origin

Another enjoyable section, thanks. I appreciate and understand that you are busy, but I am really enjoying this report.

Personally I am not sure if the people on the yacts are posing or not. Its like the small patios on apartments, you sit to enjoy. It so happens that you watch the people walking past, who are watching you. I know the med gets windy in the afternoon, sometimes you cant go out and hide in a bay or cruise.

Although I do feel its the same as Las Vegas, some people pay serious money to sit by a pool being watched by people who cant afford it.

I do agree that sailing is better than motor, especially with fuel costs these days!!

Its an area that I would love to go back to. The last time I had a chance I was too unwell. Maybe next year.

Thanks for a great update. I will now leave you to either pack or unpack, which I think is one of the hardest things to do.

1010101

Agree on the posing thing. It never seems to be the people who actually paid for the yacht that do it; always the offspring/hangers on.

Looking forward to the BA WT+ report. Ive done that flight on a 747 but never in the new WT+ on the 773, so im hopeful thats what you flew on?

Love_to_Travels

very impressive TR. keep up the great work

dat4life

Fantastic TR Matt! Can't wait for the rest.

000

Really looking forward to the rest. Still blown away by your photos!

matthandy

Thanks Genius1. For photos, Lightroom does the trick. You can turn something bland looking into a masterpiece!

Perhaps the posing is just part of the culture there. It's not a culture that I appreciate though.

You should try easyJet, they are generally fine.

You might be right origin. Normally though these big yachts have a few decks that you can sit out on. I was just a bit surprised that people would choose to sit out the back and also face towards people.

New money versus old money perhaps?

Yep, it's on the 777-300, so the new WTP. I travelled it on the outbound too if you take a look at some of the earlier pages of this report.

Thanks Love_to_Travels.

Thanks harrison1186, there's a couple more sections to come.

Thanks 000, yes it takes quite a bit of effort to prepare all of the photos, so I'm glad that people enjoy them.

matthandy

London to Hong Kong – British Airways New World Traveller Plus

Well, the time had come for me to head back to Sydney. I’m not sure which is ‘home’, the UK or Australia as it always seems that I’m excited to leave and excited to go back. This time though, leaving the UK was going to be more difficult as it meant saying goodbye to my niece. I know that I keep going on about her, like a new parent, but, not having children of my own, she is the closest thing to having a daughter. I never really understood ‘it’ until now, that instant bond that parents and relatives feel but I do now, it’s full on.

I woke up at about 7.30. My Dad was going to pop round to say goodbye before he went off to work. A quick chat and then he was gone. I had a quick bit of breakfast and then said good bye to my sister and niece and headed off back to Kent. The journey was very quick and I have to say that it was a joy driving on UK roads again, even if the little Hyundai I had wasn’t really up to much.

I had about an hour to kill before I was due to meet up with my friends (the ones whom I went to France with), where I would also drop off the car. So, with a little bit of room left in my suitcase, I took a trip to Sainsburys. You don’t really how much you miss certain things until you see them all lined up on a shelf. I bought a stash of Cadbury’s Fudge bars (my favourite) as well as some toiletries (the checkout lady must have thought I had some kind of personal hygiene problem!) and I even pondered taking back some Robinson’s squash and Walker’s Prawn Cocktail crisps but thought better of it.

All stocked up I made my way to the Europcar office to dispose of the car and meet up with my friends. My mate and I went to go and pay a visit to my tenant whilst his girlfriend went into town to do a bit of shopping. Flat visit complete (my tenant is amazing, my place is like I never left it) and we decided to go and grab some lunch at a local pub.

Lunch was a long drawn out affair, deliberately, as my flight wasn’t until 10pm so there was no point in rushing to Heathrow just yet. We decided to go for three courses, and I’m glad that we did as I took care of the bill to say thank you to my friends for looking after me. I’m glad that they enjoyed the meal.

And with that, it was time to head off. We hit the M25 and unsurprisingly, got stuck in quite a bit of traffic. It took us a good couple of hours to get to LHR, but it was fine as we had given ourselves plenty of time of course.

