As the world began to get back to normal after Covid, we decided to have a look at some of the islands of the Caribbean, leaving the port of Bridgetown in Barbados on the Grandeur of the Seas.

Checking in required us to travel 200m by bus from the terminal to the testing facility where we had to do a lateral flow Covid test and then wait for the results.

There was supposed to be Wi-Fi so that we could get the email regarding the test results, but it was a little patchy so we ended up going up to the desk after 25 minutes and they pulled up our results, allowing us to proceed.

The Grandeur of the Seas was just outside the testing station, tantalisingly close while we were waiting for the results…

And then we were allowed on board. Our room cards were in an envelope on the door. Our cabin was the cheapest they had: on the second floor, with no windows. The mirrors were partly to make the room appear larger!

Having said that, the room did have a couch. Which was the perfect size for Ange.

My favourite was Channel 3 which featured a feed from the camera on the bridge looking out over the front right of the ship. Handy for figuring out whether we’d docked yet. The feed rotated through maps of where we were including such data as our depth, course, speed, time of sunrise and sunset etc.

There was a compulsory safety briefing which meant we had to go up to our muster station and check in.

But that was it – time to explore the ship! The top level featured a running track.

A big screen TV for watching movies. Sounds great. But the soundtrack for the movies would cut out randomly for 30-60 seconds every 5-10 minutes, replaced with random music. Nothing ruins immersion quicker!

The view down to the Windjammer buffet restaurant.

The Solarium was an adults only area under glass with a deep pool (and lifeguard) and two Jacuzzis.

The main restaurant was Art Deco’s finest Great Gatsby.

The Centrum was a central atrium with live music at the base of the elevators. Which was a terrible design as the Customer Service desk, Next Cruise desk and Excursions desks were all on the fifth floor, so the music drowned out any attempts at communications.

A climbing wall was at the stern of the ship. Looking down from the top would be 200ft from the water’s surface.

There was a slight shifting of our destinations due to Covid but we ended up going to:

Kingstown in St Vincent and the Grenadines

Basseterre in St Kitts and Nevis

Philipsburg in Sint Maarten

St John’s in Antigua

St George’s in Grenada

before returning to Bridgetown in Barbados.

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The bed was only a queen but they’d upgraded us for free to a suite. It was therefore a little churlish of me to be miffed that the room was the furthest from the lifts – the lengthy walk along the corridors going some way to work off the breakfast and dinner.

We’d stayed at the Movenpicks at Petra and at the Dead Sea and were always interested in how many cans of soft drink that they gave you. We hit pay dirt in Aqaba with six cans!

The room overlooked the street but was on the fifth floor so we weren’t overly troubled by street noise. The hotel is at one end of the main sea front street, so a little isolated from the night life which also made it a little quieter.

It was supposed to be a non-smoking room, but the evidence of the ashtray on the table and the most disgusting stench of cigarette smoke proved that wrong. Fortunately opening the windows and running the fan at max speed dissipated the smell.

By now we were half expecting the Dead Sea toiletries from Natural Care.

The hotel complex sprawls over both sides of the main road, the overpass significant enough to support a swimming pool and Jacuzzi.

And while they do have a private beach, since its December we didn’t go for a swim despite the cloudless blue sky. The temperatures of the water in the pools were posted and after a dip in the “25C” pool we hastened back to the Jacuzzi on the overbridge.

Pity the poor bored lifeguards patrolling the empty pools! In summer these would be packed!!

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We stayed in one of the Luxury Tents – a geodesic dome on the edge of the complex meaning that it was very private with only one neighbour, even though that did mean a slightly longer walk to the restaurant!

Inside, the king-sized bed had independent duvets, and an air-con unit directly overhead.

There were also a couple of bedouin coats for our use to ward off the chill when venturing outside at night to the restaurant tent or for stargazing.

Most importantly, was the view out of the windows. Drapes allowed you to block that off, but by night you could stare out at the cliffs and watch the lights of the odd SUV drive by in the pitch darkness.

The toiletries were ones we were familiar with, being locally sourced from the Dead Sea.

The breakfast and dinner were buffet styles with an impressive array to select from, all served in a huge white dome nestled at the base of the cliffs. There was another restaurant actually built into the cliffs behind the white dome, which was where you could buy lunch or enjoy shisha after dinner.

I’m only including one photo, but the buffet selection was actually pretty awesome for both dinner and breakfast – definitely something for everyone.

We took advantage of the free stargazing in the evening, which involved walking out into the desert and having a few of the constellations pointed out to us.

More impressive were the photos that our guide took. He’d get each group or couple to pose, set up his camera with an extremely long exposure and then shine a torch across the subjects mid shot (each took about 10 seconds).

The result was that the subjects were lit well enough to show up with the stars behind perfectly visible. The following morning the guide was at reception showing us the photos. We could give him our details and he would WhatsApp the photos. For free.

