Whale watching with the Marriott

I was lucky enough to score an invite from Marriott hotels to join them for a day of whale watching on the Gold Coast on Saturday. This was the second time I've been whale watching as I had a similar invite back in 2006.

I was a little concerned the morning before when the weather was overcast and windy but we were lucky enough to get a beautiful day with calm seas. The boat itself was a luxury catamaran part of the Tallship Island Adventure fleet and the Marriott had a lovely seafood buffet for us to enjoy as we boarded.

We had about an hour out in the ocean checking out the whales before heading back to the calm of the canals and enjoying cocktails, canapes and some entertainment and McLaren's Landing.

It was a fantastic day and a big thank you to the teams at Surfers Paradise Marriott and Brisbane Marriott for my invite and their generous hospitality.

Festival of food

Many people know that the way to my heart is through food ... so not surprisingly when peak corporate travel season finishes its a great time to catch up with sales & reservations managers over lunch.

Last Wednesday we had a nice long lunch with Zana and Brad from The Point Hotel. We did a lot of work with the hotel in November so it was a good time to discuss possibilities for 2012 as well as have a look at their new tower of rooms (that opened in October). The rooms look fantastic and I'm lucky enough to be staying in one this Saturday night which I'm looking forward to.

Wednesday night I had dinner with friends at the Sofitel. Since lunch (which was excellent) at The Point finished around 2:30 or so I wasn't sure how good an effort I was going to be able to put in to the buffet but somehow I managed to do ok!

Thursday lunch was spent with Nicole at the Brisbane Marriott checking out their new restaurant, Motion Bar & Grill. Nicole is one of our best contacts and has been for a while so it was good to catch up with her after she had been so helpful during November. Motion is a nice change from the normal 5 star hotel buffet (not that there's anything wrong with a buffet!) and the refurbishment of the restaurant decor looks great.

Thursday night was dinner at The Surf Club (celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue) and then Saturday night was my mum's birthday so we had dinner at the Hundred Acre Bar & Restaurant at St Lucia.

Thankfully I've been working out almost every day so despite all the dining out I'm not as big as a house!!

Worlds Largest Thai Dinner

Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to get an invite to an event the Brisbane Marriott was hosting, titled "The Worlds Largest Thai Dinner". In conjunction with their client appreciation week, Marriott's around the world were all hosting a Thai dinner, with the same format and menu for the evening in an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records.

I took Adam along with me as he loves his food but as we had been rather busy of late, I hadn't done much research in to the evening and was surprised to find out that it was an intimate sit down dinner, rather than the normal hotel function (ballroom, stand-up drinks & canapes, etc).

We spent most of the evening talking to Nicole the Revenue Manager at the hotel that we have a great working relationship with. Thanks to Jago, the Director of Sales & Marketing for putting us on the invite list and for hosting the dinner. It was an excellent night and the food was sensational ... and yes, the Marriott spoil me.

Here's the menu from the evening.

Appetiser:
thod man pla
(savory fish cakes with kaffir lime leaves, thai sweet chilli sace and cucumber)
and laab gai
(minced chicken salad with shallots, mint leaves and roasted rice powder)

Soup:
tom yam goong
(traditional thai hot & sour prawn soup)

Main course:
phad thai
(stir-fried noodles with river prawns)
and pla chu chi
(steamed fish in yellow curry)

Dessert:
kluey buad shee
(braised banana in coconut milk syrup)

Marriott luncheon at Sirromet

Earlier in the month I was lucky enough to get an invite from the Brisbane Marriott (thanks Nicole!) to attend their luncheon at Sirromet Winery. They had the same event 3 years ago so I was looking forward to it ever since I received the invitation.

The day started with coffee & juice in the lobby at the Marriott where I got to talk shop with Jago, the hotel's Director of Sales & Marketing, who I haven't seen for a few years. We then boarded the buses for the trip to Sirromet where we had bubbles on the balcony before sitting down to lunch in Restaurant Lurleen's (voted Australia's ‘Best Restaurant in a Winery').

The best thing about Sirromet is the restaurant and their food. The wine was better than I remembered it from a few years ago ... I stuck with the sauvignon blanc and the bubbles. For lunch, my date for the day enjoyed the duck sausage entree, then beef wrapped in bacon with roasted mushroom and creamy potato and then an individual lemon meringue pie. I had a prawn and avocado entree, salmon main and a chocolate pudding dessert.

