Window Seat Preferred

We returned to the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur for a full week, this time using a Premier Selection Suite as a remote working base.

From Horizon Club access (and my beloved Cocktail Hour!) and consistently strong service to one unexpected in-room issue, this stay gave a more complete picture of why this hotel remains one of KL's most reliable luxury stays.

Full review: https://windowseatpreferred.com/2026/04/shangri-la-kuala-lumpur-revisited/

Aer Lingus A321XLR Economy from Dublin to Barbados 🍀✈️

There’s a lot to like about the aircraft itself: surprisingly comfortable seats, good in-flight entertainment, and a generally solid cabin product. But the realities of a single-aisle aircraft on a 8-hour+ flight - combined with inconsistent service and fairly average catering - made for a more mixed overall experience.

If you’re considering one of these new long-haul, smaller aircraft routes, here’s what to expect:
👉 https://windowseatpreferred.com/2026/04/aer-lingus-a321xlr-economy-review-dublin-to-barbados/

🇧🇧 Sunny Barbados Days ✨
🍹 Snapshots from our first few days in Barbados - sun, sea, and very soon, extreme sunburn 🤦‍♂️
We flew on the new (and very temporary) service direct from Dublin, arriving just in time for dinner, our first Barbadian sunset, and of course my favourite time of day, of which there were many - cocktail hour 🍸
More to come - overall we had a great time, with beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, and a well deserved week of heat ☀️

Our Luxury Ride Home ✈️👑
(Pics/Events from December last year - thankfully nowhere near or related to what's happening now...)
Continuing from my last post and our unexpectedly 'creative' way home from KL last December, Oman Air rebooked us from Muscat, to Dubai, and on to Dublin - giving us another unexpected flight with , increasingly the airline we don't book with, but fly with 😂
Some thoughts;
- Emirates' "new" business cabins on these planes are such an improvement over what came before; private, plush, and spacious...and, still with stars in the cabin ceiling at night ✨
- There can be no bigger a Business Class lounge than Emirates' home in Dubai Terminal 3 (though it's starting to show its age).
- For those of us like myself with admirable dedication to a beverage or two, the lounge is amply stocked and on-board cocktails are - accept my influencery-speak apologies - a must 🥂
- After our Oman Air 737 KL/Sharjah/Muscat voyage, the whole Emirates experience felt like the height of luxury; the food was good, I had a great sleep buffered, of course, by several cocktails/glasses of wine either side, and we were back in Dublin before we knew it after what was quite the journey (see previous post)...
Overall, it was a lovely final flight of our trip (and another unexpected Emirates flight to cap off 2025) after all the ups and downs!

🌙 One (Unexpected) Night in Sharjah ✨
(Pics/Events from December last year - thankfully nowhere near or related to what's happening now...)
Throwback: Our journey back from KL to Dublin last year, had many 'hmm maybe not again, thanks' moments...
- The recline-only business class seat for the 7-hour hop from Kuala Lumpur to Muscat; or so it was supposed to be...😬
- The pita-less Mezze, with perfect pita-shaped hole on the plate ("not catered" as I was sulkily told). Also glasses should never be allowed to stay empty, thanks 😱
- 7 hours in a 737 wasn't quite enough, so we diverted to Sharjah where we stayed on the plane for another 5 hours, missing our onward connection and trying to sleep in the same recline-only seats.
- Made it back to Oman to chaos; no staff on hand and about 3 helping at the very overwhelmed transit counter. Cue Vannesha deploying full 'get out of my way' mode 😂
- A quick moment in the Oman Air lounge, where a friendly staffmember told us no we didn't have a 14 hour layover, it was a 2 hour layover and that the boarding pass saying 'pm' was wrong, it was 'am'. Thank goodness 🙏
- Rebooked and guess what? We continued ping-ponging across the Middle East, with our new overnight tally being KL -> Sharjah -> Muscat -> Dubai -> Dublin 🤣
Aaaand, I'll post the rest in a few days time, but thankfully it was plain sailing once we got to Dubai and connected with ✈️
Which part of the journey would you least have enjoyed - the business class seats that don't lie flat, the unexpected destination, or flying backwards and forwards?

Before our surprisingly eventful trip home last December, we had a chance to unwind in the Plaza Premium Lounge First, KLIA.

Thoughts? Far easier to find a seat, great airfield views, engaging staff and decent food. A definite step-up from the regular lounge next door.

Full Review; https://windowseatpreferred.com/2026/03/plaza-premium-first-klia-review/

American Airlines Domestic First Class Review: plush seat, heaps of legroom, and a comfortable ride for the short hop from Boston to JFK - in spite of mystery wine in plastic cups and no lounge access.

Full review: https://windowseatpreferred.com/2026/03/american-airlines-domestic-first-class-review/

American Airlines Domestic First Class Review | Window Seat Preferred From Boston to New York in American Airlines domestic First Class: comfy seats, three cups of questionable white wine, and a wander around Boston’s Terminal B…

✨ 24 Hours in Boston 🇺🇸
Before Christmas, we had an amazing 24 hours rampaging through Boston, seeing as much possible, trying not to slip on the beginnings of the ice, catching up with friends over food and critically, drinks (what a surprise 😂), then more touring, the world's biggest lobster roll, before Americans finest first class wine in a plastic cup en route to New York 🥂
(Of course the best trips have nearly no photos...guilty I'm afraid)
Loved every minute of it, if only we had a bit longer - and less airline boxed wine 😬

Long-Delayed Malta Part II 🇲🇹
Yep, just took me 4 months to post the rest of our Malta trip, and now I can barely remember any of these places 🤦‍♂️
A summary;
- We had a daytrip to Gozo; beautiful scenery, an interesting boat ride through a cave which I wasn't sure about ⛵
- Followed by a much longer road tour thanks, seemingly, to most roads being unexpectedly closed.
- Moved to St Julians to a gigantic suite, rooftop pool and great views at
- Btw, St. Julians is party central. The streets were madness by night. Very unexpected.
- A lovely shot of us looking terrified at the Popeye theme park. Overall I'd avoid and wish we had, though it was comedy gold for 40 minutes 🤣
- Last day in Valetta, with hangovers galore so why not city explore in searing heat to make it all worse?

Our stay in New York was The Lexington Hotel; excellent location, but the world’s slowest lifts, seemingly consistent unhappy staff, paid luggage storage, and a very average room made it all a bit of a chore especially for the price.

Full review 👉 https://windowseatpreferred.com/2026/02/review-the-lexington-hotel-new-york/

Review: The Lexington Hotel, New York | Window Seat Preferred For our brief 2-night stay in New York, we stayed at The Lexington Hotel, and in this review, I cover our room, service and very slow lifts…

☘️ Transatlantic Comforts 🥂
(Unfortunately this will definitely not be us on our bargain flights to Barbados, but one can dream...😂)
An oldie but still a goodie, the business class cabin on their A321's, from our recent trip to Boston and back from Newark.
Despite the much smaller cabin, we managed to sleep excellently, the wifi, entertainment and food was great - and as always I managed to satiate my inflight thirst for a champagne 🍸
Full review on windowseatpreferred.com or 5th post on bio link 🔗

Huttons Hotel looked as budget-friendly as it gets in London, in a decent location.

We hadn't quite counted on a less-than-fragrant bathroom, internal-facing rooms with lovely views...of other rooms, a tired interior overall, and then an unexpected £3.50/item luggage charge on check-out.

Here's the full review;
https://windowseatpreferred.com/2026/02/huttons-hotel-london-a-review/