Everyone one has friends – of one kind or another. We have family friends, work friends, regular old friends, facebook friends, imaginary friends, animals who are our friends and some of us even have non-human friends. When you’re traveling with friends (no matter what kind of friend they are) it’s a good idea to set some ground rules so you don’t ruin that friendship.

I made the mistake one time of taking a cruise with two other girls. The three of us shared a single cabin – boy, did that test our friendship. I’ve traveled to foreign countries with several different friends and at times have shared hotel rooms and not shared rooms. I’ve done weekend road trips with friends and learned how to spend a lot of time in a car with other people. Each trip has tested friendships in different ways and taught me a lot about how to travel with other people. Here are some of my tips:

• Set the ground rules before you decide to travel together – you don’t want to end up on an island only to find out you can’t agree on anything!
• Travel with people you have things in common with and who have similar travel styles – don’t travel with someone who likes to wake up with the sun if you’re a late sleeper!
• Talk about what you’re going to do on your trip with there is disagreement – have a plan for how to handle the inevitable disagreement. If you want to go to the pool and the other person wants to go to the beach, how will you handle that? My friends and I handle this by agreeing that we don’t have to do everything as a group. If one person wants to do their own thing, that’s okay! If everyone wants to get Indian for dinner and 1 person doesn’t like Indian, they can do their own thing for dinner – we never change the groups plan to accommodate 1 person.
• Be flexible – when you’re traveling with friends, you have to be flexible with each other. Don’t sweat the little things. I have one friend who I travel with and she can literally spend an hour in the shower. It drives me nuts! I just want to get ready and go. I have to just deal with it and let it go or we’d never be able to travel together.
• Don’t pressure your friends to like things just because you do. I love volunteering while I’m on vacation and most of the friends I travel with don’t. That’s okay – and I never pressure them to volunteer with me. I usually volunteer when they’re doing something that I’m not interested.
• Talk about finances before you go – how will you handle paying for incidentals on the trip, what happens when one person in the group isn’t drinking and the drinks add up on the dinner bill, etc.. Talk about what type of places you’ll go to eat (you don’t want to make reservations at a 5 star restaurant if the other people aren’t prepared to pay for it!)

This December I’m taking a trip with three other women. I’ve traveled with one of them for the past 3 years. It will be quite an adventure and we’ll see how the two new women travel. We picked them to join us because they seem to have similar interests and are easy going – hopefully we were right!

How do you travel with friends? What rules do you set?

During the month of October I’m celebrating 1 year on BoardingArea by giving away 1 million points. The contest will run from 10/1/12 – 10/28/12 (please see the terms & conditions on the contest home page) Your first chance to enter will be tomorrow, October 1^st, and here’s a hint: you’ll need a friend, a stuffed friend, and some creativity!

It’s been a great first year on Boarding Area and so I’m celebrating by giving away 1 million points in October! Keep reading to find out how you can enter.

VeryGoodPoints has actually been around for 2 years now, but I joined Boarding Area around this time last year. Since moving to BoardingArea, I’ve seen a great increase in readership – and I’d like to say thank you!! When I started blogging, I would write about almost anything. In the past year, I’ve tried to narrow my focus and will continue to do so over the next year. I’ve started a new feature, called “Technology Meets Travel”, where I’ll talk about how technology is influencing the traveler’s experience. I’ll continue to write about hotels – because it’s one of my passions – and I’ll focus on trip reports that include some aspect of philanthropy or giving back to the local communities I visit. One thing you won’t find on my blog are credit card offers – I’m still not getting into the credit card game.

During each week in October I will blog about a specific theme. During each week, you’ll have up to 3 chances to enter the give-a-way for a total of 12 chances to win during the entire month! Each week you’ll be able to enter by: 1) Tweeting something that will be included in the weekly blog post, 2) posting a picture related to the week’s theme on my Facebook page, and 3) commenting on the weekly blog post. There will be one opportunity for 1 bonus entry. The entry method for the bonus entry will be announced during the promotion period. The contest will run for 4 weeks in October 2012 staring October 1, 2012 through October 28, 2012, at 8pm EST.

