Even Basil Fawlty would consider this hotel substandard

One reader was unimpressed by a recent visit to the Hilton Rome Fiumicino Airport. Photo: Alamy

THIS WEEK’S LETTER

CRIME OF ROME

I’m at my hotel waiting for my Qantas flight tomorrow morning from Rome to Sydney via Perth. It seemed like a good idea to spend the last two months in the UK and Italy sitting poolside at the airport, especially since tomorrow’s flight requires an early check-in. Why didn’t I check Tripadvisor? The check-in queue at the hotel (yes, the hotel, not the airport) took two hours. For the next 24 hours we couldn’t get internet, our television required the mini-bar to be removed to turn it on, the restaurant was so full we couldn’t be fed, room service hung up on us 20 times so we went to bed without eating and we were then locked out of our rooms because the computer didn’t notice that we were staying for two nights. This is not a two star hotel in the center of Rome but the Airport Hilton which has a monopoly on the airport. Even Basil Fawlty would refuse to stay again.

Ray Ward, Potts Point, NSW

PERCENTAGE OF GAME

Eight months ago we booked a Western Australia bucket list trip with a major tour company; trip was recently canceled with no reasonable explanation. In addition, we were advised to refund our money for 45 days and no assistance will be provided for refunds from other bookings on either side of our trip. My other major gripe, though, is that it gorges on the massive 3 percent of American Express merchant fees, especially when other service providers absorb fees or charge anywhere from 0.95 percent (our little local photo maker) to 1.53 percent. . This fee is not refundable.

Anthony Palmer, Southbank, Vic

ADVANCED WARNING

Qantas, as well as other airlines, place orders before announcing when they will resume flights to a destination. Japan is one of the destinations. You can book Qantas from Sydney to Haneda, the closest airport to Tokyo, but, at least at the time of this writing, there’s no guarantee that the airline will actually fly on that date, or whether or not they will cancel. Cathay Pacific does something similar in that it accepts orders via Hong Kong to ports in Japan, then cancels immediately thereafter. It only happens to some family members. The money has been paid and a refund may take four to eight weeks.

Geoff Oliver, East Malvern, Vic

SIN OF NEGLIGENCE

I can’t believe the beautiful city of Strasbourg isn’t on Ben Groundwater’s list of best European old town nominees in his latest story (TravelerJune 25). The old “Petit France” area of ​​the city has stunning architecture dominated by the cathedral and the picturesque Notre Dame square. One of the most beautiful old towns we have ever visited.

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David Parker, Geelong West, Vic

THE NETHERLANDS IS LIFE

I have read with interest the letters about the reasons for traveling to Europe while the war is being waged in Ukraine. I sympathize with Hans van den Tillaart who was unable to fly home after his father died of COVID-19. But I was horrified that Ross Allan would use his letter to berate Hans for doing the “unthinkable” – referring to his homeland as the Netherlands rather than the Netherlands. Ross is right in saying that the Dutch call him Holland when speaking another language and that’s exactly what Hans did.

Jill Graham, Kellyville, NSW

IT WAS FUNNY, JOYCE

After taking millions of dollars out of the public purse to stop the 100-year-old airline from being permanently grounded, Qantas now wants to cut services, increase fares (oil prices) and give staff a $5000 bonus. Yet this is the same airline whose chief executive blamed the traveling public for airport check-in delays. Then there is the impolite behavior of charging passengers twice and making them wait for a refund. In the words of the late Graham Kennedy, this is Joyce’s joke, and however you look at it, Qantas has cornered us.

Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW

EDITOR’S NOTE Dear readers, the rant is currently far outweighing the welcome for this column, with complaints to Travelers about Qantas overwhelmingly dominating our inbox. We understand these are difficult times for travel, but we would also love to hear about your positive travel experiences both here and abroad. To restore balance, preference will be given to letters like this in the coming weeks and we almost have to announce a break on Qantas-related mail, so we don’t create a separate page or two to accommodate them all.

THAT’S THE TERMINAL

Is it just me or is Sydney International Airport looking so seedy and so sad? Yes, I understand it’s actually been locked down for almost two years, but surely it’s time for the owner to upgrade it a bit. I was passing through last weekend and was very embarrassed as this is our main airport. What do foreign tourists think?

