Moving to California: VX F, assorted Hilton properties
Jun 23, 2017, 1:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
Moving to California: VX F, assorted Hilton properties
Itin:
Doubletree Alana, Waikiki
VX F HNL-LAX
Hilton LAX
Doubletree San Pedro/Car pickup
Doubletree Alana, Waikiki
Circumstances arrived at a point in Hawaii such that it was time to go. My freelance contracts dried up last Christmas, and my new little business was going nowhere. Trying to rent a place in HNL as a 1099 freelancer with no current income is as futile as trying to walk to the moon. An offer came through from my absentee roommate to live where she actually practices (medicine) in Palm Springs. Why not? This glosses over conflicted feelings about the move as I leave friends behind and “fail out” of another location.
After closing the house in Kahala, I checked in around 5 pm on a “points & money” rate, and to my surprise, I received an upgrade for the 4 nights of my stay. I went from a King w/ city/mountain view lanai to a partial ocean view lanai. The view overlooked Ft Derussy and what bits of the Pacific one can see through the Kalakaua Ave mega-hotels.
Despite my diamond status, I do not expect upgrades generally. In Hawaii, I expect no extras from Hilton properties. So that was good.
A second boon of sorts was that as the restaurant was being renovated, the property comped Gold/Diamond members the full hot breakfast set up in the conference room rather than maintaining the $8 upcharge for the hot options. Yay. I wasn’t availing myself of much beyond the fresh fruit (HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE!!!), green salad, and tea. Because of a medicine I take, my appetite is permanent suppressed.
I didn’t do too much Waikiki stuff as I was consumed with errands (retrieve forgotten item from house, cancel gym membership) and spending time with friends. I’d recommend the little beaches toward Diamond Head rather than the main Waikiki hotel beaches.
On Saturday, I met my Hawaii “adopted family.” These people are saints and almost exactly what this lone wanderer needs at time. I met C, her husband S, C’s mother (CM), and CM’s friend/companion/minder J for a dim sum lunch at the Ala Moana Hotel’s Chinese restaurant, Royal Garden. CM is an adorable lady with Alzheimer’s: she can’t remember what you said to her 5 minutes ago, but you’ll listen when she tells you the story of looking into the Zero pilot’s eyes as he flew past her high elevation home on his way to bomb Pearl Harbor. By chance, S and I grew up in towns right next to each other, New Hyde Park and Floral Park, NY. I gave S a bottle of wine for Father’s day in addition to a gift card to Lappert’s for C to take her teenage daughter (was visiting NYC with school) “Holo Holo” and get ice cream. They gave me a lei and comped lunch.
The Yangzhou fried rice, assorted dim sum, egg tarts, and char siu were the equal of what I’d get in Hong Kong. I would recommend Royal Garden to any visitor to Honolulu. We 5 stuffed ourselves and had 3 beers for $110 (incl tip). The Ala Moana hotel is in easy walking distance (5-15 min) of western Waikiki (eg the Doubletree, Prince, Modern, Equus, and Hilton Hawaiian Village).
I took a dip in the DT’s small, but OK pool in the late afternoon.
Sunday was a quiet day, C and S invited me to join them at their club for a Father’s Day BBQ. I won’t refuse a Pacific Club din-din, so off I went. It was a great, quiet, finale.
Like a good hobbit though, I enjoyed seconds later with fellow misanthrope friend T.M. at Chiba Ken in Waikiki, a small but wonderful Japanese place on Ena Rd, a back street of Waikiki. It’s best described as a hybrid sushi bar/Izakaya that has a great happy hour food/drink menu at 9:30 eg $2.25 Sapporo, $7.75 tempura udon, $8.95 salmon & ikura don. T.M. indulged in the “sushi special” (1pc each of ahi tuna, salmon, yellowtail nigiri + a cucumber maki roll) and a sizable sautéed pork cutlet with a heap of greens. He regaled me with stories of human ineptitude over sake and our nibbles. I will miss his incisive and ornery influence. Most of all, I will miss our conversations that end with “We’re at the apex of our species’ potential barring significant evolutionary leaps of hardwired human nature. Once again, we come back to the solution of a giant meteor for [intractable problem du jour].”
