Dubrovnik with Blue1 and the Hilton Imperial
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Baltic Sea
Programs: AY, BT, DY and SK. Scandic, Radisson, Marriott and HHonors. ClubONE
Posts: 5,890
Dubrovnik with Blue1 and the Hilton Imperial
Let me start my second trip report at Helsinki airport, where they provide tired travelers with this kind of “gate loungers” (in the non-Schengen side).
Who needs a hotel at Helsinki airport?
Our trip to Dubrovnik continued with a Blue1 Boeing 717 (although old me still thinks of this plane as a DC-9). I had pre-booked the exit row, so leg room was more than sufficient.
In fact the leg room on this plane is sufficient also on normal seats, after Blue1 removed some rows from these second-hand birds.
I love the 2+3 seating on these planes.
In case someone is really interested in the catering of such a flight, here is a “meal” picture.
This is about as good as you can make it. Only the coffee and water is free. No warm meals are for sale, but if you upgrade to Premium class you do get a lunch box and free drinks.
I don’t recall anyone in Premium class on the outbound, but there were one or two people in Premium on the inbound.
The flight was uneventful, but we had to circle around Dubrovnik for a while because of thunderstorms.
Here is our beauty on the tarmac in Dubrovnik.
I booked the flight using SAS point savers which meant 20000 miles per person in Economy HEL-DBV-HEL. There was a simultaneous point savers option from all of Scandinavia to Helsinki for 6000 miles.
There is a good bus connection to downtown Dubrovnik from the airport, but we shared a taxi there. I had booked the Hilton Dubrovnik with a bargain rate including breakfast, but as Hilton Gold was upgraded to an Executive+ corner room with balcony and sea and city view. You could actually see the mountains as well.
Dubrovnik.
View from our balcony.
The (Hilton) Grand Hotel Imperial Dubrovnik.
The Executive lounge.
The Executive lounge at the Hilton Imperial is the coziest Hilton lounge I have ever visited. The ladies (wo)manning the lounge are some of the nicest “lounge dragons” that I have met. A cold but sufficient breakfast is for offer until 10:30am and after that there are fruit, soft drinks, crackers and coffees available all day. 3pm to 5pm there was a superb afternoon coffee with various cakes and other treats served in a traditional Viennese fashion. Croatia was actually once part of the Austrian Empire and the city was then called “Ragusa”.
View from the balcony of the executive lounge:
After six pm, the lounge served various appetizers for about two hours and a good selection of alcoholic drinks were on offer until 10pm. And after that there was still beer and wine available until 11 pm.
I had, however, most of my breakfasts in the ground floor restaurant and also ate a couple of dinners there.
I spent a whole week in beautiful Dubrovnik. Although it was October, the water was still warm to swim in and we also took a boat trip to some beautiful nearby islands.
Old city walls:
The walls from the beach:
Two cruise ships (one by Costa cruises) mooring outside of the old harbour.
Dubrovnik old city harbor:
Our hotel from the sea:
From one of the islands:
After a relaxing week, it was time to start the journey back home. There is a lounge at DBV airport which is really just a sealed off part of the area in front of the observation windows. It is situated on the second floor of the international terminal. The lounge had a limited selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and some snacks which enabled me to get my “pre-boarding drink” along with some peanuts.
I then headed for the gate. Apparently the PA system was either missing or not working as when the gate opened, the gate agent just shouted “Helsinki boarding!”. And then we walked to the plane.
This procedure was like a flashback from a looong time ago.
Who needs a hotel at Helsinki airport?
Our trip to Dubrovnik continued with a Blue1 Boeing 717 (although old me still thinks of this plane as a DC-9). I had pre-booked the exit row, so leg room was more than sufficient.
In fact the leg room on this plane is sufficient also on normal seats, after Blue1 removed some rows from these second-hand birds.
I love the 2+3 seating on these planes.
In case someone is really interested in the catering of such a flight, here is a “meal” picture.
