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Having enjoyed the QR LHR-DOH-SEZ lounges, food and Q-suite enormously, I landed @ 8.30am. A beautiful 30 minute, 50 euro taxi-ride later and I was given a drink, a tour of the beautiful property and shown straight to my room. I am diamond with HH which was not mentioned all week (I choose never to raise this) but it was an excellent start in all other respects.
Whilst the location and weather have been stunning (32 degrees @ 7.30am) the general levels of service are not what one hopes for at this price point-point. I have stayed @ Rangali & Amingiri multiple times and always pay for these trips on points. Mango House is the same price as those properties (110,000 a night) and the difference between the SEZ and the MLE properties standards and professionalism is enormous. The breakfast buffet selection is tiny and, whilst there is a plentiful choice on the menu, all of the dishes are either spicy (masala scrambled eggs chapati) and/or rather elaborate (omelette, souffle cheese, lemon garlic aoli). I love spicy food and realise that this point is highly subjective but at 7.30am I want simple fare such as smoked salmon and scrambled eggs or toast and marmalade; nothing of this ilk is available; they offer 3 jams – one is green, one is banana and the third was not to my liking at all.
Service throughout the property is very slow and laid-back (ordering ice to the room took an hour, drinks at the pool 30 minutes); my stay was enjoyable and refreshing but, ultimately, a disappointment. I do not want to post a long rant, merely to advise caution. The one thing that I can state, as someone who makes their living from betting on horses, is that far better value can be found elsewhere within the Hilton portfolio.
That’s a shame. Gold and diamond HH guests at Labriz have a separate dining room for breakfast with a long menu and food made to order.
they offer 3 jams – one is green, one is banana and the third was not to my liking at all.
No mango flavour?
No mango flavour?
NO! The only time I tasted mango all week was in a fruit juice mix – they have missed a trick.
OT You make your living from betting on horses ? this is fascinating. Are you a bookmaker ? Props to you if you can make a living at it otherwise.
I am most certainly NOT a bookmaker Lady London! My life is one long struggle battling against their nefarious attempts to refuse my wagers.
I appreciate your kind comment. The world is split into 2 groups – people who respond as you did and those who immediately assume that I must be evil and untrustworthy! I have a few friends who play poker for a living and they say exactly the same – when I used to do internet dating I discovered it was most unwise to open up with the truth about my profession. Unfortunately, it is not as much fun as it might sound.
I have a relative who gambles very successfully, though as a side hustle – horses and cards. He’s also very good at playing the stock market and I suspect it’s to do with the particular region of the brain which controls these types of skills. Apparently different skills are linked with different regions of the brain, so you can be brilliant at one thing and terrible at another (e.g. maths and sport).
A fascinating fact I read was that the 16th-century chap who designed the priest holes in country houses must have had a brain which worked like a modern computer and enabled him to envisage 3-D structures which the people searching for the rogue clerics were very likely to be incapable of perceiving.
That is brilliant. And I certainly agree with you – my other, less lucrative, taxable job is conducting choirs so I am either in a church or in a casino!
Love it 😂. Do they know about each other?!
I appreciate the critical and comparative review, thank you.
Love it 😂. Do they know about each other?!
Ha ha, yes! I have a friend who (a) sings professionally in a cathedral choir and (b) works as a car mechanic. As you say, it is interesting how we are all constructed differently. One of my many weaknesses is travelling from A to B – I simply do not understand how maps work. This has always be the case – I once has a school report which read: “I am surprised he can find his way home.”
@pbcold — thanks for the excellent review, and wish you all the best with the career. Prior to points maximising, I was a sports-book maximiser. Sadly too much time and skill involved in making that pay now, but in the early days of the online shops it was so easy…
I also worked for a sports betting company for a while (not as a market maker). We would frequently ban people who consistently made too much money. Instead of watching their bets and adjusting our (probably wrong) odds instead. Never really understood that.
@pbcold — thanks for the excellent review, and wish you all the best with the career. Prior to points maximising, I was a sports-book maximiser. Sadly too much time and skill involved in making that pay now, but in the early days of the online shops it was so easy…
I also worked for a sports betting company for a while (not as a market maker). We would frequently ban people who consistently made too much money. Instead of watching their bets and adjusting our (probably wrong) odds instead. Never really understood that.
@memesweeper thank you for the kind, interesting message. As you say, online betting changed everything, of course. In the old days I would have people placing bets for me (and their own at the same time, naturally). The internet meant that I was able to strike all bets myself but, as you say, if one is marked as in any way “warm” the accounts are closed very quickly. I once opened an account with a company in Stoke that you will know, placed 3 small bets and the account was closed immediately, hours before the races were run.Nowadays, it is a matter of constantly reinventing oneself through the co-operation of friends and family etc. Books do not take a position as they used to, they want people betting on slots etc. and algorithms, not humans, determine how long an account stays “live” for so building up as inept a profile as possible for a number of weeks is essential. It is tedious – and you probably know all of this already – but is the only way to circumvent the bookies` nefarious ways as far as I can see.
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