I said my goodbyes and then headed into T5 to check in. It was about 6pm at this point. The terminal didn’t seem very busy, which I found surprising, for a week day evening. The check in agent was quite friendly and asked if I knew where the lounge was, which I did. There was no gate showing at this point, so I made my way through fast track security (empty) and then into the Galleries Club South lounge. I normally try to get a spot by the window but these were all taken so I made my way to the back of the lounge, near the windows, but in a quiet spot with a number of long sofas. I tried to plug my laptop in but the plugs weren’t working for some reason so the chap sitting next to me helped me move the table out to use the floor plugs instead.

Well, there were a few characters in the lounge tonight! One particularly slobbish sod was sprawled out over an entire sofa. He was lying on his front and using his laptop. He must have thought that he was on his own sofa at home….

Slob


View from where I was sitting


Sorting through the photos for this report – with a Vodka and Lemonade

I didn’t take any more photos of the lounge, but there are plenty in my previous trip reports which can be found here, here and here.

I spent the next two hours catching up on some TV on iPlayer (including the Apprentice final) and having a couple of drinks. I really wanted to be able to sleep on this flight so I kept away from anything with caffeine in it.

At about 8.30pm the flight was showing as departing from gate C61. This is good because I had yet to visit T5C having visited T5B a couple of times previously. I made my way out of the lounge and gave a quick nod to the horse lamp that was guarding the entrance and then picked up a book at WHSmith for the journey noticing that they were cheekily selling Virgin Atlantic model planes!

I then made my way down to the train to transfer to T5C. The train journey was very quick and soon I was out amongst the seats near gate C61. There’s no lounge here, but it looked like boarding was due to start soon anyway so that wasn’t really an issue.

Cheeky!


Bye bye horse lamp


Heading down to T5C

Whilst I waited for boarding I made a couple of final phone calls. My mother was in the UK at the time so I was able to give her a quick call to say goodbye. I also rang my sister and my Dad.

There isn’t really much to do at T5C and it really does feel like you are out in the sticks! I did get a chance to see the BA 777-300 that I’d be boarding shortly as well as a couple of other aircraft and T5A and T5B. The light was fading though, making photographs a little difficult.

At 9.30pm the boarding announcement was made (a little late since our departure time was 10pm) with customers needing extra time invited to board first, followed by customers in First and Club World as well as Executive Club Silver and Gold members and equivalent Oneworld card holders. I hold a BA Silver card, so I made my way towards the desks, using the fast track lane which thankfully worked quite well.

Seats at T5C


T5C


Gate C61


Looking towards T5B and T5A


G-STBD that would be taking me to Hong Kong

London to Hong Kong – British Airways, New World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)

Flight: BA27
Carrier: British Airways (BA)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER – G-STBD
Scheduled Departure Time: 22:00
Scheduled Duration: 11h 45m
Scheduled Arrival Time: 16:45
Travel Class: Premium Economy
Seat: 23K(seat plan)

As boarding commenced I had my boarding pass scanned and walked down the air bridge. Wow, this must be one of the longest in the world! It took a good few minutes to actually make it to the aircraft door. I was greeted at the door and directed to my seat, passing through the Club World cabin.

I had chosen seat 23A which is directly over the wing and just behind the emergency exit row. With the 777-300 you have to be careful as some of the seats do not have windows (including the emergency exit row). 23A seemed like a good compromise, as I got a window, but I was reasonably near the front of the cabin too.

As I arrived in the cabin, it was clear that I was the first one there. There were no crew to be seen, except a jacket that was hanging on the door handle. I’m pretty sure that this wasn’t a great idea from a safety point of view. As the cabin was empty, I was able to grab a few quick shots of this new World Traveller Plus product from BA.

Hanging jacket


New WTP cabin on this 777-300ER


New WTP cabin on this 777-300ER


Emergency Exit row seats


My seat 23K

After the snaps I put my camera away and settled down into my seat. On the seat were a blanket, pillow and noise cancelling headphones (which also included a small amenity kit). The Captain came on the PA system at about 9.50pm to let us know that the flight time would be 11 hours and 30 minutes and that we were expecting to leave on time. I thought at this point that we might have a reasonably light load as boarding had started late but we were still expected to get away on schedule. Boarding was complete about 5 minutes later and I was lucky enough to have a seat free next to me. In fact, the premium economy cabin was only about half full.

