Stay Report: Radisson Hotel Baku (Baku, Azerbaijan - May 2024)

 Stay Report: Radisson Hotel Baku
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

When traveling to Baku, there are many hotel options available covering all price ranges.  I was traveling with a friend so I was looking for a hotel that was near them but also affordable.  I found a couple of options and when I went to communicate with them, the Radisson is the only hotel that responded in a timely manner and provided good communication (one hotel never even responded).  I have limited experience with the Radisson brand as my first experience was with Radisson hotel in Brunei (see review here) and my other experience was with Radisson Blu in  Stockholm (see review here); both of the experiences were average or underwhelming so I had low expectations of my room and stay. 

I had booked the hotel through the Radisson website.  It was very easy to book and manage the hotel through the website, and there are member-only rates available online or through the app.  As I mentioned before, the hotel was very communicative in responding to queries and provided a lot of good information and that is something I greatly appreciated.  The hotel did offer airport pick and drop at an additional costs but I did not avail of this option.  The hotel is located on the main boulevard in Baku and has a small driveway for car drop-off.  From research, the hotel used to be a Park Inn by Radisson but then changed to Radisson (on some ride-hailing apps it is still listed as Park Inn).  From the outside, you climb up 5 steps (or take the ramp) and enter the hotel.  

From the outside the hotel looks very big but the lobby is narrow and does not have a lot of space to sit nor congregate; if there is a big group checking in then it gets very hard to navigate in the lobby.  There is a narrow lane of sofas in the middle of the lobby and to the left are the check-in desks while to the right is the restaurant.  Straight ahead, beyond the sofas, are the elevators.  I checked in at 8am in the morning so there was no one in the lobby; however, when I left at 5pm a group had come in to check-in and it made navigating the lobby very difficult.  I checked-in, received my key, and proceeded to my room.

The room was in the middle of a long hallway;it seemed that the elevators were at the beginning of the hallway and the rooms proceeded that.  Once I entered the room, there was a small entryway for the door before getting into the main part of the room.  In the main part of the room, on the left was the entryway to the bathroom while on the right a closed closet which contained places to hang your clothes, the iron and ironing board, and I believe a safe.  The bathroom contained a sink with a long counter, a toilet, and a shower stall with refillable amenities.  The bathroom was basic and the size was bearable but a bit on the cramped size; and even though I had just checked in some of the refillable amenities - body wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotion - had not been refilled.  Once you entered into the room, there was the queen-size bed on the left with a nightstand on each side.  Across from the bed, on the right side, was the TV mounted on the wall.  Further along into the room, on the right was a couch and a table while on the left was a nice size desk with a chair and the tea station.  There was a huge window that looked out onto the street and it was actually a small balcony so you could open up and enjoy a breeze or the view from the outside.  The space of the room was good, decent for 1-2 people and plenty of room to store your luggage.  The bed was comfortable enough and provided a good nights sleep.  Overall it was a comfortable bed in a decent size room and good enough for the price that was being charged.  Was the room worth a higher price, no and that is because it was the little things that made the room feel more like a 3-star hotel including the quality of the furniture, the not refillable of the amenities, and other such small things.  Its a basic and decent room but keep expectations at check.  

The hotel is a full-service hotel and thus provides the following amenities: free wifi, airport pickup and drop-off for a charge, fitness center, meeting rooms, restaurant and bar where breakfast is served (you can book a room with breakfast or add it later for a charge), and luggage hold.  I did try the wifi which was decent and you can connect as many devices as you would like, and I did do the luggage hold as they were very strict on the check-in and check-out time and were not authorizing either early check-in or late check-outs without charging for them. 

Overall, it was a decent stay at the hotel.  The room was clean, a decent size, and provided a good nights sleep as well as providing complimentary wifi and luggage hold.  The service was a bit lackluster and the other finishings and services were minimal; but given the price it was a decent nighs stay.  If you keep your expectations to a minimal, you will have a good nights stay.

