Hotel Review: Palms Place Hotel & Spa – Las Vegas, NV
The only time I’ll go to Vegas and feel like a high roller is by staying at a rad hotel. Because let’s face it, the slot machines don’t like me, I still don’t understand how to play craps and in typical California fashion I can’t stand casinos for very long because the cigarette smoke gets to me. Call me a sissy if you want, but if there’s one thing I’ll bet on when it comes to Sin City, it’s finding great accommodations. Enter the Palms Place Hotel & Spa, part of the off-strip Palms Hotel and the one tower that was built as residential...
Read MoreHotel Review: Fairmont Olympic Hotel – Seattle, WA*
Seattle: the Emerald City. Gateway to Alaska. The coffee capital of the world. Seatown. Queen City. And the list goes on. A lot of names, and a LOT of rain. But I’d bear a whole vacation of thunderstorms just to stay at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel again. From the moment my feet swung out of the taxicab onto the driveway to my last lingering look at the wood-paneled lobby walls, it was an unrivaled experience that made the term “sleepless in Seattle” (written on many a tourist t-shirt) a flawed notion indeed. Built in 1924, the Italian Renaissance-styled Olympic Hotel sits...
Read MoreHotel Review: Hyatt Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the #2 wedding destination in the continental U.S. Did you know that? I didn’t, until this weekend. (Guess what’s #1? That’s right, Vegas). If the sold-out accommodation situation, 3 brides I saw in the lobby and racks of tuxedos being rolled through the parking lot when I drove up to the Hyatt Santa Barbara this past weekend weren’t an indication, perhaps the fact that I, too, was there to attend a wedding (my first of 2 in the area over the next 6 months, no less) was enough to prove it true. Confirmed, by the way, by the women who did the...
Read MoreHotel Review: Marriott Vacation Club, Newport Coast Villas – Newport Beach, California
4 gal pals, beachfront property, a bar and an occasion to celebrate is definitely a recipe for weekend success. I’m fairly positive that with enough drinks and enough time in the sun we could’ve been staying at a Rodeway Inn and been just peachy. But walking in to this view? It was definitely the Grand Marnier splash on top of our margarita-filled weekend. For my best friend Stephanie’s low-key bachelorette weekend, she specifically requested beach, drinks, relaxation. In that order. So as good co- maids-of-honor, my friend Katie & I were tasked with finding...
Read MoreHotel Review: Keystone Resort Lodge & Spa – Keystone, CO
I can’t tell you how much I look forward to the hotel bar. There’s something about traveling that makes the overpriced drinking experience in an airport, on an airplane or in a swanky hotel bar mysteriously wonderful, like you’re doing something kind of illicit and fabulous. So when I arrived late on a Friday evening for my weekend in Keystone, CO for TBEX 2012 after a long day, I wanted nothing more than to check in and get a calorie-laden appetizer (something fried) and a glass of wine. Alas…the bar was empty. The kind staff poured me a glass of wine, but with the...
Read MoreHotel Review: The Langham Hotel Auckland – Auckland, New Zealand
“The only thing constant in this world is change.” If I had a dime for every time someone told me this at a family gathering I’d have a much larger shoe collection. If I’d pondered these words a bit harder though, I’d also have realized they are true – for better or worse. Auckland was a wham-bam in-your-face mashup of change for my traveling pals and I. We’d spent the past 8 days moseying around New Zealand’s picturesque South Island, lobbing our weary bodies nightly into the beds of various hostels, motels, cabins and the couches of...
Read MoreHotel Review: Ritz Carlton Marina Del Rey – Marina Del Rey, CA
There’s always two sides to a waterfront hotel. The waterfront, and….um, the back. Whenever I book one I seem to get the room that faces a solid wall, a parking lot or – worse, someone else’s room across the way. So much for oceanfront property. Not at the cozy Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey. Unlike many bay-facing hotels, it is neither nautically-themed nor entirely glass-paneled. And also unlike others, I did not find myself nose to brick with another part of the building whence I drew back the curtains. Instead I found a 4-star property that meshed...
Read MoreHotel Review: St. Regis Hotel Downtown – Vancouver, BC
So here’s something I recently learned about Canada: Canadians are nice. Like slow-down-to-stop-at-a-yellow-light-instead-of-speed-up-to-get-through-the-intersection nice. Like ask you all about where you’re from if you try and pay with a Bank of America card. Like tell you how much they love LA (even if they’re lying, it’s sweet). Like Canada was SO excited to have all of us TBEX-ers (that’s travel bloggers for the un-industry folk) in town for a weekend that fancy hotels like the lovely St. Regis in downtown Vancouver posted unbeatable exclusive deals...
Read MoreHotel Review: St. Regis Resort – Aspen, CO
When you mention the words “St. Regis” and “Aspen,” be they together or separate, the first idea that comes to mind is most likely luxury. No doubt. The St. Regis Aspen Resort, located at the base of snow-capped Aspen Mountain and steps from some of the best skiing in the Elk Mountain area of the Rockies, is a lodge-style 5-star hotel and spa that smoothly blends all the glorious snobbery (and I say that with a hefty dose of respect, mind you) of the incomparable St. Regis brand with the charm and warmth of the Colorado spirit. A surprisingly winning combination,...
Read MoreHotel Review: Pepper Tree Inn – Santa Barbara, CA
Like I ever need an excuse for a). a road trip, or b). a chance to go to Santa Barbara, but this weekend afforded me both so I took it willingly! With a family wedding set for Saturday evening at the gorgeous Four Seasons Biltmore Resort, I could have taken a room there which would have arguably been much more exciting to review (and with a great room rate, thanks to some PR help). However, it didn’t fit the family budget so we downgraded uptown to the Pepper Tree Inn, a Best Western I recalled staying at almost 3 years ago on business. For a second time, I was not disappointed. ...
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