Terre Haute, Indiana
October 31, 2024
Welp, its not a hotel, but if you can, stay at Sid’s house. Terre Haute was a really fun place to visit.
It all started with a talk at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which you can watch here.
The campus is full of art.
And it features the largest collection of hot sauce in the entire Midwest.
There is world class mixology to be found between the beers in Terre Haute. Try Bar Bosco if you can.
And dinner at J Ford’s Black Angus is not to be missed. The wine list has some secret hidden gems. We split the porterhouse.
But really the best thing in Terre Haute is Sid’s Waffle House.
In and out through Indy. A picture courtesy of Kurt.
The Morrison Dublin: Almost not a Hilton
October 6, 2024
OK, so we really don’t do Hilton much. We mostly avoid American chains ever since Kimpton bit the dust. But the Morrison came up on a bunch of separate lists and it looked good in bits. And you know what? It was good all told—one of Dublin’s big hotel gems.
Once again it was a beautiful bright day. We needed our American sun glasses. And once again the room wasn’t ready. But Lemon was close by and quite excellent. We had a crepe.
The room was very nice indeed. Great windows over the river. And a very Hilton-design. The only thing missing is any real tech other than wifi (a bare minimum in anyone’s book). Can’t connect to TV? No bluetooth? What?! Apparently google took back their chromecasts leaving the Hilton literally stranded in the tech desert. Not good.
Anyway the room was comfortable and nicely laid out.
The shower was not plastic. It was a good shower.
We did some things in Dublin. Like business…
Stage cocktails followed by a few too many pints of guinness at O’Brien’s Pub (the family pub of a friend).
We hit Kilmainham Gaol early, sobering and excellent.
We had an excellent but very late breakfast at Riggers D8. It was here that we met our fifth very friendly and talkative irishman. Good lord so friendly. But all ever so slightly lonely and all pretty sexist to be honest. An older way of life evolving fast.
We did some shopping near Trinity College.
We had an early Japanese dinner at Kyodai Izakaya after an ill-fated “brazilian drop in”.
And we saw a very good but very old fashioned play (Grania) at the Abbey Theater where we met even more friendly Irish.
We had a huge and very good brunch at PÓG Tara Street on our way to Windmill Lane Studio for a tour.
We spent some time decompressing in St Stephen’s Green.
We paid a visit to Farrier and Draper, ostensibly for a good cocktail. LOL. Dublin may be gentrifying but it has a ways to go. I guess the real bar was bought out for a private event. We had a martini with black olives?!
Which kind of sums it all up nicely. We want to spend some quality time in the real countryside next time we are in Ireland and play some music. The Morrison is a nice place to stay in Dublin, but we are not really the Dublin kind. Four showerheads for the Morrison.
Mandeville Hotel London: NOPE
October 6, 2024
The Mandeville Hotel is worth not visiting. Just don’t go. And whatever you do, do not ignore all the red flags on your way to not staying there. Like say, the inability to book a room category in a reasonable process. Or emails that take three days to answer. Or a room that not only is not ready when you arrive for five nights, but isn’t even worth the wait. Those kinds of red flag.
Billing itself as a “boutique hotel,” everything about the hotel itself is a stretch. What the Mandeville turns out to be, is a business hotel gussied up in an ill-fitting hand-me-down suit with a very wide tie that doesn’t match. But his sister is nice. Some people may be fooled. We are not.
We arrived from an excellent flight across the pond in United Polaris kind of wanting a good espresso and a shower (not necessarily in that order). We did end up getting a nice breakfast on a brilliant bright morning at the Ivy about a block from the hotel. You see, the one very good thing about the Mandeville is its location smack dab in the middle of Marylebone. You may recall from previous entries here in this spectacular blog that the Ivy is a top notch brunch chain (see Manchester and London entries).
In any case, our executive suite (so to speak) was ready when brunch was over. But what a disappointment room 105 was. Don’t stay in this room: weird bank of windows directly over the noisy-at-night restaurant, overlooking an alley of sorts, decor from that decade where polyesther was a good thing, uncomfortable couches. Just all around terrible. This room should be demoted to a much lesser category…like “very large broom closet” or “place to store old wallpaper swatches. We only stayed in this room one night because the other three rooms in our reserved category were not available. Right.
