Latest Posts

FLIGHT REVIEW: Qantas A380-800 Premium Economy, Singapore – London Heathrow (SIN-LHR)

Published by Shane

This is a long overdue review, but I thought it might still be good to put up one given the dearth of premium economy reviews, as I have realised while looking at whether it’s worth its price.

Having to head off to London for a short trip to attend to a personal matter earlier this year, I was choosing between Singapore Airlines or Qantas in premium economy, and decided to go with Qantas this time round.

While I have previously tried both Qantas’ first and business cabin, I was pretty excited to check out its premium economy cabin this time round for a couple of reasons. Right before Covid-19 hit Singapore, I had a trip planned to Sydney to try this cabin back in 2020, but obviously the trip got called off. This cabin is also a little bit of a unicorn, given that Qantas only has this class of travel on its A380s and B787s, of which Singapore only gets 2 A380 services a day: one to London and one to Sydney.

In this post:
• Flight today
• So what’s so premium about Premium Economy?
• Qantas Premium Economy
• Checking in
• Boarding
• The seat
• The service
• Qantas premium economy amenities
• In-flight entertainment
• Final thoughts

Flight today

Qantas QF1
Singapore (SIN) – London Heathrow (LHR)
28 February 2023
Scheduled departure: 11.55pm
Scheduled arrival: 6.25 am (+1 day)
Duration: 13 hr 50 min
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Seat: 34B (Premium Economy)

So what’s so premium about Premium Economy?

In an era not too long ago, business class seats were generally just a nudge up from economy class: a wider seat with a better recline, better food (remember, in the olden days, economy class food was actually quite a treat), and the perks of being upfront in the cabin.

But that era is long gone and forgotten by many (except if you are a frequent flyer in domestic US). Business class today, at least in the international sense, have evolved into an excellent experience for many if not most travellers, offering flat beds, sufficient dining, lounge access, and actually treats you like a normal human being, while economy class has all but improved since decades ago, with reduced practically everything from seat width to meal sizes.

Correspondingly, the price gap between the two has also widened, with business class seats going for as much as between 4 to 8 times of economy class seats. In airline economics, the pointy end of the cabin typically brings in most of the revenue for the flight.

So there is obviously a gap in between, airline managers said. What will people be willing to pay a good premium for to make air travel more bearable?

Enters premium economy.

The case for premium economy is a peculiar one. It first came into the market in the early 1990s with EVA Air purportedly being the first to do so, and many long haul airlines followed suit.

Singapore Airlines itself introduced its own version of premium economy, called the “Executive Economy”, in its non-stop flights between Singapore and New York, on the A340s, back in 2004.

This is what Singapore Airlines said about these seats in its annual report:

Designed in a very spacious 2-3-2 configuration, Executive Economy offers the industry’s widest economy class seats at 51cm, with an expanded seat pitch of 94cm. The seats also come with a larger 23cm personal
monitor and laptop power supply.
Singapore Airlines Group, Annual Report 04/05

However, Singapore Airlines took the cabin off the market later in 2014. The latest wave of premium economy cabins being widely available probably came in the last ten years or so, as demand for a in-between product picked up. The cabin has become so commercially popular that even carriers such as Emirates who are traditionally resistant to it, have also jumped on the bandwagon.

Qantas Premium Economy

Qantas runs a pretty solid premium cabin, with its first and business class cabins stacking up fairly well against major international airlines. As far as premium economy is concerned, this is a lesser researched and reviewed area, but for good reasons.

The Aussie airline has an incredibly limited offering of its premium economy cabins, as only its fleet of 10 A380 jumbos and and 14 Boeing 787-9 birds have these seats.

Qantas introduced premium economy in 2008, a good 15 years back. The first generation premium economy seats were available first on the A380 and later on the Boeing 747s, but this seat was never placed on any other aircraft that Qantas operates. Even on the A380, the airline originally installed only 35 such seats, even lesser than the 36 on the B747!

The next refresh took place only in 2017, when Qantas introduced the Dreamliner into its fold, making it only the third aircraft type flying the Qantas flag to feature premium economy. The same seat was then used in the reburbishment of the A380, which is the highlight of today’s review.

Even up to as recent as just before the pandemic, the availability of premium economy on Qantas is therefore fairly limited.

The new Qantas A380 features four cabins – first, business, premiun economy and economy, with the premium economy cabin located on the upper deck, at the rear of the deck behind the business cabin.

The main deck contains both first and economy cabins. I have previously done a First class cabin review on this route here.

Prior to Covid-19, Qantas launched a refurbishment project for its fleet of 12 A380s. Both the business and premium economy cabins got a complete overhaul. In premium economy, this meant a significant upgrade to the latest seat first debuted on the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet.

Qantas has chosen to go with the Thompson Aero seats, with a customised by leading Australian industrial designer and design consultant for Qantas, David Caon.

The premium economy cabin is spread across 10 rows, with a 2-3-2 seating configuration, for a total of 60 seats.

Qantas A380 premium economy cabin (image: AeroLOPA)

The cabin reduces in the number of seats across each row towards the rear, where it’s closer to the galley, so if you are slightly claustrophobic I would recommend avoid rows 38 to 40.

The premium economy cabin also comes with its own dedicated toilets, which is a rarity. This puts the passenger to toilet ratio at 30:1, which is still a decent figure. The pair of toilets are located behind the cabin near the galley.

There is also a spiral staircase at the rear of the cabin that leads downstairs to the economy cabin, but there is a gate that is closed throughout the flight so you shouldn’t be expecting anyone coming up or down, save for crew members.

Checking in

Qantas operates out of Changi Airport Terminal 1, Row 8.

Check in Row 8, Changi Airport Terminal 1

Qantas uses self check-in kiosks for its passengers which peppers the front of the counters. As a premium economy passenger, you will be directed to one of these kiosks to check-in, before heading to the baggage drop counters to drop your bags. But of course if you are holding oneworld

Note that Qantas closes check-in a full hour ahead of all its A380 services, so be sure to arrive ahead of time if you have the habit of cutting it close.

Do you get lounge access?

The short answer is: typically no. Premium economy class passengers by default do not get lounge access, so you will have to rely on your frequent flyer status to gain access.

If you are a Qantas Frequent Flyer Gold, Platinum or Platinum One member, you can use the Qantas Business Lounge (for Gold or higher members) or the very awesome Qantas First Lounge (for Platinum or higher members). Similarly, oneworld sapphire and emerald members also get access to the business class and first class lounges respectively.

