Courtyard by Marriott a Giant Step Up in Wilmington, NC
June 19, 2015
Usually NPS has to slum it when we come through Wilmington, NC on the way to the beach. We have had a number of seriously awful experiences at the Hilton. Read for yourself here and here and here (there’s more if you like snark).
So the bar is set exceptionally low, and we’re happy to say the the brand new Courtyard by Marriott is much better even though it is still a hamster cage experience.
A stylish elevator hallway to wait in
We had a SNAFU getting into our room that involved waiting for the front desk and engineering to figure out why a deadbolt was thrown in the room we are supposed to have. Anyway, we ended up in 424.
Instruments on carts
Accent wall in the hamster cage
NIcely appointed bathroom
The shower is a glass pod! Yays.
Glass shower. We repeat, glass shower!
But of course all is not sweetness and light here at NPS. We do have to say that the view sucks.
This is not a view of the river
Blogging chair. Don’t spread out!
Anyway, good on the Marriott for bringing the town up to a low three showerheads! Way more than zero (the Hilton’s last rating). Looks like we’re going back to circa 1922 for dinner.
The best part about Circa 1922 other than the food is the barman Josh Giles, a reformed architect who has become a master barman. John specializes in growing ingredients in his garden and incorporating them into his drinks. The C4 is a great example:
1 oz cucumber shrub (cucumber, lovage, chervil, salad burnett, white wine vinagar, rice vinagar)
1.25 oz hendricks gin
.5 green chartreuse
splash of st. germaine
.75 oz soda
Both the shrub and the drink are out of this world. Josh rotates the menu regularly and features a cocktail with local produce (like the C4). World class.
Josh @Circa_1922 bar making fantastic cocktails with homemade shrub and bitters pic.twitter.com/gpfo6CXgW2
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) June 19, 2015
And tomorrow, the Stick!!
Sophie at the stick
I didn’t realize that the Indigo Hotel in Ottawa was part of a cookie cutter chain of 31 “boutique” hotels run by the Intercontinental. Dang.
In retrospect, I should have known what I was in for from my, um, interesting, stay in Jacksonville, Florida. Everything I said in that post applies: “far far better than your average Courtyard by Marriott. But it is no luxury hotel catering to hipsters and rock stars. Instead it appears to be catering to people who would like to be hip, even though they read USA Today and shop at big box stores.”
Lesson learned. Slowly. But learned.
Bathroom first. The shower is glass, but the floor is spongy and cheap. Everything looks better quality than it really is. It’s apparently all about appearances.
 Glass shower good. But cheaply constructed. |
 Bathroom seems new in that vacant apartment way. |
Bed is big and not very comfortable. But it looks big and comfortable.
Big uncomfortable bed.
Here’s how much they want my business. They choose to charge me $4 for a bottle of water. This does not make me feel welcome. Nope.
Welcome. Please insert your credit card here.
Big TV on particle board furniture. You look rich if you have a big TV, right?
All hail the television.
The lobby is nice enough, but once again that kind of super light furniture that looks great but weighs only 2 pounds. The Indigo Hotel is like a TV set for a hotel (hah, try parsing that one twice).
Lobby.
Three showerheads for the Indigo Hotel chain. Look elsewhere for a real boutique experience.
I other travel news, TSApre works now for international flights. Cool! And Global entry was a snap in Ottawa on the way out. Just don’t save time for breakfast after customs unless you like styrofoam plates.
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