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

 Stay Report: Radisson Hotel Baku
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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.

Stay Report: Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel (Stockholm, Sweden - June 2022)

   Stay Report: Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel
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I was traveling to Stockholm and when looking for a place to stay, there is not a lot of variety especially if you want to stay in the city center.  There were only a couple of options and one of them was a local brand and the other was the Radisson Blu.  Radisson Blu had a couple of locations throughout Stockholm City Center so you could choose from a variety of options.  I had never stayed at a Radisson Blu so was not sure what to expect, but my travel companion had stayed and had some status so we decided to book the Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel.  

This hotel is located right next to the train station and is within walking distance to many sights, shops, and restaurants and this is the main reason we choose this hotel; location.  We booked the hotel through the Radisson app as there were discounts through the app that were not available online.  There were various room types to choose from and each room had various booking types - bed only, bed plus breakfast, bed plus extra points, etc.  We were using the hotel as a base to walk around and were not planning on being in the room long so we booked the basic bed-only room.  

The hotel is located on the main road right next to the train station.  As you exit one section of the train station - right next to the entrance to the airport train - you will see the hotel on the left-side.  From the outside, the hotel does not look like much and definitely needs an upgrade and paint job from the outside.  There are entrances to the hotel - one is located right next to the train station entrance so you can walk out of hotel, take 5 steps and be inside the train station.  This exit is only open during the day and closes at night due to security reasons; I did not feel unsafe walking around at night but did have to be more vigilant at night.  The main entrance is located on the main road so from the train station you go towards the main road, take a left and the main entrance is right there.  When you enter the lobby, there is a long walkway that leads you to the check-in desks at the other side of the lobby.  Service at the check-in desks was varied and greatly depended on who was at the desk which made requests and service extremely difficult and inconsistent.  

Along the left-side of the walkway are seating areas.  Along the right-side are seating areas, the hotel restaurant, the hotel bar, as well as access to the second section of the hotel (more on that below).  The lobby did not match the outside and luckily looked updated so was large, roomy and had plenty of seats.  There were two sets of elevators - one of the left and one on the right - and these led to the two different sections of the hotel which contained the rooms.  

The rooms on both sides were designed the same and both resembled a cabin on a cruise ship.  In my stays I experienced both a smaller room size as well as a 'deluxe' room type - both were laid out the same and had the same amenities and the only difference was the size of the room.  In both rooms, as you entered on the right was the bathroom.  The bathroom contained a sink, a toilet, a shower tub or shower stall as well as refillable bottles of hand wash, lotion, and body wash.  In addition, there were other amenities in the bathroom including towels, comb, and other bathroom amenities.  Across from the bathroom was an extremely narrow closet which contained an iron, ironing board, safe, shelves, and place to hang your clothes.  The closet had everything but was EXTREMELY narrow.  In between the bathroom and the main part of the room was a nook that had a fridge on the bottom and the coffee maker on top.  In the main part of the room, on the right side was the two twin beds each with a nightstand on either stand as well as a nightstand in the middle.  The beds were small but comfortable and provided a decent nights sleep.  Along the left side, across from the beds, was a TV mounted on the wall and a desk and a chair next to the wall; it was a basic desk but nice since there was no storage space in the room.  Those were the basic amenities that were in both rooms - and as I said the only difference between the rooms was space as both were identical in features but one was larger.  Both rooms also had a window and in one room there was a chair and small desk next to the window; the other room did not have this feature.  

Amenities in the hotel included a restaurant, a fitness center, wifi, and meeting rooms.  The wifi was complimentary and at a decent speed with no limitations to the number of devices connected.  The fitness center was not a fitness center but an actual gym in the bottom of the hotel that hotel guests were allowed to use; but the service at the fitness center was not pleasant so it did not create a pleasant workout  experience. Overall, it was a disappointing stay at the Radisson Blu.  The only advantage to the hotel was the location right next to the train station but otherwise they offered an average room that had ok features but was small and definitely not worth the exorbitant price that was charged for the room.  The service was poor and the amenities and layout did not match the price paid.

