There was lots of good stuff to choose from on the menu but I ended up ordering one of the signature dishes “Meat fruit” as a starter and my wife, Nikki, decided to have Salamugundy. For the main dish I decided to have Battalia Pye and Nikki went for Roast Black Foot Collar of Pork. Although we hadn’t thought about dessert yet, we were informed that the signature dessert “tipsy cake” took a while to prepare so best to order in advance. Which we did. While we were waiting for the starter to arrive we got some fresh bread and butter which hit the mark as we were getting hungry.

It didn’t take that long before the starter was served and the meat fruit was a little piece of food art. I have to admit that I knew what was coming – when I did a search online (and on Instagram) there were lots of photos out there. It was served on a wooden platter and it looked like a small tangerine with a slice of toast on the side. The tangerine was just an “illusion” – once I cut into it the core was revealed and I could go ahead and taste the chicken liver and foie gras parfait. I like my foie gras and chicken liver so I enjoyed the taste of this smooth paste combined with the large rustic piece of bread. The bread seemed to have been fried just on the pan and it was just right as it shouldn’t be too crispy.

Nikki’s Salamugundy looked like a bit of a mess on the plate but was prepared using chicken oysters, marrow bone and horseradish cream. I have to admit that I was not aware that chicken oysters could be the most tender part on the bird but apparently this is the case. Nikki especially enjoyed the horseradish cream vinaigrette. She commented that although first look may give the impression of a run of the mill green salad, the contents and combination stood out with every mouthful.  Crunchy fresh leaves and marrow that made you wish you were in the comfort of your own home to properly tackle it. 

Before the main dish we got the wine that we had ordered by the glass so it seemed like the waiters had full control even if there were several people involved. The wine was a Chianti Classico if I’m not mistaken and was well paired with both our meals – rounded and fullbodied but not too heavy. My Battalia pye was served as a sort of pie and it contained pigeon, devilled kidneys and lamb tongue. Once it was served the waiter poured a lovely rich lamb sauce on top of it and left the rest on the table. Once I tasted it I poured the rest over the pie as it tasted amazing! It must have been boiled for hours with a good stock. The pie was delicious and again it was a beautiful looking dish with the pie dough being wrapped around the contents in a perfect circle. The tiny bones of the pigeon were sticking up from the dish and were juicy and the other pieces of meat were also tasty. It might sound a bit weird but one of the best tastes was from the small caramelized onions.

Nikki had the Roast Black Foot Collar of Pork and she also found the portion to be a bit large. But she also enjoyed the layers of pork meat – which made it easy to differentiate and was almost like slicing through a layered cake. She also got the best ever caramelized onions and turnip.
The portions of main dish were a bit on the large side but even if we were full, there was still room for dessert. To round off the meal, we waited in anticipation for our tipsy cake – one of the signature desserts. We had to order it when we ordered the rest of the meal as it is made fresh and takes a while to prepare. The cake was served in a small pot with a slice of fried pineapple on the side. The tipsy cake was a pudding (a British staple) and served warm, sweet and oozing of a sort of custard. It almost resembled buns but once we sank our spoons into it, the texture and taste said otherwise. I was not crazy about the pineapple but the pudding was great. The tipsy cake is sharing size but I do believe Nikki would have gladly devoured the lot on her own if I had taken my eyes off it for too long. Although we were both stuffed already we managed to leave little trace of anything ever having occupied the desert pot. 

With our bellies near bursting and matching grins, we also got some sort of tea infused chocolate mousse and it was weird to taste the combination of dark chocolate with the hints of tea. And together with some strong espresso it was the perfect end to the meal. On the way out we got to look into the open kitchen were the large staff of chefs were preparing all sorts of delicious dishes. We stumbled out of the Mandarin hotel full, slightly tipsy (only from the the cake of course) and very content. This was a lovely dining experience and I hope to return one day to taste more of the great dishes that Heston has on the menu. Check out the restaurant homepage on http://www.dinnerbyheston.com/ and remember to book in advance if you want to check it out.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

We got to the hotel at about noon and we were met by a giant red reindeer in the reception and there was also a strange smell in the lobby – a combination of a “hotel signature scent” and a moldy scent. As I checked in there was a bit of confusion regarding my name and the guy behind the counter asked me if I was at the correct hotel. It turned out that we were at the right hotel and we got room 2025. I asked if it was possible with a room upgrade due to the Club Carlson gold card but that didn’t seem to be an option. Our room was not ready either so we left the suitcases at the concierge and got a luggage tag and started the sightseeing in London.