We pushed back at 10pm and the safety demonstration commenced. We had a reasonably short taxi to the active runway and had a windy take off at about 10.15pm. The seat belt sign was off after about 10 minutes and the crew were free to start the service.

I took the opportunity to explore the seat a bit more, having not really done so on the flight to London. I found that the magazine pocket was quite narrow, which restricted what could be placed in there. At least however, the seat was a hard shell design which meant that shoving items into the pocket didn’t give the person in front of me an unwanted back massage.

Legroom was pretty good and I really liked the fact that there was no-one next to me as it meant that I could spread out a bit. The IFE was started up and I took a look at the controller. I found the location a little annoying, as it was shoved down the side of the seat. I think if I was a large person I might struggle to access it.

As we continued to climb, I took a quick look out of the window and noticed that it was still light outside. I wondered if this would actually be a day flight, given that we were due to land in Hong Kong in the afternoon.

Leg room


IFE control


A glimpse of light out of the window

The crew came around to offer hot towels and then menus. Dinner would be served as the first meal, and then curiously, breakfast, later in the flight. As mentioned in the report for the first leg of this flight (Hong Kong to London), BA have recently upgraded the catering in the premium economy cabin to include a choice of main meal from the Club World (business class) cabin. The starter, dessert and second meal however are the standard economy fare, although better presented, with a linen napkin and metal cutlery for the main meal.

matthandy

The service started with the bar trolley and the friendly crew member serving my side prepared and vodka and orange for me and then offered wine for dinner. I declined and just went with water instead. Mini-pretzels were offered as a snack. Shortly after the drinks, the food trolley arrived. I chose to have the beef as my main dish. The tray was well presented, but unfortunately, the main dish was not very good. The passionfruit posset was great though!

Drinks and pretzels


Main, beef

After the dinner service was cleared away, the CSD made an announcement regarding duty free and then asked that people close their blinds so that everyone could sleep. That’s exactly what I did do and took the blanket from the seat next to me as well as my own and then settled down.

Surprisingly, I managed to get about 6-7 hours sleep, which was a miracle because I never normally sleep that long on flights and certainly when not in a flat bed. There was quite a lot of turbulence though, which woke me up a few times.

Breakfast was served about an hour and 45 minutes before landing. There was a choice of a Chinese breakfast or English breakfast, I chose the English. It was served with orange juice and muffin and a yoghurt. It was actually quite substantial. The main dish itself was of reasonably good quality too.

At 3.55pm Hong Kong time the Captain announced that we were 40 minutes away from landing and the crew started to prepare the cabin. We had quite a smooth descent but the landing itself was quite choppy. We were actually hit by a crosswind just as we were about to touch down which meant that the left wheels touched before the right. It was all fine though and we were safely on stand at 4.45pm.

English breakfast


View out of the window


Relaxing


Getting ready for landing – looking into the Club World cabin

I made my way off the aircraft and did the long walk to immigration, via the train. As I got off the train and headed up the escalator I got a bit of a shock as a lady leaped out in front of me waving an ear thermometer which she jabbed into my ear. I must have shown up as hot on the thermal cameras and perhaps they thought I had the flu. Luckily, everything was fine and I was let on my way. It did get me thinking though, what if I did have the flu? Would I had been detained in hospital?

The queues for immigration were reasonably normal and it only took 20 minutes or so to get through. My bag arrived soon after and by 5.20pm I was on the airport train heading towards my stop at Kowloon.

Verdict

This was such an easy flight. I had thought about upgrading to business for these sectors, fearing having to sit mostly upright for 12 hours, however, these fears were unfounded. The new premium economy product is very good indeed, however, the usual things like the catering do let it down. Again, it doesn’t compare well to the Qantas premium economy product overall although the seat is very similar, and arguably just as comfortable. I would definitely change my plans to ensure that I travelled on the 777-300 versus other aircraft in the BA fleet, as these are not fitted with the new product.

