Now, we’ve heard of the infamous Kuta Beach and the rowdy nightlife. Equally infamous was HRH’s smallish rooms and noisy ambience. However, we must say that we were pleasantly surprised by the space and quietness of our room.

Being new to Kuta (we had stayed at Nusa Dua in an earlier trip), we found the hotel within easy walk to a few nice places to shop. Brands such as Surfer Girl, A&W and Polo were replicated in every turn of the street. Food was easy enough to find in Kuta but for really good quality food, you have to make an effort. We found this wonderful Balinese and Western restaurant tucked away in the most unlikely of places – Jalan (Gang) Poppies 2.

http://www.korirestaurant.co.id/

Jalan Poppies is typical of any flea market streets, filled with shops offering imitation watches, cheezy T-shirts, DVDs, luggage bags and phallic shaped bottle-cap openers. Oh, and dispite the No Entry sign for Jalan Poppies 2 to cars, our taxi driver was kind enough to make the short cut through Jalan Poppies 2 anyways.

After Kori, other affordable and good places to eat are the Hard Rock Cafe and Flapjaks. Though less exotic, the food are great and portions are good sized. Expect to pay a bit more in Bali (more in Kuta) than elsewhere in Indonesia. It’s crowded with Auzzies so the locals are taking advantage of the fact to charge more.

Kuta Beach is to Bali what Patong Beach is to Phuket. Crowded with hawkers selling all sorts of services and stuff, noisy and brownish. The excuse was that Bali, being a volcanic island, throws out greyish-brown pumice instead of the silicone white sand that one finds in Phuket. For surfers, it’s pretty decent but the undertow may be less pleasant for weak swimmers and children.

My ratings (10 being world-class):
Location: 8 (Taxi ride from hotel to airprot would have to make a short trip around Jalan Melasti, resulting in wasted time and cab fare).

Ambience: 6.5 – 8.5 depending on your age and priority (the younger your are, the higher the points for ambience)

Room: 7.5 (Rock and Roll themed room but the shower heads seems rusted/caked with calcium. The cheap looking doors somehow spoils the nicely furnished room – time to change to nice solid timbre doors)

Value for money: 8.5 (~S$290 per night, excluding tax and other stuff. Includes breakfast for 4.)

Service: 7.5 (room service may be a bit slow and cooks at Starz restaurant may not understand what a half-boiled or soft boiled egg is)

Value added services/amenities: A Rocking good time! Babysitter, baby pool, largest free form pool in Kuta, bar, spa and business office.  There is even a radio station in the hotel!

Return to stay: Definitely if I’m under 40 or seeking some Rock and Roll good times with the many single ladies who are there for work and leisure.  If travelling with kids, there are other options which is wrth considering.

So, there I was, in Hong Kong with my wife and kids in tow. Technically, we were in Lantau Island. Actually, I hardly saw much of Hong Kong island on this trip, except for the 2 quick trips to Yung Kee (http://www.yungkee.com.hk), Sogo and the Noon Day Gun.

Disneyland is actually quite close to the airport without seeming so. From the airport, it is a 3-4 station ride on the MTR to Disney Station. From there, one can take a feeder bus from the theme park to the hotels. Newbies to Hong Kong should take the MTR (subway) as it is fast, efficient and environmentally friendly.

Check-in at Disneyland Hollywood Hotel was fuss-free. Now, there’s 2 hotels in Disneyland but I stayed at the Disneyland Hollywood Hotel. It’s slightly cheaper and more ‘modern’. Of course, it’s modelled after the Hollywood genre/design back in the early 20th Century.

There’s plenty of restaurants (maybe because the hotels are so far from the nearest village) – there was a total of 4 eating holes in the Hollywood Hotel (but the poolside was closed on my visit) offering various types of cruisine to suit various budgets. Breakfast, sadly, was not included in the package (but 2 days of tickets to Disneyland was).

The buffet was the most expensive – it offers some interestingly designed food, like the green 3-eyed little green men (LGM) dumplings. For some ala carte food, try the Studio Lounge. The kids will love dinner there. Even the tomato ketschup gets in the act and took the shape of Mickey’s profile. The burgers were nice and my kids lapped up their sandwiches and pasta while watching cartoons on the big screen. The pool was so so but Goofy makes an appearance occasionally.

For those of you who forgot to buy something at the theme park, no worries. There’s a gift shop in the hotel that offers everything you’d want! One thing I must say about Hong Kong Disneyland – every single gift shop in the theme park sell 99.9% the same things as the other shops! Unlike Universal Studios where each shop carries somethings different so it was like a treasure hunt.