When we got back to the hotel at night to pick up the suitcases later on I showed the concierge the luggage tags but they were not able to find anything so he asked me if I had gotten any other tag. After 5 minutes of lots of confusion between the 3 that was in the reception area, we were told that we should go to the room to check if the bags were there. When we got to the room the suitcases were there together with some parcels that I had gotten delivered to the hotel so that was excellent service of the hotel concierge earlier on – but there should have been a bit of communication between the staff to avoid all the confusion.

The room was actually quite nice on first glance – there was a maroon carpet on the floor and the walls had light wallpaper with a few pictures on the walls. The room was larger than expected – after staying at various hotels around London I’m used to the room being quite tiny in this city. The center piece in the room was the double bed with one large duvet to share. The bed was a bit on the firm side but still quite comfortable. Next to the bed there was a small desk and a chair – it also included an iPhone docking station for charging the phone and amplifying the sound. On the side wall there was a flat screen TV mounted and there was also a large chair and a small table. The placement of the TV was not ideal for viewing it from the bed. The room only has a tiny window and there was also a small window in the bathroom.

There was a wardrobe in front of the bed with a small safe, a small fridge (a Coke was £3 and a beer was £4.25) and there was also an ironing board/iron and hair dryer in addition to the kettle for boiling water and glasses and mugs. So the room actually had quite a lot of amenities. The wardrobe had about 12 hangers but the bar was hanging quite low in the wardrobe so not very practical for e.g. a coat. The bar was low due to a reason – when I came into the bathroom it was easy to see that the room was made to suite a person in a wheel chair. The bathroom had dark tiles on the floor and creamy tiles on the walls. The shower was very modern with a glass door and a rain forest shower head from the ceiling and the toilet was wall mounted and the sink was very modern. The bathroom would have been perfect if there had been some sort of heating in the floor. When we went to London the city was getting a bit of snow and the temperatures was about -2 degrees Celsius. This made the tiled floor in the bathroom absolutely freezing. There was also a small sink next to the main sink and there was something wrong with the tap as it was running all the time. On the first morning I told the reception area this and asked them if they could fix it but when we checked out 2 days later on it was still not fixed.

The bathroom did not have that many amenities but there was an Essential Elements soap by the sink that had a lovely scent together with a moisturizing cream. There was also a shower cap and the towels were hanging on a heated rack which was a great treat as the bathroom was a bit on the cold side. The hotel also offers free internet which is appreciated of course. You do have to log in quite often by putting in your e-mail address but the internet connection was quite good.

Sleeping quality was not bad at all and the temperature was easily controlled with the air-con. There was a gap between the door and the floor and hence there was quite a bit of light streaming in at night.

The night before check out I called the reception and asked if we could get a late checkout.  We got 1 pm instead of 11 am which isn’t much but better than nothing. We did not have breakfast as the hotel breakfast was £21 which is a bit expensive when I only eat a bowl of muesli or oats. Our solution was to walk the few meters down the street where there was a Pret A Manger café.  The location of the hotel is quite good as it is located only a 5 minute walk from British Museum and it only takes a few minutes to walk to Tottenham court Rd underground station. It is also a short walk to the heart of Soho.

Conclusion
This hotel has a pretty good location and the room was larger than expected. There was a bit of communication issues between the staff members that led to a bit of waiting and confusion but all in all we got good service. From my experience you should not expect to get much recognition due to a Club Carlson gold card – it didn’t seem to help when it comes to room upgrading or late checkout. I still think it would have been great if they could offer e.g. free breakfast when you are a frequent guest. But all in all we had a comfortable stay at the hotel and I would not hesitate to recommend friends or family to stay at this hotel.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

The room we got was a pretty decent size compared to other London hotels we have stayed at. The walls were painted in light yellow and there were light wooden floors. All in all the room looked pretty new and fresh so first impression was very good. The king-size bed was not too bad but it was a bit “springy” but at least soft enough for me – it only had one duvet but that didn’t turn out to be a problem – I’ll get back to that later on.