That’s right, while they did offer the standard excursions like the jeep ride and the camel ride (with or without sunset) all naturally with a cost, the stargazing and the photos were free. Nice!

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It should be noted that the UFO Luxotel and its sister hotel, the Bubble Luxotel, are not actually in Wadi Rum: rather, they’re… Wadi Rum adjacent in the middle of the desert to the north of the Wadi Rum Protected Area.

They still offer the same tours and outings that the other hotels do – there’s just a little driving to get into Wadi Rum itself.

By the time we arrived and checked in (with sandy luggage from the Wadi Rum Tour we’d just been on), the wind had died down and all that was left of the sandstorm were drifts of sand on the cobbled path that led to the domes.

The guy checking us in smiled apologetically when he told us that the electric golf carts which would normally ferry us to our dome were all being serviced so we would have to walk.

It wasn’t far though – we were about mid way along the path, on the edge of the complex. We could see something under covers on the fenceline adjacent to our dome and it didn’t take us too long to figure out that these were the telescopes for the star gazing that the hotel offered as an excursion.

We’d been told that because of the sandstorm that they wouldn’t be offering the stargazing – too much sand in the atmosphere interfering with the view.

The room was a double dome, one for the bedroom and the other for the bathroom. The bed was huge and the air con did a great job of warming the place up.

The plastic of the dome was more translucent than transparent, so I’m not sure how much of the night sky’s constellations would have been visible. There was also a skylight directly above the bed in the ceiling with an electric shutter allowing it to be closed.

The Bubble Luxotel and the UFO Luxotel were really just two collections of themed domes with communal check in and restaurant sandwiched between them. The room booking came with both breakfast and dinner included, which was a bit of a relief as there was nothing else for miles around and I doubt that Uber-Eats would have delivered all the way out there!

The food itself was your standard buffet and we looked suspiciously at some of the turreens of vegetables at the breakfast serving. Surely those were there last night also?

While breakfast didn’t have an omelette station, they did have a chef making mini pancakes. I collected enough to equate to a standard sized pancake which probably defeated the purpose of making them so small, but they didnt have any waffles, so it had to do.

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They have a sister camp next door the Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp, the chief difference being that in the luxury camp you have your own bathroom but in the standard camp you have a block of shared amenities.

While I looked wistfully at the domed tents, we would be staying at two different domes in Wadi Rum, so I focussed on our tent instead.

The camps share a restaurant for breakfast (included in the room rate) and dinner (JOD10pp), both buffet styles and reasonably priced for what they offer.

The bed was a serviceable queen sized and comfortable. The coffee station had some nice chocolates plus a couple of bottles of water which were always welcome in the desert.

The bathroom had everything you would need including a lovely rainforest head in the shower.

Being stuck out in the middle of the desert, they know that entertainment may be lacking, so they have a communal fire pit and nearby tent where local musicians play traditional instruments. We got chatting to a couple from England and even though we were the only guests, it felt very convivial.

The location is a great spot for hiking, with options for guides on any number of treks: the back way to the Monastery in Petra and the Tomb of Aaron being two that we shall have to return to do! They also offer a trip to Wadi Rum and back, with three hours in the Protected Area visiting the sights.

The post Review: Seven Wonders Luxury Camp, Little Petra, Jordan appeared first on etrip.tips.

Last time I had stayed in July, rather than December, so naturally enough it was hot. So the pool was refreshing instead of chilly. The roof-top restaurant was open instead of closed for winter. Little things like that.

The rooms had been refreshed, and this time we had a queen sized bed. The free mini-bar was downsized from four soft drinks and two fruit drinks to just four soft drinks, but apart from that it was a very similar experience.

This time there was no free ice cream, although they did have a chocolate hour. A selection of brownie and pieces of fruit to dip into white or dark molten chocolate. Very rich and decadent!

The post Review: Mövenpick Resort Petra, Jordan – Again! appeared first on etrip.tips.

The Mövenpick Resort and Spa Dead Sea is a sprawling luxury resort featuring nine restaurants and at least six pools, but the prime feature is the private beach on the Dead Sea.

We’d been given a free upgrade in the Zara block of the resort, which had the benefit of being above the breakfast restaurant, and views out across the Dead Sea.

The bed was very comfortable and the room was spacious. I was more interested in the contents of the minibar though which became a bit of a running gag throughout our trip, seeing as we stayed at so many Mövenpick hotels (Petra & Aqaba in addition to the Dead Sea): which ones would have the most drinks?

But we immediately went out exploring – straight down to the private beach. We were there in December, so the Summer Pool was empty, but the other pools promised to be reasonably warm.

We investigated the Dead Sea and established that the water was in fact salty! The next day we went for a more substantial swim. They recommended only staying in for fifteen to twenty minutes, but we stayed bobbing around for nearly an hour.

