Malta Conference 26-29 April 2012

Wed 25th April

My trip began with a night at the Premier Inn, Gatwick North due to being on an Easyjet flight at 06.30 hours (check in 04.30am). I was pleasantly surprised by the size and comfort of the room and it was an ideal opportunity to get an extra couple of hours sleep without the stress of driving early.
The car parking deal included the night at the hotel then transferring your car to summer special parking on airport, where they park your car for you and with transfers every 20 mins to the airport terminal.

My room at Premier Inn

Thu 26th April

The flight left on time and we arrived in Malta 5 minutes early.  Our transfer was approximately half an hour and we arrived at the 5 star Westin Draganara Resort and Casino in St. Julians. The room was very spacious with two king size beds and a large outside balcony area. Tea/coffee making was provided in the room and iron/ironing board, hairdryer and large bathroom with bath and shower over.

My room at Westin Dragonara no 132

My exceptionally large balcony with day sofa as well and view

My bathroom at the Westin

We had 2 hours spare to sit around the pool

Pool at the Westin

 before taking the Valletta excursion run by the tourist office, departing from the Hilton Hotel where many other delegates were staying and the convention centre was situated.

Valletta

St John co-Cathedral

Floor at the cathedral was covered in these amazing decorative marble slabs

View from the back of the cathedral

Harbour view at Vallettas lower Barrakka Gardens

A typical street in Valletta

 Evening meal was sponsored by Superbreak and Bourne Leisure at the restaurant La Paranga in St. Julians with superb food and excellent entertainment by the Superbreak staff, as always, based around a Beetles theme. This restaurant was situated over the water with great views of the sandy beach and sea and just 5-7 mins walk from the Westin Dragonara Hotel.

La Paranga Restaurant and views

Friday 27th April

Enjoyed an action packed conference including meeting our keynote speaker Bruce Dickenson from Iron Maiden, also a commercial pilot and entrepreneur who is involved in many ventures including a contract to supply the US army with airships. Other speakers provided us with useful information to enhance and promote our business and strengthen our market presence. The conference centre was very well equipped and an ideal venue for this conference of over 400 delegates.

Bar at the Hilton Hotel

Reception at the Hilton Hotel

Pool at the Hilton Hotel

 Evening venue was hosted by the Westin Dragonara Hotel on a rocky peninsula overlooking the sea. A fabulous venue.

Sat 28th April

Highlights of the conference today were the futurist Martin Lindkvist and Michael Johnson athlete. A great deal was learnt at the conference about business focus and areas of development and I have returned with new enthusiasm and ideas.

Michael Johnson 4x OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST

Evening celebrations and gala dinner was held at la valette (sacred infirmary) and we were entertained with the ritual of the knights of St John and blessing the flags that combine to make up the Maltese flag, a brass band was playing, also a guitarist and maltese dancers. The food was good throughout the stay (especially the puddings so regrettably I have put on a good 4-5 lbs so have recommenced the diet.

Blessing the flags

The Sacred Infirmary where our Gala evening was held

I have put off flying with Ryanair all these years so decided to try them out for just the one way from Malta to Luton. If it wasn't for the fact that I was saving about £150 one way, I might have made that even longer. The queue on check in was much lower than Easyjet so a good start. People queued for boarding as early as 45mins before departure due to being unable to reserve seating but I sat and had a coffee and settled down to do my blog.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Ryanair flight.  The leg room was more than expected and the staff friendly.  I will use them again but do not like their website or the fact that they add so many fees and £50 for 15 kilos luggage (the most expensive that I am aware of). I then transferred across by bus and train to Gatwick via Euston but this added over 2 hours to my journey.

I am still of the opinion that Malta is a place you love or hate. There is a lot of history and the places I enjoyed the most were Valletta (the Capital), Mdina, Golden Bay for the beach and Sliema is a bit less built up with a smart promenade. I enjoyed Gozo when I travelled there last year as this is less built up and reminds me how Malta used to be. However, the rest, although having several good standard hotels is a concrete jungle of mainly ugly looking buildings. As they explained, Malta is the most densely populated in Europe with over 400,000 inhabitants in just 122 square miles. However, I did find in general that the people were very friendly and the food of a good standard. I do feel that Malta appeals particularly to the retired clientelle, with the English historical naval connection, though they do cater for families and have some areas with nightlife. There are some picturesque harbours and some magnificent baroque buildings (highlight being the cathedral of St John in Valletta - see pictures above) They have many beautiful curches and boast a church for every day of the year, one of which can take up to 600 people.

It was overall a very enjoyable weekend.

