Ritz borislava

Flying Singapore Airlines Business Class Singapore to Dubai.
Oh, Singapore Airlines, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I have always had a penchant for flying with Singapore Airlines, which started at the grand old age of seven years old, back in the mid-90s when TVs in the backs of the chairs were tiny little boxes that didn’t provide on-demand films. You had to sit there and wait for a movie you didn’t like to finish before the next one began, and you couldn’t rewind it or fast-forward it. The TVs often had lines running through them, and it was SUCH a novelty for us kids to be able to play games on the plane as it was before the days when my brother and I were allowed Game Boys (I finally got one when I was 10).Over the years I’ve tested out many airlines, and many classes of travel, but I always end up returning to Singapore Airlines. And so, seeing as Singapore Airlines was the airline I first flew to Australia on way back in 1997, it seemed apt to depart Australia on them over twenty years later. But this time instead of mid-90s economy, it was 2010’s business class, baby.

Flight Review of SQ494 Singapore to Dubai
My flight from Singapore left at 3:10pm on the Monday, arriving into Dubai at 6:25pm, and it was 6.5 hours of bliss in that swanky new (and pretty empty) cabin. It reminded me very much of Virgin Australia’s new business class with the sleek and contemporary design. The colour scheme of Singapore Airlines’ new business class is much lighter than Virgin Australia’s though, with taupe and purple rather than black and purple.

Hotel Review: A Luxe Arabian Desert Stay at Telal Resort, Al Ain.
Telal Resort is without a doubt one of the most magical resorts I have ever stayed at. We only had a one-night stay there to break up our trip to Abu Dhabi and get out of the city for a night, but it really, really impressed us. We arrived early in the afternoon after exploring the historical sights of Al Ain, and were welcomed to the resort with cool cucumber-flavoured water, dates, and Arabic coffee. What we didn’t realise when we checked-in, was that we were at the start of such a unique and incredible stay. I’ve been so excited to share this resort with you, so let’s begin with my review!

Gazelle Villa at Telal Resort Al Ain
I’m going to start this review by making a major recommendation. Do not stay in any of the Heritage rooms. Just don’t do it. We were very fortunate and stayed in a One Bedroom Gazelle Villa, which was absolutely incredible, but some friends of mine stayed in the entry-level Heritage room a few weeks later and said it was very basic, and absolutely was not the same experience as having a villa.

Ritz borislava updated their business hours.

The pre-flight experience at London Heathrow
I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 3 about three hours before the flight was due to leave, and headed straight to the dedicated Etihad business class check-in desk. I had to show my NHS vaccination certificate (if you’re unvaccinated you need to show a negative PCR test to board a plane to Abu Dhabi), and although I had a whopping 40kg of luggage allowance, my suitcase weighed a measly 10kg – I was actually pretty impressed with myself, as I’m a notorious over-packer and once took 65kg to Australia with me!

After getting through the fast-track security queue, I headed to the Qantas lounge which is available to Etihad business class passengers. It’s a fairly small lounge but has a very good restaurant with excellent food and service, and a bar which served a brilliant selection of Australian wines! I have to be honest though, I got very teary and had a little sob when I heard all of the Australian accents around me – it’s now been over two years since I was last in Australia, so just the sound of Aussie accents everywhere made me miss my second home enormously.

Anyway, after dinner and a glass of fizz, I made my way over to the gate for boarding!

Flying Etihad A350 Business Class London to Abu Dhabi.
This week I had a very exciting week, as I was lucky enough to experience the business class product on Etihad’s newest and most sustainable airplane, the Etihad A350! I was very kindly invited by Etihad to join the inaugural flight from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi and share my experience of the new business class, and I had SUCH a great time and was so impressed (and as you’ll know from my airline reviews, I’m a very fussy traveller).