Boarding

QF1 is a through service from Sydney to London via Singapore. Commencing from Sydney, the flight makes a brief stop in Singapore before continuing on to London.

The flight today arrived about an hour late, and therefore the departure is expected to be delayed as well.

When I got to the gate about 11.30pm, boarding was just about to commence, which meant that there was a good chance we could still depart fairly on time, despite the torrential rain.

Qantas segments the boarding gate into two portions: one for all premium passengers, including first, business and premium economy, as well as all oneworld status holders; while all other economy class passengers are kept to the rear of the boarding area.

Once boarding commenced, passengers requiring special assistance and first class passengers are asked to board first. Shortly after, business class and premium economy passengers are also invited to board.

There is an aerobridge that leads directly to the upper deck. As both business and premium economy cabins are located on upper deck, you might be better off holding off until business class passengers are also done boarding before heading on board, given that the premium economy cabin is located at the rear.

Once you are at your seat, you will find a menu, a full sized pillow, a full fluffy blanket, as well as an amenity kit placed on the seat for you.

The seat

Qantas has gone with the Thompson Aero seats, with a customised by leading Australian industrial designer and design consultant for Qantas, David Caon.

Arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration, there are 60 seats across 10 rows at the rear of the top deck. Qantas’ premium economy seat measures 20.5 inches wide across, with a pitch of 38 inches. As a point of comparison, Singapore Airlines run 19.5 inches wide with the same amount of pitch, so you may or may not notice the additional inch.

The seat also reclines a full 9 inches, although it feels much more than that. This is where the Thompson Aero seat shines through. The seat is held in a shell of its own, which moves only slightly when you recline, therefore reducing the impact to your seat neighbour behind you. Upon recline, the seat slides forward slightly, with the seat lifting up to form a cradle to hold you. This solves the economy class seat problem of slipping of the seat in a reclined mode, and thereby allowing one to sleep better.

The seat also comes with a footrest attached to the bottom of the seat in front. When put down, the footrest also comes with a netting, so you can stretch your feet.

The shell nature of the seat also provides a ‘wing’ of sorts, offering a (false) sense of privacy. The headrest were however rather amazing: despite being fully adjustable, they also hold pretty well against pressure of laying on them, so that means they don’t need a lot of adjustments throughout the flight to keep them in the same position.

Adjustable headrest in all imagineable directions

Apparently, after the flight I read that you could actually slot your pillow over the headrest so that it stays there while you sleep! I obviously didn’t get to try it, but it looks like a very well thought out design.

Integrated ergonomic pillow, as Qantas styles it (photo: Qantas)

Between seats, there are unmovable armrests, where the trays are stowed. At the tip of the armrests is also a small surface where you can place a drink, but it’s usually not a good idea to do so, as it’s pretty easy to accidentally brush against the glass and push it off the surface.

The audio jack, as well as a USB port, can be found along the inner side of your armrest, so if you are slightly bigger in build you may find them cumbersome to use.

Each seat comes with a 13.3″ touch screen entertainment screen, with a high resolution and an intuitive user interface (more on this later). Under the screen was a nifty storage area, which was great for putting your phone in. Beside it is yet another USB port and also the release catch for the footrest.

Under screen storage, USB port, footrest release

Under this section at the seat level, was another storage area, where the in-flight magazine and safety briefing card can be found. While this is a larger storage area, I found them not ideal for placing thicker items, including my laptop, so you may want to avoid using that for another more than a magazine or an iPad.

Entertainment screen and literature pocket

There is also a power socket found next to the footrest, although there’s only a single socket for me and my seatmate to share. Fortunately we did not have to use it during the flight, so that was no problem at all.

The service

Upon being seated, this is when Qantas’ premium economy service starts, with a pre-departure drinks service.

The cabin crew dedicated to premium economy came through the cabin with a tray of pre-poured drinks, including a choice of Australian sparkling wine or water for a tipple before push-back.

Unfortunately, due to an engineering issue involving the engine, coupled with inclement weather, the departure time was further delayed by about three hours. While the captain was proactive in offering updates, the crew also came around rather frequently to offer refills and some packaged snacks.

The original scheduled push-back time was 11.55pm. By the time the captain updated that the engine issue was resolved and we were ready for take-off, it was 2.10am. By this time, I was probably about three glasses of sparkling wine in, while most of the rest of the cabin was soundly asleep, including my neighbour who has covered himself with the blanket.

At 3am, we finally hit the runway, with lights off, and took off on our 14-hour journey to London.

Shortly after we went into cruise mode, the cabin lights came back on, albeit half lit. The cabin crew quickly wheeled out their cart to begin the first meal service, supper – although by this time it was more like an early breakfast in Singapore.

For supper service, there are three options, but because I was given a wrong menu, I didn’t quite catch what were the options apart from “beef curry”, something something “chicken”, and a vegetarian pasta. I went with the beef curry.

I was pleasantly surprised at what came. A single tray was laid out in front of me, but it was beautiful presented, with a multi-course meal served up in proper tableware.

The tray comprised a side salad, a side plate for bread and butter, the main course in the middle, as well as a slice of cake for dessert.

After the tray was presented, the cabin crew offered sliced sourdough to go with my meal, as well as a choice of water and drinks. I took a glass of Shiraz and some sparkling water, and happily started on my meal, even though I was terribly sleepy.

I walloped my meal in less than 20 minutes, and the crew then again promptly moved through the cabin again, clearing the trays and offering a round of coffee and tea. Against good judgement I went for a cup of coffee, before heading off to sleep at about 5am Singapore time.

About halfway through the flight, while we were cruising over the Middle East at about 11am Singapore time, the sky was bright. Most of the cabin seemed to still be sleeping, but I was bright awake due to the sunlight that came seeping into the cabin.

I was feeling a little hungry, so I called for the flight attendant, who came around and offered two options of a hot refreshment: a choice of a mushroom and cheese pastry, or ratatouille. I went with the pastry, along with another glass of wine since my aim was to get back to bed after the snack.

The pastry fared much better than what I thought it was going to be, being fluffy and packed a punch in terms of flavour. I savoured every bite of it while enjoying another movie.

