Ascott Raffles City Beijing

On our recent visit to Beijing, we had the privilege of staying at Ascott's Raffles City Beijing apartment. The service apartment was conveniently located at the Dongzhimen district, with a direct access to the Airport train line and to Subway Line 2. Furthermore, this hotel is also on the same building as Raffles City, one of the established shopping malls on the city.

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Check in went smoothly and we were assigned to our One Bedroom Premier unit. The unit comes with a mini kitchen, a living room, and a separate bedroom equipped with a study desk and one king sized bed. Inside, the bathroom features a shower and bathtub, which had a separate door from the toilet and sink.

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Breakfast, which was served from 07:00 to 10:30 presents a reasonable option between Western and Asian selections. While most of the staff are friendly and helpful, they have a limited English skills which sometimes present a challenge in communications. However, given its status as a Singapore-owned establishment, the presence of a native staff member on the team does help some of the lost-in-translation occurrences.

Clearly, with comfortable and well-maintained apartment units in a strategic location, we had enjoyed our four-days stay on the Ascott Raffles City apartment.

Lion Air Orders 50 Boeing 737MAX-10

Image rendering of a Lion Air B737 MAX 10. (Photo by Lion Air)

While some of us are still in awe with the Boeing 737 MAX 8 (B38M) that has been roaming around the Indonesian archipelago over the past few months, Lion Air has just finalised another ground-breaking deal of 50 Boeing 737MAX 10 (B3JM) aircraft, valued at a total of USD 6.24 billion. At 43.8 metres long, the Boeing 737 MAX 10 can carry up to 230 passengers in a single-class configuration, more than any other type in the Boeing 737 MAX variant.

Contract signing between Dr. Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific & India Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. (left) and Mr. Edward Sirait, President Director of Lion Air (right). (Photo by Lion Air)

Just like in the previous edition of the B737MAX, passengers on the 737 MAX 10 are expected to enjoy a modern in-flight interior, with Boeing's Sky Interior design, alongside with an advanced, large flight deck displays that is aimed to deliver a reliable and comfortable service for all Lion Air customers.

Given Lion Air Group's status as one of the fastest growing carrier in Southeast Asian region, industry players and aviation enthusiasts are keen to see what important role this single-aisle aircraft will play, on the airline's Indonesia and regional expansion plans.

#airlinenews #boeing #lionair #travelblog #commentary

Capri by Fraser, Changi City

Sits only ten-minutes away from Changi Airport, the hotel is reachable by a scheduled shuttle bus provided by the hotel, or by a five minutes train ride from Changi Airport to the Expo MRT Station. It is situated right above Changi City Point, a shopping centre with a great variety of food and retail stores if you're in the mood for some window-shopping, while the city is approximately less than 50 minutes away by train.

Check-in was rather efficient on our arrival, although unfortunately, the attitude of the staff member on that day does look like she is not having a great day. Nonetheless, we were able to get on our room, a 32-square meter studio with twin beds.

Studio Room

The condition of the room was immaculate, and there's also a pantry featuring a microwave and fltered water tap which were welcomed feature. The rather spacious bathroom features a shower (with Malin and Goethe liquid soaps attached).

We had a great, one night stay at the hotel and have to check-out early morning to catch our 08:45 departure on an Singapore Airlines flight to Beijing. The staff member attending our check-out was friendly and very responsive to our requests and queries about getting a cab to the airport (since it was dawn).

Considering it's proximity to Changi Airport and the superb rooms that it had, this four-star property can be the reasonable options for travellers looking a place to stay in between flights at Singapore.