The rooms are comfortable with a large picture of Mickey and Minnire above the two queen-sized beds. The toilet is a bit small, though. One interesting thing about the room is the telephone. There’s a function where the kids can opt for a bedtime story (but more often than not, they end up starring at the speakerphone and LCD screen at the pictures from the bedtime story).

Other than Disneyland theme park and the hotel, there’s pretty much nothing else for kids on Lantau Island. For the grownups, its worthwhile making the trip to Ngong Ping to climb the bronze Buddha. One of the better known landmarks of Hong Kong (or Lantau Island), it’s short trip by MTR and then a shorter trip by cable car or bus. For the bus, please have exact change or risk paying more than you’d have to. While at Ngong Ping, it is worthwhile to get the tickets up to the statue and the VIP vegetarian lunch package. The food is amazingly good (for vegetables) and the soya bean drink stall next to the temple dinning hall is very nice. However, if you want to use the facilities, be warned it does smell quite a bit.

My ratings (10 being world-class):

Location: 6 (It’s near to nowhere, which is just left to somewhere but right next to ‘where-the-heck’).

Ambience: 7.5

Room: 7 (like all hotels in Hong Kong, rooms are economised and miniturised)

Value for money: 8 (Breakfast wasn’t included, not that the food was that great in the first place) – it scored a 8 for throwing in 4 tickets to the theme park free.

Service: 8 (pretty decent for Hong Kong standard)

Value added services/amenities: Gift shop and 3 restaurants, 1 pool and a playground. Ho hum.

Return to stay: Only if its on a promotion package.

I couldn’t get last minute tickets to Bali, so we decided to revisit an old vacation destination.  One that most Singaporeans might have overlooked.  Phuket.

And in Phuket, no better place for a family holiday other than on Patong Beach.  Easily the most developed place in Phuket.  It even has a ‘new’ mall called Jungceylon, which is the old name for Phuket.

Holiday Inn Phuket is easy to find.  But it is actually 2 hotels merged into 1.  The Bukasorn Wing, where I stayed, seems to have be the more exclusive side of the hotel.  Actually, Holiday Inn Phuket is more of a resort than a hotel.  There’s even private villas (although villas by the beach would have been nice but in Patong, no hotel is really ‘by’ the beach).  Pity.

The check in was fast and friendly.  The rooms were clean and comfortable.  Only grouse was that the WC and the shower was in seperate rooms.  A longbath would have been nice, though.  View from the room was nothing to shout about.

There are a total of 6 swimming pools in Holiday Inn Phuket but not all guests can use them all .  The villa guests can use all the pools while having a nicely landscaped pool to their own use.  The kids loved the Bukasorn Wing pool with its immersed pool bar, water fountains and jacuzzis.

The best thing about the Holiday Inn Phuket is the location.  Some 10 min walk to the Jungceylon and 5 mins walk to my ‘must eat’ place – Savoy seafood.

Just outside the Bukasorn Wing entrance is the OTOP nightmarket complete with beer gardens (more like booths) where local beer ladies chat up Auzzie or men of any nationalities.  Tips are very much appreciated by these beer ladies.

The Marriot Courtyard is located next to the OTOP nightmarket and Holiday Inn.  Located next to it is the Hard Rock Cafe Phuket, where they serve really good food.

Pictures from Patong Beach

My ratings (10 being world-class):

Location: 9 (It’s easy-street).

Ambience: 8.5

Room: 8.5 (really nice rooms but no bath tub and the WC and shower is not in the same room.)

Value for money: 7.5 (S$250, excluding tax and other stuff. Includes breakfast and kids eat free.)

Service: 8.5

Value added services/amenities: The works!  Babysitter, baby pool, bar, spa and business office.

Return to stay: Yes!  Undoubtably yes.

Driving into Sentosa, the signs are clearly marked as is the directions to the car park. However, be warned that the signs do not tell you where is the nearest parking to the hotel entrances. Asking the car park security was not helpful. Apparently, everywhere IS near the hotel entrance. For the uninitiated, go for the RED zone. That’s nearest to the bus and taxi points, which is also the entrance to the Casino. There is a small tunnel on the right hand side of the Casino entrance (if you are facing the entrance) that will lead to an escalator to the hotels. Personally, I think it’s quite evil to make families on holiday walk past the Casino entrance to get to the hotel…kids in tow.

Check-in at the Festive Hotel was SLOW. OK, there is a long wait and then there is S-L-O-W. Had to wait for 10 minutes at the reception (and I was the first in line) before someone actually bothered to look up from their computer screens. A receptionist was counting brochures, another counting money and the third one just tried to look busy. I see all staff believe that it’s “show-time”!