Given the overnight nature of the flight, note that the mid-flight refreshments will not be offered proactively, you will have to request for it. Mid-flight refreshments will only be available up to about 3.5 hours before the end of flight, after which they will be discarded as the cabin crew prepares for breakfast.

If the hot snack is too heavy for you, there is also a self-service snack bar prepared at the galley. Snacks include cheese and crackers, fresh whole fruits, sliced cake and chocolates. These are also the same snacks available for business class passengers!

After my little refreshment, I went back to bed and snoozed more, until the cabin lights were switched on in time for breakfast about 2 hours before landing.

Breakfast was a choice between a continental breakfast, comprising a large fruit plate, bircher muesli and a pastry, or a hot English breakfast. I went for the hot breakfast and it was pretty much a feast.

Even without the side of fruit and muffin, the hot breakfast was pretty much a meal in itself.

In-flight entertainment

Let’s talk wifi first, given it’s all the rage today: Qantas does not offer any form of wifi access for all its international flights. Despite introducing high speed wifi domestically in Australia since 2017, it has not made any progress on this front for its international network, meaning that it is now becoming one of the few major airlines to not offer connectivity on board.

If this is a major deal breaker, you may wish to consider other optios.

In terms of in-flight entertainment, Qantas offers a 13.3″ screen in premium economy, significantly larger than its economy counterpart. The new premium economy seats also meant that these screens were upgraded for this cabin, so it has a more responsive screen and better display than the economy class screens.

Content wise, Qantas has several notable offerings in place, including original content from Stan and HBO. The airline also offers ‘box sets’, which are essentially entire seasons of popular TV series.

Headphones are also offered in this cabin, which are the same as those in business class. Unfortunately they are not noise cancelling, so bring your own if you prefer to use those.

Amenity kit

Qantas offers an amenity kit in premium economy as well, although this is not as flashy as the one you receive in Business class. The amenity kit is a simple pouch made of felt, with a simple splash of offerings comprising a dental kit, eye shade and socks.

Final thoughts

I’m pretty much impressed by Qantas Premium Economy experience, with both the hard and soft products exceeding my expectations.

The seat is arguably one of the best-in-class, and I have slept arguably the most in a non-flat bed on this seat. The little details and functions around the seat features are also well thought out, maximising every bit of space the seat could offer. The amount of legroom is excellent for me, although it might still be a little tight for taller folks.

Service wise, I would argue that the Qantas Premium Economy is probably a notch down from business class, rather than a small step up from economy as most other airlines do. Meals are served on proper tableware instead of something similar to economy class grub, which may not sound like a lot but it does elevate the dining experience. In addition, Qantas offers its own selection of wines specially curated for the cabin, which again adds a nice touch to the service.

Overall this is probably one of the best splurge of money, coming in at almost half the price of business class. If you do ever come across a sale for Qantas premium economy – take it and try it for yourself.

Buy IHG One Rewards points with 100% bonus

Published by Shane

Buy points at 0.5 US cents each; offer runs till 12 April, Wed, 12pm (Singapore Time).

IHG One Rewards has launched its latest sale on purchased points, not long after the last one ended just last month in March. The current flash sale offers 100% on all points purchases, and will run up to 11 Apr 2023, Tuesday (US Eastern Time), which means 12 April 2023, Wednesday 12pm for those in Singapore (GMT+8).

This is in line with the best offers we see from the programme.

Buy IHG Rewards points with a 100% bonus

IHG Rewards have marketed a 100% bonus on points purchases this time round, but there are some online reports from other members saying that they have been targeted for different bonuses, so you’ll need to login and see what you have been offered.

Also, note that your minimum purchase to trigger the 100% may be different from other members: I have been offered a minimum purchase of 15,000 points in order to qualify for the bonus, up to a maximum of 150,000 points (before the 100% bonus).

One upside: IHG One Rewards points will never expire for elite members. For entry-level Club members, points will expire after 12 months if you do not earn or redeem at least one point.

Are IHG One Rewards points good value?

In line with many other programmes, IHG One Rewards does not publish an official award chart, and award nights are priced dynamically based on demand.

However, that doesn’t mean you’ll get the same value with all hotel stays (as with some other dynamic pricing programmes). There have been situations where you can get incredibly good value at some properties, so what you want to do is to look up the cash value of the bookings you want to make, and compare it with the redemption rates.

Some examples of cash versus points rates here in Asia on a given weekend in May 2023:

Property	Room	Cash Price (local currency)	Points	Cost of Points (including bonus)
InterContinental Singapore	King Classic	S$498	51,000	USD255/S$339
voco Orchard Singapore	King Deluxe	$311.26	33,000	USD165/S$219
Hotel Indigo Katong	King Standard	S$388.48	47,000	USD235/S$312
Crowne Plaza Chang Airport	Standard Room	S$388.48	39,000	USD195/S$259
Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom	King Standard	THB2835	13,000	USD65/THB2241
Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok	King Standard	THB10,303	41,000	USD205/THB7068
InterContinental Bali Resort	Classic	USD219.71	30,000	USD150
Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach	Standard	USD224.47	34,000	USD170
Six Senses Uluwatu, Bali	Standard	USD782	138,000	USD690

So as you can see from the above, in some instances you can save up over 30% of the cheapest rate, with flexibility built into the award stays as most award stays can be cancelled up to three days before check-in.

Final thoughts

Since it’s refresh, IHG One Rewards has offered several points buying bonuses. This time round, it is offering again a 100% bonus on points purchases till 12 April 2023.

Again, we caution that while buying points can help you save money, this shouldn’t be done if you don’t already have a plan to use them, as points always devalue with time, and more so with dynamic pricing programmes as the number of points required for a room can always change without notice.

Buy your points here.

FLIGHT REVIEW: Qantas A380-800 First Class, Singapore – London Heathrow (SIN-LHR)

Published by Shane

Qantas made quite a fair bit of news in Singapore just before Covid-19 with the grand opening of its first class lounge, which sadly shuttered not long after it was officially opened.

The good news is, the lounge survived the pandemic; it is now reopened and received guests at full force, just as with before.

I have had the fortune to experience the first class cabin some years back, but it was from Sydney to Singapore. I had such a great time, it created a new bucket list item for me, to try the same product again but on a much longer flight, from Singapore to London or vice versa.

However, the first class cabin across all airlines is some what of a unicorn in the post-Covid era. Even with a bank full of points, it takes sheer determination and an awful lot of patience to find any kind of award availability.

