Aussie Flyer

The central Australian town of Alice Springs is not home to many major chain hotels, although they do have a Crowne Plaza, which gets the number 1 spot on Tripadvisor. With that ranking in mind I checked out the prices and found a stay 3 pay 2 offer which seemed like a very good deal. I booked myself in to a standard room and arrived from Melbourne via Qantas (see my previous blog post for the trip report).  I rented a Hertz Toyota Camry and drove to the hotel, free parking is available for those with cars. At check-in I was told the pool was out of action due to heavy rains, it was going to be unusable for a couple of days. That was disappointing because I had been hoping for a dip considering the hot weather! The front desk staff advised we could use the hotel next door's pool if we wished.  The hotel features a series of 3 story buildings connected by covered walkways that face in to the central pool area. Rooms are simple but quite comfortable. There is only an old CRT t...

I recently had a stay in the Rydges Harborview in Auckland. It was my first time in this city and the location works really well. It's very central and located opposite the Sky City Auckland complex. The rooms have fresh modern look and have all that you could want including a large LCD television. The bed was really comfortable and I got a great night's sleep. Rydges Harbourview standard room The hotel is very highly rated on tripadvisor and you will find some good deals on wotif.com and lastminute.com.au. There is a paid for broadband cable service available but there was also a wifi network throughout the hotel which was free when I logged on. The handy access to the casino complex means there is plenty of nearby restaurants and entertainment options and it's just a short stroll down to the harbour front. Overall I was quite impressed with the hotel for the price and would stay there again. It's a 5 minute walk to the airport bus as well. Harbour area Sky T...

After a pleasant day wandering around New Orleans and making a substantial donation to Harrah's Casino I took a taxi to the airport. It's a fixed fare of about $33 plus tip. I had been monitoring Flight Stats during the day because bad weather in Chicago had delayed or cancelled many flights. I was slightly stressed I would miss my connection and I was starting to regret my decision about flying the long way via Chicago rather than through Dallas. As I arrived at the terminal I found the flight was still scheduled on time, although the Miami flight had been cancelled and those passengers would be stuck in New Orleans overnight. Self Checkin Kiosk Check-In Queue Chicago flights delayed - except for mine! A Delta Airbus bound for Minneappolis My MD-82 sitting empty at the gate There are no American Airlines lounges in New Orleans so I wandered around the terminal for a while before taking a seat in the gate area. At some point, not long before scheduled departure time an a...

The Hilton Barbados - Front Entrance For my short 2 night stay on the island nation of Barbados I selected the Hilton. It is one of the only major chain hotels in the country and it is still a relatively new property. The price seems to average USD200-USD250 per night, not exactly cheap but I found the hotel to be of a high standard. It's about a USD25 taxi ride from the airport and takes just 20 to 30 minutes to get there at most. Bay view room balcony standard room - tiled floors Bathroom with seperate tub beauitful view view to Hilton's own beach from corridor multiple level pool including infinity pool at the top level The hotel features it's own beach front at Needham's Point and is about a 20 minute walk to the main township of Bridgetown. There are a couple of restaurants within a short walk, and a gas station at the end of the road where you can buy general items at a cheaper price than within the hotel. Barbados beer on the beach - raise your red f...