Weekly Prizes -

Week 1 – Oct 1^st – Oct 7^th – blog post will be dated Oct 1^st and deadline will be October 7^th 2012, 8pm EST

• Weekly prize – 20k Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints

Week 2 – Oct 8^th – Oct 14^th blog post will be dated Oct 8^th and deadline will be October 14^th 2012, 8pm EST

• Weekly prize – 50k Hyatt Gold Passport Points

Week 3 – Oct 15^th – Oct 21^st blog post will be dated Oct 15^th and deadline will be October 21^st 2012, 8pm EST

• Weekly prize – 20k Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints

Week 4 – Oct 22^nd – Oct 28^th blog post will be dated Oct 22^nd and deadline will be October 28^th 2012, 8pm EST

• Weekly prize – 20k Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints

Each participate may enter up to 3 times per week (1 entry via Twitter, 1 entry via Facebook and 1 entry via www.VeryGoodPoints.com)

Grand Prizes – two grand prizes will be given away based upon all entries submitted during the 4 week contest period (starting Oct 1 2012 through Oct 28^th 2012 at 8pm EST). There will be one bonus entry announced during the contest period and that will count as 1 additional entry. Any participant who enters more than 3 times per week is be disqualified.

Grand Prize #1 –

• 300k Delta Sky Miles
• 200k Hilton Honors Points

Grand Prize #2 –

• 240k US Airways Dividend Miles
• 100k Marriott Rewards Points
• 50k Hyatt Gold Passport Points

Terms & Conditions

• Promotion Period: The contest runs from October 1 – October 28, 2012 at 8pm EST. Any entry posted prior to or after that period will be disqualified
  
• Eligibility: To enter, you must be a legal resident of the United States (void in Rhode Island and Puerto Rico) or Canada (void in Quebec) 21 years of age or older. Void where prohibited by law. Immediate family members of VeryGoodPoints and the judges and their immediate families are not eligible to win.
  
• Prizes: Limit of one weekly prize per household or per person for the entire promotional period. Weekly prize winners are eligible to win 1 of the grand prize awards. Recipient will be responsible for taxes where applicable. The odds of winning are dependent upon the number of entries. Each participant is limited to a maximum of 13 entries (3 entries per week for 4 weeks and one bonus entry). There is no cash value.
  
• Winner Selection: Entries will be judged by a panel of three judges. Winners will not be selected at random – rather based on creativity. The judges will select one weekly winner and two grand prize winners from all eligible entries.
  
• Winner Notification: Once notified, the recipient will have 10 business days from the date of notification to claim the prize. Prizes may be claimed by emailing verygoodpoints@gmail.com . If the prize is not claimed within 10 business days after notification, the recipient forfeits the prize
  
• Other Conditions: No purchase necessary to win. Recipient must have valid rewards account to accept the prize (it is free to join the Starwood Preferred Guest, Delta Sky Miles, Hilton Honors, Marriott Rewards, Hyatt Rewards and US Airways Dividend Miles Programs). Please read the terms of each reward program to determine what constitutes a valid rewards account. Commenting on this blog post does not constitute entry. VeryGoodPoints is not affiliated with Starwood, Delta, Hilton, US Airways, Marriott or Hyatt companies. This promotion is in no way sponsored or administered by Facebook, Twitter, Starwood, Delta, Hilton, US Airways, Marriott or Hyatt. By posting a picture on the wall of VeryGoodPoints, you hereby grant VeryGoodPoints the rights to republish that picture on www.verygoodpoints.com.
  

• Privacy: Information collected from participants is used only for the purpose of determining eligablity and awarding the prize(s) and will not be re-used, sold, or shared in any manner.
  

   

COMMENTING ON THIS POST IS NOT A VALID ENTRY! Contest begins October 1^st 2012 and runs through October 28^th 2012 at 8pm EST.

I’ve decided to start a multi-part series focusing on how technology impacts travel. I’ll be looking at all kinds of technology related travel initiatives, travel tech companies and more.

In this edition, I’m taking a look at some ways airports are using technology to make travel more enjoyable (if that’s possible) and efficient for travelers.

B4 You Board

HMSHost, a company that specializes in airport hospitality, has introduced B4 You Board, an award-winning mobile app that will allow passengers to order meals and have them delivered to the gate. The app is now available at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) in Terminal 2 in addition to the original locations at JFK Terminal 3; ORD Terminal 1 B North, 2 E/F Gates, 3 T3 Main Terminal; MSP Terminal 1 D/E/F gates; SMF Terminal B.

The app allows you to browse menus, order food and have it delivered to your gate. There’s also an option to pick-up meals as well. The app allows you to place an order, gives you options to customize the order (add or remove ingredients, choose cooking temperature, etc…) and use a credit card to pay for the meal.

