Lets Get Married: Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh
August 26, 2025
The Monaco in Pittsburgh has always held a special place in NPS circuits. We stayed at the property way back when it first opened. And then we stayed at the property on an important first date. Throughout every stay, the Kimpton flame kept burning bright and true, even through the IHG corporate nonsense. Rob Mallinger is an excellent GM.
So, of course, the Monaco was top of mind when we decided to get married at the Warhol in Pittsburgh on 5.25.25. What better place to put on a world class party and put up our guests (none of whom were from Pittsburgh)?! Rob and his staff did a spectacular job making our complex plans burst into life with great attention to detail.
We especially thank Allan Hughes (room czar) and Sydney Kurywchak (catering) and their respective staffs for their diligent effort to make our guests feel as if no effort at all was involved. You made our day(s) amazing. Thank you.
We put all of our guests up in the hotel on the night of our wedding, assigning each guest a particular room on the eighth or ninth floors. Having everyone all together was a special touch. So in some sense NPS has “stayed” in each and every room on the upper floors of the Monaco. Allan did an amazing job coaxing the computer system into doing what we envisioned.
Of course we started in 835 before moving up to the Emperor Suite for our wedding day. (Allan pulled some strings and got us moved Saturday so that we didn’t have to switch rooms on our wedding day itself…which was a big relief for the bride.)
We’ve shared plenty of pictures of 835 in other entries, and we were too busy to properly document the Emperor Suite, so these will have to suffice.
We held two separate events at the Monaco, a rooftop champagne toast (replete with a piper), and a wild reception in the big rooms downstairs, expertly transformed by Alexis Allen into different realities. Just wow.
Here’s how the rooftop looked for cocktail hour. Also see this posting.
Everyone moved downstairs for the reception, which started in Sheffield Ballroom and then proceeded by stages into the Sheffield foyer to the Sophia Ballroom. Each space was differently decorated, with the foyer reserved for dancing to DJ Williams’s amazing music and the Sophia set up as a late night speakeasy. Also see this posting.
Moving guests around throughout the wedding day made for a delightful experience. We all started out at the Warhol, and then proceeded through the Monaco spaces until midnight.
It was an incredible lifetime event for all involved.
Six showerheads (out of five max) for the Hotel Monaco. We’ll always remember this hotel with great fondness. Thanks you guys!
Back at the Forum: Charlottesville Getting Closer
April 18, 2025
As we have said before, it is nice to have a real hotel in Charlottesville these days (even if it is a post-IHG Kimpton). Though the building and grounds are excellent, operational kinks hold the property back.
For example, how can your paid in advance room category be “not quite ready” for checking at 4:45pm? Who is in charge here? Not to mention nothing on the upgrade side you were promised. Terrible ops. Fortunately we’re just here for a night.
We were in (hamster cage) 574. Last visit was better.
But get this…once again the bar closes at 10pm. So would you like a nightcap after a great show? Ha! Not in this podunk hotel.
The restaurant is terrible. Skip it.
But the show? The show was great!
Demoting the Forum to three showerheads until they get some adult supervision in here.
Brice Hotel Savannah: History Collides with the Future
February 15, 2025
Oh how NPS used to love kimpton. We mean SO SO much. But since the IHG takeover, standards are falling all around. The Brice in Savannah (which is fairly new and independently owned) is no exception. Almost Kimpton. Almost.
Fortunately there is Tim. No not that Tim, another Tim—the operations manager. Tim is great. He made our stay much better.
*
We were originally assigned a park view suite (as we reserved on the net). We had no idea that the suites at the Brice are cobbled together out of stables and that the park is over a busy highway. Lets just say the rooms look great on the net but they are design disasters in real life. Here is 125.
I mean that sitting room is not bad. Unless you try to sit in it. Situated in an illogical place it serves more as an obstacle course on the way to the bedroom through the very skinny tiny dark hall. Do not sit in the sitting room.
Back in the back bedroom, the bed and the TV stand thing take up the room with no room to spare (so to speak). Getting around at night in the dark without damage to yourself is impossible. And the bedroom adjoins the busy street at street level? What? ha ha ha…park view.
As you can see, the design elements are great. In fact, in a normal king room (which we switched to after a bad night in 125) they kind of fit the funky vibe. We switched to 258 which was fine, but we took no pictures.
Want to put your suitcase somewhere not in the dark? Good luck with that. The closet may well have some of our stuff in it.
The bathroom looks great. And it should be. It’s especially great for eavesdropping on others in the hotel through the vents. And great for water fowl who want to be randomly soaked by the broken shower head. Plus it stays wet for days! So close and yet so far.
