moops380

What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold

Where did you stay? (Brand, Location, Country)
Radisson Blu Cebu

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard(with points), received Business class room

Did you receive elite benefits?
Complimentary Room Upgrade - Yes
Early Check In/Late Check Out - Not required
In-Room Welcome Gift - Bottled water, however I believe it is NOT SAFE to drink tap water here so its not really a gift.
Free Continental Breakfast - Not given.

How are the rooms?
Modern, place is like 5 years old.
High floor was helpful considering people honk their horns all day in traffic in Cebu.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
Upgraded at check-in, did not need to request one.
Modern, Clean.


Bad:
Don't get a hamburger here, not sure why I though it might be ok but no it wasn't.
No mention or credit of 15% discount for gold for room service and the restaurant.

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Yes, I would return. Might have looked into c+p option as 38k points for this hotel is steep, considering the general cost of hotels in the area.

Transit to/from airport. Taxi took about 30 minutes one way and 45 the other, paid 180 and 210 pesos respectively. Traffic is crazy sometimes its only 11 km each way!

bamba70

What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold

Where did you stay?
Radisson Blu Sochi Resort & Congress Center

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room with cash+points and upgraded to superior.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes
- Early Check In: Didn't ask
- Late Check Out: Didn't ask
- In-Room Welcome Gift: an extremely nice set of dry fruit, nuts, truffles, and chocolates

How are the rooms?
Great

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Seems like great value overall. The points in the cash+points were just worth 0.3cents each, but that's much better than the 0.1cents for an award stay..

farnorthtrader

What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold

Where did you stay?
Radisson Fort George Belize City

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
No

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Business Class Room, DOWNGRADED to Ocean View Tower Room

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: No
- Early Check In: Didn't ask
- Late Check Out: 1 pm, would not give us 1:30.
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Nope, never even said a word about our status at any point during our stay

How are the rooms?
Have definitely seen better days, bathrooms in particular. They were clean, but maintenance was definitely lacking. Power and water went out one morning and they were not able to get their generator started, so had to wait for power to be fixed. Elevator was out of service for the entirety of our 4 night stay on the 5th floor. They did not tell us it was out of service when we checked in and did not have anyone to help us with bags, so we had to schlep them up 4 stories. Spoke to the desk every day about the breakfast that is supposed to be included in business class room and they added it to our bill every day. Sometimes told us that we were not in a business class room, even told once that they were only getting $75/night for our room so couldn't include breakfast. Then, at check out, I mentioned it again and was prepared with my booking confirmation, and the desk agent checking us out said that our reservation did show business class and immediately took off the breakfast charges, so somebody was not telling the truth. Still did not receive any of the other business class benefits.

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Booked back to back two for one points stays for 114,000 points total. Despite the issues, maybe worth those points, not even close to worth it for the 228,000 it would cost now or for the cash prices they charge. We would likely not return even at the lower points price we paid and would just book elsewhere for cash.

benjyyy

What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold

Where did you stay?
Radisson Blu Hotel, Belfast

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room using the 241 rate Friday-Sunday - received a business class room on 7th (top) floor.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes - and these rooms have breakfast included which is great because standard price is Ł20 per person
- Early Check In: Didn't ask
- Late Check Out: Yes - 2pm
- In-Room Welcome Gift: 2 bottles of sparkling water

How are the rooms?
Very good. Nice comfy bed with a pull-out sofa, nespresso machine. The bathroom had a bath but no shower. The iron wasn't great (was a bit dirty and left marks on clothes) and the hairdryer was very weak. We had room service one night, food was nice but expensive - we only ordered 1 meal; a burger with fries and side salad and it came to Ł22 including a Ł4 room service charge.

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Fantastic value really considering we paid only Ł89 on the 241 rate and got a very nice buffet breakfast as well. Its probably one of the best hotels in Belfast so a great deal all in all.

