Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the tag “marriott”

05 Aug 2013

Recipe for a Wedding Cayman Islands Style

Going to weddings is not my usual form of entertainment but when they take place publicly on the beach when on holiday then maybe its ok to have a peek. This is how you do it:

Go to an amazing hotel like the Marriott Grand Cayman
Rent a section of the beach
Put some chairs on the beach and set up some small goalposts
Make the bridegroom arrive 15 minutes early and look ever so uncomfortable standing there all alone
Have a group of loud Texans in the swimming pool, yellering and hollerring and making many other noises not immediately recognisable as a language on this planet
Then have your dinner outside by a pool with turtles swimming by
Lastly pray for no rain during this little episode of festivities.

Marriott Grand Cayman

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged aviation, beach wedding, bridegroom, cars, cayman, cayman islands, cayman wedding, cowboy hats, exotic wedding, grand cayman, hurricane, hurricane season, hurrician, marriott, marriott grand cayman, marriott hotels, rain, swimming pool, texans, texas, transportation, USA, wedding

21 May 2013

Worsley Park Marriott Manchester

Not too shabby a hotel. The entrance from the main road sweeps around through a golf course until the hotel entrance is reached. The morning of this photograph it was foggy and with a little play on the computer I ended up with this which I may well use as the title slide to one of my talks.

Worsley Park Marriott Hotel Manchester

Worsley Park Marriott hotel. The mist of Manchester

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged ADHD, fog, golf, golf course, manchester, marriott, marriott hotels, mist, sports, travel travel mancheste, vacation, worsley park | Leave a comment

13 Feb 2013

1 Comment

Stockholm

Although I have been to Stockholm a few times I have never truly appreciated what a pleasant city it is. This time snowbound, everything looked cute but everything worked. Trains and planes and cars were all on time, taxi drivers spoke eloquently and engaged passengers in meaningful conversation. The people all looked young. Maybe the old ones get locked away in some sinister plot. As one arrives at Arlanda Airport, they really do play ABBA music to welcome you and photos of famous people like ABBA and Roxette adorn the walls of the luggage reclaim area. T

There is a price to pay and that is literally true. This city is expensive and is best visited when someone is paying the bill. A Croque Monseiour would cost you over 12£. Coffee usually is around 4-5£. Hotels are pleasant places where receptionists are helpful and smile. They are also warm. One of main complaints this last winter has been arriving at Marriott hotels to find that the room heating has been switched off for seemingly the last millennium. On my arrival it happily gets turned on but then takes the length of my stay to warm the room up.

The characters in Stockholm also are straight from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I could have cast that film many times just by sitting in a cafe and looking around. Lastly the food. It is good. The restaurants have a kind of laid back attitude where service is good but not to the point of being obsequious. Tables have gingham cloth covers and serve you pretty much what you want. I had Meatballs. I could have had massive Steaks. This is a place to come back to, but please someone invite me and pay my bills while I am there. The street names are right out of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo like Sodermalm.

Posted in Cities EU, city of culture, Countries and Cities, stockholm, Uncategorized and tagged abba, airport, arlanda airport, cafe, expensive food, food, girl with dragon tattoo, liz slander, london travel, luggage reclaim, marriott, marriott hotels, millennium, restaurant, rosette, snow, steaks, steig larsson, stockholm, sweden, swedish meatballs, taxi, taxi drivers, terminal 5, trilogy, USA

31 Jan 2013

1 Comment

When Shirley met Sparkbrook

Today I made a tragic mistake and took the A34 route towards my hotel in Birmingham. I have never been a fan of Birmingham as a city, always found it complex to get around, dreadful signage and usually cold. Today I am convinced that I am right. It took me over an hour to drive 8 miles from the M42 to Fiveways corner.

The traffic was the worst I have seen since Colombo in Sri Lanka, no signs of any use, appalling driving against reminiscent of Sri Lanka, but to see so many closed down shops was sad. In fact the only shops that looked open were a few fruit and vegetable purveying establishments and multiple Indian restaurants.

