Clubroom No1 Lounge Review - London Gatwick Airport LGW

In this trip report, I'll be sharing my experience at the Club Room No1 Lounge at London Gatwick Airport. I was flying from Montreal to Mauritius with a layover in London and I received complimentary access to this lounge with Air Mauritius's business class boarding pass.

All of the Lounges at Gatwick are located in the same area and spread over four floors. Once you are past security,  follow the signs marked “Lounges” and take the elevator downstairs to the first floor. If you are travelling internationally, you can now purchase an eSIM ahead of time on the Airalo App and install it so you're connected as soon as you land and can call an Uber and use Google Maps without searching for WiFi. If you sign up with my referral code C0887, you’ll get $3 off your first eSIM purchase!

The lounge has a trendy contemporary look with lots of sofas for seating.  The lounge itself looks more like a cozy bar than an airport lounge. There are no tables to sit at and absolutely no plugs available to charge your devices.

The main lounge area

Food and Drinks

Food can be ordered from a menu with à la carte service.

Clubroom No1 Lounge Menu

 I decided to try the butterfly chicken breast burger and it was small and tasty. The fries were not my favourite. Drinks are must also be ordered and the wine pours are measured. The menu listed Champagne and the lounge attendant clarified that those cost extra.

Showers and Amenities

There are no showers available and the bathrooms are tiny. I usually like to shower during my layover but in this case that wasn’t an option. There was one tiny sink (tiny even by European standards) in the bathroom that could barely fit my hands. It was not only difficult to wash my hands, but trying to brush my teeth resulted in water just splashing everywhere on the floor. No towels were available.

The impossibly small sink

The service was pretty good with all the attendants frequently checking up on guests to ask if we would like to eat or drink anything. After spending an hour or so here, I noticed that my flight was boarding so I headed down to the Gate. This lounge was a quiet place to spend a layover but the lack of showers is a glaring omission for an airport lounge.

Air Canada A330 Business Class Review - Montreal to London Heathrow

In this  review,  I'll be sharing my experience flying onboard Air Canada's Airbus A330 from Montreal to London Heathrow. I have previously flown this route before and sad to see the experience and service has declined.

Check-in and Lounge

Once you arrive at the airport, you can head straight to the priority line to check in or drop off any luggage you may have. Air Canada business class passengers are entitled to 2x suitcases up to 32kg each. The agent will then tag your luggage and issue you a printed boarding pass. The boarding pass will have a logo indicating that you have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge (or other lounge depending on where you are departing from). At the Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, domestic and international security lines are shared however you can fast track by using the priority security line. After clearing security, had left towards the Maple leaf lounge. I wrote a full review of this lounge if you are interested. 

Maple Leaf Lounge

Business class passengers receive complimentary access.

Read Review

I hung out at the lounge for about an hour and a half and had something to eat before heading to the gate for boarding. If you are travelling outside of Canada, you can purchase your esim ahead of time on the Airalo App and install it so you're connected as soon as you land and can call an Uber and use Google Maps without searching for WiFi. If you sign up with my referral code C0887, you’ll get $3 off your first esim purchase!

Boarding

The cabin felt tight with narrow aisles

Boarding started  as scheduled and we boarded from the back of the business class cabin. Immediately upon entering the cabin, it felt significantly smaller than the Boeing 777 and a lot narrower. The aisle felt very tight and the overhead bins were so tiny that they could not fit my carry-on sideways and instead I had to put it flat which took up most of the bin above me. On newer planes with larger overhead bins, I can put my carry-on sideways which would leave enough space for another 2 carry-ons.

There was no space at all in the overhead bins in the first row as that was already taken up by the cabin crew. The passenger sitting there asked the flight attendant who said something like “it’s the configuration, it’s wrong”, “yeah it’s the engineering with the layout” and told the passenger to go put her carry-on back in row six. She seemed pretty upset about it, probably because she paid several thousand dollars for this flight. Her carry-on was a small and soft bag, not even the larger rolling carry-ons that are ubiquitous nowadays.

