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Not sure if you were responding to my post but thanks Reney anyway!

On the last train home after Hakkassan, fantastic meal (Wagyu Sirloin to die for). Spent £230 per person but with about four alcoholic drinks each.

I’ve eaten at Ivy Asia Kings Road Chelsea last year which was very good. But Hakkassan a level above

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Going to Hakkassan Mayfair for the first time today, very excited! Although the £150 deposit from two weeks ago hasn’t triggered the £30 on £150 spend offer yet. Maybe they literally mean ‘in-store’. Although, looking at the prices, between three of us I’m sure we will spend another £150 over and above the deposit…

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Lady London wrote:

Florence. But don’t expect to get them back again – they’ll want to stay there. Rome smaller with less art (but that’s only relative)

Absolutely. Florence top choice…

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Hi. Maybe The Cavendish hotel? It’s behind Fortnum & Mason, so a 4 minute taxi ride away. Not sure how close you need to be to The Dorchester

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StanTheMan wrote:

I think Ivy Chelsea Garden…. for the vibe and decor.

But if you fancy it, I’d head to Ivy Asia in North Audley Street

+1 for The Ivy Chelsea Garden and The Ivy Asia Chelsea Garden. Take cash to replace ‘service charge’ on the bill as otherwise the staff won’t receive the tip.

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Carlos wrote:

Looking forward to this one

Hi Carlos. Did you get to Dubai in the end? You were looking DTs or Hilton’s to stay at…

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blenz101 wrote:

https://whatson.ae/2022/08/first-look-hilton-dubai-palm-jumeriah/?fbclid=IwAR1c1q4jbZ4M5–WOsMvBqFWOD9inhhhS5WuASQXpugDlU-RNb5sCenxZM8#gallery-1

Thanks, it looks great! I’m sure there are a few of us that would be interested in a review if anyone does manage to stay or even just have dinner there soon.

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PeteM wrote:

Love it – finally someone taking a bold stance.

yep!!

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We stayed at Hotel Pitti Palace a few years ago. Rooms were relatively modern by Florence standards and the location is fantastic, just steps away from the Ponte Vecchio. Breakfast was nice too with views of the city

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Thanks! Reading with interest as I’ve always wanted to do a Cali road trip …

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Always been happy with the Hilton mattresses abroad which I believe are made by Serta. Think they use the same mattress across Hilton/Garden Inn/Doubletree brands.

I would be interested in buying one if they are available in the UK

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@Colin well said sir!

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As per Errol’s response I would also split the stay, particularly if you want to manage costs…

3 nights at Hilton Garden Inn Mall of the Emirates and three at Doubletree JBR.

MoE is a good base for sightseeing trips and is next to a mall with plenty of shopping and dining options. Forget getting a tan by the pool though, you only get two hours of sun. Pool is heated though. You can also avoid the traffic jams at JBR which have
gotten a bit silly. MoE is perfectly safe but the area around the hotel is a little seedy and there are call-girl cards on the pavement all over the neighbourhood. Bit difficult to explain that to a young child last month…

Doubletree JBR is very nice but three times the price of the Garden Inn. Lovely pool area and private beach. Rooms/apartments still looking pretty fresh and of course you have access to all the JBR restaurants.

We’ve also stayed at Hilton the Walk JBR but the rooms are tired and Doubletree is better.

Would love to get to The Waldorf, Palm at some point…

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Enjoy! I hear they’ve also removed the requirement to wear a mask outside which was a little uncomfortable in the heat two weeks ago…

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The hot gourmet sandwiches were the most popular

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I didn’t know they were still around! I used to go the the one in Moorgate, maybe 20 years ago. Was always very busy and sandwiches were tasty…

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Excellent news. One less thing to worry about…

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Rob Burgess wrote:

I was always surprised they dropped Dubai, and probably regretted it during the pandmemic when it remained open.

The issue with Dubai is that you either run your return flight at 2am, which is about as popular as a bag of sick with the leisure market, or leave a $300m aircraft sitting on the tarmac for 10-12 hours. BA, Emirates and Etihad let you fly both ways on day flights if you wish.

Agree. After catching the 2.10am BA red eye in Economy from DXB on Monday it’s not an experience we’ll be repeating again soon!

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meta wrote:

Yes, anywhere is fine. No need for paper copy, but you might want to print out PDF just in case.

In December I used Collinson 3hr test and they were pretty good.

Great, thank you meta

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Laura wrote:

Hey!

I was in Dubai a fortnight ago. It’s a PCR within 48 hours of departure now.

They were testing EVERYONE off the London flight I was on, there was literally somebody standing there directing people from the London flight for testing and telling the people off another flight (AirBaltic?) that they didn’t need to test.
It didn’t seem very random to me.

The only place in Dubai we had to show our covid status was at the Expo, where we had to show we were vacced or had recent PCRs. No problem at the Malls or any restaurants.

Abu Dhabi is much stricter than Dubai. We needed a green pass to get on the Dubai-AD bus, cross the border and go to a restaurant. We weren’t asked on the local buses or at the Grand Mosque, surprisingly.

This is very helpful thank you. We hope to go next week ..

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Thank you SteveJ!

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SamG wrote:

my usual “trick” for a late arrival is a cheapo hotel near the airport for the first night. I did this exact thing in Dubai a couple of years ago – just checked back and I did a Hotwire for £73 and got the “AVANI Deira Dubai Hotel” which was a few mins taxi from the airport and perfectly acceptable. I actually popped out to a local supermarket nearby and stocked up on mixers and snacks – combined with duty free gin this saved us a fortune at our hotel on the Palm!

We then had a room service breakfast, got pool ready and then took a Careem down to our hotel, popped our stuff in storage and enjoyed the facilities until our room was ready

Thanks, yes this is what we did the last two times in Dubai…

Stay in a cheap hotel at the beginning and end of trip to save on the £400+ per night at Palm/Jumeirah Beach hotels that you won’t be able to fully use due to midnight flight arrivals and morning departures.

Also good to use cheap hotels for trips to waterparks and city sightseeing etc.

Some relatively new, cheap properties are Hilton Garden Inn Mall of the Emirates and the Tryp Wyndham. The Tryp also has a large Carrefour at the rear.

In the middle of the trip you can sandwich yourself at a nice JBR/Palm resort and enjoy the facilities for two to three nights.