Once I got the card keys, we made our way to our room on level 6. The decor of the hotel was refreshingly different. Colourful and very eye-catching. Even the lifts were pasted with pictures of frangipani, orchids and all sorts of flowers. I really love this hotel…..they even have built-in saunas in the lift (‘cos it’s like 42 degrees Celsius in them).

Upon entering the room, there was more of the flower and colourful theme. The ceiling board directly on top of my bed has a circular cut out with a picture of orchids. Nice!

The kid’s bunk was a folding bed cum sofa and a bunk bed set on top of the cupboard. My kids loved it.

But for those who want to really enjoy the hotel facilities, wait until end of 2010 or something before making your way there. The pool on level 3 isn’t open to the house guests yet. Neither was the room service (even though there was a room service speed dial button on the one phone in the entire room). I thought it was standard practice to have a phone in the toilet but apparently this hotel don’t see the need.

Those wanting to relax by the pool, try the Hard Rock Hotel pool. There’s a fake beach area (seems to be the in-thing these days), a childrens’ playground water area, a beach ball area and a general swimming area. There’s even small mini pools (but lacking the jacuzzi) around the main pool.

Checking out was not as slow as the check-in. It was S-L-O-W-E-R.  After 15 – 20 minutes wait time in line, I went up to the next available receptionist. Only to find out that the checkout counter is on the other side…..hmm……why wasn’t it marked as such I wonder……

Asking the receptionist to call me in my room when the checkout receptionist is available, I was about to go back up to my room via the lift-sauna. Then the receptionist called out to me. Apparently, it was easier to grudgingly ask a receptionist from behind the back office to help check me out then it is to call my room. OK……and after 5 more minutes, I’m done! Yippee!

My ratings (10 being world-class):

Location: 7.5 (It’s not really near USS or anywhere else but it’s a pleasant walk nonetheless).

Ambience: 6.5 (I guess it’s not that rest-and-relax sorta hotel.)

Room: 8.5 (really nice rooms but the bath tub is a doozy – the edge is sharp, slippery and potential slip-to-your-death trap for the elderly….but then again, if you’re traveling with oldies, maybe this isn’t your sorta hotel.)

Value for money: 6.5 (S$350, excluding tax and other stuff. And this does not include breakfast, pool or other stuff.)

Service: 5.5 (Well, to be fair, they’re just starting….so it might be a while before the full-time staff reports for work.)

Value added services/amenities: None – zilch, zippo. But they have an ice machine and junk food dispenser on each floor.

Return to stay: Try Hard Rock Hotel, they actually have a pool…and probably breakfast, too.

Universal Studios

Although $66 per adult sounds expensive, I was given a $10 meal voucher and a $5 retail voucher. So, it’s actually $51 per ticket.

The rides were so-so. On a scale of 1 (yawn) to 10 (rip your hair out exciting), they ranked a 7 (okay, where did I leave the car keys fun). And Battlestar Galactica rides were closed on 26 March 2010. Heck, even the Madagascar rides were ‘not ready’. Hmm…are you getting the feeling that this entire place is like a work-in-progress? Well, I guess they needed to recover some of that money they put into the place…..

The Shrek 4D movies was actually fun (rated a 8.5 OMG it’s funny). The Waterworld show was excitingly funny. OK, the actors overact but the bod on that blonde – pssst! Hot, baby, hot! I wish I had her biceps!

Now, here’s the best thing about USS. The food is amazingly delicious. I ate at Friar’s at Shrek (a really nice hawker centre ‘cos you got to queue and pay for your own food before you get served) and Mel’s at Hollywood. Nice! That is the best thing about USS – Food, food, food. Even if they are carbo enriched.

Lost World is where most of the better rides are located. But the queue can get up to 45 mins. I kid you not.

The Egypt section is actually quite nicely done. If only USS offers dinner by candle-light in a Revenge of the Mummy setting, it’d be perfect for Valentine’s Day! Especially if you have a Nubian princess for a girlfriend!

The only draw back was the long waiting time for rides, the sweltering heat (everyone will be in the gift shops enjoying the air-con by 3pm…which makes the place smell ripe) and the not-very-smiley staff.

The last stop was the movie magic show where we got a video welcome by Steven Spielberg. The special effects was awesome!

The gift shops were well stocked and I bought a tonne of stuff back. Yeay, I suppose I can claim to have single-handedly rescued the ailing Singapore economy from its woes…even if it’s for one day.

I suspect I would return shortly this year…..USS should consider family packaged tickets like they have in Gold Coast. Or special rated weekend passes.