B4 You Board was recognized by the National Restaurant Association as one of the three Most Significant Technological Innovations in the Restaurant Industry in 2012. The app is available for the iPhone and select Android phones and is free to download.

I will be in ORD this week and will test out the app there. I’ll write a report on how it went after the trip!

Fraport FRA App

Frankfurt Airport is now offering an app for iPhone and iPad (with an Android version to be released in late Fall) for visitors to FRA. The app was released August 8, 2012 and can be downloaded free of charge. The app allows travelers to get to know the airport, view detailed maps and current flight data. If you accept push notifications, you can automatically receive information about changes to flights. Frequent travelers can customize the app by creating personal lists with points of interest, and information about flight connections.

The app offers a “near me” function – great for finding restaurants, lounges, etc… I will certainly use this feature when I’m traveling through FRA. In the past four years, I’ve had at least one/two trips a year that require connections in FRA and I always have a hard time finding the Star Alliance Lounge closest to my gate – this app will fix that!

I’ll be in FRA in mid-October and will report back!

Tesco Virtual Grocery hits Gatwick

Tesco, a UK based grocery store, has introduced the UKs first interactive virtual grocery store in Gatwick’s North Terminal. The virtual store, shaped like refrigerators, will allow passengers to browse items, scan a barcode using their smartphone and adding the item to their virtual basket. They will be able to schedule home delivery and pay for their items.

The virtual grocery store is targeted at travelers who are tired of coming home to empty fridges. I often travel to the UK on business for multiple weeks at a time. I could see myself using this feature while waiting for my baggage and having items delivered to my hotel. There’s nothing worse than getting to a hotel – where I’ll be staying for two or three weeks – and having nothing in the room to eat or drink, especially when landing late at night!

This isn’t Tesco’s first entry into the virtual world. Last year Tesco launched the world’s first virtual grocery store in South Korea. The Korean store allows commuters to shop in subways, bus stops and other locations using their smartphones.

What other cool airport apps have you seen?

Have you entered to win Hilton’s little things project? Hilton’s “bringing back the little things that make travel better…and want to bring them home to you” also. You can enter to instantly win DoubleTree Cookie Tins, Hilton Honors Points, CITRON by Crabtree and Evelyn Gift Sets and Sweet Dreams Pillows. Then, every week they’ll giveaway more Hilton Honors Points and DoubleTree Cookies and finally, they’ll give away a grand prize $25k dream vacation.

If you have a code, you can enter daily for a chance to win. If you don’t have a code, you can request one on the entry form. (I haven’t tried it more than one day in a row yet to see if it will give me a code again tomorrow, but I’ll let you know when I find out!)

There are some rules (of course) – open to US & Canadian residents (excluding residents of Quebec), must be 18 years old, void where prohibited by law and ends November 17, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

The High Court of London granted an injunction to stop an anonymous tweeter posting negative comments about Thomas Cook UK. The travel company believed that the source is a disgruntled employee because the tweeter using the handle @TCXrated, was posting internal company memos and allegations about Thomas Cook’s business position.

The person responsible for the tweets was warned by the court that they could face jail time if they do not end the campaign against Thomas Cook. The court granted an order that will force Twitter to reveal the name and address of the account holder. They will use this information to demand the tweeter stop making disparaging remarks about Thomas Cook.

It seems more and more that business will fight back when employees (or suspected) employees take to the web to air grievances. I’m sure we all remember the American Airlines vs Gailen David aka TheSkySteward – which was recently settled by the parties – in which American Airlines claimed David was posting confidential company information on his blog. American Airlines amended claim against Gailen David
included claims against David for Trade Infringement, Conspiracy, and Misappropriation of Trade Secrets.  According to papers filed by the Tarrant County District Court, the settlement forces David to stop posting “Confidential, Proprietary or Trade Secret Information of American, AMR Corp., or American Eagle Airlines, Inc, which includes financial information, business operations, board members’ information, employees’ information and travel data”

It would appear that Thomas Cook UK has taken the same approach in the UK courts claiming that the “unsavory posts contain confidential internal trade information…giving us (Cook) reason to suspect that @TCXrated is an employee thus acting in breach of contract of employment. The damage is ongoing and continues to damage Thomas Cook while revealing confidential commercial materials.”