CoweyB

What is your Club Carlson status?
Concierge

Where did you stay?
Radisson Blu Ataköy, Istanbul

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes - very nice

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room and got junior suite room overlooking the Sea of Marmara.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes.
- Early Check In: Not needed
- Late Check Out: Yes - asked for 2pm, was given 3pm
- In-Room Welcome Gift: fruit platter with nuts and Turkish delight and two bottles of water each day

How are the rooms?
Big and comfortable with a private balcony, dining table with four chairs, work desk, sofa and two comfy chairs. The hotel has only been open a month so still looking new and fresh. Big marble bathroom with sliding door and six headed shower area that could take two or three people (!). Turndown service includes a Thisworks "deep sleep pillow spray"

What was good and what was bad?
- Good: Very friendly staff, lovely room, massive tv.
- Bad: only the location. There is no public transport nearby so you have to get a taxi to get anwhere. We ended up getting a taxi to Zeytinburnu Metro for 12 TKL (Ł3) and the metro into central Istanbul for 2.30 TKL (60p) which can take 50 minutes depending on destination. A taxi to the Grand Bazaar beside Aksaray Metro was 22 TKL (Ł5.50) and one from Taksim to the hotel around midnight was 50 TKL (Ł12.50). We used the Istanbulkart for other journeys. A taxi to/from Atatürk Airport cost 26 TKL (Ł5.25)

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
On a 4 nights for 2 deal this was great value but I might try to go for a more central location next time. That said with an indoor and outdoor pool and a balcony with the room a summer stay could be very pleasant indeed.

henry999

Mrs999 and I recently had 24 hours in Jo'burg. We chose the Radisson Gautrain because of its location, right across the street from the Sandton station, with 12-15 minutes by train from/to the airport. Also, next to the train station are the Sandton City shopping center and Nelson Mandela Square, which reputedly have the highest concentration of retail shopping in Africa. I don't know about that but if you added 'high end' it must surely be true.

Anyway, I booked a Standard room at the bed & breakfast rate. At check-in I asked if there would be any upgrade on the basis of my Silver card. The clerk checked with his manager and put us in a Business Class room.

We already had the breakfast as part of our rate so that wasn't a factor ... but an upgrade is an upgrade.

However, when we got to the room there were a number of little things which taken individually were not serious but when added all up they resulted in a minor disappointment.

First, when we walked in we found that the floor had not been vacuumed in a while; there was grit and other small bits visible on the carpet. Also, there were coffee spills and crumbs on the shelf where the coffee maker was placed. So, the room had been cleaned carelessly.

On the table there were two clean water glasses and a paper coaster where presumably there was supposed to be a bottle of water. There was a small card, which said 'We hope that you enjoyed your complimentary bottle of water.' Oops; the room had also been restocked carelessly.

The text on the card went on to say 'Please note that Johannesburg tap water is safe to drink or feel free to make use of the mini bar for additional water and other beverages' -- but there was NO MINI BAR in the room!

The breakfast buffet was very nice but I do have a small quibble there too. Naturally, there were a lot of items that would be popular with, and familiar to, South African people. But coming from far away, I have to say that I didn't recognise about half the things on offer. Other places have cards or tags identifying what each item is. That would surely be helpful at the Radisson Blu Gautrain.

All in all, I would go back.

FFlash

Radisson Blu Aleksanteri, Helsinki, Finland

What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold

Where did you stay?
Radisson Blu Aleksanteri, Helsinki, Finland. I think this is "almost" the first report here on FT despite someone commented before about this property in HERE

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Not so far, currently stayed 1 night, and onto 2nd night here now (booked 2-4-1), so PM me if you wish me to check some details

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard, received standard gauging on the size of the room 614. This is on the 6th floor (highest) which has a separate elevator, so I thought I was upgraded when I got the room key, but the rooms shows otherwise.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: No I don't think so (high floor, but not Bus Class nor Superior)
- Early Check In: Didn't ask
- Late Check Out: Have not requested and will not need
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Nope, not even recognition of elite status