But judge for yourself! I mean look at that wallpaper. And the way the bathroom opens directly to the bed.
The shower was not plastic. Instead it was dangerous. Fortunately nobody broke a leg during our one night in this room. The shower was very nice, danger aside.
When you’re in Marylebone, retail therapy is in order. We spent time wandering the shops, hitting up me+em, theory, selfridges, varvatos, and more. Too much money was spent, but when you are a country mouse like we are, all of the city things are so shiny!
On our first day in London we found Scales bar which is well worth a revisit. Excellent cocktails (limited but creative and nicely concocted).
Fortunately, we were able to switch rooms to Executive Suite 216 after our first night (which was ridiculously overpriced for what it was). 216 was much better situated in the new purple part of the hotel. But the suite itself was still small and very poorly laid out. We’re sorry, but a bathroom opening directly on the bed is just not classy in the least.
The bathroom was much better. So what made us dislike this hotel so much? Well on our last night in London (a Wednesday night no less), a private party rented out the restaurant and bar and proceeded to put on a loud, obnoxious disco starting around 9pm and stretching nicely to 1am. Since we were to be up at 5:00am to fly to Dublin this was not a good thing. Complaints to management on checkout were ignored (so far anyway). We do plan to ride this one down to completion.
In the meantime, by no means stay at the Mandeville. Stay anywhere else.
Of course, London is a fantastic place to visit, and we had some very good experiences this round…
We spent some time at Hyde park checking out the icebergs.
We spent some time conducting business (which by the way will bring us to London regularly, but not again to the Mandeville).
We spent some time at both Tate galleries (Tate Modern and Tate Collection) and on a boat between. If you like the Kandinsky below, check out the others.
And we hit a number of excellent restaurants, including Roka, Carlotta, Tamarind, Chez Roux.
You will find stunning art at Henson’s Bar (in Mimi’s hotel). Apparently Mimi was a collector. We had excellent drinks surrounded by even better art. Need a cult classic like a Paper Plane or a Industry Sour? Of course you do.
Closing out our stay at the Mandeville was the coup de grace. The staff in the morning had no power to make us whole, and the manager who was instructed to get in touch never did. One showerhead for the Mandeville, we will not return.
Learn to Twerk at Hotel Washington
September 17, 2024
It started in the country.
And ended in the city.
With some Springsteen in between.
The Hotel Washington is our chosen destination in DC, and for obvious reasons—excellent hospitality. We hear rumors that this hotel is aptly run my Steph Vogel, but honestly we have not seen him for years. Anyway, from our base in the middle of nowhere, Washington DC is the big metropolis. This time we came in to see Bruce perform at the Nationals Park. An excellent show.
Back in the country, there were cocktails to be had and plans to be hatched. Somehow we overlooked the twerking in our planning.
We headed into DC in the early afternoon. We were greeted at the hotel with dueling amenities and greetings from Steph in our adjoining rooms 710 and 711.
The shower situation was non-plastic, though shutting the sliding door to the bathroom was nigh on impossible. The sink was in the hall.
After the show, we headed up to Vue to have a Corpse Reviver #2 or 2 and damage our hearing. Who knew that the night would end up with twerking lessons from the large group of (young) 50-turning women?! Much fun was had. All of a sudden it was 2am.
Did we need twerking lessons? Judge for yourself. Here is a before video.
Sadly no video of the after has been made available.
Five showerheads, a big thank you, and a fervent wish to get to the bottom of the Vogel disappearance for Hotel Washington.
Charlottesville Develops an Actual Hotel! The Forum
July 27, 2024
First off, NPS has a special place in its collective heart for Charlottesville, having graduated from UVa in the mid-80s with a degree in the lucrative field of Philosophy. But that is neither here nor there. Trips to c’ville happen every once in a while, and up until now there has been nowhere decent to stay. See here for evidence.
