Steigenberger Park hotel 5*, Dusseldorf, Germany

March 2009, 3 days.

THIS was a TRUE 5*!

I got the true 5* feeling at once entering the hotel. In fact, I got the feeling before I went in! :)

The check-in was efficient and the receptionist small-talked and was very friendly. Why don't the other hotels understand the importance of the small-talk?

The room was nice, with fruit and bottled water.



The bathroom was... oooooh, very nice.... And the toiletries? Mmmmm... Although they were their own brand it felt very luxurious. You got everything from toothbrush to soap to bath-salt to "high-shine" nail-files. And everything packed in luxurious packages. Heaven for a "toiletries-freak"!





The breakfast was not the best I have had, but it was nice and quite and you could get sparkling wine.

Everybody at the hotel always smiled and were very friendly. THIS is how a tr






The location of this hotel is one of the best. It's close to the fine shopping and it's close to the metro. I never tried the sauna/wet-room, but it looked very nice. I wished they had a spa at this hotel!

The Goring 5*, London, UK

March 2009, 4 days.

I booked this hotel through Expedia and got a fantastic offer. I payed about 120 Gbp./night in a single room without breakfast. I think the rack-rate is about 330!

I have read several good reviews from this hotel. Since it's also a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, I was sure this would be good.

The hotel is situated about 5 min. walking from the Victoria station. The check-in was efficient and quick and I got my room. When arriving at my room there were fruit and a bottle of water waiting for me. Nice!






The bathroom was nice and with Molton Brown toiletries. My favorite!







I never tried the breakfast, as it was not included. However there is a "breakfast/lunch-bar" down the road where I bought my breakfast and coffee every morning. I don't remember the name, but it was around the corner and through a small alley and then to the left. I recommend it highly instead of paying 23 (or similar) for the breakfast at the hotel. It may be very good, but so was the breakfast for 6 Gbp. too! :)

What I didn't like with this hotel was.... There were a Fitness and a spa connected to the hotel, but you have to walk for 5 min. to get there. I didn't use the spa because I don't like to walk outdoor after a spa-session. The internet was expensive, 20 Gbp. (I don't remember exactly) for 24 hours!

I would have thought this hotel to be like a true 5*. Everything was very nice, but it was lacking some of the personal touch. I felt more connected to the place where I had my breakfast than to the hotel!

Radisson SAS Plaza 5*, Oslo, Norway

February 2009.

I stayed at this hotel mainly because I was going to a show at "Oslo Spektrum", which is connected to Radisson SAS. This hotel is supposed to be a 5*. As usual, when staying at Radissons, I wonder why they don't rate it as a 4*, then nobody would be disappointed. I don't see any difference from a 4* Radisson to a 5*, it's mainly the same.



The bathroom was standard Radisson, so was the toiletries. No surprises here! And to be honest, that is what I like with the Radisson. Where ever you are, you know what you get, a decent 4* hotel.





Breakfast was ok, nothing special which could indicate this as a 5* either.

Don't go to this hotel if you want a real 5*!

Hotel H10 Meloneras 5*, Grand Canaria

January 2009, 2 weeks, full board.

When we arrived the receptionist looked like we bothered her. This was not a very nice first impression of the hotel. We arrived late in en evening, we didn't expect to get any food, so we were happy when we were told that there were food for us in the restaurant. Well, it was food, but not very delicate. It was very clear that this was "leftovers" from the buffet.

The breakfast was very nice. There were even Champagne and caviar! However I found it strange that there were no cappuccino or espresso for breakfast! When my husband asked to get a cappuccino for me he was told: "You're not in Italy now!" I am sure it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't...

I didn't take pictures of the room, simply because there were nothing that impressed me. The pictures you can find at the internet will tell you mostly how it was. The room was run down and could need some upgrades. There were no slippers or no bathrobes and the toiletries were not at all 5* Another thing I also found strange with this hotel was that there were no coffee or tea making facilities in the room. You had to pay 4 Euro a day to get this! With that said, I have to tell that you can pay 28 Euro/person/day to get something they call "privilege service". You then get to eat breakfast in another restaurant, you get tea/coffee tray in your room, turn down service etc... All what I would expect to get at a true 5* hotel.




The cleaning was not the best I have seen either.

What I liked with this hotel was the exterior/garden/pool-area. FANTASTIC! There were two pools, one heated and one with sea-water. There were lots of space and I can imagine it would have been great to have small children there.









We had breakfast, lunch and dinner included in our rate. As told, the breakfast was very nice, so was the lunch. The dinner COULD have been nice if they had made some effort on changing the menu every now and then. It was nothing wrong with the food, it was just very boring to get the same day after day for 14 days! The food could also have been prepared a little more delicate.

My son, at 14, really enjoyed the daytime activities, which were also great for the grown ups.

