Radisson Blu Resort- Fujairah’s Hidden Gem

Hey Guys,

If you all read my posts, you know how much I love staycations. No travel hassle and a blissful couple of days away from the grind. Last weekend I got to check out a “sassy” resort and spa nestled near the mountains of Dibba, Fujairah. You might miss it and drive past going towards the popular Al Aqah beach area, as it’s the very first resort on the line - but DON’T - as it’s one of the best beach properties in the emirate.  

Why I Loved It?

I was blown away by how huge the resort is! Couldn’t tell from the outside or the website. But it’s MASSIVE, with 3 buildings and five swimming pools stretched along the shoreline! 

Add along friendly smiles, the “Yes, I can” attitude of the entire staff, and amazing massage therapists are what made this trip truly memorable. Everything was planned to perfection from the word go by F&B Manager Mr. John and the oh so lovely GM Mr. Frank Eikeland - a passionate Norwegian by heart and thorough veteran in the hospitality industry. 

Thank you so much for the wonderful experience!

Accomodation;

My sister and I along with the kids stayed at the very spacious one bedroom suite - so airy that the kids had the entire hall with 2 beds and television area, toilet, dining area and coffee area to themselves, while we were free to kick back and relax and get some “me time” in! I strongly recommend getting this room when travelling with children; they won’t be in your hair all the time and soak in the luxury too! 

Food & Beverage; 

The Chicken tandoori pizza and steak fries at the Grand Blue Pool Bar & Restaurant were my ultimate go to during the entire stay - and the kids agreed! Apart from that, great milkshakes to beat the heat and ice buckets to keep your cocktails chilled make this place a great all day hangout.

The Bread selection was a dream!

BBQ Night Feast

Dessert Platter!

Breeze - All Day Dining is their main restaurant; to be honest the selection was not too vast but whatever was their tasted quite good. Their bread station along with the variety of spreads was to die for. Did I mention the kids only stayed put at their live yummilicious waffles and pancake station? One of the best things at Breeze about taking your family was that the kids selection for lunch & dinner buffet was extensive and made the adults envious - must admit I sneaked in quite a few fries & nuggets myself!

From the in-room service I recommend the Lamb Shank, Nasi Goreng and the Baked Cheesecake!

 What to do around the resort;

Let’s start with the amazing fact that they had not one or two but FIVE outdoor swimming pools! There’s one where I saw lots of families, one with the pool bar where I saw lots of couples, a toddler splash area, a Jacuzzi/hot tub one, and lastly one where I saw fitness minded serious swimmers doing laps. Yes, I stayed away from that one ;p

Congratulations!

The WATER SPORTS CENTRE has a lot to offer so we were torn between going for the banana boat ride, the donut ride and the many others that have family entertainment in mind.

 The DIVE Centre was fabulous and had Scuba Diving sessions to the wonderful little snorkeling trips you can go for to catch the abundant sea life in this part of the world. Wait for the best part of this experience…we actually saw one of the guests go underwater while scuba diving and give a startling marriage proposal! Hurray, as she did say YES. The wedding is in two weeks so let’s wish them luck and love <3

The O2 Spa;

No resort experience is complete without a visit to their Spa. It’s like going to the

Cheesecake Factory and not having the cheesecake! 

I recommend the Deep Tissue Massage for those like me who have extremely tense and sore muscles and also the amazing Four Hands Massage which was recommended by the GM Frank.  My therapists, Sunita and Dawa were highly skilled and knew exactly where to put pressure to rid you of any stiffness you may have. I left feeling energized, soothed and pampered all at the same time.

Alright then, hope you have a wonderful stay there soon.

Till my next adventure, happy travels :)

 

Be Curious....And Travel!

Hi friends,

I’ve noticed a lot of us find it difficult to find the right places to go to when reading about travel. As they say “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page…”

To be able to decide where you want to go, it can’t just be something someone said or a destination that seems to be popular amongst your friends. What kind of a traveler you are, do you prefer to stay in luxury or head out backpacking…figure this out for yourself by reading up before you go swimming in the same pool as everyone else and end up not enjoying is as much as you thought.

Make sense? Well the following few sites will give you perspective! The explorers are all different kind of story tellers. Find out which one YOU want to be.

http://www.travelholicsdiary.com/

http://www.travelandleisure.com/

http://www.travelfreak.net/

https://instagram.com/firstclassbelongings/

http://www.travelchannel.com/

Happy Reading :) 

Love,

Sassy Explorer

How to deal with Annoying Fellow Travelers!

When it gets PLANE annoying!

We are all too well aware and almost always embrace ourselves when boarding a flight. Why? Because we’re trying to figure out exactly which habit of our fellow travelers is going bother us MOST during the journey. Check out a few of my tried and tested methods;

The Seat Kickers

It’s as if Ronaldo, Messi and Drogba decided to have a match right behind your seat. The knobby knees of the person behind you may get your blood pressure rising but here’s what you do. If it’s a child or even an adult offer them chocolate or chewing gum, kick start a conversation and politely ask them to stop.