It was a beautiful day finished with drinks at the cellar door (pictured below) before jumping on the bus back to the Marriott. Thanks to the team at the Marriott for the invite and for looking after us during the day.

Brisbane's most luxurious hotel rooms

I came across a good article about some of the best rooms that Brisbane hotels have to offer. While I've visited all of the hotels mentioned, I'm yet to stay in any of the suites listed. Will have to work on that!

Oh what a night: Brisbane's most luxurious hotel rooms
KATHERINE FEENEY

Looking for a night at the height of Australian hotel luxury without the hassle of chartering the private jet?

Don't fret. Brisbane has you covered but don't think you'll save much coin. A night in the city's best room is comparative to the top suites in the country.

With rates starting from $4000 per night, the Stamford Suite at the Stamford Plaza Hotel is Brisbane's most expensive space and shares price parity with the Royal Suites at Sydney's Sheraton On The Park and the Sofitel Melbourne.

Not bad for a city less than half the size of its southern cousins, though even this premium pales in comparison to one night spent in the "invitation only" Georgian Manor Villa at Melbourne's Crown Towers, which comes in at a cool $27,500 a night.

But how far does four grand go when it comes to luxury living?

Well, it gives you a room literally fit for a queen, with Queen Elizabeth II famously shunning traditional lodgings at Government House for a stay at the Stamford suite during her visit to Brisbane in the 1970s.

Featuring a private foyer, butler's quarters and grand piano the top floor suite has sweeping river views and opulent furnishings updated through the Stamford's recent $10 million makeover.

Of course if this suite offers little more luxury than you'd bargained for the Presidential Suite at the Marriott offers high style at just over half the price.

Here around $2500 buys you 131 square metres of turndown service, marble bathroom, separate lounge and dining areas, king-sized bedding and access to complimentary canapes and drinks served in the executive lounge.

Or there are the two levels and spiral staircase of the Opera Suite at the recently refurbished Sofitel available from $885 per night, where guests have ample space in which to entertain the envious.

However, price is not always indicative of quality and a number of relatively new boutique hotels amply answer the burgeoning demand for premium accommodation without the lofty fee.

Brisbane's Emporium Hotel, which opened in June 2007, was announced Best Boutique Hotel at the Queensland Hotels Association (QHA) Awards for Excellence recently, beating fellow finalist Peppers Spicers Peak Lodge.

Touted as the first true luxury boutique hotel in town, the best rooms at the glitzy hotel are the new Corner Suites which, from $495, come with separate sleeping and living areas, kitchenette, king-sized bedroom and furnishings drenched in rock star sex appeal.

And competition among the boutique market is set to heat up as more players come online with the newest contender, the Urban Hotel, housed on the former Terraces on Wickham site and offering $10 million worth of refurbished rooms.

The Urban joins the Portal Hotel, opened in March, and the celebrated Limes Hotel which, since its June 2008 launch, has became the city's first member of the exclusive, international Design Hotels group.

2008 by the numbers

I hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed the festive season. Susan and I started back on Monday while Adam has another week off and returns on Tuesday the 13th.

One of the first things I do around this time of the year is to work out our hotel room production for the calendar year just gone. This shows where we have booked most of our rooms and also how each city has performed compared to previous years.

Here are the results in order of our sales for each capital city (largest to smallest).

1. Brisbane down 40% (last year down 12%)
2. Perth up 77% (last year up 140%)
3. Melbourne down 40% (last year up 30%)
4. Sydney down 20% (last year up 100%)
5. Darwin up 95% (last year up 150%)
6. Adelaide up 1% (last year up 240%)
7. Canberra down 80% (last year up 90%)

As you can see, we and the hotel industry in general have felt the economic slowdown and the market definitely isn't as strong as it was the year before.

We weren't surprised to see Perth surge up the ladder (4th last year). Darwin's move up did shock as was the realisation that Adelaide hadn't risen more. We thought it had definitely outperformed.

Thanks to the strong performance of Perth, we also had a new # 1 hotel this year, Novotel Langley Perth (Advantages king room pictured below). Our top 5 is normally all Brisbane hotels but the Marriott at # 3 was the only Brisbane hotel this year.

Our top 5 hotels in 2008:

1. Novotel Langley Perth
2. Diplomat Canberra
3. Brisbane Marriott Hotel
4. Mantra Pandanas Darwin
5. Meriton Kent Street Sydney