We had a rented car for two days. We got packed lunch both the days. It was ok and we ordered it since we already had payed for it, but I wouldn't bother paying for it.

The spa? Seriously, DON'T PAY TO GET IN! It costed 20 Euro for two hours and it was dirty and not at all worth a 5* hotel. I asked if you had to pay the 20 Euro if you had a treatment, and yes, you have! We didn't pay 20 Euro as they open up for children some hours a day and at that time they charge 5 Euro/person. Do that if you want to try the spa, it's not worth more.

All in all I would say this is a good 4* hotel, but never a 5*. With that said, this is a cheap 5*, I guess you get what you pay for!

Le Meridien Piccadilly 5*

December 2008, 2 days.

Well, what can I say? I have always dreamed of staying at this hotel. When I found a fantastic offer at the internet (www.lastminute.com) I couldn't resist booking it.

Checking in went all well and the room was ok. Nothing special, but ok for a London-hotel to be. There were complimentary bottled water and the toiletries were their own brand. It may be good, but I never get the luxurious feeling when a hotel has their own brand of toiletries.






The beds were ok, but NO duvets here either! I can understand the "blanket-thing" in warm countries, but not in UK where the weather can be cold.






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We didn't have breakfast in the room-rate, but there are both Cafe Nero, Starbucks and other places to get food and coffee nearby the hotel. The room also had a nice sitting area where we ate our breakfast.

In the mini-bar we found this thing, a relief-pack..... :-D

The best with this hotel is the location. Unfortunately I never got the feeling of staying at a true 5* at this hotel either. If I had payed the full rack-rate I would have felt extremely disappointed. There were nothing I really disliked with this hotel, but there were nothing extraordinary with it either. It's a pity that hotel-managers never seem to understand that they are selling accommodation AND a "feeling", not only the accommodation.

If I will stay here again? Well, if I could get it for 129 pound a night, like I did when staying there in December, I would. But I would never pay rack-rate at 330 pound. Never, it's not worth it.

Mac Donald Spa Bath Hotel 5*

December 2008, 2 days.

The entrance

From the garden and the sitting-area outside. I can imagine it would be beautiful here in the summertime.

We arrived to the hotel late in the evening. There were no problem with checking in.

The room was nice so was the bathroom. The toiletries were from Molton Brown.

The only complaint about the bed was that there was no duvet. I would believe a 5* hotel should have real duvets, not only blankets.

It was nice to have a sitting-area. We also got complimentary bottled water. Nice touch!

The hotel is situated in the outskirt of Bath, about 15 min. walking distance from the city-center.

We had continental breakfast in our room-rate. We could get cooked, full English breakfast for 6 pound extra, but found the continental breakfast to be enough. There were cerials, milk, juices, water, bread, butter, marmalade, fruits and even some ham.

I tried to get an appointment at the spa, but it was fully booked. However I had an hour in the swimming-pool and the spa-area and really got "my eyes up" for visiting the spa-area. There were a large swimming-pool inside connected to a smaller one outside. The outside had bubbles and it felt very nice to swim in the hot water while there was only 5*c outside! There were also 6 different steam-rooms. Do I need to say that I liked this after a hectic day? :-D

Was this a true 5*? Well, it looked like, but I never got the 5* "feeling". It's difficult to explain that feeling, but I got it at Palacio Estoril in Portugal.

Gmex Oct. 2008

In October I went for a new competition in nails. This was the Professional Beauty North 2008.

I stayed at Radisson Edwardian Manchester, where I stayed last time in Manchester. I then had some bad experiences and wrote a complaint. I was promised an upgrade at my next visit. I got a junior suite!

The junior suite was bigger than a classic room. It also had a terrasse outside! I got complimentary water every day and wine and chocolate at my first evening.

I went to the restaurant for one evening. I went there with a friend and we both agreed it was a mixed feeling. The food was very good and we also got all those small dishes in between, which felt we were at a really nice restaurant. The only disappointment was that it was difficult to get in contact with the people working there. The seamed busy, but there were few people in the restaurant, so how come they were busy?

The breakfast is not extraordinary at this hotel. Not at all 5* breakfast. BUT the most irritating thing was that there were always a queue to get in to the breakfast. There were lots of free tables, but they were not clean. The first rule when working with people is, IF you are busy, never let the client see it. The people working at the breakfast ran around, they really looked stressed. AND it was stressing eating when people were running around.

When I booked this hotel I knew I would never get the feeling of a true 5* here. I only booked it because it's very close to the competition arena. It's a blessing to have the opportunity to walk to the room, have a rest or a nap, and then walk back. I will stay here next year too because of the location.

The best thing with this journey was that I won the competition! This competition was not as big as that in London, in May. It was a national competition in UK. But winning was a victory!