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Back in March, I wrote about how to book partner award flights on Etihad Airways. We originally booked First Apartments both to Abu Dhabi from London and from Abu Dhabi back to London over the Thanksgiving holiday, but unfortunately, the airplane for our flight from London was switched from an A380 (which has First Apartments) to an A340 (which has Etihad's standard First Class). The airplane switch was somewhat devastating, but at least we will still experience the Apartments on our way home. We planned a whirlwind luxury long weekend in Dubai around these flights and I'll be covering all the details in upcoming posts. Review: British Airways Club World SFO - LHR Review: LHR Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Class LHR - AUH Review: Park Hyatt Dubai Review: Afternoon Tea at At.mosphere Burj Khalifa Review: Burj al Arab Part I: One Bedroom Suite Review: Burj al Arab Part II: Grounds and Amenities Review: AUH Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Apartments AUH - LHR When we decided to go to Dubai, one of the first things we booked was afternoon tea at At.mosphere, which is located on the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa. If you want to see the views from the Burj Khalifa (currently the tallest building in the world), you can either pay AED 125 (~$34) per person to take an elevator to the observation deck on level 124 or you can pay AED 350 (~$95) per person to make it to level 148. We thought it was a better option to have afternoon tea at At.mosphere, which gets you essentially the same view as the lower observation deck, but there's no line and you can enjoy the view with wonderful food and drink.  Overlooking the Desert Afternoon tea at At.mosphere has two price tiers: AED 580 (~$158) per person for a window table or AED 530 (~$144) per person for a non-window table. It's certainly incredibly pricy and more than I've ever paid in my life for a meal, but it was definitely an experience that I couldn't pass up. Since we were already spending an exorbitant amount of money, we went for broke and spend the extra $14 to get a window table. Why not? The price includes an unlimited selection of hot and refreshing beverages, so come thirsty. Reservations for high tea are available between 12:00 and 4:30 PM daily and can only be made by emailing [email protected]. We decided to reserve the latest possible seating, which was at 2:30 PM since it was our last day in Dubai and we wanted to enjoy our morning at the Burj al Arab before check out and kill time before our red eye out of Abu Dhabi at around 1:00 AM. We took an Uber from the Burj al Arab and were a bit late for our reservation because it took a bit longer to check out than we anticipated. The Uber dropped us off at the Armani Hotel, which is at the base of the Burj Khalifa. We walked inside and asked a staff member where we needed to go to get to the elevator for At.mosphere and she escorted us through the lobby to an elevator. We then arrived at the reception desk for At.mosphere where they checked our reservation and directed us to the elevator that would take us to floor 123. From floor 123, there is a set of stairs down to the 122nd floor where the lounge is located.  Fancy Decor (As Expected)  Stairway from 123rd Floor Down to 122nd Despite being slightly late, we were promptly seated and had some time to gape at the view. Honestly, the view was incredible and I was really glad we were seated next to the window so I didn't have to awkwardly walk to the window to take photos or take photos with people in them. The one thing I was a bit disappointed by was the glare from the windows. You'd think a place that fancy would figure out how to reduce the glare, but I guess that hasn't been perfected yet. It also got REALLY hot sitting next to the windows in the afternoon sun (and we were there in the winter) so that's something to keep in mind.  The Famous Burj Khalifa Fountains  Dubai Views  Dubai Views  Hello  My Fancy Date At.mosphere is a curved room with a circular bar in the center of the room and all of the tables lining the windows in a crescent shape, which really works to capture the extensive floor to ceiling views of the desert. I was surprised to see that the bathroom also took advantage of the floor to ceiling windows, which was pretty incredible.  At.mosphere Bar  Other Tea Aficionados  Other Tea Aficionados  Great View While Washing Your Hands The tea menu was present on the table when we arrived and it was extensive. There were four full pages of tea selections (I missed a photo of one) and two more pages offering fruit juice blends and espresso drinks. Our "tea" was the "Luxurious Menu", which offered four courses along with the unlimited beverages.  