Still to Come

A night at the Ritz-Carlton and flying Cathay Pacific back to Sydney in business class.

scanman24

Fantastic report matthandy. I'm looking forward to your verdict on the new CX business product.

BA5E

Thoroughly enjoyed the last 2 episodes of your TR, St Tropez looked good, although did not like as you said all the posing bit, but did like the yachts. Hotel looked really nice together with the pool area.

It was nice that you were able to spend another quality period of time with Isla, she looks gorgeous.

You were lucky not to have a travelling companion with you on the LHR-HKG sector, meant you could at least spread out a bit, glad also you were able to get some sleep, sitting up prone is very difficult to do when spending a lot of time normally travelling in a flat bed.

Looking forward to the next installment staying at Ritz Carlton and then flying CX J back to SYD.

000

This just keeps getting better and better! Can't wait for the rest. Thanks again.

origin

Another great update thanks. The pic of the escalator looks scary from your pic. Great thanks, looking forward to your view of the hotel.

matthandy

The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

After getting off the train I made my way up into the shopping mall to try and find the entrance to the hotel. The shopping mall extended for quite a long way under the ICC building on which the hotel was perched and it therefore took a little while to make it to the entrance.

As I arrived I was immediately greeted by a member of staff in the lobby. Now, the thing that you need to know about this hotel, if you didn’t already, is that it the world’s highest, and occupies the 102nd to the 118th floor of the ICC building in Kowloon.

The member of staff upon asking if I was checking in (obvious really with the big suitcase in tow), took my name and then ushered over one of the porters who took the suitcase off me and then she rode in the lift with me to reception which was located on the 103rd floor. My ears did pop as we rode up but thankfully the journey was very quick. She then presented me at reception and introduced me personally to the reception clerk and then waited whilst I checked in. All of this was really great, I was made to feel very welcome indeed, much unlike my experience only a couple of weeks ago at the Four Seasons where I felt like a tourist.

The clerk checked me in and asked when my flight was the following day. I explained and he immediately offered a late check-out time of 4pm for me, I didn’t even have to ask. After checking in the lady staff member escorted me directly to my room. She asked if I needed anything else and then wished me a pleasant stay before leaving me to familiarise myself with my room.

Wow, first thing that I notice isn’t the spectacular view from the 107th floor, but the understated opulence of the room itself. Everything is furnished so comfortably and in a very modern but luxurious style. The key here was class. It was of course similar to the Four Seasons, but it felt more luxurious.

First impressions – looking into the room


First impressions – comfy chair


First impressions – looking towards the bathroom


First impressions – desk and work area


First impressions – the bed

The room was very well furnished and had plenty of amenities, including a large LCD TV, entertainment system, Nespresso Machine and in-room safe. It was probably a bit smaller than the room at the Four Seasons, but that didn’t matter. It felt as though it was styled in a way that better fit my tastes.

The bathroom was quite large, with a separate shower and bath, two sinks and a TV over the bath. There were robes and towels everywhere. It was probably a bit smaller than the bathroom at the Four Seasons, but again, it was styled more to my tastes. Amenities were provided by Asprey.

First impressions – the bathroom


First impressions – the shower


First impressions – towels


First impressions – amenities

Now we have to talk about the obvious elephant in the room, the view! Well, in short, it was spectacular! I had been given a room that was positioned facing the south which gave me a complete overview of the Hong Kong mainland, from the Peak all the way around to the old airport on the Kowloon side. It was breathtaking and very easily the best view of Hong Kong that I’ve ever had. I could have sat and looked at it all day. In fact, there was seating by the window for exactly that purpose.

What struck me of course was the height. This is the tallest building in Hong Kong and I was going to be sleeping pretty much near the top of it. I’d heard stories about the height being an issue, with clouds rolling in to block the view, but this generally wasn’t an issue during my stay.