Upon arriving by BatamFast Ferry, we were picked up by a hotel minibus.  Not bad…the ride took 1 minute….the hotel being walking distance past some turns.

Upon arrival, there was a long line at the check-in.  Staff was pleasant but they double booked me!  I got 2 family rooms (and only 1 family…unless they were thinking I had an ‘alternate’ family, complete with mistress and all).  Anyways, after a few back and forth, I manage to clarify things and only got 1 room.  But breakfast wasn’t included.  Bummer!

I must say, this hotel reminds me more of a upclass condo than a resort.  Still, the room was clean (but they could have turned on the air con before I got there) and the amenities were nicely landscaped (though not exactly Bali, it has a nice ambience).

Although breakfast wasn’t provided in my S$200+ room rate, we did order room service for the 3 nights, afternoon and mornings we were there.   Service was, sadly, slow.  You got to call an hour or 30 mins ahead (depending on the availability and sense of urgency of staff).

Food was delicious!  But any guest will have to try their sambal balachan.  That is a chili shrimp paste that is made in heaven!  It was so good that we bought (yes, we bought) 2 big plastic tubs of it back.  Luckily home was just a short boat ride back.

This hotel does have 1 other thing that is worth mentioning….there is a Polo apparel shop at the lobby and they were having sales up to 50% off!  No kidding.  How cool is that.

On the second day, we took a hotel minibus to Nagoya Hill.  Yes, it does cost a few bucks but it’s an experience on its own!  Nagoya Hill Plaza seem to be the place where most tourist to Batam goes.  Got myself a Mont Blanc wallet and had a fun time rumbling around the mall.

While swimming, I nearly got cut by a jutting pool tile…it’s made by Guocera…no wonder.

My ratings (10 being world class): 

Location: 6.5 (Waterfront City is more like a outpost, City being used liberally here.  There are 3 landmarks – Holiday Inn, Harris hotel and the jetty.)

Ambience: 7.5 (Don’t expect sandy beaches or idyllic padi fields, just enjoy the pool and 4 mini restaurants.)

Room: 8 (Reminds me more of a condo than a hotel/resort)

Value for money: 8 (I paid over S$200+ per room and they won’t even throw in breakfast)

Service: 7.5 (Acceptable, I guess, they try but it could be better.)

Value added services/amenities: Gym, pool, jacuzzi pool, kids pool and playground, pseudo Bali spa, own vegetable garden.

Return to stay: Hmm….tough call.

After a 3.5 hour Grasslands coach ride from Singapore, I arrived at the ancient Pearl of the Orient.  My stop this holiday would be the newly refurbished Holiday Inn (last refurbished in 2007).

On arrival, the hotel next door (Mahkota Resort) captures the attention but once you step into the spacious lobby of the Holiday Inn, you feel like you’re home.  A nice touch is the water dispenser dispatching cool, life giving ice water with a few lemon slices chilling inside.

Then, the kids spot the children’s playground!  It was bliss!  Why more hotels aren’t having these corners is a wonder to me. 

Check-in was warm and quick but the room wasn’t ready for another hour or so.  So, we had to go across the road to Mahkota Parade for a lunch of Nando’s.  They have a killer garlic chilli sauce although the local speciality would seem to be flies….an army of them was stationed along the tables and chairs.

When we got into our room (children’s room with double-decker bed en suite), the room was clean and neat.  But perhaps they should have left a rubber anti-slip matt, disposable shavers and more towels without our asking.  Over providing is always welcomed for a family getaway.

They almost got it right – except the kids’ bedspreads had a funny smell and the whiteboard had a marker that is dried and housecleaning doesn’t have a replacement – had to go down to reception to change a new one.

The in-house Italian restaurant is a real gem and is sparsely patronized in the evening.  Their mushroom soup is awesome and so is their pastas.  Pizzas are nice although I’m not sure if it really is wood burnt stove or a wood burnt-type stove powered by gas.

Swimming inside in the cool waters of the eternity pool, one gets the feeling that this hotel is styled after Miami skyscrapers.  White, spacious and simple clear lines.  Their spa is style after classical, local Malay architecture.

Breakfast was on the second floor cafe and while the menu doesn’t change, the variety was sufficient although not the best I had.  At the egg counter, try the half boiled egg.  While it looks undercooked, a little HP or Worcester sauce makes it glide down easily.

While at Melaka, you have to visit the San Shu Kong (Third Grand-Uncle) store along Jonker Street.  They sell baked goods that are simply out of this world.  Also a must try is the Formosa Chicken Rice Ball. 