And I finally laid my hands on it.

In this post:
• Flight today
• The Qantas A380
• Checking in
• Qantas First Lounge
• Boarding
• The seat
• The service
• Qantas amenity kit & pyjamas
• In-flight entertainment
• In-flight lounge
• Final thoughts

Flight today

Qantas QF1
Singapore (SIN) – London Heathrow (LHR)
20 November 2022
Depart: 11.55pm
Arrive: 6.25 am (+1 day)
Duration: 13 hr 50 min
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Seat: 4F (First Class)

The Qantas A380

The A380 needs no introduction – the famous double decker jumbo is a favourite amongst both airlines and passengers; the latter for the number of passengers it can pack, while it also calls for a stable ride.

Prior to Covid-19, Qantas launched a refurbishment project for its fleet of 12 A380s. While business class and premium economy got a complete overhaul, the first class cabin saw relatively less major upgrades, including a reupholstering of the seats and a brand new in-flight entertainment screen.

Through Covid-19, Qantas has grounded all of its aircraft, only to bring it out of storage earlier this year in 2022.

Sadly, Qantas has retired two of the big birds, with 10 superjumbos left in its fleet. Even with, only five of the aircraft are currently in service with the other half still in storage.

At the time of writing, Qantas is only operating the A380 on two routes: QF1/2 between Sydney and London via Singapore, and QF11/12 between Sydney and Los Angeles.

Checking in

Qantas operates out of Changi Airport Terminal 1, and currently operates out of row 8, sharing the row with its low cost subsidiary Jetstar.

The configuration has now changed a little since the pandemic. There is an agent stationed at the front of the kiosks and counters to check that you have all the necessary documents, before leading you to a self check-in kiosk.

Qantas uses self check-in kiosks for its passengers which peppers the front of the counters, but as a First class passenger feel free to skip ahead and head straight to the counters for assistance.

By the time I got there, check-in was almost closed and there were hardly anyone there, hence check-in was relatively fast and smooth.

Note that while check-in for most airlines typically close 45 minutes before the flight, Qantas closes check-in a full hour ahead of all its A380 services, so be sure to arrive ahead of time if you have the habit of cutting it close.

Qantas First Lounge

One of the key highlights of the Qantas First experience is the Qantas First Lounge in Singapore. Unfortunately as I was only able to reach the airport right before check in close, I headed straight to the gate.

Milelion did a wonderful job of a recent review for the lounge, so you can find out more about it there.

Boarding

QF1 begins in Sydney, and makes a quick stop in Singapore before continuing to London. The flight today arrived about 40 minutes late from Sydney. Correspondingly, the scheduled departure was also slightly delayed, and according to the Qantas app, it was scheduled for 12.20am.

When I got to the gate about 11.20pm, the set of operating crew were still waiting to go onto the aircraft. Eventually they headed on in shortly after.

Boarding eventually commenced closer to 11.40pm, 15 minutes away from the scheduled departure time. First class passengers, along with passengers with young children, the elderly as well as oneworld Emerald passengers were invited to board first.

I got onto the cabin a little later than everyone else, and the First class cabin was already in a furry of action when I stepped on. The moment I got onto my seat, one of the cabin crew, Luke, came over and introduced himself and asked if I’ll like a champagne (the answer is “always”). He also swiftly took my jacket to keep in the closet.

Minutes later, the cabin service manager Ginny also came by and introduced herself, as well as the names of the entire team, including Luke and Tania, working in First class. She also asked for my size, and quickly brought along a set of pyjamas, bedroom slippers and an amenity kit.

Luke returned minutes later with a champagne glass and a set of canapes. The champagne on offer today was the Pommery Cuvee Louise 2005, which was poured at my suite.

Subsequently, when everyone in First was more or less settled down, another crew walked around offering top-ups for whoever who wanted another pour, or five.

The two canapes on offer today are: caviar tart with crème fraiche, as well as a barbecue pork egg roll dressed in hoisin sauce. It’s rather novel to be served snacks upon boarding, although it may be rather pointless given that most passengers may have fed themselves at the lounge prior to boarding anyway.

The portions are also rather tiny as with all canapes, so if one was famished, this would have only teased one’s appetite in anticipation of something more.

My only feedback about the canapes was the need to use one’s hands to eat with it. It would have been appropriate to offer a hot towel service, or perhaps a disinfectant wipe if no cutleries were offered.

Eventually, we pushed back shortly after 1am, more than a full hour later than the scheduled time.

The seat

I have earlier done a review of the Qantas First class service from Sydney to Singapore, and the seat product has seen a modest upgrade since then. The cabin remains unchanged with 14 seats in a 1-1-1 configuration, but what has changed is a reupholstered seat, improved seat controls and an upgraded in-flight entertainment screen.

Qantas first class reupholstered seats (photo: Qantas)

Qantas first class in-flight 18″ entertainment screen

To recap, Qantas refer to its 14 First Class products as ‘suites’, which are in fact open seats. Packed in a 1-1-1 configuration, the cabin has 5 seats on each side of the plane (seats A and K), and 4 in the middle (seats F).

Qantas first class cabin layout (image: SeatGuru)

Each of the seat is designed to face forward during take off and landing, but while in the air, the seat can be rotated to an angle for you to stretch out and for more privacy. The window seats swings towards the window, while the middle column F seats swings towards the left.

As the seat swivels, there is a little ottoman underneath the foldable screen, one little known fact is that this allows for a companion in first class to dine together with you by sitting across you.

For those in the middle seats, there will also be a privacy screen that you can control and put up to avoid the awkward eye contact with anyone walking down the middle aisle, but this screen is modest at best.

The screens on my seat (as well as those in front of me, I later realised) couldn’t quite be pulled up all the way, but given that the lights were off most of the flight time, it didn’t bother us.

Privacy screen on the left of the screen (when put down); ottoman for buddy dining

The seat comes with a set of controls on the side panel, where you can adjust practically everything in your suite, from lights, seat position as well as the privacy screens. This is also where the call button is located, but in all honesty most of my flight I rarely used it.

For those who constantly require good ventilation, you will be pleased to know that there are at least two air vents at the seat, one in front of you and another at the side.

For those who are in need of power sockets, they can be found right in front of you, at the bottom of the seat in front. With the upgrade the socket now comes with a USB charging port also, which is handy when you need to charge your phone while you sleep.

