O perfil de Rhianto

Che delusione. Senti la parola Hilton e assumi subito lusso e un alto standard. Sono stato in questo hotel per una conferenza un pò di tempo fa, e sono stato veramente deluso da cibo e dal set up dell'hotel. Più tardiun giovedì sera, chiaramente non c'era abbastanza staff, visto che l'atrio dell'hotel e le altre stanze erano piene di immondizia e bicchieri vuoti. Il cibo era mediocre, e ho fatto tornare indietro la carne e chiesto un piatto vegetariano perchè era immangiabile. Non ci tornerò!

Un vieil hôtel fantastique, qui donne directement sur la baie, avec vue sur la mer si vous réservez suffisamment tôt. Bien que le restaurant de l'hôtel, où mon partenaire et moi avons dîné, ait été joliment décoré et connu comme ayant une bonne réputation, j'en suis sortie déçue. La nourriture était agréable, mais pas incroyable, bien que n'étant pas du tout donnée - jusqu'à £15 pour un plat principal, et £7 pour une entrée. Le choix n'était pas très large, et pour qui n'est pas amateur de pâtés ou de terrines, cela exclut d'emblée une bonne partie du menu. Je pense que j'aurais pu tolérer tout ça si le prix de la bouteille de vin la moins chère n'avait pas été affreusement majoré ; mais la goutte d'eau qui a fait déborder le vase, pour moi, a été l'ersatz de Molten Brown (note : marque de produits de beauté de luxe). En tant que fan de Molten Brown, je connais mon affaire, et je sais reconnaître un flacon de Naranji quand j'en vois/sens un. Franchement, que penser d'un hôtel-restaurant qui apparemment justifie ses tarifs élevés par la mention "luxe", et qui FAIT SEMBLANT d'avoir des produits Molton Brown dans ses salles de bain alors qu'en fait il n'en est rien ? Est-ce qu'il s'agissait d'un produit Lidl qui y ressemblait vaguement, afin de faire des économies ? Pourquoi ce mensonge ? Ca me laisse un goût amer aujourd'hui encore. Donc, pour résumer : nourriture correcte (et bon poisson, fraîchement pêché), bon vin même s'il n'était vraiment pas donné. Belles vues sur la baie. Mais je n'ai pas eu l'impression d'en avoir pour mon argent, et c'est vraiment dommage.

Quelle déception. Vous entendez le mot « Hilton » et vous vous attendez a du luxe et de hauts standards. J'étais à l'hôtel pour une Conférence il y a peu de temps et j’ai été vraiment déçu de la nourriture et de l’organisation générale de l'hôtel. Tard un jeudi soir, il n'y avait clairement pas assez de personnel, comme le prouvaient les ordures et les verres vides éparpillés un peu partout dans le hall et autres pièces de l'hôtel. La nourriture était médiocre dans le meilleur des cas, j'ai dû renvoyer ma viande et demander l’option « végétarienne », c'était juste non comestible. Je ne reviendrai pas!

Qué decepción. Escuchas la palabra Hilton y ya das por hecho lujo y alto estándar. Estuve en el hotel por una conferencia hace poco tiempo, y me quedé bastante decepcionado por la comida y por la organización del hotel. Más tarde, un jueves por la noche, estuvo claro que no había suficiente personal, ya que el vestíbulo del hotel y otras habitaciones estaban sucias con basura y vasos vacíos. La comida fue mediocre en el mejor de los casos, y tuve que pedir que me cambiasen mi carne por una opción vegetariana, ya que era incomible. ¡No pienso volver!

The perfect spot for a picnic, Green Park is not only a little oasis of calm off the otherwise frantic Picadilly, but is also very easy to reach.

Even on a Saturday afternoon on a gloriously sunny day, we secured a great picnic spot. The Marks and Spencer just across the road did very well at providing food and sparkling wine, and as it’s so nearby, we were able to pop back whenever supplies ran out!

For some reason there were people dressed up in costumes of the Jane Austen era, and performing the dance from the BBC Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice film, which was a bit random, but very fun to watch.

As we brought our own blankets, we didn’t have to pay for deck-chairs so it was all free!

A truly lovely place to have a little sit down, take a book, catch up with friends, eat an ice-cream or just generally chill out in London.

For an afternoon out, this was an interesting and enjoyable experience. The selection of wines available were far too many for us to be able to enjoy, despite having upgraded to the Premium tickets. This left us with the lovely problem of having to choose!

I really enjoyed the introduction to wine at the start of the tour, but a shame it was so short, as I felt it gave a really good idea of how to appreciate the wine. Still, it is branded as an introduction, and you can always learn more later if you’re interested.

