Index to Genius1 Trip Reports

A little over a year since my last trip to Singapore in February 2018, I was back to visit a few new locations in the garden city, to stay at one of my favourite InterContinental properties, and to experience the world’s best business class once again.

Highlights ahead in this report:

• Three sectors in Qatar Airways Qsuite, all on the A350
• The Club InterContinental experience at InterContinental Singapore
• Full reviews of The Qantas Singapore Lounge and the Qatar Airways Al Safwa First Lounge in Doha

Qatar Airways regularly offer competitive pricing from Scandinavian countries to Asia. Thus, it was with little surprise that I found myself waking up at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel at Oslo Gardermoen on a cold mid-February morning to a view of the snowy airport train station, having arrived from London the night before courtesy of British Airways.

A 5-minute partly-covered walk from the arrivals hall (and definitely not completely covered as the hotel’s website would have you believe), this property is modern, with sleek but corporate Scandinavian design.





My fourth-floor Standard room was unremarkable – a comfortable pre-flight option with the minimum of fuss. Ample power sockets (but not USB sockets) were scattered around in all the right places.













I was pleasantly surprised that my ‘special request’ of bananas in the room had been fulfilled, although was disappointed that there was no mineral water, slippers, bathrobes or coffee machine. Upon further research, it appears as though coffee machines are available in Superior rooms, with bathrobes and slippers only making it into the Junior Suite category and above. I usually pack my own hotel slippers for just such an occasion and can live without robes or a coffee machine for one night. Thankfully, the minibar had a couple of bottles of (chargeable) water tucked away in the door – incidentally, I don’t appear to have ever been charged for them.



As is so often the case with refurbished properties, the bathroom had only had minor cosmetic changes applied, leaving the original and somewhat utilitarian white tiling intact. Amenities were unbranded, but not unpleasant. The mirror was not anti-steam – this is one of my pet hotel hates, and always results in a spare face cloth or hand towel being requisitioned for morning de-misting duties. Whilst on a roll with minor annoyances, and to give me the opportunity of throwing an American phrase into proceedings, the toilet brush in the bathroom grossed me out slightly.









My rate included breakfast; given my flight wasn’t until later in the afternoon, I didn’t get down to the restaurant until just before service finished, not forgetting to lock my bedroom door with the keycard behind me (something I’ve never had to do before). Despite this, the buffets looked in reasonably good condition and although waiting staff soon started packing things up, there was no issue in ordering an omelette from the made-to-order egg menu. Everything was of reasonable quality, and although the interior design and layout of the tables was a little canteen-like, I wasn’t left feeling disappointed. Walking back to the lift core, the bar area adjacent to the restaurant looked like a pleasant space to pass a couple of hours of an evening.

OSL-DOH

With hand baggage only and the QR check-in desks not quite open yet, my mobile boarding pass was enough to gain entry airside via swift fast track security. The QR app has always been slightly buggy for me; today was no exception, with the boarding pass reminder showing a 12:30 time for a 16:15 departure.

The OSL lounge is not bad as far as third party lounges go – indeed, it gets bonus points for having a ‘premium’ section dedicated to premium class and status passengers (as opposed to those gaining entry via paid membership schemes and walk-up payments); I reviewed this facility fully last year here.

A dedicated premium seating area had been barriered off at the front of Gate F16 where I made myself comfortable for the short wait for boarding to commence. The gate agents had issued me card boarding passes for both my OSL-DOH and DOH-SIN sectors; for reasons unknown, QR regularly seem to shun their own mobile BPs.



Originally scheduled to be operated by an A350-900 with regular Business Class seating (the oft-reviewed Super Diamond product), the seat map for the first sector of this trip happily changed to show the Qsuite product a few days before departure. This particular A350-900, A7-ALY, first delivered to QR just last year, was looking in tip-top condition as I was welcomed and directed to my suite. The single airbridge had been docked at Door 1L, meaning the entire aircraft’s worth of passengers trundled slowly through the forward Business Class cabin, slightly hindering my planned cabin photography and the crew’s attempts to deliver the well-worn pre-departure ritual of personal welcome, hanging of jackets, offer of a choice of drink, choice of hot or cold towel, menu, wine list and newspaper delivery. Note that the wine list remained the same throughout all four sectors of this trip.





















