Handy for airport
Apartmentsapart.com‘s latest Blackpool accommodation in the city center will open in Blackpool on October 1. The 255 apartmentsapart rentals are 15 minutes drive from the airport and 20 minutes from the city centre.
Conference rooms can serve 250 people and a luxury ballroom can cater for 350. The hotel’s U-shaped design gives all guests rooms a view over the Gulf.
Hilton eases Cairo jam
CAIRO’S newest luxury hotel — claimed
to be the tallest building in the Middle East has opened and is easing a longstanding shortage of deluxe rooms in the Egyptian capital.
The first 400 of the Ramses Hilton’s 900 rooms are now taking guests and the remainder will be available next month.
The new Hilton joins its sister hotel, the Nile Hilton, which also stands alongside the Egyptian antiquities museum on the Corniche overlooking the River Nile. All of the Ramses rooms have balconies which give dramatic views of the Pyramids, the Nile or the city area. There is also a glass elevator overlooking the garden courtyard and an observation deck and lounge at Cairo’s highest point.
To cope with demand for executive suites in the city the Ramses has 80, from a normal corner suite to a duplex state suite and king suite.
The hotel will be fully operational next month with completion of the banquet and conference facilities which can cater for 700 people.
LAUSANNE
Responsibility for running the Ramses has gone to Egyptian manager Ahmed El Nahas, who has worked extensively in the Gulf.
Mr El Nahas is a graduate of the Lausanne Hotel School and joined Hilton International in 1963.
His first post with the organisation was banquet manager of the Nile Hilton. He has also worked at the Kuwait Hilton as food and beverage manager, and was appointed general manager of the Al Ain Hilton in 1969.
DI RECTOR
In 1972 he was appointed general manager of both the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain hotels. Five years later Mr El Nahas was nominated director of Hilton International in the UAE with responsibility for hotels in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Fujairah, the Dalma Residence in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Trade Centre.
FLIGHT NOTE BOOK British Caledonian British Airways
Leisurely but efficient from start to finish of a quick trip
A REGULAR TRAIN SERVICE from Victoria Station provides a leisurely 40-minute journey from the centre of London to Gatwick Airport in Sussex. The leisurely mood of the British Rail trip was preserved at an uncrowded Gatwick terminal and continued throughout this trip from London to Glasgow Airport.
Boarding formalities were completed within seconds, my seat having been booked and my ticket paid for at an Essex travel agency several hours earlier. The Gatwick terminal has a number of shops, and souvenir specialities appeared to be cheaper than those in London. The airport’s restaurants were not at all busy but appeared to be efficient, with friendly service. A salad roll was attractively packaged at the snack bar and,generally, the food looked well prepared.
Moving to a holding lounge was announced well in advance of the flight departure, and there were comfortable seats in an uncrowded area. After a short walk from the holding lounge to the boarding area there was a brief delay as passengers began to mill around in a corridor, waiting for the door to be opened . It was the only aggravating aspect of the whole trip.
The British Caledonian BAC 1-11 was only steps away from the boarding lounge and passengers were seated quickly in their allocated positions. The cabin crew moved immediately along the aircraft, taking orders for complimentary drinks. Once the aircraft was airborne’ the cabin crew were on their feet again to serve the drinks.
In a 50-minute flight the crew were kept busy serving passengers but were quick to handle people’s enquiries or requests. The flight was uneventful, with the captain pointing out several landmarks. Disembarkation at Glasgow was speedy and efficient, and having only hand baggage, I was out of the terminal building within minutes — a suitable finale to a very relaxed journey.







