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Monterey Hotel Review: Comfort Inn Monterey Bay

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:27:38 +0000

The Comfort Inn Monterey Bay hotel was a great deal for a last minute booking. The price was reasonable ($140 for a holiday weekend) and the rooms were comfortable and clean. Weekday rates for this hotel are as low as $60 per night. Amenities include a continental breakfast, cable TV including HBO, high speed internet, and free coffee. The breakfast included self-serve waffles, coffee, toast, cereal, fruit, juice, and coffee. Our room had a fridge and a microwave, which was very convenient for storing and heating up leftovers. The beds were comfortable, bathroom was clean (recently remodelled), and the furniture looked fairly new. It has a nice charm to it with the flowers planted around the hotel. The location is pretty good – about a 10 minute drive to Fishermans Wharf and Cannery Row. Overall, a good value for Monterey if you are on a budget.

Review: Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki

admin — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:30:42 +0000

View from hotel room (20th floor, Ala Moana tower)

The Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki is located next to the marina in Waikiki. All 521 rooms are oceanfront, which means you get a view of the marina side or the Diamond head side. We stayed there early November 2009 and were impressed with the location as it was much quieter than other parts of Waikiki. The service of the hotel is probably the most memorable. When you first check-in, you will recieve hot towels (oshibori) to wipe your face (which is a nice touch after a long flight).

Check-in was fast and easy. The rooms are located in the 28 floors, with one tower facing diamond head and the other facing the marina. Priceline guests will most likely get the tower facing the marina. As you can see from the photo above, the marina rooms had a decent view. Each room has giant windows that open up, but no balcony or lanai. The rooms are huge for Waikiki, they had nice bathrooms with marble flooring, separate shower/bathtub, separate room for the toilet, and a large electronic safe. The room had a lot of amenities — slippers, robes, daily Lion Kona blend coffee, nice tropical shampoo/conditioner, lotion, complementary water upon checkin (2 bottles), and a tube TV. Internet access is available for $11.95 per day. Hotel also offers a salt-water pool and jacuzzi. Fitness center offers treadmill, elliptical machine, weight machine.

There is a free shuttle that takes you from the hotel to the Waikiki beaches. Pretty good to not have to drive to the center of Waikiki since parking is a premium there.

The hotel has a great buffet — Waikiki Prince Court Buffet. Pricey, but good quality.

For shopping, there is the Ala Moana mall about 2 blocks away. Tons of stores and a huge food court for cheap eats. The Hilton resort is about 2 blocks away the other direction, which is nice to check out the Friday night fireworks show (if they still offer it).

Tip: The room we stayed in had a mildew smell to it — its best to leave the window open as the A/C didn’t seem to help. There is parking in the main garage for $15 per night.

Priceline has some great deals on this hotel. If you can get this for $75-$100 range, its a good deal. If you are looking for good value for your $$, this hotel offers a lot of amenities for rooms with actual oceanfront views.

Wolfgang’s Steakhouse

admin — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:59:46 +0000

New York is known for great food. We decided to try out Wolfgang’s Steakhouse on Park Ave. from all the great reviews on Yelp. Its currently ranked in the top 5 in New York.

Review:
We got the “Steak for 2″ on the menu cooked medium rare. I wouldn’t say it is the best steak I’ve ever had, but it was up there. The meat was perfectly seared where the outside was crisp and the inside was really tender. I like the fact that the steak arrives in a really hot plate with a spacer underneath so that all the juices pool to one side. Supposedly it is cooked in a broiler at 1200 degrees! It was a lot of food for us — generous portions. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was really nice. Our waiters were very helpful and professional. The waiter even sliced the steak for us which was a great touch.

As for side dishes, we tried the creamed spinach, bacon, and german potatoes. The BACON is the best Ive ever had. Its a thick piece seared in probably the same 1200 degree oven. Definitely worth getting. The german potatoes were very tasty, a nice change from the usual garlic mashed potatoes. Creamed spinach was ok. Onion rolls were good, and they were generous in giving extra to take home

Price is typical for a high end New York Restaurant:
~$80 for steak for two, $30 for the bacon, spinach, german potatoes, plus drinks and tip.

Overall, it was a great dining experience in New York. If you decide to go, make sure you get the bacon!