Duh - that was a compliment.

The Crowne Plaza at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida was filled with kickboxers. Really. I even think there was a life-size cutout of Rambo at the athlete check in table.

I didn't check in there. I checked in at the front desk.

I was told that the hotel was full so I wasn't given a room on the executive floor because I wanted a king room and all they had were doubles. Hmm. You'd think they would have asked me anyway. But I did ask for access to the club lounge.

I got on the elevator with six of those toned and tanned bodies and jokingly commented about the pleasant situation I found myself in. They just blankly stared. Duh - that was a compliment. I thought that one or two of them must still have a few parts of their brain untouched after all of those barefooted blows to the head. Guess not.

There was no wireless access except on concierge level, which I wasn't on. The lower floors were wired access only. So I called the front desk and asked for a longer cord. The desk guy said "Well, okay, I'll see if we have one. But platinum members don't have to pay for internet anyway."

Huh? Maybe he was taking kickboxing lessons on the side.

Sign of the times

It's hard to criticize a hotel that gives you a warm welcome, complimentary drink, a Hershey Bar with Almonds, and an upgrade to a large two room suite.

The hotel even had signs in all the the hotel elevators stating that floors other than the lobby are designated quiet zones. It politely reminded guests that other guests may be on different sleeping schedules. How considerate. Usually the signs are in the corridors. It's nice to warn guests in advance so they can go back down to the lobby if they feel the need to make noise after they arrive. It might just save them a trip.

The Crowne Plaza West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida seemed to have it all.

But... (yes, there has to be a "but" here.) You know that old saying about too good to be true? Well, this wonderful hotel had everything but quiet. Apparently no one reminded the nearby airport that the hotel guests had varied sleeping schedules.

Now, I booked this hotel knowing it was an airport hotel. I stay in airport hotels a lot because, well, mostly because they're close to airports. It's convenient.

Typically I don't mind the noise because there is usually a fan in the room that blocks everything out, and I travel with ear plugs just in case. But there was no fan in the room. Without a fan in the room even the earplugs didn't block out all the sound. I listened to airplanes well into the night.

Lack of sleep is not a good thing. It might keep me from staying in this lovely hotel again. What a shame.

Sugar coating doesn't always make it better

I don't like delayed flights. Especially when it makes me late for a meeting.

After my (late) meeting I arrived (late) at the Holiday Inn Airport West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a room upgrade, but I was guaranteed for late arrival and was glad to finally relax after such a long day.

Sometimes I think I just step into some sort of an alternate reality or something. Delayed flight, late meeting... and, the room.

When I opened the door to my room I was overwhelmed by a smoky smell. I knew I had reserved a non-smoking room, and this was pretty bad. Interesting to note here, the halls smelled fresh. Usually it's the other way around. That's when I realized I was not in Kansas any more.

I went to the restaurant and the sign said to wait to be seated, but there was no one there to seat me. There were only about seven other people in the the restaurant, and finally someone in the kitchen saw me standing there.

I was pleased when I saw a low-carb dish on the menu, and ordered the low-carb blackened salmon with steamed veggies. When it arrived it came with mashed potatoes with gravy, and glazed carrots. The carrots were good, but that's probably because they were cooked in sugar. Obviously they don't understand the concept. Now I know why I usually choose to order appetizers and eat in the bar.

I went back to my room hoping the smoke would have dissipated, but it was still there and quite unpleasant.

Every time the people in the next room flushed the toilet the walls rattled. Loudly. And they flushed a lot.

I woke up the next morning with a headache. But now that I think about it maybe it was a sugar hangover from the previous night's carrots.

As I checked out of the hotel the next morning I told the desk clerk about the smoke, and he called the manager. The very pleasant young man was the same person that had checked me in the night before, so he obviously spent a lot of time there. He told me he had heard that complaint before and the hotel attributed the smokey smell to a ventilation problem. He said he wished I would stay and offered me a spray bottle of room deodorizer.

No one ever offered me a bottle of room deodorizer before, and though I was flattered I still went to the Crowne Plaza down the street.

Two jewels for this Crowne

Is this a record? Two great stays in the same hotel? I really liked this hotel the first time I stayed there, and I was not disappointed the second time. The Crowne Plaza San Antonio Airport in San Antonio, Texas is a class act. The staff is wonderful and the rooms are great.

Now if you remember my previous post about this hotel you will know that the hotel was still undergoing some renovations the last time I was there, but I think all that must have finally been finished. The hall was clear and no parade waited for me on the concierge floor. I was a little sad at that because I was hoping for a balloon animal this time.

The concierge lounge had nice little evening snacks and a decent breakfast. Little things like this encourage me to be a repeat guest, and I wasn't disappointed this time either. They even had Froot Loops. Obviously they understand what is important.

I was a little surprised when I walked into my room. This room was huge. So large in fact, that it had two separate thermostats. It wasn't one of those controls that just saves a few steps like a "dual" light switch, but two separate units. I could've invited everyone in the hotel to a reception in my room. I didn't though, because I didn't think my company would've approved it as a business expense.