In the room there was a flat screen TV, there was a minibar that we didn’t use, a desk and chair – the desk had lots of plugs for charging our phones and stuff and we actually didn’t need to use the converter as one of the sockets fit to our Norwegian plugs. We had a window to Baker street and there was a bit of noise from the street but it was not a huge problem. There was enough light in the room but it was a bit weird that the switch to turn on my reading light over the bed was located at the other side of the bed – and vice versa. I think they must have done a mistake with the wiring

The wardrobe contained a few hangers but it was a bit on the small side for the two of us as it also contained the ironing board/iron and a safe. But it was at least great that there was an iron in the first place. I like the fact that the floors are wooden compared to carpets but it also introduce a few other challenges – our floor seemed to make a bit of squeaking noises when we walked around in the room. There were also some squeaking noises from our desk when the people in the room next door were walking around.

The bathroom was quite stylish – a bit on the small side but with tiles on floor and walls and with a proper shower corner that avoided splashing and good towels. The shower pressure was very unpredictable – one second I was blasted with great water pressure and the next there were hardly any water – I guess that happens when many take a shower at the same time? The amenities was limited to shampoo, shower gel, lotion and shower cap but the shampoo and soap was not bad at all. One thing that was a bit unorthodox was the door between the room and the bathroom – it is a glass sliding door. It is more or less frosted but it doesn’t provide 100% privacy.

The hotel had a pretty good internet policy – you could get an internet connection for free via wi-fi but it was a slow line or you could pay for it to get a better connection. Not a bad solution in my opinion. There are also a couple of PC’s located in the lobby area near the elevator and it seems like the user there was free of charge.

The location of the hotel is quite good – located on Baker Street it is only a couple of minutes away from the Baker Street tube station and this station has a couple of good subway lines to get around London (see location in this Google map). It is also possible to walk to Oxford Street in like 10 minutes. There are lots of places to eat in the area – we did not have breakfast included in the hotel but we could get breakfast at places like Eat, Starbucks, Pret a Manger, Canteen etc.

But I also have to mention things that were not that great. The room was quite warm when we checked in but I adjusted the air-con to 15 degrees as I thought that would solve the problem – but at night we woke up and we were soaking wet and the air-con did not seem to have any effect to the temperature at all. Some friends of ours also stayed in the hotel and they had the same problem and on Gowalla I saw a comment about the same thing (and that comment was given in the middle of winter). So in the end we have to turn off the air-con and open the window but that resulted in a bit of noise from the street. I see this is a problem noted several times in other TripAdvisor reviews and the hotel has an explanation but it doesn’t really matter – if you have an air-con you expected to work not to turn the room into a sauna.

The squeaking noise that I have mentioned already was also a bit annoying.

Conclusion
All in all this is a pretty decent hotel and the room looked quite new and fresh. The location is also quite good and it is easy to get around from here. But I’m not sure I would stay there again – the sauna experience in the room combined with the fact that it was kinda pricey for a room with no breakfast. Note that the frosted bathroom door can be a bit of a problem if you want some privacy from your fellow roommate. But kudos to General Manager Pascale Fioretti for taking the time to give feedback on reviews posted on TripAdvisor.

I paid 710 GBP for 5 nights (including taxes but excluding breakfast) – that is about 235 USD per night. You can read more about the hotel on the hotel website.

The London trip report will be posted later on on http://gardkarlsen.com

At the moment there are also routes from Stavanger to London being served by SAS (to Heathrow) and Norwegian (Gatwick). At least this is making it even simpler for Londoners to come over to see our fjords (e.g. the Pulpit rock) and it makes it even simpler for Stavanger people to go shopping in London . You can find some information about British Midland’s flights to Norway on this page.

I have actually stayed at Heathrow Sheraton a few years back and it seems to be the same as I remember it. There is a standard size CRT TV on top of furniture containing a mini safe and a small fridge. I was not able to open the fridge so maybe there was something wrong with it? I think I had the world’s most depressing view from my room as I was looking into a “backyard” with all the ventilation shafts or something like that.
The work desk had the option of plugging in both 125V and 230 V and internet was available via both WiFi and cable (for 15 GBP for 24 hours). On the work desk there was also a water boiler in order to make coffee and tea.
Apart from that I had a chair and a small table together with a queen size bed which was pretty comfortable. Sheraton does advertise that they have heavenly beds and I had nothing to complain about at least. The bathroom was tiled with dark tiles on the floor and with light tiles on the walls. The shower option was in a bathtub with a shower curtain which is not my favorite. Amenities contained the usual shampoo, conditioner, shower gel etc. After seeing various movies posted on the net I have gotten a bit skeptical about the cleanliness of hotel room – and at the Sheraton there were several hairs floating about in the bathroom but maybe that is unavoidable.

