The Kebab Had No Defects

We were up early and out of the Gemini Lodge in Rotorua by 7 AM.  Tony was up to say goodbye; he knocked on our window while Stephen was dressing and I was in the shower and then he woke up Annie (“Hey Annie”, Annie, groggy, “What’s going on?” “You want a cup of tea?” sorry Annie!), so the four of us had an additional see you later.  Tony’s last words to me were “Did you go to the toilet?”  Thanks dad.

There was traffic as we approached Auckland, but not significant.  We had returned the rental, taken a shuttle to the international wing, and checked in with a couple hours to spare.  Upon embarkation it started to rain.  Nearly 40 days no rain, so that was a choice bookend.

The flight was 16 hours.  Not a typo.  Flight attendant came by to introduce herself and as she said “16 hours” my eyes bulged and she said “that seems to be a lot of people’s reaction.”  And in fact if you add in the 30 minutes on the tarmac at AKL and the taxi at DOH it was 16 hours and 40 minutes, the longest flight of my life (and, once upon a time, the longest flight on the planet).  How in the eff could you do that in cattle class?  Jeesh.  Service was superb, beyond superb.  Q-suites were excellent, comfy, private, spacious.  But there was low-grade turbulence for hours, pretty much for all of the Indian Ocean, which is most of the trip, and that was both irritating and distressing, although it had zero impact on service.  And Stephen scored pajamas!

Distance from gate to immigration upon arrival, which involved a train from one loc to another, was about half an hour.  Another half hour to get through immigration.  Then another 20 minutes taxi to the hotel. We were beat.

 

We had gift certificates for Fairmont so are staying in a very swanky, “Trump Tower-type” of posh hotel, gold, gilt, and polished lacquer.  One reviewer called it modern yacht (which is either very kind are really snarky).  But another reviewer, who ate at one of the high-priced restaurants, rated their meal as “excellent hummus and the kebab had no defects.” When I read that I knew we had made the right choice.

The hotel is in the Katara Towers, built over eight years, opened to coincide with the World Cup.  One side is Raffles, the other side is Fairmont.  Getting inside is like Fort Knox.  Add to all the security the scans just to walk in the front door.  In fact, if you want to take a walk (on the huge, lovely ocean promenade which runs for about 9 kms on the hotel doorstep) it involves having a staff person taxi you down two levels in a golf cart and then through a security gate.

 

Our room is exceptionally grand, dressing room, huge bathroom, sitting area, blinds, shades, a bunch of mod cons including a built in Miele-type coffee maker and an enormous high-end wine fridge (Qatar is dry, so we thought that expensive built-in very weird) and all sorts of display cases I’m assuming for head gear like their ghutra or agal or dagger sheaths.  But who knows.

The common areas have the distinction of being anything but common.  From a six floor rotunda to Kardashian glam, it’s all a weird mish-mash of opulence and hyperbole.

So, apart from booking this hotel because we had a gift certificate, we also needed a place to just unwind for a couple of days between [very, very long] flights.  It was our intention to spend most of the three days here lounging by the pools.  There were two to choose from!  But the outdoor pool, facing the ocean, was where we spent most of the day.  It’s a hard life…