noplasticshowers

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.

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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.

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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.