Made in Louise does not Make the NPS Cut in Brussels
May 12, 2015
Beauty is only skin deep, and sometimes it is even less deep than that. Deceptively pretty and wired looking from afar, the Made in Louise hotel has aspirations beyond its class. The setting is quaint and pretty, and the gardens have lots of birds and trees, but ultimately too many corners have been cut in the Ikea-inspired design for this hotel to reach boutique class.
It seems to be designed for pensioners on vacation who would like to stay in “one of those hip new places” but who are not really sure what that means. The construction of room 31 provides a good example. The style is not bad, but its implementation is cheap. And in some cases the facade gives way entirely and the Ptompkin reality settles in.
The garden is very pretty
Room 31 has nice windows
But whoever attached this TV crooked to the wall just blew it
Seems stylish in a Marriott kind of way
But the fabrics are artificial and the furniture is hollow and plastic
Of course we’re looking into the shower situation every time we try a new property.
Not a bad shower, but the shower pan is noisy
This is just not good
Plastic cup? really?
The main problem with the cheap construction is the noise in the morning when the building wakes up. You can hear every shower’s water hit the floor and each toilet flush. And those great birds from the afternoon become a serious nuisance around 5:30am. Also the window shades may look cool, but they fail to block the light. Sleep? Who needs it?!
Breakfast? Forgettable. Utterly. We can’t even remember what we had and our plate is still sitting beside us.
So all told, three very low showerheads for this place. It’s not bad, but it is really no better than a Marriott in many ways.
We will not be back.
In town for an event, we were pleased to visit Madou’s Provence whose food continues to live up to its reputation. Here is a little gem that punches way above its weight class.
Sadly the only craft cocktail bar in town (Hortense) is closed Monday through Wednesday. So we slummed it at Floris bar which has an insane collection of absinthe (hundreds of bottles) but is also a super seedy dive often hit with a wash of humanity seeking beer and thumping music. Our server Alice was great, but no.
We did find this fantastic product
1/3 of the wall of absinthe at Floris
Anyway, there is better to be discovered in Brussels, and we definitely need to visit again.
USAirways to Raleigh
March 14, 2015
Surprise surprise! Commuter jets operated by Republic for USAirways have wifi, and you can upgrade for super cheap. Too bad they only fly out of DCA.
.@usairways @american embrear 170 operated by republic. Seat 2a. wifi. Not pretend @united wishful thinking wifi. pic.twitter.com/qETbdZMi8n
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) March 11, 2015
I am not sure what United has planned, or when its plan will be implemented, but they seem to think a plan is reality. Ridiculous.
Oh @united, you and your silly counterfactual URLs. The days of having wifi in the future should be in the past like with other airlines.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) March 10, 2015
I flew in and out for dinner and did not spend the night. But I did camp in the Marriott RTP lobby for a short while. Yuck.
WTF? @Marriott power "solution" pic.twitter.com/FfNhTxL2dh
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) March 10, 2015
At least Marriott listened (and brought out a cocktail to boot).
Ruminations and Regrets: Jet Blue to NY not so much
February 22, 2015
OK, first of all we will still do anything to avoid United. They can have my loyalty back when they ditch the worst CEO in the United States. (Jeff Smisek. Smisek sucks. Ruined a whole airline.) Meanwhile, we’re trying to figure out how to navigate the East coast when we’re not on JW’s plane. We’re desperate, we’ll fly anybody!
Jet Blue works just fine from IAD to Boston. But NY? Not so much. Here’s the problem. JFK is just not going to work. Jamaica?? Yeah, that’s pretty far from the city.
For example, getting there on a Friday in the frozen tundra from Brooklyn (which is basically halfway there from Manhattan) takes an hour. Argh. Imagine if my flight were actually on time.
But what’s worse is that the Jet Blue terminal at JFK is off the beaten path. Car service parking? Ten minute walk. And once you are trapped there? It’s just like a very bad mall. You know, malls are dying out. Some of us know why.
Delay got you stuck? Negroni is the answer @LoveTequila pic.twitter.com/8WJwrqMidn
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) February 20, 2015
I did find a good Negroni. But then I got some serious food poisoning. Really. Not good. I finally feel human again 48 hours later.
Plus Jet Blue pulled the drip delay thing that United does, flew a plane with no wifi, and well, frankly, reminded me too much of United.
Anyway, no more Jet Blue for me to New York.
No way wheels up at 7 @JetBlue. You are operating like united. Rats.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) February 20, 2015
@noplasticshower Have you reached out to a crewmember at the gate for any further updates?
