Car Rental: Setting the Car Type Parameter
Car rental can be a little bit tricky with the various selections that you have. It’s already quite the challenge shopping for cars from one car company lot and it’s also going to get bigger and more difficult when you shop from the best companies like Budget and Thrifty. One way that you can shorten the list of choices down would be to pick a vehicle by car type. You might not really consider price as a factor and this can give you good enough room for the best selection.
After you inputted your travel details in the car rental form, you’ll get something like 20 and maybe even 30 vehicles to choose from. If you specified the car type where you only want a sport/convert vehicle, you’ll only end up with two choices. Cars like the Ford Falcon XR6 and the Ford XR6 Sport will be in your list of choices. It’s one or the other and you can then start taking your pick based on the price. Since the Falcon is cheaper, you can select this car and you’re done with the booking.
If you’re travelling with a larger group and you want to rent a vehicle, you can also specify the car type to the people mover. Here, you’ll have choices from brands like Hertz and Avis along with the choices from Thrifty and Budget. Even if you have two additional vehicles to choose from, it’s not a very difficult task to pick from four car types. Budget and Thrifty offer the same model car, the Toyota Tarago but you can choose based on the price where the one from Thrifty is the cheapest choice. If you want something bigger, you can pick the Hyundai Imax. Clearly, if you simply set the car type parameter while shopping for a car rental, you can significantly narrow your choices down.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Tiers with a capital tea
A right regal experience can be had at the historical Hotel Windsor—in the heart of Melbourne, writes Chris Pritchard
“There’ll be tiers before bedtime”, a friend whispers mysteriously after inviting me to afternoon tea. She promises cucumber sandwiches minus crusts.
Now I understand what she means, Fans whirr overhead, Chandeliers are switched on despite the room’s cheery brightness.
And immediately in front of me are the tiers of which she spoke.
A solid-silver centrepiece on our table is a three-tiered serving stand.
Elegant finger sandwiches are stacked closest to the gleaming white tablecloth (including cucumber with sour cream, ham with mango pickle and smoked salmon).
Deliciously gooey cakes are piled on the middle teir and freshly-baked scones (with clotted cream and strawberry preserve on the side) sit on top, just beneath the Hotel Windsor’s crest.
“No, the stands don’t get souvenired”, the chief executive David Perry tells me. “We don’t get the sort of people who’d steal the family silver,”
Traditional afternoon tea at the Hotel Windsor is a popular component of Melbourne breakaways.
This teatime ritual has been a feature of the Windsor since it opened in 1883. Unhurried, it’s a far more memorable break than nipping into a coffee shop for a fast hit of caffeine. Mind you, coffee is available for those who prefer it.
There’s another difference. Reservations are recommended—even for tea. But despite a sedate and historic setting, afternoon tea at the Hotel Windsor isn’t at all stuffy. It’s pleasantly informal.
I drop in on a Tuesday afternoon and am surprised to find the off-the-lobby 111 Spring Restaurant where afternoon tea is served—three -quarters full. A few tables have lone occupants, with habitués enjoying tea while reading books or newspapers. Several are filled with gossiping family groups. Couples form a large majority.
“We average over 100 people a day”, a hotel executive says. “On busy days we’re full, and for weekends we recommend making reservations more than a month ahead.
“It’s a mix of Melbourne residents who’re often celebrating special occasions, along with country Victorians and visitors from interstate or overseas.” Afternoon tea costs more on Saturdays and Sundays because a dessert buffet is added.
A waiter proffers a tea menu, including popular choices such as Earl Grey as well as lesser-known varieties.
Afternoon tea (sometimes termed “Devonshire tea”, “English tea” or “cream tea”) is marketed these days by many hotels. But somehow it seems more authentic in its time-warp Windsor setting.
Tiers before bedtime? I plan to explore Melbourne’s humming after-dark scene, but I can forgive my host’s play on words.
Just outside the Windsor—between the hotel and the neighbouring State Parliament—I board the free City Circle tram. A worthy innovation, it is aimed at visitors but a few Melburnians board it for short rides.
A taped commentary is broadcast, highlighting the Melbourne Cricket Ground to our left and the Crown Casino with its restaurant-studded riverside precinct just across the Yarra River. Federation Square, museums, galleries, theatres, shopping malls and Melbourne’s celebrated lanes are all on our route to the new Docklands area with its apartment buildings, office, shops, restaurants and football stadium.
Our loop continues and I leave the tram outside the Windsor after a 45-minute orientation. It is dark when I stop for a beer in the off-the-lobby Cricketers Bar with its many photographs—most in black-and-white—and other bric-a-brac as reminders of bygone matches.
The lobby looks even plusher at night. Beneath its chandeliers is an opulent expanse of deep leather armchairs, antiques and artworks.
The Hotel Windsor, Ph: 03 9633 6000 or www.thehotelwindsor.com.au is a city landmark where afternoon tea costs $45 a head (Mon- Fri) or $65 (Sat-Sun). For more information, contact Tourism Victoria on 13 28 42 or www.visitvictoria.com