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).
Westfields Marriott, Dulles, VA = Still a Marriott
July 13, 2014
Even when you fill a hotel with 300 people, things can go sideways in Marriott land. Met at the door by a persnickety doorman, I was refused luggage service when I arrived and asked to drive around to the loading dock. What?! Well, there was a bit of music equipment, but in the past it has all fit on 2 carts. No bending of the rules for mr door weeny.
Too much luggage for the front door? Nah.
So, instead of a welcome I got to bake in the heat, sweat through the shirt I was going to wear in a video shoot an hour later, and work with (the very able and excellent) security people. Hey Westfields, your front entrance situation needs a reboot. (FWIW, after a chat with the manager, the checkout situation went much more smoothly.)
Still from the video shoot. Had to change shirts due to checkin SNAFU.
But there is some good news. The Internet situation has been fixed. Free, more reasonable net. Which when you are running a conference full of geeks (like last year) is important.
And there is some bad news. The shower still sucks in suite 130. I mean really, get a new shower in here. The rest of the room is far better.
This is the bad shower in 130 at the Westfields Marriott.
After a long day, including a video panel, a talk, and a music performance, it was nice to retire to some wine and cheese left by the event staff. Thanks for that! It was demolished before I thought to take its picture.
The stage ready for some Gently Let Down by Catherine.
There was fruit and cheese here last night?!
Thanks for the note and the wine.
All in all, the Westfields Marriott is an even better place for a meeting than in past years. But the staff needs some training and suite 130 needs a new shower. They can make you an espresso in a pinch though, and they’re actually pretty good at it.
Morning at the Marriott.
Three showerheads for the Westfields. Run a meeting here, but don’t come here for the sleeping rooms.
Kimpton Where Are You? Hartford, CT Marriott
February 10, 2014
Again I find myself at a sub-optimal hotel. This time mostly because Hartford, CT appears to be off the hipster beaten path. At least my friend Drew is accumulating Marriott points! The Marriott Hartford seems to be like most Marriotts. You can decide whether that’s a good thing.
This is a plastic shower. Bane of this blog’s existence.
The rather unfortunate report on the shower is that not only is it plastic and over a tub, but also the hot water is tepid and there is no water pressure. Because the pressure is bad, the plastic showerhead does not work properly. All of this results in the worst shower of 2014, and sets the bar nice and low. Life is too short for a bad shower.
Hamster cages for everyone. Even Drew’s super Elite status lands you a room like this.
Bedroom 717.
TV homage. Bedroom 717.
Tiny plastic bathroom 717.
At least the concierge floor is on 21 and there is a nice view and some almost acceptable net.
Frozen tundra from the Concierge Lounge.
There’s just not much more else to say. Two lowly showerheads and no surprise for this place.
On the restaurant side of things, Max Downtown is world class, but standard issue. Want a good meal? Max will do it. Decent wine list and a great slab of cow.
Westfields Marriott, Ronald Reagan, and Paint (Dulles, VA)
November 15, 2013
Not that long ago, all 300 of us piled into the Westfields Marriott for a technical meeting of the minds. I just came back to this Marriott property to run another conference—smaller but including executives from 38 different firms dispersed around the world.
I stayed in the same room (130 which is the Presidential Suite). Sadly, they did not get around to fixing the shower since my last visit. So this well-appointed marble palace of a room is marred with a plastic shower curtain. Add that to the fact that the shower has no water pressure at all—an insufficient dribble—and we have a problem Houston. Miserable. Here in noplasticshowers-land that sort of problem is a fatal flaw.
This shower is not good.
One of these things is not like the others.
The rest of the room is probably decorated about the same way it was when Ronald Reagan stayed here in the ’80s. New paint? New carpets? That would be nice. (Contrast with this.)
Living room. Nice place for an ’80s party.
Fireplace (fake variety). On switch.
And then down the spiral stairs.
Spiral down.
To the room where nobody wants to hang out. Even when the full bar is put down there and there are too many people upstairs.
Yuck
Need music? No problem. Some massive, heavy, metal core speakers can be hooked up with a metal box, RCA adapters, and thick cables to your ipod. Time warp!
The bed is nice.
Bedroom
But Marriott still has very bad Net that costs money?! Authentication systems straight out of the early ’90s too. yay?
Desk with a view.
Bathroom art (in bathroom 1)
No shower here.
We had some fun times in 130. The rent-a-cop came to visit once but then went on his way when informed that it was only 11pm.
All in all the Westfields Marriott is a very good place to hold a meeting. Nice facilities, but very very dated technology. Creaky internet with really stupid authentication (why is net not free here?!). A/V equipment manufactured before advanced alloys. A default liquor and wine list that needs work. But the food is great, and the lobby is gorgeous. Can’t win ’em all I guess.
