The Summit Lodge Boutique Hotel Review (Whistler)

If you are looking for a stylish hotel that has ample space at a decent price, this is the place to go. I was in town for The North Face Whistler Half Marathon and I was looking for a hotel that was not too expensive. Being the procrastinator that I am... I decided to book a few days before the event and many places were either booked or ridiculously expensive. I managed to snatch a room here from Hotels.com on Tuesday for around $180 for 2 beds (versus the $200+ per room rate).
    My family and I went and we decided to drive. When we arrived outside, the parking was a bit hard to find because the entrance was tucked away at the side with a small sign. Before entering the parking lot, it tells you to go inside to pay and check in first (this is because the parking garage is activated with your room key...). After seeing this sign, we had to find a temporary parking for our car as I ran in to check in.
    The check in process was great. The guy at the counter was super charming... I couldn't help but feel a bit of my face turning red. There was margarita and chips at the lobby (it was free too), and I managed to grab some during the check in process. The process itself was fast and when informed the man at the check in about our car, he advised us to either park at Lot 4 (which was free) or we can pay $20 to park underground. Initially, I thought of just parking at Lot 4, but my dad felt it was too insecure so we decided to park underground instead. It was good we did that because later on at night, when I was walking and doing a course orientation, I noticed that someone was trying to break into a car.
   After we checked in, we brought our bags to our room. I must say, it was super spacious. There was a mini-kitchen, 2 balconies and a living room area. The interesting thing was that they used an iPad as an alarm and the kitchen itself was full of cutlery. It had a condo/ at home feel to it and it was great. The washroom was equipped with soap, lotion, conditioners that was very good. It was made for sensitive skin which was great for me. I also loved the smell. I later googled the brand and it was called Malin and Goetz, which is a luxury brand.
    When we finished dinner, my friend and I decided to check out the hot tub and swimming pool. Before we walked outside to the patio area where the pool was, I saw that in the small shop beside the check in counter, there was a coffee machine and it was complimentary! The coffee beans were freshly grounded too.
   I would totally come and stay at this hotel again, not only is it comfortable, but the price is decent! 

Great service but average hotel (Arbutus Inn Victoria)

It was a week to the Victoria Marathon when I realized that I forgot to book a hotel. I did a quick search on Hotels.com and the one that was the closest I can find was Arbutus Inn. It’s located about 2.5km from Downtown Victoria. On the map it seemed relatively close, however when you actually arrive downtown and you walk to the hotel, it takes a good half an hour.
From the exterior, the hotel looks like any other motel/inn in the area. The only exception was that this hotel also doubles as a car rental place for National Car Rentals. Walking into the lobby, the heater was turned on full blast (I understand that it is cold outside… but the temperature inside was like the tropics compared to the comfortable type of warmth). The hotel front desk was split into two parts where one part was for National Car Rentals and the other was for the hotel check in. Both side of the hotel front desk was staffed with people. The lobby also has a vending machine for food and drinks and basic amenities for a bit of a higher price margin. When I checked in, the hotel check in lady was very nice. I explained that I was running in the marathon the next morning and I had to leave early. After hearing that she immediately helped me look for bus routes (I was already expecting to walk and knew busses don’t run that early but that was still a very nice gesture of her). After checking in and authorizing my credit card for deposits, I proceeded to my room.
The interior of the building takes on a slightly retro feel and a retro smell of wood. The lobby is actually located on the second floor as the building is built on an incline. As I walked upstairs towards my room, it nothing out of the ordinary besides the look of a retro hallway.
The room itself was very tidy on first inspection. It was a bit stuffy but everything was there. The washrooms had all of the basic amenities such as shampoo, soap and etc… The room also had an air conditioner, fridge, microwave, a hot water boiler, TV and coffee packets (where you boil hot water and pour it over the coffee packets). The only “A-HA!” moment I had was while I was showering.. I realized that the air vent wasn’t on. My first instinct was: “Who on Earth designed this place? It’s making this bathroom feel like a sauna”. I wasn’t until I finished showering, I noticed a small knob (very vintage feeling too) that you can turn on to activate the ceiling fan in the shower…
Overall, the hotel stay was fair. The facilities is slightly on the old side, but the surrounding area is pretty decent in the sense that Mayfair mall is just across the street. If you are looking for food or anything, it is convenient. I would say that the cost of the stay was a bit on the expensive side (At $180 or $212 including tax), however, I am sure if you booked earlier enough the cost would be lower.