As of this posting, Twitter has suspended @TCXrated’s account but the topic of his/her posts certainly has remained a hot topic on Twitter.

What will happen next? Stay tuned.

There are a million travel apps out there for the business traveler – apps that track your points/miles, apps that track your flights, apps that track your time, apps that do conversions, etc… if you have a need, you can bet there’s an app for that! Now, there’s another hot new app for those of us who spend a lot of time on the go. I’m looking for any way to save time and be more efficient.

How many times does this happen to you? You’re walking through the airport with your carry-on and boarding pass in one hand and a beverage of choice in the other hand. Just then you remember something you forgot to do at the office or at home? Or you come up with your next brilliant idea? This is the point where you do one of two things 1) you stop in your tracks to make a note, a call, etc… or 2) you balance your beverage in the same hand as the boarding pass and carry-on and get your cell phone out with the other hand. Once you have the cell phone out, you can dial someone (hopefully they’re in your favorites) or you can send a text message (which is not easy w/one hand). I find that I call myself and leave messages for myself about things I need to do, should have done, want to do…. All of these options are extremely clumsy and slow me down in the airport – or I end up bumping into someone or something while I’m paying attention to my text messaging and not to where I’m going!

Now, there’s an app that’s going to solve my problem! The eDict App allows me to quickly and easily send a message to one of three contacts stored in the app. With one tap I open the app and with a second tap I choose who to send the message to. Then, all I have to do is tap save when I’m done recording and tap send! What’s unique is that this sends me an email with a recording – as opposed to having to log into voice mail (when I’m overseas this is awesome so that I don’t have to worry about international phone rates! I just need an email connection.)

Now you can easily send messages to your assistant, to yourself or to anyone else you choose to add to the app. The email comes with an attachment of the recording that you can transcribe later, listen to over and over again, or just delete. The recipient can also simply reply to the email message w/confirmation or additional information. Oh the time this will save!

Believe it or not, this scenario happens to me a lot… You’re boarding a flight and can’t find the address of your meeting in your arrival city. For me it typically means I’ll be arriving in Bangkok or Hong Kong or some foreign city unprepared. You call your office, but inevitably the call goes to voice mail, and you leave a message asking your office to find the address. Someone in the office has to listen to the message; find the information and either call you back or email you the info. By the time they get back to you, you’re probably already in the air! With eDict, you can launch your app and send a message (via email) to the person in your office that will have this information. Instead of trying to call you back, they can just hit respond with information you need. I think this is awesome!

You can configure the app to allow Geo-location (it will include a map of the location where the message was sent from), you can define (or leave blank) the subject line, text for the body of the message, add a carbon copy address and define the color you want to associate with the contact.

The app is available for iPhones (3GS, 4, 4s, 5) and iPad and requires iOS 5.0 or later and is found in the app store http://goo.gl/w0BLz. The app is currently free but will become a paid app very soon. Readers of VeryGoodPoints are getting a sneak peak and advanced access while it’s free!!! Download it now before you have to pay for it.

I had the chance to interview the creator and I can tell you that there are future release coming with additional functionality and enhancements! I really think this is a great new app for the business traveler (and probably a lot of other people too!) You can email the creators of eDict with feedback by contacting eDict directly

Want to win a $50 iTunes Gift Card? Here’s how you can enter – download eDict and leave a comment about what you think of the app. If you don’t have an iPhone or iPad, please read the rules for alternate methods of entry. You have until Friday September 28^th at 6pm EST to submit your comment.

Contest Now Closed.  The winner of the $50 iTunes gift card is comment #40 – Nacho!  Congratulations! 

Good luck!!

Rules:

Yep, there are always rules!

• You must be a US Citizen and at least 18 years of age to win
  
• Deadline: Friday September 28^th at 6pm EST
  
• Void where prohibited by law; void in Rhode Island
  
• No purchase is necessary (the app is free during the contest period) and if you don’t own an iPhone or iPad you may alternatively enter by leaving a comment on this blog post about why you would use this app or why you wouldn’t use the app.
  
• One entry per person
  
• The winner will be announced on this blog and will have 10 business days to claim their prize by emailing verygoodpoints@gmail.com
  
• There is no affiliation between eDict and VeryGoodPoints
  
• The staff and family of eDict and VGP are not eligible to win.