The city seems frankly just too crowded. Too many cars. Too many people. And far too many empty bus lanes. I am all in favour of bus lanes when there are buses to use them. I did this epic travel in rush hour and saw none. Just empty bus lanes with threats of execution if one strayed an inch over the line and entered the forbidden territory.

The result? I will never come here again out of choice. Why should I? Complex to reach, no obvious redeeming features and expensive. Sorry Birmingham,I am sure the people are very nice, but why do you live here?

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged a34, birmingham, bus lane, execution, fines for bus lane, henley, marriott, marriott hotels, red route, riots, rush hour, shirley, sparkbrook, sparkbrook riots

15 Nov 2012

Rant about Marriott hotels. Part 2

There has already been multiple rants over the Marriott policy to charge for wi-fi at the extortionate rate of 15£ for 24 hours, which is unfair on many levels, including how rarely one actually stays physically in a hotel for 24 hours, and of charging to park. Well, here in Edinburgh it is warmer outside than in my room. Despite turning all the dials up like a mad old professor , the heat level seems to have decreased with the added benefit of a hideous grinding noise coming from what might be a fan.

My solution? To find an abandoned radiator in the hallway, wheel it into my room when no-one is looking , turn each dial up to maximum and then hope………

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged cold, edinburgh, internet, marriott, marriott hotels, parking hotels, radiator, stealing, travel, vacation, weather, wi-fi, wifi | Leave a comment

14 Oct 2012

1 Comment

Reflections of Sweden. A country where the Wi-Fi is free

Spending time in Sweden is not a hardship. The country is a vibrant and exciting country and populated generally by happy and well meaning people. Perhaps the only real surprise was that not all Swedish speak English. I flew into Stockholm and most people travel into the city centre on the Arlanda Express, a sort of cheaper and better version of the Heathrow Express. The main city is full of restaurants mostly and of course the Ice Bar in the Nordic Light hotel. An OK hotel but the rooms were tiny and some larger clients may have had interesting times trying to fit into their bathroom/toilet area. But I spent most of my time out of Stockholm travelling to other places. Firstly a short flight to Malmo on Norwegian airlines. Now I mention them specifically as not only did they text me a boarding pass without me asking ( for an early flight) but also because they were on time. Flight was scheduled for 7.30 am and that is the minute it left the runway. However when one gets to 10,000 feet they have free wi-fi that comes into operation. Wi-fi in the sky and free. Marriott hotels are you listening?

The small city of Lund is apparently the equivalent of our Oxford and Cambridge university towns ( looked more like Exeter to me) but with amazing sandwich shops. The rolls and cakes are incredible and cheap. A train journey of 3 hours to Gothenburg was less exciting. A packed train. Not a travel method to recommend. Gothenburg however was a lovely city. Again free wi-fi more or less anywhere, hotel room, burger bar or station concourse. Canals running through were reminiscent of Amsterdam.

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged airport, amsterdam, canals, gothenburg, ice bar, lund, malmo, marriott, marriott hotels, nordic light hotel, norwegian airlines, radisson blu, scandinavia, stockholm, sweden, travel, vacation, wi-fi

30 Sep 2012

By the seaside. Jeddah in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

Jeddah is about 75 minutes flight from Riyadh and very different. Firstly it is by the sea and I know that as I can see the sea from my window on the 6th floor. The humidity is incredible, so different from Riyadh which seemed pleasantly warm although around 30 degrees even in the evening. Lots of usual signs appear for Domino’s pizza, Subway, McDonalds and many more. The driving here is incredulous. I would issue a challenge to anyone to determine in the first 30 minutes of being in this city which side of the road they drive on. At one moment this morning my taxi on the right hand side was passed on its right hand side by another vehicle. Each and every car has serious dents and paintwork needs and I can see why. Most cars are Hyundai, the Elantra seems popular and most cars are white which is a big mistake as the sand everywhere soon turns them a kind of beige colour.