Fair and vintage hotel (Red Lion Hotel, Portland Airport)

The immediate area around this hotel is a bit on the wild side and it can be dark. However, just a few minutes by car away is Cascade Station. The area surrounding Cascade Station is pretty cool as it is relatively newly developed. I decided to book at Red Lion Hotel thinking it was just across the street from Cascade Station. I was travelling with my cousins in Portland and we checked into the hotel around 11 at night. When we arrived, everywhere was closed and the area around this hotel was dark. It was not as close to Cascade Station as I thought (it was about a 5 minute drive away so it still wasn't THAT far). The outside of the hotel feels a bit more like a motel as the hotel rooms are on the ground level and upper level.
There are two separate buildings (and from the looks of it, the second building of hotel rooms was placed in as an extension). The hotel from the inside does look like a hotel with the exception that the rooms are on the ground level. It also do have an outdoor pool, and a fitness room on the first floor. The fitness room isn't very big. It does have a set of weights, 2 treadmills and an exercise bike. The facilities are a bit on the old side and the area immediately surrounding the hotel does feel a bit dark. I also thought there was breakfast, however, I just found out once we arrived that it was not included. Once we finished checking in and got settled in our rooms, I can tell that the hotel does make an effort to maintain its rooms. The sheets were clean, but the coffee machine and furnishings were slightly on the old side.
I am not sure if I've spent too long in the car from my trip or just my body is funny, but my bed felt slightly lop sided (but not too much). In the rooms, there was a coffee machine and a cup that had an assortment of tea and coffee. Usually you would expect glass cups or paper cups with lids, but here they just give you a couple of paper cups. The washrooms also had a dryer and soap and lotion. The stay itself was pretty pleasant. However, my cousin said that he kept hearing the horns of trains. The light rail does pass by near here, so that may be a concern. Also, the location of the hotel is right under the flight path so you will hear airplanes land and take off. Personally since I am a nerd, I actually love these things, especially the airplane take off and landings. Each room cost about $120, and I would say the quality is fair, but it can slightly be a bit lower (considering there isn't any breakfast).

 If you would like to book a hotel, a great way to save is to sign up for Ebates: Canada (http://tinyurl.com/m6slqmh) or USA (http://tinyurl.com/k9suug9) then use Hotels.com on there to book your hotel. You get 3 discounts, which includes the rebates from Ebates, Hotels.com buy 10 nights get 1 free and individual hotel rewards.

Feeling Classy (Pan Pacific Hotel/ Cafe Pacifica Food Review)

Last year around the same time, I was attending an engineering networking event. This year I got invited back again. Last year I went, I remember feeling like I just lost a war after the event was finished. Not only was I not properly dressed, I was all sweaty and feeling overwhelmed. So this year I wanted to make a change.

This year, I got on a layer of deodorant on and I went shopping beforehand to make sure that I am properly dressed. I think the biggest thing that was different this year that helped with the anxiety was that I told myself I was there for the food, and if I met anyone it's an added bonus.
  With that mindset I headed towards the Pan Pacific Hotel. I must say this is a very classy place to host a social networking event. When I arrived, the hotel had a coat check and everything, and once inside the venue, there were servers everywhere with some appetizers. Some of the appetizers include quiche, mini flat bread sandwiches and also tomato and cheese on a skewer.

Banquet Hall

   I must say, when it comes to service, these banquet servers are one of the best. Not only are they extremely well dressed, but they are also very polite and knowledgeable about what they are serving. Also, I really admire their abs, alot of the plates that they carry are very heavy and I am not sure how they are able to carry so many!

Basket of Bread that Came

  With regards to the taste of the food, besides the fact that it's served hot and it's freshly made, the appetizers tastes somewhat average. We were outside the main dining area when suddenly the lights went out and we were signalled to go  into the dining room to begin our 3 course meal.

