Happy New Year “Gong Xi Fa Ca”

CUin Heathrow wishes a Happy New Year to all our Chinese customers. At midnight tonight, 23^rd January 2012, over a billion people around the globe will join in the celebrating The Year of the Dragon. [more]

“Gong Xi Fa Ca” in mandarin translates to “Wishing you prosperity”, a common greeting over this festive season. The Chinese New Year commences this evening midnight and lasts for 15 days.

For those of you living or visiting the Heathrow Airport area we have included a list of local Chinese Restaurants and Takeaways:

Noble Palace	Horton	SL3 9QA	01753 547 608	www.noblepalace.co.uk
Go Sing	West Drayton	UB7 0DH	01895 441 174	www.gosingchinese.com
London Hong Kong	West Drayton	UB7 0DH	0208 754 7666	www.londonhongkong.co.uk
China Star	Staines	TW18 4TW	01784 451 577	www.cuinheathrow.com
Yangtze Peking	Windsor	SL4 1PR	01753 853 928	www.cuinheathrow.com
Tiger Lily	Osterley	TW7 4QG	0208 560 0455	www.tigerlilyofosterley.co.uk
Shanghai Buffet	Staines	TW18 4PA	01784 441 000	www.cuinheathrow.com
Golden Empire	Feltham	TW13 4BS	0208 890 8886	www.goldenempire.co.uk

The main celebrations in London will be held on Sunday 29th January in Chinatown, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. Become part of the celebration, enjoying a thrilling day packed with festivities, fun and events. The Parade starts at 10.15am on Rupert Street. At 12 noon there is an opening ceremony in Trafalgar Square with the celebrations culminating in what’s billed to be an exciting fireworks display at 5.40pm.

For more information visit the London Chinatown website at www.chinatownlondon.org

CUin Weekend Deals @ Heathrow Hotels

Here is a quick summary of the best weekend deals at hotels in and around Heathrow Airport [more] Book a Heathrow Hotel and get yourself a great deal this weekend at Heathrow Airport. Prices can change frequently depending on availability, so to avoid disappointment we would suggest you bag your deal now. At the time of publishing these rates where available at the following Heathrow Airport Hotels for a double room;

Heathrow Budget Hotels:	Prices
Ibis Hotel Heathrow from	£38.00
Comfort Hotel Heathrow from	£39.00
Heathrow Mid-Range Hotels	Prices
Premier Inn Bath Road from	£49.00
Mercure Thames Lodge Staines from	£50.00
Ramada London Heathrow Hotel	£50.60
Novotel London Heathrow Airport	£51.75
Jury’s Inn Heathrow	£55.00
The Stanwell Hotel	£62.00
Sheraton Heathrow Hotel	£66.00
Heathrow luxury Hotels	Prices
London Heathrow Marriott Hotel	£130.80
Sofitel London Heathrow	£132.00
Hilton London Heathrow Hotel Terminal 5	£178.80
Hilton London Heathrow Hotel Terminal 4	£190.80

Free Wi-Fi at Heathrow Berkeley Apartments

Yes please, free Wi-Fi!The Berkeley Apartments are offering customers free internet access. The Berkeley Apartments are located just one mile from Heathrow Airport and you can use free public transport to the apartments from all the Heathrow Airport terminals. These modern, well appointed apartments are a great choice for a stay at Heathrow Airport offering studio and one bedroom apartments. For more information please go to Berkeley Apartments in our self catering hotel section. For Heathrow Airport news and other hotels offering free Wi-Fi please visit our CUin Heathrow website.

Free Wi-Fi at Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 5

The newly opened Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 5 offers guests complimentary Wi-Fi. This spectacular, recently opened hotel is located close to terminal 5. For more information and to check availability and prices please visit our luxury hotel section on www.cuinheathrow.com.

Free Wi-Fi at Radisson Edwardian Heathrow

Ok, we have identified our first hotel at Heathrow offering customers free Wi-Fi included in the rate. The Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow Airport offers customers free WI-Fi throughout the hotel. But there is more good news; if you use the public bus system you can take advantage of free bus transfers from all the Heathrow Airport terminals to the hotel. Well done Radisson Edwardian! For more information and to check availability and prices please visit our hotel section.

Paying for Wi-Fi at Hotels

Why do we have to pay to access the internet at hotels where we choose to stay? 