And also the second day, we checked out the Zara Spa. While we didn’t have any treatments, we enjoyed the private pools including the water jets in the main infinity pool and the sunset that night was simply magical.

Inside there were some more pools, one of them only slightly less salty than the dead sea (27% salt in the pool vs 30% in the Dead Sea – normal sea water is 3% for context).

Ange wrote up her thoughts on the different experiences – the Zara Spa vs the Dead Sea.

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Convenient for us, less so for the driver who had to wait an hour when our plane was delayed leaving London due to one of the aircrew’s Covid19 test results being delayed. I hope he had his phone so he wasn’t bored. It’s always a relief when you see your name on a board in the Arrivals area.

We arrived at the hotel in early December and they were putting the finishing touches on their Christmas decorations, going over and above what I would have expected a Moslem country to have done. The piece de resistance was a huge Christmas tree in the atrium.

The hotel is in the middle of Amman, the capital of Jordan. We used it as a base for the first leg of our Jordan trip.

We had gone up to our room in the same lift as some guests who had obviously been visiting one of the local bars, which made for some amusing banter on the way.

The room was on a high floor at the far end of the corridor and was very spacious. The view out the window was just a nondescript city-scape, but we could now see what the weather forecasts meant when they mentioned “haze”. Fine sand sediment on the wind making it difficult seeing the horizon some days. The bed was king-sized.

The second best part of the hotel stay was the pool and Jacuzzi area. The hot pools had multiple jets and bubble areas, including a treadmill and exercycle which were submerged underwater allowing you to have a resistance training session.

Continuing this trend, the main swimming pool had vents on the side which allowed a steady stream of water to be pumped through the pool, giving you additional resistance for your swim.

They also had a hamman and a very well stocked gym. The cardio gear had a built in video screen allowing you to run through the woods of Germany or even through some of the National Parks of our native New Zealand.

But for me the best part of the stay were the breakfasts – they had almost everything that you could think of as a breakfast food. Gluten free options galore, fruit, vegetables, cold cuts, extensive bread section and all manner of eggs and traditional hot dishes.

And while they didn’t have pork bacon, they had some beef bacon which wasn’t too far off in terms of texture if not taste. Very impressive.

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We were early as usual and enquired whether our room might be ready. The receptionist checked her computer and we smiled when she told us it was. We headed up the stairs and along the hall to our room, checking out the photos of Skye’s wild attractions as we went.

The Room

The room itself was huge – an enormous super king bed with ten pillows/cushions on it taking pride of place. It was two singles pushed together but the mattress was thick enough that we didn’t notice at all.

A full dresser and desk with ample drawer space allowed us to unpack and feel like we were at home, the TV was also huge and pivoted on its frame so we could swivel it around and watch from the round table and two armchairs in the corner.

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, the hotel had removed the £5 room service charge, so dining in-room was an attractive option. If we got the breakfast door hanger filled in and hanging on the door by 3am we could get anything we wanted delivered between 7:30am and 10:00am.

This proved an excellent option when we were heading out early for a tour or catching a bus. The breakfast was included in the room rate so there was no limit to what we could order.

I felt just a little bit bad when the delivery guy puffed his way in having carried the heavy tray all by himself from the kitchen, up the stairs and into the room. They did have little trestle tables that they set up outside the room and rested the tray on while knocking.

Being there for so long allowed us to see those rare incidences when things don’t go perfectly – there were two of these in our stay. One morning there was a knock at the door at 7:30am. We were awake and Ange went to the door to be greeted by the trestle table and a tray of breakfast on it.

She called out after the delivery guy “Excuse me! Hello! We didn’t order breakfast!” The guy came back and didn’t seem too bothered “Well, I can take it away if you like?” I immediately suggested that that wasn’t necessary and that we would take it – I hate to see food wasted and we were awake anyways.

Ange was worried if we took it that someone else would miss out (which would mean that the error was one of wrong room), but the waiter confirmed that it was for our room number, and so we said that we’d take it.

We looked at what the breakfast was and it was what we had previously ordered, so we figured the old door hanger had somehow got back into circulation in error. Seriously, talk about first world problems!! Oh no, our 4 star hotel accidentally delivered a delicious cooked breakfast!

The Bathroom

The bathroom boasted his and hers sinks which Ange loved – no more of my whiskers or toothpaste splatter interrupting her beauty regime. The shower had a rainforest showerhead which I always love, and the bath was the perfect size for luxuriating the aching muscles after one or other of our walks on the island.

……And when the wind blew and the rains came it was decadent to bathe while sipping a wee dram of the local product.

The toiletries were Algotherm and while I didn’t really need the shower cap, shampoo and conditioner it was good to use the shower gel and soap. I figured that the local seaweed probably wasn’t used in the formulations of the products – the gap between high and low tide all around the island was speckled with different species of seaweed, but Algotherm is made in France so they probably used locally sourced macroalgae.

