After a seriously turbulent night flight across the pond, a bus ride over the Frankfurt tarmac, a multiply-delayed ICE train and a missed local connection, it was nice to arrive at the Nestor Hotel and have a room ready to go. Walking over from the train station is very easy indeed, and helps you stay awake. Check in was easy even in zombie mode.
Sadly, the Nestor chain appears to be set up to accommodate conferences and large groups more than anything else. This is a four star in Germany, which puts it right smack in JW Marriott territory. Everything looks pretty good on the surface, but it is really cheap veneer with thin carpet allowing lots of noise between rooms. A business class hotel. Not NPS’s cup of tea.
The little NPS cubicle (replete with tiny bed) is 308.
Lil teeny bed in 308
The sitting area and desk are all within 15 feet of the bed
Fortunately, Ludwigsburg is resplendent today.
View from 308
The bathroom is likewise “cozy” and very Euro.
Not plastic unless you count the tub, which is plastic
Sink stand
There is a big pipe in the bathroom. That is just weird.
After a much-needed invigorating shower, it was off into town for lunch. Greek food at Die Griechin is very homey. Great people. Authentic, if not uninspired fare.
Breakfast at the hotel is very nice, and the restaurant serves a decent lunch as well. Service is friendly even if the kitchen is slow.
On a more upbeat note, the Black and White Cocktail Bar just a few short blocks away is cozy and excellent. We were among the only patrons on a Tuesday night.
Amer Picon in the house means a Liberal or two.
La Barrosa Cocktail (by Mario Wirth)
50 ml carlos I brandy
10 ml Strega
.5 ml Balsamico creme (can sub px Sherry)
Amaretto spray on top
Stir. Serve on one big rock.
Make sure to visit the Black and White Bar if you are in Ludwigsburg.
Dinner at the very friendly Zum Urigen was authentic and about as German as you can get. The owners are from Vietnam, but have lived in Germany for 30 years. This place has a very local feel with lots of patrons who know each other.
A very low three showerheads for the Nestor, where function overrides style, and things feel fairly fake.
Mondrian London
May 25, 2018
Another year, another trip to the Mondrian London to preside over a conference. This year we were assigned 457 which is a beautiful room.
The bathroom and shower are just fantastic.
Walk in marble and glass shower with a stool and multiple shower heads. Yes please!
welcome notes galore
We’re here for the view.
An early arrival was super smooth. Room ready. Staff helpful. Operations is markedly improved since last year.
Lunch at Northbank across the millenial bridge is recommended.
As is a visit to the Tate Modern.
kandinsky at the Tate
One of the highlights of the Mondrian is the fact that Dandelyan bar is on the premesis. (On the other hand, the Rumpus Room is to be skipped at all cost.)
Marcus restaurant is super fantastic.
This year we called our cocktail extravaganza
#boaredintheusa. More here.
Five showerheads and perfect weather for the Mondrian London.
Grande Colonial Inn, La Jolla: Oldest of Old School
May 17, 2018
A grande dame is what this place is, like one of those powdered but slightly too made up, overly attentive birdlike old ladies with a string of natural pearls. The problem is that the perfume is cloying. Frankly, this is a beautiful property if you’re into this kind of old money faded elegance, but, you see, we’re not.
Set in the heart of La Jolla by the Pacific, the Grande Colonial is an institution. It has been here so long that it rests comfortably on its laurels. The staff is ultra professional, engaging and extremely well trained. The common areas are luxurious in an old school way. The restaurant nine-ten has been very good for so long that NPS has even dined here multiple times. The chef is named Jason.
I was assigned suite 102 overlooking the pool and a parking lot. That kind of says it all. Parking lot?
102 entry and seating area
The shape of the room is strange. There are mirrors everywhere, even where they don’t belong. But it’s not a hamster cage!
seating area by the heater presided over by the giant TV
a comfortable poofy bed
The colors and muted and the style is dated in a vertical striped sort of way.
nope
The shower is a plastic tub with an obesity bar. Fortunately the shower curtain is not plastic, but still. These kinds of showers do nobody any good out there in the world. Lets replace them all. 1950s tile is cool.
A nightcap at the bar involved a Corpse Reviver #2 made by muscle memory with no sign of measurement. The non-measurement is a problem, because to do its magic, this drink must be precise. But everyone at the bar was very professional and friendly even as they slung drinks like they had done it forever.
Breakfast by the ocean was excellent. Sadly, it did take place on east coast time.
After mandatory conference fun was complete, we headed down to San Diego for dinner and a nightcap. A visit to Jsix was unremarkable and good. Funny that we had never tried Jsix before, because it is situated in the Salomar Hotel property chunk.
After dinner, Noble Experiment was on the docket. As always, the cocktails were remarkably delicious.
Here’s how to make a drink we invented called Bill’s Big Birthday Beverage:
1 oz cardamaro
1 oz ancho reyes
1 oz fresh orange juice
2 dashes habanero shrub (bittermens)
shake, serve on a big cube. no garnish.
In the meantime, three showerheads and a new perfume choice for Grande Colonial.
(Oh, and United airlines…I will not be flying you across the country any more after the return trip. Economy plus sucks on a cross continental route, even in an exit row aisle seat.)
Residence Inn Ann Arbor: Suburban “Style”
May 7, 2018
Here we are again in a university town, this time Ann Arbor. This town is great. Books, coffee, food, cocktails. Almost everything you need, but still no good hotel.
The Residence Inn is a Marriott property, and it is brand new. It’s pretty much what you would expect of a mid-tier mid-market Marriott hotel. Shiny suburban fake is the style. NPS has different style.
