Tips on Traveling this Easter

Easter is the holiday most anticipated from the beginning of the year. We love our breaks. From the moment we resume back at work in January after the New Year, we begin to ask our Muslim friends when the next Muslim holiday holds, and we begin to calculate how many weeks left till Easter. Easter is finally around the corner, and if you blink you would find yourself making last minute plans and traveling in a rush that could see you have a not too pleasant holiday period. If you are traveling from a big city like Lagos, you know too well how travel during the holiday season can be. Between booking hotels, arrangement for flights or bus tickets, packing, and seeing and doing all the things you need to do, what do you need to do to ensure a hitch free Easter?

Plan now. Book Early.
Plan your itinerary right away. In fact, grab a pen and do it now. Know exactly where you are going, how you will get there, where you would stay, where you would eat and whom you are visiting.

Budget.
Don’t leave spending to a ‘pay as you go’ system. Know exactly what you would be spending money on and plan accordingly. Don’t leave anything to chance. Budgeting would help you stay within reasonable expenses and ensure that after the holiday you don’t go right back to being broke and borrowing to survive until the next payday.

Take advantage of Discounts.
Holidays are some of the best times to shop or travel, this is because retailers take advantage of the season to clear out old stock, or beat down the price to increase higher sales numbers which in turn increases turnover. So if you would be buying gifts for folks, or for yourself, look out for discounts on hotels and flights or bus tickets.

Ask for Extra Days off from Work
Now we know we get Good Friday and Easter Monday off during the Easter Holiday, but is it really enough? Especially if you are traveling a great distance or if you haven’t seen wifey and the kids in a long time. Asking for a couple of days off might do the trick for you. Sometimes, they key to having things go your way is by simply asking. Talk to your manager, or head of department or HR, explain your situation and you would be surprised that you could be getting two days off work simply because you just asked.

10 Essential Apps for Travelers

It’s the decade of the smartphone. Everything is available to our generation at the push of a button on our phone. But in a space that can often get very crowded, we select the best apps at your disposal for the frequent business traveler or adventure seeker. Whether it is hotel accommodation in Lagos, or maps and directions, commuting, and restaurants, there is an app for every need. Do not say we never did anything good for you.

Google Maps

The great thing about Google Maps is that it has the ability to be embedded on third party websites. Google Maps offers amazing satellite imagery, street maps, real-time traffic conditions, street view, route planning and GPS turn-by-turn navigation system in the mobile version. Google Maps is great for finding your way around a town or city you’ve never been and goes as far as showing you points of interest around the area such as hotels, restaurants, museums, parks, markets and other places of interests to tourists. In 2013, over 54% of smartphone users had used the app at least once. I particularly find myself using it every other day.

Jumia Travel App

The Jumia Travel App allows you to search for and book hotels around you. With well over 200,000 hotels available users who book hotel rooms with the app get as much as 10% off. Available on the Play Store and App Store. With its new progressive web feature, the app lets users browse through its list of hotels even with slow data speed and 2G connectivity.

Uber

The app that disrupted the taxi industry, Uber allows you to summon, I like that word, cabs at the push of a button. But they aren’t just old-fashioned cabs, Uber provides an opportunity to ride in style and comfort. Drivers are trained in best practices and customer service that allows them to deliver extra on taking you to your destination.

Foursquare

Foursquare is an app that allows users to enter locations and destinations they visit, review and rate them, thereby allowing other users to browse through and review these places before they visit. Foursquare provides recommendations on where people can visit for various purposes when they are new in a city of location.

Google Translate

Salut, comment Allez-Vous? Exactly, the same thing I thought. Google Translate allows you to navigate and overcome the barriers of communication when you are in a new city. It might be awkward and a tad difficult when trying to communicate directly with strangers, but it can allow you read signs at airports, bus stops, parks, markets, museums and other public places.

Whatsapp

With its new Video call feature, Whatsapp is increasing its usefulness for communication in the lives of everyone with a smartphone. For speaking to friends and family while away on your adventure, Whatsapp is an essential app for the Traveler. With its new Story feature, it is, even more, fun as you can share the exciting new places you are visiting.