How are the rooms?
The hotel is told to have undergone a major overhaul. In fact, the room has had just a facelift/refurbishment than a renovation. It clearly shows the old stuff and painting of walls. This room is very small too, one of smallest in Helsinki I reckon.
Minibar
Coffee kettle, tea, cacao
LG tv not that big.
Despite highest floor, no view (facing neighbour rooftop)
Walk-in shower with typical toiletries of Radissons (my wife says never use those they smell bad )
Iron
At least there are power sockets, but not very well placed.

No lounge
Sauna downstairs
Very small gym with only a couple of devices

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
No. Despite being told "new renovated", this is the worst Radisson in Helsinki based on this room I am staying at.
I would only stay here for a cheap 2-4-1 rate which I am doing now.

Even if the staff were "old" from the previous brand, they seemed very disorganized and the first impression was pretty dull they gave. Expected to improve of course once they get routines

The location is excellent though. A quite trendy area with lots of the best restaurants in Helsinki for all type of choices between fine-dine and street kitchen

EDIT: I had during check-out a friendly discussion with the manager and he (despite he felt very disorganized and eye-contact-avoiding at first during stay, he turned out to be a good guy during discussion) admitted that he was not up to date on Carlson program. He had been sick and absent during training and admitted many things still their people don't know and customers like me train them much more. He appreciated my feedback that I told him about expected benefits etc which I did very politely and I was not upset with the absence of those. As a courtesy he comp'ed me minibar and breakfast. He also told me that he will give me next time their best room. They have no suites, only business class rooms (30) of which 3 are "special and bigger".

FFlash

I have edited my previous post about Radissonn BLU Aleksanteri regarding some little important information

CoweyB

What is your Club Carlson status?
Concierge

Where did you stay
Radisson Blu Saga Hotel, Reykjavík, Iceland

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room using the 4for2 rate Wednesday-Sunday - received the Presidential Suite on 7th (top) floor.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes to the best suite in the hotel
- Early Check In: Yes - arrived at noon and room was ready
- Late Check Out: Not required
- In-Room Welcome Gift: 2 bottles of water and a plate of strawberries and melon pieces dipped in chocolate. This arrived an hour or two later.

How are the rooms?
The hotel was built in the 1960s and is showing its age a bit. The rooms were decorated in an old fashioned, dark wood style my mother would have loved. The suite was 71sq m in size, from the quite big lobby there is a separate bedroom and living room, a green marble bathroom and a separate toilet.

What was good, what was bad?
The rooms were very big, and I had a three sided private balcony running round outside. There was a bound set of the Icelandic sagas in the room and five lovely oil paintings of scenes of Iceland.

On the negative side the location is a little out of the centre and apart from a cinema right next door and the National Museum there's not much in the vicinity - but it's only a twenty minute walk to the city centre and you can take a short cut through a peaceful 19th century cemetery or catch the No 11 bus for 420 ISK (exact money need for machine - no change given).

There is a very fancy expensive restaurant on the 8th floor but the main restaurant downstairs is much cheaper. There is a self service buffet meal for around Ł36 but the ŕ la carte menu is better if more limited in range - burger and chips, haddock pieces in batter and chips, lamb shank, Caesar salad, nut roast were about it. The hotel also sells sandwiches in reception but with the 20% concierge reduction on the ŕ la carte menu it's better value.

The shower was interesting. There was what I thought was a drains smell when I used it but I discovered later that most of Reykjavík gets its hot water from local geothermal sources and the slightly sulphurous small was the minerals it contained.

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Fantastic value really considering I had two nights free and a triple upgrade. The hotel is a bit old fashioned but although the 1919 is situated right in the centre it seemed from the outside that the rooms would be much smaller in size.