The sum of thoughts on the Doubletree:
A more affordable close-to-beach full service hotel option in Waikiki. I stayed overnight at the HHV once for a conference, in addition to making my casual observations as a HNL resident. It’s constantly a crush of people, the pleasure therein purchased with a resort fee on top of the room rate. -_-
While the hotel is physically older, the I found the rooms to be in pretty good shape. Between the rooms and the restaurant renovation, they seem to care about refreshing the customer-facing bits.
The staff is friendly and helpful, unlike the often overwhelmed staff I have encountered at the beachfront/Kalakaua Ave properties. The spirit of “Aloha” is rather hard to maintain when “peak time” crowds endure for the entirety of your 8 or 10 hour shift.
Doubletree Alana, Waikiki
VX F HNL-LAX
Hilton LAX
Doubletree San Pedro/Car pickup
Doubletree Alana, Waikiki
Circumstances arrived at a point in Hawaii such that it was time to go. My freelance contracts dried up last Christmas, and my new little business was going nowhere. Trying to rent a place in HNL as a 1099 freelancer with no current income is as futile as trying to walk to the moon. An offer came through from my absentee roommate to live where she actually practices (medicine) in Palm Springs. Why not? This glosses over conflicted feelings about the move as I leave friends behind and “fail out” of another location.
After closing the house in Kahala, I checked in around 5 pm on a “points & money” rate, and to my surprise, I received an upgrade for the 4 nights of my stay. I went from a King w/ city/mountain view lanai to a partial ocean view lanai. The view overlooked Ft Derussy and what bits of the Pacific one can see through the Kalakaua Ave mega-hotels.
Despite my diamond status, I do not expect upgrades generally. In Hawaii, I expect no extras from Hilton properties. So that was good.
A second boon of sorts was that as the restaurant was being renovated, the property comped Gold/Diamond members the full hot breakfast set up in the conference room rather than maintaining the $8 upcharge for the hot options. Yay. I wasn’t availing myself of much beyond the fresh fruit (HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE!!!), green salad, and tea. Because of a medicine I take, my appetite is permanent suppressed.
I didn’t do too much Waikiki stuff as I was consumed with errands (retrieve forgotten item from house, cancel gym membership) and spending time with friends. I’d recommend the little beaches toward Diamond Head rather than the main Waikiki hotel beaches.
On Saturday, I met my Hawaii “adopted family.” These people are saints and almost exactly what this lone wanderer needs at time. I met C, her husband S, C’s mother (CM), and CM’s friend/companion/minder J for a dim sum lunch at the Ala Moana Hotel’s Chinese restaurant, Royal Garden. CM is an adorable lady with Alzheimer’s: she can’t remember what you said to her 5 minutes ago, but you’ll listen when she tells you the story of looking into the Zero pilot’s eyes as he flew past her high elevation home on his way to bomb Pearl Harbor. By chance, S and I grew up in towns right next to each other, New Hyde Park and Floral Park, NY. I gave S a bottle of wine for Father’s day in addition to a gift card to Lappert’s for C to take her teenage daughter (was visiting NYC with school) “Holo Holo” and get ice cream. They gave me a lei and comped lunch.
The Yangzhou fried rice, assorted dim sum, egg tarts, and char siu were the equal of what I’d get in Hong Kong. I would recommend Royal Garden to any visitor to Honolulu. We 5 stuffed ourselves and had 3 beers for $110 (incl tip). The Ala Moana hotel is in easy walking distance (5-15 min) of western Waikiki (eg the Doubletree, Prince, Modern, Equus, and Hilton Hawaiian Village).
I took a dip in the DT’s small, but OK pool in the late afternoon.
Sunday was a quiet day, C and S invited me to join them at their club for a Father’s Day BBQ. I won’t refuse a Pacific Club din-din, so off I went. It was a great, quiet, finale.
Like a good hobbit though, I enjoyed seconds later with fellow misanthrope friend T.M. at Chiba Ken in Waikiki, a small but wonderful Japanese place on Ena Rd, a back street of Waikiki. It’s best described as a hybrid sushi bar/Izakaya that has a great happy hour food/drink menu at 9:30 eg $2.25 Sapporo, $7.75 tempura udon, $8.95 salmon & ikura don. T.M. indulged in the “sushi special” (1pc each of ahi tuna, salmon, yellowtail nigiri + a cucumber maki roll) and a sizable sautéed pork cutlet with a heap of greens. He regaled me with stories of human ineptitude over sake and our nibbles. I will miss his incisive and ornery influence. Most of all, I will miss our conversations that end with “We’re at the apex of our species’ potential barring significant evolutionary leaps of hardwired human nature. Once again, we come back to the solution of a giant meteor for [intractable problem du jour].”
