Breakfast was a carbon copy of the previous one, except I
was there much earlier, so the NY steak with onions was
kind of medium rather than "ruint," as Larry Bird used to
say on some commercial or other. Also I found that the
onions that smothered the pork chops could do a great job of
redeeming the gr beef Florentine. And that there's a limit
to the amount of smoked salmon I can eat.
In-room literature claims free wi-fi at Fortuna so I got my
gear and paid for another wine card (it should be a pleasure
reading FT and sipping hotel Burgundy at retail), and I
couldn't connect. So back to the desk only to find they
haven't had free wi-fi for three years. Off to the concierge
- who after saying incredulously that there wasn't free
wi-fi for two years comped me a day's wi-fi.
The heat, though not so horrid as before, was getting
tiresome, so given that they'd caved on the wi-fi, I spent
minimal time in the atmosphere and maximal time at Fortuna
and in the increasingly comfy bed in the room.
I took my glass of wine off to Casa Nicola to see if they
would accept my 20 off for two coupon as a 10 off for one,
but the hostess didn't even acknowledge my presence, so
eff her, forget this, the Yelp reviews are underwhelming
anyhow. Had a couple 241 and a couple free booze coupons so
went off to use them. An amusing bartender at the sports bar
- Hawaiianish guy, used to work at Western Airlines, cajoled
me into doing some poker, whence I won enough for supper,
because I'd set my sights lower than Casa Nicola. The 241s
were unattractive, as the drinks they were good for were
over $10 each. The freebies were good for Wild Turkey, so
that was a plus.
Tres Rios, the closest place to the east tower, has happy
hour from 9 to 11, so that's where I had supper. Two beers
and a gigantic order of decent beef taquitos (probably
from a Trader Joe's frozen bag or the equivalent), $10.
I had a coupon for $10. Perfect. Only I'd forgot I had
the coupon.
Next day I couldn't turn on the computer. Hot-footed it to
a shop, which told me to restore Windows and sold me a
disk for $50 ... it didn't work. BIOS error message that
I didn't have a hard disk. Crapola.
79c a minute Internet at the business center meant that the
rest of my stay was to be disconnected.
There was a basketball tournament going on at the convention
center next door (you have to go past the hotel meeting
rooms, across a very hot driveway, and up an escalator to
get there - a terrible defect of planning or budget, failing
to provide an air-conditioned walkway between facilities).
Packs of very tall teenagers roaming the corridors, the
crazy-making constant sound of a dribbling ball one floor
above, chaperones whining. On the whole, the kids were
harmless rubes though rather on the noisy side.
For reasons I won't go into, I switched to another room
in the supposedly tonier north tower - smaller, uglier,
and mildewier but with a better view.
Dinner: I thought of that splendid meal at the Wynn and
decided to check out the poultry situation here. Tried
to call to make a reservation at Garden of the Dragon
downstairs but couldn't connect, so I simply walked there
and booked a table for one and half a Peking duck, I'd
be back in a couple hours to collect. And so it was. The
restaurant shares airspace with Benihana Village, whose
neon SUSHI sign was visible from my table - I also had a
view of the electronic fake fireworks that periodically
disrupted my tranquil meal. When I was seated I told the
waitress that I had preordered my meal; she tried to
upsell me with soup or appetizers, which I refused gently
(half a duck is a bunch of food). A cup of respectably
spicy and sour hot and sour soup came unbidden. The duck
itself was also respectable though more of your ordinary
roast than the extra crispy skinned Peking real thing.
Came with an abundance of scallions and hoisin and four
biscuit-size steamed buns (man tou) rather than the
more fiddly but more classic thin pancakes. It was an
ample and satisfying meal, with pretty good service and
Sapporo beer. I toddled upstairs and fell asleep heavily.