Villa Fanny a Jewel in Caglieri (Sardegna, Italia)
October 20, 2017
Complimenti a Villa Fanny
Villa Fanny located just outside of the heart of Caglieri is filled to the brim with design excellence. Finding a more gorgeous boutique convenient to everything in town would be impossible.
We stayed in suite ercole which is about as far from a hamster cage as you can get. The spiral staircase that dominates the ground floor is as beautiful as it is functional.
Suite Ercole Staircase
And just up the stairs is a comfortable space.
View from the stairway
Of course, the shower is not plastic.
And there is a huge tub likely to remain unused.
The room also shares a beautiful balcony overlooking the grounds.
In fact, all of the common spaces are thoughtfully designed, right down to the lighting.
Front desk
A group dinner at Ristorante Sa Schironada was much better than expected. Tasty and very fresh seafood, excellent cheese and charcuterie, and a house wine which was as mysterious as it was delicious.
Cocktails at American Bar Biffi are delicous. The space is interesting too (though a bit warm when we visited).
Caglieri is worth exploring on foot. There are many sights to be seen. Make sure to visit the Museo Archeologico and the Orto Botanico. See more pictures from the Museo Archeologico. See more pictures from the Orto Botanico.
Orto Botanico
Caglieri
Five showerheads and high hopes for a speedy return to Villa Fanny.
The Omni Montelucia: Luxury in the Desert
October 13, 2017
The group we host on an annual basis is getting big (well over 200 now) and that means finding an appropriate venue is getting harder. Fortunately the Omni Montelucia was a great choice for this year’s conference. Gorgeous setting. Updated property. Top notch food and drinks. Well trained and attentive staff. Awesome!
About the only wrinkle with the Omni Montelucia is getting there from the east coast. Flying to/from Pheonix is not the best or the most efficient, but that can be a plus too if you want to get a bunch of very busy people “off the grid” for a couple of days of concentrated work. (BTW, American Air just sucks. My favorite thing was a twitter suggestion from American customer service to remove stuff from the seat ahead for more room. Fuck right on off!)
The conference organizers lined up suite 129 for NPS. It was “pretty not bad” as our friend Sammy says. In fact, it was just as nice as any suite we’ve ever had.
Suite 129
Greeted with a cocktail and a personal note. Very nice. Thanks! (Oh and sparkly water too.)
The bathroom was spectacular with a NPS approved glass shower also incorporating stone and multiple showerheads.
Wait for it
This shower is perfect
Are we spoiled? Should we not be spoiled?
All showers like this always come with an unused side of bathtub
But by far the best part of 129 was the large porch. Each night we entertained on the porch with candles and Liberals (Amer Picon brought from home).
129 porch
View of the porch
View from the porch
View from the porch
One minor quibble about the porch. The weather was so perfect that NPS wanted to keep the huge sliding glass triple door open all night. Sadly the resort musak also played all night in the courtyard of the restaurant. So the doors had to close at 3am.
The bar was also prepped by advance troops (in the form of Noelie) who informed them that they would need more absinthe STAT for CR#2s. That was a very good call. The barkeeps were all greatly accommodating and eager to learn.
And the resort food for 200? Very very well done. Could not really ask for improvement there.
After the conference, we left in an afternoon for play. A hike in the desert. A dip in the pool. And one of the best meals of my life at Sel in Scottsdale.
Camelback Mountain
Five showerheads and nothing to add. Heck six showerheads for the Omni Monelucia. Wishing for a quick return on any other airline than American.
Oslo and the Hotel Christiania Teater
September 30, 2017
Hotel Christiania Teater
We’ve been here before at the Hotel Christiania Teater, even in this very room (number 620), so we knew what to expect. And it was good.
Room 620 is a large suite with an interesting layout that takes up the cupola of the building. The shower does not suck.
620 sitting room
The cupola
Oslo in the distance
Large comfortable bed
A view out the back cupola (yes, there are two sets of windows)
The extensive bathroom with multiple sinks and heated floors.
One of the best parts of the hotel is the breakfast. A generous spread with fresh squeezed orange juice. Sadly the espresso grinder broke down on day 2.
Breakfast buffet
The orange juice machine
The bad downstairs from reception is very capable. Many good cocktails thanks to Barbara and Martin, including this variation on a Hanky Panky.
A Norwegian Hanky Panky
3 cl gin bareksten
1 cl sweet vermouth mancin
1 barspoon bitters Gotlands “fernet”
2 dashes angostura
stir down. serve on a large cube.
And of course Oslo is a great city to visit. The Vigeland Sculpture Park is striking at night.
Two dinners out could not have provided more contrast. The first was a family run fish place with home style recipes and local beer. The second, Om Restaurant Klosteret, was world class food and wine. Both were delicious.