Qsuite-equipped A350-900 aircraft feature six rows of 1-2-1 suites in the forward cabin and a three-row mini-cabin behind Doors 2 ahead of two Economy Class cabins of predominately 3-3-3 seating. Each Qsuite row features either forward- or rearward-facing suites to maximise the use of space; the configuration is surprisingly dense (and therefore commercially sound), not that you realise once cocooned in your suite. For the window suites, odd-numbered rows have the seat itself closest to the window (and are therefore my preferred choice), whilst even-numbered suites have the seat closest to the aisle.







For middle suites, odd-numbered rows have seats adjacent to one another and are therefore best suited to couples, whilst even-numbered rows have seats furthest apart and may also be suited to couples depending on strength of relationship. Each block of four middle suites can be configured as an open group if there is a family travelling together; I can’t see this configuration getting much use in practice.

Suite 3A was pre-set with a pillow and blanket on the seat, headphones and Aqua D’Or mineral water in the height-adjustable side compartment that doubles as the aisle-side armrest, and a smaller pillow and Nappa Dori amenity kit on the marble-effect side console. The smaller pillow (exclusive to Qsuite) is somewhat pointless, and the quote on the pillowcase (love, work, travel, repeat) definitely more than something of a gimmick and not very in keeping with the QR brand.



Despite the amenity kit bag being a welcome variant on the usual Bric’s, the contents were identical to what you’d usually find onboard a QR flight – I find the Castello Monte Vibiano Vecchio products distinctly ‘meh’, although appreciate the varying colours that the internal items come in – usually colour-matched to the accompanying bag when provided by Bric’s.



The suite itself felt remarkably spacious for a business class product, and I enjoyed the ‘straight’ alignment of the seat when compared to the more usual angled reverse herringbone configuration favoured these days. Although legroom is slightly limited if not using the footrest, I didn’t feel too constrained; the footrest itself is generously proportioned when compared to products such as the (non-Super) Diamond seat found on QR’s outgoing A330s and recently retired A340s.



The seat controls, contactless payment point, sockets (including USB) and touchscreen handheld IFE controller are all conveniently located below the side console, although in odd-numbered suites, the position of the console closest to the aisle means that any cables plugged in tend to trail across the access point to the aisle. A small storage ledge is located below the console and is a handy place to store the menu and wine list during the flight. The IFE screen was good quality, with an additional USB socket located below it; I found I tended to use this more than the console socket, as it was less intrusive on the seat area.





An adjustable reading light and coat hook are located to the side of the seat within the smart leather trim, with additional reading lights in the overhead panel alongside individual air vents. Confusingly, the light button in the seat control panel only controls accent lighting within the suite below the console and in the foot area; the overhead lights are controlled by a button below the fixed IFE touchscreen, whilst the seat-side reading light has a button next to it for operation. It would be far easier if everything could be controlled from the seat control panel.











As well as containing the headphones and water bottle, the aisle-side armrest (window-side in even-numbered suites) contains the usual literature and a couple of handy storage spaces, one sized for a (small) phone or reading glasses.



The seat’s headrest can be manually adjusted up and down, although there is no sideways support. I found the window-side armrest (aisle-side in even-numbered suites) to be pretty wobbly; on more than one occasion it refused to adjust properly, something I’ve found on several different aircraft. The seat itself is perfectly comfortable without being terribly squishy – note that when reclined, the side console is quite far away.

If all of this sounds complicated, don’t worry – the crew will usually offer to explain the suite features to you upon boarding, and you can always ask in the unlikely event that they don’t proactively offer.

Qatar’s signature mint and lime welcome drink is always a nice way to start a flight, this afternoon accompanied by a hot towel. The Captain announced a flight time of 6 hours cruising at an altitude of 41,000ft, before the crew came around taking orders for dinner. Whilst I was addressed by name (always a good sign), I found the crew slightly nervous and unsure of themselves which doesn’t immediately put passengers at ease; this is perhaps sadly symptomatic of QR’s alleged poor treatment of their cabin crew.





After a trip to the de-icing pad and a rapid ascent through a grey Norwegian sky, the crew came around to close the doors on each Qsuite. Locked open for taxi, takeoff and landing, inflight these doors can be manually opened and closed by passengers and crew to provide an added level of privacy to each suite. The doors themselves are higher than you might initially expect, but not to the extent that I found the suite to be claustrophobic, a criticism I know some have levelled at the product.



Interestingly, each Qsuite has a supplementary safety card detailing specific instructions on how to detach the main door panel in an emergency (presumably if the door became jammed and couldn’t be fully opened).