All in all a three showerhead (a one head demotion) for this place. Hey Marriott, fix your shower!
Fallen Flowers: The Marriott Rive Gauche in Paris
November 5, 2013
The feeling this picture gets across pretty much sums this property up.
Lets get this straight. I’m here because I have to be. I am directly involved in a large congress with over 825 people most of whom are staying here at the Marriott Rive Gauche. There is a crazily designed conference center here where we held the show.
Simply put, this property has seen better days. And in case you wondered, the 14th arrondissement is not really Paris. (Somewhat fittingly it is home to the catacombs.)
I am in plussed up Executive Class Junior Suite 1755. It’s about what you would expect from a Marriott: that inexplicable musty smell, really creaky HVAC, design from the late 70s, colors no longer found in nature, bathroom layout that is just laughable, concrete walls that are so thin you hear the neighbors (all of them), expensive bad net that is overstressed when geeks are present, and awful showers.
Without further ado lets jump right in.
The set of rooms seems like a cave that you must duck your head into. That’s probably due to the “hide a beam” paint job.
Welcome to the room that seems shorter than it really is.
Exactly what color is that couch?!
Whoa, the architect was on crack.
The bed is very comfortable.
There was a flower here when I arrived. It has since disappeared. It inspired the title of this post.
Fallen flower.
There are two bathrooms which are mirror opposites. They are equally strange.
Really?
Euroshower. Terrible shower head. Thin plastic tub.
Yeah, really.
There is this kind of view of whatever this is a view of. Paris, where are you?
Paris, the side most people never look over.
All that aside, this room needs some attention. Like new carpet that is not gold, better furniture, revitalized HVAC, and some help in the land of wallpaper.
This is one of several wallpaper issues in 1755.
I am also distressed to report that on Monday I had the worst croissant I have ever had in France. I believe it must have been flown in special by United airlines in cahoots with their supplier.
But all is not lost this trip. I am in Paris and there is great stuff to do. I think I’ll make a separate blog entry for the good stuff.
But I can share one tip. If you find yourself stuck here for whatever reason, just around the corner (out to the right and left at the first street) is a great little bistro, Bistro A Vins (aka Paris Gourmand)— authentic, simple, and fabulous. Across the street from that gem is the more workaday L’alouette which has net (password: alouette) and nice staff.
The Mormons of Marriott are giving US brands a bad name here in Paris. Way down there with Burger King and McDonalds. Horrors. A low two showerheads (and a look the other way) for the Marriott Rive Gauche. Only stay here if you must.
I am Not a Number, I am a Free Man: Not Puttin’ on the Ritz Carlton Atlanta
September 30, 2013
If you are a careful reader of noplasticshowers, you may recall the very first blog entry ever (October 21, 2009). Way back when! What were we whining about then? A Marriott property foist on us by the Kilbourne. You see, some people will do most anything for points. Some people, but not us some people.
Here at the Ritz Carlton you might expect a glass shower, right? Like the ones in Charlotte. Sadly, Atlanta appears to be a hotel desert. And as such, even the Ritz (the Ritz!!) has plastic showers. Alas.
I do not like plastic showers. Really.
A good start in the tiny bathroom, but is that a plastic shower?!
Queue YES Close to the Edge (yeah I know the title referenced Rush, what can I say?!)
I get up.
I get down.
Ah the high life in a high end hamster cage.
Never fear, there is an amenity that arrived as this diatribe was under construction. Did I say hamster? Eat up little hamster.
All your bar foods are come in BIG BIG bag. With coke.
Of course, Atlanta is a big city and there are plenty of great places to go. Dinner at South City Kitchen was relaxed and very nice with a supremely delicious pork BBQ appetizer. Drinks at 4th and Swift were surprisingly well-crafted by Gabriel. The only fly in the ointment is that Gabriel needs to relax about recipes and understand that every great drink will survive on its own in the light of day. Gabriel was fun at first, and then just plain green.
We concocted a Berryville Passage with Batavia Arrack (which I still need to procure for my bar), some homemade black walnut bitters, and an overly-smokey scotch. The new recipe is called the Peachtree Passage:
1.5 Batavia Arrack
.5 Dolin’s sweet vermouth
.5 Dolin’s dry vermouth
.5 Yellow Chartreuse
1 dash House Black Walnut bitters from 4th and Swift
1 dash Angustora
Wash a cocktail glass with smokey scotch. Shake. Flame a lemon peel over the drink. Drop in peel.
The next day started out right with a quick trip to dancing goats coffee (which would even meet jS criteria) on the way to Krispy Kreme!
The ultimate doughnut.
No calories whatsoever.
The famous hot doughnuts now sign is on and the factory is running.