Trip Report: AZAL Airlines, Lahore to Baku (May 2024)

  Trip Report: AZAL Airlines, Lahore to Baku

comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was in Pakistan and looking for a place to travel so was looking at direct flights from Lahore.  Recently, AZAL Airlines started direct flights from Lahore to Baku and Azerbaijan has been on my list so decided to check out the airline, the city and the country.  I booked my ticket online through the AZAL website directly and since AZAL is a full-service airline, each ticket came with a free seat selection, complimentary meals as well as complimentary 23-kg checked baggage.  You could add additional baggage online if needed (I did need it and it was convenient to have this process done online prior to the airport so that airport check-in is easier).  During the booking process, I was able to select my seat - there were regular seat selection as well as priority seat selection; later on I figured out these were exit row as well as in the front of the plane seats that required costs to select them. 

The flight was scheduled to depart at 2am and arrive into Baku at 5:40am and was to be operated by an Airbus A319 for a flight time of 4 hours.  The flight only 2-3 times a week so its essential to make the flight.  I got to the airport 3-hours in advance, quickly checked in and received my boarding pass, and went to the gate.  Boarding was to commence at 1:15am but it started late and was a bit chaotic but we ended being boarded for an on-time pushback.  The plane is an Airbus A319 with a small business class upfront in a 2-2 configuration and economy in the back in a 3-3 configuration.  The first 3 rows of economy as well as the exit row were designated as premium - so even though some of them sat empty they would not allow people to move there unless they paid an upgrade.  There was a family separated and instead of rearranging seats to get the family to sit together as well as accommodate other passengers, the airline insisted everyone take their assigned seats and kept the family separate throughout the entire flight!

The seat itself was basic as it had an adjustable headrest, a tray table, as well as a storage pocket but that was it.  There was no USB nor charging ports and no additional amenities.  The legroom was decent, not great but not terrible, and the seat comfort was ok for the first 2 hours but then it got uncomfortable afterwards for the remaining two hours.  Service onboard was average as they were not mean but were not nice, and communication in English was definitely an issue.  AZAL provides a complimentary meal on all their flights - and that is a nice gesture especially in today's time.  You can preorder special meals based on religious and/or dietary restrictions.  On this leg, one meal service was going to be conducted; we took off on-time and it was a late night flight so instead of serving the food quickly and letting people sleep, or letting people sleep and then serve food before we landed into Baku, the airline decided to keep the cabin dark for an hour, let everyone sleep, and then an hour after takeoff start the meal and drink service.  It was a really odd choice and after the meal service coffee and tea were offered, and again that took a while so hour 2-3 of your flight was taken up by the meal service.

The meal provided was basic but decent and for my special meal included a salad, fresh fruit, the main dish, as well as a piece of bread.  The main meal was a smaller portion but decent for the 4-hour flight but was a bit bland and needed some flavor; the bread was not warmed but was decent.  Complimentary drinks, including alcoholic drinks, were served and coffee and tea were offered afterwards.  After the meal service, the lights were turned off again for the remaining flight time to do what you wanted.  They did have screens above that showed the flight map, and you could connect to the entertainment system on your own device.  The entertainment system was present but extremely limited as it only offered a handful of movies and other programs; it was basically bring your own entertainment. We landed in Baku on time and quickly exited the plane and cleared through customs and immigration.

I took AZAL again when flying between Baku and Tbilisi and the overall experience was the same but there were a couple of differences.  The plane operating this route was an Embraer E190 and it was newer so the seat pitch and comfort were better; all regional flights operate out of Terminal 2 which is the older terminal and you can definitely feel that; and the Embraer did not have the 'stream to your device' entertainment option.                                                                                                                                                                    In the end, it was an average and basic flight was AZAL.  There are some things that were good including the price which was not expensive, each flight took off and landed on-time, the complimentary seat selection and luggage allowance, and the complimentary meals and service on both flights.  Service could have been better but airlines within this region are not known for their service; generally if they get to your destination on time in a clean and comfortable space then they did their job and AZAL does the job.