Right after meal service, the cabin crew offered to turn the seat into a bed for me. While that was happening, I went up to check out the in-flight lounge at the upper deck during this time (more about this below).

When I returned, my bed was fully made and ready for a good night’s rest.

Qantas uses bedding and quilts from Sheridan, which includes a thick memory-foam sheepskin mattress as well as a fluffy duvet to line the fully flat seat. You also get two pillows, one bigger one and a smaller, firmer one. There is also a pillow menu on board, so feel free to request for something else such as a memory foam pillow. For someone who usually can’t sleep on board, this heavenly setup also meant that I managed to pull about 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep on the flight.

Meal service

On this overnight flight to London, Qantas offers a supper and breakfast service.

Prior to take off, as we were still on the ground, one of the crew, Tania, came around taking meal orders for supper, which was to be served right after take off.

We ended up departing at about 1 am. With that, service only commenced at almost an hour later at 2 am Singapore time.

The supper service was not exactly the most elaborate; you have a three course meal: a starter, a main course, and a dessert.

The options are below:

For my first course, I went with the signature steak sandwich. Having had it a couple of years back, I was craving for it so I chose it.

I recalled the bread to a baguette and rather tough to bite, but this time round it was soft and fluffy, which was surprising. The beef was essentially a medium steak, and went very well with the chilli relish.

Shortly after the starter, my plate was promptly cleared and my main course was served almost immediately after.

My choice for the main was the seared grouper with soy, ginger and shallot, bok choy and brown rice. The rice came rather dry rather than fluffy.

This was where the menu and actual product differed quite a bit; the fish came deep fried (rather than pan seared as I thought it was going to be). The problem with deep fried items is that they generally do not keep well, and tend to be tougher on the bite after prolonged storage. However, it was drenched in a watery sauce, so that helped to make it a little easier to bite through. Even at 30,000 feet, the sauce was a tad too sweet.

As for dessert, I was stuffed and sleepy, so I decided to go with a fruit plate, comprising a tad of everything you can find in Singapore: a slice of dragonfruit, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, plum and a whole strawberry. I had a glass of desert wine along with it.

The meal service ended with 40 minutes, which was well and good for those who are considering going to bed quickly. My strategy however was to stay awake, so I continued on with more wine.

Those who are familiar with what some other airlines offer may be a little shocked at how scanty the menu is for first class. I spoke with the cabin crew, who said that this is a deliberate design given that most of the customers would have fuelled up in the lounge, so this is a pared down service. I was also told that the dining philosophy for first class is that passengers will never go hungry, as they strive to make everything on the menu available throughout the flight, effectively making it a dine-on-demand service.

Having said that, I don’t find the menu particularly exciting, so halfway through the flight, I did go up to the business class lounge and asked for a small snack.

There were two choices of snacks in business class, a Vietnamese chicken meatballs which I went for, and another which I didn’t quite remember.

This was probably halfway through the flight, when I was working on this report in the in-flight lounge. As mentioned earlier, the service was excellent, as each and every single crew who past by checked in if I needed something else.

Let’s talk about the wine list. Qantas offers a printed wine list in first class, and here’s the menu for the day:

As you can see, one of the white wines was replaced with another, so that’s the downside of a printed wine list. You will also notice from earlier in this post that the champagne offered was different from what is printed here, and again, this was because they didn’t carry the Piper Heidsieck on this flight, but instead offered the slightly lower rated Pommery Cuvee Louise 2005.

Travellers familiar with Qantas service will know that the airline serves almost exclusively Aussie wines. Not exactly the top of the shelf items even in first class, but these are well considered to be excellent. My personal favourite was the Penfolds RWT, which I thought was exceptionally buttery and yet doesn’t leave a tannic aftertaste.

The breakfast meal service was towards the end of the flight. With two hours left on the clock, breakfast commenced. Breakfast once again comprised a multi-course offering, with a choice of fruit, cereal and yoghurt to start off, as well as baked options from the bakery. After which, a full breakfast main course was offered as well, accompanied by your choice of morning beverages.

To start off, I had a bircher museli, which I’m a personal fan of. The museli portion was a tad tiny, but good enough to start the meal going. I was also offered some bakery options, which I politely declined.

Breakfast – Neil’s healthy Bircher muesli

For my main, I went for the healthy bowl of kale, brown rice (again), pickled mushrooms and sesame dressing with a poached egg.

I have to say that I was pretty much blown away by the freshly cooked eggs on board. While frying was not possible, the team was able to offer a choice of either freshly poached eggs or scrambled eggs (available with the English breakfast option).

Breakfast – Healthy bowl of kale, brown rice, mushrooms with poached eggs

The bowl surprised me; it packed some really good flavours, and left me sufficiently satisfied and yet not overly salted. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the bowl was, with perfectly made poached eggs that oozed.

To accompany my meal, I went for a cold pressed juice of honeydew, cucmber, green apple and kale, as well as a flat white. Yes, espresso coffee is available in the premium cabins, as expected of an Australian airline!

First class amenity kit & pyjamas

Qantas offers a first class amenity kit and a set of pyjamas to all premium cabin passengers in both business and first class. The first class kits and pjyamas have been designed by Australian designer Martin Grant since quite a while ago, but the latest versions have been refreshed along with the cabin refresh back in 2019.

First class Martin Grant amenity kit and pyjamas

The kit comes in two colours: a dark navy blue version for the gents and a red one for ladies. The amenity kit is not particularly exciting, but contains quality skincare products from LaGaia, another Australian brand that Qantas signed in recent years.

Some other handy items within the kit include a dental kit, ear plugs, an eye shade and a pair of socks for those who need the extra warmth.

Qantas also offers pyjamas for both business and first class cabins for overnight flights, such as the the Singapore-London service. The added perk for first class is the pair of bedroom slippers, which are incredibly comfy to don for the times you need to leave your suite.

Note that if you are taking a day flight out of Australia to Asia, PJs and the slippers will not be offered; if you ask, sometimes they do have a set or two lying around, but your mileage will vary.

In-flight entertainment

Let’s address the elephant on the jumbo first: Qantas does not offer any form of wifi access for all its international flights. Despite introducing high speed wifi domestically in Australia since 2017, it has not made any progress on this front for its international network, meaning that it is now becoming one of the few major airlines to not offer connectivity on board.

If this is a major deal breaker, you may wish to consider other optios.