First impressions – the view

After thirty minutes or so it was time to work out what I wanted to do for the rest of the evening. First up was a much needed shower and then as the sun was going down, I sat with my camera, cursing the fact that I hadn’t bought my trusty tripod with me, and tried to capture a number of night shots. I managed to move the table into a good position and rested my camera on that. I’m pretty pleased with the outcome actually. See for yourself.

As the sun goes down



Night time over Kowloon

After getting some shots that I was happy with I decided to head down to the bar for something to eat and drink. The bar was located on the 102nd floor, accessed from the 103rd via an escalator. I have to say that there is also a night club/bar located on the 118th floor, which is called Ozone. This was more of a ‘venue’ though and I just wanted to have a drink and a snack before heading to bed.

I was greeted at the entrance and shown to a seat by the window. The menu was then bought over and I decided to splash out on a glass of Billecart Salmon whilst taking in the view. This was bought over promptly and the waitress, noticing that I was on my own asked me if I would like a newspaper and described the selection available. This was quite a trait that I found with the staff, offering tailored service based on what they perceived my needs to be. In my book, that is a mark of truly great service.

I sipped the Champagne for a while and texted a few friends to let them know that I was having a good time!
The bar itself was very opulent, with a very high ceiling and huge windows overlooking the harbour.

Sipping my Champagne


The bar


Night time over Kowloon

I decided that I’d like to eat and after ordering another glass of Champagne I asked to see the dinner menu. I tossed up between having Asian or Western food as I was sure that both would be rather exquisite. I had intended to seek out some of my favourite Xiao Long Bao the following day so I decided to go for Western.

On the menu to start was a cream of mushroom with truffle oil soup and then for the main I chose the beef burger. Yes, I know, a beef burger, I wanted something simple and in actual fact, the best burger I’ve ever had was at the Ritz-Carlton in New York, so I expected the standards here to be reasonably good.

The waitress took my order and then enquired whether I would like to sit and eat at the window or dine at one of the tables. I chose a table and she gathered up my things and invited me to sit down. Again, more excellent service from the friendly and hardworking staff.

My starter came out promptly and it was truly delicious, just as I had hoped. This was shortly followed by the burger which was also excellent. It was done very simply, but with thought, just how I like it.

Mushroom soup with truffle oil


Beef burger with chips

I did take a look at the dessert menu but I was rather full and it was late at this point, about 11pm, so I decided that it was time to head to bed, otherwise I’d be afflicted with jetlag.

matthandy

I arrived at my room to find that the bed had been turned down, and slippers laid out for me. There was also a little visitor perched on my bedside cabinet. He was there to celebrate the one year anniversary of the opening of the hotel in May 2011. Ok so it was June at this point, but I liked the gesture nonetheless.

As I crept into bed I hoped for a long sleep however, I ended up waking up at about 3am so I watched a bit of TV and then drifted back to sleep, waking up at about 9am.

Walking past reception to the lifts


The lifts


Walking to my room


Turned down


Slippers


Hello

I hopped in the shower and then got ready to go down for breakfast, this was included in my rate. Part of the turn down service included laying out some cushions on the window seat and it was a great way to greet the morning.

Morning!

Breakfast took place at the lobby bar, where I had been the previous night. It was a buffet affair, with everything being made on site. There was a chef present as well who would prepare a number of dishes to order. There was a very good selection, both Asian and Western. I decided to go for a bowl of cornflakes to start and then followed this with a croissant and then a hot breakfast. Although I very much enjoy Asian food, I can’t really come around to the idea of dumplings for breakfast just yet.

At this point I got a taste of the changeable weather that had been mentioned on review sites when describing the hotel. In an instant clouds rolled past the hotel windows and we were bathed in fog and rain. It was a rather odd feeling, being inside, but with actual clouds out of the window. We were obviously very high up.

Almost as soon as they had arrived, the clouds moved on and I was able to finish my breakfast with a view again.

Cornflakes and rain


The breakfast setup

I returned to my room and sat and looked at the view again. It was very difficult to take my eyes away from it and even more so my camera. I snapped a couple more shots of the landscape before me.

