Courtyard by Marriott Wilmington, NC: No Plastic Showers
June 17, 2017
We are still super pleased with the new, clean presence of the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Wilmington. Normally we would not be caught dead in one of these properties, but compared to the zero showerheads of the Hilton just down the street, this place is paradise.
The main reason to even stay in Wilmington is disappearing, so who knows whether we’ll be doing this every year in the future. The Dixie Grill beckons as always. And the town is hopping these days. In fact, Wilmington is walkable and nice and going places. It is also middle of the Bell curve bending down to scoop up the Walmart class. That’s OK. This is America.
Food with the dogs at George on the Riverwalk was not only accommodating, but also delicious. The dogs (especially Mowgli) were a smash hit. So many people stopped by to say hi and pat the dogs.
Sadly, a visit to Circa 1922 where they used to have a superior bar program run by Josh Giles reveals a mere shadow of its old glory. Still a nice bar, but nothing interesting on the mixology front.
Anyway, back to cage 604 at the Courtyard. The hamster cage itself is new, but it is still a hamster cage!
Clean, fresh and a bit small
Lots of light overwhelms the camera
Though the shower has a glass door (huge props), the encasement is pre-fab plastic. Still, it is very clean and a nice shower all around.
Yep
Like the rest of the room, the bathroom is ingeniously designed to seem big even though it is very small and very rectangular. Kind of like a boat. Without the water, the head, the V-birth, the sails, … . OK, not much like a boat.
We’re here for the Stick anyway. Two weeks to read, play music, drink cocktails and forget about the orange orangutang caligula.
A low three showerheads and much to be thankful for at the Courtyard in Wilmington. Will we be back??
Heavy Turbulence at the Alexis in Seattle
June 4, 2017
NPS is not a first-timer at the Alexis, but we sure do miss our guy Keith (once concierge) who is no longer at Kimpton. Because we have no feet on the ground at the hotel, we had to rely on social media and the CRM system that Kimpton uses to track its guests. Guess what? Knowing people beats the heck out of any computer-based guest database. Especially a guest database that elides the only real hotel room criteria we hold dear.
Which is a short way of saying, “WTF Kimpton, a room with a plastic shower??!” Really, the warm greeting by Sam, the sparkling water, the really beautiful newly-renovated room, all that stuff means not a thing if the shower is plastic. We’ll pay more. We’ll do pretty much whatever it takes to avoid the shower over bathtub thing. We’ll even cash in our loyalty and find a different hotel.
NO PLASTIC SHOWERS!
The first room was 634. It had a plastic shower. What exactly does that mean, you ask? Lets review.
This is a plastic shower. It looks not too awful from here.
But when you approach, the plastic liner becomes apparent
And this bendy “obesity bar” which is not up to the task of such heavy plastic.
Gross. This is just gross. We do not do this.
And over a step in bathtub. No no. A thousand times no.
We tried to make this all very obvious.
Does the machine have a memory??
The rest of the bathroom is very nice and spacious
So lets put this shower episode behind us and hope somebody out there in Kimpton CRM-land is paying attention.
Leave the bathroom behind. Never go back.
High style evident
Cluttered quirky and fun
This is just fine.
Sparkling water is always very nice, and we do appreciate that.
But we do not at all like this trend where our rooms are bugged. Please make these spy devices that invade privacy optional Kimpton.
No bugs please. Spy on your spouse not on your guests.
Anyway, for the record, the Alexis has a great little bar called The Library, where from time to time great bourbon flows through.
The next morning, a room adjustment was already underway. That is good. But it was already too late.
Breakfast at Biscuit Bitch is worth seeking out, even if you have to trawl for a table.
And then work. And then some sailing.
We did some racing, and the good news is that we won first place in our class (really great huge boats that start late and come in last).
By the time the ferry shenanigans finished up, it was midnight and time for the room switch. Imagine our surprise when told that the water was off for maintenance. The Alexis can’t win for losing this trip. We were assigned room 425 which was very nice. We spent 5 hours in it all told.
Though we really do appreciate the shower in room 425, it works better when the water is on.
New room for you
The staff left a very nice amenity which there was no time to get into. Sadly, the water was not sparkly, though who knows it might have started out that way hours earlier.
Fancy
The bathroom is very spacious and awesome. Wish there were more time to use it properly.
Big giant tub with its own platform
Now that’s better Alexis. A glass shower!
All told this chunky visit to the Alexis deserves three showerheads on average. Plastic showers bring your final semester grade way down here at NPS university.
A Quick Pit Stop at Solamar San Diego
May 31, 2017
It is gray and overcast in San Diego. I’m pretty sure this never happened before Donald Trump became President.
We’re back for a quick bit of business in San Diego on our multi-city tour. One of the best things about San Diego is the Salomar. Our buddy George has moved over to the Palomar these days and has been replaced by the capable and super nice Kayse Potter. Kayse made sure our welcome was warm and nice and that our shower was non-plastic. Thank you Kayse.
We arrived late due to Virgin America SNAFU apparently involving a crazy lady in an unrelated city. Things you overhear when the flight crews gossip. Anyway, we got our rental car and zoomed over to the Salomar just in time to drop off bags and skeedaddle for our reservation at Noble Experiment. A great time was had by all. Thanks Andrew and crew. The back bar shots of rum and tequila made for a damn fun time.
We slunk back around midnight. Room 834 is a great space but it is on the wrong side of the building for me. Too noisy when there is a game on at the stadium (after the game ends).
Party all night after the game right under my window
The bathroom is particularly nice with the gigantic tub/glass shower thing going strong. It’s time to replace the showerhead though.