In the morning I didn’t have breakfast included in my room so I ran across the road where you can find both a McDonald’s and a gas station selling sandwiches. But note that you have to cross a couple of streets with lots of traffic so getting to the other side might take some time.

Sheraton Heathrow is an airport hotel and it seems like it is a notch below Sheraton Skyline. But still a good option if you are just staying for a night at the Heathrow area.

Here is a video of the room as well and it should give you an impression of what to expect.

On the floor there was a “rough” carpet and the walls were in light colors. I had a queen size bed, a small table and chair, a wardrobe and a centrepiece containing the Bang Olufsen TV on top of a minibar and safe. The furniture was in dark wood and it made quite a slick contrast to the carpet and the walls. The bed was not bad at all but I would have preferred a proper duvet as I was freezing all night long when I stayed there. I discovered that there was a tiny temperature controller by the door….but I only found that the next morning. The bathroom had dark tiles on the floor and light tiles on the walls. The bathroom furniture was quite modern so I think it must have been refurbished not too many years ago. There were not that many amenities by the way: dispensers with soap and lotion, shower cap and shampoo in the shower. The bathroom was quite cold as there were no heating in the floor so the big mirror fogged up after taking a shower. It was not that easy controlling the temperature of the water in the shower either and it felt like it varied every time someone used water in any of the other rooms. But the shower was great with a proper glass door to avoid water splashing.

The location of the hotel is great. Once you step out of the door you are basically seconds away from Oxford street and right across the street was Bond underground station.

The breakfast buffet was also very nice. There was a nice selection of egg, bacon, sausages etc.

Conclusion
Radisson Edwardian Berkshire Hotel was not bad at all. The location is excellent and the rooms are modern. The rooms are tiny but what more do you need if you are only there for a night. As usual the internet was free and that is always a plus when you are on a business trip.

The Hoppa bus service brings you to the hotel from Heathrow within 5 to 10 minutes and cost £4 per person. The check in was fast and I got room 3035 which was a club level room – the rate was about £105 including breakfast.The room itself was quite nice when entering. The walls in light wall paper, the floor in a light brownish, striped carpet, furniture in dark wood etc. The first thing that I noticed the last time I was here was the bed…which we found fantastic at the time. Sheraton brags about their Super Sleeper bed and even has a trademark on it. And I enjoyed the bed this time around as well – it really is a comfortable bed in my opinion.

Apart from that there was a work desk with a plug adapter that could handle most plugs (but internet still at a charge), a sofa and table, a nice flat screen TV on top of a dark wooden furniture that included at mini safe…the TV can also be used to get online on the internet at a cost by the way. There was also a mini bar with a selection of drinks (Coke was £3 and beer £4) and a wardrobe with hangers, an iron and ironing board.

The bathroom is pretty nice with a bathtub with shower curtain to allow showering. I don’t really like the shower curtain option and even if it was a two layer deal it can still lead to a lot of spilling of water on the floor. But apart from that it looked nice with dark tiled floor, light tiles on the walls and a black granite top for the sink area. There were also lots of amenities including the usual shampoo, conditioner etc…but also a scrub, shower cap, sewing kit etc.

We had dinner at the Al Dente Italian restaurant and the buffet was £22 per person. The Milanese risotto had the right taste of saffron taste but lacked the taste of good stock in my opinion. They also had a nice selection of red wine by the glass and a glass of rosso del Montalcino was £11.

The lounge for those located on club level is located in “room” 3017. The lounge was small but cosy and the girl that was working there was just fantastic…full of energy and smiles. It can boast free drinks (wine and soft drinks), snacks and free internet. The breakfast was also served there for the club level guests. Even if the lounge was quite small they managed to whip up a breakfast that should be sufficient for most people. I just ate my regular stuff…muesli with fruits and berries.

Conclusion
If you are looking for a nice airport hotel and want to stick to the Starwood program than I think Sheraton Skyline is a good choice. But as it is located at the airport it will really never be anything else than “another airport hotel”. But the bed were great, the lounge staff was nice and you get a great view of the runway if you are into plane spotting.

Check out the hotel homepage for more information.