The sum of thoughts on the Doubletree:
A more affordable close-to-beach full service hotel option in Waikiki. I stayed overnight at the HHV once for a conference, in addition to making my casual observations as a HNL resident. It’s constantly a crush of people, the pleasure therein purchased with a resort fee on top of the room rate. -_-
While the hotel is physically older, the I found the rooms to be in pretty good shape. Between the rooms and the restaurant renovation, they seem to care about refreshing the customer-facing bits.
The staff is friendly and helpful, unlike the often overwhelmed staff I have encountered at the beachfront/Kalakaua Ave properties. The spirit of “Aloha” is rather hard to maintain when “peak time” crowds endure for the entirety of your 8 or 10 hour shift.
Jun 23, 2017, 1:41 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
VX F
At the time of booking, I wanted two things: a reasonably priced (relative to market) F seat and a decent baggage policy. VX delivered. While the baggage allowance was only 2 x 50 lbs (I miss when 3x70 was market standard for the US), additional bags only cost $25. This is far more generous than the “to hell with you” policy of most other carriers for those flying heavy where each bag after the first two is often $150.
C takes me to the airport, even though I tried to dissuade her as she would be doing two runs: her daughter was arriving in HNL from JFK just minutes after my departure at 2:40. As “payment,” I sweetly asked the staff the DT to indulge my inner child and give me a cookie for the road. I got four. I presented those to C and informed her that they were to be an arrival snack and that they’re best enjoyed being ignorant of the calorie contents.
After arriving at the overseas terminal of Daniel K Inouye “The Sun God” International Airport and processing my checked bags with agricultural inspection (some of the most bored humans I have ever seen), I proceeded to check-in. I stand in the F queue (empty) and twiddle my thumbs while Y pax are processed (and waved over to the F desk while I am standing there) until one of the 4 desks remembers that there is an F pax there.
Security was a zoo as the 2-4pm period is peak time for departures to Asia and the US mainland.
I decided in lieu of anything better to do to buy a bag of Fruits of the Islands gummy bears (pineapple flavor) to share with my San Diego friend and grab an unsweetened iced tea. It was…hot, and as I usually do, I was wearing a tweed jacket (great for travelling, lots of pockets), so I had sweated enough to justify a venti fluid recharge.
When it was time, I proceeded on the longish walk to gate 6, where airport authorities had banished our aircraft. Boarding was chaotic, as the GA mechanically read off “now preboarding those who need extra time including families with young children, now boarding First class and VX gold, now boarding Alaska elites, now boarding credit card holders” as one run on sentence.
In the 30 seconds it took her to say that, just as I was approaching the BP scanner/jet bridge, she announces, “Congrats to the class of 2017 and welcome for boarding.” A roar goes up and a horde of newly minted HS grads rush forward which led to chaos. A woman with a baby/stroller was cut off by said horde, I snaked through, and a couple in F behind me on the walk from the gate lounge to the jet bridge didn’t get on until quite a bit later. Instead of getting to toss out bags up above in peace….
Oh well. The amazing and amazingly attractive/jacked bearded hipster ginger serving us in F managed to amazingly get us some PDBs and water.
The catering: salad with tarragon vinaigrette, grapefruit and avocado. Main courses were furikake salmon with potatoes and carrots and a (Thai) vegetable curry over glass noodles. Dessert was local HI mango ice cream. I was surprised that there were only 2 choices and no non-seafood meat option. That said, after the weekend farewell feasting, I decided that I would get whatever the vegetarian option was long before I got on the flight.
The salad was OK. The veg curry was AMAZING and would be absolutely worth the money had I bought it at a restaurant. The mango ice cream…well, how do you mess that up?
I opted to watch a movie 20th Century Women, which was interesting to your author, who grew up the son of a single mother. The resolution wasn’t quite what I expected, though I suppose it was a more realistic ending than a convenient “get the girl, happily ever after” ending.
Our wonderful ginger-man brought the snack basket through, and I opted for gummy bears and chocolate. I wasn’t blown away by the Dean and Deluca chocolate. The D&D gummy bears were awfully like Haribo (not at all a problem), and I wasn’t surprised to see that they are of Turkish manufacture, where Haribo and CVS have their gummy bears made (I was something of a gummy aficionado as a kid, though I seldom eat them now).
