4/21/2017

Crown Promenade Perth (Western Australia)

Great Eastern Highway, Burswood, Perth, Western Australia 6100, Australia Phone: (08) 9126 7118 
Photo courtesy of the Hotel website.  

I've been to a few hotels in Perth along the years, mostly for work purposes, and paid similar prices in some; comparing value for money, level of service, level of comfort, and styling of the rooms, the Promenade is in my list of happy and repeat, something that none of the others has achieved. You get the posh treatment without blowing up your budget. Here a wrap up of my experience

THINGS I LOVED
+ Very helpful polite staff at reception, concierge and cleaning. Some of them extremely friendly.
+ Great bedroom! Quiet, spacious, trendy, beautiful and very comfortable. I was upgraded to a room with spa-bath and Nestpresso machine, and I was in heaven!
+ Very good comfy mattress. Firm but not hard on the back.
+ The plush robes are fabulous!
+ Kettle and tea/coffee facilities in the room.
+ TV with plenty of national and international channels.
+ Great variety of quality toiletries and very good quality towels.
+ Very comfy table and chairs to work in my room.
+ Buffet breakfast at the in-house café. Pricey, but really good. They don't prepare coffee for you, but there is a decent coffee machine that prepares it for customers for free. A guy called Scott at the eggs cooking area went the long mile to please me and every other customer there!
+ The 200$ bond turned out to come handy. I ended dining and coffeing in the complex a lot, so I diverted all my expenditure in the complex to the Promenade. I got the remaining unused bond back before my departure.
+ Free general Crown Internet worked great, fast and no limit for browsing and general emailing and photo uploading. It demands re-login every hour or so, though.

THE SO-SO
> Location is a bit out of town. Nothing beside the Crown Complex, so if you want to shop around or have a coffee in a proper café, there is none but those of the different hotels in the complex. I had to take a taxi to the city, and Perth is not a cheap place for taxis.
> The pillows. Huge and soft, but not the best if you have neck and shoulder problems.
> The wardrobe is perhaps the biggest let down in the room. Not much space inside for a person, even less so for two, and not even a horse to put a big suitcase on in the corridor either.
> Small OK outdoor pool.
> Small crowded lobby and not specially charming, comfy or inviting.
> Ugly view from my room.
> The in-hotel café doesn't have breakfast a la carte. Proper coffee is paid separately.
> The guests' Internet didn't accept the correct login data I was giving. So I used the general Internet in the complex and was great. I took my own portable Wi-Fi hotspot for work and used that for work-related Interneting and mailing.
> Just one café in the building.
> No spa, beauty or hair salon. They are in the other Crown hotels, at a five-minute walk. At least the spa in the Twin Towers is overpriced for the services they offer; you will be paying mostly for the fab premises. Go elsewhere.

OVERALL
I loved this hotel!

Broadwater Resort Apartments (Como, Western Australia)

137 Melville Pde, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia 
Phone: +61 (08) 9474 4222
Photo courtesy of the hotel.

I have a very good experience in this aparthotel. Not posh, but really comfortable, great service and well located. Here a wrap up of my experience at this hotel:

THINGS I LOVED
+ The staff were very welcoming, friendly and helpful, one of the best team I've found in my visits to Perth. Truly delightful. It makes the whole difference to me. They go out of the way to help you with anything.
+ The apartment was good sized for a couple or a person travelling alone, and had a full kitchen and basic cooking and table serving tools. Washing machine, drier, dishwasher, microwave, everything. I felt at home.
+ Good firm king mattress!
+ Huge flat TV in the living room and also in bedroom, with a great selection of channels.
+ Wi-Fi was fast and reliable and the line didn't drop at all despite me being online all day.
+ Jacuzzi in bathroom! Good quality towels. Plenty of decent toiletries and hair dryer.
+ Huge balcony facing the pool, with two chairs and a table.
+ Air-conditioned apt. My room was in a shady corner and quite cool so I didn't need to use it but for a couple of hours.
+ 5 minutes away from an IGA supermarket and several cafes, some of them very cool..

THE SO-SOS
- No business desk or chair in my apt even though I booked as a business traveller.
- No lift and two sets of stairs. The girl at reception helped me with my heavy bag (so sweet!).
- The apt would need of a lift me up regarding style, as it feels a updated and chunky. Too much brown! I would start by replacing those horrible photos they have hanging from the walls.
- The bathroom was a bit outdated. The bath a bit too high for a short person like me. Also, the water mixing somewhat flaked after five minutes under the shower, so I had to open the taps more to get a decent flow of water.
-Not many power points in the living room.
Room Tip: If you are bringing heavy suitcases ask for lower ground rooms, as some of the rooms are only access...
See more room tips

Comfort Hotel Boersparken (Oslo, Norway)

Comfort Hotel Boersparken
Tollbugata 4, Oslo 0152, Norway
Phone: +47 22 47 17 17
Fax: +47 22 47 17 18
E-mail co.borsparken@choice.no
Photo courtesy of the Hotel

This hotel is basic simple hotel, an upgraded backpacker hotel for adults if you want, but it has everything you need in the heart of Oslo.