If I had one real criticism of this hotel it would have to be the noise outside the room. OK, I know it's an airport hotel, but it's not the airport that makes the noise. It's the highway outside. It's loud. Crowne Plazas traditionally provide guests with earplugs, though, so it kind of becomes a non-issue.

Oh, and the TV. Here was this great room - spacious and comfortable. But it had this little bitty TV at the far end of the room from the bed. I think it was 19" screen. It was so far away that I had to go to the sitting area to see the evening news. Not that the evening news was really important, but it's nice to be able to see it while propped up in bed. I'm surprised that the hotel went to all the trouble of creating this nice spacious suite without adding a bigger TV.

Maybe they were just hoping that the occupant would forget about the news and host a big party, or maybe learn to make balloon animals for the next parade.

Reflections on a Margarita #4

New Year's Eve morning in Houston was foggy. Before I left for work the weather babe on TV said that we had less than 1/2 mile visibility. It was worse in our area and was totally weird when I pulled out of the driveway. I know my neighborhood, and it was disconcerting not to be able to see the other side of the road. When I was a kid I used to have bad dreams where I would open my eyes but couldn't see where I was going because everything was a gray fog. Driving through the New Year's Eve morning fog gave me flashbacks.

I'll be 74 years old the next time there is a blue moon on New Year's Eve. I wanted to see this one, but the night was overcast and I missed it. Yes, of course I know it wasn't "blue." But this interesting event will not repeat itself until 2028. There is uniqueness in knowing that something is rare.

London!

Now this was fun!!

We booked the Holiday Inn London-Heathrow M4 Jct.4 in West Drayton, England for 3 nights before a transatlantic cruise. It was booked with reward points, and I always have trouble finding any faults whatsoever with free stuff. I especially can't complain when it is a only a stop-off before a cruise! But let's see... I will try to be objective about the hotel stay so I can give you a good overview.

We arrived at the hotel after an 8 1/2 hour (economy) flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Heathrow Airport in England. I am so not going to review that interesting experience because, well, just because. Anyway, suffice it to say we were seriously sleep-deprived on check-in. I think the staff at the hotel were specially trained in dealing with folks in our condition, because they seemed to be able to gently ask all the right questions to get us checked in properly. They were absolutely wonderful.

We were given an "executive" room. It was so cute! Small, but quite serviceable, the room was clean, comfortable, and had a towel warmer in the bathroom. I love towel warmers.

We took a short nap on arrival and the room was dark and quiet - more proof that the hotel caters to travelers just off international flights. Too tired to go very far for dinner, we went to the hotel's "Irish" pub. The food was fine but the music was exceptionally loud, and was getting louder by the minute. We finally figured out that this was because the pub was advertising "Disco Night." An American disco in an Irish pub at an English hotel. It doesn't get much better than that. But it did. By the time we got our Boddingtons and "proper" fish and chips we had met a charming British couple and were in the midst of a fascinating conversation about politics - both British and American - when the music swelled so loud we couldn't hear ourselves talk. That's when we decided to move outside the pub into the lobby lounge. The lounge was also very busy but a little quieter, so we continued our collective solving of the world's problems until we realized that the Brits had an early flight and we were just plain 'ol tired. We retired to our cute little executive room and slept very well.

The next morning we asked the nice lady at the concierge desk how to catch a bus to downtown London. She seemed a little surprised that we wanted public transport, then directed us to the nearby bus stop (only a couple of minutes away) in front of The Plough, a local pub. I won't go into the adventures of our stay, but if you are interested, here is a link to our wonderful London holiday and subsequent cruise.

We manage to find humor in small things, and found ourselves entertained every time we got in the hotel elevator. It was like being in a "Twitter" elevator. There was a tweet for every action, all in a beautiful female British accent. "Door closing. Lift going up. Lift going down. First floor. Lift stopping. Door opening." All the chatter made us giggle. I'm sure when there were other people on the elevator at the same time as us they must've been thinking those Americans were one floor short of the lobby.

All-in-all this was a great stay, and it was the perfect start to a perfect vacation.

If you build it…will they still come?

I have been to all the other Holiday Inn properties in Austin Texas. I decided to try out the Austin Holiday Inn NW Arboretum location because I kept hoping I’d find a location that worked for me. I think I’ll probably start working through the competitor’s hotels next.

Hotel legend has it that the hotel was there long before the overhead freeway system was built. Finding the hotel required a GPS, a divining rod, and a lot of luck. The friendly desk staff gave me a map and a big ball of string to find my way back the second day.

You have to really want to stay at this hotel.

The hotel hasn’t participated in the chain’s re-branding process, but it was clean and remarkably quiet since it practically sits in the middle of a major expressway. The hotel bar doubles as the restaurant. This can be a good thing, especially when you miss the only exit to the hotel and have to drive an extra 45 minutes in rush hour traffic before you can turn around. Twice.