When the reservation was made, we requested a high floor and a Panoramic City View Suite. The first room we were assigned was 414 which is ADA formatted. When asking for a non-ADA configured room instead were assigned down to 214. The rooms are almost exactly identical. Moving down was a big mistake because traffic noise starts at 5am. Alas.
So much for the high floor request.
The manager, having heard tell of checkin problems, was very gracious. We had a nice chat. His valet staff is super.
The view from 214 says it all
The room is filled with lots of shiny new veneer cheap furniture that looks better than it feels when you use it. The suite includes a kitchenette.
Entry hallway kitchenette
desk room
desk room couch
View from the bed to a nice bank of windows
large (impersonal) bathroom
The real problem is the shower, which is partially glass and partially plastic. It is open to the huge bathroom without a glass door. Cold air makes for a less than stellar shower experience.
shower. not approved
Anyway, we knew what we were getting into when we agreed to come to Ann Arbor. Apparently, there is a copy of The Graduate here too BTW. Sure wish university towns had better hotel kung fu!
Dinner at Mikette was delicious. Great service.
The cocktail scene in Ann Arbor remains vibrant. A Sunday night visit to Nightcap was optimal in all respects. Andy was a blast behind the bar.
Because there was Handy in the house, we present, The Handy Handy
1.75 Thomas Handy Rye
.3 oz Del’erborista ultra-bitters
.3 carpano antica
2 dashes scrappy aromatic
Stir. Strain. Express orange peel and drop in.
Three showerheads for the Residence Inn in Ann Arbor. Dang university towns.
During our previous visit to the Graduate in Charlottesville, we figured “it will do.” So this time we tried a plus up to what the hotel calls a “suite.” LOL. Just don’t do it.
You can tell that this hotel used to be a Howard Johnson back when Howard Johnson was a thing (was that 1950?). The style is definitely improved, especially if you like shadow art appliqué. But that’s OK. The problem is that nobody blew out any walls to make any interesting non-hamster-cage rooms. Anyway, if you’re up for a hamster cage after a show, this is it.
Here our own personal hamster cage which we think was 624. It is a “suite,” though the term is stretched well past the breaking point.
bed
desk
window
The suite part of the suite is a little triangle (and we mean little), crammed arbitrarily full of various furnishings. Really? No no no.
through the magic door
no room for people
this is probably a hide-a-bed
chair
Anyway, don’t pay for a suite unless you have people in tow who might use the hide-a-bed. Other than the triangle, there is nothing going for this suite.
Dinner was unplanned. We ended up at Himalayan Fusion down by the Pavilion. Dinner was pretty good (think Indian), while the bar was terrible. We ordered some extra gin shots to make our ginger-tinis into something we could at least catch a buzz from.
Then it was The National. Great show. Great seats. Great time.
The National on a Monday night in Charlottesville, VA
After the show we attempted to hit up Alley Light, but 11pm on a school night seems to be too late for them. That meant tequila at the Bebedero. Excellent cocktails.
In any case, we’re still on the lookout for a better place to stay in Charlottesville. Three showerheads and a hamster wheel exercise thingy for The Graduate.
Fierro Hotel, Bueno Aires, Argentina
May 3, 2018
Everyone who reads this blog knows by now that NPS is a creature of habit. Find a hotel that we love? Stay there over and over. Sadly, our usual haunt in Buenos Aires was ignominiously deleted. Time to try a new place. Of course, we stuck to the Palermo neighborhood for its hip vibrancy, great shopping, and good eating. Make sure to spend some time in Palermo when you come to Buenos Aires.
The Fierro Hotel fits the bill. Great staff. Delicious food. Nice rooms. Modern style. You may recall that the Fierro was very much accommodating and welcoming when we dropped in unexpectedly to shower on arrival in Argentina. Great service!
For our real stay, we requested the rooftop suite (room 84). The room includes a sizable outside terrace with lots of room and a great view.
84 bed
By far, the silliest and most fun feature of 84 are these captain’s chars.
Terrace at night
The Fierro Hotel hot tub, which we actually used
This quirky shower cube will do just fine
A welcome amenity in Argentina! Now that is service.
Wine courtesy of Fierro with a note
Breakfast is delicious.
When in Argentina, Fernet and Coke
Work
A very fancy seven course dinner at Dario Gualtieri Bistró in Palermo was world class in all respects. Well, all but one. The credit card machine refused to cooperate, so we left without paying and returned the next day (somewhat to the surprise of the staff) to settle up.
Modern art
Dario Gualtieri Bistró logo
What do you need after a nice dinner out? Some fernet and music of course.
This sign drew us in
Veleros de Sol (a band from Chile)
Parrilla Don Julio restaurant is also very good. If you want a great steak in an authentic Palermo restaurant, this is the place. We had dinner with a good friend outside on the street.
La Dorita
the culprit
And then it was off to the world famous Verne Club and Suspiria Resplendoris both run by the mythical (and non-existent) Cuco. Both bars are fantastic.
World class rum cocktails at Susperia
The great trade
Suspiria bar. Top notch cocktails and great design
Cuco does not exist.
Verne Club. Some work. Others goof off.
Verne Club
Verne bar is intimate and welcoming
Thanks for the Pineral Cuco!
The UCO restaurant (located in the Fierro) has a lofty reputation indeed. We had a great dinner there, memorable more for the company than for the food.
We hit the MALBA again, which is a great museum. The Belles Artes museum collection is nowhere near as interesting. See more art here.
Five showerheads, a hot tub soak and a wish to return soon for Fierro Hotel. Highly recommended.