The Noise Polluters

Apparently these kind of travelers seem to want to pretend they’re deaf. Blasting whatever you’re watching in full volume can give the person next to you a major headache. Here’s what you do – smile and ask them for a magazine, when they reply casually mention “Wow…you’re a loud one aren’t you?” and deliberately put on your noise cancelling headphones on so they get the hint!

The Over-Friendly Ones

Oooh! Now these are the tough nuts. Throwing off all your cues for them to shut up, these are the bunch that love to chitter chatter. There is nothing and I mean nothing that will make them shut their trap. So here’s what you do…excuse yourself and go to the washroom, come back and pretend to fall asleep instantly! If they try to talk to you later, be blunt and say I’m sorry plane rides give me a migraine so I’m just gonna listen to calming music.

Permanent Seat-back travelers

From the moment they sit on the plane, the seat goes all the way towards the decline and they’re practically sleeping in your arms throughout the journey. How insensitive right? Here’s what you do – Start screaming in pain as soon as they push the seat too back. When everyone starts staring just say “I’m sorry I have leg pain/shoe got stuck/hurt your head” - any painful excuse you can come up with. The person will be so embarrassed you will be rest assured THAT will not happen again :p

The Stinky Poos

I’m sorry there’s no way out of this one. Ask your attendant to be re-seated or just be prepared to burn your nostril for the next few hours. Alternately, you could start spraying perfume on a hand towel and putting it under your nose so they get a hint!

The Armrest Hoggers

It’s as if they expect you to keep your hands in the air throughout the flight! The middle seat arm territory has been completely taken up and you’re left uncomfortable for hours at end.

Here’s what you do; either drop something on the floor and ask them to help you get it, then immediately hog the arm rest on your side so they get the message OR just strike a deal to share it half and half.

If you know of any more, please feel free to comment,

For now, hope this helps :)

Lobe, Sassy Explorer

Best Travel Websites To Make Planning Fun!

Planning a trip for the first time can be a bit overwhelming.

Where to go, how to plan for visas, how much money to take, what’s the weather there like? These vital questions can make you almost rush to travel agent so you can get a ready-made itinerary. But don’t do that - not only does it cost more, but once you find your way around it you will learn that “planning” a vacation is almost as exciting as going for one!

Here is a list of my five favorite websites to make your life easier and prepping more fun :)

AirBnB

With Airbnb you can rent out extra rooms in people's houses or even their entire apartment or homes. Not only does it save TONS of money, especially when travelling to Places like Europe, but also gives you an opportunity to interact with locals there. Since the owners are generally nice enough, they help out with the best places to see, how to get there and even give their recommendations! It is also the 5^th most popular online travel booking site.

Booking.com

This website is killing it. I am a sucker to this one and have made almost all of my travel bookings so far through it. Booking.com has a huge selection of hotels, apartments in nearly every city in the world and you can choose to look through 3, 4 or 5 star properties depending on your budget. Another positive is the fact that you can book ahead and their easy cancellation policy makes sure you never have to worry in case your visas don’t go through or travel plans/dates change.

Trip Advisor

It’s literally the world's largest travel site, offers advice from millions of travelers and a wide variety of planning features. I’m a listed member and love giving reviews of all the places I’ve been to so travel aficionados like me get an opportunity to witness the best any destination has to offer. It’s also the best place to narrow down your choices of hotels, tickets, food options and itinerary.

Lonely Planet

Apparently people say lonely planet has lost its charm and there are many “other” websites you should move on to. Firstly, that’s not true. I always log on to this website for all information regarding the unknowns. Let’s say you’re going to Indonesia, for example, the weather, when to go, what to see, what festivals are there year round, what currency to  etc. Glancing at these prevent me from going to separate links and figure out the same details. Doing that makes my head go round and want to stop the planning process! So stick to lonely planet.

Cobone and Groupon

Both of these daily deal sites offer travel discounts and I can personally attest to the fact that they offer some great deals! I recommend reading all of the fine print before purchasing any of the discounted travel deals, however, because sometimes there are blackout dates or flight stipulations or any number of possible clauses that could affect your vacation but overall these sites offer some fantastic discounts.

Hope this helps!

The Sassy Explorer

Taj Exotica Resort & Spa - MALDIVES

Hi Guys!

I recently came from Maldives!! How great is that? Tsk Tsk Now don’t go being jealous folks, after you’ve read my review, you will be packing your bags and catching the next flight to the hidden gem or rather what I call “pearl paradise”.

To start off, Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. It has around close to 1200 islands, out of which nearly 200 are inhabited by the locals and 123 have been turned into resorts. One island One resort.  Its Capital “Male” is officially the smallest capital city in the world.

Taj Exotica Resort & Spa - Why I Loved it!

