NashVegas37206

Thank you for a fulsome report on your experience. I visited the Private Room in Singapore 4 years ago. It sounds like you have experienced it over time. Has it changed much? If not, I would concur with others that the space could be optimized to include other services. My traveling companions at the time, however, really appreciated the sparsely occupied and therefore lavish space. Thanks again for your attention.

tuchop

Great report as usual, SFO777! Specially enjoyed it since we are on a trip currently in Australia and will be heading to New Zealand soon!
How did you like the Sofitel Auckland overall? Good breakfast?

LH738

Great report. Great pictures.

Genius1

Another excellent trip report, SFO777. Most enjoyable ^

The AA MD-80 First Class seats looks similar to those on the 738 - are they really that much more comfortable? I find the 738 First Class seats to be pretty good.

It’s a shame that DFW uses the common lounge principal - the space looks very bland. AA Flagship Dining looks pitiful.

I don’t think QF’s A380 First suites are dated (aside from the suite control unit), just that they aren’t as ‘blingy’ as other airlines. The same goes for the Domestic Business seats. The design is quite minimalist, but suits the Qantas brand well, as do the utensils which they use across their premium cabins and in their top lounges. I’m not so keen that many of the dishes on the QF F menus are the same as those in J (just plated slightly differently), similar to the EK approach. Glad you had a good couple of flights with QF overall, as they are one of my favourite airlines. Their attention to detail in terms of branding and product consistency is second to none, and of course their F lounges in SYD, MEL and LAX are notably fantastic.

The Azure Lodge and the scenery in and around Queenstown looks breathtaking. I particularly liked the photos of the mountains reflected in the lakes. Madam Woo looks truly awful, but at least the surrounding harbourside area is picturesque.

NZ lounges look a little too IKEA for my taste! The route to the aircraft at Christchurch is an interesting one - through the tin sheds and out onto the apron.

The Farm is another sunning property! Very tasteful, very exclusive.

SQ Suites is a generally superb product, so it’s concerning to hear of the poor food on the AKL-SIN sector. I would say it’s a one off, but if your ex-DME experience was the similar previously, then perhaps not. I’d not heard other reports of poor SQ food in premium cabins (or even in Y for that matter).

The Fullerton is an elegant property in the public areas, but your room looked quite dated. Sorry to hear of Mrs SFO777’s accident. It was a nice gesture for the hotel to not charge you for the stay, as it’s not really their fault.

SQ’s lounges at SIN are looking a little dated now, but The Private Room is an exception IMO. Very elegant and luxurious.

The salad on your SIN-NRT sector is not very imaginative, but good to hear the food overall on this and the final SQ sector to LAX was better than your previous sector.

AA are truly awful by comparison with most non-NA carriers! No galley curtains, generally poor crew, pitiful catering, dismal lounges...

worldtraveller73

Fantastic trip report once again.

I'm surprised at how the legendary Fullerton Hotel (used to the be post office) came off not so brightly. That place and Raffles hotel are the flagship addresses in Singapore for old world luxury.

SFO777

Thanks very much NashVegas. Nothing has changed in The Private Room since my first visit some 6 years ago.

Thank you tuchop. Hope you had a great trip. The Sofitel was pleasant and in a quiet location, which can be good or bad depending on your perspective. We didn't have breakfast so I can't opine on that.

Thanks LH738.

Thanks so much Genius1 for your comments and perspective. The MD-80 seat is different than the 738 seats. The old 738 seats were similar but AA has replaced those 738 seats with new uncomfortable slider seats.

Thank you worldraveller73. We've stayed at both and, other than the strange room we had, prefer The Fullerton. Raffles was just too "old world" for our tastes.

Flyinghobby

Thanks OP! Great photos.

SFO777

Just received a present from our visit New Zealand.

Apparently a photo ambush caught me doing an hair-raising 58 kmh in a 50 kmh zone. Really?

SFO777

Thank you Flyinghobby.

spizzy

What a lead foot you are

moa999

Lead foot indeed!..

Cheap fine compared to Australia however.
eg. For NSW the equivalent (Class A 0-10km) would be A$112 - and jumping quickly
http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/...s-speeding.pdf

The demerit points are the real killer (you get 13 over a rolling 3-yr cycle)

--
Once again a stunning report. The Farm in particular looked amazing.
Very surprised that the stairs in the Fullerton dont have permanent strip lighting to prevent such issues, but seemingly good service recovery.

Fredrik74

What a pleasant surprise from Thrifty and the NZ Police...

offerendum

Speeder! Criminal!

or perhaps skulker

OldFruity

Came into the office 2 hours ago to do a bit, thought Id quickly check FT for 5 minutes.... and....Err.... found your TR! I was actually looking for something on a QR TR, as OSL DOH SYD is my next trip - but your title caught my eye, and the report my imagination. Your narrative and pics, especially of the food and wine, have inspired me to consider taking Mrs OF across the "ditch" to NZ on my next trip home to Vic in March - so thanks for that.

OF

SFO777

Guilty, apparently.

Thank you moa999. Wow, good thing I didn't get caught in New Zealand.
I have to imagine that this is not the first incident like that at the Fullerton. It's an accident waiting to happen.

That's what I thought.

Or all of the above.

Thanks so much OldFruity for your kind comments. Much appreciated.