As it was a Saturday afternoon, it was really busy, and there was some bustling around the tables to get to the wine. As a result, the staff didn’t really have much opportunity to talk to us much about the different types. Although, depending on what 'region’ you chose, this did vary. The South American region (my fave!) was surprisingly quiet and so had a useful chance to speak wtih the staff about which wine I should choose.

Have to confess, sometimes the staff forget to take your token off you, so should have had 7 samples in total, and ended up with 10. Hooray!

The rum samples at the end were truly awful. You were discouraged from mixing them into a long drink and as a result, I couldn’t drink any of them, which is a shame when we paid more for the upgrade. My dad chose to knock them back (all 3 shots!) just because he’d paid for them, although wouldn’t recommend this after all that wine!

All in all, it was a really lovely afternoon out, and so well situated that we were able to visit Borough Market before hand, and have a walk along the Thames afterwards. Well worth the money.

A wonderfully old hotel, situated right on the bay, with views overlooking the water, if you book early enough. Whilst the restaurant in the hotel, where my partner and I went for dinner, was nicely decorated and rumoured to have a great reputation, I left disappointed.

The food was pleasant, not amazing, despite being rather pricey - up to £15 for the main meal, and £7 for a starter. The choice wasn’t extensive, and for someone who doesn’t like pates or terrines, that ruled out a sizeable chunk of the menu.

I think I could have tolerated this had the cheapest bottle of wine not been marked up hideously, but the straw that broke the camel’s back, for me, was the Molten Brown fraud. As a Molten Brown fan, I know my stuff, and know a bottle of Naranji when I see / smell one. So, what’s a restaurant and hotel which apparently justifies its higher prices under the tag of 'luxury’ doing, PRETENDING to have Molten Brown products in the bathrooms when, in fact, they were nothing of the sort. Was it a Lidl equivalent in a bit to save costs? Why the lies? I’m still bitter, to this day.

So, to summarise: Decent food (and nice fish, freshly caught), good bottle of wine, although pricey. Lovely views out onto the waters. But didn’t get a sense of value for money at all, which I felt was a great shame.

Yum yum yum yum yum. I could keep going. Took my parents here a few weekends ago, and for them, whose idea of a food treat is the local Tesco Extra, it was a whole new world!

The tree of chocolate, the brownie tower, cheeses and fish were particularly impressive, although my dad also liked the fact that you could sample, and declared that if he were homeless, he’d simply hang around Borough Market all day and eat from there.

Best market stall of the day, in our view, was the wine stall, where you could buy an empty bottle (quite a fancy decorative one too), and fill it up with either the white, red or rose that they had in a barrell. We chose the rose, which was wonderful. The beauty of this is that you pay a deposit for the bottle, and the next time you take the bottle back to the stall to top-up you wine, you pay less, as a means of encouraging recycling.

The crowds of people are probably the only drawback, and you find yourself having to fight your way through. Saying that, the tasty treats more than make up for it, in my view. Prices aren’t cheap either, but what you get is such great quality, that it’s worth the investment. And in a way, you’re paying for the experience as much as you are the food.

Now, how quickly can I get back there…?

I have such fond memories of this shop - from going in to buy my first recorder at the age of 6, to buying flute and symphony music at the age of 18. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, and seem so passionate about what they do.

There’s usually an ecclectic mix of customers inside - from the classical musician, or young child starting out, to the wannabe rockers who try out the drums and electric guitar. It’s such a Neath institution - long may it reign!

There seem to be so many mixed reviews about Heathrow. I must confess, I don’t find it too bad, and yes, I do travel as an economy passenger and not holding that golden business class ticket. I think the key is being prepared as a traveller. You know you’re going to be hot whilst lugging your bags from A to B, so take a bottle of water, but not a big one, becuase you know that you won’t be able to take it through security.

And speaking of security, some people complained that the queues were long. Have you seen how stupid some of the passengers are? Some still think it’s ok to carry on knives, lighters, enormous bottles of unidentified liquids, despite all the warnings they’re given in advance, so I really do think we should cut the airport some employees some slack when they’re faced with such stupidity amongst passengers.

Compared with Jo-burg airport, the staff at Heathrow are polite, knowledgeable and at least try and help you. The shops are good, and there are plenty of them to help you kill some time (unlike the sheer horror that is Doha airport which makes you want to try and walk it home rather than wait for your connecting flight), and there are some decent places to eat. And as many others have said, it could be worse: it could be Stanstead…