Trip to Gran Canaria + London, Brussels & Washington

[nate89]

I have some time to spare and thought I might write up a trip report on it.

The trip is for business starting off with a conference in LPA. All trips are in Y ( )

21 Jan: SYD-LAX
21 Jan: LAX-LHR
22 Jan: Night at LGW Hilton
23 Jan: LGW-LPA
Accomodation at Exe Las Canteras in Las Palmas
28 Jan: LPA-LGW
Accomodation at Hilton London Metropole
30 Jan: Train to Brussels
Accomodation: Hilton Brussels City
31 Jan: Train to LHR; LHR-IAD
Accomodation: Embassy Suites Washington DC (Hilton)
3 Feb: DCA-LAX; LAX-SYD

SYD-LAX: QF11
I booked an exit seat for this leg, but in retrospect this was $180 not well spent. The flight was around 1/2 capacity in Y so there was a lot of room. After take-off they allowed people to change seats, allowing people to have entire rows to themselves if they were quick. The flight itself was on-time and we had good service.

Interesting bit of information I found out from the qantas crew member who sat opposite me - the hotel that QF crew are booked into at LAX have a contract clause set by QF that they must provide a courtesy bus to Costco and back for crew!

LAX-LHR: AA6185 (on BA metal)
This flight was pretty bad on the ground.
It started off with ticketing issues that I outlined in another thread. Essentially my Aussie credit card was causing issues and I wasn't aware of how to get by it. Once I was in LAX I had to go to another terminal to pay for my ticket in person which went relatively flawlessly, but AA had to convert my AUD issued ticket price into USD and this caused a little confusion on behalf of the sales person (who was otherwise perfectly pleasant). I think the only major issue with this was that you cannot book a seat beforehand, but in my case this didn't matter. The flight was around 2/3 capacity, if not lower so getting a window seat that wasn't too far back was fine a couple of hours before scheduled take off.

I say 'scheduled take-off' because the flight was actually delayed by around 2 and a bit hours. The explanation provided us was that the starter motor for the jets had malfunctioned. They tried to start it using equipment on the ground, but this ended up damaging the jets rather than starting them. Not what you want to hear!

Two hours in a cabin with no AC, entertainment or wifi was a bit of a drawback. It got hot quite quickly too given it was 26 degrees and sunny outside. The flight was otherwise fine though. The crew were a bit unfriendly compared to the QF crew I had, but they could have been worse. I think they were stressed from the delay in their defense.

Hilton Gatwick:
I pre-paid their cheapest room, hoping for an upgrade and I did get one. Upgraded to exec level in the new refurbished building. It was honestly quite a long walk from reception, but it is much quieter there. The furniture seemed a bit cheap though; like it was bought from ikea and not put together properly. The board at the head of the bed was squeaking loudly with minor movement; the panels at the bottom of the bed set and computer desk were leaning against the wall (IE not properly installed). The minibar was in a cupboard under the TV and when i opened it there was (a) nothing in it and (b) the bottom door hinge wasn't screwed in. The TV also lost sync between video and audio every few minutes which became a bit annoying.

I would honestly be a bit peeved off if I had paid for an exec room and received that. However I was too exhausted to complain and promptly fell asleep.

LGW-LPA: EZY8693
Everything went fine with this leg. I quite like Gatwick; it is less intense than LHR, and check-in went very smoothly (no lines except a small one in security).
The flight was fully booked; mostly of retired brits escaping to somewhere warmer
I had no issues coming into Gran Canaria either; aussie passport stamped with no issues in around 30 seconds. No wait at customs either.

Accomodation: Exe Las Canteras (4 star)
Let me start off with saying I do not think this hotel deserves 4 stars. It is in a lovely location, but the quality of the product is holding it back. I am judging from their cheapest room, but I still think it is lacking the quality in other rooms.

