th March (Standard room booked)
Check-In:
Our driver called ahead as he approached (probably said "My god! These people have a lot of luggage, bring help! lots of help!" in Cantonese) so staff were waiting as we pulled into the hotel, and our baggage was smoothly unloaded and spirited away (apart from the holdall that holds my travel file, reservations, confirmations etc. which I tend to keep with me..) and we wandered up the escalator to check-in. Check-in was not really busy, and we got an agent pretty much as soon as we walked up. Confirmed my name, and they found my reservation without problems, confirmed the rate, and started to explain the various limitations (as the hotel is still under renovation) that we would encounter during our stay. No suite upgrade this time (due to renovation, most suites were not available, it was explained) but they gave us a corner room with a full harbour view, on one of the renovated floors, which seemed pretty acceptable under the circumstances. Our benefits as SPG plat. were explained, and included the towers breakfast buffet, access to the towers lounge (including the cocktail hours), and the new Asian "amenity choice" program, from which I, inevitably, took the points. I was then asked if I was travelling with a PC, and told that my room had high-speed internet access, which I could use for free during my stay, all I had to do was request a password. The usual check-in protocols complete, we gave in our luggage check to get our bags delivered, and were directed to the lifts.
Overall, check-in was flawless, with a pre-assigned upgrade, helpful staff, and all questions answered so 5/5
Room and Hotel:
A seven night stay in a hotel is pretty major, so I'll try to cover a bit of what the state of the hotel was during our stay. As I said, the renovation that was starting when we were here in July is now in full-swing, though the room we were in this time actually experienced less construction noice. Key points about the hotel as it stands today:
No Towers rooms - 17th and 18th floors are closed for renovation, so the towers have been relocated to the 9th (and 10th?) floors. The towers lounge on the 9th floor does not exactly look temporary, so I'd imagine the renovation will take some time. We missed the view from the towers lounge, indeed, we missed having windows, as the current lounge has none.
No Pool/Jaccuzi - This hotel has a quite nice pool/sun/jaccuzi area on the roof, which was, sadly, closed. The fitness centre and spa on the top floor is also closed, but relocated (in much reduced form) to another floor. As an aside, between the towers lounge, towers reception, spa suites and fitness centre, I'm beginning to understand why this hotel is short of suites, as what few are left have been comandeered!
Half of each floor closed - I can't vouch for every floor, but all the ones we visited have a temporary partition after the lift lobby, effectively blocking off the rear part of the hotel - from behind which sounds of heavy construction emanate. If you hadn't seen the hotel before you might not notice...
We were aware of most of the above when we booked, but had banked on the pool being open (original completion was mid-march, but it had slippped) so we seriously considered moving to another hotel after we had slept off some of our jet-lag. In the end, the weather in HKG during much of our stay was a little grey, so we decided that we wouldn't miss the roof-top, and the view from our room really was pretty breathtaking, so, all in all, we decided to stay.
Our room was a renovated deluxe harbour view room. As you entered and saw the glass desk in the corner, you knew you had entered designer territory! The theme was mahogany, hessian, and glass - lots of glass. The glass window between the bathroom and the room would allow the lone traveller to admire the harbour view from, erm, any seat, but thankfully western privacy ideas had been catered for by means of a roller-blind. The glass basin and worktop was innovative, but was already chipped, so I'm not sure if form or function will win with this idea, but overall the bathroom was slightly cramped but functional, with a huge seperate shower stall, double-headed shower (which was fixed in a position that perfectly targetted the gap in the shower door, thus ensuring a very wet floor when in operation) and acceptable (but not huge) bathtub. The room overall was not large, but had plenty of storage space, the afforementioned sweeping glass desk (never loose those papers again!) office chair, wide-screen TV, easy chair, glass coffee table and interesting pull-out bedside tables. Other noteworthy ideas were the night-light that provided gentle light under the internal bathroom window (they really, really do want to show off that glass basin, methinks!), pre-provided iron and board, and a pull-out kettle for us brits who like a cup of tea.