At.mosphere Menu       The tea started with an entire bottle of Pierlant Brut. Our server did a very fancy first pour and then continued refilling our glasses until the bottle was empty, which was honestly more than I would have liked because I wanted to sample some of the other drinks on the menu. Along with the Brut, the first course included berries and cream, which came garnished with gold leaf on top (of course). I didn't know what to make of the gold leaf, but I wanted my money's worth, so I ate it. It had a slight metallic taste (as expected), but didn't taste like much. The rest of the berries and cream however, were amazing. It was perfectly light and refreshing and a great way to start the afternoon.  Pouring the Champagne  Berries and Cream After the berries came the "Declinations", which were a selection of three finger sandwiches and three small bites. That's six items each, so not only do you need to come thirsty, but you better come hungry as well. The offering included salmon, foie gras, and a lobster salad along the top of the plate, then a roast beef and rocket sandwich, a tuna sandwich, and a chicken caesar sandwich. As expected, I passed the salmon and foie gras on to Chris and avoided the tuna sandwich, but the rest was truly excellent. We continued drinking our Brut through this course as well because we had the whole dang bottle to finish.  Declinations Next, it was time for the main course. At.mosphere offers both a vegetarian selection and a non-vegetarian selection for the tea and both had two choices for the main dish. True to form, Chris and I both selected the roast of the day rather than the catch of the day. The roast was fairly small and was served with mashed potatoes and garnished with a carrot and asparagus. As expected, it was excellent.  Main Course At this point, we had finally finished our champagne and were ready to order some tea to have with the next course, which included pastries, scones and mini cakes. This is where service really went downhill. Our server just disappeared for a long stretch and by the time he surfaced again, he had completely forgotten that we ordered tea (we had been waiting for it for 40 minutes at this point). I was really disappointed because I really wanted to sample some of the fruit juices, but we ended up with no time to do so. Luckily, the final course included no less than nine delectable items each, which led to me taking a bite out of every single one (classy, I know) and then deciding which to finish (I couldn't possibly finish all nine!).  A Tower of Desserts After we did what we could to the tower of dessert, we were brought the check and a small bag of housemade chocolates to take with us. By the time we finished, it was around 5:30 PM, so plan to spend quite some time for this experience. We loved that it took several hours, because we got to watch the beginning of the sunset, which was, of course, amazing.  Chocolates for the Road  Nice Sunset Overall, the tea was truly excellent. Everything we ate was so well-prepared and incredibly presented. Aside from the service blip, we both decided the experience was totally worth the cost. This isn't something we'd do regularly, but if you're doing a "once in a lifetime" sort of trip, this should definitely be on your list.
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 Guest Reviewer: Chris An avid traveler and obsessive points and miles hound, Chris is my travel buddy extraordinaire. I love him for his enthusiasm, his sense of adventure, and his many lounge access credit cards. Hope you enjoy his perspective! Back in March, I wrote about how to book partner award flights on Etihad Airways. We originally booked First Apartments both to Abu Dhabi from London and from Abu Dhabi back to London over the Thanksgiving holiday, but unfortunately, the airplane for our flight from London was switched from an A380 (which has First Apartments) to an A340 (which has Etihad's standard First Class). The airplane switch was somewhat devastating, but at least we will still experience the Apartments on our way home. We planned a whirlwind luxury long weekend in Dubai around these flights and I'll be covering all the details in upcoming posts. Review: British Airways Club World SFO - LHR Review: LHR Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Class LHR - AUH Review: Park Hyatt Dubai Review: Afternoon Tea at At.mosphere Burj Khalifa Review: Burj al Arab Part I: One Bedroom Suite Review: Burj al Arab Part II: Grounds and Amenities Review: AUH Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Apartments AUH - LHR When Jen and I decided to book the Etihad A380 First Apartment for Thanksgiving, we'd only found flights between London and Abu Dhabi. That left us with the problem of how to get to and from London. We weren't able to find any award space from San Francisco, and there were no amazing deals for paid business class. After researching our options, we decided to spend cash to book British Airways World Traveller Plus (which is what they call premium economy), and then use Avios points to upgrade to Club World (which is what they call business class). British Airways (BA) #286 