During meal service, crew variably either close and open the door between courses or leave it open throughout. On several occasions I saw crew struggling to open the door one handed whilst balancing plates in the other, so it seems prudent to help the crew out and just keep the door open for them; the door is really only required when sleeping.



I had opted to dine straight after takeoff; my glass of pre-ordered and perfectly chilled Lallier Grande Réserve was poured seat-side very promptly and offered alongside a dish of warm nuts.



This was swiftly followed by my table being laid for the first course – a tasty amuse-bouche of smoked salmon – with a choice of still or sparkling water. The small forks provided for this dish are really elegant, and I appreciate how QR are still offering this mini-course despite recent cutbacks in the catering department.





The sweet corn soup with crème fraîche was notably spicy, served initially somewhat theatrically with a lid on.



As the sun set through the A350’s expansive windows and I continued with the incredibly watchable Crazy Rich Asians, my next course of cold smoked salmon with horseradish and chive crushed potato salad, lemon and red radish arrived. This was unremarkable.





The nicely flavoured lamb loin with herb butter, dauphinoise potato, ratatouille and lamb jus sauce came next – although the thicker piece of meat was a little tough, I enjoyed this dish accompanied by the Argentinian Zuccardi Zeta Malbec 2012. This was noted as being QR’s ‘discovery’ red wine of the month – I also tasted the discovery white but favoured the red.



The molten chocolate cake with blueberry compote and crème anglaise was simply divine, smartly presented on a black plate and accompanied by the German Markus Molitor Haus Klosterberg Beerenauslese 2005 dessert wine.



A mint tea, Godiva chocolates and hot towel completed the dinner service.





The three Business Class washrooms are all located in the forward Doors 1 galley area – one on each side of the aircraft ahead of the doors, and a further washroom adjacent to the cockpit entrance. The two main washrooms each feature windows, whilst all have the usual array of Rituals handwash, moisturiser and facial spray. The crew place dental and shaving kits in the washrooms after takeoff and almost always do an excellent job of keeping them in near-perfect condition, even down to changing the toilet seat cover between users.







The amusing if slightly childish Johnny English Strikes Again was my second film of choice on this sector; the IFE system performed well throughout the flight with no lag or bugs evident.

A little under two hours before arrival I ordered a pre-landing snack of the fragrant vegetable Thai green curry served with jasmine rice, red chilli and kaffir lime. I was impressed that the crew fully laid my table, not something that is usually done for the second meal service.





I concluded the not-so-snacky meal with the fresh berries and orange syrup – I can’t recommend the syrup as a suitable accompaniment to an otherwise impossible to get wrong dish. A hot towel was provided at the end of the second meal service (the third towel on this sector), and the crew happily obliged in providing me with a second water bottle.



The crew on this sector were something of a mixed bag – absent between meal services (to the point of having to use the call bell twice), but efficient when present, addressing passengers by name and following the usual QR script to the nth degree. This robotic but well-meant QR script can sometimes be to the detriment of truly personal service, not allowing crew to fully read customers.

We landed into Doha accompanied by the Hamilton soundtrack on the IFE (via my own Bose headphones as always), parking at a dual-airbridge stand and disembarking from Door 2L (the first to open). Pier-served stands are something of a rarity at Doha, in my experience. As always, the QR crew did a good job of holding Economy Class passengers back through a combination of closing the aisle curtains and physically standing in the aisle. Premium transfer security was quiet and required no use of the provided soft seating, and so it was in good time that I arrived at the foot of the Al Mourjan Business lounge.

DOH-SIN

The Al Mourjan Business lounge has grown on me over the years and I now rate it as one of the best oneworld business class lounges out there (albeit it is not technically a oneworld facility given its restricted access criteria to selected QR passengers only). I reviewed this lounge fully last year here.

The foot of the escalator up to the lounge was quite busy with people jostling to show their boarding passes to the lone lounge agent, so I skirted round the back to the lift up to reception. These lifts provide access to the lounge not only from the gate level, but also from the transfers security level, which is a useful time-saving tip for those on a short connection.

A brief stop to use the facilities and a glass of water later on this short 1h10 connection, I headed over to the transit train and Gate C26, one of the many coaching gates to one of the many remote stands at DOH. After a brief wait, I joined the Business Class boarding pass and passport check queue, before being directed to the dedicated Business Class bus. It took around five minutes for the bus to move off as we waited for the final J passenger to join us; this is one of the minor annoyances of using the coaching gates at an airport the never seems to have enough pier-served stands.