Now there IS a very good hotel, situated fittingly up by the business school and the law school. The Forum is where to stay when you need to be in Charlottesville. And yeah, it’s a Kimpton but not like the real Kimpton used it be. It is actually an IHG property with an echo of Kimpton charm in its chord structure.
We drove in through some very much needed rain that turned into a major thunderstorm delaying the show. Our plans to “grab some dinner” on the walking mall were thwarted by the storm and by the fact that it was restaurant week too (who knew?). So we got a bite at the hotel sports bar that was surprisingly good. The negroni set was excellent. If only the TVs would all just disappear.
We were situated in a terrace king room 345 (maybe). The room was very nice, but the terrace was so wet we couldn’t really use it.
The bathroom is pretty not bad, and the shower is glass.
About the only thing to fix is the “roll up the sidewalk” time which seems to happen around 11pm. When you come in after a show at the Ting Pavilion and would love a nightcap and a midnight snack you are forced to raid the paltry minibar.
The best thing about our trip was the show. Andrew Bird and Nickel Creek all on stage together?! Holy cow. It was a magical evening. Pictures and videos from the show here.
After a nice stop at Greenberry‘s for strip mall breakfast, we drove home the back way through the stunning beauty of Virginia.
Four showerheads for the Forum. Step up the game on the bar and restaurant front, and know your guests! We will be back for sure.
Secret Mission to the Monaco Pittsburgh
July 13, 2024
We’re on a secret mission; our second, actually. And we’re having a great time while we’re at it. There was baseball, there was jazz, there was art. We’ve been to the Monaco before and it is with a wistful feeling that we experience the last of remaining Kimpton spirit on the planet. Keep the spark, Rob Mallinger!
When in Pittsburgh, see the Pirates.
As has become habit, we stayed in 835, a one room suite. This room is about the opposite of a hamster cage, and we like it. We blew by on our way to the game, but were not able to check in early.
There were furries from the convention all over town.
It was a beautiful day, and we walked to and from the Pirates Stadium.
After the game, we were greeted with a drink in our room. Somehow the hotel overlooked that there are two of us here, not just one. Gotta fix that!
The cocktail featured local falernum rum which is very good indeed.
We leaned up in the way non-plastic shower (even using the soaking tub) and headed to Con Alma for some dinner and jazz.
A nightcap in the Commoner was fun. We almost started to experiment, but then hit the wall. Long day in the sun! We do need to try swapping cointreau for luxardo in a Last Word. Sounds great.
About the only disappointing surprise at the Monaco was the room service breakfast experience. We should have gone downstairs instead of hoping to have a nice breakfast together in the room. Time to get past COVID!
We had some very good meetings about our top secret mission, and then headed (slightly late and confused by the GPS) over to the Warhol. The staff was excellent and helpful with our departure, loading the car and having everything ready. They even snuck in some gift Maggie’s Farm falernum which was extremely thoughtful. We found an ABC store and stocked up.
Five showerheads for the Monaco. Hopefully our plan will come together (just like on the A Team).
IHG bores the shit out of us at NPS. They are so Marriott. I mean, any chain that can eat and destroy Kimpton and also proudly includes Holiday Inn Express has to be awful.
So here we are in Boston for a TAB meeting and the official hotel is this monster. Nopey nope nope. You can have it.
We were in 1128 which has concierge floor access. Our room was a hamster cage with a crazy window between the bathroom and the bed. Why? Who knows why. We had a great view of the massive A/C units that droned on all night.
The lounge on 12 had a decent snack and breakfast spread and excellent staff. It all served to remind us that our room was not made to hang out in.
There was a clock phone radio (?!) instead of a charging station. LOL.
But we were in Boston and that’s what counts.
We had a nice group dinner at Trade. Delicious but perfunctory.
We also had a group lunch at Nebo. Very good as well. But also very corporate Italian.
After the meetings, we spent some time at the ICA. See more here.
A very fancy dinner with Spoolia at Mooncusser was excellent but overpriced for its level of service. We were side swiped by intense conversation fueled by Rye.
And then, in a twist of very bad planning we flew back home to get to the Kennedy Center for the National Symphony Bowie show.
Four showerheads for the Intercontinental in Boston along with a sincere hope that we don’t have to stay there again.
