24 Hours at the Hotel La Mirande, Avignon

First of all, YES, La Mirande in Avignon is extremely expensive. And YES for 490,00€ per night in a simple Double Room, you could stay at the Corinthia London or the Plaza in New York. That's a part I do not understand either, but it is not something I can decide.

On the other side, if you think honestly, you are staying in front of, or better, inside the world famous and spectacular Pope's Palace of Avignon. And that's something you can't get in New York or London or even in Rome. By the way, this is also what I would describe as a Unique Hotel.

First of all, you should know that arriving by car is NOT a good idea. The street becomes extremely narrow and if you are travelling alone it gets even more stressful. Finally when we arrived in front of the Pope's Palace we also recognized the La Mirande, and were already awaited by the bellmen, the front desk staff and the Sales Manager what I found quite welcoming. Check-in was smooth although I found it incorrect not to inform you that breakfast is extra at 28.00€ per person (I will come on this issue later)!

The room, a Grand Deluxe Room, was overlooking the Pope's Palace, and was situated on the second floor in the main building. The beds were quite comfortable as the whole room furnitures. I found the carpet a bit uncomfortable but this is just a small issue. The bathroom was very well maintained with a huge seperated toilet, double basins and a tub with a shower head - something I do not like in fact. BUT the luxurious toiletries by Guerlain came up to it all!

We wanted to make a dinner reservation, but our favourite restaurant was closed on Monday, so we asked the receptionist for an alternative. Unfortunately the choice did not meet our expectations and the standards of the hotel in general. For all those who do not want to leave the hotel for dinner, they have an amazing michelin-starred restaurant in the old cardinals room dating back to the Renaissance century - just in case you do not know on where to spend your money (the menu costs 111 Euros per person)!

After a glamorous sleep in the old guest house of the Popes, we were ready to have breakfast. Unfortunately, the breakfast made not the impression to be ready for us: This was the worst breakfast I HAD to experience during my whole three week summer holidays, where I only stayed at worldclass properties. It is a real shame to charge 28.00 euros for such a lousy buffet like at the La Mirande Avignon. The Baguette was not replaced after I finished it at 9.00 am, when the orange juice was finished it was also not replaced, no eggs were offered nor were we asked if we want to have some egg dishes, and the staff never smiled, although our server was called "Angel" by the other staff members. Always when I remember on this situation I get a bit angry, this was one of the worst ivestments I have ever made!

All in all I fell in love with the design, the atmosphere and the location of the hotel, but definitely NOT with the breakfast! Next time I will look for an excellent French Café where I will pay at least 10€ for a full breakfast.

Our stay at the La Mirande Avignon was sponsored by the hotel, but we had to come up for all extra expenses by ourselfs. Our above written review is our personal opinion and hasn't been influenced.

Travel Diary: My Summer holidays Part 3

My second week of travelling through the very Southern Italy and I am still very impressed of the beauty of the Amalfi Coast! Now I am on the way to Calabria and I just left the Peninsula of Sorrento, Vico Equense and the Capo La Gala hotel!

The hotel itself did a small change from the morning after my last blog entry! The requested and promised Lorenzo Villoresi toiletries were not in the room, but after I asked one of the super-friendly front office ladies, she immediately called all departments to get me the last products they could find! To top this service she also gave us a restaurant recommendation for a really wow-experience- we had the best dinner with locals only during this week!

The room itself was bright, with sea view window, comfy bed and nice bathroom with very small and old-smelling Palais Jamais Etro toiletries!

Furthermore there is a Spa with indoor pool, which is beautifully designed but not good managed (empty Ortigia soaps and terrible smell of dirty water in the corner o the relaxing room), as well as very nice Carthusia toiletries if you book a Prestige room or a suite! I do not like these hotels which make two-class system with the toiletries, this gives me more the feeling of a cheap hotel than a five-star property, but the front desk told me that they will have Carthusia everywhere soon! Again I have to mention the four ladies at the front desk, who are more than very helpful and they are so friendly - they greeted us like friends!

The breakast is a nice Buffet of a 5-star hotel and the service is friendly.

Although they try to be luxury in some aspects, which have to be improved for this price category, they get 8 Points out of 10 for one of the best front office staff I've ever had as a hotel guest!

Yesterday I had a great day in Capri! I went there with the Speed Ferry from Sorrento and experienced one of the most beautiful islands I've ever been! The streets are narrow and you can find every world-famous Designer you can imagine: there is a Prada store next to the funicular, a Louis Vuitton shop in the luxury shopping street and of course the Carthusia factory with the factory store around the corner - a MUST for every Capri visitor!

I have bought a nice 50ml perfume called 1689, which is a great male perfume mix by Carthusia! The price was 55 Euros for 50ml, which is not too overpriced for a nice holiday souvenier! Afterwards I strolled into the shop of the famous Qvisisana Palace, where they have beautiful accessoires in cool beige and brown colours.

After the shopping tour I passed by a very chic restaurant called Edodè, which serves excellent sea food! The only problem or shok for me was the service charge of 14 Euros!!! It was a nice lunch, but not really worth such high obligatory tip or service charge!

Travel Diary: My Summer holidays Part 2

Finally, after two days of sightseeing in Amalfi and Positano, we finally arrived at our last Property on the Amalfi Coast, which is the Capo la Gala Resort near Sorrento. I have to say one thing first: 

This hotel is a "luxe-wannabe" which means it is supposed to be one of the best hotels in Italy (like their website shows!) - in fact it is not! The very exlusive and unique toiletries of Lorenzo Villoresi (which should be in the room, as the website says!) were replaced by 30ml Etro Palais Jamais ones! They do not even have a Hair Conditioner!

Next, as we always got upgraded in all three deluxe hotels where we stayed before, we just got that room we booked, not even a balcony room!

The extra bed is not what I expected for 80 Euros, much more different from which I have experienced during these days and the pool shows up some not nice chemicals on top, as it is no floating pool!

Uuuuh that was my first impression, and as you might now: the first impression counts!! 

Good luck to Capo la Gala to show improvement the next four days!

Have a nice weekend, Daniel!

Restaurant-Check Prague - Part 2

Duck breast with baked mashed potatoes

4.) U Modré Kachnicky (Blue Duckling)

If you pass by the glamerous Mandarin Oriental Hotel and then turn right, you will read the sign of the restaurant. Despite the really bad look from outside, do not pass by at this restaurant - be man enough to open the door! One of Prague's finest restaurants will await you behind the door. We had some great duck breast which was flambé in front of us, as a side dish we chose baked mashed potatoes, which were quite excellent. The dessert was expensive as hell - 8 Euros for a Blackforest Cake - to be honest -  fully worth each Penny. 

Starters from 8-19 euros, main courses from 16-30 Euros. 

http://www.umodrekachnicky.cz/en/original/welcome

Duck breast "flamé en salle"

5.) La Bottega di Finestra

Last but not least my top favourite place for a fast and convenient dinner or late lunch. This casual atmosphere is perfect in my opinion. You can not only have a great meal there - no, you can also buy the best italian products in the whole Czech Republic. The prices? Not bad, I would say. When I was there the last time I paid about 500 CZK for Beef tartar, Lasagne and a housemade lime lemonade - which I highly recommend to try - there is a choice between Lime, Orange, Melon, Grapefruit and some berries.

Starters from 5-8 euros, main courses from 10-22 Euros. 

http://www.labottega.cz/