My ratings (10 being world class): 

Location: 8.2 (someone should do something about that killer mini-highway separating the hotel and Mahkota Parade)

Ambience: 8.5 (nice quiet area but the Jetty, an extension of the hotel that is actually a jetty, is just too sparsely retailed with restaurants, snack shops and meeting rooms)

Room: 9 (Nice clean, no nonsense room with a good view of the Menara Taming Sari Tower and Melaka Megamall)

Value for money: 9 (I paid S$200 per room on university staff special)

Service: 9 (good but not perfect)

Value added services/amenities: Eternity swimming pool (albeit a bit too small) has an awesome view, gym, meeting rooms, business office, car parking and Italian restaurant (Sirocco – fantastic mushroom soup).

Return to stay: Yes, my kids say so.

So it came as little surprise that I ended up in a small island in the South of the South China Seas.  Actually, I’ve been told that Bali sits on a nexus between the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Bali Sea on the Straits of Lombok.  Well, whatever, right?

Luckily, this blog isn’t about geographical interests because I think I didn’t get top grades during Geography classes in school.

Taking the morning flight from Singapore to Denpasar (Bali), I arrived in Bali around noon.  One thing you have to know is that there are special immigration counters for tourist from ASEAN.  There I was standing in line for 15 mins till it was my turn when I was told to go to the other 4 counters in a corner of the arrival hall.  Not a pleasant start to the holidays.  Upon clearing immigration and getting my luggage, I had to queue in line for another 15 mins to get a taxi ticket, standing behind an Aussie surfer girl who seem like way past her ‘best before’ date and appears to have been surfing since Elvis was a teen.  What is it with these people and smoking?  Why bother to take up a sport if you’re going kill yourself (and others) with lung cancer?

By the time I got the cab to send me to my hotel, it was around 1.30pm.  Nusa Dua is situated some 10-20 mins away from the airport and Kuta.  It is a self-contained resort area that should be safe and secure.  With it’s artifically manicured lawns and wide roads and boulevards, it feels a nice but somewhat overly made-up.

Upon arrival, the porters eagerly took my luggage away and sounded the gong at the main entrance.  One first sight, you see a long walkway seperated at the end by the view of lotus ponds and the ocean.  Check in was pretty smooth but took about 10 mins.  Perhaps they could do the check-in next time in the air-conditioned comfort of my room?

After check-in, we were taken on a tour of the entire hotel grounds.  The Grand Hyatt at Nusa Dua is split into 4 main Villages.  I got the West Village, which was nearest to the tennis courts, Spa and main entrance but yonks away from the lobby and pool.  Again, for the weary toursit, perhaps the hotel could have offered us a ride on their buggy and conducted the tour as well, instead of walking.  I only pity those American tourists who have taken trans-Atlantic and flew across a few continents before being given the grand tour by legs.

For US$180+ a night, my room was the standard package, a king sized bed with a day bed for reading and lazing around, a en-suite toilet and walk-in wardrobe.  The toilet had seperately both a bath and a shower, and the wooden window panels opens up so that I could take a long bath while looking into the bedroom.  Unfortunately, the direction of the bath was away from the TV, so it kinda defeats its purpose, unless I lie in the other (wrong) direction in the bathtub. 

After settling down, it’s time to check out any action by the pool side.  This is, afterall, a resort vacation.  One thing I must commend the hotel for, the food in the Grand Hyatt is magnificent!  The wood burnt pizza I had by the pool (from Salsa Verde, the pool side Italian restaurant) is one of the better ones I had in a long time.

Some smoozing with the pool babes later, I took a walk by the hotel’s private beach.  The fine off-white sandy beach is the perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon reading a book under the many Balinese gazebos, or rolling around in with that special lady friend.  At around 5pm, the beach stretches for yonks as it was low tide.  But becareful!  I’ve spotted quite a few sea urchins and black, mean-looking sea-stars with it’s long spikes in wade pools.  It was then that I notice the white, modern structure on the head of the beach next to Grand Hyatt.  It was one of 2 heads, actually.  Dua means 2.  So I took a walk to the temple and up through the small pathway that led to a park in between the 2 heads.  Contrasted to the private beach, the beach between the heads is less manicured.  The sands coarse and darkish.  Many locals living near the area flock to this beach to pick clams and what nots.  This is an inkling of the real people who live in this beautiful isle.

Back to the hotel.  At night, near the lobby and Pasar (Market, as it is called in Indoensian lingo) Senggol, they emulate a night market scene with many of the hotel staff acting as vendors selling Balinese masks, wood carvings, frangipani hairclips and what nots.  Pasar Senggol also provide a good nightly show with the various Balinese dances.  And they have a rather good spread of the local dishes like satay, ice kachang, roast seafood and keuhs (cakes and bakes).

