Bucharest

I am going east!!! Its a long time ago I had been to romania. So keep in touch on my in depth reports on travel the east!

Sofitel Beijing Wanda

I stayed @ Sofitel in august for 4 nights. It was my first time to Beijing and I have to say location of the hotel is pretty good. Taxis are cheap but keep in mind that there is a lot of traffic jam during the day. At night its not a problem at all. You are able to reach the nightlife and entertainment area of Sanlitun in about 10- 15min. Next to the hotel are some local restaurants. Been there a couple of times, as these places are quiet nice to taste some local flavor. The overall style of the hotels is slightly "golden", maybe a little bit to much for my taste, but our Suite was very nice and the view facing the CCTV building was incredible. The Suite comes with a great bedroom, with a comfy bed, a huge bathroom with tub and extra shower. We had 3 TVs an Espresso-automat and fast Internet access- what else do you need? Well maybe a guest restroom, good room service and cool front office staff. I was quiet happy to stay @ Sofitel and will consider it for sure for my next trip to beijing!

Travel the world

My upcoming travel plans are more or less fixed. I will get in depth reports on travel St Petersburg, Tokyo, Seoul, Geneve and London. Can't go to United States again but might be able to check out Romania.
Stay tuned for more reports on travel the world!

Lantern Beijing

Beat Off Party - Beijing/China- at Lantern Club from Dorothée Sorbier °DOTHY° on Vimeo.

Lufthansa Beijing sucks!

After a great stay in Beijing, we left the Grand Hyatt right on time for the around 1 hours lasting journey to the airport by taxi.
Flight should have been a day flight leaving Beijing at 13.20pm and arrive @MUC in the evening same day. So we opted for LH Business Class, knowing well that there are better products in the air, but as premium costumers it shouldn't be a problem. Check in was a swift but security and passport control took ages as there is no priority lane. Still 30 minutes before flight we opted to check out the Air China Lounge which was more or less a nightmare as it was fu**ing hot at the airport. The Lounge offer free Internet access which is a plus. Just before heading to the gate I got told that there might be a minor delay. No problem so far, but I don't trust these guys and went to the gate to check. I asked Lufthansa staff at the gate about the delay and they said something about an hour and that we could go back to the Lounge again. i asked for the reason and they told me it is a "technical problem" with the aircraft. Well if you fly a lot you know, that technical issues won't be resolved within a couple of minutes. I went back to the Lounge to check my other option to reach my destination on that day and went back to the gate to request a rebooking to another flight or another night in Beijing. They refused and said that I will be fine as they intend to leave very soon. What a rubbish, got a text message right in this moment stating the flight will be delayed by another 4 hours! After long discussions with the flight manager, I got the OK from the immigration to leave China on another flight, which is not that easy, but besides there had been several more options he offered me to fly on my own cost to HKG and connecting on another LH flight to FRA. I refused as they should been in charge to make sure that I reach my destination on time. Later on I contacted the LH Station manager, a chinese Lady not willing to assist and lying to the costumers. She told me, that I am not allowed to leave the country on anther flight rather than the booked LH flight. That was the time I started to laugh even so it wasn't funny. I pointed out that I got the OK to leave already a few hours ago, she got really pissed off, why her flight manager was such a helpful person. End of the story- we left Beijing about 6 hours late, I missed my connecting flight in MUC and had to stay overnight. Did not got my luggage in MUC and had wear the same stuff again and again...
On top of that Lufthansa refuse to compensate us for the delay of around 14 hours and all the trouble caused!
Be aware as there is better way to fly!

Beijing

My recent trip took me to the chinese Capital and I must say I got flashed during my time over there. Besides people tend to promote Shanghai as the place to be in China I gonna let you know a secret- they are all wrong. Beijing is well worth the trip and even more exciting than Shanghai. For first timers to Beijing you will have to visit all the main tourist attraction like the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square e.g. For the day trip to the Great Wall I would recommend to use a private Car, as it is more flexible and comfortable as most bus tours will stop by some fabrics to buy some expensive rubbish. I did the tour with John - he is a very kind person and did a great job.
For inner City attractions you can easily take the subway or the plenty available cheap taxis. Just keep in mind that you need directions in mandarin, as the taxi drivers do not speak a single word english. Beijing is very huge and the traffic jam during the day is exhausting- so choose your place to stay carefully if you need to travel during rush hours.
My personal favorite is the new Sofitel Wanda, We had a very nice Suite facing the CCTV building! Location is great, as there are some cheap chinese restaurants near by and Sanlitun area is just 10 minutes by taxi. Another great option is the Grand Hyatt which is within walking distance to the Tiananmen Sqaure and Forbidden City. Its a very huge hotel with an amazing Pool and Spa area. The Hyatt is not really wow, but everything is solid 5 Star and the staff is very professional. Even if you don't stay there you should consider to indulge yourself to a traditional Beijing duck @ Made in China!
For a good night out you should head to Sanlitun and the streets around. There are plenty of bars, clubs and restaurants around.
My favorite is Lantern Club. Simply go for it!
If you need to relax and recover from your night out Dragonfly is a very good place to unwind. Its not posh at all, but quality is very good and prices are reasonable.
I did not try Herborist Spa but it seems to be a very nice place. So give it a try and let me know, as I gonna be back soon.

Stay tuned for my upcoming report on Beijing in winter!