A7-ANF was our ride to Singapore tonight, a less than one-year-old A350-1000. This was to be my first time flying on the -1000 variant of the A350, the physically longer but very slightly shorter-range version of the (currently) more common -900. All of QR’s A350-100 aircraft come fitted with Qsuite in Business Class, the configuration being the same as that on Qsuite-equipped A350-900s, albeit with four more rows in the forward cabin and one less row in the rear cabin. The only other notable difference is standard window blinds on the -1000 as opposed to the dual-layer (and somewhat temperamental) electronic blinds of the -900. As with the -900, QR have thankfully opted to specify individual air vents on the -1000, although note that none are provided in the centre seats (presumably due to the much higher ceiling caused by the lack of overhead lockers in the middle part of the cabin).

After boarding via stairs to Door 2L, I was directed to Suite 3K, where I found the usual accoutrements, the only notable differences from the previous sector being the brand of bottled water (Evian this time around) and slightly different amenity kit bag design (albeit still from Nappa Dori). A choice of welcome drink and hot or cold towel was offered as the Captain announced a flight time of 7h10, travelling at up to 39,000ft. Accompanying the menu, wine list and newspapers on this night flight was a pack of pyjamas and slippers from The White Company, with mattress pads available on request.









The crew fitted my seat with the mattress pad whilst I went to change into the rather low-neck PJs in the closest washroom; two are located either side of the aircraft ahead of Doors 1 in the front galley, whilst a further washroom is available by Door 2L; internally all three are the same as those on the A350-900, and all feature windows to the outside world.

Menu orders were taken promptly after takeoff to the unwelcome loud sound of the charity video being broadcast throughout the cabin; I opted to be woken if necessary around five hours into the flight. My nightcap of a mint tea arrived swiftly on an oval plate alongside some unrequested packaged biscuits.



As it turned out, I only managed around three hours of sleep, but this was more due to my body clock than anything to do with the Qsuite or the flight in general. The Qsuite seat is slightly on the bumpy side when fully flat, but enjoys good width throughout its length. My main concerns were with the pillowcase (which was sized to fit the old-style pillow and flapped around somewhat) and, more pressingly, the significant gap between the dividing wall of the suite and the side wall of the aircraft cabin – this results in a fair chunk of light flooding the suite from the window from the suite behind or in front if those occupants don’t follow convention and close their blinds on a night flight. This gap meant I did, however, find a practical use for the silly small pillow (you remember the one with the poetic words?) – rolled into the gap, it was sufficient in blocking at least some of the light.

The Equalizer 2 was my thoroughly entertaining movie of choice to accompany the breakfast service; there was a bit of a wait for hot drinks during an extended seatbelt sign ‘on’ period, although my post-wakeup cardamom karak chai (and hot towel) was worth the wait.

Breakfast commenced with some fresh orange juice and the platter of seasonal cut fruits; much of the melon was on the overly watery side, although the non-melon elements were refreshing.





Next up was the Greek yogurt, orange compote and toasted granola with nuts, a much more basic option compared to the Bircher muesli offered in yesteryear, although improved with the addition of honey.



Concluding breakfast was the plain omelette with grilled chicken patty, oven roasted tomato and potato wedges; this was pretty decent, although I doubt chicken patty will ever be added to my go-to breakfast list). This course was offered with tabasco sauce, mustard and tomato ketchup for those desiring a little more zing.



Given we would be landing in Singapore in the mid-afternoon local time, I had been tempted to round this flight off with the lava cake dessert from the ‘late night dining’ menu, although the reality of a full (and by now rather rotund) stomach meant I sadly wasn’t able to actualise this fantasy.

As always, the crew were happy to oblige with a second bottle of Evian water at the same time as delivering a latte and final hot towel.



This was another consistent Qatar Airways experience, with a slightly more proactive crew than the previous sector. I’m not sure whether landing cards are no longer carried on board QR flights, but I wasn’t offered one which meant there was quite a queue for immigration by the time I’d finished completing one in the hall. This aside, once past the desks, the remainder of the arrivals experience at Changi was as slick as I’ve come to expect from one of the world’s top-rated airports, and I was soon barrelling down the well-planted Airport Boulevard in a taxi on my way to the InterContinental.