Contest now closed – winner announced below 

Why do I own a car? A question I ask myself at least a few times a year – when I get the car serviced, when I get gas, etc… Now I’m asking because it’s my car’s birthday! As a road warrior who spends ¾ of the year out of the country, AAA spends more time restarting my car battery than I spend driving it (I’m not kidding!)

I bought my car in September of 2005 and it was brand new at the time – according to the paper work, it had 7 miles on the odometer when I purchased it. This month, my car turned 7 years old – can you guess how many miles the odometer shows today? To win, all you have to do is guess the number of miles my car shows today. The person with the guess closest to the actual # of miles as of Sept 1, 2012 wins a year of Executive Status with National Car Rental – my favorite car rental company.

I’ll give you a few hints – guessing might not be as easy as you think!

• I fly approximately 100,000 miles a year (and have done so for the past 7 years)
• So far, in 2012, I’ve spent 12 weeks in the United States
• I live on an Island – yes, literally, I live on an island that has a gas station, grocery store, restaurants and my corporate office HQ. The only time I leave the island is to get my hair done, to go to the Apple Store downtown and to eat downtown occasionally.
• I don’t drive to the airport

Why do I own a car? I have no idea! Some days I wish I owned a golf cart instead.

The Prize:
National Car Rental Emerald Club membership is great – in my opinion – and Executive Status is even better. The advantages of National Executive status are that you can choose from the Executive Aisle or area which usually has the best selection of cars. All you have to do is reserve a midsize car or better at participating locations in the US or Canada, when you arrive, you go straight to the Executive Aisle and choose any car while paying the rate you booked for the midsized car. I’ve gotten great cars on the Executive Aisle including a Hummer H3 recently! I also always check for satellite radio in the cars before committing to one car in the aisle.

GOOD LUCK!

Contest Now Closed.  The winner is Jacob! Jacob guessed 19,999 miles and was the closest.  I have actually driven 20,009 in 7 years!  The largest chunk of the miles came from driving the car from outside of Tampa to Charleston, South Carolina (~450 miles). The remainder have accumulated over the past 7 years.  I drive approximately 2800 miles a year. Again, I ask, why do I own a car? 

The Rules

• Must be a US Citizen age 18 or older
  
• Must be a member of National Car Rental Emerald Club (free to join)
  
• Void where prohibited by law
  
• You may enter 1 time per day until the deadline for entry which is Sept 26 at 5pm EST
  
• The person who guesses the number of miles – or is closest to the number of miles – will be awarded the prize.
  
• The winner will be posted on this blog post and must contact VeryGoodPoints within 10 business days to claim their prize.
  

Have you registered for this US Airways promotion? The more US Airways partners you fly, the more miles you can earn. You can register here. Through December 15, 2012, USAir is going to reward you for your international travel on Star Alliance partners. Fly with US Air AND any other Star Alliance airlines and you’ll get your base miles plus you can earn up to 25,000 bonus miles! You must travel between Sept 10, 2012 and Dec 15, 2012.

• Travel on 3 partners and earn 2,500 miles
• Travel on 4 partners and earn 5,000 miles
• Travel on 5 partners and earn 15,000 miles
• Travel on 6 partners and earn 25,000 miles

I’ve registered for the promotion and I’m well on my way to earning more miles.

On Sept 15^th I flew US Airways from London to Philly

• US Airways leg complete

On Oct 14^th I’ll fly United from Chicago to Amsterdam

• Partner #1

On Oct 25^th I’ll fly SAS from Amsterdam to Frankfurt

• Partner #2

On Oct 26^th I’ll fly Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Bangkok

• Partner #3

On November 3^rd I’ll fly Swiss from Bangkok to Zurich

• Partner #4

On November 4^th I’ll fly United from Zurich to New York

• This flight won’t count since I’ve already counted United.
• If I can switch from United to LOT I will do that

On Dec 12^th I will fly Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur

• Partner #5

So as it stands, once I complete all these flights, I will have earned 15,000 miles. If I can switch from United to LOT in November I will be able to earn 25,000 miles. Either that or I’ll have to find some really cheap flight from Amsterdam or a nearby airport to somewhere in Europe during one of the weekends while I’m there. Hmmm… any ideas?

Do you think you’ll take part? How many miles do you hope to earn?

Over the last two weeks, I had the opportunity to stay in both the Hilton London Green Park and the Hilton London Hyde Park. The two are sister properties and the differences are likenight and day. The following is my full review of both.