The rooms are sized OK.
Wifi is free, but you need a username and password sheet from reception for each unit you want to connect (an issue for me; Ideally I have four units I want to connect). It is also quite unstable.
The safe is free, but they require a credit card at reception.
The mini bar is minimal (they even put pringles chips in the fridge to save space).
There is no bath in my room; the shower is good, but mine doesn't drain well and so overflows after a few minutes if I have it on full pressure.
I reserved a room with a double bed; I have a room with two singles and they have no others available.
There is no complimentary water; a 500 mL bottle costs 2.5 EUR. The tap water here is apparently OK to wash veg and brush your teeth with, but 99% of residents have bottled water.
Staff here are not particularly friendly, but then again they could be worse.
Breakfast was pretty good. Lots of fresh fruit, pate, eggs & bacon, toasters, ham, cheese, croissants, fresh juice, etc.
There is no room service; the hotel restaurant didn't appear to be open for dinner and I read somewhere it isn't open for lunch either.

Perhaps I am spoiled by Hilton, but to me the only thing that reaches 4* standard here is location and breakfast. There is a spa area which I have heard is nice, but also read you have to pay extra to get to it...

I was contemplating going to another hotel, but it seems there are none that are close enough to where I want to be and reach the quality I am after. Maybe this is 4 star for Las Palmas, but on an international scale it just doesn't do it for me.

I am going to go and explore the area now so I will be back soon with some photos hopefully

 

[RB]

I'm looking forward to reading more! Enjoy the chilled Pringles.

 

[nate89]

Well I am back in Australia now and finally have a little time to finish this.


This was the bedroom I was upgraded to at gatwick Hilton.

As I said - the head board was creaky, so I ended up pulling the bed slightly out which stopped it (before I promptly passed out).


The bathroom was nicely done too (and I don't recall faulting anything).

This was the bedroom at Exe Las Canteras. It was fine, but a bit small. The windows overlooked other peoples rooms, but I expected this as I went for the cheapest option.

The shower that didn't drain (properly). The water wasn't particularly hot either, but sufficient and very good pressure.

A picture of Las Palmas North-West coastline.




So after Las Palmas I flew back to LGW. I have to commend the pilot on this flight. LGW was very gusty and we were in a small-ish aircraft. When we were approaching the airport we were very evidently being blown around and went through a decent amount of turbulence, but we ended up not feeling the touch down at all. A large part of the cabin actually started clapping when we touched down! So to whomever the pilot and co-pilot of EZY 8692 on the 28th of Jan was - well done!

Next stop was the Hilton London Metropole, one station away from paddington. I was a bit stupid and bought a ticket to paddington, not realising until after I had walked the distance that Edgeware road station was 100m away from the hotel versus paddington which was about 3/4 of a mile. Whoops! The second mistake was taking the tube during peak hour with my suitcase... not what I would call fun. I didn't come across the lifts at Victoria Station so I had to carry my luggage up and down a couple of set of stairs.

The Metropole exterior was pretty nasty at the time because renovations were occurring. However, the interior was very nice. I had to wait about 15 minutes to check in, but was apologised to immediately and also received a room upgrade again.

The bathroom was what I expected, but the room itself was huge (it had two queen beds and ample room for the desk and lounge chair).

I quite liked this hotel; the internet was fast, there were no issues with the TV, minibar was stocked, etc. The only odd thing about this hotel was that breakfast wasn't complimentary... I need to check why it wasn't. (on that topic breakfast was pretty nice - a very english breakfast though so if you don't like hash browns, bacon, eggs, baked beans and sausages for your hot meal then you may want to reconsider). There is a marks and spencer about 100 metres east of the hotel too so there is some easy shopping and food if you want.

I was only in London for a day before flying to Brussels. I was originally going to take the train, but after realising I would have to make my way to LHR from St Pancras station (with my luggage) and the timing of the trains was inconvenient I decided to shout the extra 100 pounds for a flight with BA which comes into T5 at LHR. The flight to BRU worked out smoothly and on-time and brussels airport was quite efficient (small line for customs and quick luggage retrieval) so I was at the hotel within an hour of touching down.

I was staying at the Hilton in Brussels. I had a drink at the bar downstairs which was nice and not too busy. However, I must say the rooms were very small (I don't believe I was upgraded), verging on the cold side and the shower was a pain to work out. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had trouble with these showers. The temperature gauge turns without resistance between 20 and 36 degrees celsius, but the scale went to 50 degrees. It took me a while to realise that if I wanted to go beyond 36 I had to push a button on the handle (that looked like decor) to get it to go hot.
There was a small balcony off the room, but unfortunately the door was locked It would have been nice to step outside and get a breath of fresh air, but it seems they want to stop people doing this (perhaps to discourage smoking?).