Seats

The A330 features Air Canada's classic pods, which are different from their more spacious and modern executive pods that have the ability to adjust the mattress and seat firmness and feature proper massage functions. These seats did not offer the ability to adjust the firmness and the massage function was more like a faint vibration that eventually turned off after a few minutes. The seats do convert into a completely lie-flat bed that are comfortable to sleep on though.

Amenities

At my seat was an amenity kit which included socks, a toothbrush, earplugs, lip balm and hand cream.  There was also a  mattress pad, blanket, pillow, and a bottle of water laid out for each passenger. Air Canada has downgraded their Amenity kits from the beautiful Acqua Di Parma Kits they used to provide in prior years.

The left side of my seat offered some counter space to store my belongings. I can’t comment on the quality of the complimentary headphones since I always travel with my own Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones that do an excellent job at turning the engine rumble and cabin noise into a quiet whisper. I was surprised to find a USB-C charging port as the plane seem quite old so that was unexpected.

The seatbelt was a little odd with an extra over shoulder strap

After boarding, we were offered a welcome drink and I chose a glass of champagne. The champagne was dry and bubbly, always a great start. Soon afterwards, we took off on schedule and headed towards the Atlantic.

Welcome drink

Food and Dining

Menus were handed out as soon as I had sat down at my seat. The menus were bilingual (Canada has two official languages) and opened from each side with one side in French and the other side in English.

I started off with an Aperol Spritz which was accompanied by a bowl of mixed nuts consisting of warm cashews and almonds. The Mediterranean mezze platter was delicious and well seasoned. For the main course. I chose the braised lamb which was very fatty and disappointing. For dessert I opted for the cheesecake which was not bad.

After dinner, the cabin crew asked if I’d like to be woken up for breakfast. This flight is so short for a transatlantic flight (at around six hours) that I recommend just sleeping through breakfast if you want to feel a little more rested on arrival. However in my case, I had an upcoming layover of almost 9 hours so I decided to have breakfast even though I’d only sleep for 2.5 hours as I’d be too hungry after landing otherwise.

I turned my seat fully flat and tucked in for the night. The A330 seats felt a lot narrower than Air Canada’s Boeing 777 or 787 business class.

Breakfast

After a short nap, the lights turned on as the flight attendants made their way down the aisles for breakfast service. On the menu today was a parsley omelette served with chicken sausage, potatoes, fruits, yogurt and a bun. The omelette was alright but I preferred the fruits and yogurt. The meal was basic airplane food with nothing memorable.

After breakfast, the flight attendants cleared my tray table and it was soon time to land.

Takeaway

Out of all my business flights on Air Canada, this was my least favourite. The food was sub-par, the airplane was old and felt claustrophobic and the service lacked a smile. However, I did appreciate the fast priority boarding, the lie-flat seats and decent entertainment system. Air Canada doesn’t hold a candle to the likes of Emirates or Etihad though.

Now off to Gatwick Airport to board my next flight to Mauritius!

Have a question? Leave us a comment below.

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Punta Islita Marriott Hotel Review - Costa Rica (Autograph Collection)

Punta Islita Autograph Collection is a resort located on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and offers a beachfront vacation with a plethora of activities to pick from.

How To Get There

If you are flying in from North America, your best approach is to fly into the Liberia International Airport (Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport/LIB). Many airlines from the US and Canada fly direct to Liberia including United, American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue Airways and Air Canada. If you’re wondering how far the Punta Islita Marriott resort is from the Airport, it takes about a two and a half hour drive but may take up to 3 hours depending on traffic. The hotel provides an airport shuttle at a cost of $220 USD plus 13% tax for one way (as of 2024). This means it costs over $700 for a Canadian (about $500 USD) just to get to the resort and back not including your accommodation, food or activities. You could alternatively rent a car but I don't recommend it because the roads are in very poor condition and the drivers drive erratically. Be warned that for the last 15 minutes or so that the road is not paved and turns into a dirt road littered with potholes. Bring anti-nausea medication if you are prone to getting carsick. If you do decide to get a rental vehicle, a car will not be good enough so you will ideally need a 4x4 vehicle with high ground clearance to make it through the dirt road.

