Follow Matthew's travels around the world…
The Mandarin Oriental have gone all out to welcome me back. Thank goodness this is my final stay here — I’m not sure what they’d do to up the ante next time!
They also brought by a selection of deep-fried vegetable chips this afternoon, which was nice. I’m half-expecting a Geisha to be waiting for me tomorrow!
…but apparently my underwear does. The hotel have shrink-wrapped it.
Another day, another room service meal. This time, a seafood bouillabaisse.
For the record, bouillabaisse is an incredibly difficult word to spell, as I’ve just discovered as I tried to type it for this blog.
Hats off to the chef. Room service or not, it’s one of the best bouillabaisses I’ve ever had, and it’s loaded with no fewer than three lobster tails. Mmmm. (Although I secretly fear that there are three lobsters out there in little lobster wheelchairs, having given up their tails for my dinner.)
It was a bloody long day today — we’ve got a workshop on Weds/Thu/Fri this week and so we’re all working away feverishly to get everything ready in time for all the bigwigs to fly in on Friday and pass their verdict. Not helped by the fact that I decided to watch “The Good Shepherd” last night, not realising that it’s about 4,000 hours long. So my ‘early night’ turned into a reasonably late night… Not the best way to start the week.
My client is full of a cold and spluttering everywhere. My colleague has already succombed. It’s only a matter of time before I catch it…
I couldn’t face going out tonight, so I let the hotel bring dinner to me. One of the nicer room service meals I’ve had…
As loyal as I am to the Starwood group of hotels, I have to admit that I’m pretty impressed with the Mandarin Oriental here in Singapore. The rooms are really well thought out, with lots of little design touches that make a big difference. As I type this, for example, my iPod is being broadcast throughout the room — all the hook-ups are just beside the desk. I’ve got a beautiful view over the harbour, and as hotels go, I’m a pretty happy camper.
Just a shame I don’t get any points for this…
Good hotel design is becoming more affordable, and it’s about time. As someone who spends more than their fair share of time living out of a suitcase, finding an affordable hotel (eg, within expense account limits) with a boutique feel is a nice change from the carbon-copy hotels that exist across the country.
This week I faced a conundrum. My client was in Basingstoke, about 45 minutes from central London by train. Basingstoke, for those who don’t know it, is a relatively industrial town with lots of mid-tier companies calling it their home. Consequently, there are quite a few business travellers spending the night on any given day.
There are two major chain hotels in Basingstoke – a Hilton and a Holiday Inn. Both wanted over £150 per night for a room, and according to most of the web reports I could find, both were absolute dumps – 1960s motels which had been franchised in the 80s, with little improvement since then. Anecdotal reports from my client confirmed my suspicions: I knew exactly what to expect before I’d even set foot inside the door.
I’ve stayed in hotels like these across the world.
By chance, we’d had a management team away day the previous week, held at the new Park Plaza hotel just opposite Parliament and right on the river. We’d selected the hotel because they’d offered us a good conference rate, and the hotel itself was lovely.
A cunning Plan B emerged. Stay at the Park Plaza, just beside Waterloo, and catch the train each morning. Room rates at this 4-star hotel were only £119 per night. The rooms are all very modern, spotlessly clean, and very well designed with all the toys. I had a mini bar, flat-screen TV, DVD player, and a river view to top it all off. There was a great cocktail bar downstairs and a Latin-Japanese fusion restaurant off the lobby. They served sushi from a Nobu-trained chef.
Is it the greatest hotel I’ve ever stayed in? No. Customer service could use a little work, and the location isn’t the most convenient for public transportation. But for £119 per night in Central London, it must represent one of the biggest bargains around. And a welcome change for a weary business traveller.