Bonjournal

Bonjournal is an app that allows you keep track of your memories and experiences on a travel. The simplistic travel app integrates with Foursquare to provide all the details of your travel destination as well as create notes and commentary while on your trip. It also records the history of all your travels making it easy for you to pull out data in future. Available on Apple devices.

GoMywayAfrica

Go My Way Africa is a ride sharing platform that allows travelers to find drivers who are heading towards the same destination and with a seat to spare and thus share a ride with them either free or at the cost the driver indicates. Drivers with seats to spare can also post trips for people who are going their way to join them. It is an amazing way to travel while saving costs.

XE Currency

New country? Different continent? Need to change your currency? Get live rates with the XE Currency app as well as locations where to change your money. It also has currency converter calculator to calculate rates if you are buying a product or paying for a service.

Airbnb

The homestay peer to peer network for people who want to rent homes for short stays or users who want to enlist their homes for rent.  It offers a great opportunity for people who want to live in historical homes on a short time basis, or network and do business outside the hotel environment while away from home. Many hotels these days even list on Airbnb.

Hotels in Lagos with the Best Buffet

Foooood. Glorious Fooooood. Hot sausage and mustaaarrrdddd.

Those are lyrics from the song Food, Glorious Food from the official soundtrack of the Oliver Twist movies. If you love food as much as I think you do, then like the title suggests you want to know the hotels in Lagos that serve the most sumptuous and amazing buffets. This is important because it would help you inform your choice of selecting a hotel to stay in while on business in the city or while simply on a leisure trip.

Southern Sun Ikoyi

The Tsogo Sun Group Hotel describes its buffet as generous and outstanding dining. Brunch comes with champagne. And I think the prices are decent too.

Breakfast Buffet  (Non-Resident) : N8000

Buffet Lunch      N9500

Dinner Buffet     N11000

Seafood Dinner                 N12000

Sunday Brunch  N12500

Radisson Blu Anchorage

The Radisson Blu Anchorage is one of the more popular destinations for brunch buffets for families and friends. I really can’t count the number of times I have double tapped on pictures proclaiming loudly how delicious brunch at Radisson was. It is especially pleasant because of the views of the Lagoon it offers.

Sunday Brunch Buffet N10,000

Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos

Intercontinental Hotel Lagos, offers great tasting meals its Ekaabo Restaurant. The restaurant offers 24-hour dining with a cuisine that includes Italian, Chinese, Indian and Nigerian.

N20,000 for two persons*

A persons review put the price at this, could not find the price from a verifiable source. I’m just wondering why it says N20,000 for two persons and not just N10,000.

Eko Hotels and Suites

Eko Hotels and suites have the most extensive and detailed buffet offering. You can find all of it here. Prices are per person but you would have to be part of a group of 40. Makes sense if you want to do a small wedding reception or birthday party.

Breakfast: 6am – 10am
Lunch: 12pm – 4pm
Dinner: 6pm – 10pm

Peep some of their Buffet offerings and the prices below. Like I said It is really extensive and detailed, this is just a scoop of some names and the prices without what each buffet contains.

Africana                               N6,200

Buffet Atlantic                   N7,500

Buffet Kuramo                  N7,200

Buffet Eko                           N8,900

Buffet Presidential          N8,900

Buffet Pacific                     N8,500

Continental-Nigerian      N7,500

African Nigerian Magic   N8,900

Viva Mexico                       N9,000

Protea Ikeja

Protea Ikeja like much of the Protea Hotels in Nigeria are currently being managed and taken over by BON Hotels, a South African Hospitality group. This hasn’t changed their offer of excellent dining and buffet. If you have business in the Ikeja axis, Protea is a great choice for the rooms and services as well as for the food.

Buffet Breakfast               N4,800.00           

Buffet Lunch                      N5,000.00           

Buffet Dinner                    N5,800.00           

Sheraton Lagos Hotel

Sheraton Lagos Hotel offers amazing buffet and dining at its Crock Pot Restaurant. You have to call to make a reservation and know the prices though. For those lodging, a buffet breakfast is available, in some cases it could come free depending on your room and if you booked during a promo.

Breakfast Buffet N4,900