If you choose the hotel shuttle, the driver will contact you via WhatsApp to coordinate the time. If you are not familiar with WhatsApp, it’s similar to Apple’s iMessage but far better as it works on any smartphone. I recommend downloading it before the trip. You will need a mobile data plan as you exit the Airport to keep in contact with your driver in case you cannot find him. I always purchase an esim ahead of time on the Airalo App so I’m connected as soon as I land and can call my driver on Whatsapp or use Google Maps without relying on WiFi. If you sign up with my referral code C0887, you’ll save $3 USD off your first esim purchase! Alternately, you can purchase a local sim on arrival but you do have to go looking for a shop that sells it then wait for it to activate. We had some difficulty finding our driver but we were able to locate him after calling him on WhatsApp.

The Resort

Once we arrived at the resort, we were promptly greeted by friendly staff. The resort is nestled on a remote hill that overlooks the beach. The reception is on the main level just after the entrance, followed by the main restaurant and an infinity pool. The infinity pool is stunning and offers gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

The resort is laid out on several different levels separated by what feels like endless stairs. To get down to the beach, you can either use the stairs or ask the staff to call you a shuttle that will ferry you back and forth from the beach to the reception. Note that most rooms in this resort are not Accessible due to the stairs. The grounds around the resort have been kept as wild as possible to attract loads of wildlife. There are also almond trees planted everywhere to support the local macaws (more on that below).

The Rooms

We stayed in the Deluxe Master Suite with a balcony that had stunning views of the mountains and ocean. The rooms felt private and had decent separation from each other though some like the ones with a plunge pool seemed more secluded. The room was clean and newly renovated but be sure to confirm when booking as not all rooms were renovated when I visited in March 2024. We had originally picked an older room but the staff upgraded us to one of the nicer rooms on arrival. After visiting the hotel, I’d say that the old unrenovated rooms are definitely not worth the price.

Food and Dining

This was the hotel’s weakest point. The food was a disappointment and far below the quality that you can expect at similar Marriott properties at this high of a price point. For example, Westin Resorts are often similarly priced but the food and service is night and day apart. The main restaurant, Alma, was upstairs by the infinity pool and served breakfast and dinner. Lunch was only served at the restaurant by the beach called Aura Beach Club. The ingredients at both restaurants were often inconsistent with the menu description. For example, some days my eggs came poached, sometimes fruits were included but sometimes they were missing. Some dishes were served with pita bread on some days but other times no bread was provided. After pointing it out to the server, he would bring it to the table. The saltiness of dishes were inconsistent as well resulting in the same dish being enjoyable or not depending on the day. The burger was delicious but consisted of pickled vegetables that were too salty to eat. Sometimes I would remember to order it without but whenever I forgot, I was left picking through my burger to make it palatable.

For breakfast, I often ordered eggs and tomatoes which were mostly bland. Lunch was only served at the restaurant by the beach, not by the main pool and left a lot to be desired. On the first day, I had the poke bowl which lacked flavour and was oddly served with a side of rice rather than layered into the bowl as a base.

Lunch was only available at Aura Beach Club which is located down the hill by the beach

For dinner one night, I tried the catch of the day which was a tiny sliver of Mahi Mahi but it did taste good though. The worst meal I had was a seafood salad that had too much oil and toasted rice that it felt like I was eating an oil and sand salad with the sand grinding my teeth. If you find something you like, I suggest sticking to it but I grew tired of eating the same average meal every day. Their chicken dish for dinner was good but the size of the chicken breast kept inexplicably shrinking as the week went on.

The service complemented the food in that it was equally as inconsistent. Some waiters always greeted us with a smile and quick service whereas sometimes we were ignored for long periods of time. Some days we were charged for coffee at breakfast but during other days the waiter said it was included. We weren't really sure what to make of it. Our waiters followed every interaction by saying “Pura Vida”.

Overall, meals were disappointing and without many food options around the resort, I was happy that I had brought protein bars and snacks from home. I had also asked the driver to stop at the grocery store prior to arriving so I could stock up on snacks as I had read ahead of time about the complaints regarding the food in Costa Rica. I recommend you do the same.