There were so many issues with 125 that we spent some time talking to aforementioned Tim about them. Tim was gracious, empathetic, and delivered a businesslike solution with panache. Thanks Tim. People like Tim are what made the Kimpton brand tick way back when.
—
Anyway, we were at the Brice for Savannah and friends and art and eating and the superbowl (?!). So lets turn out attention to our many side quests for a minute:
Savannah is gorgeous. The historic part of town is the first properly planned and laid out grid plan city in north america. The parks and the trees are awe inspiring and might just remind you why you are alive. Go for the trees alone.
And the food is world class. Seriously. We had one of the best meals of our lives at Elizabeth on 37th. We had so much fun with the excellent waiter/sommelier and the company we were with. We laughed until we cried as we experienced one of the best meals of our life. The only picture we managed to snap was of the menu. (FWIW, Eliabeth ranks right up there with the Waterside on the Thames and Bare in Bergen.)
Equally excellent but in more of a city hipster style was Common Thread. The food was once again excellent, the service delightful, and not one speck of stuffiness. You could well be in any major city.
Also of note Repeal 33 and Collins Quarter are both superb places for brunch. Best dive bar you ask? Why Bubba Gumbo of course.
There is also lots of funky artiness to be found everywhere in Savannah. This is mainly due to the influence of SCAD, which as far as we can tell is in a fight to the death with RISD. SCAD spends bazillions to toot its horn in an impressive (and manipulative) manner. Go SCAD!
Honestly, though, we are very proud of our friend April Claggett for being a professor at SCAD. April took us everywhere: an art opening,, Saturday market, tybee island dive bars, fancy dinners. What a great time.
There is Tybee Island and its associated dive bars nearby. So nice to walk on the beach.
It is warm enough to swim in February? Your mileage may vary.
The African Art Museum is a gem. Just go.
A horse and carriage ride is exactly what the tour guide ordered. We learned lots during our cloppy ride through town. For example, there is a statue of a cross-dressing horse trainer up a pedestal in one of the many green squares. And the original Savannah charter disallowed lawyers and slaves. And the underground railroad was very active in the city. Makes you wonder about history…
Did we mention art and SCAD? Because we meant to.
We could not pass up a visit to “the cathedral” which is theoretically modeled after Notre Dame. LOLs. We’ll see about that next week when we are in Paris. Same goes for the Paris market.
Superbowl Sunday happened at Maryjane’s house with Tom. The game was a blowout. As was the food and beverage selection. Best Superbowl party evah!
Just blogging about this trip is tiring. What an excellent adventure. We will return for sure.
We bookend our Savannah visit with this gem of a picture…
Four showerheads and even more Tim for the Brice. Maybe Kimpton will rise again.
Back to the Pittsburgh Monaco
January 25, 2025
It is very fitting that our first trip of 2025 is to Pittsburgh and the Hotel Monaco. We’ve been here a bunch as we are planning our 5/25/25 bash here. (NPS first came to the hotel when it just opened in 2015.). Because we were spoiled rotten during our first visit, we always try to stay in 835.
One of the best things about the Pittsburgh Monaco is that it is doing all it can to hang on to the old Kimpton goodness from before the IHG takeover. We miss those days, and visiting the Monaco reminds us why. That’s bittersweet of course. Much of the goodness comes from the top. Rob Mallinger is a very good GM.
We arrived after a chilly drive just in time to meet with Sydney from catering and do a tasting. We did have a minute to deposit our stuff upstairs. Thanks for the flowers and the welcome note.
The bathroom involves very little plastic.
We spent some time in the grand ballrooms agonizing over how to transform the space into something less sparse. Word to the wise, the hotel does not have a stash of furniture or lighting that you can use to do this. That would be up to you.
For the record, here is what the spaces look like empty.
We also looked at the rooftop terrace again (which we are likely to fold into our event). It was covered in snow.
We provided some feedback to the hotel directly WRT space recombobulation and our tasting experience. As always, the Kimpton staff was all over it and was very responsive. This is a sign of good management. Thanks to Sydney and Erin for being good eggs.
While in Pittsburgh, we decided to attend the Pittsburgh Symphony. That was a very good plan—what a talented orchestra.
Before the show, we had dinner at Gaucho Parrilla Argentina. The experience was ok. Delightful staff but food that was honestly pretty generic. Not much like, say, Argentina. The best thing was that it was right across the street from the Heinz Symphony Hall.
The next morning, before our meeting with the Warhol (also a 5/25/25 destination), we had some donuts at Peace, Love, and Little Donuts followed by a better espresso at De Fer.