— JetBlue (@JetBlue) February 20, 2015
hah hah hah. yeah. BZZZT.
Jet Blue fail.
It’s Not Just Us: United Sucks
January 14, 2015
United Airlines is terrible. We are attempting not to fly them in 2015. But don’t just take our word for it. Read the Wall Street Journal airline report.
Jeff Smisek should be fired.
2015: Capitalism in Action on the Travel Front
January 11, 2015
Regular readers will know that in the studied opinion of NPS, United airlines has gone to the dogs. Too many years of too many operational problems finally have come to a head this year. We’re going to attempt to avoid United whenever possible even though our home airport is a United hub. This after over a decade of 100K privilege flying. That’s how bad United is.
Long ago the Board of United should have figured out that Jeff Smisek is a terrible operational leader. An M&A specialist and a marketing person is not the right kind of person to run operations at a huge airline. And United is just too big not to suck.
So bye bye United. Until you get a new CEO and start performing better, we will do our utmost to avoid you. We are voting with our actual cash money.
We’ll see how it goes this year and keep you updated here. First up, trans-continental flights on Virgin America.
Happy new year! Make sure to apply capitalistic tendencies with YOUR cash too.
United versus Virgin: Grizzly Veteran Flies New Airline
December 3, 2014
As a 100k flyer for over a decade with 1,589,963 United miles under my belt, I know a bit about United airlines. Since the merger with Continental, things have frankly gone to the dogs. We have documented the downfall of United here. Jeff Smisek may be good at mergers and marketing, but he sucks at operations.
Every time we think things may be getting better, they don’t.
So it has come to this. No more United. I will now show as much loyalty to United as they show to me. Towards that end, we flew Delta earlier this year, we flew American, and we just flew Virgin to SFO.
Just to make this all clear, two weeks ago I did a trip through SFO on United. Yesterday I did the same trip on Virgin. The experience was not the same.
One United flight had a wifi logo on the side, but the wifi did not work. The return flight did not have wifi at all. Having no wifi is like having no oxygen. On a hub to hub trip (IADSFO) there is no excuse any more for no wifi.
The United flight was crammed full and the crew was surly. But there was room to work in Economy Plus. Well, I could have worked if there had been some wifi. Instead I watched a movie on my nexus.
United: pringles that cost $, busted seats, and no wifi
This is the advanced technology display on an actual United aircraft
Nice upholstery on United
So the United experience was pretty bad all told, especially for a business flyer.
How about Virgin? It all started out fine, but then:
Uh oh, there is bad weather in San Francisco.
Everyone was delayed, but United chose the drip delay method as opposed to the doom and despair drop.
Virgin was staffed by very friendly and nice people. And their wifi worked as advertised (much to the chagrin of my staff). But the seats in economy do not allow laptop use in a comfortable fashion. That extra four inches in United economy plus makes all of the difference. I still have a headache from using Virgin wifi for 5 hours.
Virgin is too crammed for a mac air
Ultimately, this may all boil down to money. Pay more for a better seat? I guess so as long as there is a real productivity impact.
We’ll try that on Virgin in 2015.
On United it is One Step up and Three Steps Back
October 20, 2014
Since I remain locked into a hub, I am pretty much consigned to fly with United on at least some portion of my flights. United has suffered so much operationally since the merger with Continental that this is very painful indeed. I can say without any exaggeration that operations at United is still completely broken.
I spent 75,000 frequent flyer miles to get up to NH this weekend to write some music. What did I get? Two unsatisfactory flights.
Flight one to Boston was delayed 90 minutes (right through the dinner hour). There was no food on the flight—not even peanuts. The “entertainment” system is that ridiuclous DirecTV system that plays mandatory ads to you while you are strapped in your seatbelt. No wifi. No power to power your own iPad or Nexus.
Flight two never happened. A broken airplane rippled through several flights like toppling dominos. The way this unfolded was classic united. First a 40 minute delay. Then 90 minutes. Then 3 hours and 30 minutes. Then never. I was upgraded to first class on a flight that never happened!! awesome!
The only saving grace was the red carpet club in Boston which is a beautiful space. If you have to be on the drip delay (united can’t run an airline) the red carpet club is the place to be stranded.
the new @united club in boston is nice. sadly stuck here for an extra hour maintenance delay. https://t.co/WZHQNpv05q
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) October 19, 2014
The people at the United club were fantastic. They helped everyone get backup flights and even stayed open an extra two hours. But best of all, this happened. When I finally decided to bail and get some dinner, I went down to the Legal Seafood. As I was having a snack, the United rep came down to find me and let me know that she had booked me on a USAir flight to DCA. I had to run to Terminal B, but I got home thanks to the United club people. Too bad those good people can’t fire Jeff Smisek!