The next morning, I was greeted by a sumptious breakfast buffet.  Guests could have their breakfast either  at the Garden Cafe or at Salsa Verda by the beach!  The range of breakfast was very good and most won’t be disappointed, albeit the range is always the same everyday.  You have to try the local fruits available.  The local passionfruit differs from those found in Malaysia, is less acidic but just as juicy. 

Also, that night, I tried the Japanese restaurant.  Normally, Japanese food in hotels are sadly butchered but the Nampu (Southern Wind) restaurant did the food very well with it’s own flavour.  You have to try the Pandan (a longish leaf used for its sweet flavours) Iced Tea.

Another good thing about the Grand Hyatt Bali is that it is right next to the Bali Collection.  A mixed and matched hotpot of many small stores that could be comfortably located in Australia or any other major city.  In the heart of the Bali Collection is a Japanese departmental store Sogo.  Housing inside it, Starbucks melts into the facade.  Within the compound, there are stores like Just Jeans, Surfer Girl and Baskin Robbins mixed with many food restaurants serving anything from tapas to sushi to fish & chips to fusion cooking.  The single place I spent most time in was Coco Supermarket, buying local memotoes and drinking water.  It’s relatively cheap (compared to the hotel drug store) and within walking distance.  The handicraft shops also provided me a fond memory of shopping in Bali.  One thing to note, sometimes, the cashier does not return the exact change (seeing how small in value 50 rupiahs are) but gives you a candy or chocolate instead.

Having gone to Ubud and Kuta on a day trip, I must say that unless I want to see the real earthy Balinese, I am perfectly happy just chilling inside Nusa Dua with it’s manicured lawns and controlled environment. 

And as a special favour to my buddy, Mr Soma, you can call Bali Growing Tour for a most satisfying, flexible and customised tour of Bali.  Their numbers are (62) 081 8056 70015 [mobile] or (62) 361 772769 .

Inside the southern side of Nusa Dua, Grand Hyatt sits there as my resort of choice in Bali!

My ratings (10 being world class): 

Location: 8 (this is quite far removed from the town but it’s redeeming grace is that it is near Bali Collection)

Ambience: 9.9 (immaculately manicured gardens and lotus ponds with similarly perfect private beach with hot pool babes, what else could one ask for?)

Room: 8.5 (The room is nice but the bed was just a bit too hard and springy for me, I actually can feel the spring on 1 or 2 occasions in the night when I slept right in the middle of the bed, which was 2 super single joined to form a king sized bed)

Value for money: 9 (The Awaken package during June saw me forking out US$150+++, which came up to just a tad over US$180 per night)

Service: 9.9 (friendly service staff willing to oblige as the air con fuse went off once and the light bulb needed changing on another occasion)

Value added services/amenities: 2 swimming pools  (another 1 was in another more exclusive section and yet another inside the gym), spa, tennis courts, private beach, gym (but children below 14 years are not allowed inside – I wonder why), meeting rooms, business office, drug store, car parking, many restaurants and the even more numerous lotus ponds serve as a good place to meditate and do yoga.  But the management could look into an electric people mover (buggy) as the compound is simply too large to walk after a long swim or dance with the pool babes.

Return to stay: Definitely as long as prices are right.

So, it was a no brainer that I decided to fly another airline.  Singapore Airlines was too expensive (charging some 40% more) so I chose Etihad Airways.  And they gave me S$40 airport vouchers per person!  That is sweet!  Paid for my wife’s shopping at the airport.  Now that’s a good deal – 40% off SQ airfares, $40 per person in vouchers and even air miles.  If only Etihad flies to more destinations I like.

The long flight took its toil on me.  Being a late night flight, I thought I could catch 40 winks before we got to Brisbane at 9am in the morning.  While the food was OK (not bad but not good either), being in the front row (as we needed a baby bassinet) was a real bummer.  They had individual consoles for watching movies but they also have a 21” screen mounted on the wall.  Throughout the entire flight, the mounted screen was not switched off (even after I’ve requested for it to be off) and in the dark cabin, the light really hits you in the eye, resulting in insomnia.  Funnily enough, the flight back had the mounted screen switched off after take off.  So I’m putting this one down to bad crew service.

Back to the main task at hand (and the reason for this blog).  http://www.novotelbrisbane.com/  I cannot even start to say how sweet this hotel is!  What a gem in Brisbane!