Om Restaurant Klosteret
Cocktails at Himkok were great, even if we did have to leverage ourselves in the door and into a proper booth.
Mezcal or aquavit? Why not both
Himkok back bar
The still at himkok
Five showerheads (and a new espresso grinder) to Hotel Christiania Teater.
Of course, the best was yet to come:
A view from the trail
The Graduate in Charlottesville VA Still ABD
August 9, 2017
When you’re working on your Ph.D. and you stop just short of the finish line, you get to say you’re “ABD” (which stands for “all but dissertation”). Though the graduate in Charlottesville is way better than any other hotel in town that NPS has visited, it’s not quite up to non-college town standards.
You see, college towns have this problem with good hotels. There aren’t any. NPS is unclear on why this is. Maybe parents spent all of their money on a college education for their kids and they can’t afford a decent hotel? Who knows.
Anyway, the graduate will do.
We were given hamster cage, er room 803. It had a bit more style than your usual Marriott, but its architecture was uninspired. And it was not quiet in the least. A concrete box for you!
803 bed
The TV shrine
high style? Style created while high? something
The shower was glass (which is NPS approved) but it was too skinny and the water pressure was piddly. Not a shower to inspire NPS reverie.
Yes but no.
The rest of the bathroom
So ABD on the sbower.
And there were these little problems too.
no no no. Where can we put our own bathroom stuff??
Hermetically-sealed paper cup?? LOL. Just absurd.
The staff was all very nice. We even scored some san pellegrino as we checked in. So that’s a plus. But the graduate needs to complete its dissertation to enter the workforce. Three showerheads and study hall for the graduate.
In other Charlottesville news, Citizen Burger remains delicious and worth a visit. And the Alley Light bar is top notch. Do both. And while you’re in town, make sure to catch the Punch Brothers show. Oh wait, that’s WHY you’re in town.
The Punch Brothers 8.9.17 Charlottesville
The Lorien Alexandria During No Fly July
July 12, 2017
Though NPS does not fly in July or December, there is still stuff to be done. The solution? A working meeting at the Lorien in Old Town Alexandria. We’ve been to the Lorien a couple of times since Steph Vogel took over as GM. Sadly, Steph is in Switzerland this week. We’ll pretend that the ship runs just as well without Steph at the helm (though it’s really not true).
The Spartan balcony off 619
This visit finds us in 619, which is similar to 615 only slightly smaller and on the other side of the building. There is a very large balcony on this side too. Because it’s 100 degrees this week (with an overnight low in the upper ’70s), the balcony will be ignored due to weather. Strikes us that a remake of these balconies as a garden would make them both more inviting.
Look to the left
Look to the right
Our meeting room was cavernous and highly functional. We spent all day working.
A cocktail was in order after all that work. The bar is still very good, though barman and detail freak Phil Clark is no longer around. Phil has moved to Phoenix. You can tell. Damien is doing his damndest to keep things up.
Whey Sour
.75 cachaça (novo fogo)
.75 rye (copper fox)
1.5 whey
.75 honey
1 lemon
pinch of salt
Shake. Serve up.
Snacks at the bar took forever to arrive. That ended up making them free. Timely is better than free.
Dinner at The Warehouse was a massive disappointment. The crayfish were good. Or was that the crawdads? The wine list?
Unusable. Skip it. In other news from the evening, the bar at Restaurant Eve still holds its own, but Jackson 20 has slipped to skip it level as well. So sad that the old Alexandria Monaco is now a Marriott property.
On return from dinner around 11, we were greeted with a nice amenity. Thanks Stephani. The ice cold San Pelegrino is particularly welcome.
Sitting room 619
Sleeping room 619
The huge glass shower will do just fine.
Shower? Perfect.
Once the work was done, there were museums to see. First stop was the National Building Museum to see Hive. Well worth the visit.
Home of hive. At least for a while.
That was followed by another great lunch at Bistrot du Coin.
And a visit to the Phillips Collection. The old building is under renovation, so only half of the paintings as usual were out. But still fantastic. An NPS introduction to the stunning art of German artist Markus Lüpertz.
German artist Markus Lüpertz
The suit
Detail from Spoon
German artist Markus Lüpertz
A fantastic day. Followed almost immediately on its heels by a fantastic evening.
Roses Luxury is just as stellar as its incredible reputation. Just go. We showed up at 5:10pm and walked right in for a 180 minute dinner extravaganza.
Those poor “other people” had to wait in line
Caviar service
Yes, we took pictures of our food. We also had extensive conversations about it.
The best dish of the evening was a soft shelled crab served with Singapore-style chilli sauce (on the sweet side) over steamed buns with pickles. Delicious.
So really. Go to Roses Luxury as soon as you can.
