This was published 1 year ago
Traveller Letters: Even Basil Fawlty would find this hotel substandard
One reader was not impressed with a recent stay at Hilton Rome Fiumicino Airport.Credit: Alamy
LETTER OF THE WEEK
ROMAN CRIMES
I am in my hotel waiting for my Qantas flight tomorrow morning from Rome to Sydney via Perth. It seemed like a good idea to spend the last day of two months in the UK and Italy sitting by the pool at the airport, especially as tomorrow's flight requires an early check in. Why didn't I check Tripadvisor? The check-in queue at the hotel (yes, the hotel, not the airport) was two hours long. Over the next 24 hours we could not get internet, our television required the mini-bar to be removed to be switched on, the restaurant was so full we could not be fed, room service hung up on us 20 times so we went to bed without eating and we were later locked out of our room because the computer didn't realise we were staying for two nights. This is not a two-star hotel in downtown Rome but the Airport Hilton which has a monopoly at the airport. Even Basil Fawlty would refuse to stay again.
Ray Ward, Potts Point, NSW
PERCENTAGE GAME
Eight months ago we booked a bucket list trip of Western Australia with a major touring company; the trip was recently cancelled with no reasonable explanation given. Furthermore, we were advised it would take 45 days for our money to be returned and that no help would be given for refunds from other bookings either side of our trip. My other major gripe though, was being gouged a massive 3 per cent American Express merchant's fee, especially when other service providers either absorb the fee or charge between 0.95 per cent (our little local picture framer) to 1.53 per cent. . This fee was not refunded.
Anthony Palmer, Southbank, Vic
ADVANCE WARNING
Qantas, as well as other airlines, are taking bookings in advance of announcing when they will resume flights to a destination. Japan is one destination. You can book Qantas from Sydney to Haneda, the nearest airport to Tokyo, but, at the time of writing at least, there is no certainty that the airline will actually fly on that date, or whether or not they will cancel. Cathay Pacific is doing something similar in terms of accepting bookings via Hong Kong to ports in Japan, then cancelling soon after. This just happened to some family members. Money had already been paid and a possible refund takes four to eight weeks.
Geoff Oliver, East Malvern, Vic
SIN OF OMISSION
I can't believe the beautiful city of Strasbourg didn't make it on Ben Groundwater's list of Europe's best old town nominations in his recent story (Traveller, June 25). The old central "Petit France" area of the city has jaw-dropping architecture dominated by the beautiful Notre Dame cathedral and square. One of the most beautiful old cities we have ever visited.
David Parker, Geelong West, Vic
DUTCH IS LIFE
I've been reading with interest the letters concerning the reasons for travel to Europe while a war is being waged on Ukraine. I sympathised with Hans van den Tillaart being unable to fly home after his father passed away from COVID-19. But I was horrified that Ross Allan would use his letter to berate Hans for doing the "unthinkable" - referring to his homeland as Holland rather than Nederland. Ross was correct in saying the Dutch call it Holland when using another language and that is exactly what Hans was doing.
Jill Graham, Kellyville , NSW
IT'S A JOKE, JOYCE
Having extracted seemingly millions from the public purse to stop the 100-year old airline from being permanently grounded, Qantas now wants to slash services, increase fares (oil prices) and give staff a $5000 bonus. Yet this is the same airline whose chief executive blamed the travelling public for the delays at airport check-ins. Then there was the unconscionable conduct of charging passengers twice and making them wait for refunds. In the words of the late Graham Kennedy, it's a joke Joyce, and whichever way you look at it Qantas has us cornered.
Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW
IT'S TERMINAL
Is it just me or is Sydney International Airport looking very shabby and very sad? Yes, I understand it has virtually been locked down for nearly two years but surely this would have been the time for the owners to tart it up a bit. I went through last weekend and felt very embarrassed that this is our major airport. What do foreign travellers think ?