San Francisco (SFO) - London (LHR) Tuesday, November 24th, 2015 8:20 PM - 2:45 PM (+1) Boeing 747-400 Club World The British Airways Terraces Lounge at SFO lets passengers board directly from the lounge, which is a nice feature, even though the lounge itself is nothing special otherwise. About 45 minutes before departure, we noticed some of the other passengers lining up, so we joined the queue and were onboard the 747-400 shortly thereafter. When we boarded the plane, we were greeted by a flight attendant who explained how to find our seats (down the aisle, then up the stairs). It was our first time experiencing the 747 upper deck, and I have to admit I liked it. It's a pretty small area, so the environment feels calmer and more civilized than the madness of the main deck. Seating is in a 2-2 arrangement, compared to 2-4-2 on the main deck, and there are two bathrooms, which is more than enough given the small number of passengers. The aisle was one of the widest I've seen on a plane, and the cabin felt spacious overall.  747 Upper Deck  747 Upper Deck After we'd gotten comfortable, flight attendants came by a few times to hang up our coats, provide a pre-departure beverage (a choice of champagne, water, or orange juice), and hand out newspapers and amenity kits. The amenity kits were unisex cloth bags that contained a toothbrush and some products by Elemis.  Elemis Amenity Kit The seats have a quite a few disadvantages compared to other business class products. They don't have all-aisle access, so passengers stuck in window or middle seats have to climb over the legs of others to get out. They're in a yin-yang configuration, so pairs of passengers face each other. That wasn't a problem for us as a couple, but seems like it would be awkward for passengers who don't know each other. There is a divider that can be raised, but it needs to be lowered for flight attendants to serve food and drinks. The aisle seats are also completely exposed; there's no partition on one side, so it feels like you're sleeping in the aisle. Finally, the pillow was thin and basically useless. On the plus side, the seats recline to a fully lie-flat position, and the window seats have plenty of privacy. On the upper deck, the window seats also have several storage cabinets, so if I were traveling by myself I would definitely try to snag an upstairs window seat. Annoyingly, British Airways charges for advance seating assignments even in business class, but fortunately we had the fee waived due to our oneworld Emerald status.  Club World Seat  Club World Seat - Imagine Having a Creepy Guy This Close!  Club World Seat Controls  Club World Footrest After takeoff, the flight attendants came by with a cart to take drink orders, and I decided to go for a Kir Royale, which was served with a bag of mixed nuts. A little while later, they served our dinners. The menu read as follows: ... Starters Smoked trout with horseradish cream and beetroot salad Grilled halloumi and portobello mushroom with olive tapenade and pepper drops Salad Fresh seasonal salad served with vegetables Main Seared filet of Midwest beef with mushroom sauce and Pont-Neuf potatoes Seared sea bream with coconut ginger sauce, coriander rice and stir-fried vegetables Gnocchi filled with Asiago cheese and fire roasted pepper sauce Chilled main course fattoush salad with sumac chicken and yoghurt and mint dressing Dessert Mango and chocolate slice New England Cave Aged Cheddar and Gorgonzola with quince paste A selection of fruit ... The appetizer and salad course was not a big hit. Both of us got the halloumi (a grilled cheese), and it tasted pretty bad. After clearing our plates, they then brought our main courses - Jen went with the steak, and I chose the gnocchi with pepper sauce. My pasta was OK, but Jen thought her steak tasted "like a shoe". Fortunately, the dessert redeemed the meal somewhat; we both got the chocolate and mango slice, which was delicious!
I am currently in Sevilla, Spain getting ready to celebrate the new year in just a matter of hours. Before the year is officially over, I wanted to take a brief look back at 2015 and the awesome adventures I was able to have. As those closest to me know, traveling is something I prioritize over many things in my life and because I have dedicated time to learning how to work the system, I have been lucky enough to experience so many wonderful places and adventures this year. I sometimes feel guilty because I get to travel as much as I do, but the truth is that it's a lot of hard work (and sleepless nights) and although I have a job that took me to China four times this year (which means I earned miles and hotel points that I could use later), I've done the rest myself. I spend a lot of time and money on traveling and learning how to get cheap or free tickets and if everyone else did the same, they could too. In 2015, I