In terms of in-flight entertainment, Qantas offers a 17″ screen for its first class passengers, the largest across any cabin. This has been upgraded to a high definition, touch-screen version in the most recent aircraft refresh, which is significantly better than its predecessor.

The touchscreen is a little useless given the distance between the seat and the screen, but you can always use a handheld control that can be found at the side of the seat.

Noise cancelling earphones are also offered, which I unfortunately didn’t take a photo of.

Beyond TV shows and movies, the in-flight entertainment system also offers a variety of (simple) games, as well as an audio library.

In-flight lounge

The Qantas A380 offers an in-flight lounge on the upper deck of the aircraft, at the nose of the aircraft. Both business class and first class passengers can access this space, which can comfortably seat 10 people at least.

Before you have in mind the glorious Emirates A380 bar, this is merely a little seating space on both sides of the stairways between the two decks. Facing the front of the aircraft, on the right is two booth-like seating space, while the space on the left is a single long couch with a small coffee table good for drinks.

The space is particularly versatile in a few ways, I have seen families with children coming out to hang around a table playing card games, and I personally used the space to hammer away on my laptop. This is also a perfect space for some reading if you are concerned that your reading light may be too bright for your neighbours at your seat.

Unpictured is a small self-service bar beside the long couch, where wines, water, snacks and fruit are stocked for passengers to help themselves. I probably spent about 2-3 hours in the lounge, during which I saw quite a number of business class passengers coming out to help themselves with snacks, rather than drinks.

Final thoughts

The Qantas first class cabin is definitely a significant level of luxury up from its business cabin. Despite not offering a fully enclosed suite, I felt the seat was still private enough for both work and leisure.

A special mention for the bedding: it’s probably one of the best I have had in the sky, with an extra thick and firm mattress and a sufficiently thick duvet cover.

The suite design, despite being a decade-old product, works well. The attention to little details, such as sufficient storage space for little knick-knacks were available where you need them, whether in bed or seat mode. The upgrade was a good mid-point recovery, with the previous seats looking worn and discoloured and also badly in need of a new screen.

The service was excellent, not overly attentive, but timely whenever I need someone or something. Case in point: when I was in the upper deck lounge working away at my laptop with a glass of champagne from first class, the crew proactively came up to the upper deck to refill my champagne. If that’s not mindfulness, I’m not sure what do you call that.

For an extended overnight service, the food and beverage service was sufficient, although considerably scaled back from pre-pandemic days.

However, if you compare its offerings with what other competitors, including Singapore Airlines are offering, I tend to agree that Qantas’ menu is the weakest of all, both in terms of quality and options.

Having said that, the A380 is still an incredible aircraft to travel on for comfort.

This is not the end of the line for the first class product; Qantas has unveiled a new first class suite concept to be fitted onto its ultra long-haul aircraft, the A350-1000ULR.

Comprising an enclosed suite that comes with a separate seat and bed, this will be definitely top of the line compared to many other major carriers when it starts flying in late 2025.

FLIGHT REVIEW: Qantas A330-300 Business Class, Singapore – Sydney (SIN-SYD)

Published by Shane

In November 2022, Qantas resumed flights between Singapore and Australia, after a 20-month hiatus since Australia closed its borders in March 2020.

With Australia allowing Singapore citizens into the country since November last year as a pilot before reopening the borders, I thought I’d take a trip Down Under in February this year to see a couple of friends that I have not met for years.

I had a good experience with Qantas several years ago, and was excited to see if the experience remained the same.

In this post:
• Flight today
• Pre-trip planning
• Checking in
• The seat
• The service
• Food & drinks
• Qantas amenity kit
• Final thoughts

Flight today

Qantas QF82
Singapore (SIN) – Sydney (SYD)
16 February 2022
Depart: 9:00PM
Arrive: 7:20PM (+1 day)
Duration: 7 hr 20 min
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 7F (Business Class)

Pre-trip planning

Visa

Most visitors to Australia will require an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) or a visa to enter, including Singapore citizens.

Citizens of over 33 countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong and Japan can apply for the ETA through the Australia ETA app. Each ETA is valid for 12 months and costs A$20.

This is incredibly important and I cannot emphasise how many Singaporeans have always forgotten to apply for an ETA until they get to the airport. In the past, airlines were able to do this ETA for you at the airport for a hefty fee, but this is no longer the case as Australia Departure of Home Affairs has now restricted applications to be done solely through the app.

If you have an APEC Business Travel Card, that also forms a valid visa and you will not have to apply for an ETA for your visit, even if it’s for leisure.

Covid tests

At the point of time when I travelled, Australia required a pre-departure test using either a PCR at most 3 days before the flight, or an ART 24 hours before the departure time.

Australia will drop all pre-departure testing requirements from 18 Apr 2022, so you are only subject to an on-arrival test which in most cases are a self-administered ART within 24 hours of arrival.

Checking in

Qantas operates out of Changi Airport Terminal 1, and currently operates out of row 8, sharing the row with its low cost subsidiary Jetstar.

After you retrieved your boarding pass and bag tags, you can then proceed to the baggage counters to drop off your bags. Note that your boarding passes printed from the kiosks should be seen and stamped by an agent. Mine wasn’t stamped, and I was turned back at the pre-immigration point to get my boarding pass stamped.

The seat

Qantas uses the Thompson Aerospace seat product across its entire wide-body fleet. The product is now almost 10 years old, and fans of Qantas would be familiar with the hard product.

With the phase-out of the older business class products that used to be on the A330-200s, Qantas now only has a single seat product on all its long-haul widebody aircraft, making it easier for travellers, so you don’t have to figure out what seat you are travelling in.

Given that I have reviewed this product before, you can read more about the seat here.

The service

QF82 is a red-eye flight to Sydney, with a total flight time of 7 hours and 20 minutes.

Boarding commenced 45 minutes before the scheduled take off time. I went to the boarding gate at about 30 minutes before, only to find an incredibly long queue for the security screening. Lucky for me there’s a separate queue for business class passengers, which was considerably shorter than the economy one.

Within 10 minutes I was done with security and was on my way straight to the aircraft. The business cabin was surprisingly full today, with all but two seats occupied in the 28-seat section.

Promptly I took my seat at 7F. The mattress topper, along with the comforter, was wrapped in plastic and placed on the seat along with an unwrapped pillow.

