Best Worst det accomadation

[Tin basher]

Currently having a long running banter/ pi55 taking session with an ex royal signals buddy of mine. It appears he spent quite a lot of time under a bivvy bag or in 12x12 tents on Det or exercise during his career. For balance I have frequently mentioned the quality of hotels the RAF have used on det or ops.

So simple question chaps whats the best hotel the firm has put you in on det or ops?
And the reverse what was the worst place you had to stay in, back of truck, tent, fox hole, shell scrape etc?

 

[Barch]

The best was a 3* hotel on the edge of Lake Garda while on detachment at Ghedi.

The worst was Blackburn TA Hall while on Fireman's strike 1977/78.

 

[Downsizer]

Had a pretty nice hotel when NS in Dubai waiting for a Herc engine change....

Worst is a tough one....Shaheen Star in 2013 was pretty bad at Minhad....no wifi!

 

[Spearmint]

Best I stayed in would be a Vegas Embassy Suites.

Worst one would be the smelly bed of a fat canadian I pulled in Bangor, Maine.

 

[Vushtrri]

Worst..For some strange reason whilst at Sealand in the summer of 86 I was detached to the QAD Didcot as a leckie for two months. They originally put the two of us who were detached in a nice country pub on rates….until the third guy who travelled in each day from Benson complained that there was no need for us to be lodged out as there was room in transit at Benson…so that’s where we were moved after two days..twat…
Best one..12 month secondment with housing food allowance from UN of $128 a day ..total monthly rent was £260 a month and £11.20 a day danger money from FCO in addition to normal Police salary..the best years work ever in more ways than one..

 

[Dan_Brown]

Mmmmmm,

Best: Rio 5 Star, pool on rooftop etc. Dubai Crowne Plaza, Oman Crowne Plaza/Hilton.

Worst: Basra coffins Although, have also done my fair share of tented/shellscrape exercises!

 

[4everAD]

Best: Hilton in Salalah, Oman, beach facing with patio doors straight onto beach.
Worst: Nasirayah (spell?) In Iraq, small tent which was ripped apart by the wind, no beds/furniture just bare. Ended up sleeping in the wagon for a week. Only showers were cold and you had to stand on a wooden pallet to avoid the filfth.

 

[Cornish_Pikey]

Best - St. Ermin's Hotel, Autograph Collection, Central London.

Worst - Cyprus Blocks. However too drunk to care.

 

[Downsizer]

I didn't think the Basra coffins were that bad, I didn't mind that at all.

 

[Dan_Brown]

When they were portacabins, they were fine - air con, decent bed, lockers etc. But when we were building our own 'coffins', i think that changed a lot of peoples mental attitude.

I was there at the height of the rocket attacks and when the 3 rocks got taken out while asleep in their beds - messed me up.

 

[Deltaitem]

My Granby experience started under 12x12 tents in Akrotiri and ended in a mix of air conditioned portakabins + combined mess, and the Gulf Gate Hotel, Bahrain. None of it was particularly shabby, given what it could have been

 

[Dan_Brown]

My Granby experience started under 12x12 tents in Akrotiri and ended in a mix of air conditioned portakabins + combined mess, and the Gulf Gate Hotel, Bahrain. None of it was particularly shabby, given what it could have been

Oh yeah Granby! I was Army at the time , moving through the desert supporting our tanks etc, so lots of sleeping in the cab of my truck, pooping in a hole in the ground, trying to keep fresh and clean in that heat - looking back now, pretty grim, but we just got on with it.

 

[busby1971]

Worst would be tent village at Incirlik, close second the fan assisted ovens at the BLMF (very small porta cabins with no AC)

Never stayed anywhere really special but really enjoyed the Lord Nelson in Halifax when supporting a transit back from the US.

 

[norfolkred1]

Worst, 4 man ISO container in 86 on Mt Kent for 4 months, luckily we all got on and no tabbers. Best a House on the Isle of Wight when doing a course at British Waste of Space (BAE)

 

[vim_fuego]

On the whole I can't really score FOBs as they are shit because they are non-rate earning poo-holes from the get-go.

Non-FOB wise, we landed in the Azores in the peak of summer with an extremely large SAR Trail in tow. Carlos whilst seeing $ signs in his eyes set about finding digs for literally hundreds of us. My crew got put into what I think constituted either a Portagee version of a youth hostel or more likely a homeless shelter. My shower was a 1.5" pipe coming our of the wall and once I'd settled in for the night a bug crawled across my face. In the end I got up, dressed, packed and went to sit on the foyer for the rest of the night....once I got there half my crew had done the same.

Best? There are many candidates...I think for pure location it must be the hotel in Curacao we frequented for some times months. On the Caribbean with its own lagoon for snorkelling, those thatched roof shelters that you'd have a dream beach wedding in served as placed for us to drink and eat in and just the most chilled feeling about the place. It was a tough one to sell to Mrs F as being a hardship tour as I languished in opulent luxury and she remained at home balancing work and childcare in the rain!

 

[dctyke]

Worst would be tent village at Incirlik, close second the fan assisted ovens at the BLMF (very small porta cabins with no AC)

Never stayed anywhere really special but really enjoyed the Lord Nelson in Halifax when supporting a transit back from the US.

Incirlik tent city the worse? Bloody hell you have had an easy life. Vandel Norway in a 12x12 with millions of mossies was bad, Avon skin so soft saves the day ( if you know you know). Biggest disappointment was Machrihanish, room with bare brick walls completely filled with a metal bed frame. Best? Any Red Flag hotel I guess.

 

[Downsizer]

Best? Any Red Flag hotel I guess.

Never really got a decent hotel on RF/GF....mainly off strip embassy suites type places....

 

[muttywhitedog]

Best without a doubt was the 5 bedroomed farmhouse we rented for 2 weeks overlooking one of the lochs in Dumfries & galloway, as part of an inflatable tank deployment to support II(AC) Sqn's recce role and the rest of the Marham tornado force in a low level attack role. It had its own land and on one day, we deployed the tanks on the lawn of the farmhouse, and had beers and BBQ whilst we were mock attacked all day by dozens of tornados.

Worst was probably Ali Al salem where some of the Sqn submitted a Gen App to the DOB WO (odious twat who thought everyone should wear pressed combats) for permission to keep pets due to the amount of feral dogs, mice, rats and scorpions that were around and often found their way into the accommodation.

A room downwind from pooh pond in Kandahar comes a close 2nd though.

 

[Cooheed]

Best was Poon Hill, FI. Custom built portakabin with 6 single rooms and a bunk room. Laundry facilities and bogs too. Worst, snow hole in Norway with 3 lazy techies who couldn't be arsed to graft and make it bigger.

 

[Cornish_Pikey]

Best was Poon Hill, FI. Custom built portakabin with 6 single rooms and a bunk room. Laundry facilities and bogs too. Worst, snow hole in Norway with 3 lazy techies who couldn't be arsed to graft and make it bigger.

Rather three clever techies who kept it small to keep any heat in. Only daft people sleep in snow holes when there are perfectly good hotels. Were you in the army?