Otherwise, it was a good flight. The seats were in good shape, the FA was great in terms of drink check-ups/passing out water almost hourly/general good humor, and I went to LA in comfort.
LA airport is a cesspool of taxi scammers, and I am glad that it’s not my home port. I got into a real cab to the Hilton LAX. While I know that there's a shuttle, I didn't want to deal with my 5 bags + backpack.
At the time of booking, I wanted two things: a reasonably priced (relative to market) F seat and a decent baggage policy. VX delivered. While the baggage allowance was only 2 x 50 lbs (I miss when 3x70 was market standard for the US), additional bags only cost $25. This is far more generous than the “to hell with you” policy of most other carriers for those flying heavy where each bag after the first two is often $150.
C takes me to the airport, even though I tried to dissuade her as she would be doing two runs: her daughter was arriving in HNL from JFK just minutes after my departure at 2:40. As “payment,” I sweetly asked the staff the DT to indulge my inner child and give me a cookie for the road. I got four. I presented those to C and informed her that they were to be an arrival snack and that they’re best enjoyed being ignorant of the calorie contents.
After arriving at the overseas terminal of Daniel K Inouye “The Sun God” International Airport and processing my checked bags with agricultural inspection (some of the most bored humans I have ever seen), I proceeded to check-in. I stand in the F queue (empty) and twiddle my thumbs while Y pax are processed (and waved over to the F desk while I am standing there) until one of the 4 desks remembers that there is an F pax there.
Security was a zoo as the 2-4pm period is peak time for departures to Asia and the US mainland.
I decided in lieu of anything better to do to buy a bag of Fruits of the Islands gummy bears (pineapple flavor) to share with my San Diego friend and grab an unsweetened iced tea. It was…hot, and as I usually do, I was wearing a tweed jacket (great for travelling, lots of pockets), so I had sweated enough to justify a venti fluid recharge.
When it was time, I proceeded on the longish walk to gate 6, where airport authorities had banished our aircraft. Boarding was chaotic, as the GA mechanically read off “now preboarding those who need extra time including families with young children, now boarding First class and VX gold, now boarding Alaska elites, now boarding credit card holders” as one run on sentence.
In the 30 seconds it took her to say that, just as I was approaching the BP scanner/jet bridge, she announces, “Congrats to the class of 2017 and welcome for boarding.” A roar goes up and a horde of newly minted HS grads rush forward which led to chaos. A woman with a baby/stroller was cut off by said horde, I snaked through, and a couple in F behind me on the walk from the gate lounge to the jet bridge didn’t get on until quite a bit later. Instead of getting to toss out bags up above in peace….Oh well. The amazing and amazingly attractive/jacked bearded hipster ginger serving us in F managed to amazingly get us some PDBs and water.
The catering: salad with tarragon vinaigrette, grapefruit and avocado. Main courses were furikake salmon with potatoes and carrots and a (Thai) vegetable curry over glass noodles. Dessert was local HI mango ice cream. I was surprised that there were only 2 choices and no non-seafood meat option. That said, after the weekend farewell feasting, I decided that I would get whatever the vegetarian option was long before I got on the flight.
The salad was OK. The veg curry was AMAZING and would be absolutely worth the money had I bought it at a restaurant. The mango ice cream…well, how do you mess that up?
I opted to watch a movie 20th Century Women, which was interesting to your author, who grew up the son of a single mother. The resolution wasn’t quite what I expected, though I suppose it was a more realistic ending than a convenient “get the girl, happily ever after” ending.
Our wonderful ginger-man brought the snack basket through, and I opted for gummy bears and chocolate. I wasn’t blown away by the Dean and Deluca chocolate. The D&D gummy bears were awfully like Haribo (not at all a problem), and I wasn’t surprised to see that they are of Turkish manufacture, where Haribo and CVS have their gummy bears made (I was something of a gummy aficionado as a kid, though I seldom eat them now).
Otherwise, it was a good flight. The seats were in good shape, the FA was great in terms of drink check-ups/passing out water almost hourly/general good humor, and I went to LA in comfort.
LA airport is a cesspool of taxi scammers, and I am glad that it’s not my home port. I got into a real cab to the Hilton LAX. While I know that there's a shuttle, I didn't want to deal with my 5 bags + backpack.