January Vancouver, British Columbia In late January, we spent a weekend in Vancouver, which is something that has become our yearly tradition. I love Vancouver and each time I visit, I love it even more. We didn't do much other than wander around and eat good food, but we did make it up to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which is definitely worth the quick trip from downtown.  Capilano Suspension Bridge  Capilano Suspension Bridge Park  Vancouver February Maui, HI We found a killer deal on Alaska Air flights to Maui on Black Friday 2014, so we jumped on it and spent a long weekend in Maui at the Andaz in Wailea. It was such a dreamy place to stay and was my first time in Maui. Needless to say, I feel completely in love with the island.  Beach in Wailea  Hiking off the Road to Hana  Andaz Maui by Day  Andaz Maui by Night March Seattle, WA We did another weekend trip at the beginning of the month to Seattle, which is a place I have visited many times, but usually to see family. We lucked out and caught Seattle on one of the first sunny and warm weekends of 2015 and caught up with some friends.  Sunny Seattle Hong Kong and Shanghai, China I took my first business trip of the year in March to Hong Kong and China and had a free day in Hong Kong. Since it was my third time to the city, I didn't have a lot I wanted to do, but I did make it out to the flower market, the bird market, and the goldfish market, which were all incredibly interesting to see.  Hong Kong Bird Market  Hong Kong Bird Market  Hong Kong Goldfish Market April New York, NY Another weekend trip in April, this time to New York. Visiting New York is another yearly tradition we've started and we always try to catch up with friends and eat as much as possible. Back in March, I wrote about how to book partner award flights on Etihad Airways. We originally booked First Apartments both to Abu Dhabi from London and from Abu Dhabi back to London over the Thanksgiving holiday, but unfortunately, the airplane for our flight from London was switched from an A380 (which has First Apartments) to an A340 (which has Etihad's standard First Class). The airplane switch was somewhat devastating, but at least we will still experience the Apartments on our way home. We planned a whirlwind luxury long weekend in Dubai around these flights and I'll be covering all the details in upcoming posts. Review: British Airways Club World SFO - LHR Review: LHR Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Class LHR - AUH Review: Park Hyatt Dubai Review: Afternoon Tea at At.mosphere Burj Khalifa Review: Burj al Arab Part I: One Bedroom Suite Review: Burj al Arab Part II: Grounds and Amenities Review: AUH Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Apartments AUH - LHR We arrived at the Park Hyatt Dubai at around 10 AM after a slightly disastrous chauffeur ride from Abu Dhabi following our Etihad First Class flight from London. The Park Hyatt Dubai is definitely tucked away and a bit tricky to find, since it's located in the Dubai Creek area, which is about 20-30 minutes away from downtown Dubai. However, it's very convenient if you fly in to DXB because it's located about 10 minutes away. I was ok with the fact that the hotel was located away from downtown because the area was very quiet (aside from an incident that I'll get into later and the fact that the Red Bull Flugtag was taking place across the creek on our second day) and beautiful. I can say without a doubt that the Park Hyatt Dubai is one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed. It's beautifully designed with amazing Arabian design accents throughout, which I was completely in love with. There is also beautiful tile work and wood accents throughout the hotel's design and it was really incredibly gorgeous.  Park Hyatt Dubai Entrance  Park Hyatt Dubai Entrance  Park Hyatt Dubai "Buggy"  Park Hyatt Dubai Lobby  Walkway to Guest Rooms We pulled up to the hotel and beelined straight for the front desk. It was definitely early in the morning and I didn't expect that our room was available, but I was so mad about our ridiculous chauffeur ride, I was hoping we could get in to our room ASAP since we had a lot we wanted to do that day. I had booked a Park King room, which came to 1,030 AED, (about $280) and was honestly a bit on the pricy side for me, but I applied one of my Diamond Suite Upgrades, so I figured it would be worth it. When we arrived, we were told we had been upgraded to a Park Terrace Suite, but the room would not be ready for another 15 minutes. One of the front desk associates escorted us down a hallway to The Lounge, which is a small cafe serving breakfast and light snacks throughout the day with a large seating area where we could wait for our room to be ready. They knew I was a bit upset upon our arrival and offered complimentary breakfast or drinks, but we weren't hungry or thirsty, so we just sat and waited. After about 30 minutes, someone came back and told us our room was available, so we were able to go to our room quite early, which was definitely appreciated.