Malta conference 5 star Westin Dragonara, St. Julians 26-29April

Looking forward to Malta conference staying at the 5 star Westin Dragonara, St. Julians.  Headline speakers are Bruce Dickenson from Iron Maiden, the athlete Michael Johnson and Magnus Lindkvist (trendspotter and futurologist) so looks to be an interesting and action packed weekend with excursions provided by the Maltese tourist board and sponsored evening entertainment.  Watch this space .....

Estoril, Portugal 10-14 March 2012

I was lucky to be invited to the beautiful Portuguese town of Estoril which is 20 minutes from Lisbon.  The weather in Portugal has been outstanding with the best winter for years but the downside being that they now have a drought.  The weather whilst there was in the early 20s with sunshine and blues skies.  The last day started with light cloud which quickly burnt off leaving just wispy cloud for the remainer of the day. 


I flew with Easyjet with hand baggage only.  Goodness knows how I was able to get so much in such a small case and I had to put it in the hold at the gate due to shortage of cabin space so, get there early to the departure gate or risk it being put in the hold.  The flight was only £80 return so it is amazing the deals you can get with Easyjet if you book early enough.

Estoril is an upmarket and still fairly small resort with good quality hotels and apartments but it is regrettably dominated in the centre with the large Casino Estoril.  There is a lovely promenade walk along beaches of rock and sand into Cascais.  The seas can be very rough and the Atlantic undercurrents strong.  The tide comes up very high at peak tides with the waves crashing against the rocks and reaching the elevated promenade.

Almost into Estoril

View towards Cascais

View towards Estoril

Cafe along the promenade between Estoril and Cascais

Cascais is larger and busier with old cobbled streets and pleasant restaurants and cafes.  The Portuguese are warm and friendly.  It was a challenge for me as the person I was visiting had lost the use of their car and we had to use the public transport.  Even more so as my GP had told me I should be resting a bakers cyst in my knee which had ruptured.  Public transport is sometimes the best way to travel around so I am able to say that it is very efficient, on time (even early - especially when you dont want them to be!), and regular. I was able to sample Hungarian dancing ( as my host was Hungarian) and was invited to the Hungarian Embassy to commemorate the revolution of the Hungarians to attempt to gain independence from the Austrians.

Cascais

Restaurant on seafront at Cascais

Due to increasing knee problems, I suggested hiring a car and, as an agent can obtain rates of £10 per day for our clients with at least 48 hours advance booking; cheaper than booking out there, the nearest prices to it being 25 euros for a smart car!!!!  What a funny little car it is but you can park it just about anywhere!!!  We took this little toy car to Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point in the whole of continental Europe with great views and dramatic scenery. A local cocktail I was able to enjoy on a few occasions was Kyperenia, very strong but very good!

Dramatic coastline at Cabo da Roca

Cabo da Roca - most western point in continental Europe

Restaurant bar at Cabo da Roca

At the end of the trip I chose to stay overnight at Gatwick at the Menzies Chequers Hotel. The special  cost of just £58 for a large room with super King size bed and extra bed with breakfast included if booked through us is cheaper than booking direct through the hotel.  The transfer is by taxi booked by the hotel with Road Runners at a cost of £6 each way but make sure you get into the correct taxi as it appears that other taxis poach customers with deception tactics. Service was a bit slow and there were a couple of complaints about room service and the limited availability of choice. Breakfast was buffet style and a fair choice but the scrambled egg was a bit disappointing and the sausages a little overdone of the hot breakfast; additionally there was a choice of cereals and juices.

Gatwick Menzies Chequers Hotel

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt 1-8 Dec - Sue Tooke

We began the holiday with a stay at the Gatwick Effingham Copthorne Hotel which included 8 days parking (working out cheaper than car parking alone) and  we used the Spa which included a pool, sauna and Gym.  They also had a pilates class while we were there and ran other classes too.  This was a great start to the holiday as we had an early check in 06.15 hours and we enjoyed a fabulous meal at their restaurant in the evening.

Our flight was with Monarch Airlines and our tour operator Red Sea Holidays who are a specialist and own six hotels in the Red Sea area and we stayed at one of their own hotels (The Sharm Plaza/Sharm Resort) with an early booking offer of £399 all inclusive.  The flight was just 20 mins late leaving but managed to make up the time and land ontime.  A meal and 20kilos luggage were included and they have a strict 5 kilos hand luggage.  The meal was good on the way out with a full english breakfast, and on arrival at the airport, we were met by a representative and taken to the desk for a visa stamp.  They have changed the visa requirements so that you can get a free visa if only staying in the Sinai region but if you want to go outside ie to Cairo or Luxor etc on excursions, you need a full visa which is a cost of £15 approx payable in sterling, Egyptian pounds or Euros.