And then it was off to the Warhol in the snow. It snowed maybe 2 inches while we were in town.
One our way out of town, we swung by a very swank Aveda Spa (Lapamponee) in Mt Lebanon, which led us through sheer luck to Piyola. Holy cow is Piyola excellent.
And then it was back home over the mountains in the snow. The trip was very cold and a bit slippery.
Five showerheads for the Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh. We can’t wait to be back.
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.
The Hotel Washington, Washington DC
March 19, 2024
Steph Vogel now runs the Hotel Washington. And you know what that means…an attentive staff, attention to detail, and all around excellence. In fact, you might accidentally find yourself believing you have been transported to a Kimpton of yore. (Trust us, Kimpton used to be excellent…)
We arrived in the late afternoon, just in time for a cocktail at sunset in the rooftop bar.
The staff knew us by sight (due to the wanted poster in the staff room, no doubt). We were given an excellent suite, 820, bumped up three flights by someone paying attention. Sadly, Steph is out of commission with a major skiing injury, so we did not get to see him.
We were greeted with a personal note, a snack (saved for late night) and a bottle of Pinot Noir (much appreciated by Romey). Though it has been a while, all of our preferences were not only noted but met. Attention to detail is so rare.
820 is a beautiful corner suite with lots of room to spread out. We were bummed that our schedule was so tightly packed.
The bathroom is great. Only one quibble with the shower involves water pressure.
The bed room completes the suite.
We dropped our stuff in the room and headed up to the rooftop. After a few sips of our Negroni we were able to score a seat by the open windows.
We watched the sun set over the white house. We saw the President’s motorcade depart as well. Classic DC.
And then it was a fight through the wedding hoards and a quick uber to dinner. Rooster and Owl (recommended by Steph) is outstanding. We shared a bottle of champagne.
Next was the 9:30 club for the late show. Thievery Corporation was a blast.
We were in bed no later than 2:30am. Then up too early for brunch at the Jefferson (which you can skip).
Fiver showerheads but a distinct absence of Steph for this visit. We hope to be back soon.
Hotel Zelos, Dirty Habit, and the Ghost of Kimpton Past in San Francisco
December 18, 2022
Oh the Kimpton of yore, how we miss it. After the IGH acquisition, the properties have gone completely corporate. No brand left at all. No personality. No staff that loves their jobs. So sad. Our last two Kimpton attempts in NY sucked (see https://noplasticshowers.com/2022/10/17/quick-hit-in-nyc-hotel-indigo-is-very-corporate/ and https://noplasticshowers.com/2022/05/08/back-in-new-york-the-muse-hotel-ihg/).
But the good news is that some of the properties have the old magic. Like the Zelos in San Francisco that used to be the Palomar. This was once one of our favorite hotels. And maybe it will be again.
We remember fondly talking to Mike Defrino about adding good bars to the properties (using Bourbon and Branch as one of the examples of what people will pay for a cocktail). Jacques Bezuidenhout was hired, and Dirty Habit was born under the direction of Brian Means.
We remember the battle of the Palomars.
At what os now the Zelos, we were assigned 712 (which is a nicely renovated version of a room we’ve stayed in back in the Palomar days). Great room.
In fact, enough space to conduct a zoom meeting with multiple attendees in the same room. (Don’t ask.)
The bathroom could be bigger. But it works. The shower is over a tub, but the nice glass doors make it all OK.
Though we arrived late, there was time for a slightly adjusted Boulevardier before bed.
And then a Cloudbreak (from Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Philly). This is still a magical cocktail. Make one!
Though it arrived late, a welcome note did arrive (along with a nice bottle of wine that I gave to madou since I was not checking my bag. Thanks for that Ben!
This is not your usual hotel art. Love it.
Breakfast at Cafe de la Presse is always recommended. At the Chinatown gate.
And for fun? How about Wildhawk, followed by ABV, followed by the Good Good Culture Club all with a bunch of great friends? Yes please.
So, a Negroni or a Breakfast Negroni?? Jacques, which should it be?
Maybe Suzu (who has become quite famous, aparently) knows.
While at ABV, tequila (or mezcal).
Thee guys…
Good Good was very good. What a treat to be in San Francisco for 32 seconds! Merry Christmas all.
Five showerheads and a big thumbs up for the hotel zelos. Looking forward to returning.
Quick Hit in NYC: Hotel Indigo is Very Corporate
October 17, 2022
What was to be a long weekend in the city shrunk down to one night when business did its usual thing of melting away. NPS stayed on the lower east side on somewhat of a whim. The verdict? Meh.