 

[nate89]

After a nights sleep I had to check out in the morning and make my way to central station for a meeting. I will preface this by saying I should have been more organised. However, I had presumed getting a taxi from the hotel wouldn't be an issue at 8 am. I presumed wrongly. I came down at 8 am to find a line of around half a dozen other people needing taxi's. My meeting was important so I decided I would be smart and walk a few hundred metres down the street. There were no taxi's though and it soon became a matter of pride that I ended up walking the entire way with my luggage rolling on cobblestone paths. It really was silly of me, but by the time I came to a taxi I was only a five hundred metres from the station so I just kept on walking! I arrived quite flustered half an hour later and it was below zero at the time, but it all ended up okay! But for future references I will definitely recommend organising transport in advance!After my meeting I had to fly to London before transferring to a flight to Washington (IAD). The flight to London was actually delayed by about an hour and a half which was a bit frustrating for some as the flight itself is only 45 minutes. The delays were due to weather conditions at Heathrow so it was not BA's fault, but there were quite a few people complaining about transfers. This is where the train would probably be better. For me this was no issue though as I had given myself ample time in case this happened, and I faced no issues. I have to say I was impressed with the leg room on the BA flight to and from brussels. it was an older aircraft with no in-air entertainment, but the seats had significantly more legroom. I wish I had had this aircraft for my other flights ! The flight to IAD was uneventful in the best kind of way. Everything went smoothly including customs - maybe this was because I was wearing a nice suit? The drive to Washington from IAD is pretty far though which I wasn't anticipating. I had a pleasant driver though so it helped pass the time. I stayed at Embassy Suites on 22nd street mostly because it was the most reasonably priced (weekend special). The hotel is pleasant and reminds me of a resort inside (there is a pond with koi in it, a small water fall feature and large interior space). breakfast was a bit ordinary, but there was a chef who could cook you eggs and bacon how you wanted which made up for it in my books. Room service was from the italian restaurant which was quite good - I had room service twice and the service was prompt and well mannered. There is no 24 hour room service though so no late night snacks(I think it was open until 11).The room itself was nice with a living area with its own tv, empty fridge, sink and microwave. I was on the top floor too and it was quiet where I was. One thing I liked was that the cleaners signed a piece of paper with their name to say who cleans the room. I don't know why, but it made me feel more comfortable and secure :S There was a coin-operated laundry and vending machines with usual drinks and snacks that I quite liked too. The staff were always polite and I was invited to complimentary drinks with the manager in the evenings. I didn't end up attending as I was typically busy, but it looked like it was nice enough.There isn't really anywhere ideal for having a meeting with anyone though which is what I needed. I ended up going across the road to the Marriott where we could order brunch in a quiet location. I could have met with this colleague in my room as there is ample space, but at the same time it feels a bit unprofessional and too informal. The hotel definitely was aiming for holidaymakers rather than business.

The do not disturb sign put a smile on my face

The living area was a decent size which I quite liked.

The view was alright on the scale of things.

The breakfast areaMy flight to LAX was from DCA which is not bad. I was in terminal 2 if I remember correctly which is one of the two newer terminals. American Airline staff were pretty poor; there were no clear instructions as to what you were supposed to do, and there was a bit of attitude. However security were surprisingly friendly, and inside the terminal is actually quite nice with free wifi and a decent choice of food (for an american airport). unfortunately my flight was slightly delayed, which caused a bit of alarm for my flight from LAX to SYD. To add to the delays, it took a while for the luggage to come to the carousels and security after check-in was pretty bad with a line of around 150 people at both security entrances. However, it eventually worked out and I got to my gate just as they announced my seat row boarding. I was on the A380 and started off with a couple next to me. However there were quite a few sections empty. I eventually fell asleep after a few hours and woke up to see they had moved, which meant I had three seats to myself which I quickly took advantage of I ended up getting around 5-6 hours of sleep which is pretty good for me. I had also had a couple of hours on the flight beforehand so it added up. The flight actually came in around 45 minutes earlier than scheduled which was great. Customs at Sydney was not great though and it took around half an hour after customs for my suitcase to come through. Luckily quarantine sent me through a non-scanning line so I was straight through after that, but still a bit annoying... the flight definitely wasn't full so I don't want to imagine what it would have been like if it was!