GOOD
> Location. It faces the National Opera House and the docks, and its a short walk from the train station and the some of the main sights, cafes and restaurants in the city centre.
> I found here one the most welcoming warmest staff in Norway. Always ready to help with a smile, and go the extra-mile to assist you.
> The reception has a small mini-shop with snacks and heatable pre-prepared boxed food if you just want a sandwich or something simple.
> The lounge, is also the dining room and offers free coffee and chocolate to customers, for free, all day long. You just use the self-serving machines.
> The lounge is large and with many different seating areas.
> Lifts are secure, and function with your key card.
> Wi-fi was good, fast and reliable.

SO SO
Breakfast was varied, buffet like, and had a bit of everything, but nothing exciting. I have had better breakfast buffet in similar hotels in Norway.

NO NOS
> The place is hectic, crowded and quite noisy. Lifts are always crowded.
> Our room was at the bottom end of a corridor and had two single beds, single as in my size, if you are tall, it is not good. One of them was underneath a staircase space, tiny space, no bedside table; the other bed was upstairs, very steep stairs, also very basic. Just a stool in each space. Two steep stairs to the bathroom, which was OK. A metallic bar with three hangers.
> The key card MUST be used to lock the door when you leave the room. Otherwise, the door stays open. I haven't found that sort of system anywhere in the world! The instructions were at the back of the card, but most hotels have self-locking doors on exit.
> No curtains, just roller blinds. No problem with that except, if they are up, you have to go upstairs to bring them down, or do team work with the person upstairs to bring them to your level thought it was ridiculous!

MY RECOMMENDATION
There are other hotels 5 minutes walking distance from this, as central as this is, at a fraction of the price. Personally, I would stay in one of those. Like the Citybox Hotel for example. 

Scandic Park Helsinki (Finland)

Scandic Park Helsinki
Mannerheimintie 46, Helsinki 00260, Finland 
Phone: +358 9 47371
Fax: +358 9 47372211
Email: parkhelsinki@scandichotels.com
Photo courtesy of the hotel website

This is one of my favourite hotels of the Scandic chain. Loved loved this hotel!

Location if good, central but in the outskirts of the CBD, so you have both a good location minus the crowds.

The common areas, lounges, eating areas, corridors and rooms are luxurious without being flashy; they are elegant, but modern, trendy and with plenty of very posh design elements.

Our room was like one of those you see in the movies. Wonderfully elegant, spacious, great design armchairs, comfortable beds, marbled bathroom with heated floor and bathtub, good set of toiletries, wonderful palette of colours, everything you need. Very comfortable and very pleasing to the eye.

The hotel has great facilities, pool and what's not, but I didn't use any of those.

The staff were very friendly and helpful.

Breakfast buffet was wonderful, lots of variety and was very good. I found the Asian specialities a bit limited, which is not a problem for me, but if you eat mostly Asian food it might be.

The hotel is great for both travellers and business people. It was very busy when we visited, however, it never felt crowded.

We had free Internet, and worked well and fast.

A bit pricey, but well-spent money. I truly enjoyed my stay.

TIPS
> The Finnair Airport Bus stops 150 metres from the hotel. You ask the driver and he will call you when you are there. Unless you want to waste your money in taxis or transfers, or you are carrying a huge amount of luggage, this is the cheapest way to get there, 6 euro the ticket, bus with Wi-Fi and you walk for four minutes.
> There are a few fast food outlets around the hotel if you just want a quick cheap bite..

Flytoget Airport Express (Oslo, Norway)

Photo courtesy of the Visit Oslo Website

 Flytoget is one of the cheapest, fastest comfortable means to get to the airport. Cheap for Norway, of course. There are other ways to get to the airport, cheaper, but not as convenient.

The train is located on the station's ground area, and you can buy the tickets through their website, through their app, or just at the station by using their ticket vending machines (using cash or credit card). At working hours there are different staff members helping customers with the machines.

Trains run very frequently, so if you miss one, another will be there in about 10-15 minutes. And the train being a specific service to the airport, it is very punctual.

The train is fast, has short stops in different places between the airport and the central station, and is very comfortable. There is a screen with scheduled flights arrivals and departures and some tourist info.