Thing is, Madou had no idea that we weren’t in midtown. So we shlepped up there for sushi at Sushi by Bou. Which was hilarious and definitely worth the subway time.
Waygu and uni…surf and turf @mmadou pic.twitter.com/BBZUfT75ih
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) September 7, 2022
The place is tiny, so make a reservation. Immediately after coffee, it was back downtown for our meetings, and then back to midtown for dinner at Freemans. Dinner was great.
But skip the rice pudding fad! LOL. Ride pudding is way too filling to catch on.
After dinner, the plan was to wedge into PDF, but the hot dog place was being its persnickety self. So instead we headed to Amor Y Amargo for some fantastic cocktails. We made up an experimental cocktail called the McGillicutty.
The Indigo was generic and boring. All of the Kimpton magic has dispersed.
The shower is not plastic.
The lower east side is close to some stuff, we guess.
NPS doesn’t remember the room number. Not returning.
Back to EWR you go (in an early Uber).
The United club is all new and fancy, but the flights are still delayed.
All told, three showerheads and no more strikes for Kimpton. Anybody have a good boutique hotel chain to offer?
Back in New York, The Muse Hotel (IHG)
May 8, 2022
Our first foray into the city was not that long ago, but was directly impacted by COVID when both stars of Plaza Suite were infected. We went to see Hangman instead, an OK play, but not really all that. And then it was back in Virginia for the advent of the Spring green. Were some of us disappointed? Why yes we were.
So, soon enough we were back in the city to take another crack at Plaza Suite do some business on the side. The original plan was to fly in Saturday evening, so we booked a room at the Muse, one of the Kimptons of yore. Bottom line: the IHG takeover of Kimpton is complete. These days, the lobby of the Muse seems to be filled with aging midwesterners who have accumulated enough IHG points by staying at many Holiday Inns that they are splurging on a trip to Broadway and the big city. Kimpton is hip no more.
The new demographic at the Muse in NY seems to be mostly oldsters from flyover states who accumulated lots of points by staying at Holiday Inns. @Kimpton has been utterly transformed by @IHGhotels.
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) May 7, 2022
Times Square remains a Disneyfied tourist attraction and a traffic snarl. That’s nothing new.
The Muse does retain much of its old staff, and that is nice. But its computers are corporate and the wiggle room is gone. So our request of room 1703 was ignominiously ignored due to the fact that we expanded our stay to two nights instead of one (really with plenty of time for the hotel to adjust) and didn’t feel up to switching rooms halfway through our stay. That leaves us surly and disappointed.
Somehow I think we ended up accumulating lots of IHG points due to all of this. But guess what? NPS does not give one shit about IHG points. None. We just want really great rooms for our cash money.
Plus it rained the whole time, so 1506 was not all that it’s cracked up to be what with a soggy balcony.
It was great to see Madou.
The rain made business in Brooklyn interesting too. Traffic was a thing. Our visit to One World Observatory for dinner was hilarious with zero visibility. LOL.
Finally we ditched the tail and ended up at Katana Kitten for some real fun (thanks to Jacques for the pointer). I mean, check out this before and after!
Before Katana Kitten
After Katana Kitten
Things were blurry.
Thankfully the canary extracted us before the blurry things got much farther out of hand. They did get far enough though, and Saturday morning was hard.
Returning to 1506 after a night on the town? Nah. The Muse days are over.
At least the shower is NPS approved. A very nice one.
After recovery, we visited the Guggenheim for a Kandinsky fix. Ahhh. That and ramen will do it every time. It was a glorious afternoon.
There are times when ramen can save your life
After a nap that stretched on just a little too long, it was dinner at Junoon. Highly recommended.
Breakfast at Banter (the original one south of Washington Square) is fantastic. The mushrooms are worth talking about.
All dressed up and ready for Plaza Suite
Now it’s time to see the play and then scoot to EWR for a quick hop home.
Four showerheads and a demotion for the Muse. We miss our Kimpton.
The Hotel Van Zandt Austin, Texas
January 19, 2022
Ah Kimpton, you’ve become so corporate. Such a great hotel chain ground down by middle management cost cutting and the boredom of crank turning. Dang. We remember the old days, yes we do. They are never coming back.
Anyway, getting to Texas on United was not so bad even in double masks. The flight was very sparsely populated, though it is a longish one. Austin is a great city to visit. Or is it a town? Kind of hard to tell. Here’s the story of our brief stay at Hotel Van Zandt.
The only pair of actual cowboy boots at the hotel when we were there happened to be ours.