The Park Hyatt Dubai is extremely spread out and honestly, very confusing to navigate. The hotel stretches across two wings which radiate out in opposite directions from the lobby. When walking to your room, you'll pass through multiple wings, which are connected by glass enclosed walkways and will likely either need to go up or down in the elevator to get to your floor. Because we had a Terrace Suite, our room was located on the ground floor, which meant we needed to take the elevator down to the ground floor from the lobby level. We found room 2108, which was located at the very end of the hallway at one of the farthest points of the hotel property. Back in March, I wrote about how to book partner award flights on Etihad Airways. We originally booked First Apartments both to Abu Dhabi from London and from Abu Dhabi back to London over the Thanksgiving holiday, but unfortunately, the airplane for our flight from London was switched from an A380 (which has First Apartments) to an A340 (which has Etihad's standard First Class). The airplane switch was somewhat devastating, but at least we will still experience the Apartments on our way home. We planned a whirlwind luxury long weekend in Dubai around these flights and I'll be covering all the details in upcoming posts. Review: British Airways Club World SFO - LHR Review: LHR Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Class LHR - AUH Review: Park Hyatt Dubai Review: Afternoon Tea at At.mosphere Burj Khalifa Review: Burj al Arab Part I: One Bedroom Suite Review: Burj al Arab Part II: Grounds and Amenities Review: AUH Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Review: Etihad Airways First Apartments AUH - LHR We arrived in London at 1:52 PM after flying British Airways Club World from SFO - LHR, which we had booked separately from this flight. This meant we had quite a bit of time to kill between flights and unfortunately had to exit terminal 5 and transfer to terminal 4 to check in for our Etihad flight. Because of this, and the fact that check in doesn't open until four hours prior to boarding, we had to spend a long while waiting around the Etihad check in area. We were first in line to check in and finally made it through to Eithad's First and Business class lounge for a rest prior to the flight. Before we knew it, it was time to board. The Flight Etihad Airways (EY) #18 London (LHR) - Abu Dhabi (AUH) Wednesday, November 25th, 2015 8:05 PM - 7:15 AM (+1) Airbus A340-500 Diamond First Class The boarding gate was conveniently located just across from the lounge entrance and we made sure to be the first to board so I could get some photos of the cabin without disturbing the other passengers. As I mentioned above, I was pretty devastated to have the equipment change, which resulted in losing the chance to fly in First Apartments out of London, but in the end, it was helpful to compare the two products. On the A340, Etihad offers their "Diamond" First Class, which has a very similar layout and feel to Singapore Airlines "Suites" Class (I reviewed that here). The first class cabin has three rows of 1-2-1 configuration, with the seats designed very similarly to Singapore Suites, which offers doors that fully close and make your own private suite. We chose two middle seats so that we could lower the center divider and talk to each other during the flight. However, if I was flying solo, I would definitely prefer a window seat for maximum privacy and views. The cabin is beautiful with very understated, neutral decor in shades of brown. As opposed to Emirates, which goes completely over the top with bling and gold, Etihad's only extravagances came in the form of signature brightly colored pillows on each seat and a large diamond on the center bulkhead (lest you forget you're flying Diamond First Class).  Oh Hi  Etihad Airways Diamond First Class Seat  Etihad Airways Diamond First Class Cabin  Etihad Airways Diamond First Class Seat  Etihad Airways Diamond First Class Seat  Etihad Airways Diamond First Class Seat  Etihad Airways Diamond First Class Cabin  Hi Again The seats themselves are very spacious and private with wide leather recliners and a foot rest that doubles as a second seat if you wanted to dine with a companion. Waiting on the ottoman was a fuzzy blanket, which could be used in addition to bedding or until the bed is made up. The television is large and stretches the length of the seat, which is excellent. Next to the television, there is also a small minibar, which was stocked with mixed nuts and water. The minibar seems to be mostly for show and wasn't something I used, but it's an extra feature that Singapore Suites didn't offer. Just under the right arm rest, a compartment opens which contains the television remote, two USB ports, the headphone jack, and a few other adapters. There's also a small screen in front of the compartment which allows you to control the seat position, control the massage options (also not offered on Singapore Suites), and control the lighting. Of course, Etihad also provides over-ear noise-cancelling headphones to use during the flight. Finally, each seat offers a closet to place your clothes in and the closet door has a mirror on it in case you need to straighten up.  Entertainment System  Minibar  Media Compartment Immediately after we boarded, a crew member came by to offer a "welcome drink". Chris, as usual, went for the champagne, which was Billecart-Salmon. Right after our drink orders were taken, the Cabin Manager came by and after finding out it was our first Etihad flight, showed us all the bells and whistles of our "suite", which was very nice. She was genuinely excited for us to experience our first flight and the sentiment was echoed by the rest of the staff, who all assured us we would have an amazing time.
The welcome drink was served along with Arabic dates, a hot towel, and a welcome note, all on a silver tray, which was a very nice presentation. |
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