Then there was the Columbia Room in the back booth (our usual NPS haunt), this time with the geek patrol. Excellent as usual, this time less for the drinks presentation than the company.
Columbia Room
Ice
Seaweed?!
Rum from 1857 always seems like a good idea after the tasting menu is complete.
The moral of the story is: get your work done quickly so you can spend some time being spoiled in DC!
Five showerheads and a real wish that Steph were around. We miss you Steph.
Heavy Turbulence at the Alexis in Seattle
June 4, 2017
NPS is not a first-timer at the Alexis, but we sure do miss our guy Keith (once concierge) who is no longer at Kimpton. Because we have no feet on the ground at the hotel, we had to rely on social media and the CRM system that Kimpton uses to track its guests. Guess what? Knowing people beats the heck out of any computer-based guest database. Especially a guest database that elides the only real hotel room criteria we hold dear.
Which is a short way of saying, “WTF Kimpton, a room with a plastic shower??!” Really, the warm greeting by Sam, the sparkling water, the really beautiful newly-renovated room, all that stuff means not a thing if the shower is plastic. We’ll pay more. We’ll do pretty much whatever it takes to avoid the shower over bathtub thing. We’ll even cash in our loyalty and find a different hotel.
NO PLASTIC SHOWERS!
The first room was 634. It had a plastic shower. What exactly does that mean, you ask? Lets review.
This is a plastic shower. It looks not too awful from here.
But when you approach, the plastic liner becomes apparent
And this bendy “obesity bar” which is not up to the task of such heavy plastic.
Gross. This is just gross. We do not do this.
And over a step in bathtub. No no. A thousand times no.
We tried to make this all very obvious.
Does the machine have a memory??
The rest of the bathroom is very nice and spacious
So lets put this shower episode behind us and hope somebody out there in Kimpton CRM-land is paying attention.
Leave the bathroom behind. Never go back.
High style evident
Cluttered quirky and fun
This is just fine.
Sparkling water is always very nice, and we do appreciate that.
But we do not at all like this trend where our rooms are bugged. Please make these spy devices that invade privacy optional Kimpton.
No bugs please. Spy on your spouse not on your guests.
Anyway, for the record, the Alexis has a great little bar called The Library, where from time to time great bourbon flows through.
The next morning, a room adjustment was already underway. That is good. But it was already too late.
Breakfast at Biscuit Bitch is worth seeking out, even if you have to trawl for a table.
And then work. And then some sailing.
We did some racing, and the good news is that we won first place in our class (really great huge boats that start late and come in last).
By the time the ferry shenanigans finished up, it was midnight and time for the room switch. Imagine our surprise when told that the water was off for maintenance. The Alexis can’t win for losing this trip. We were assigned room 425 which was very nice. We spent 5 hours in it all told.
Though we really do appreciate the shower in room 425, it works better when the water is on.
New room for you
The staff left a very nice amenity which there was no time to get into. Sadly, the water was not sparkly, though who knows it might have started out that way hours earlier.
Fancy
The bathroom is very spacious and awesome. Wish there were more time to use it properly.
Big giant tub with its own platform
Now that’s better Alexis. A glass shower!
All told this chunky visit to the Alexis deserves three showerheads on average. Plastic showers bring your final semester grade way down here at NPS university.
A Quick Pit Stop at Solamar San Diego
May 31, 2017
It is gray and overcast in San Diego. I’m pretty sure this never happened before Donald Trump became President.
We’re back for a quick bit of business in San Diego on our multi-city tour. One of the best things about San Diego is the Salomar. Our buddy George has moved over to the Palomar these days and has been replaced by the capable and super nice Kayse Potter. Kayse made sure our welcome was warm and nice and that our shower was non-plastic. Thank you Kayse.
We arrived late due to Virgin America SNAFU apparently involving a crazy lady in an unrelated city. Things you overhear when the flight crews gossip. Anyway, we got our rental car and zoomed over to the Salomar just in time to drop off bags and skeedaddle for our reservation at Noble Experiment. A great time was had by all. Thanks Andrew and crew. The back bar shots of rum and tequila made for a damn fun time.
We slunk back around midnight. Room 834 is a great space but it is on the wrong side of the building for me. Too noisy when there is a game on at the stadium (after the game ends).
Party all night after the game right under my window
The bathroom is particularly nice with the gigantic tub/glass shower thing going strong. It’s time to replace the showerhead though.
NPS Approved
Glass Pod
Functional but out of date
A solid night’s sleep and a nice long shower was topped only by Swedish pancakes at Richard Walker’s.
Oh, one funny thing. The lobby music is driving Q nuts. He is the manager on duty in the front lobby and is forced to listen to an endless loop. We’ll see if we can’t get that fixed for him!
All around way too quick but super solid visit to San Diego. Five showerheads (one of which might need replacement) for the Solamar.