On the side console was a pair of menus, one for the supper service, and a separate breakfast card for me to check off the items I wanted before landing. This card was collected even before the aircraft took off, so that’s some mighty efficiency there.

A cabin crew came around to offer a pre-departure drink of either water, juice or champagne, along with a set of the famed Qantas pyjamas. It was pretty refreshing to be offered a drink while the plane was still on the ground, given that some other airlines took the chance to do away with it.

Soon we were on the way, with the push back of the aircraft happening about 15 minutes after the scheduled departure time of 8.30pm.

Food & drinks

Right after take-off, dinner service commenced at about 9.45pm. The crew pushed a trolley through the cabin, setting up the table setting along with a first choice of drink. Instead of a table cloth, the setting was all done on a pre-set tray: a side salad, a bread plate and the glassware. I took one slice of bread, and went with a glass of red wine.

The supper menu was rather simple: a choice of main course, followed by dessert. There were four main courses to choose from, and a good selection of post-meal sweets or cheeses.

For my main course tonight, I chose the prawn wanton dumplings (a misnomer, given that wantons are dumplings). Unfortunately, the main course took another 20 minutes before it got to me.

The wantons were served with a serving of springy egg noodles, as well as a side of Asian greens, spring onions and green vinegared chillis. Overall it was a pretty hearty supper, and I liked that it was served not too hot. The greens looked like they are out for too long, but otherwise everything else was excellent.

The only other problem is that this dish didn’t exactly go with a slice of bread and a side salad, but I’ll let that pass.

After I was done with dinner, the tray was promptly cleared. The dessert came around in a form of a trolley, which I chose an ice cream from (10.30pm). Out of Singapore, Qantas carries a selection of Haagen Daz ice cream, and the flavour of the day was strawberry.

Soon after, I set out my own mattress topper on the seat, reclined the bed into bed mode and fell into snooze land.

Given that breakfast was ordered at the beginning of the flight, this means that the crew didn’t have to wake passengers up too early for breakfast. The breakfast card offered three options: a full breakfast served 90 minutes before landing, an ‘express breakfast’ served 60 minutes before landing, or no breakfast at all.

A full breakfast meant any number of items on the menu, while an express breakfast was a choice of one food item and one drink. I picked two drinks – a juice and a coffee – and a savoury item for breakfast, and I was woken up only about 40 minutes before landing, so I guess you could get away with two drinks for an express breakfast.

Express business class breakfast – Brioche roll with bacon and egg

Breakfast was a brioche roll with bacon and egg, which was delicious. The bacon was over cooked and incredibly salty even at 35,000 feet, so I took out most of it. I also chose a cold pressed juice and a white coffee. The crew was too busy to offer a second round of coffee, so when I finally managed to get the attention of a crew for a review, the captain asked to prepare the cabin for landing. This meant that my review had to come in a paper cup, given that all crockery would have to be stowed for landing by that time.

Qantas amenity kit

You might be wondering about the amenity kit. Qantas usually offers an amenity kit on the flight, but as there were not enough on this flight, the kits were only available on demand. I learnt about this only when I requested for an eye shade, and the crew discreetly explained why they didn’t hand them out to all the passengers.

The amenity kit this season was designed in commemoration of Qantas’ centenary in 2020, with a range of designs in a nod to its colourful history. The kit itself was a throwback to the 1960s era, decked in pastel blue.

Within the kit was an eye shade in the same design as the kit, a dental kit, ear plugs and also a mini-kit of amenities from Australian wellness brand Li-Tya, comprising lip balm, face cream and hand cream. Qantas has also chose the eco-friendly route of packing these items in paper (rather than plastic), in a nod to their sustainability efforts.

Qantas also offers pyjamas in its business cabin for overnight flights. On this flight, the PJs were handed out on the ground, right after the pre-departure drinks were served. Note that if you are taking a day flight out of Australia to Asia, PJs will not be offered; if you ask, sometimes they do have a set or two lying around that they can offer you with.

One thing to note: Qantas business class cabins have a dearth of lavatories, so there is almost always a line of people waiting to wash up and change out. To avoid that and to maximise sleep, I usually wear my own sweatpants and change into the pyjamas top only, and change out only after I arrive and get out of the airplane.

Final thoughts

It was an incredibly enjoyable flight, partly accentuated by the fact that I was visiting Australia for the first time after a three-year gap. It was encouraging to see that the flight was relatively packed in both cabins, and that will only continue to grow as international travel relaxes further with time.

The cabin service also remained fairly consistent from before. While all airlines have been reeling from a drastic drop in revenue over the last two years, I’m also glad that Qantas has stuck out and not further reduced cabin service. In contrast, Singapore Airlines have now reduced meal service on Australian flights to just a single meal service, which in my opinion is way too little.

Overall I’m relieved and happy that the Qantas experienced remained more or less similar to its pre-Covid days. While the schedule is not as favourable given it only operates only a single overnight flight out of Singapore, it is still nonetheless a very comfortable flight to be on.

Review: Courtyard by Marriott Cologne, Twin Guest Room

Published by Shane

Courtyard by Marriott is no Ritz Carlton, but it’s functional and usually well located. So here’s a functional review.

We don’t always need a fancy hotel when we travel. Comfort, yes, but the bells and whistles, sometimes. There is good value in having a top-grade hotel sometimes, but in some cities, a reliable, trusted property is all you need.

On this trip, Cologne is one such city, and Courtyard by Marriott served that purpose: no-frills, comfortable, fairly decent location and great value for money.

For those who are not familiar with the Courtyard brand, they are typically mid-tier properties offering a less frills experience as compared to the mother brand. These properties still have the necessary amenities as a full service hotel, but without the premium frills such as a spa or a pool. Think of it as like a full service economy class air ticket (probably a 3 or 4 star airline), rather than a low cost carrier.

The brand is predominantly found in US, with a small splattering of presence in other continents. In Europe, it has 77 properties across 20 countries, with the largest network here in Germany with 16 Courtyard properties.

Asia has 97 Courtyard properties, where China account for about half of them and India for another quarter.

In this post:
• Location
• About the hotel
• Checking in
• The room
• Restaurant – The Bistro
• Facilities & amenities
• Final thoughts

Location

A little orientation of Köln or Cologne: The heart of the city is split by the Rhine river into east and west. Most of the tourist attractions and where visitors will want to be is on the west side.

Cologne has two key train stations: the first being Köln Hauftpbanhof, or the Cologne Central Station, and another one further out called Messe/Deutz Banhof, which is located on the east bank of the Rhine.