Taking into account the prices of everything in Norway, the ticket is OK. Children under 16 travel for free if accompanied by an adult; half price for kids from 16 and 20, students from 21-31yoa and retires over 67, and full price for adults without a concession.

The only thing I disliked is that the carriages have no ramps to the platforms, so you have to move your suitcase inside by using your muscles, which is not great if your suitcase if very heavy. Also the space devoted to the luggage has not barrier or stopping bar, so the suitcases with wheels tend to move in and out the compartments.

Overall, very good. I will take it again if I return to Oslo.

Microsoft Office 365 Personal 1-year 1 user, PC Key Card

I have several computers at home. I have been using the MS Office Suit for decades and most happy with the programs. The version I'm using in my 'old' laptop is the MS Office 2010, which I bought in CD format, installed in my computer, and works very well. I decided to buy this key subscription for this 2013 version to install it in my brand new laptop two months ago. Since then, I have regretted getting this key subscription, paying for it, and downloading this version of the Suit. 

SOME OF MY ISSUES WITH THIS SUBSCRIPTION 
> Despite getting this Suit at a discounted priced because I bought it with a new laptop, the price is still a rip off. 
> According to my shop, there is no physical CD of the Office Suit any more, at least in my country. This means, that I had to pay for the downloading myself, and I say pay because I have capped Internet. 
> Since downloading and installing this Suit from the MS website, and activating it, the program constantly demands me to be online, which is not a problem because I'm online most of the day for work anyway. But a bother if I don't feel like it. 
> Even when I am connected, I get constant messages from MS, sort of "Microsoft doesn't recognise your subscription, please check your Internet connection or activate it". Well, really, they recognised my activation online as soon as I introduced the codes, and it appears as activated in my online account, and in the emails they sent me, so it's the stupid program misbehaving. 
> The interface of Word 2013 (the program I use the most), is not as user-friendly as previous ones, not much more customizable than versions launched a decade ago, and it offers little substantial improvement with regard to the 2010 version that I'm using in my old laptop. 
> This suit works really slow, slower than the old suit in my old computer, even though I'm using it in a brand new laptop. It takes ages for Word docos to be saved if they are "large". My old MS Office 2010 does not have a problem to save them in a microsecond. 

I find unethical launching Suits like this, for which I'm charged yearly, not having a physical way of installing or backing up the program, and finding little improvement if any. This Office Suit and this subscription are really annoying, and I am glad that I bought it just for one year and one computer, because, as soon as it expires, I will uninstall it and install my old MS Office 2010 instead. 

MY RECOMMENDATION 
> If you don't really need MS Office for work, use any of the Open-Source Office suits out there, which are fab these days, and are fully compatible at least for Word. 
> If you need this MS Office for work and have a fully-functional older version, keep the latter, you won't find much improvement or a better experience by replacing it with this one. > If you can buy a physical format of the program, do so, instead of downloading the program and activating it with this key. 
> If you need this MS Office for work and have no previous suit, try this version, one person one computer. If it works for you, great; otherwise, the nightmare will last only for a year. 
> If you need a reliable email program without having to pay subscriptions of any type, get one of the excellent open-source email suits out there. I stopped using MS Outlook about 3 years ago, and never regretted it or gone back. This is my experience with this annoying subscription. I hope the 2016 program comes in a fully functional version, that CD versions are for sale, and that real improvements are added. 

9/29/2016

Fraser Suits Apartahotel (East Perth)


Head photo courtesy of Booking.com

Here a wrap up of my experience with this hotel.

GOOD
> The hall is very contemporary and elegant, spacious and breezy in a mix of neutral contemporary elegant colours. I really loved it.
> Spotless clean premises.
> The room's toilet: great shower!, very good quality cotton towels, L'Occitane toiletries (those excited me greatly!), and a lot of storage room behind the mirror. If you are a giant basketballer, no problem, you can see yourself from head to toe, as the mirror reaches the ceiling.
> Nice basic kitchenette with microwave/induction oven, basic cutlery, crockery and glassware, and a mini-bar with a bit of room to put your stuff in.
> Huge mid-hard bed. Very comfortable.
> Humongous flat screen TV.
> Well-located power points and a decent number of them.
> Double wardrobe and plenty of storage for a couple.
> Complimentary robe and slippers. I always love finding those in any hotel.
> Complimentary Internet.
> Complimentary tea and coffee facilities.
> Awesome comfortable desk chair!
> The waitresses at the restaurant.
> The views of the Swan River from some of the rooms.
> Free WI-FI.