Middle of Nowhere? Try the Smith House Inn
June 21, 2024
It was an ill-fated plan that failed along two predictable dimensions. But it was worth investigating. The investigation involved a trip to the middle of nowhere in Pennsytucky where we were surrounded by bikers—well people on bicycles with ridiculous lycra clothing anyway. It was about as far from dangerous as you can possibly get.
We stayed at the Smith House Inn in Confluence. I mean if you are staying in Confluence, you might as well stay there. You can pretty much walk everywhere else in 4 minutes or less.
We had dinner, a bad negroni, and a ridiculous lighning lashing on the river at River’s Edge.
We had espresso at the Tissue Shop and a laugh about meatballs.
Three showerheads for the fly speck.
In Portland (Oregon) with Friends
May 14, 2024
This wanderlust trip was set up just to visit friends. We flew United. We still believe that United domestic and United International are two completely different airlines. We also believe that the “plus points” nonsense is just that…nonsense. Sure would be nice to have a domestic airline that was not a bus.
We landed just after sunset. Mt Hood was visible on landing. Our friends T&G live up on the hill overlooking the city. Portland remains as lush and green and slightly soggy as ever.
We spent Friday visiting the Silver Falls State Park. Absolutely stunning. (Click here for many more fabulous pictures.)
On the drive back, we followed our nose through the back roads. We could almost see 17 peaks from there.
Lunch at Whiskey Hill Store was just what the doctor ordered.
We visited the nearby winery for a taste. They made it very hard to actually buy some wine. This is kind of a Portland anti-capitalist thing, we suppose. It was raining.
There was pool…out of politeness we decline to say who prevailed.
Everyone wishes to remain anonymous.
There was some kind of strategy game with random rules, enhanced by a delicious negroni or two.
Cornell Farms is a fantastic place for breakfast (if you don’t mind waiting for a while).
After breakfast, we changed locations across the river and down the hill to a sweet little bungalow—the house of e.
We did some thrifting and some ice cream eating. Salt and Straw is special. We changed into fancy pants. We visited bible club for a cocktail with even more friends. Very nice vibe (including the waiting in the rain listening to 80s covers part). Romey was psyched to meet Cate.
We had dinner at Kann (which took some setting up way in advance). Kann seems to be out slightly over its skis. The food is fantastic, but the ambiance is industrial and slightly over-aware of its own presence.
The next day was devoted to propping up the American economy by buying things: books (at powell’s of course…the best bookstore on earth), clothing, and cocktails. You could say it was a perfect day. We started at Cheryl’s for brunch.
Day drinking in the rain at the Teardrop is a thing to experience.
The dog did not participate.
We picked up possibly the hottest Thai food in the United States and crashed early.
The next day it was off to town for coffee and sushi (at the tiny mizu). Then the Kennedy School.
We sure do love visiting our friends!
Tyinkrysset Beckons, or Maybe it’s Randonee
May 2, 2024
After time in Stockholm and Oslo, the cabin was a welcome respite. We scooped Anne at the central station, and started our journey on the bluff above Oslo at the “Rose Castle.” The side trip was extra special because after 22 years I finally met Gøran’s mom. We all missed Romey.
Then it was a long drive through beautiful country to the cabin. There was still plenty of snow.
.
We used the cabin as a base of operations for two trips up even higher into the mountains. The first was to Tyinstølsnøse (1386 m) on Saturday. Just amazing.
UP
DOWN
In between we ate delicious fish, drank negronis in tiny mugs, slept not quite enough, and cooked over the fire outside.
Sunday morning the weather was perfect, so we had to don our skis and do it again. This time we skied straight up behind the cabin through the woods. The snow was so perfect that alpine back down through the woods was easy enough.
This is how I really felt.
The time was way too short, but my body was ready to rest. After our Sunday ski, we loaded up the car and headed to Bergen for another talk, some Norwegian “tacos” and a fancy dinner out.
The tacos (and the boys, who are quickly becoming young men).
The talk…
The present.
The cocktails at No Stress.
The dinner at Chérie.
A short but fantastic visit to Tyinkrysset.
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