Generally they accept all currencies in the area but you might not always get the best exchange rate if you do not have the local currency.

I was not expecting much of the hotel as it was large, the price low for all inclusive and was preparing myself for the hotel being tired and in need of renovation; however, I was very pleasantly surprised.  Not only was the hotel clean, but I could not fault the decor and whenever anything was broken, it appeared to be fixed within 24 hours or so.  The food was very good;  not only did they have a main restaurant which served a varied and interesting buffet service, but they also had the choice of bookable restaurants serving Lebanese, Chinese, and Italian, all of which we used and found to serve excellent food and a good selection in the "All inclusive" programme.   There were various menu options or wines that were extra but I did not feel the necessity to pay as the inclusive food  and local wine was very good in itself.  The only thing I missed and not generally included was fresh orange juice (the alternative was a little watered down but not too bad).  This hotel is not in the centre of Naama bay (which is quite touristy in parts, offering every restaurant from Hard Rock Cafe to MacDonalds and a good selection of shops) but if you want to visit that area, the Sharm Resort offers regular shuttle buses - two of which are free each day - or you pay 4 euros each way for the others and you can also use the facilities of the sister hotel in Naama Bay. Taxi is also available outside of the hotel, however they do recommend that you agree a price for the taxi journey before entering the cabs generally.

Lobby



Lobby bar



Roman pool by Via Veneto Italian restaurant - prebookable and very good food (menu)

pool by beach

beach area





Looking down towards jetty access to sea where coral and fish were in abundance

Quieter pool by gym - our favourite pool

Gardens leading down to beach area

The hotel had well maintained landscaped gardens

View towards our hotel room

View from reception area towards mountains

Outside area where entertainment held in evenings and crepes served in the afternoon

Good sized bedroom

Large walk in shower in bathroom

Balcony area

The evening entertainment was in this area



There was a good childrens club with activities throughout the day



There was a tailor on site who would create any item of clothing within 24 hours

There were foods to suit all tastes at lunches with anything from burgers or hot dogs to seafood or a selection of meat dishes, served either by buffet or waiter service restaurants. 

Pool by beach with our favourite lunch restaurant C-Vue

Outside seating area for main restaurant

Main restaurant

Main restaurant - buffet style all day

There was an entertainment programme in the evening which was a little varied in quality and every activity during the day from volleyball and darts etc to salsa and bachata dancing lessons (some with a small charge).  However, if peace was what you want, then you can find a quiet pool as we did by the gym and spa.  Massage and beauty treatments were offered as well as a well equipped gym and exercise classes and for those that like to burn the late night oil a disco takes you into the early hours of the morning.

I good selection of excursions were offered and we decided to take advantage of the Sharm Secrets which included a glass bottom boat trip, old market and Fantasia, mosque and cathedral visit £18 on the Sunday, camel safari including traditional bedouin meal in the desert and star gazing £35 on the Monday and Quad biking in the desert with bedouin tea and sunset in the mountains on wednesday £26.  We loved all excursions; the reps were very informative and helpful and I considered them good value and a great way to get a feel for the area and the culture.  A full list of excursions are available on application to Emsworth Travel.

Preparing for camel safari

Sitting down to eat with the Bedouins after camel safari and before star gazing

Quad biking in convoy - managed to avoid an Ozzie Osbourne moment

Picture taken  in the desert and typical terrain

Tea at the bedouin camp for a break during quadbiking

Having tea at the Bedouin camp

Glass bottom boat trip on Sharm Secrets excursion

Shopping generally is on the bartering basis and you should usually haggle the price down about 40 percent.  However, if you prefer to have set prices, then you have this too at places like the Pink House in the old market which offers a good selection of souvenirs.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Egypt which is a great wintersun destination with temperatures between 25-30 degrees during the day (a cardigan or light jacket is required in the evenings which can be cool when there is a breeze).  The staff were excellent, the food very good and I would certainly not hesitate to return to this hotel in the future. 

The flight was good on the return, the meal beef bourgignon which was very nice and although we left ontime, we landed half an hour late due to hurricane force winds.  Despite this being the case, we suffered very little turbulence. On our return, we did miss the last transfer back to the Effingham Park Hotel, and the hotel lost my car key, but I am assured this is the first time they have ever had this problem and they did deal with it very well and agreed to take us home, brought the car back the following day and agreed to pay for a new key to be cut. If you require any more information, call sue on 01243 377211.