Tips
Don't get a taxi from the airport. I went with Flybus who take you in a coach to the bus station and you are met by a fleet of minibuses which take you on to your Hotel. This worked seamlessly both ways and there is wifi in the bus

There is a duty free shop on arrival at Keflavík. You can preorder and its waiting for you to collect from a trolley against the wall.

Use the hotel happy (two) hour for half price drinks. It halves the cost of a Ł6.15 pint.

vishalgupta22

- What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold

- Where did you stay? (Brand, Location, Country) Also put in the post title.
Radisson Hotel and Suites, Sydney, Australia

- Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?\
Studio with 2 Queen beds
Upgraded to 2 BR Suite

- Did you receive elite benefits?
Gold: Complimentary Room Upgrade, Early Check In/Late Check Out, In-Room Welcome Gift
No welcome gift, but upgrade.

- How are the rooms?
Decent, nothing fancy

- What was good and what was bad?
Good: Location, staff
Bad: We reached hotel around 8 am and were immediately given a room (upgraded to 2 BR). To our horror, when we entered the room, it was alrady occupied. Yes there were guests in the room. The front desk apologized for the mistake and said the room shows empty in their system. We were offered another room to shower etc and moved to a 2BR later. They also gave us free breakfast for that day as compensation.

- Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Yes, good value coz of solid upgrade and location

ORD-TGU

What is your Club Carlson status?
Concierge

Where did you stay
Radisson Blu Hotel Altstadt, Salzburg

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room, 2 nights using the former US bank last night free 44K points.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: No, had an alley view, but rooms are all very spacious, suite size
- Early Check In: Not required
- Late Check Out: Not required
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Nothing! No big deal, but then I saw that a large group of Viking Cruise passengers were staying at hotel and they all got fruit baskets.
-Breakfast, very nice view and champagne.

How are the rooms?
The hotel was built in the 1300's but is very well maintained. I saw updates in the process, painting, and the Kaizer Presidential suite was being renovated. The rooms were decorated in an old fashioned, dark wood style. Gold Trim, floral patterns, etc, in the style of the old town and museums. Personally not my style, but fits in with old town.

What was good, what was bad?
Location! Excellent.
Haunted room, I swear there was someone in the room that kept pacing back and forth.
Great Breakfast, free flowing champagne. Complimentary for Concierge.
No coffee in rooms, no complimentary. Thankfully I take instant coffee, requested an electric kettle. No coffee, had to hunt down a mug.
Plenty of sights and restaurants adjacent, also a grocery store Billa.

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Fantastic value.

Would stay here again. Excellent location and hotel is well maintained.

ORD-TGU

What is your Club Carlson status?
Concierge

Where did you stay
Radisson Blu Hotel Style, Vienna Austria

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room, 2 nights using the former US bank last night free 50K points.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes, nice spacious modern suite
- Early Check In: Not required
- Late Check Out: Not required
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Champagne bottle
-Breakfast, made to order menu, plus buffet and champagne.

How are the rooms?
Modern, comfortable, stylish

What was good, what was bad?
Location! Excellent. Smaller boutique style
No complaints

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Fantastic value.
Would stay here again. Excellent location and hotel is well maintained.

ORD-TGU

What is your Club Carlson status?
Concierge

Where did you stay
Radisson Mall of America, Bloomington, MN (Not the BLU)

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Standard, Corp Rate, received massive corner suite

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes, nice spacious suite
- Early Check In: Not required
- Late Check Out: Not required
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Vouchers for free drink at bar
-Breakfast, made to order menu, or buffet. Standard US style. Or two items from coffee shop.

How are the rooms?
Spacious, inline with a Hilton

What was good, what was bad?
Location, near airport and mall. They have shuttles, did not use.
Busy convention style hotel

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Yes, for business or to use waterpark with kids . Guests get discount at waterpark.
Would stay here again. Excellent location and hotel is well maintained.