Centrally located (it’s got a train station in the basement), 5 minutes walk down a hill and you’re at the heart of Brisbane’s shopping district, free car parking, nice soft plush beds, swimming pool, gym, great restaurant (named Cilantro) at lobby and pro-family attitude!  My boy even made a few new Chinese girl friends (in the form of Cathay Pacific air stewardesses) while we were checking in.

The toilet was clean and very modern, complete with Grohe taps.  The lobby even has a family corner where my family spent time playing with the wooden blocks (none of that Playstation stuff but good old family fun).  

All this for A$165 a night (Internet booking special). 

The hotel also seems to be oriented at the businessmen, during the course of my stay there, I bumped into more than a couple of chatty managers who are there at the gym/swimming pool floor having seminars.

The one thing (if I had to really nitpick) is that wi-fi or Internet access is not free.  Then again, I was on holiday with the family.  So that didn’t matter to me then.

My ratings (10 being world class): 

Location: 9.5 (for shopping and CBD)

Ambience: 9.5 (just out of the hustle and bustle of the city centre)

Room: 9.5 (modern, comfortable and very liveable, except they gave us a view of a construction site, we kept the day curtains closed most of the time anyways)

Value for money: 9.5 (I paid A$165 per room on Internet special)

Service: 9.5 (friend service, great staff/stuff – pun intended)

Value added services/amenities: Swimming pool (not heated), gym, meeting rooms, business office, subway station, car parking, restaurant, laundry and the works.

Return to stay: Sure, when this Internet special rate is available again. 

http://www.batamspavilla.com/packages.html

http://www.ktmresort.com/

The actual purpose was not to spend the night but a day trip to experience a relaxing day being kneaded, prod and massaged.  A package is really good for the uninitiated as it provides the ferry tickets, pick-up, lunch and the massage.

Firstly, the ferry and pick-up was alright.  It’s not the red carpet treatment but it’ll do. 

The resort, while not really part of the massage package, served very good food.  The seafood fried rice, coconut juice, sweet and sour fish and vegetable/mushroom stir fry was very tasty and went down well.  After a terrible food poisoning experience in Phuket 2 years back, I’ve come to be cautious of ‘sea food’ by the jetty. 

The food was good and we even had our dinner there (own pay) and a medium plate of seafood fried rice, a plate of stir fried kang kong belachan (spicy shrimp paste) and soft drinks cost S$9.40.  Cheap and tasty.

The resort itself was built and owned by a Singapore construction company.  Beyond the cheesy, ‘80s Malaysian seaside open-air resort feel, the staff are friendly.  The chalets are OK, wooden Indonesian lacquered stilt houses facing the sea facing Singapore (which is 20 nautical miles away and very visible even on an overcast day). 

But they really should do something about the swimming pool which looked suspiciously infested with bacteria.  The water was yellow.  And they charge Rp 20,000 for an adult and Rp 10,000 for a child to swim in.  Eh, no thanks.  I prefer my skin uninfected, thanks.

The spa villa seems to be owned by another operator.  Firstly, the rooms and equipment seems to be recently acquired and it sits on a breakwater side of the resort.  Either way, it’s a newer addition to the resort.  Each villa accommodates up to 2 guests and 2 masseurs, the first 3 villa having a Jacuzzi while the next 3 villa does not.  The last villa is a foot reflexology villa accommodating 4 guests.  The last villa is the office and resting room for the masseurs.

Ms Lusi, the spa manager, was very helpful.  When we got there by 11am Singapore time (10am Batam time), there was already people inside the spa treatment so we had to wait 1.5 hours for our session to start.  Not a problem.  We had an early lunch and there’s even free wi-fi on site.  Too bad I didn’t bring my laptop and had to contend with the wi-fi mobile browser (which is hard to use and see).

11.30 am and it’s my turn.  180 mins of spa starts with a nice hot foot bath.  This is followed by almost 1 hour of body rub down with natural sea salt and moisturizing with body cream.  Then it’s 30 mins in the Jacuzzi.  The place is quite quaint and idyllic.  Doing my spa, reading a book by the sea, I can see many fishing boats and tankers go past.  Some small boats come close enough to say hello while I lay by the Jacuzzi.

Then it’s back to a full body, neck and head rub down for the next 1 hour or so.  Very nice!

And given it’s a weekday, they even threw in a free 60 mins of foot massage.

The masseurs are friendly (like all Batamese) and very firm in their touch.  For a small lady, my masseur has very strong hands and her touch can vary from wood hard to butter soft.  You have to tell them what you really like otherwise you get a clamp down on your knee caps (which aren’t that bad on hindsight).  She rubbed me good and after 240 mins I felt like a ball of human play dough.  No a knot in my muscles anywhere.