This is about as good as you can make it. Only the coffee and water is free. No warm meals are for sale, but if you upgrade to Premium class you do get a lunch box and free drinks.
I don’t recall anyone in Premium class on the outbound, but there were one or two people in Premium on the inbound.
The flight was uneventful, but we had to circle around Dubrovnik for a while because of thunderstorms.
Here is our beauty on the tarmac in Dubrovnik.
I booked the flight using SAS point savers which meant 20000 miles per person in Economy HEL-DBV-HEL. There was a simultaneous point savers option from all of Scandinavia to Helsinki for 6000 miles.
There is a good bus connection to downtown Dubrovnik from the airport, but we shared a taxi there. I had booked the Hilton Dubrovnik with a bargain rate including breakfast, but as Hilton Gold was upgraded to an Executive+ corner room with balcony and sea and city view. You could actually see the mountains as well.
Dubrovnik.
View from our balcony.
The (Hilton) Grand Hotel Imperial Dubrovnik.
The Executive lounge.
The Executive lounge at the Hilton Imperial is the coziest Hilton lounge I have ever visited. The ladies (wo)manning the lounge are some of the nicest “lounge dragons” that I have met. A cold but sufficient breakfast is for offer until 10:30am and after that there are fruit, soft drinks, crackers and coffees available all day. 3pm to 5pm there was a superb afternoon coffee with various cakes and other treats served in a traditional Viennese fashion. Croatia was actually once part of the Austrian Empire and the city was then called “Ragusa”.
View from the balcony of the executive lounge:
After six pm, the lounge served various appetizers for about two hours and a good selection of alcoholic drinks were on offer until 10pm. And after that there was still beer and wine available until 11 pm.
I had, however, most of my breakfasts in the ground floor restaurant and also ate a couple of dinners there.
I spent a whole week in beautiful Dubrovnik. Although it was October, the water was still warm to swim in and we also took a boat trip to some beautiful nearby islands.
Old city walls:
The walls from the beach:
Two cruise ships (one by Costa cruises) mooring outside of the old harbour.
Dubrovnik old city harbor:
Our hotel from the sea:
From one of the islands:
After a relaxing week, it was time to start the journey back home. There is a lounge at DBV airport which is really just a sealed off part of the area in front of the observation windows. It is situated on the second floor of the international terminal. The lounge had a limited selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and some snacks which enabled me to get my “pre-boarding drink” along with some peanuts.
I then headed for the gate. Apparently the PA system was either missing or not working as when the gate opened, the gate agent just shouted “Helsinki boarding!”. And then we walked to the plane.
This procedure was like a flashback from a looong time ago.
Last edited by tsastor; Jan 21, 2012 at 9:02 am
#8
Join Date: May 2003
Location: TLL
Programs: OZ Diamond, BA Gold, Bonvoy Ambassador, HH Gold
Posts: 4,410
Great trip report! I love the Hilton Imperial and also thought the lounge staff was excellent, really nice people.
Just curious - did they not give you the option of eating in the restaurant? I got to eat downstairs, which was a bit more comfortable.
Just curious - did they not give you the option of eating in the restaurant? I got to eat downstairs, which was a bit more comfortable.
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Yes, I think I mentioned that my rate included breakfast. And I also actually had most of them downstairs where a really hearty breakfast was served. However the first morning we would have had to wait for a table so headed upstairs to the lounge instead.
#11
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Baltic Sea
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#12
Moderator: CommunityBuzz!, OMNI, OMNI/PR, and OMNI/Games & FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
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nice photos, thanks for posting^
Any further comment on other activities or restaurants in/around Dubrovnik?
Any further comment on other activities or restaurants in/around Dubrovnik?
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Baltic Sea
Programs: AY, BT, DY and SK. Scandic, Radisson, Marriott and HHonors. ClubONE
Posts: 5,890
Thank you!
Last edited by tsastor; Jan 25, 2012 at 2:38 pm