SO-SO

> Free Internet worked fine with the smartphone, but was a bit slow in the laptop, and the line dropped at times, requiring to sign in again. Good enough for my stay and for the work I had to do, though. 
> The hotel might please people looking for a quite comfortable spot near the CBD, but it might not please those looking for an vibrant surrounding area full of shops, cafes and restaurants or nice buildings.
> The restaurant Heirloom. See  review here.
> Lighting in the room. Once the daylight vanishes, the lighting in the studio was too dim for work and more conducive to do nothing. Great if you are on holidays and want to sleep.
> The mirror was located in the wrong space... behind the easy chair! Hello Hello! In the professional photos it is located where it should be.
> Overall ambience of the hotel and the room is meh to the square.
> The view from the room.

NO-NOS

I encountered a few issues that I consider unacceptable for a hotel that charges you 200 bucks the night and presents itself as a 4-star hotel:
> Noisy air-con and with no instructions on how to regulate it.
> The safety box didn't work. Not, it wasn't me being clumsy, it did not work.  
> My robe had all the downs stained; it looked like make-up foundation, but it must be burnt marks from ironing or any other occurrence that I don't want to envision.
> Table with the edges peeled/damaged. My eyes hurt.
> The tapware was also peeled, and the upper coat gone in some areas. That is because this is crap tapware. Four stars, who said that?
> One of the lights in the bathroom didn't work, so it was quite dark.
> The phone had a sort of three red flash lights saying new message received and also to recharge it. I consulted with the reception upon arrival. They said not to worry, to leave it like that as there was no message received. Well, being jet-lagged my eyes opened in the night and I felt my room was the new Amsterdam. Tried to order room service in the morning and realised that the phone did not work at all. Back again to reception, it will fixed today, don't worry, have a nice day. Liar liar. Nobody came...
> No booklet with info about the hotel about anything anywhere. One could easily ask by phone, for sure, if the phone worked.
> This is mostly a business hotel. So a deluxe studio should be ready for the client to work. There is no workstation as such in this study. The "desk" is really large but there are two main obstacles, a humongous flat screen TV occupying most of it, and the tray with nibbles and drinks. I had to remove the latter, quite heavy, to put my work material there. Business minded, really?
> The room had the usual old-fashioned beige+maroon mix that feels outdated and dirty. Something important about paintings, please, if you don't have nice ones don't hang those you have, which look like taken from Crazy Clarke's :O. The room, without the filters of the professional photo and the bunch of flowers looked way less appealing.  
> Awesome looking stylish armchair, but very uncomfortable to seat on.
> No sound-proof windows. One of the days was quite windy. The sound was like when I skydived in New Zealand minus the wow effect. Seriously! The wind was battering the window panes hard and very noisily. No, it wasn't a hurricane, the windows are not thick enough or sound-proof.
> No TV channel in another language. Multicultural, where?
> I was told in the restaurant that my first breakfast was included in the price, and they didn't make me sign the usual bill you sign after you finish your meal. Well, it was NOT included and I had to pay for it.
> When checking out, I mentioned this, the guy acted as I was making things up. He would go and check things with the lady at the restaurant, but he didn't, and charged me the price without even asking. I presented my debit card to pay. The signature has faded completely; this is the fault of the card makers. He asked me for an identification. Really, they had my passport on record since day one. Perhaps they didnt think I look like luxury customer. He was nice enough to bring my suitcases to the taxi rack outside and apologised quite a bit, but Reception had lost my respect by then, unfortunately.
> They charge you 1% if you pay with a credit card. Ridiculous for a supposedly luxury hotel. Perhaps luxury for Perth.

GOOD TO KNOW

> Check-in is at 3pm but, if they have room available they will usher in at no extra cost. > You have a convenience store (a really nice guy there) and a Balinese beauty salon next door. The Grand Hyatt is at 5 minutes walking distance, and you might want to visit one of their restaurants or go to the café and another convenience store very close to it as well.
> As East Perth is part of the free ride area in Perth you don't need to pay for anything if you just go to the CBD or within the free ride area in general. The bus stops across the road.

IN SHORT

The hotel is not up to standards in luxury, attention to customer, design, style, service, quality of the service, and courtesy of the staff. To me, this is a nice 3.5 stars at the price of a luxury hotel. The only thing I considered luxurious were the toiletries. Mostly they fail at running the place properly, things don't work and aren't fixed because they don't bother, there is a constant lack of communication between the staff, they treat customers as they were a nuisance, lie at their faces (in this case mine) and the people at Reception are truly unhelpful and act as we had to please them not the other way around. That is typical of Perth hospitality, and unnerves me every time. My advice is to spend your bucks elsewhere if you want to get what you pay for. Otherwise, pay for the most expensive room. I guess you will find luxury there... or not.