The hotel I am in, Crowne Plaza seems excellent and its location at the end of a dusty bumpy road is just odd. So, sadly with no swimming items I can neither go down to the sea, though suspect that oil tankers might be my company there nor go in the swimming pool that can be seen below. But the last bit of good news if you are listening Marriott hotels, is that the room wi-fi is totally free and excellent quality. That alone would make me choose this hotel. Simples…….

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged crowne plaza, crowne plaza jeddah, domino's pizza, jeddah, kingdom of saudi arabia, KSA, london, marriott, marriott hotels, mcdonalds, saudi arabia, sea, seaside, subway, travel, vacation | Leave a comment

20 Aug 2012

Grand Cayman. Heaven on Earth

Never having been here before my expectations were high but I have been astounded by the beauty of this island. If one thinks of an Island paradise this is exactly what you will find here. The downsides? No football. No sign of Cayman United. And the price of food is amazingly high. Not far off double UK pieces. That aside it is beautiful. The beaches are pristine white, the sea is clean and clear. The people friendly. Many maybe even most people here either dive or have some dive related job. The recent debate has been whether to introduce tax to salaries. There was some proposal to tax salaries 30%, this was then ground down to 10% and then abolished! So no tax. Temperature. Easy 31 deg daytime and 27 deg at night. Bit of rain some maybe even most days.

The best part for me though is swimming to a sort of huge rig about 50 yards off shore and sitting effectively in the middle of the Caribbean sea. Fish swim everywhere. On morning walks along the beach ( that we voluntarily get up for around 6.45am) there are Needlefish swimming about 3-4 metres out to sea, they catch tiny little fish in one sweeping movement. Large shoals of Bermuda Chubb swim around and hope for feeding. There is one huge Mutton Snapper ( called Toby or Bob. Depending upon who you talk to) with a mouth wider than most fish. No jellyfish, as yet. This is a lovely place.

Eating at night is a joy with so many places to choose from. Rackhams by the waterfront in George Town has to be the best! Sunset at Royal Palms comes in second. Third place is a tie at the moment. Best beers? Close thing. Caybrew is great as is Coors light but maybe Whitetip is winning just now. Rackhams however wins for the best burger on earth!

Seven Mile Beach

Sunset at 6.45 pm. Royal Palms Beachfront. Seven mile beach

My home for 2 weeks. 50 metres out to sea. Marriott Grand Cayman

Seven mile beach. Just before sunset.

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged caybrew, cayman brac, cayman islands, coors light, grand cayman, marriott, marriott grand cayman, rackhams georgetown, rackhams grand cayman, royal palms grand cayman, sunset | Leave a comment

28 Jul 2012

South Korea

There is always an expectancy about a place that mixes in awe and dread. This is my first visit. The usual British Airways debacle, arriving 3 hours before departure to Terminal 5 and then reaching the gate in good time to be told minutes before departure of a delay due to a mechanical engineering problem. This then throws out all the other arrangements and the flights subsequent get missed and so on. Do BA care? In my view no. The aircraft that transported me to Hong Kong was an old 747. It looked old and had none of the niceties that other newer planes have. The socket on the floor did not work. The design of the cabin was bizarre.

In contrast Hong Kong, Seoul Incheon , Gimpo and Busan airports were a delight. The Thai airways flight to Seoul was one of the nicest I have been on, comfortable seats and great food and service. The airports too were modern and clean and passengers just flowed through them rather than getting stuck, such as Terminal 5. When one tries to analyse why one airport works well it is interesting to note that the South Korean airports have few shops and restaurants. People turning up this morning to fly from Gimpo ( this is the smaller of the Seoul airports. Seoul is in fact about an hour on the express train from Incheon airport. ) wanted to do just that, fly. They were not piling into restaurants in hordes or shopping as though the day of destiny was approaching. A good learning . Airports are for flying from.

Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and is a modern place. My hotel has placed me on the 33rd floor , and below me is the medical institute and dentistry institute . Somewhere there is a casino. I like this place and the people. Wi-fi is free in the hotel and many other places ( Marriott are you listening?), modern defibrillators line the corridors of the airport but rather confusingly are labelled IPAD. I am sure some younger visitors will get a shock if they disturb the item……