Hilton London Green Park Hotel

The Hilton London Green Park hotel is located just off of Park Lane in the Mayfair neighborhood. The hotel calls a 1730s Gregorian-style town house home. Even though the building is historic it is well maintained both inside and out. The hotel is about 3 blocks from the Green Park Tube station which makes getting around very convenient. There is a definite charm that you can feel at the Hilton Green Park – from the décor to the architecture to the ambiance, you’ll enjoy what the hotel has to offer.

Check-in

I arrived early, about 7am, and checked in right away. The process was quick and easy. My room wasn’t ready so the hotel stored my bags and I headed off to work for the day. When I arrived back at the hotel in the afternoon, I simply showed my ID at the front desk, got my keys and headed straight to my room. A bellman was right behind me with my suitcase that had been stored.

The Room

The room I was assigned was a deluxe king room on the first floor of the hotel (which was actually the second level) very close to an elevator and some steps. The room was a good size and had a king sized bed, small lounge chair in front of the bed, a desk and chair, small refrigerator, and TV. The bathroom was large but the layout was odd. There was a combined bath/shower, a sink and toilet and two French doors that could be opened partially. There was a small balcony – it didn’t look like the balcony could be used as there was tons of broken tile and rocks (most likely the reason the doors could only partially open.) The view from the bathroom and bedroom were of the street and hotel directly across the way. I chose to keep the blinds drawn most of time to maintain privacy. The room was clean and comfortable and the space was adequate.

The Hotel

There was a bar and restaurant in the hotel. The bar was very busy on Friday night. I decided to have dinner in the hotel restaurant. There were 3 tables of two people each seated in the restaurant and the waiter who was also serving as host asked me to have a seat in the bar until a table was ready. That seemed odd since I could count about 8 open tables in my line of sight. I waited a few minutes and then wandered back over to the restaurant. The host/waiter showed me to a table. A second waiter seemed to suddenly appear and took my drink and dinner order. I ordered a small Caesar salad and mushroom Gnocchi. The salad was average – what you’d expect from a Caesar salad, but nothing special. The Gnocchi was very good and I enjoyed it quite a bit. After dinner I was stuffed and couldn’t even look at the dessert menu. The service was good, but the two servers seemed a little overwhelmed as the restaurant got quite busy. At some point, a manager appeared and helped at the host stand and with providing/collecting checks. The restaurant is expensive, but a good option if you can’t get out of the hotel.

The entire staff was very helpful and responsive to requests. The hotel offers wifi in all rooms and while I could easily connect from my laptop, I could not get my iPad to connect to the wifi. The hotel offered to send someone to the room, but no one ever showed up. That was only one request that I made that never got addressed and the following day I forgot to follow-up. I just used my laptop during my stay.

Overall

I really enjoyed the hotel and would definitely stay again. The rooms were nice, the staff was helpful and the location was great. The Hilton Green Park Hotel is like day compared to the Hilton London Hyde Park Hotel which is like night in comparison .

Hotel Lobby and reception

The room

Entry

The Hilton London Hyde Park

I have already written about the issues I experienced with check-in at this hotel, so I won’t go into it again here. This review will focus on the hotel itself. The hotel was built in 1907 and opened as the Colburg Court Hotel.

The room(s)

I changed rooms several times at this hotel.
The first room I was shown as a single room with a twin bed and shower. There was barely enough room to open my suitcase in the room. I decided not to stay in the room because after 9 days I think I would have felt cramped. The second room was lager and had a double bed but only had a bathtub. The floor was stained and the bathtub was rusty. The third room I had was much larger than first two and at first glance seemed to be in better condition. I quickly found that the room hadn’t been fully cleaned. There was a candy wrapper (or some sort of wrapper) in the couch. In the bathroom, there was a crumpled towel next to the sink and unwrapped soap in the soap dish. The hotels GM had come up to the room and was able to see the ½ cleaned room. The housekeeper was in the room immediately and cleaned the bathroom and couch. After the these issue were taken care of, the room was fine but as with the rest of the hotel, it was not well maintained.

The paint was chipping and peeling, there were stains on the doors, the bathroom ceiling had what I suspect was mold or mildew on it. The shower tiles were chipped and in need of a deep cleaning.

A colleague who was also at the hotel described the bed as “sleeping on a table.” He also hit the nail on the head when he said that the best thing about the hotel were the towels and heated towel rack. I totally agree, the hotel did have nice towels and having them heated was a nice touch.

