Mina A'Salam Madinat Jumeirah Hotel

On our 3rd day in Dubai, we moved to Madinat Jumeirah Mina A'Salam Hotel, where also the Art Dubai took place. My best friend already told me that it's a very luxurious hotel where you feel like an Arabian princess. ;-) She was right, this hotel is really gorgeous, a grande boutique hotel, with traditional Arabian style, surrounded with waters and part of the larger Madinat Jumeirah Resort which has other Hotels: Al Quasr, Dar Al Masyaf, Malakiya Villas and "The Souk" an Arabian Market which is home to several restaurants, bars and coffee shops. The Jumeirah complex is REALLY huge but a small boat on the canal that encircle the entire complex or golf buggies that are always buzzing around will take you to the various destinations. 

There is a 2km long own private beach for the hotel guests with stunning views of the Arabian Resort of Dubai and the Burj Al Arab. The hotel guests also get free access to the Wild Wadi Waterpark, an outdoor waterpark with attractions, 30 rides and a 18m waterfall which is located next to the hotel! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go to the waterpark... :(

The Club Executive Lounge of Mina A'Salam Hotel. It was FABULOUS!

 

Afternoon Tea at the Lounge ♥

 

Happy Hour at the Lounge - with free flow champagne ♥ ♥

Our Deluxe Ocean Room was compared to the Family Suit in Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort smaller but much more luxurious (sorry Hilton!)!!

 

The bathroom of the Hilton Dubai JR was also very nice but this one has more charm and was stocked with really nice amenities!

We had a beautiful view from our balcony - look at the clear blue water and the iconic Burj Al Arab!

The turtle rehabilitation in Jumeirah: the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation team rehabilitate the sick and injured turtles (that are critically endangered worldwide... :( ) and return them to the natural habitat.

 On this boat we did a round tour to see the other parts of Madinat.

Ahhhh.... Too bad we didn't have time for swimming in such a beautiful clear blue sea... We will DEFINITELY come back to Dubai!!!!

 The Medinat Jumeirah Mina A'Salam hotel is the BEST hotel I have ever stayed! EVERYTHING IS SUPERB! Nothing to complain at all! I really hope we can come back to this dreamlike place again...

Medinat Jumeirah Mina A'Salam Hotel

Madinat Jumeirah - Jumeirah Beach Road

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Tel: +971 4 366 8888 

E-mail: MJinfo@jumeirah.com 

       Service:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★                       Value for money:   ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
       Food:     ★ ★ ★ ★ ★                        Atmosphere:          ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort - Art Dubai 2014

Last week, I took a few days off and went to Dubai with my family to attend the Art Dubai 2014.

My mother loves art and got an invitation from a Japanese gallery owner to this wonderful event. Thanks to him we were able to attend the Art Dubai as "Collectors' Circle" guest, which means that the admission was free, we had the chance to have a private view before the exhibition was opened to the public view, we could attend several programs exclusively organized for Collectors' Circle guest and last but not least we had a complementary car service by Maserati. :D

The first 2 nights we stayed at the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort. Thanks to the Hilton Diamond membership, we got upgraded to the Family Suite with sea view. Apparently, it's one of the oldest hotel in Dubai but it was clean and it didn't look that old to me. The furnitures were maybe a little old-fashioned but it didn't bother me that much. I was so amazed that our room was spacious! :)

The Hilton Dubai Jumeirat Resort (you can see it on the very back on the picture below) is located on the beautiful Jumeirah Beach and Jumeirah Beach Residence Walk (JBR Walk), where you can enjoy various shopping and dining option.

When we were strolling on the beach, we found several beautiful sand sculptures. Look at this huge sandcastle! 

 This turtle looks like real! 

I just found an article about the sand sculptures at JBR - apparently they were made by an Australian artist: Jenny Rosen. She is amaaaa-zing!!!

The night view from our hotel balcony

 

 The Executive Lounge with it's nice view on the sea, beach and the JBR Walk.

 

We really enjoyed our stay at the Hilton DJR even though it was just for 2 nights. The location was fabulous, the food at the executive lounge was good and we had impeccable and friendly service from all of the staffs! 

They were disappointed when we told them that we are staying at another hotel the next following days. They all thought that we weren't satisfied with Hilton... but we explained that we are invited to the Art Dubai and since it's going to take place at Madinat Jumeirah Hotel which is about 15 mins taxi ride away from Hilton, we wanted to stay close to the venue.

And OMG, thank God we also got the chance to stay at the other hotel - it was SO GORGEOUS!!! (Sorry Hilton!)

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort
1 The Walk, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 4 399 1111
E-mail: info.jumeirah@hilton.com 

Service: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★                                Value for money:   ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Food:     ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩                               Atmosphere:          ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩



Hotel des Alpes, Flims

Last weekend, I went to Flims, a popular winter sports resort with my work colleagues. 

Every year around March, our company organizes the so called "Schnee-Weekend" (snow-weekend) to socialize with the co-workers and to have fun by doing winter sports together.
We stayed at the "Hotel des Alpes", a comfy and nice 3-star hotel right across the bus station "Flims Waldhaus, Caumasee".