Last edited by Amelorn; Jun 27, 2017 at 12:52 am
Jun 24, 2017, 9:23 am
#4
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: The shape-shifting urban sprawl that is El Lay. FT member #71.
Programs: UA Gold & MM; DL & AA credit card dirt status; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Fool's Gold
Posts: 4,690
Didn't the taxi driver throw a fit? It's only a couple thousand yards away.
Jun 24, 2017, 10:51 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: WAS
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,757
Jun 24, 2017, 12:50 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
Jun 24, 2017, 1:39 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
Hilton LAX
Before I begin, I should hasten to add that my Tripadvisor review disappeared into the ether, although my 2* review remained.
After unloading my significant baggage and passing it off to the bellhop, I go off to check in. At this time, roughly around the witching hour, there isn't a soul in the lobby. From other FT and Tripadvisor reports, daylight hour check-ins at this property frequently feature enormous waits, even in the Honors queue.
The check-in agent was friendly enough and granted me a 2pm late checkout. I am advised that breakfast was in the Exec lounge on the 16th floor.
After that, I went up to the room on the 15th floor and go straight to sleep.
Waking up with a stubborn (right side only) ear/tonsil infection wasn't much fun. I crack open a water bottle to refresh myself, pop my vitamins (adult gummies!) & St John's Wort, and throw on some clothes. On these sort of marathon/long time trips (not my first time moving in this fashion), I keep "storage bags" of stuff I won't need immediately but wish to keep (ie the winter coats/business suits) and the immediate bags (one big one of climate appropriate stuff, the carry ons with books, vitamins, computer, valuables, etc). The immediate bags were by then running out of boxers, which is an issue.
I went up to the lounge for the most craptastically disappointing experience I have had with a Hilton family property...ever. Read the full rant here at the Hilton sub-forum.
Excerpt:
And the food was terrible.
After I went back to the room and wrote that up in a blaze of righteous fury, I laid down on the bed face down with a pillow under my chest. The posture put pressure on my throat, and an abscess on the tonsil decided to rapidly drain. For the next 15 minutes, I was stuck spitting up gunk and blood. Fortunately, I was not terribly far from an ice machine, and sipping & (gently) gargling ice water seemed to help.
As I sipped and rested (I decided against my original plan to jog at the hotel gym lest I raise my blood pressure), I packed my things and took it easy till checkout.
As 2pm approached, I summoned a bellhop, saw my bags off, and made my way to checkout. Upon lodging my disappointment with the breakfast arrangement, I was told that I could have called down for a half-off the buffet at the main restaurant. That helps me...not at all. Once we wrap up, I summon an uberXL to the Doubletree San Pedro. He was 3 minutes away on a side street behind W Century Blvd (the main hotel drag of LAX) and didn't show up 15 minutes later. Meanwhile, the bellhop is hassling me that he's getting off soon and where's my car (yeah, I know what you want, you withered lamprey). I cancelled the uber and asked another nearby bellhop (having cashed out the other one) to summon a cab. He called for a town car that whisked me off to San Pedro, albeit for $80 (w/tip) versus the uber which would have been $50.
Strangely, this was the third time in a week (never happened before) in which I have had an uber just sit in his original position as if waiting for me to cancel.
After unloading my significant baggage and passing it off to the bellhop, I go off to check in. At this time, roughly around the witching hour, there isn't a soul in the lobby. From other FT and Tripadvisor reports, daylight hour check-ins at this property frequently feature enormous waits, even in the Honors queue.
The check-in agent was friendly enough and granted me a 2pm late checkout. I am advised that breakfast was in the Exec lounge on the 16th floor.
After that, I went up to the room on the 15th floor and go straight to sleep.
Waking up with a stubborn (right side only) ear/tonsil infection wasn't much fun. I crack open a water bottle to refresh myself, pop my vitamins (adult gummies!) & St John's Wort, and throw on some clothes. On these sort of marathon/long time trips (not my first time moving in this fashion), I keep "storage bags" of stuff I won't need immediately but wish to keep (ie the winter coats/business suits) and the immediate bags (one big one of climate appropriate stuff, the carry ons with books, vitamins, computer, valuables, etc). The immediate bags were by then running out of boxers, which is an issue.
I went up to the lounge for the most craptastically disappointing experience I have had with a Hilton family property...ever. Read the full rant here at the Hilton sub-forum.
Excerpt:
The breakfast arrangement made for a particularly miserable experience that hasn't been rivaled by anything since the zoo-meets-Lord-of-the-Flies cafeteria experience of being a schoolboy on Long Island.