Soup

  The dining room itself was very well lighted, and all the utensils were all placed ready for us. Once we were seated, a basket of bread and baked goods were sent to each table to share and pass around. I must say there isn't really anything too special with the breads, other than the fact that they appear to be freshly baked.
  After the bread was distributed, the soup was next. To be honest, I am not sure what the soup was. It tasted abit like squash but abit like french onion. It was thicker than miso soup but less thick than something like french onion. The soup itself tasted pretty good though.
   Once we were finished with the soup, the banquet servers came around and picked up the bowls and some utensils. Not to sound stupid, but I get confused about what utensils to use in these occasions. There are literally 10 utensils in front of me, and ideally for functional purposes I would like to just drink the soup out of the bowl... but to keep it "classy", apparently the bowl should never leave the table.
   The next thing that came around was the main dish, and it was chicken breast with some corn and carrots. The carrot was abit on the hard/bland side, but the chicken was amazing. The quality was very good and very tender.

  While we were having the main dish, the servers came around and asked us if we would like some wine. They had two bottles of wine that were high quality. One was the white wine while the other was some sort of red wine. I had the red wine.
   I am not sure if it's a custom to not pour the wine in all the way to the top of the glass, but the server poured me only half a cup. I guess I understood why when I took the first sip. The thing was so strong it reminded me of Listerine mouthwash, except the wine had a slightly sweet side to it.
   When everyone was done with the main dish, the dessert came next. At this time, a bunch of the utensils were all collected, so now there were only the spoon for the dessert left. Finally I figured out which out of the dozens of spoons which one is the right one for the dessert. The cake itself was very good, the chocolate was very wholesome tasting. Rather than tasting the flour in the cake in a traditional cake, this one tasted more like chocolate than cake.
  Overall, I would say this social networking event went pretty well, I did meet a few new friends and also had some good food. Overall, I would recommend coming to Pan Pacific Hotel if you are planning to host an event. The price per person was around $30 but there were around 200 people there. In addition, it was subsidized by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) who was the sponsor. The food and quality was good as well.

Hotel max (seattle part 5)

The hotel's location is only a few steps away from Westlake center and Macy's. Around the hotel there's at least 3 Starbucks, a Mcdonalds and tons of places to eat. The best part is across the street, it's the US Federal Court House.

From the outside the appearance of the hotel looks very vintage, you can tell from the architecture that it was built a long time ago. When I entered the lobby, I was greeted by the valet guy ( not sure what you would call these guys that took your car keys and then park your car). The lobby looked very cool, it didn't resemble the traditional hotel lobbies where the floor was shiny and the lighting was super bright. This hotel's lobby was slightly dark when it comes to lighting and the windows were tinted.

When we checked in, I mentioned that I made the booking thru hotels.com, the check in process was efficient. After checking in, I was curious how old the hotel was, so I asked the manager there and she told me it was built in 1919... So this building was built 94 ( as of 2013) years ago..., upon learning this fact, I felt both excited and creeped out... However, from the construction of the hotel to now, the hotel's gone through numerous renovations. Including the most recent one, giving the hotel an artistic feel.

Once we were finished at the check-in desk, we proceeded to the elevator. The elevator was abit scary, it was extremely small in space, it could probably fit maybe 6 people, but anything more it would be too cramped. As we went up the elevator, the walls of it slightly shook.

When we arrived to our floor, the hallway immediately gave me the impression of a haunted house. It was relatively dark and on the doors of the room, there were black and white paintings of artists. This lighting in addition to the age of the hotel gave me a slight chill. As my friend and I walked towards our room, we passed by the ice machine (which apparently is only on odd numbered floors).

Once we entered our room, the entire feeling of creepyness faded away. The room itself was quite impressive. The double beds were very well made and the lighting inside the room was nice, not only was this nice, but the flatscreen TV and the spacious washroom with the view of the courthouse across the street was pretty sweet.

Something I must mention though, is that wifi is not free as well as the bottles of water on the table, but the coffee brewer and tea were free to be used. The wifi is free, however, if you have a rewards membership with the. They also featured Aveda soaps, lotion and shampditioner(shampoo and conditioner) washroom for free. If you ever visit here and are looking for amentities or snacks, there's a drug store a few steps away from the hotel and charges significantly less for the same items the hotel charges.

The hotel also had a business center downstairs (but internet costs money on those computers), they also had a printer there too. In general, besides the fact that the hotel is abit vintage, and charges for internet, I say the location and the cleaniness, view of the room makes this hotel a great place to stay at.

Once we finished putting our stuff down in our hotel room, we headed to the Space Needle before sunset.