Stay Report: Radisson Hotel Brunei Darussalam (Brunei - September 2019)

Stay Report: Radisson Hotel Brunei Darussalam

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I was traveling to Brunei's capital and largest city, Bandar Seri Bagawan, and everyone recommends the Radisson Hotel as the place to stay.  Since I was only going to be there for one night, I wanted to stay in the heart of the city so that I could walk or have access to all the main sights and the Radisson fit this bill.  This would be my first time staying at a Radisson so I had no idea what to expect.  I had booked the hotel through an third-party website but then contacted the hotel to 1) ensure that my booking was valid and to get the Radisson reference number and 2) see if they could arrange for airport pick-up and drop-off.  The hotel does not run an airport shuttle so you can either arrange transport with the hotel, take a taxi, or arrange your own transportation.  I decided to go with the hotel as it was more convenient and their prices seemed to be competitive with what other travelers had said about taxi prices in Brunei.  


I had provided my flight information to the hotel so that when I exited immigration with my luggage, there was already someone waiting for me to take me to the hotel; which took about 30 minutes to reach.  From the outside the hotel looked a bit older, as if it was built in the 60's or 70's.  The hotel was shaped in a long and narrow square with rooms either facing the city and the street or away from it (more on this later).  The car pulled up to the main entrance and I walked up to the lobby.  As the hotel is not very deep, the lobby was also not very grand and large.  The check-in and concierge desks were to the left as well as the business center, in front was the tourist shop, and to the right was the restaurant where breakfast was available, and Indian restaurant inside the hotel, and a small waiting area.  The elevators were right in front along with the stair entrance to the pool and gym, which were located on the second floor.  

When I arrived there was only one check-in attendant and she was already helping someone else but after about 2 minutes another attendant came in from the office and assisted in checking me in.  When booking through the third-party, I had already prepaid for my room but I had an option to upgrade.  As I said earlier, the hotel is long width wise but not depth so the rooms are laid out either facing the street or the facing the other side, and the ones facing the street are considered 'deluxe rooms'.  My original booking was for a regular room, which faced away from the street, but the upgrade promotion was breakfast plus upgraded to the deluxe room.  While I was not interested in the room upgrade, I decided to go with the promotion for the breakfast (a decision I would regret later on, more on that below).  I received my key and went to elevator to go up to my room.

As you get out of the elevator, the rooms are down a long hallway either to your left or right.  As I had upgraded, I was in a deluxe room which looked as follows:  as you enter the room, on right is a sliding closet with slippers, a safe, and lots of storage area.  On the left was the bathroom which contained a sink, a walk-in shower, and a nice toilet that was very Japanese style as it had a built in bidet.  The toilet also contained toiletries such as lotion, shampoo and body wash - while it was a nice gesture, I did not enjoy the smell nor texture of the toiletries.  Further into the room, on the left was the queen size bed with a night stand on either side.  On the right hand side, next to the closet was a stand to put your luggage, and then a TV on the wall, a desk, and then a large window which faced out onto the street (which was not soundproof as at night you could hear the call to prayer as well as car traffic in the room).  The room was very nice, large, well decorated, looked and felt updated, and the bed was comfortable and provided a good nights sleep.  There were two complimentary bottles of water on the nightstand, but the water, the extra space, and the street view were the only indications that this was a deluxe room.  

The hotel is a full-service hotel so there are many facilities for the guests to enjoy including a gym, pool, breakfast area, a restaurant, business center, tourist shop, as well as wifi.  The wifi is complimentary was decent enough for checking email and watching YouTube; the gym was a decent size, not too big but had enough machines for a decent workout; the business center had 4 computer stations and complimentary printing; and the pool was a decent size.  My upgrade also came with complimentary breakfast so in the morning I went down to try that - and it was a sever disappointment.  It was a breakfast buffet and it had a little selection of many things but it was not comprehensive of anything and the selections were not that great; to me, it was not indicative of 4-5 star that the hotel is trying to be, but rather the buffet and the options provided were decent for a 2-3 star hotel (and definitely not worth the price of upgrading).  The hotel also provided a complimentary shuttle to another part of town which had the biggest mall as well as the night market, and this was a nice gesture by the hotel; the shuttle ran on timings throughout the day so you had to wait for the shuttle. 

Overall, it was a decent stay at the Radisson.  The hotel was centrally located so that within 10-15 minutes I could walk to most of the major sights, restaurants, and shops.  The airport pickup and dropoff went smoothly and the beds provided a nice and comfortable rest.  The only disappointment was the breakfast buffet, which in my mind did not meet the standards in terms of selection and quality to what the hotel was trying to achieve.  In my opinion, do not choose the upgrade but instead enjoy the standard room and get breakfast from a local coffee shop.