Surely, Wi-Fi should be included and part of the deal. In today’s world most people require internet access for both work and pleasure. A favourable hotel rate can be ruined when you add in the payment for internet access. It reminds me of the days when hotels charged exorbitant charges for telephone calls. It is a rip off!

We, as customers, ultimately have the power to change this for everyone. We need to start voting with our feet. We should be supporting those establishments that offer a fair deal and include free Wi-Fi. There are accommodation providers out there that have seen the light and have included internet access as part of their service. We should be rewarding them with our custom.

We are going to make an effort to publish a list of all the hotels and other accommodation providers that we feature in our CUin Guides which offer free Wi-Fi access. Hotels should be advertising the broadband speed of the service available as a benefit to encourage us to stay with them, not the costs!

We will start with London Heathrow Airport and analise what the various hotels are charging and highlight those - which have seen the light - offering Wi-Fi complimentary as a service. Watch this space.

Trip Advisor reviews

I must say, I have never been happy using Trip Advisor, because their reviewer's are not required to stay in a hotel to leave a review. Recent articles in the UK press and a television documentary have exposed, some their reviews, as untrustworthy. I mean the fact that you don’t have to stay in a hotel to leave a review is insane. I have been in the travel and hospitality industry for many years and I have never trusted Trip Advisor for this reason.

The problem now is that there are far too many crazies actually writing favourable or unfavourable reviews. In some cases, I have heard of customers actually trying to bribe hotels for a discount or they will leave an unfavourable review, unbelievable! I am sure there are also unscrupulous hotel proprietors likewise, leaving favourable reviews to attract unsuspecting clients. I think, at the end of the day, we need to know for a fact that we can trust a review, whether good or bad. I for one certainly do not want to read a review about a hotel from someone that has not even stayed there!

You have to take into account that you will always have people with unrealistic expectations, but if the reviews are genuine, you will pick up a trend. If everyone complains about the hotel room being dirty for example, or the management being rude, I think we will get the message. That is what we want credible, honest reviews so we can make an informed decision.

Whatever happens we need and want websites that we can trust. I do not understand why Trip Advisor does not stop this practice and insist that reviewers have used the service or products that they are reviewing. I mean, if I only listened to other people’s comments and views of the budget airline Ryan Air and I wrote a review, without using the service that would be unfair, inaccurate and unacceptable. As it happens, I actually use Ryan Air and I think it offers good value on certain routes. I hate the additional charges like the credit or debit card rip-off at the end though, but that’s another topic.

Come on Trip Advisor, get your act together! We want to trust all your reviews, review your policies and start generating genuine reviews please.

BMI going, going... gone?

Lufthansa announced today, that they are selling the airline British Midland (BMI) to International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways and Iberia. So will it be a good move for business and consumers?

Well the real treasure for British Airways is the take-off and landing slots that BMI operates at Heathrow Airport. IAG currently operate approximately 45% of the Heathrow Airport slots so with the acquisition of BMI that could increase to 54%. It is rumoured that IAG would cut the domestic destinations and replace them with more lucrative long haul destinations to USA and Far East.

So possibly not good for domestic travel from Heathrow Airport but huge improvement for destinations such as key Chinese destinations currently not serviced directly to the UK at all. Get it, foreign exchange, better connections to the capital, more business generated, additional tourists etc. I think we need that, good for the economy!

Actually in my opinion, the quicker that a decision is made to build a new airport in the South East the better. Heathrow is running at full capacity and future growth and expansion, ruled out. A link between Heathrow and Gatwick, known as ‘Heathwick’, as a solution surely cannot be serious. I find it frustrating changing terminals never mind airports. We need, as a country, to compete with the likes of Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris as an international hub, we simply need more capacity.

In the end there will have to be give and take from all parties concerned on this issue. The time to do that is now before any election is looming. But surely a properly planned airport in the South East with good rapid transport links to the capital and further afield is the answer. As it stands the train routes, M25 and The Underground are running at breaking point. A new airport would also create heaps of employment.

But watch this space, the deal is not complete. Virgin Atlantic has also expressed an interest and they say they are still in the hunt with a deal to acquire the airline. If Virgin Atlantic is not successful they will be off to the competition board. All in all, it will probably come down to the regulators who will need to agree the sale.

Whatever happens we need competition to keep prices and services in line.