Courtyard by Marriott Cologne is located in the city centre amid the famous Eigelstein neighborhood, within a reasonable walking distance to several key landmarks, including the famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom), as well as a plethora of restaurants and shopping.

The hotel is about 1km away from Cologne Central Station. If you are arriving by train from another city, you are likely to be arriving at Messe/Deutz, which will require a change of trains to reach Central Station. Alternatively you can take the S-Bahn to Hansaring, and then weave through the smaller streets to reach the hotel, although I would strongly discourage you from doing so if you are carrying heavy bags.

The hotel

At this property in Cologne, the hotel has 236 rooms housed within its six-storey building. Rooms are laid across floors 1-5.

The hotel only has 4 room types:

King Guest Room
Twin Guest Room
Larger King Guest Room
Corner King Guest Room

Courtyard by Marriott properties typically have a fairly standardised set of room types, as they are designed for business travellers who simply need a no-frills, full service hotels. The standardised rooms allow for the hotel to focus on a consistent set of experience without the need to go over the top in both service and product for top-end rooms and suites.

This works out well for leisure travellers as well who value price and location over the bells and whistles that the hotel may offer, as there’s also a sizeable group of travellers who minimise their time spent in the room.

Checking in

The lobby is modest, which works well for properties like these. With only three check-in counters, There were hardly anyone else when we arrived just after mid day, around the usual check in hours, so we were attended to almost immediately.

The receptionist checked our documents and more importantly, our vaccination records, before speedily processing the rest of our check in. In less than 5 minutes, we were on our way to our rooms, located on the second floor.

The room

For this stay we booked a Twin room. The room measures 22 square metres in size, which is fairly spacious by European standards. The corner rooms are slightly bigger at 29 square metres, but similar to the regular rooms in both form and function.

In the twin configured room, both twin beds are standard singles, and each comes with its own bedside table, reading light and set of power sockets.

On the far side of the room, there is also a glass work desk with an office chair, which is suitable for working in room although i wouldn’t recommend sitting in that chair for too long. There’s also a table lamp that is oddly positioned, with its stem awkwardly sticking out of the bedside table. I get that lamps need an electrical source but this arrangement is simply aesthetically off.

Across from the bed is a wall mounted flat screen television, above a simple console tabletop where the complimentary coffee and tea are placed.

The room comes with a simple wardrobe near the windows, in which you will find the in-room safe, ironing board and iron as well as the hairdryer.

During the time of Covid, housekeeping is only offered every third night, but you can always call up the front desk to request for daily clean up if you need it.

In another aspect of its functionality, Courtyard by Marriott Cologne offers a simple bathroom, with a walk-in shower, single vanity and sink and a toilet.

The hotel provides bath amenities which are branded Nirvae, which is found exclusively in the hotel industry. The amenities itself is nothing too exciting, but good enough for you to use without much concerns.

Note that the toilet does not come with a bidet or washing hose, so if that’s a concern, you may have to look elsewhere.

Restaurant – Bistro

In another aspect that reinforces its chain operations, the hotel’s restaurant name is also standardised across the brand: the Bistro. Opened for breakfast daily and dinner Mondays to Saturdays, the Bistro offers a good range of meals and drinks for guests.

Day of week	Operating hours
Mondays to Fridays	6.30am to 10.30am 3pm to 11pm
Saturdays	7am to 12pm 3pm to 11pm
Sundays & Public Holidays	7am to 12pm

Bistro operating hours

Breakfast is charged at €18 per person and is served between 6.30am and 10.30am on weekdays, and 7am to 12pm on weekends. Marriott Bonvoy Platinum elite members and above enjoy complimentary breakfast, regardless whether their room rates include them.

While I didn’t have breakfast at the hotel, the restaurant staff kindly offered complimentary coffee in the morning when I had to get some work done. A quick glance at the breakfast spread saw a mostly continental spread, with some hot items including bacon and eggs. At EUR18, you will be better off walking out to grab breakfast, such as from this lovely little Italian place near the hotel.

The lunch and dinner menus looked a little more promising, although not a large menu. Most food items are reasonably priced: for instance, expect to pay €5- €11 for snacks and starters, €10,5-€13,5 for sandwiches, and up to €21 for main dishes.

Drinks wise, beer is your go-to option, with Happy Hour happening every Friday and Saturday, 5 to 7pm where you can get a glass of Kölsch for €2,50, with a free bite to go along. For the uninitiated, Cologne is home to the Kölsch, the local’s favourite brew and default choice for a beer.

Cocktails and wines are generally more expensive in Germany, but the Bistro prices them similar to many other restaurants. Expect to pay about €12,50 for a mixed drink, while a glass of wine goes upwards of €7,50.

courtyard-by-marriott-bistro-menu Download

Facilities & Amenities

Facility	Operating Hours	Location
Fitness Centre	24 hours	Level 5
Business Centre	24 hours	Ground floor
Convenience Store	24 hours	Ground floor

Fitness and recreation

Courtyard by Marriott Cologne only has a fitness centre located on the top floor. Accessible 24/7, the gym has an array of equipment, including cardio machines such as treadmills and ellipticals, as well as a rack of dumbbells and two benches.

Unfortunately, the hotel does not have a swimming pool, nor does it offer access to any swimming pools nearby.

Business Centre

The hotel does not have a business centre, but on the ground floor you can find a little business corner further in from the front desks, equipped with two Macs.

In the same corner you will also find an ATM (comes with a fee, on top of what your bank may charge you), as well as a cigarette vending machine.

The business centre comes with a printer, so it will be handy for printing the extra documents you may need.

Convenience Store

Another distinct feature of Courtyard properties are the in-house convenience store, which they named the Market. I have seen this before in the US properties as well, which usually carry a variety of items from food, drinks, alcohol to other consumables such as laundry power, soap, dental care items and more.

The full price list is as follow:

Final thoughts

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the review, travelling doesn’t always have to include a fancy hotel. There are several fundamental criteria such as comfort, safety, and location, all of which Courtyard by Marriott Cologne has met during my stay and I’m pleased with it.

If there’s only one thing to pick: the hotel doesn’t have a lively bar, and perhaps that’s the point. There are some nights where you just want a quiet glass of wine after a long day out, instead of a boisterous beerhaus, so the hotel fits the bill just for that.