I went to the exec lounge this morning at 8:30, and it seemed like everyone and their dog had access. Given that even the windowsills were occupied, I wasn't prepared to sit on the floor to eat breakfast at hotel where I paid $200 for a 13 hour stay. Even with the seats taken, I saw more people pouring in.
There was a lounge dragon/attendant seated by the entrance. I asked her if a diamond could take breakfast in the restaurant. After being told that it wouldn't be complementary, I blinked, turned around, and left. Blowing up at someone with no capacity to set hotel policy or provide service recovery is pointless.
I came back at 9, grabbed my food, stood around like a helpless jacka-- for several minutes, and saw a seat open up on the couch, where I sheepishly take a seat next to business traveler wrapping up his breakfast.
I went to the exec lounge this morning at 8:30, and it seemed like everyone and their dog had access. Given that even the windowsills were occupied, I wasn't prepared to sit on the floor to eat breakfast at hotel where I paid $200 for a 13 hour stay. Even with the seats taken, I saw more people pouring in.
There was a lounge dragon/attendant seated by the entrance. I asked her if a diamond could take breakfast in the restaurant. After being told that it wouldn't be complementary, I blinked, turned around, and left. Blowing up at someone with no capacity to set hotel policy or provide service recovery is pointless.
I came back at 9, grabbed my food, stood around like a helpless jacka-- for several minutes, and saw a seat open up on the couch, where I sheepishly take a seat next to business traveler wrapping up his breakfast.
After I went back to the room and wrote that up in a blaze of righteous fury, I laid down on the bed face down with a pillow under my chest. The posture put pressure on my throat, and an abscess on the tonsil decided to rapidly drain. For the next 15 minutes, I was stuck spitting up gunk and blood. Fortunately, I was not terribly far from an ice machine, and sipping & (gently) gargling ice water seemed to help.
As I sipped and rested (I decided against my original plan to jog at the hotel gym lest I raise my blood pressure), I packed my things and took it easy till checkout.
As 2pm approached, I summoned a bellhop, saw my bags off, and made my way to checkout. Upon lodging my disappointment with the breakfast arrangement, I was told that I could have called down for a half-off the buffet at the main restaurant. That helps me...not at all. Once we wrap up, I summon an uberXL to the Doubletree San Pedro. He was 3 minutes away on a side street behind W Century Blvd (the main hotel drag of LAX) and didn't show up 15 minutes later. Meanwhile, the bellhop is hassling me that he's getting off soon and where's my car (yeah, I know what you want, you withered lamprey). I cancelled the uber and asked another nearby bellhop (having cashed out the other one) to summon a cab. He called for a town car that whisked me off to San Pedro, albeit for $80 (w/tip) versus the uber which would have been $50.
Strangely, this was the third time in a week (never happened before) in which I have had an uber just sit in his original position as if waiting for me to cancel.
Last edited by Amelorn; Jun 27, 2017 at 12:54 am
Jun 25, 2017, 2:33 am
#8
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Bargara Australia
Programs: VA, SQ, IHG, HH,ALL, Europcar
Posts: 1,530
Great TR
Love your writing style.
I loved your description of the Bearded Ginger serving you
Hope your move goes well - what line of work do you do?
There are opportunities everywhere you just need to find them
Take care
Love your writing style.
I loved your description of the Bearded Ginger serving you
Hope your move goes well - what line of work do you do?
There are opportunities everywhere you just need to find them
Take care
Jun 25, 2017, 2:34 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Bargara Australia
Programs: VA, SQ, IHG, HH,ALL, Europcar
Posts: 1,530
Great TR
Love your writing style.
I loved your description of the Beareded Ginger serving you
Hope your move goes well - what line of work do you do?
There are opportunities everywhere you just need to find them
Take care
Love your writing style.
I loved your description of the Beareded Ginger serving you
Hope your move goes well - what line of work do you do?
There are opportunities everywhere you just need to find them
Take care
Jun 26, 2017, 11:35 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
Upon arrival at the DT San Pedro, my helpful driver Freddy finds the bellhop while I go raise some cash at the ATM to pay him. Having cashed him out, it was front desk time.
Overall, this hotel was a night-and-day versus the Hilton LAX. Every single staff member was going above and beyond in friendliness and competence. Having forgotten my toothpaste in Honolulu and by now very much in want of a brushing, I was happy to get set up with a tube.