The hotel

The hotel is quite old and has not been well maintained so it shows its age. It is apparently on the list of historic buildings and so the management team explained that many things couldn’t be changed. I understand that historic buildings can’t be changed, but that doesn’t mean that the hotel needs to be run down and gloomy. New carpet, a fresh coat of paint and some minor repairs would make all the difference in the world.

Breakfast was served in the restaurant located on the lower level of the hotel. There was a bar area and restaurant that were typically very full. Breakfast was okay, they had a selection of hot foods, cold selections and cereal and breads. I took advantage of the breakfast the first few days, but quickly found it was easier to pick up a muffin at Starbucks on the way to the office. My colleagues all took advantage of the breakfast while we were there.

There were two small elevators in the hotel that could fit 4 people without luggage, maybe 2 people with luggage. So many people took the stairs if their room was on the first few levels. The final room I ended up in was on the 5^th floor and so I waited for the elevator most days – except the day that we had the fire alarm, that day I walked down the stairs with all the other guests.

Service

The hotel staff was not very helpful. If you wanted to be sure a request would be honored or even just followed up on, you had to speak with a manager. The Duty Manger, named Aaron, was the saving grace of the hotel. If it weren’t for him, I would have checked out early. To give you an example, I requested not to get the newspaper delivered to my room. Every single day the newspaper was delivered. For seven straight days I would bring the paper to the front desk and point out that I had requested no newspaper. It wasn’t until the 7^th day when I talked to Aaron that the newspaper delivery was stopped. 7 requests to hotel staff to simply stop the newspaper and that couldn’t be accomplished without the mangers involvement. The non-management staff at the Hilton London Hyde Park is a terrible reflection on the hotel and left a horrible impression with me.

Overall

I was impressed with the efforts that the duty manager, Aaron, and the front of house manger, Stephen went to to fix things during my stay. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the staff didn’t seem to care about customer service. The hotel is old and needs to be refurbished and well maintained. The Green Park Hotel, which is housed in a much older building, seems to maintain the property while the Hyde Park location doesn’t seem to put the same effort into maintenance. Considering the two are “sister” properties you would think they’d have similar attention to detail – but they don’t.

If you have to stay in London, I would recommend the Hilton London Green Park and I would not stay at the Hilton London Hyde Park again.

Hotel Exterior

Stained Floors

Second room & phone w/missing buttons

Third room (the largest of all the rooms)

Sink with used towel and opened soap & dirty, stained door

Mildew/Mold on the bathroom ceiling & chipped paint

Chipped, dirty tiles & chipped ceiling

Although I wasn’t able to participate on the ground in any of the London Olympic Victory Parade celebrations, I had a pretty great view from my office here in London. The parade was to honor Team GBs Olympic and Paralympic Athletes.

Red Arrows stream across the sky leaving a trail of red, white & blue.

The Victory Parade was the largest free event of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and news agencies estimated somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 people turned out to watch the parade. I am glad I was perched high above in my office looking outward given these scenes

Closed and Crowded Streets (photograph taken by and published with permission of a colleague)

The energy in the city was electric and even in the office I could feel the excitement. When the Red Arrows flew over everyone peered out the windows. When the British Airways Airbus emblazoned with the words “Thank You” on its belly flew by people snapped photos (after all, we all travel a lot and love the airbus.)

This was definitely an exciting time to be in London and I’m glad I got to see the parade from afar. I wish I had been able to see some of the Olympic games or Paralympic games, but this was a business trip and work was the priority. I will blog about the weekend I spent here and the close-encounter I had with Lady Gaga and the BBC Radio 2 Concert I attended in Hyde Park tomorrow.

It’s been a full week since I last blogged and a lot has happened. I headed off to London last weekend for a two-week long business trip. Before I left, I blogged about how excited I was for my first stay at a Hilton hotel in more than year.