It’s breathtakingly beautiful, serene; every picture you take turns out to be better than a postcard pic, the hospitality is unbeatable with smiling and happy to serve attitude and the scrumptious feast at every restaurant and room service. I was hosted by a very interesting, calm, confident and charming man - the General Manager Mr. Ranjit Phillipose. And the very pretty, classy, fun and full of life Ms. Ruby Garcia, his Execitive Assistant Manager. The kind of people you always want to keep in touch with because of the warm and fuzzy at home feelings they give you to always remember them by.

A little interesting history behind it is, and I learnt this from the locals there, it is firstly based in the largest island of Maldives so you can imagine how massive the property is. When Taj took over the island in 1993 it had only three coconut trees on it thus giving it the name “Embodhu Finohlu” and had just ten rooms at a 2 to 3 star resort - since tourism had just taken off in those days. They re-branded after the tsunami hit in 2004, and used the opportunity to change all the products, services, and have major upgrades calling it Taj Exotica Resort & Spa since 2005.

Accommodation;             

There is quite a variety of villas and suites that you can choose from. Of course that depends on the kind of vacation you want to have. Every room is assigned their very own BUTLER. Ours was Mausim, and in his absence, Ali. Both were so sweet and attentive and over willing to cater to all your needs from helping me open the exotic water bottles in the room to waking me up with coffee!

For Honeymooners; I recommend the Deluxe Water Villa with Plunge Pool. It is dreamy, romantically set on a beautiful and pristine blue lagoon. The room has state of the art features when it comes to luxury, from ipod attachments and a great TV/Audio system, to a big comfy bed you can slide into, a massive bathroom where the huge tub sits pretty and white where you can see the entire ocean from your window - I had called the view 50 Shades Of Blue - take that E.L. James ;p

Alternately, if you’re the beach crazies then I recommend the Ocean Front Villas that are right on the beach, you can catch a romantic swim in the clear blue waters and see the sun setting together right outside your door.

It also rains in brief heavy spells! *LOVE*

For families; The Premium Villa 2 bedroom suits are most suitable for the kiddie party or a group of friends too. They are even more spacious and so lovely. I saw a lot of little ones getting out of their suite and running into the gorgeous turquoise water right outside their doorstep.

For Ultimate Luxury; if you can afford it, MUST STAY at the Rehendi Presidential Suite. My jaw dropped when the Associate Sales Director Mr Saad Zahid showed me this beauty. It’s just in the center of the water villas, and the moment you set eyes in the outside you see big lamps with great architecture leading you inside - much like the red carpet! Once inside, it is so colossal and grand. The living room has, once again, state of the art technology. I totally flipped over the nearly 100 inch flat screen TV. Two lusciously decorated rooms with an indoor and outdoor shower. A pool bigger than the main pool in the entire resort, with a large deck that places a dining table, swinging chair, and the lower deck that has been made into a beach with two comfortable chairs you can soak up the sun in - but the best of all was the trampoline right above the ocean with cushions.

Tingle your taste buds - the FOOD!

I’m salivating just thinking about it. I never thought there would ever be place on planet earth, where a bit of an over critical foodie like me would order something on the resorts’ menu for four days - and gulp down every morsel of my dish without a single complaint. I seriously did - had not a single critique to offer. And if you would know me a bit better - to satisfy and exceed my expectations when it comes to great food is NOT an easy feat. They even had the most delicious cocktail for two called Romantic Escapade in a ginormous glass!

Delicious, Light & So Pretty!

The Taj Burger & Mixed kebab platter were to die for!

Lobster Night at the classy "Deep End" Restaurant! 

Tranquility Unleashed - Jiva Grande Spa

It had several Ayurveda treatments - most of the names I don’t remember! But one luxurious and romantic one they have is called “Aleppa” where both partners rub each other with mud and scrubs and sunbathe in their separate beautiful outdoor private room right above the ocean. However, I got the more traditional oil aromatherapy massage, and my husband chose the sports version. When I asked him what his favorite part of the trip was…he said…the Spa…so you can imagine how wonderful and relaxing it was. You could hear the water crashing on the pavilions wooden stands right below which was much more calming than any spa music I have ever heard - and I’m a big spa person!

Things to do around the resort;

So much to do around the island, you may want o get out the comfort of your room and step out for a bit of shark feeding, where you can see the white tip reef sharks coming wildly close to you for the meat thrown out to them by the trained staff. There’s also Sting Ray Feeding that happens every evening at 5:30 where the marine biologist feeds them and explains all about the species. But don’t worry, they are only dangerous if you try and trouble them - if you mind your own business, they will too!

The Water Sports Centre is where you can get your diving equipment from, whether you want to book a tour to go out into the deep blue sea for scuba diving or just enjoy a bit of romantic snorkeling under your water villas -there is something for everyone. Alternately, you can just book a romantic dinner for two where you are taken to a private island and can even enjoy spending a night out there with your loved one underneath the starry sky.

It’s all in all one big quixotic and dreamy place to be, so make sure you visit!! Till my next adventure, happy travelling folks :)

Love, 

Sassy Explorer