The building has some character (Spanish style) and is sprawling rather than tall. The bar/restaurant feature marina views with some seating on the promenade. The immediate area has a number of local restaurant choices, mostly smaller casual California cuisine/deli/Mexican options. I caught up with food I wasn't able to get in HI. It still amazes and delights me how you can't throw a stone without hitting an excellent tacqueria or general purveyor of South-of-the-border deliciousness.
My room on the third (top) floor, the Honors floor, had marina views and was quite comfortable.
Gold/Diamonds got a full American breakfast with made-to-order eggs (if desired) in the restaurant. I didn't avail myself of this option, as the buffet scrambled eggs...actually came from eggs - good enough for me. A taste of pineapple soon had me nostalgic for Hawaii. The Latin American pineapples cannot compare with the Hawaiian offerings. On the other hand, the whole strawberries were the best I'd had in a year. I was impressed on how the servers made a note when tables were wrapping up to offer an extra tea/coffee "to go" on the diners' way out.
San Pedro is a very pleasant and quiet corner of LA. Going for walks in the morning was surprisingly unchallenging in a city noted for pedestrian-unfriendliness. Should you call into Rex's cafe for a late morning coffee, be aware that your latte will be large enough to bathe in.
They do offer a shuttle to any destination within 5 miles of the property, which is handy. I didn't avail myself of it.
On Thursday morning, I arranged for a late checkout at 1pm as I was fetching my car at 11 AM from the nearby port facilities in Long Beach. After fetching my baby, I fuelled her up and bought a wash. There was just enough time to re-pack, load the car, and check out in time for 1.
After loading the CDs and locking onto a suitable radio station, I hopped onto the freeways to take me out to Palm Springs. Oh, the open road, I had missed thee.
There's a line in War and Peace that I identify greatly with: "The southern spring, the comfortable rapid travelling in a Vienna carriage, and the solitude of the road, all had gladdening effect on Pierre." And why not? Music, the ability to travel at speed without hitting the edge of the island, and a few DT cookies for the Dr-roommate, her partner, and the Dr's visiting mother - I was all set.
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Epilogue
I arrived in Palm Springs for 3:30 or so and thought to grab a coffee and make contact to work out getting in and so on. I checked my phone and noticed that on the drive, I received a text message breaking everything off - the room was no longer available. In the duration of a heartbeat, I was homeless.
I later found out that I had run afoul of her partner's good graces by not proactively offering to help him with his/their portion of the move. 1) I knew, particularly at the end, that there was a great deal of stress - but that's what happens when you spend 2 weeks getting paralytically drunk with your buddies, and leave the packing/sorting/shipping to the last 72 hours - when your hangover turns you into Frankenstein's monster. 2) When you let the car's safety inspection, insurance, and registration expire and lapse, which transforms shipping the car on time from a simple task into a frenetic nightmare. And no, I wasn't going to buy it (not sure if that idea was a joke or a drunk-idea). 3) He never asked, and I can't really read minds. And at the end, I couldn't do much not knowing the game plan or having a car to haul anything.
To quote a bit of wisdom I was given in the academia days: "Never let your failure to plan become someone else's emergency, if you wish to remain in their good graces." I found that this applied to the wider world. Now the table has turned...it's become my emergency.
Overall, this hotel was a night-and-day versus the Hilton LAX. Every single staff member was going above and beyond in friendliness and competence. Having forgotten my toothpaste in Honolulu and by now very much in want of a brushing, I was happy to get set up with a tube.
The building has some character (Spanish style) and is sprawling rather than tall. The bar/restaurant feature marina views with some seating on the promenade. The immediate area has a number of local restaurant choices, mostly smaller casual California cuisine/deli/Mexican options. I caught up with food I wasn't able to get in HI. It still amazes and delights me how you can't throw a stone without hitting an excellent tacqueria or general purveyor of South-of-the-border deliciousness.
My room on the third (top) floor, the Honors floor, had marina views and was quite comfortable.
Gold/Diamonds got a full American breakfast with made-to-order eggs (if desired) in the restaurant. I didn't avail myself of this option, as the buffet scrambled eggs...actually came from eggs - good enough for me. A taste of pineapple soon had me nostalgic for Hawaii. The Latin American pineapples cannot compare with the Hawaiian offerings. On the other hand, the whole strawberries were the best I'd had in a year. I was impressed on how the servers made a note when tables were wrapping up to offer an extra tea/coffee "to go" on the diners' way out.