We could elect how often our room was made up which was good – Ange hated the waste of having towels replaced every day, but I was tempted because each time they made up the room we got free bottles of water and shortbread. It’s always good coming home to a clean room!

The View

The view from the room was awesome, a constantly changing vision across the harbour where you could watch the clouds roll up the Loch. There was one day where a storm hit, a constant barrage of wind and rain and even though the window rattled slightly when buffeted by particularly strong gusts, we were perfectly snug all day.

It was a little mesmerising watching the changing light as clouds raced across the sky and the harbour hues melted one into the other – dawn especially striking.

The Food

The hotel had its own Scotch bar, a nook beside the main bar where you could select one or more of the many flavors on offer. The bar itself was off limits due to Covid, but that merely shifted where you needed to drink your drinks.

The picnic tables on the front lawn had online ordering, so if you picked your moment between rain showers and enjoyed the sun, you could use your phone and enjoy a libation while watching the next shower cloud approach across the harbour.

The food was amazing the whole time we were there and the other small hiccup occurred one day when our room service order for lunch didn’t make it to the kitchen. Again, another first world problem: we had to ring again and they sent it up within 20 minutes. Boo hoo!

Staying for a week and having most meals at the hotel, we learned what we liked from the menu and obviously recognised the waitstaff. If I was more of a people person I would have learnt all their names, which is a pity because they were all friendly and lovely, and gave great service.

The leek and potato soup was our first introduction to the restaurant and while I was under the mistaken impression the garnish on top was bacon (more likely deep fried leek), it certainly set the standard for the rest of the meals.

When we asked if there were any recommendations the waiter mentioned that the scallops were fresh and that you could actually watch the scallop boats landing their catch in the port over the harbour.

As good as they were, the star dish for me was actually the starter portion of the mussels, served in a white wine broth and crusty bread. Really good value – there must have been close to a kilo of them for £8.50. We had them a few times while we were there!

Another item we kept coming back to was the burger. Definitely better with the cheese and bacon, it came with a little salad, chips and onion rings. I had fomo with Ange’s fish and chips so obviously had to have that the following night!

Let me pause and reminisce about the sticky toffee pudding. It had quite the range of textures, from the pudding itself, with the obvious toffee sauce, but the ice cream that accompanied it was sandwiched between a biscuit-y topping and some sort of ganache.

The first time I ordered it from room service they asked if I wanted it delivered at the same time as the main or afterwards and I made the mistake of getting it at the same time as the main, so the head of the hot toffee sauce melted the ice cream.

The second time I ordered it I made sure not to repeat the error, and when I said I’d have it later they said that they wouldn’t make it at the same time but just to ring down 10 minutes before I was ready for it and they’d make it and bring it up. Cue the most pompous phone call you have ever heard:

Ring ring.

“Hullo recepetion, how can I help?”

“Uh… I’m ready for my dessert now. Please send up my sticky toffee pudding.”

While we were staying at the hotel we did a tour which offered a hotel pickup and drop off. Now we only arranged to go on the tour a day before it actually left and on that day that we arranged it we didn’t want to leave the hotel because there was a storm: a constant barrage of buffeting winds and squalls of torrential rain.

So, no way of making the ten minute walk into the centre of town to get a sandwich and packet of crisps from the supermarket in town. We asked if the hotel did a takeaway lunch and were told yes, we could get a bagged lunch for £10. So for the £10 each we got a sizeable sandwich, bottle of water, packet of crisps, piece of fruit and a pair of shortbread biscuits, all in a brown paper bag.

Would I go back?

Hell yes! The room was large, the bed was huge and comfortable, the views were gorgeous. The food was delicious. And the friendly staff were the icing on the cake. Very much recommended!

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We arrived on the last train from Inverness at 8:30pm and the receptionist from the hotel rang at 8pm to ensure that we were still coming. The hotel was only a five minute walk from the station, but Kyle is so small you pretty much see the all the sights on the way.

When we arrived, check in proceeded smoothly and we headed upstairs to our room. We weren’t expecting luxury and the room was perfectly serviceable – if we had one complaint it would have been that everything was maybe a little small, probably due to the size of humans when the hotel was built (pre 1897 by all accounts). So while the room was clean and the bed comfortable, the TV was tiny and I only just fitted into the shower!

We were spoiled for breakfast the next day, though. Angela had the porridge and they had oat milk for her as a dairy alternative, while I enjoyed my pancakes which came with sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs. All washed down with coffee and orange juice.

The Kyle is such a convenient location – I actually had stayed there almost ten years before when I’d travelled to Skye with my mother and although my memory isn’t perfect, I’d hazard a guess that the hotel hadn’t changed a jot since then. If you’re looking for somewhere to lay your head overnight between trains or buses, it’s definitely convenient!

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