NPS Approved
Glass Pod
Functional but out of date
A solid night’s sleep and a nice long shower was topped only by Swedish pancakes at Richard Walker’s.
Oh, one funny thing. The lobby music is driving Q nuts. He is the manager on duty in the front lobby and is forced to listen to an endless loop. We’ll see if we can’t get that fixed for him!
All around way too quick but super solid visit to San Diego. Five showerheads (one of which might need replacement) for the Solamar.
Back at the Cowper in Palo Alto
May 29, 2017
Yep, it’s silicon valley time and that means the Cowper Inn. This place is so much like home that we request rooms by number in a particular order. Fortunately, we usually end up in 31 (the NPS preferred room).
The flight out on Virgin America was great. Upgraded to first class and ended up with a row of my own. Virgin America makes you pay to upgrade no matter what, but that works for NPS!
It became a clear sunny day in Palo Alto. If you have not visited, Palo Alto is a great place to walk around, window shop, and spend way too much money on furniture. Last time NPS was in town, we accidentally discovered a store which has since managed to sell us multiple very expensive and very comfortable chairs. That would be rejuvenation.
Sequoia
In the yard
Nice room if you ignore the wallpaper
That ’80s kind of shower that your parents had
Through the looking glass
The living room and breakfast room is almost always unoccupied after morning.
Always fresh flowers
In other news, do not go to Roots and Rye which sucks in all possible ways. A waste of gas to get there. workaday: lazy prep, stale bread, uninteresting cocktails, terrible architecture, service that needs training.
Five nostalgic shower heads for the Cowper and its gorgeous yard.
Wine Lunch in LA: NPS Edition Two
May 27, 2017
Wine luncheon one was so much fun that even in a month of intense travel (three countries and 7 cities so far this May), NPS just had to attend edition two.
A great time was had by all. Our gracious and knowledgeable host was the owner of Bistro 45. The food was as outstanding as the wine and included Mexican shrimp, dry scallops, organic beets, and waygu beef.
Arrival
The supply grows and pairing planning begins
Wine range
Bistro 45 is highly recommended
The crew
The kitchen crew minus chef
Cigars and cognac spontaneously appeared after lunch.
Someone is having fun!
I know, lets do it again!
The quick answer is: there is no stay short enough to justify a plastic shower.
NPS set out to prove this aphorism at the truly style-free Renaissance hotel at LAX.
Renaissance is a Marriott property, so we of course made great use of our friend Mr. X who is a Lifetime Platinum Elite member. Mr. X books for us and NPS shoves all the points in his direction. This gets us superior rooms and concierge level hoo hah and whatnot at Marriotts. Sadly they are all still Marriotts.
The front lobby is in the middle of a massive renovation at the Renaissance at LAX. So that may be a good thing (but likely it just won’t matter). NPS was assigned a newly renovated suite (number 425) after much furious typing by the front desk staff on our very late arrival around midnight. If 425 is evidence of the style that is driving this renovation then NPS is worried.
You see, 425 looks like this. But looks (even marginal looks like this) can be deceiving. Super cheap, thin, veneer style is what we have on evidence here.
Like this crooked too big TV. WTF?
No. Not how to hang a TV. Why is there even one here?
The bed is comfortable, but the lights are so cheap a light wind would blow them over. Fortunately the windows do not open.
Comfy bed.
But what is this?
The windows overlook a glowing Burger King sign That pretty much says it all.
Yeah, no. This is not really a cool city view.
More sad, thin style evident in the sitting room.
Your mother in law called and she has some design ideas
There was a sad little plant on the desk wishing for some light. Flourescent bulbs should make it happier than they make the humans trapped in here.
And then there is the plastic shower bête noire—an actual plastic shower with an obesity bar.
no
no
no no no
Everything in the bathroom is very new, very clean and completely devoid of any taste.
no sense of style
Well anyway, the trip to LA was fantastic and the time in this hamster cage was short.
There was this wine thing with new friends.
Wine? Wine!
There was an old school whiskey bar.
And there was some sportsing with the boys.
So all told we would do it again in a second but we would get a real hotel without a shuttle bus and shlep to the airport from Santa Monica.
Speaking of the airport, this Virgin America meets Alaska thing is getting chunky. Remote gates? Wolfgang Puck bullshit? Overfull lounges gussied up in the ’70s? Uh oh. Where is my high style airline?
Let the record show that the Renaissance LAX barely rates two showerheads. Not going back ever. Nice people in a beige land devoid of style.
Rochester, Michigan Elegance at Royal Park Hotel
May 25, 2017
Old school is one way to describe the Royal Park Hotel located about an hour north of Detroit in Rochester. A gorgeous old building, well kept and properly appointed sits on a small creek in a green area of town. We arrived late in the rain and in the dark, but we can still tell how pretty this place is.
A cordial check-in put us in room 325 overlooking the creek.
A visit to the bar downstairs to meet some business associates resulted in a great find: Gosling’s Family Reserve Rum in the wild. That’ll do.
325 is just slightly too large for its furnishings, but it is still nice in an old school way.
Just how big is that room?
Big
Too big?
The bathroom has plenty of marble and a very nice shower with multiple shower heads and a bench. Pretty much NPS heaven shower-wise.
Nice shower
Multiple shower heads and a bench
Outside in
Inside in
About the only major problem with this hotel is the “lets charge $4 for water” which as loyal readers know we find appalling. Just no.
Go to Paul’s on Main for breakfast, but try to ignore the idiot boxes hung all over the place.
Five showerheads for Royal Park and some free water. Free. We do not charge for that in civilized society.
