Don't touch that channel!

A hotel in the middle of a shopping center. What'll they think of next? The Crowne Plaza in Fort Meyers, Florida is average as far as hotels go. Nothing really outstanding, but no real complaints, either. I was given a room on the key-access fifth "Priority" floor, and found myself completely underwhelmed. The room was quite small and had a slight musty smell. Some really funky smell came up through the sink drain in the bathroom, but since I was only staying one night I could deal with it. The internet was wireless. Wireless. Yay! (Yes - this is a running theme.)

When I travel I often eat dinner sitting at the hotel bar. This time when I went to find a place to sit at the at the bar, it was full. Many of the seats were taken by children. Fascinating.

The lounge reminded me a bit of Las Vegas, a cacophony of light and sound. (I find myself thinking about Las Vegas a lot these days, probably because I have a holiday scheduled there soon.)

There were at least 28 flat-screen TVs encircling the room, all playing a different channel, mostly sports. I counted them, but I suspect I missed a few, too. The voice-over playing on the speakers was coming from a source I didn't see, and trying to find the screen that matched the sound provided me with the evening's entertainment. I never did figure it out, and it made my dinner interesting. I wondered if anyone actually watched any of them.

I'm glad I didn't sit at the bar, because it wouldn't have had been nearly as much fun. And I think the drink special must have been Shirley Temples.

Don't mess with Texas

Texas loves slogans. Texas Proud, Texas: It's Like a Whole Other Country, and Texas: State of the Arts among others. But my favorite is Drive Friendly the Texas Way. It received my vote for the most amusing, because if you've ever driven anywhere in Texas you're probably laughing with me at that one right now.

Then a while back, some Austin advertising guys decided that all Texans should forget about that friendly stuff and embrace their inner Bubba. They introduced us to Don't Mess with Texas. It was originally created as an anti-littering campaign slogan, but the attitude struck a harmonious chord with native Texans and was widely embraced. Now it is much better known than the actual state motto: Friendship. Friendship. Really? Bubba would not have approved of that one.

So, what does all this have to do with hotels? I wrote my first draft for this entry while sitting in an Austin hotel a couple of blocks away from the Texas State Capital. The Capital building is really pretty, especially at night. And it has a Don't Mess With Texas kind of feel to it. In fact, the whole city sort of feels that way.

When I found out I was going to a conference in Austin I had no problem staying in the host hotel, The AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. If you've followed this blog you'll know that I've stayed at almost all of the Holiday Inn properties in Austin. I finally gave up on finding the perfect "Holiday Inn home-away-from-home hotel" in the city.

The AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in Austin, Texas is on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin and made attending the mandatory conference a real pleasure. The room was spacious, the bed was just right, and they had fast wireless internet. It was wireless, and it was fast. I had to pinch myself a couple of times to see if I was dreaming, but I was awake. The hotel scored a perfect 10 on that account alone. If they take reservations for regular hotel stays I'll most likely make this hotel my next choice.

Maybe I need to come up with a slogan for my hotel experiences. How about Don't Mess With My Wireless, or Sleep Friendly, the... ? Okay. I'll stick to my current profession and leave slogan writing up to the advertising guys.

Slogans are important to Texas. Really good ones define us. They tell our story.

Austin's slogan is "Keep Austin Weird." I thought it was just a cute little catch phrase until I drove by a sign for a local restaurant. The sign read "Arab Cowboy: Cafe and Hookah Lounge. I think Austin got it right. The city wears the title well.

It makes a Texan proud.

The trip from the Twilight Zone.

From start to finish, this was a weird trip. I expected Rod Serling to pop up any minute reminding us not to adjust our sets.

I travel to the Dallas area often and I have yet to find the perfect "home" hotel for my visits. I keep hoping I will connect, but it hasn't been an easy search. This time I started this trip staying in the Crowne Plaza on Midway Road in Addison, Texas. I must say this was a lovely hotel in a nice location. The club lounge was very nice and offered excellent appetizers in the club lounge. But, the guest rooms didn't offer wireless internet.

[This is another rant, so if you don't want to hear me complain please fast forward.] Charging for internet access? No wireless? Good grief. What century are these hotels in???

Anyway, with no wireless internet and only a short access cord, I abandoned the idea of relaxing in my room while surfing the net and went to have a snack in the executive lounge. I mentioned the issue to the attendant in the lounge and she told me that wireless was available there in the executive club lounge. I must admit that I seriously thought about going back to the club lounge in my pj's. I could make myself comfortable, all propped up in front of the TV... But, after seriously thinking about it I decided that only when enough guests take their business elsewhere will they pay attention to what we want so I checked out after one night and went to another hotel.

OK. That might have been a mistake.

I looked up another IHG property on the internet and found the Holiday Inn-Dallas North Addison. I must admit that I was a bit concerned when I saw the sign outside the door that said "no public rest room inside." And there were no cars in the parking lot. But, I decided to go in but asked to see the room prior to checking in. It's a good thing I did, because the room I was given had a broken security latch on the door. The second room they gave me was disturbingly shabby. Needless to say, I left immediately.

By now I was very frustrated and did what every self-assured female business traveler would do... I called my husband. I had him look up other hotels in the area, and he gave me several options. I called a hotel I had stayed in previously, the Crowne Plaza Market Center in Dallas, Texas. After all, the manager had really encouraged me to give them another try. So, I decided what the heck... I would try them again. I was extremely disappointed in the front desk clerk who argued with me on the phone, and decided that a second chance was not going to happen.

Finally I decided to just drive to the closest hotel to see if I could check in. It happened to be Intercontinental Hotel, in Dallas, Texas. I'd stayed in the hotel before, and the only real complaint I had was the lack of wireless internet. By now I didn't care because I was tired and just wanted a place to relax.

The young man at the check-in desk upgraded me to the executive floor, and I took the elevator to the 15th floor and checked in to my room. This time when I checked in I asked if it was possible to get a longer access cord so I could use my laptop while sitting in the easy chair. He arranged for one to be delivered to my room. The hotel just got my vote for "wonderful" status.

So, I went to the room, unpacked my stuff and settled in for some down time playing on the internet. After I plugged into the modem I kept getting a message that my computer had "limited or no connectivity." I called the 24 hour internet help number and they told me to call hotel maintenance for a new phone cable. I did, they came and replaced it - and it didn't work. The maintenance guy called the internet guy and the two of them decided that the problem was in the wall. So, the maintenance guy called the front desk guy who decided to call the bell guy at 9:00 PM to move me to another room.

My silver stud earrings somehow didn't make the move. I never saw them again. sigh.

Anyway, the new room was fine, although a bit smaller. It had a connecting door to another room which normally isn't too big of a deal. But, when I signed on to the internet (which worked by the way) it signed me to room 1504 - which wouldn't have been so bad except that I was in 1509. Hopefully they were platinum members as well.

After a long trip of nothing going the way it should have gone, I ended my day in the hotel lobby bar where the guy at the end of the bar was carrying on a lively conversation with himself.

Somehow, I think I know what he was talking about. He must have ignored Rod Serling's warning and adjusted his set anyway.

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.