Voyages to antiquity - Hotels and Meals??

[Ontariotrekker]

Hi I am taking 2 cruises with V2A next year and was wondering how the meals in the hotels are handled. Is there a buffet in the various hotels? Any extra charges other than drinks??

 

Thanks Shar

[patseacruiser]

Shar - I can answer you in detail when I get home from my cruise on Tuesday morning but hopefully Cynthia or one of the others who have been will see this and answer before I get back home.

[snorkling lady]

Hi,

I got back not too long ago from Time Fears the Pyramids and here are some thoughts that might answer your questions. First, the hotels that VtoA Use are top notch. Yes, the meals are buffet, but just about every buffet meal that I had was excellent. The Marriot in Amman put on a wonderful Thanksgiving buffet for us all that was a lovely surprise.

 

Yes, drinks, etc. are not included and wine also is not included.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

Lorna

[Ontariotrekker]

Thanks for your quick replies and all the best in the New Year to you and your families.

 

Maybe?? we will share a cruise next year - Shar

[cruisemom42]

On our cruise (Palmyra, Rival of Rome), the hotel meals were all buffets. The drinks situation varied. In the Cairo hotel, bottled water, coffee, tea, juice, and even sodas were included. Alcoholic beverages were an extra charge. In Luxor sodas and alcoholic beverages were not included. In our hotel at Palmyra, only bottled water was included for lunch and dinner, but juice and coffee/tea were included at breakfast.

[Ontariotrekker]

I had been talking to my Toronto TA and she mentioned something about paying the single supplement on the hotel rooms so I was wondering if any single travellers rec. the extra charge??? I'm pretty sure that must be included in the initial fee.

 

Shar

[SwissMyst]

Looked up the VTA Dedeman Hotel in Palmyra, Syria which got poorer reviews than the others the "Palmyra a rival to Rome" trip got and it looked pretty good and a surprise to me for what I think I am still thinking is a "remote" destination. Looks like the good life, or at least a fair semblance of it, has already arrived there too.

 

Happy to hear about all the other outstanding hotel reports and we have found in all the Muslim countries we have visited, they serve buffet style even in the nicest accommodations. I wonder if there is some religious/traditional aspect to this communal serving choice, rather than doing it by individual table orders.

 

Certainly cuts down on costs and probably food handling issues, though too often the buffet items are not kept at a sanitary hot or cold temperature, but one assumes they were all freshly prepared. One of the most fabulous restaurants I have been to was in Lahore ,Pakistan (The Pepper Mill) and it too was all buffet and it was about as chic as one could imagine in its clientele.

[cruisemom42]

I had been talking to my Toronto TA and she mentioned something about paying the single supplement on the hotel rooms so I was wondering if any single travellers rec. the extra charge??? I'm pretty sure that must be included in the initial fee.

 

Shar

 

Shar, I did not have any additional charge for a single supplement for hotels in Cairo, Luxor, or Palmyra.

[cruisemom42]

Looked up the VTA Dedeman Hotel in Palmyra, Syria which got poorer reviews than the others the "Palmyra a rival to Rome" trip got and it looked pretty good and a surprise to me for what I think I am still thinking is a "remote" destination. Looks like the good life, or at least a fair semblance of it, has already arrived there too.

 

Happy to hear about all the other outstanding hotel reports and we have found in all the Muslim countries we have visited, they serve buffet style even in the nicest accommodations. I wonder if there is some religious/traditional aspect to this communal serving choice, rather than doing it by individual table orders.

 

Certainly cuts down on costs and probably food handling issues, though too often the buffet items are not kept at a sanitary hot or cold temperature, but one assumes they were all freshly prepared. One of the most fabulous restaurants I have been to was in Lahore ,Pakistan (The Pepper Mill) and it too was all buffet and it was about as chic as one could imagine in its clientele.

 

There was nothing intrinsically wrong with the Dedeman hotel. The front (public) rooms have obviously undergone a recent facelift and are very inviting. The hotel rooms are a little less updated but not bad. There were some issues with control of air temperature in certain rooms. My room had no view; not sure if others did. However, when showering in the morning, the entire shower apparatus fell off the wall. It made for a funny couple of moments as the spray went everywhere, unfortunately soaking the clothes I was going to put on.....oh well! :o I have certainly stayed in worse....!

 

One thing I didn't like about the Dedeman was an attitude that they were out to get all the $$$$ they could from you. At the first lunch there was some confusion about whether water was included or not and many got charged. At dinner, we had no idea that coffee wasn't included -- the waiter of course didn't mention it, just brought it and then told us it would be $5 US each.

 

Oh, and do NOT buy anything in the hotel gift stores. The prices are much, much higher than they should be based on comparable items we priced in town (Palmyra's one shopping street near the museum) or in the Aleppo bazaar a couple of days later.

[SwissMyst]

Great tips cruisemom, keep them coming. Starting to read The Middle Sea and even the preface is starting to make this area come alive in new ways.

[patseacruiser]

I knew someone who already sailed would get to this post before I got home from my vacation.

 

Happy holidays everyone and a very happy, healthy New Year.

[gully]

We were on the same cruise and I endorse Cruisemom42's posts 5 and 9 - not the shower problems......

[SwissMyst]

There was nothing intrinsically wrong with the Dedeman hotel. The front (public) rooms have obviously undergone a recent facelift and are very inviting. The hotel rooms are a little less updated but not bad. There were some issues with control of air temperature in certain rooms. My room had no view; not sure if others did. However, when showering in the morning, the entire shower apparatus fell off the wall. It made for a funny couple of moments as the spray went everywhere, unfortunately soaking the clothes I was going to put on.....oh well! :o I have certainly stayed in worse....!

 

One thing I didn't like about the Dedeman was an attitude that they were out to get all the $$$$ they could from you. At the first lunch there was some confusion about whether water was included or not and many got charged. At dinner, we had no idea that coffee wasn't included -- the waiter of course didn't mention it, just brought it and then told us it would be $5 US each.

 

......

 

Looks like Tripadvisor reviews also give similar reactions. Good to know this upfront and like they say, there is not a lot of choice here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g297902-d1412021-r88080565-Hotel_Dedeman-Palmyra.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

 

Loved the scene in current more "Fair Game" where Sean Penn (Joe Wilson) turns on the water in the Niger hotel and ugly black water comes trickling out of the one working faucet tap-- had one like that in Tashkurgan, China myself and it was the "best in town" back then, now mercifully replaced by a Singapore hotel operation but it did make a great travel story when this was where the Silk Road travellers all were forced to stay back then.

 

So yeah, things have been a lot worse than just tired and dowdy ... and rapacious.