JW Marriott Khao Lak

The JW Marriott Khao Lak is a fantastic resort hotel, located on the mainland of Thailand just over an hours drive north from Phuket Airport. The stand out feature of the hotel is the extensive swimming pool which has canal type sections that pass by a huge number of rooms- as a result many of the hotels rooms have direct access to the swimming pool. I imagine it is quite amazing to be able to slide from your room into the pool and to be able to swim to any of two swim up bars and a number of restaurants.

I have visited this resort twice. On both occasions I have received a very generous upgrade. Both times I booked the most basic room type. Once I was upgraded to a duplex suite, which was huge, and a very pleasant to have stairs leading up to the sleeping area, a downstairs toilet for guests and a huge bath in the en-suite. On my second visit we were given a huge suite on the second floor. The outside shower in the bathroom was awesome. It should be noted that neither of these rooms had pool access......though I would rather have  suite without pool access that a room with- not everyone will agree with that.

Marriott elites are valued at this property- during the off-off season, we also benefited from happy hour cocktails in any of the bars. The excellent kids club hours over lap happy hour- which meant we were able to enjoy a cocktail or two without our children, collecting them before heading off for dinner.

In the "off-off" season rooms can be picked up for £60 per night or less. It is still warm, but the sea can be a bit rough and the rain can make the pool a bit chilly. As the main season begins, around October, the sea should be calm, the rain less frequent and the rooms still inexpensive. In the high season, room rates do increase, heading up to around £120 per night.

This resort is a great option for those wanting 5 star luxury on a reasonable budget, especially if you have status in the Marriott rewards programme.

Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur to Paris

I have used the Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur and Return quite regularly. It is a useful route even when travelling to the UK for a number of reasons:

1. It is cheaper than the flight to and from London (I imagine because of lower airport taxes and less demand) and they use an A380.
2. There is often Avios availability, either in Business or First Class.
3. The night flights (BA and Malaysia Airlines) arrive very early in the morning at Heathrow. I am not one for going straight to meetings, and so usually have a day in London first. As a result I find myself waiting to check in at my hotel. Arriving in Paris gives me the opportunity to refresh in the excellent American Airlines lounge at Charles De Gaulle before hoping across the channel and arriving in London at a more reasonable hour.

I have also found that this flight is often quite empty- which makes the journey a little more pleasant in all classes.

It is certainly one to consider if you are flying between Europe and Asia. If you add an Asian Leg in the Business Fare can be very competitive. For example Phuket to Paris and return via KL with Malaysia Airlines can often be booked for around £1,100. This will earn you over 17,000 avios and 360 tier points.

Its not all perfect though. The lounge for both business and first class passengers in Paris is rather feeble. The 50KG first class weight limit is fine, but the two pieces rule was enforced (on me anyway) the last time I flew the route- which was a pain as I ended up flying with two pieces of hand luggage.

There may well be a question mark over this route going forward. I'll continue to do my bit by flying it when I can! (edit: Courtesy of headforpoints.com I discover that Malaysia Airlines has put its A380s up for sale. It seems the threat to this route is very real indeed)

In forthcoming posts I'll review my experience of each of the cabins on this service.