Related to my previous post about Prestige Haz Hotel Review, here is a closer look at the deluxe apartment that we took. We booked for 9 nights and I hope everything will be all right. At first glance, it was okay, although as we entered, the disinfectant smell was so strong, maybe because the management/owner of the hotel wants to maintain the perfectness of cleanliness which I think they do achieve at 99.5%. Why? The smell could have been better and they can achieve the 100% if the guests would not guess that so much disinfectant is in place. But that0s it, so far so good, the space the arrangement and everything, no much complaints except that we were expecting at least the bidet.

As I write this article, it's the second night of at least a week stay in this hotel-appartment lodging, the Prestige Haz in Heviz, Hungary. So far so good. Naturally, there are the good stuff and the bad stuff during the stay. This is a personal and unbiased review, just as a guest, and I would like to share my experience to those who plan to rent this place as well.

The good stuff and included in the service:

1. We were picked up from the airport without additional fee (for a few hundred kilometers)

2. The buffet is included

3. We have the hotel employees drive us to some appointments

4. The price is very reasonable and the place is clean and well-maintained.

5. Quiet(er) as it is not in the "centrum" itself, it's a few hundred meters away.
6. Free Internet (wifi access) with very good speed. ( just finished uploading the photos of the day, around a hundred photos to my online personal album without problem).

The not-so good stuff but we can deal with it without big deal:

1. The reception is closed after 21:00

2. No elevator as there are only 3 storeys

3. Breakfast starts only at 8 and ends at 10 (shorter duration)

4. I smell some egg (raw egg smell) from the glasses (they might have forgotten to use the dishwashing liquid or detergent) ... hopefully this will improve from the second morning further...

The dining hall where the tables are numbered per room, your place is secure.

The hall/small lobby at the reception

View from the deluxe apartment terrace

I read announced or published in our intranet at work (quoted below) that the Hague local trams and buses will announce the stops in English. Currently, the stops are announced only in Dutch. I was delighted to know that English announcement will be available together with the brief tips on what the stop is near to and what it can access, i.e., hospital, markets, theater, etc.

I was able to experience a couple of trams announcing stops. It was kind of disappointing though. Why? The Dutch announcement of the stop is so clear and loud while the English part is inferior in quality. So far I have experienced so little but I do hope it is better in others. I will be posting for further experience soon.

Here follows a message from a representative from HTM, The Hague public transport system.


"HTM and the municipality of The Hague are experimenting with the announcement of information in English as well as Dutch in trams and buses at certain stops.


Many international guests and residents use the HTM public transport system. The English announcements are intended to assist international travellers in finding their way.


The experiment covers forty stops. The name of the stop will be announced in English as well as Dutch, together with additional information such as 'hospital' or 'station' or information about specific buildings and attractions nearby such as ‘shopping area' or ‘theater'.

What's your opinion of this experiment?The experiment in HTM trams and buses runs from 18 July until late October 2011. RandstadRail will follow at the start of its new schedule in August.

Please take a ride with HTM and share your opinion of this project with us via lans@htm.net .

Your comments will be used to evaluate the experiment and help us decide whether or not to continue and how to improve this service even more."

Entering the Louvre Museum in Paris or the musée du Louvre in Parigi, or in Parijs can bereally annoyingif you take the major entrance passing the pyramid. We were very lucky to have discovered a hassle-free, faster way and quicker means of entering the Louvre museum in Paris. How? Never pass the main entrance which passes by the pyramid. Then how? Enter through other entrances! Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre station is one of the means to enter without problem. From there, people can walk directly to the reception and buy tickets from ticket vending machines just nearby the Louvre museum information / reception desks. Below is a series of photos to guide you to enter the Louvre museum more conveniently and at the same time,explains what possibly may happen to you if you do not discover this trick: wasting time and suffering from heat/cold awaiting your turn to enter in thelong queue.

As you see, there are various ways. In our case, we entered through the Metro station: no lines, no hassle, just plain comfort and ease. We did not do what the people in the photo below did. Can you imagine how long they waited? This photo was actually when we were leaving, which means almost the end of the day and yet, they were still waiting there in long queue!

Here's yours truly buying our tickets at ease and with fun! No queues behind me so I was really having fun and just purchased my ticket in a relaxed manner. Look at the flags as well, possibly ypu speak at least one of the available languages that the Louvre museum ticket-vending machines offer

There is a very approachable information desk and if it looks too full, there are always official information guides that walks around and more than willing to help. 

How long do you think you are staying in Paris? One day? 3 days or 5 days? It does not matter! If you want to move freely around Paris with Public transportation, there are no worries. One convenient way to move around Paris is with the Paris Visite Pass. Paris VisitePass is a travel card pass allowing users to access and utilize all the public transport services in the city. Personally, I find Paris Visite Pass one of the best ways to get around Paris and its nearby areas. It depends however on each one's inclination and plan.

If one has to buy the ticket everytime, a single 3-zone ticket, if I remember good, costs around Eur 1,70 while a "carnet" of 10 tickets costs Eur 12. Thus, if you have to only go back and forth once, Paris Visite Pass is not economical. However, if you would like to move anywhere in the area freely, this card is good. The Paris Visite pass consists of a travelcard and its ticket. It provides unlimited rides on the transport system of the Île-de-France region: Metro, RER (express regional trains), bus, tramway, suburban Transilien SNCF trains, funiculaire de Montmartre, Montmartrobus, Noctambus, Optile bus system,within a given fare zone (from 1-3, 1-6). It is good from the first day of use (not from the date of purchase) until the last consecutive day. You may buy Paris Visite in advance and save time avoiding last minute lines and this can be bought in Metro stations (ours we had it from the service booth) but I assume the ticket vending machines have this too (not so sure).

ASIDE FROM METRO STATIONS, WHERE ELSE INTERESTED USERS MAY BUY PARIS VISITE PASS?
Paris Visite Pass are also available and may be purchased in all Paris RER, Transilien SNCF stations, bus terminal ticket counters, RATP Boutiques, RATP sales desks at Orly and CDG airports and Paris tourist offices. One can also buy the pass in certain travel agencies and tour operators abroad.

Rates in euros for the Paris Visite Pass

ADVANTAGES of Paris Visite Pass?

1. Convenient for travelers

2. Prices are in package, the more days, the cheaper per day

3. Dynamic, can be used in many ways, trams, metro, RER, etc.

4. Practical and saves time: no need to buy individual ticket everytime

DISADVANTAGES of Paris Visite Pass?

1. If the user plans to travel once or twice in one of the days i between, it's not refundable

2. In case of loss, you lost the entire amount you spent!

3. It counts the day, not the number of hours (1 day is 24 hours)

4. Mine expiredat 10PM (not midnight) and I was blocked in the Metro for this! Of course you can always complain to the service desk if they are still open.


Below is the specimen Paris Visite Pass from My Recent Trip to Paris
Basically, the card contains the necessary information about the Paris Visite Pass and its usage in five (5) different languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Isn't it very smart to have all these langauges? In fact, you can also write your name in one of the folds of the card of Paris Visite Pass. One part of the fold contains a mini-pocket where the more valuable part of the Paris Visite Pass can be inserted: the magnetic tape pass itself.

Below is the pocket-like fold of the Paris Visite Pass where the user can insert the magnetic tape pass. I found it very useful because the card is thicker, bigger (easier to find inside one's purse or bag) and it also contains the information that's useful in case I forget. It is very good for safe-keeping purposes also.

The reverse side of the pass with the magnetic tape.This is what users use to enable the station doors to open. This is very important, don't lose it!