How to get there from Zurich, main station: take the train to Chur (takes about 75 - 90 mins depending on the train), get off at Chur station and take the yellow post bus (Postauto) direction Laax and get off at the bus stop "Flims, Cauma See" (takes about 40 min).

The reception area and the restaurant "il forno" is decorated sweetly like it's Valentine's Day every day with all the red heart-shaped wooden objects. :)

The rooms were also quite pretty, ours had a small kitchen, the room itself was furnished with light colored wood, chalet-like, which is not my taste but perfect for a ski resort hotel and most importantly everything was clean. ;)

There is also an indoor swimming pool and a sauna for the hotel guests.

The cozy "Hausbar", the bar and smoker lounge of the hotel.

A grand piano at the back area of the bar.

The service was friendly and the food at the restaurant was good.

The ski-lift tickets can be bought at the reception which is very practical. The shuttle bus / Postauto across the hotel takes you to the ski-lift area in 5 mins, where you can also rent the winter sports equipments. Those who don't ski or snowboard (like me), you can also have a nice walk to the Cauma Lake (Caumasee) through the woods or to the viewing platform at Conn called "Il Spir". The platform allows a good view of the gorge and the river lying about 380 meters from below.

 Chalet "Steinpilz" (porcino) - what a cute name ;)

The beautiful Cauma Lake is frozen now but in summer you can swim. I need to come back here in summer! Must be nice swimming in such a clear and deep blue water!

 

Hotel des Alpes, Flims

 Promenada 45

7018 Flims Waldhaus

Tel. +41 81 928 25 25

Fax +41 81 928 25 00

www.hoteldesalpes.ch

info@hoteldesalpes.ch

Afternoon Tea at Winter Garden in Landmark Hotel London

When you are in London and love afternoon tea, I can also recommend the Winter Garden of the Landmark Hotel. The ambience is very nice, the food delicious and the service excellent. The eight-storey glass roof atrium with palm trees and live entertainment makes you feel like you are abroad.

 

The Landmark London has a Traditional Afternoon Tea, Chocolate Afternoon Tea, and a Gluten free Afternoon Tea available daily. We all ordered the Traditional Afternoon Tea for £40.

The sandwiches were VERY delicious!! As usual, in London, the afternoon tea sandwiches and the scones get replenished as much as you want and since the sandwiches were sooo good, I just couldn't say "no" whenever the attentive staff asked if I wanted more sandwiches. :-P

But of course I needed space for the scones and pastries so after eating like 10 sandwiches, I finally said "No thank you" and the scones and the pastries were served.

Look at these lovely pastries!

                                                            

                                                                            Raspberry mini cheesecake

 

 Heart-shaped maccaroon

  

After the afternoon tea, we were all happily stuffed and it was already getting dark outside. We stayed here for like 3 hours!

Having dinner at the Winter Garden must be also very nice with these atmospheric lightings!

 

The Landmark Hotel

222 Marylebone Road
London, NW1 6JQ　

(right infront of the Marylebone Tube Station)

Tel: +44 20 7631 8000

www.landmarklondon.co.uk/

Afternoon Tea is served
Mon - Fri: 3:00 - 6:00 PM and

Sat - Sun: 2:30 - 6:30 PM

Service: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★                                Value for money:   ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Food:     ★ ★ ★ ★ ★                                Atmosphere:          ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

 

Afternoon Tea at The Rose Lounge in London

On Valentine's Day, I went to Sofitel London St. James Hotel to have an afternoon tea at "The Rose Lounge" - with my mother. :) Finally, I got to try the real, traditional afternoon tea in England! And it was MARVELOUS! 

We were seated next to the fire place. :)

The delicious sandwiches and the scones were replenished as much as we wanted, the service was impeccable, the atmosphere really cosy and pretty. There was also a harpist who played lovely tunes... I felt like a princess! ♡♡♡

After the sandwiches and scones, you get to chose 2 different pastries from the cake trolley but my mother and I were both SO stuffed! The sandwiches and scones were so good that we couldn't stop ordering more... (^_^;

I decided to get the smallest pastry - a caramel éclair - but just one... My mother did the same but asked the friendly french waitress if she could take it home and the waitress said "of course" and brought a small box with her zipper éclair inside. :)
The price was  £36 each (12.5% service charges included), so a little high for an afternoon tea but for me, it was definitely worth it!

 

I totally loved "The Rose Lounge" and would recommend it to anyone who likes to have an afternoon tea and enjoy a romantic and pretty atmosphere!

"The Rose Lounge" at The Sofitel London St. James

6 Waterloo Place, London SW1Y 4AN, England

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7968 2900

E-mail. thebalcon.london@sofitel.com

www.thebalconlondon.com/roselounge/roselounge.shtm

Service: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★                                Value for money:   ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Food:     ★ ★ ★ ★ ★                                Atmosphere:          ★ ★ ★ ★ ★