Victoria Harbour


Central and Wanchai

Hmm, what to do today? I didn’t have to check out until 4pm, and I didn’t have to be at the airport until 9pm, so I had to find something to do for that period. I didn’t really want to go outside as I knew that would mean needing a shower again almost soon after so I decided that I’d stay in the hotel until 4pm, making use of the pool and then jump on the MTR over to Central to do a bit of shopping and maybe grab some food before making my way to the airport.

So, after an hour or so relaxing in my room I made my way up to the 118th floor to use the pool. Now, this is potentially the downside of the RC, no outdoor pool. However, the hotel certainly does it’s best to make up for it, and technically, it does have an outdoor pool of sorts.

I entered the changing rooms, which in themselves were rather amazing, and then out into the pool area itself. Wow! The pool occupied a corner of the 118th floor, with floor to ceiling windows all around. The pool almost touches the glass. At one end was a giant video wall which also extended to the ceiling so that you can watch the clouds as you swim on your back. Past the pool were a number of hot tubs at different temperatures, however the piece de resistance was the outdoor hot tub which was completely open above, so you could actually look up to the sky.

I didn’t take my camera with me for obvious reasons so you’ll have to just enjoy this stock photo below:

The swimming pool – from http://mirror.co.uk

I took a quick swim before heading outside. It was totally mesmerising to sitting in a hot tub, the sun bearing down on me and watching as helicopters flew past me but lower than where I was sitting! All I really needed then was a glass of Champagne, which didn’t seem to be on offer.

After getting all wrinkly I made my way back inside and spent the next 30 minutes or so using the rest of the facilities before heading back to the changing room for a shower. I got dressed then went back to my room to start packing. After that it was time to check out. I made my way down to reception and checked out of the hotel, leaving my bag with them to collect later. I went down the ground floor (level 9) and then, after spotting a Rolls-Royce parked outside, took a few snaps before taking the MTR over to Hong Kong station, directly underneath the IFC mall.

Roller


Looking up


The Ritz-Carlton


The MTR


Hong Kong station

I had a bit of a wander around the shops as I was looking for a lens for my friend. Everything was too expensive though, and I was pretty hungry at this point so I decided to seek out a favourite of mine. Hong Kong residents will bemoan my choice, but hey, I’m a ‘gweilo’ so I need to go somewhere that is pretty easy for me. I ended up at a Crystal Jade which was situated in the IFC mall. I normally have two dishes when I’m at one of these restaurants and today was no exception. These were: Dan Dan Noodles and Xiao Long Bao. The waiting staff didn’t really speak English and I got into a bit of difficulty because the dan dan noodles were very spicy. It took me a little while to flag someone down and try to explain that I wanted some iced water. Someone sitting near to me laughed a bit but took pity on me and explained in Cantonese what it was that I needed. Ahhh.

My meal was very quick, say 20 minutes or so and came to a grand total of $96 HKD which is about $12 AUD, and it included tea! I took a quick stop at the Apple store, buying a new cover for my iPhone and then headed back to the hotel.

Crystal Jade


Mmm – Dan dan noodles


Xiao Long Bao

matthandy

Apple store

I decided to check out the Ozone bar on the 118th floor as I still had two hours to go before I could really head to the airport. The bar was accessed via a lift from the 103rd floor (reception level) and soon I was greeted at the entrance and invited to take a seat. A waitress was over shortly and I decided to have one of the signature cocktails, which was great, and not too expensive.

The Ozone bar was very interestingly decorated, and it was clearly aimed at a younger market. It wasn’t particularly busy, but then it was only early evening.

A couple of cocktails later and a good browse of FT and it was time to leave. I had to make a quick pit stop to the toilet before heading down to reception to collect my bag. I mention the toilet because it was actually quite something (like the rest of the hotel). It had to have the best view of any toilet that I’d ever been to and curiously, it was possible to see a cloud that was actually at the same level as the bar! Very weird experience.

Cocktail


Ozone bar


View from the toilets


A cloud!





Last But Not Least….

The last part of this trip report, my flight back to Sydney with Cathay Pacific in the new Business Class including a visit to the Cabin and Wing lounges at Hong Kong airport.