Overall, the room was 4/5 - Fix that shower door!!
Hotel related highlights of our stay:
No problems with either towers breakfast (served in the dynasty restaurant on 2nd floor) or lounge access, which was programmed into our keys. In some hotels this "benefit" is given pretty grudgingly, but not here.
I would say, however, that if I had paid for a towers room (which I considered doing) I think I would be justifably unhappy - I don't think the towers at this hotel will justify the premium on the rate until the renovation has finished.
Did very little dining in the hotel, but tried the attached bar (Someplace Else) for evening meals a few times, and found them very helpful (I got stuck on a conference-call back home, and arrived at 5 to midnight begging for food - they kept the kitchen open and served us without hassle, which is my idea of real service!). Special mention to the weekend late-night supper buffet in the Cafe, which is pretty specatcular, and runs till 01:00 when it is on (fri/sat and public holidays) - I'd imagine this is a godsend for jet-lagged travellers who wake up starving.
The in-room internet was a little strange, and after requesting access I got a "secure payslip" style message with username and password. Plugged in with the supplied ethernet cable and initially did not work too well, but this turned out to be a disagreement with my firewall software - which doesn't usually mind this kind of thing. Disabling the firewall made the connection work as advertised.
Overall, the hotel was 5/5 - with minor problems resolved with a smile.
SPG recognition at this hotel now seems to be very good 4/5 this time, but I'm confident that suites will become available after the renovation
Non-Hotel highlights
Yes, in seven nights we did find a few things to do outside the hotel
I did the various bits of business I needed to do. We went up the peak (didn't get to do that last time), went and saw the Po-Lin monastery on Lantau Island (worth the trip), shopped 'till we dropped, and had some truly memorable meals! The Hunan Garden in Central still serves a good spicy meal (and I do mean spicy) and the Spring Deer, just a short walk from the Sheraton serves real Beijing style food at real Hong Kong (i.e. reasonable) prices. Pat and I split a Peking Duck there that showed us what we were missing in our local chineese restaurants!
One thing I would like to pass-on is that we took the advice from previous FT postings and got an Octopus card, which is basically a stored-value payment card for the MTR(subway) buses, trams, and pretty much any form of public transport in Hong Kong. Best advice we ever followed - if you plan to visit HKG for more than 3 days, get one. For less than 3 days, consider one of the special tourist deals, especially if you need to use the airport express, but even then, the packages that provide you with a pre-charged octopus card will save you so much fiddling for change, you will, I can assure you, benefit!
Overall, it was a good trip that went by far too quickly!
Non-Hotel lowlights
Well, turning on the TV was pretty scary - one minute we are seeing the war unfold in that chilling "live as it happens" way that CNN does far too well, the next minute we are hearing about Atypical Pneumonia (or SARS as it has now been dubbed) and how it appears that the starting point for it in Hong Kong is a hotel in Kowloon (not ours, thankfully). Far too many people wearing flak-jackets on TV, far too many people wearing face-masks on the subway....
Check-out
When I mentioned late check-out, I was told that I could have 18:00 if I wanted (can't complain there!) but plumped for 17:00, as, for some reason, we had decided we would like to spend some time at the airport.....
Packed two lots of luggage, as one lot would be left to re-collect at the airport on our return, and the check-out process was as flawless as check-in. Bags collected, bill correct, car waiting for us, and, by the time we had walked down from the hotel lobby, our bags were being loaded into it.
Nothing to complain about at all, this hotel offers a good option, especially for SPG Gold/Plats, who will get good service at an attractive price 5/5
Next Fit will be HKG-BKK on CX, Bangkok and BKK-KBV on TG
"A truly wise man does not play leapfrog with a Unicorn" - the fortune program
[Edited for various formatting blunders!]
[This message has been edited by KenF (edited 04-02-2003).]
Sorry, but it turns out we had far too much to say about Hong Kong, so I'm giving it it's own episode - Next one is half written, honest!