CoweyB

What is your Club Carlson status?
Concierge

Where did you stay?
Radisson RED Hotel, Brussels, Belgium

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room (points and cash) for one night and got upgrade to corner suite.

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes to a corner suite on 6th floor
- Early Check In: Yes - arrived at 10:00 and room was ready
- Late Check Out: Not required
- In-Room Welcome Gift: 2 bottles of water and an apple and a plate of four jellied sweets. This arrived an hour or two later.

How are the rooms?
The hotel has been rebranded as a RED and is looking young, funky, informal, fun with lots of red in the designing. The room is decorated with a series of large cartoons on the wall (in a Tin Tin style) a cupboard, a big round table with padded bench type seating in the window alcove. The bathroom is very modern with a walk in shower/wet space with lovely rain forest type square shower.

Despite being called a suite it's just a normal 40 sq metre room - but perfectably acceptable

What was good, what was bad?

The hotel works on the basis that you will arrive with a smartphone and want to charge. So there are plugs both side of the bed but also USB ports you can charge direct from - perfect if you have a mobile and an iPad. Also lots of charging points in the restaurant.

There is a fancy RED app which you can download and which can be used as a key to get into your room - that worked well for me although I couldn't get the app or my phone to sync with the Apple TV.

There were no coffee or tea facilities. Nor is there any room service. You order food for your room on the app and go to the café and collect when it's ready.

You can also chat to other guests in the hotel who have downloaded the app. Good for extroverts less so for me - though you can ask questions to staff as well if you are too la y to lift the phone.

Nor are there any signs saying leave your towel on the floor if you want it replaced etc etc. There is a big sign on the back of the room door giving you the basics - the rest you get from the app or the tv (which also has BBC1 and BBC2 👍&#127995. No do not disturb signs available either.

For breakfast a Congierge (and also my room guest) got a 1+1+1 breakfast voucher.

Breakfast is not a self service which had been relegated to the hotel of history. Instead with a 1+1+1 voucher you can choose one item from three sections of the menu: effectively a drink, a pastry and a hot course. These are then made to order and served at your table.

We had a hot chocolate, a cappucino, a egg and bacon English muffin, a mozzarella and tomato toasted sandwich and two pains au chocolat. And they threw in a pineapple and orange juice as well.

The only negative part of the visit was breakfast. It took 35 minutes from ordering to receiving and the café wasn't very full at all. And then we were given the wrong order. Not a problem if you are on a weekend break, more so if you have a tight timetable for morning meetings.

Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?

Great value for €57 with 15,000 goldpoints. I prefer this informal style of hotelling to the Radisson Blu Royale which I've always stayed at in Brussels.

kannon99

Just finished up a few stays in Europe, all the hotels were pretty nice. All the rooms were booked for two nights each with points during the US Bank stay one get one free night offer.

What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold

Where did you stay?
Radisson Stavanger Blu Atlantic

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard room, recieved business class room.
Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes.
- Early Check In: Not needed
- Late Check Out: Not needed
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Fruits, juice, nuts

Where did you stay?
Radisson Blu Oslo Plaza


Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard room, no sure if we got upgraded, we had a room with a good view on one of the higher floors

Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Not sure
- Early Check In: We were able to check in around 1-2pm
- Late Check Out: Not needed
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Candy


Where did you stay?
Radisson Blu Strand Stockholm

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard room, recieved business class room, our room had a living room too, not sure if this is the standard business class room or not.
Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes.
- Early Check In: Not needed
- Late Check Out: Not needed
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Water and sweets

Where did you stay?
Radisson Blu Waterfront Stockholm

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard room, I was told I was upgraded due to my status, not sure if it was a business class room or not, but were near the top floor and had a great view overlooking city hall.
Did you receive elite benefits?
- Room upgrade: Yes.
- Early Check In: Not needed
- Late Check Out: Not needed
- In-Room Welcome Gift: Fruits, nuts, and water.