Craig McGrath, Armidale NSW
GOING THE DISTANCE
The last time I flew, in pre-pandemic times, I was a fairly fit 70-something. Since then, I've managed to acquire a mild heart condition on entering my 80s. And now, having just had my first flight in two and a half years, I'm wondering if Sydney's domestic airport has got some secret agenda to depopulate Australia (as its contribution to saving the planet, perhaps?) by wiping out the less fit and aged flyers who have to walk ridiculously exhausting lengths from the Qantas terminal, pulling their luggage to the far distant express pick-up location. Melbourne airport has managed to keep their pick-up spots reasonably close to the passenger exit doors, and I can see no reason why Sydney Airport can't go back to a similar arrangement.
Anne Ring, Coogee, NSW
TIP OF THE WEEK
INCREDIBLE INDIA
My wife and I are in our 80s but still love travelling and are currently planning our fifth tour of India, an incredibly interesting and colourful country. With a history stretching back thousands of years there are a huge number of fascinating sights to see, such temples, palaces, castles and so on, as well as a wide range of geographical features. We use a travel company, based in Kochi in southern India, called Emperor Tours. It offers private tours with car and driver with a local guide supplied at each place we visit. There is a range of accommodation choices including glamping in the Thar Desert, an overnight cruise on the Kerala backwaters (just beautiful), havelis (mansions), former Maharaja palaces converted to hotels as well as many modern four-star hotels. The tours cost no more than half what Australian travel agents charge and those are usually coach tours.
Ivan Gregory, Rowville, Vic
HIRE POWER
Hiring a car in the Red Centre is by no means straightforward. Booking months in advance is essential, one-way fees are hefty and cars cannot be driven from sunset to sunrise. However, the biggest issue is finding car hire with unlimited kilometres. The Alice Springs Visitor Information Centre offers unlimited mileage as well as much cheaper rates. Also, a four-wheel drive is not necessary unless you plan on driving the Mereenie Loop. One last thing, Insure and Go is one of the few travel insurance companies that covers $7500 of rental vehicle excess as well as $5000 COVID-19 cancellation.
Rita Ciavarella, Eltham North, Vic
ON THE SPOT
I'm just back from five weeks in and around London, rural UK, Paris and Alsace in France and they are well and truly living with the pandemic there. Virtually no one wore masks anywhere including the Underground in London, a British Airways flight to and from Paris and a fast train from Paris to Strasbourg. We still had to wear a mask on our Singapore Airlines flight to and from London but they were basically non-existent everywhere else. It's also a great time to go as there were few tourists from some traditional popular travel markets such as China, meaning very few tour buses and lots more room for everyone else at attractions and sites.
David Parker, Geelong West, Vic
DOING MY BLOCK
I'm in France, it's 2022 and I presumed I could pay a bill and buy an SNCF rail ticket online using my mobile with its Australian SIM card. Wrong. ANZ, Westpac, Macquarie and Latitude all require me to respond to a security SMS which I never receive. Other SMS messages from Oz are fine but not from banks. Macquarie will not even let me access my account without an SMS response. Banks appear to block overseas security messages. This makes them totally secure and totally bloody useless when overseas.
Michael Britt, MacMasters Beach, NSW
FROM P.O. TO P.O'ED
Eight weeks after my passport renewal application through my local post office and no passport. Passport requests go via registered mail, which have a tracking number. When post office staff used the tracking number, which had not been given to me, they discovered that my application had not been signed off as received at the GPO Sydney. The local post office could not help any further and suggested I call Australia Post customer service. I called, was given an incident number and marked urgent. Three weeks had elapsed and still nothing. Ultimately, help came from the Foreign Affairs Minister's electoral office. My passport has now arrived. So, the lesson is to get your passport application tracking number from the post office.
Denis Brennan, Bellingen, NSW
WRITE TO US AND WIN
The Letter of the Week writer wins Hardie Grant travel books worth more than $100. For July, that includes Vantastic by Kate Ulman; Great World Wonders by Michael Turtle; and Ultimate Weekends Australia by Emma Shaw.
See hardiegrant.com
The Tip of the Week writer wins a set of three great Lonely Planet travel books, including Ultimate Australia Travel List, The Travel Book and Armchair Explorer.
HOW TO WRITE TO US
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