And so, in our last thrilling episode, we left you exiting arrivals at HKG Chep Lap Kok relived to find our driver from the Sheraton waiting for us with name-board in hand. The transfer to the hotel went smoothly (last time we did this, we spent 15 mins touring the airport looking for our driver, who had missed us coming out of the arrivals door.) And so, we re-join you at:
Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers 18th March - 25th March (Standard room booked)
Check-In:
Our driver called ahead as he approached (probably said "My god! These people have a lot of luggage, bring help! lots of help!" in Cantonese) so staff were waiting as we pulled into the hotel, and our baggage was smoothly unloaded and spirited away (apart from the holdall that holds my travel file, reservations, confirmations etc. which I tend to keep with me..) and we wandered up the escalator to check-in. Check-in was not really busy, and we got an agent pretty much as soon as we walked up. Confirmed my name, and they found my reservation without problems, confirmed the rate, and started to explain the various limitations (as the hotel is still under renovation) that we would encounter during our stay. No suite upgrade this time (due to renovation, most suites were not available, it was explained) but they gave us a corner room with a full harbour view, on one of the renovated floors, which seemed pretty acceptable under the circumstances. Our benefits as SPG plat. were explained, and included the towers breakfast buffet, access to the towers lounge (including the cocktail hours), and the new Asian "amenity choice" program, from which I, inevitably, took the points. I was then asked if I was travelling with a PC, and told that my room had high-speed internet access, which I could use for free during my stay, all I had to do was request a password. The usual check-in protocols complete, we gave in our luggage check to get our bags delivered, and were directed to the lifts.
Overall, check-in was flawless, with a pre-assigned upgrade, helpful staff, and all questions answered so 5/5
Room and Hotel:
A seven night stay in a hotel is pretty major, so I'll try to cover a bit of what the state of the hotel was during our stay. As I said, the renovation that was starting when we were here in July is now in full-swing, though the room we were in this time actually experienced less construction noice. Key points about the hotel as it stands today:
No Towers rooms - 17th and 18th floors are closed for renovation, so the towers have been relocated to the 9th (and 10th?) floors. The towers lounge on the 9th floor does not exactly look temporary, so I'd imagine the renovation will take some time. We missed the view from the towers lounge, indeed, we missed having windows, as the current lounge has none.
No Pool/Jaccuzi - This hotel has a quite nice pool/sun/jaccuzi area on the roof, which was, sadly, closed. The fitness centre and spa on the top floor is also closed, but relocated (in much reduced form) to another floor. As an aside, between the towers lounge, towers reception, spa suites and fitness centre, I'm beginning to understand why this hotel is short of suites, as what few are left have been comandeered!
Half of each floor closed - I can't vouch for every floor, but all the ones we visited have a temporary partition after the lift lobby, effectively blocking off the rear part of the hotel - from behind which sounds of heavy construction emanate. If you hadn't seen the hotel before you might not notice...
We were aware of most of the above when we booked, but had banked on the pool being open (original completion was mid-march, but it had slippped) so we seriously considered moving to another hotel after we had slept off some of our jet-lag. In the end, the weather in HKG during much of our stay was a little grey, so we decided that we wouldn't miss the roof-top, and the view from our room really was pretty breathtaking, so, all in all, we decided to stay.
Our room was a renovated deluxe harbour view room. As you entered and saw the glass desk in the corner, you knew you had entered designer territory! The theme was mahogany, hessian, and glass - lots of glass. The glass window between the bathroom and the room would allow the lone traveller to admire the harbour view from, erm, any seat, but thankfully western privacy ideas had been catered for by means of a roller-blind. The glass basin and worktop was innovative, but was already chipped, so I'm not sure if form or function will win with this idea, but overall the bathroom was slightly cramped but functional, with a huge seperate shower stall, double-headed shower (which was fixed in a position that perfectly targetted the gap in the shower door, thus ensuring a very wet floor when in operation) and acceptable (but not huge) bathtub. The room overall was not large, but had plenty of storage space, the afforementioned sweeping glass desk (never loose those papers again!) office chair, wide-screen TV, easy chair, glass coffee table and interesting pull-out bedside tables. Other noteworthy ideas were the night-light that provided gentle light under the internal bathroom window (they really, really do want to show off that glass basin, methinks!), pre-provided iron and board, and a pull-out kettle for us brits who like a cup of tea.