This tweet from United pretty much says it all.
@noplasticshower Our apologies for the inconvenience today. But we are glad that you made it to your destination. ^ML
— United Airlines (@united) October 20, 2014
Why United is Just Awful
October 5, 2014
Only since the ill-fated merger have I flown economy class to/from Europe because of no upgrade. That is just awful. You would think that after 1,578,471 miles (which I paid for) United would have some loyalty to me. But they don’t.
Ten years of 100K status drops fast. Be forewarned United flyers. Your airline does not care about you at all.
This last trip to London/Helsinki was no exception. Business class on the way there (which we paid to upgrade at purchase) but no upgrade from economy on the way back. 8.5 hours in an awful seat with terrible food.
seat 23G in economy on an international flight. @united should know why i have no loyalty. sadly, stuck at … https://t.co/GBxvALsBrT
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) October 3, 2014
First world problem, I know. But frankly I expect more from an airline that used to earn my business.
United has gone to the dogs.
United: So Close and Yet So Close
September 20, 2014
Anybody who knows this blog knows how I feel these days about the unmitigated disaster that United has become under the operational “leadership” of the out of touch Jeff Smisek. I was pleasantly surprised this trip to be upgraded ahead of times on both hub to hub trips (thank you United).
But (yeah, you saw that coming), on the outbound leg, our 757-200 had power requiring that business class adapter which I no longer carry around with me and no wifi. For me, having no net creates HUGE amounts of work post landing. I like keeping up with the net in real time so that geek things do not pile up. No net for three hours makes a mess. I don’t want to be “entertained,” I want to work.
On the inbound leg, the Continental 757-200 had neither power nor wifi but instead that infernally stupid DirecTV system. I sat next to a United pilot. We had a very interesting conversation about United leadership. Suffice it to say that the theories we spout here at NPS about United and operations are “spot on.”
Oh and we were delayed by equipment problems for 1.5 hours. When we finally boarded, groups 1 through 3 boarded before First Class due to some catering SNAFU. And whatever the caterers did, they did not bring enough meals so that I ended up with my choice. Rubber chicken with tomato gunk for me. Truly just awful.
United is improving, but there is a LONG way to go before I choose to fly instead of being forced to fly.
Why Air Travel on United is Just Awful: Check In
August 29, 2014
You know what’s sad? I just looked on my United app and I have at least 5 trips queued up to go. See, here in NPS-land, we’re stuck at a United hub. That is a total bummer.
Regular readers know that I have flown over 1.5 MILLION miles on United in a very loyal decade. But I am done with that. I decided this year to show United as much loyalty as they show me—none. Zippo. Zilch.
So we’ll fly most anybody as long as the timing works. Sadly, that keeps me on United more than I would like.
Lets dig into the checkin process at SFO as an example of why flying on United is painful. Here are a series of Vine/Tweets from this morning’s chaotic check in. This is the reality of what air travel has become.
the real @united "gold" checkin experience. this sucks. more like aluminum foil. https://t.co/WMWVlWhnw2
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 29, 2014
here is the tsapre line with a premier traffic jam. @united cannot run a line. real checkin process. https://t.co/kMCpQeYoj8
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 29, 2014
At least the United Club was a temporary respite.
finally some peace. the @united club in the 60-69 gate annex is more like it. real checkin process. https://t.co/a9o3glCsUY
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 29, 2014
But then it was cattle call boarding time. Upgrade for all that loyalty over the years? Are you kidding me??!
Great to be number 21 on the upgrade list when the cabin is checked full! @united rewards you for 1.5 million miles. NOT. This sucks smisek.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 29, 2014
Hey @united, boarding group 2 not ok with me after a decade of loyal flying. Real checkin process.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 29, 2014
Once we were finally on board (after starting 11 minutes late), we were informed that there was a baggage problem.
Baggage count problem. Now 30 minutes late and counting. Baggage guys recounting by hand for weight. Not good.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) August 29, 2014
Ultimately, that delayed up 30 minutes.
But there is some good news. This 737-900 is a nice new plane and it is equipped with wifi. So I can make this posting. And there is an extra 30 minutes to do it in too!
My advice to you flyers out there. United is not a good airline, so try another. Any other. (And Jeff Smisek still needs to be fired.)
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