The resort provided bottled water in each room and it was replenished daily. It seemed like the water was filtered and bottled on site. Tap water is offered at the restaurants and unlike the tap water throughout Costa Rica, it was safe to drink without getting sick.

Pool

The adults only infinity pool at the top of the hill was my favourite spot

The infinity pool was gorgeous and lounging around during the day was a great way to relax. The pool was rarely crowded and there was almost always enough lounge chairs no matter the time of day. The swim up bar served up some excellent cocktails! The infinity pool was by far my favourite part of the resort not just for swimming but also because every once a while, we would hear macaws and as we looked up at the sky, we would see some stunning macaws flying overhead. It was magical.

Some days, we were lucky enough to spot macaws who came to feed nearby on the almond trees!!

The second pool located by the beach felt smaller and was more crowded and loud. There was often families with kids and the water was colder as well as it was partly shaded.

The second pool by the beach was more family oriented and tended to be more crowded and the water was cooler

Beach

The beach at the bottom of the hill required about a 10 minute walk or taking a shuttle to reach it. The beach had dark sand and was very rocky. I wouldn't bother trying to swim here but it made for some relaxing afternoon walks with the sound of the waves crashing in the background.

The beach was very rocky

Activities & Wildlife

The Punta Islita Hotel offers a lot of activities and in my opinion, this is where the hotel really shines. The hotel offered many complementary activities including a mixology and local cooking class, a Forest Hike and a brief candle making workshop at the nearby town. There were also several paid activities, including a visit to the nearby Macaw sanctuary (which I highly recommend), a visit to see turtles, laying their eggs on the beach and other boat and fishing trips. I had already done the turtle trip back in Tamarindo but if you haven't then I recommend doing it here.

For the mixology class, the bartender demonstrated how to prepare a delicious Costa Rican cocktail. For the tico cooking class, we prepared some fresh ceviche and got to sample it after.

Macaws

The Macaw Sanctuary was my favourite activity during my entire visit in Costa Rica and the employees here told us about the history of macaws in Costa Rica and how they were near extinction. Through the work that has been done here they were able to successfully breed the remaining population and have been restoring them back into their natural habitats. I highly recommend making a donation or purchasing something from their gift shop if you can afford it in order to support them (they accept credit cards).

Forest Hike

One of the complementary activities was the forest hike where we saw a family of coatis and a single monkey in the trees. We were accompanied by a guide who took us for a walk in the nearby forest surrounding the hotel. During our regular walks around the property, we also spotted an armadillo.

The candle making class took place in the nearby town which was cool and a great opportunity to chat with the locals and learn more about the country and their lives. Next to the candle making shop was a convenience store where I bought some locally made ice cream that made me so sick that I started to both vomit and had to keep running to the bathroom all night long and over the next few days so I highly recommend bringing with you some antibiotics and to be extremely careful about what you eat and drink in Costa Rica and pay close attention to the local sanitary conditions.

Gym

Some days I visited the gym to squeeze in a workout. The gym is located at the bottom of the hill. Once you get to the main road, you'll need to make a left turn and walk for a bit until you reach the building on the right. I asked several staff members where the gym was, but no one seemed to really know so I walked around and explored for a bit until I found it. The gym was unattended and I never saw anyone else using it during the week I was there. Towels and water are provided. Just be mindful not to overexert yourself because you'll need to walk back up the hill to your room. There was also a tennis or Pickleball court nearby that might interest some.

Please note that this hotel is located in a no fly zone so don't bother bringing your drone.

Conclusion

2 things I didn’t like:

❌ The food

❌ Value for money

2 things I liked:

✅ The location in the forest

✅ The macaws

I very much enjoyed the infinity pool and visiting the macaw sanctuary but by the end of my week here, I really looked forward to going back home. I found the beach, wildlife and food to be overrated and the price to quality ratio was simply not (that's just Costa Rica in general). For my next beach vacation or wildlife excursion, I will go head back to Mexico instead for the amazing food, friendly service, stunning white sand beaches and similar wildlife all for a lower price.

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