Overall, the room was 4/5 - Fix that shower door!!
Hotel related highlights of our stay:
No problems with either towers breakfast (served in the dynasty restaurant on 2nd floor) or lounge access, which was programmed into our keys. In some hotels this "benefit" is given pretty grudgingly, but not here.
I would say, however, that if I had paid for a towers room (which I considered doing) I think I would be justifably unhappy - I don't think the towers at this hotel will justify the premium on the rate until the renovation has finished.
Did very little dining in the hotel, but tried the attached bar (Someplace Else) for evening meals a few times, and found them very helpful (I got stuck on a conference-call back home, and arrived at 5 to midnight begging for food - they kept the kitchen open and served us without hassle, which is my idea of real service!). Special mention to the weekend late-night supper buffet in the Cafe, which is pretty specatcular, and runs till 01:00 when it is on (fri/sat and public holidays) - I'd imagine this is a godsend for jet-lagged travellers who wake up starving.
The in-room internet was a little strange, and after requesting access I got a "secure payslip" style message with username and password. Plugged in with the supplied ethernet cable and initially did not work too well, but this turned out to be a disagreement with my firewall software - which doesn't usually mind this kind of thing. Disabling the firewall made the connection work as advertised.
Overall, the hotel was 5/5 - with minor problems resolved with a smile.
SPG recognition at this hotel now seems to be very good 4/5 this time, but I'm confident that suites will become available after the renovation
Non-Hotel highlights
Yes, in seven nights we did find a few things to do outside the hotel
I did the various bits of business I needed to do. We went up the peak (didn't get to do that last time), went and saw the Po-Lin monastery on Lantau Island (worth the trip), shopped 'till we dropped, and had some truly memorable meals! The Hunan Garden in Central still serves a good spicy meal (and I do mean spicy) and the Spring Deer, just a short walk from the Sheraton serves real Beijing style food at real Hong Kong (i.e. reasonable) prices. Pat and I split a Peking Duck there that showed us what we were missing in our local chineese restaurants!
One thing I would like to pass-on is that we took the advice from previous FT postings and got an Octopus card, which is basically a stored-value payment card for the MTR(subway) buses, trams, and pretty much any form of public transport in Hong Kong. Best advice we ever followed - if you plan to visit HKG for more than 3 days, get one. For less than 3 days, consider one of the special tourist deals, especially if you need to use the airport express, but even then, the packages that provide you with a pre-charged octopus card will save you so much fiddling for change, you will, I can assure you, benefit!
Overall, it was a good trip that went by far too quickly!
Non-Hotel lowlights
Well, turning on the TV was pretty scary - one minute we are seeing the war unfold in that chilling "live as it happens" way that CNN does far too well, the next minute we are hearing about Atypical Pneumonia (or SARS as it has now been dubbed) and how it appears that the starting point for it in Hong Kong is a hotel in Kowloon (not ours, thankfully). Far too many people wearing flak-jackets on TV, far too many people wearing face-masks on the subway....
Check-out
When I mentioned late check-out, I was told that I could have 18:00 if I wanted (can't complain there!) but plumped for 17:00, as, for some reason, we had decided we would like to spend some time at the airport.....
Packed two lots of luggage, as one lot would be left to re-collect at the airport on our return, and the check-out process was as flawless as check-in. Bags collected, bill correct, car waiting for us, and, by the time we had walked down from the hotel lobby, our bags were being loaded into it.
Nothing to complain about at all, this hotel offers a good option, especially for SPG Gold/Plats, who will get good service at an attractive price 5/5
Next Fit will be HKG-BKK on CX, Bangkok and BKK-KBV on TG
"A truly wise man does not play leapfrog with a Unicorn" - the fortune program
[Edited for various formatting blunders!]
[This message has been edited by KenF (edited 04-02-2003).]