Proof that the cigital offices actually exist!
Cigital Atlanta
Night two was even better than the first with a superb dinner at Ecco where they have outstanding charcuterie and a great winelist. After dinner we went to Seven Lamps for the best mixology in Atlanta. Master barman Kevin Bragg created a trio of outstanding drinks, including this experimental beverage which we will call the Georgia Liberal:
2 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
.5 Punt et mes
.5 Kronan Swedish Punsch
.5 Amaro Cio Ciaro
1 dash hopped grapefruit bitters
orange peel
We will leave the Ritz in Atlanta with three showerheads, despair that Atlanta just can’t rise to the occasion, and this snippet of YES.
Down at the edge, close by a river.
Close to the edge, round by the corner.
Close to the end, down by the corner.
Down at the edge, round by the river.
Gorgeous ceiling in the Biltmore ballroom.
Westfields Marriott in Dulles, VA
June 14, 2013
It’s time for the annual Tech Fair again where we get the entire company together in Virginia for some face time. This year we have moved from the bunker just down the road to the Westfields Marriott.
What can I say, it’s a Marriott. Beats the Sawgrass. About in the same league as the Battle House.
I am in 130, the Presidential Suite. I guess the presidency is frozen in time sometime in the mid-’80s. It’s all about a color of beige that your HSA might approve of should you be forced to live in suburbia.
The big room angle 1.
The big room angle 2.
Bar in the big room (angle 3).
The bedroom is also beige, and also spacious.
Bedroom angle 1.
Bedroom angle 2.
Is there a welcome note? Some flowers? Maybe a bottle of wine? Nope. Even though I am filling this hotel with 200 people, the management seems confusedd about how to conduct business. Fantastic!
I take it back. From the department better late than never, Director of Event Planning Ellen Ouellette had some fruit, cheese and Peligrino delivered along with a note. Thanks Ellen. Looks like Jennifer is wielding the power of the blog. After our 2am raid, here’s what’s left.
Remains of the day.
And then there is the bathroom situation.
Marble bidet? Check.
No shower in the tub room (no window either).
Ouch. Here’s the shower. In the public part of the space with a plastic shower curtain and a broken place where the door belongs.
The meeting space seems very good, but I would never choose this hotel for myself in a million years. A low four showerheads for Westfields.
It’s not as bad as the Disney Sheraton, but it’s close. I find myself trapped in a Marriott resort for a meeting. It smells like a Marriott, kind of dusty with hints of clorox.
Welcome to hall. Always a cart or two out for your viewing pleasure.
I am in glorious hamster cage number 428, which is distinguishable from all of the other rooms here only by its number. Here is what Marriott has for us today. (There are no flowers. There is no note. There is some water I can buy for $6.)
 Rectangle view one. |
 Rectangle view two. |
Yay! A plastic shower of the most banal possible type.
 Plastic shower at the Marriott (well, what did you expect?!). |
 Bzap. |
Maybe I can plug in my ipod? Uh, no. Should have brought along some CDs?! Really?
Real new “digital” technology.
Yes, Marriott continues to bore. I’m afraid to even go down and look at the bar. When do I get to go to NY??
One sad drippy showerhead for this place. Avoid.
At least it’s in Florida.
Here’s a little story. A buddy and I came back from a late dinner last night and decided to have a night cap around 11. Fraternity boy server dude (think Spicoli only less cool) was asked to bring some sparkling water and two glasses when he brought our drinks, one glass with ice, another without. 15 minutes later he returns with a tiny bottle of Pelegrino. Said, “That’s a bit small to share, can you get us a big one instead?” Leaves for another 10 minutes. Returns with nothing. “There were no more big bottles,” he said, “Sorry, man.” “But what about the little bottle you brought before?” “Oh I gave that to someone else.” FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. Marriott, what has become of hospitality in ‘merica?
And another. Having a breakfast meeting with a work buddy. Arrive a bit early and request a table. Ask server to sit by window. “Oh you can see just as well from here,” she says directing me to a decidedly non-window table. “I really don’t want to sit here, but I will if you make me.” Silence. “You see sir, sections, <blah blah blah middle management blather>." "Yes, but I don't want to sit here. Do you understand that? I will do so, but I don't want to." Sat there.
Story 3. Wrote down stuff that was broken in my room in a note and put a URL to this entry. When I was walking by the front desk they asked me how my stay was going. I said, “Glad you asked, here is some information about that.” Heard nothing at all from management about the note. Not even at checkout.
Speaking of which, the cute blond at checkout asks, “How was your stay with us? Did you enjoy your evenings?” “Not really. I provided some feedback about that.”
Blink. Blink. She replies. Silence. Nothing. Who trains these people?
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