The London Hilton Hyde Park

When I made my reservation, I submitted a request for early check-in. I arrived at the hotel around 11am and checked in. The check-in process was easy. I was informed that my room was ready, but because some sort of inspections was taking place, he couldn’t give me the keys yet. The person checking me in said it wouldn’t be too long and he’d bring the key to me in bar area. After about an hour, I went back to the front desk to enquire about the room. The same person who had checked me in, and said it wouldn’t be long, said it should only be another few minutes so I waited by reception where there a very few seats. Twenty minutes passed, I inquired again. He said the room still wasn’t ready and that he’d check w/housekeeping to see when it would be done. I then watched him help 5 other guests before sitting back down at the reception desk. I asked him again if he had called housekeeping and he said he had. I knew that wasn’t true because I watched him stand in front of me helping the other guests. He hadn’t picked up the phone, used a walkie-talkie or anything to reach housekeeping. I asked him to please call and he said he would talk to his colleague. He leaned over and to ask another person about the room. The other person said that my room hadn’t been cleaned yet. What? Wait a minute, the guy who checked me in said it was ready, but being inspected. So what was it? I asked to speak with a manager.

The duty manager, Aaron, came to help. I explained that I wasn’t upset that the room wasn’t ready, or that I couldn’t check-in early, but that I was getting very frustrated by the different stories. Was the room clean? Not clean? Was there an inspection? I just wanted an honest answer. Aaron offered me a room right away, but suggested that I check it out to see if I wanted to stay in it. I went up to the room and it was laughable. There was a twin bed, a small TV stand w/TV, a shower (and I think someone over 5′ 5” would have had a hard time showering in it) sink and toilet. It was smaller than my first college dorm room. I went back down to reception and spoke to Aaron. He said he could have another room ready in about an hour. I thanked him and said I’d come back after getting some lunch. When I came back from lunch, a room was ready. Turns out, I ended up switching rooms 3 times until they found me a room that was ½ way decent. The first room had stained floors and a bathtub that was rusty. I needed a shower so I requested a room change. The next room was okay, except that the internet barely worked. On a business trip, internet is essential, so I had to request another room change. The next room was much better except that there was a crumpled up towel next to the sink and soap in the soap dish. There was also a candy wrapper and some stains on the couch in the room.

A colleague staying here as well described lying in the bed like lying on a table. The phone in one of my rooms was missing ½ its keys. It was really only funny because the bellman said “If you need anything press the button for reception” and the reception key was missing (luckily you could get them by dialing zero as well.) When trying to come up with good things to say about the hotel, I think my colleague put it best –”the size of the bath towels is awesome and the heated towel rack is great.”

Overall, I’ve been very disappointed with my experience here. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with the duty manger and GM several times since checking in earlier this week. I’ve found the management of the hotel to be hospitable and eager to make things right. But it seems that they’re working against the physical condition of the hotel and their own team. The hotel is old and in need of upkeep. The rooms are small and run-down. The non-management staff is less than helpful and doesn’t really want to seem to solve problems – they’d rather leave it to mangers to deal with.

I’ll have a full review on the London Hilton Hyde Park in my London: Week 2 trip report.

London’s Borough Market

If you’ve never been to London’s Borough Market it’s worth a visit when you’re in London. The market is full of vendors selling fresh foods, flowers, and local fare. The smells are marvelous and at times overwhelming (there are some very unusual cheese vendors!) You can find every type of food you’d ever want and a free sample of just about everything.

Nobu London

I love Nobu. There’s just no way around it, it’s one of my favorites. I was very excited to share a meal there with some colleagues who had never been. We started with some sushi – yellow tail and scallions, spicy tuna, salmon roll and soft crab roll. The rolls were delicious, especially the yellow tail. Then we had some rock shrimp tempura with three dipping sauces – a ponzu citrus sauce, a spicy aioli and a mildly spicy habanero pepper sauce. It’s one of my favorites and it was just as good as I had remembered. We had some great tempura vegetables – the highlight was the pumpkin. The absolute highlight of the dinner was the anticucho style Tea-smoked lamb with ancho chili sauce. It was one of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever had. It was the first time I’ve had the dish and I can promise it won’t be the last. I’m hooked!

One thing you might not expect at Nobu are outrageous desserts. I’ve always been a fan and this visit wasn’t any different. We had the chocolate bento box – a flourless chocolate fondant cake with green tea ice cream; a fuji apple crumble – seared fuji apples with sesame oil, miso salt, toffee, peanut butter ice cream, and coconut crumble and the warm chocolate santandagi – warm chocolate filled donuts with caramelized pistachio and almond ice cream. The fuji apple crumble is absolutely amazing.

Nobu has locations around the world, if you’re ever near one, check it out!

Make sure you check out next week’s post – London Week 2 for a full report on the Hilton Hyde Park and the Hilton Green Park where I check in next.