The hotel only had wired internet access in the room, and offered wireless access only in public areas. If you’ve read my earlier posts, you’ll know I really don’t like this arrangement. When I checked out I mentioned to the front desk person that while my stay was comfortable, I probably wouldn’t stay at the hotel again because I want wireless access in my room. She offered me the following explanation: The hotel had recently gone through major renovations (really?) and was looking at the costs of re-branding. Providing wireless throughout the hotel was too expensive so they just offered it in the public areas. But she said next time I could ask for a room off the lobby since sometimes people in those rooms could pick up the wireless. What??

Maybe it’s an Austin thing. Maybe the convergence of the Church of Unconscious Harmony’s proximity to the Magnetic Tattoo Parlor created a vortex or something. Or, maybe they are just determined to Keep Austin Weird.

Rockin’ round the Hotel

Disclaimer: If you are under the age of 50 you’ll either want to skip this blog or your curiosity will lead you to seek out a senior citizen for an explanation.

Staying at the Holiday Inn Dallas Market Center in Dallas Texas was like listening to a 45 RPM record. The hotel was shaped like one of those adapter doo-dads we used to put in the middle of the 45 so it would fit the spindle on the record player. From the moment I stepped into the hotel, I felt a bit like I was putting the stylus in the groove.

The elevator was the middle of the hole. Getting off the elevator was a little weird but nice, since there was no way to get lost. If I turned the wrong way off the elevator I just walked around and around until I found the hallway leading to my room. And there were no straight walls in the room - they all had a slight curve.

The whole hotel was sort of a time-warp. For an older hotel it was well-kept and the staff was exceptionally friendly. Maybe the lack of modernization was because the hotel was so isolated. There was a train track running alongside the property. I almost expected to see Uncle Joe movin’ kinda’ slow at the junction. And yes, I could hear the train at night - but that’s what earplugs are for, right?

I do have a semi-major complaint. I didn’t like having to enter the hotel through a smoke screen. Four or five people were sitting and smoking on the two benches on either side of the front door of the hotel. I’m guessing that either I arrived at shift change or the kids sneaked out of the prom for a Chesterfield.

Since there was absolutely nothing nearby, I ate dinner in the restaurant. After a nice meal I walked back to the elevator and went up to my floor. I noticed the halls had a slight musty smell, and I swear I could hear the crackle and pop of I Want to Hold Your Hand.

Not at all sleepless in Seattle

Seattle’s Space Needle is absolutely beautiful in the morning sun, and you can see it from your room if you are not staying in the Holiday Inn Dexter Avenue North in Seattle, Washington. My room had a view of the Pink Elephant Car Wash.

I thought it was very interesting that two Holiday Inn properties were right across the alley from one another, and the hotel planners made the lower end hotel the one with the view. Now, if you’ve read my previous posts you’ll know that I often stay in HI Express hotels, but if there is an acceptable full-service option I’ll usually choose it because of the convenience of the restaurant on site. That's how I made my decision this time.

The hotel was actually quite pleasant and had wonderful staff. It was a comfortable place to stay the 4 days I was in Seattle, and had concierge access and a nice little continental breakfast each day. There was a restaurant/bar connected to the property, not actually in the hotel. The bartenders were outstanding and seemed to enjoy talking about local color, including the famous homeless guy that had been “working” the pier area for over 20 years. There's nothing like stable employment.

If you’ve ever been to Seattle, you probably already know that parking anywhere in the city requires two things. 1) Patience 2) A bank loan. It was a bargain to park in the Holiday Inn’s underground garage for only $10.00 a night.

I enjoyed my trip to Seattle. The weather was perfect the entire time, and it was sheer joy to wake up and open the drapes each morning. The blue sky was glorious. The breeze was brisk. The air was clean, and so were the cars.

The Colonel would have approved

After checking out of the Austin Crowne Plaza, I hoped I'd find my luck improved at a different hotel. I checked into the Austin Town Lake Holiday Inn in Austin Texas, an interesting property with a round tower on the bank of Lady Bird Johnson Lake. I was offered a choice of an executive room or a room with a view of the lake. I decided on the room with a view, (mostly because it was on the side of the hotel away from the expressway) and I must admit the view was lovely at sunset. This hotel is an older property, but I can’t complain about it. It was quiet, clean, and comfortable.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I often choose to eat in the hotel bar when I’m on the road. It’s usually quicker, and more than likely has the same menu offered in the restaurant. It’s also a fun way to hear “traveler tales” from other road warriors who’ve had a little too much if you know what I mean. I’ve heard some wild stories, and while I’m sure that 98 percent of them are seriously embellished or completely fabricated, it certainly beats watching reruns of Desperate Housewives on TV. Plus, most bartenders are pretty good conversationalists which makes dinner time a little more interesting for those of us traveling alone. And I can get a pomegranate martini.

This time I ordered an appetizer - chicken strips. Down at the end of the bar were a couple of guys that had been talking to the bartender about being in town for a video game software developer’s conference. They looked like kids. Or maybe I just felt old? Anyway, when my plate arrived, I wondered if I had mistakenly ordered the Colonel’s family sized bucket of chicken with all the fixins. It was huge! I commented to the bartender that I thought I had been given the party platter, and said I’d be happy to share if anyone else at the bar would like some.

Video game software developers have good appetites.