Naturally, I gave the masseur a big tip, about 10-15% of the package cost.  A thoroughly nice rub down.

My ratings (10 being world class): 

Location: 6 (quite a stone’s throw away from the bustle and hustle of Nagoya and Singapore)

Ambience: 8.5 (idyllic 1980’s seaside feel)

Room: 7.5 (nice lacquered wooden hut with all the modern amenities except air conditioning, which is not needed)

Value for money: 7.5 (I paid S$138 per person for the package, not including S$27 tax at the harbours)

Service: 9

Value added services/amenities: Swimming pool (swim at own risk) and restaurant (yummy simple cheap food served here), nothing else worthy of mention

Return to stay:  Just for the spa package again, yes.

Now, I normally stay in hotels when on business trips and serviced apartments only when I’m on an extended holiday, largely because the latter is cheaper on a longer term basis.

But this business trip to Shanghai has been a mix of surprise and disappointment. 

Shanghai, despite it’s already built up area in Puxi, still has much room for development.  Pudong is a hotbed for new building and township developments.  Somehow, most people living in Pudong seems to have been residents of Puxi that have their houses redeveloped and sitting on loads of cash from the sale of their houses.

It has been 4 years since my last visit to Shanghai.  After arriving at Pudong airport, we took almost 40 minutes to get from Pudong to the service apartment.  Mind you, this was at 3pm in the afternoon.  I dread to think if it was during rush hour.  I was told the Maglev took only 8 minutes but it didn’t go to Puxi. 

The reception of the hotel was on the 8^th floor and there was a small lobby (filled with Chinese smokers, as any good establishment in China worth its salt) on the ground floor.  Finishing of the hotel and rooms were good, even of superior standards when compared to the likes of similar 4 star accommodations in HCMC.

My deluxe room had a small kitchenette, an even smaller bathroom (the only smaller bathroom I ever had the misfortune of encountering was at the Hong Kong Mandarin) but a nice bed cum living room.

View from the room was good, overlooking Huaihai Park.  The morning walk which I took the next morning in this park was refreshing, seeing how the air temperature was around 22 degrees Celsius that morning with slight drizzle and me in an absurdly foreign Diesel T-shirt, Addidas shoes and jogging shorts.

The location is perfect for those shopaholics.  Attached to the serviced apartment via a linkway on the 3^rd floor was an IT mall in the next building.  The 2 building and the linkway forms an ‘H’ (as in Hong Kong), which is *surprise* the logo for the serviced apartment.

A short walk away is 2 large malls, one dominated by Pacific Departmental Store and another is XinTianDi.  XinTianDi www.xintiandi.com/is a redeveloped village that houses middle income brands, spiffy western cafes and eateries and luxury brands such as Shanghai Tang (which by the way is owned by a South African conglomerate) and Chopard.   

It is not difficult to get to other malls by either taxi or the subway.  There is a subway station just 100m from the serviced apartment which would get you to other parts of Shanghailike Putuo, Zhabei and even to Pudong.  For sightseeing, your best bet would be The Bund, Peace Hotel, YuYuan (City Temple) which is walking distance from the serviced apartment and when you’re there, try the dumplings at Nanxiang, and JingAn Temple.

One thing about this serviced apartment is that they don’t provide a fruit platter, something which I do enjoy as travelers tend to undereat fruits. 

On the last day of my stay, I had bought quite a bit of stuff.  So I asked the reception to get me some sticky tape but they couldn’t understand.  When I translated it to Chinese, the seem to understood and asked me if I wanted a thick tape or a skinny tape.  I told them it was for taping up parcels so I needed the thick tape.  The male receptionist then informed me as a matter of fact that they don’t have thick tape.  Then why did he bother asking me if I wanted a thick tape in the first place?  Anyways, the tape never arrived, even after 3 hours.

At the checkout, the receptionist allowed a queue cutter to jump queue before my turn and it took a good 20 minutes before I could complete checkout.

Sadly, the service standard is clearly lacking at the serviced apartment.  The only 2 things they have going for them is the location and quality of room.

My ratings (10 being world class): 

Location 9 (Not Nanjing Roador the Bund but its also in the heart of Puxi along Huaihai Middle Road)

Ambience: 9

Room: 9

Value for money: 6 (I paid US$145 per night)

Service: 4

Value added services/amenities: Gym, swimming pool, self-service laundry (which had an attendant in the room, funny way these Chinese label things that aren’t always what they seem), IT shopping mall.

Return to stay: Maybe not, there should be other accommodations in the vicinity.