San Pedro is a very pleasant and quiet corner of LA. Going for walks in the morning was surprisingly unchallenging in a city noted for pedestrian-unfriendliness. Should you call into Rex's cafe for a late morning coffee, be aware that your latte will be large enough to bathe in.
They do offer a shuttle to any destination within 5 miles of the property, which is handy. I didn't avail myself of it.
On Thursday morning, I arranged for a late checkout at 1pm as I was fetching my car at 11 AM from the nearby port facilities in Long Beach. After fetching my baby, I fuelled her up and bought a wash. There was just enough time to re-pack, load the car, and check out in time for 1.
After loading the CDs and locking onto a suitable radio station, I hopped onto the freeways to take me out to Palm Springs. Oh, the open road, I had missed thee.
There's a line in War and Peace that I identify greatly with: "The southern spring, the comfortable rapid travelling in a Vienna carriage, and the solitude of the road, all had gladdening effect on Pierre." And why not? Music, the ability to travel at speed without hitting the edge of the island, and a few DT cookies for the Dr-roommate, her partner, and the Dr's visiting mother - I was all set.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epilogue
I arrived in Palm Springs for 3:30 or so and thought to grab a coffee and make contact to work out getting in and so on. I checked my phone and noticed that on the drive, I received a text message breaking everything off - the room was no longer available. In the duration of a heartbeat, I was homeless.
I later found out that I had run afoul of her partner's good graces by not proactively offering to help him with his/their portion of the move. 1) I knew, particularly at the end, that there was a great deal of stress - but that's what happens when you spend 2 weeks getting paralytically drunk with your buddies, and leave the packing/sorting/shipping to the last 72 hours - when your hangover turns you into Frankenstein's monster. 2) When you let the car's safety inspection, insurance, and registration expire and lapse, which transforms shipping the car on time from a simple task into a frenetic nightmare. And no, I wasn't going to buy it (not sure if that idea was a joke or a drunk-idea). 3) He never asked, and I can't really read minds. And at the end, I couldn't do much not knowing the game plan or having a car to haul anything.
To quote a bit of wisdom I was given in the academia days: "Never let your failure to plan become someone else's emergency, if you wish to remain in their good graces." I found that this applied to the wider world. Now the table has turned...it's become my emergency.
Last edited by Amelorn; Jun 27, 2017 at 12:58 am
Jun 27, 2017, 10:46 am
#12
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: YYZ
Programs: Hilton Gold Mariott Gold Aeroplan E25K SAS Gold NEXUS
Posts: 1,308
Meanwhile, the bellhop is hassling me that he's getting off soon and where's my car (yeah, I know what you want, you withered lamprey). I cancelled the uber and asked another nearby bellhop (having cashed out the other one) to summon a cab. He called for a town car that whisked me off to San Pedro, albeit for $80 (w/tip) versus the uber which would have been $50.
Strangely, this was the third time in a week (never happened before) in which I have had an uber just sit in his original position as if waiting for me to cancel.
Strangely, this was the third time in a week (never happened before) in which I have had an uber just sit in his original position as if waiting for me to cancel.
Jun 27, 2017, 11:11 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
This one appeared to be sitting in a parking lot on W 98th...for 20 minutes. I can understand a couple of extra minutes making a U turn on W Century, but good lord...he was 4/10 of a mile away.
Jun 27, 2017, 1:40 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
I should have taken some pictures of the bearded ginger, for archival reasons. (cough some of us should start the "Honeytoes Club" to share this sort of info cough) Bearded Ginger and I got on very well, though I may have been quasi flirting (by my extremely reserved standards, this is 'smiling and making an effort at conversation' rather than far more...forward banter).
Jun 28, 2017, 10:23 am
#15
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: JNB
Programs: Flying Blue, Miles and Smiles, Hhonors, ICHotels
Posts: 1,307
I should have taken some pictures of the bearded ginger, for archival reasons. (cough some of us should start the "Honeytoes Club" to share this sort of info cough) Bearded Ginger and I got on very well, though I may have been quasi flirting (by my extremely reserved standards, this is 'smiling and making an effort at conversation' rather than far more...forward banter).
Photos are always good. "Here Bearded Ginger, pose with a tray, pose with a drink, a meal, whatever"..........