First of all, IHG has forgotten everything about what NPS likes. Just for the record, we like high floors, certain kinds of pillows, and rooms with no plastic showers. We have also become accustomed to welcome notes from the GM, delicious amenities, sparkling water, and sometimes even a craft cocktail greeting us in the room from a barkeep hired by Jacques. Not this time. Even though the Kimpton twitter dwarf (they used to be fairies, but corporations) was given the heads up, not one bit of prep was done. Kind of astonishing, really.
So NPS paid a pretty penny for an excellent king spa room with a view, and was given a plastic bottle of water at checkin by the Assistant Manager who had obviously not read our secret file in preparation for our arrival. Hell, there probably isn’t a secret file anymore.
Room 701 is a great room style category. But the floor? Not a high one. The amenities and water? Nope. And the “lake view” is mostly a dusty construction site surrounded by homeless encampments. Seriously. Every city we’ve visited lately has a massive housing problem. What is wrong with this country?
The bathroom was awesome. Great tub (which we used a bunch) and a nice glass shower.
Not plastic
Tub with a view (that cuts both ways)
Sink area
The king size bed is surrounded by a bank of windows on two sides. The view will one day be better.
Given our late arrival sometime just after 8pm, we headed for a drink to Geraldine’s on the fourth floor. It was a Saturday night and the unmasked Texas crowd was dense. After ordering an outstandingly made Negroni (what ice! what ingredients!) we opted for dinner. Dinner was delicious, service was smart and snappy, and all was well with the world. There was a band. They were OK.
Negroni featuring Botanist gin and Antica Formula vermouth…a house favorite
Behind the glass
Sadly the restaurant was not open for breakfast during our stay. Instead there is a starbucks knockoff cafe on the ground floor with a microwave. Not the sign of a great hotel, guys. Frankly, the place feels more like a Marriott than a Kimpton. No human touch and no magic.
Sunday was devoted to fun without a plan. Brunch at Fixe was absolutely stellar. Great Bloody Mary’s and cinnamon roll biscuits. Fantastic food and friendly Texas service. We took our time.
Bloody Mary of the highest caliber at Fixe
Hard to describe how delicious this was
The famous deviled eggs
Shrimp and grits with some garlic kale and a poached egg
In a great mood and in weather befitting Spring (60 degrees), we headed to South Congress for some idle shopping. Our only real destination was Heritage Boot Company. Though we got no pictures, we did manage to pick up a knife for my kilt and three pairs of handmade boots. We even had a margarita of sorts with “Mr. Avocado.” Great people, great boots, and a down home Texas vibe. (Thanks Kimber.) NPS hears tell that once you buy one pair you are on a slippery slope to ten. We shall see.
View down Congress toward the state house
Coffee and people watching at Jo’s Cafe
We did manage to singlehandedly support the American economy with our credit cards. And then it was time for a margarita and some music at Half Step. The margaritas are on tap. We were served by Nick Cage himself.
Margarita @halfstepbar served by nick cage himself @LoveTequila @rivco pic.twitter.com/PYH26aasFP
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) January 16, 2022
And that band. Three blind fellows joined by two sighted musicians and a heap of funk. These were real Austin professionals.
Have a listen for yourself.
About the time we extracted we were late for our dinner reservation at Canje. Dinner was excellent. The jerk chicken was hotter than hell. The drinks were fun. The vibe was casual.
Seated at the bar (our choice)
An emergency clothespin
Jerk chicken that will blow your mouth off
Really it would be hard to ask for a better Sunday in Austin.
Monday was a work day with a working lunch at Qi. Get the soup dumplings.
Part of the late afternoon meeting happened at the Proper hotel. This place is interesting but just a little too artificial after an hour in the lobby. The music loop may kill you if the extruded ice doesn’t. Dinner was slated for upstairs at la piscina ceviches and fajitas. Our hosts are enamored with their fajitas. They were (as Sammy says) pretty not bad.
The highlight of the evening Monday night was a quick stop by the Roosevelt Room. What a place. Cavernous and somehow still intimate. Superb cocktails served with whimsy and great care. One of the top bars in the world for sure. NPS had a paper plane (with a paper plane) and a Liberal. Yup. Amer Picon in the house. We seem to have lost our party all night energy during the pandemic, especially after a full day of working in person. So we’ll have to go back. Thanks for the hospitality Justin.
The paper plane with a paper plane
Yet another emergency clothespin
The list is first class
A Liberal in Austin
Well, Austin, we will definitely be back. We’ll probably buy some more Heritage boots. We’ll definitely have a few more drinks at the Roosevelt Room. But we’ll stay at the Driskill. Three showerheads for the Hotel Van Zandt where you get what you pay for (and nothing more).
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