Craig McGrath, Armidale NSW

FAR FAR

The last time I flew, in the pre-pandemic period, I was in my 70s. Since then, I managed to get a mild heart condition as I entered my 80s. And now, after my first flight in two and a half years, I wonder if Sydney’s domestic airport has some secret agenda to reduce Australia’s population (as its contribution to saving the planet, perhaps?) by removing the less fit and elderly passengers who have to walk. very tiring from the Qantas terminal, pulling their luggage to a remote express pick up location. Melbourne Airport has managed to keep their pick up point fairly close to the passenger exit, and I see no reason why Sydney Airport couldn’t return to a similar arrangement.

Anne Ring, Coogee, NSW

TIPS OF THE WEEK

INDIA IS AMAZING

My wife and I are in our 80’s but still love to travel and are currently planning our fifth tour of India, a very interesting and colorful country. With a history that spans thousands of years, there are many interesting sights to see, such as temples, palaces, palaces, and so on, as well as various geographical features. We used a travel company, based in Kochi in south India, called Emperor Tours. Offered private tours by car and driver with local guides provided at every place we visited. There are various accommodation options including glamping in the Thar Desert, overnight cruises in remote Kerala (simply beautiful), havelis (luxury homes), former Maharaja palaces converted into hotels as well as many modern four star hotels. The cost of the tour is no more than half of the cost of an Australian travel agency and it is usually a coach tour.

Ivan Gregory, Rowville, Vic

POWER RENT

Renting a car at Red Center is by no means easy. Reservations months in advance are essential, the one-way costs are substantial and cars cannot be driven from sunset to sunrise. However, the biggest problem is finding car rentals with unlimited kilometers. The Alice Springs Visitor Information Center offers unlimited mileage and much lower prices. Also, four-wheel drive is not required unless you plan on driving the Mereenie Loop. One more thing, Insure and Go is one of the few travel insurance companies to cover a $7500 excess from a rental vehicle as well as a $5000 COVID-19 cancellation.

Rita Ciavarella, Eltham North, Vic

IN PLACE

I have just returned from five weeks in and around London, rural England, Paris and Alsace in France and they are living well and truly living with the pandemic there. Almost no one wears a mask anywhere including the London Underground, British Airways flights to and from Paris and the high-speed train from Paris to Strasbourg. We still have to wear masks on our Singapore Airlines flights to and from London, but they are basically non-existent anywhere else. This is also a great time to go as there are fewer tourists from some of the popular traditional travel markets like China, which means very few tour buses and more room for everyone at the attractions and sites.

David Parker, Geelong West, Vic

DOING MY BLOCKS

I’m in France, it’s 2022 and I guess I can pay bills and buy SNCF train tickets online using my mobile with its Australian SIM card. Wrong. ANZ, Westpac, Macquarie, and Latitude all required me to respond to a security SMS which I never received. Another SMS message from Oz is fine but not from the bank. Macquarie won’t even let me access my account without an SMS reply. The bank appears to be blocking overseas security messages. This makes them completely safe and completely useless while abroad.

Michael Britt, MacMasters Beach, NSW

FROM PO TO P.O’ED

Eight weeks after my passport renewal application went through the local post office and no passport. Passport requests are made by registered mail, which has a tracking number. When the post office staff used the tracking number, which was not provided to me, they discovered that my application had not been signed as received at the Sydney GPO. The local post office could not help further and suggested that I contact Australia Post customer service. I called, was given the incident number and marked urgent. Three weeks have passed and still nothing. In the end, help came from the election office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. My passport has now arrived. So, the lesson is to get your passport application tracking number from the post office.

Denis Brennan, Bellingen, NSW

WRITE TO US AND WIN

The author of The Letter of the Week won a Hardie Grant travel book worth over $100. For the month of July, it includes Vantastic by Kate Ulman; Wonders of the Great World by Michael Turtle; and Ultimate Weekends Australia by Emma Shaw.

See hardigrant.com

The author of The Tip of the Week won a set of three great Lonely Planet travel books, including Ultimate Australia Travel List, The Travel Book and Armchair Explorer.

See shop.lonelyplanet.com

HOW TO WRITE TO US

We give preference to letters with 100 words or less and which can be edited for space, legal or other reasons. Please use complete sentences, do not use textspeak and do not include attachments. Email us at travellerletters@traveller.com.au and, most importantly, include your name, address and phone number.

July 8, 2022

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