Hotel: Hilton Oceanside, Ocean City, MD

City: Ocean City, MD
Chain: Hilton
Property: Hilton Suites Ocean City Oceanfront
Address: 3200 North Baltimore Avenue, Ocean City, MD 21842
Phone Number: 410.289.6444

Check Out: May 2012 ($220)

Most Ocean City Maryland hotels are pretty beat.  They were built in the 60s and 70s and are constantly abused by the heavy family traffic this east coast beach town gets each year.  There is a lot of more upscale housing of the condo variety, and a few newer hotels.  This property is a newer Hilton property, located at the 32nd street latitude on the beach, which is a little past the end of the boardwalk.  This part of town is more waterslide and pizza joint-centric (Ocean City gets quieter as you move north), but this specific hotel was super nice (relatively) and we were there in the off season so very quiet.

Ocean City in May is low key enough that people can fish and walk their dogs on the beach, while warm enough for shorts and flip-flops, and most of the places are open.  We went down for a long weekend with no particular plans, but had a great room with a balcony on the corner (an upgrade from normal).

The hotel had some inside parking which was great as it was a little rainy when we got there.  There is a large pool area outside with two pools and outside eating and drinking (all closed pre-season when we were there), and an inside pool and exercise room.  There was bar and restaurant action, although we only used the bar and went elsewhere to eat.  Room service one day - very good as typical for full service Hiltons.

We liked the room a lot.  Suite style, with a living/dining area inside the door, pretty full service kitchen with real refrigerator and dishwasher, stocked with the basics for cooking and eating.  Bathroom was large with a multi-headed shower that was pretty nice, and a separate Jacuzzi tub.  Balcony off the bedroom overlooking the beach.

Staff was super nice and helpful.  Concierge service helped navigate dining in the area (we hadn't been to the MD beaches in quite a while).

Rating:

• Safety: 1
• Dining: 1
• Bar: 1
• Internet: 1 (free for Hilton Honor)
• Wireless in Common Areas: 1
• Work Space, Power: 1
• Shower: 1
• Air Conditioning, Bed: 1
• Common Areas: 1, plus 1 point for beach

Total: 10





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Update to Collegeville Marriott

The remodeling is done, a real improvement. Comments here.

Restaurant: Mon Ami Gabi

Restaurant: Mon Ami Gabi, Bethesda, MD
Web Site: www.monamigabi.com
Address: 7239 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: (301) 654-1234

Right in downtown Bethesda in the hoity-toity Bethesda Row area, a French Bistro on the corner where the movie theater is. There is a bar area where you first walk in, and three dining areas; one that can be closed off for private parties. A chalkboard on the left has the specials of the day.

The menu has a number of steak and frites choices, with a number of other options. Salmon and scollops this time, both were very good. More cream and butter than we're used to for the side dishes, but we're probably not typical in this compared to most. Waite staff very professional, a number of good wine selections as well as a rolling cart with the by-the-glass choices.

Bar area is more crowded than it should be, because of its corner orientation in the room, and because of that completely annoying process of people sitting at the bar and covering it with entrées. If the place had a small plate policy for bar eating it might make it easier to have a pre-dinner drink there. As such, you might be better served to have a pre-dinner drink somewhere else that would be easier to get some service.

We've been here a few times now, every time enjoyable and worth the cost.


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Restaurant: Volare

Restaurant: Volare
Web Site: http://www.volarerestaurant.com/
Address: 201 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611
Phone: (312) 410-9900

Great, old school Italian restaurant in the heart of Chicago. Good, professional service staff. Was not overpriced, although if you go crazy on the wine and courses you could get there. Noise was off-the-hook loud with the room packed.

Only had a glass of wine with dinner, but list seemed full and lots of reasonable bottles. Had a nice house salad, and the fresh bread was awesome - crusty on the outside, warm and delicious on the inside. Had a sea bass special, that was with some white wine sauce with olives and spinach. My colleague had the risotto, which was probably the best I had ever had, although super hot - you needed to wait for it to cool off before you could eat it (not unexpected).

A good choice when in downtown Chicago.


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Southwest to Milwaukee

It’s never fun having to get up for an early morning flight, especially when you forgot to print out the boarding pass 24 hours before the flight - missing that important chance to board in the “A” section. But after getting “B-1” you know there can’t be many people on the flight, so not so bad. Had the budget first class seat - a whole row to myself, and no person in front of me to lean back and crush my computer.

I used to hate flying Southwest because of the old boarding process (“Ready...BOARD!”) when you had to get there two hours before the flight to line up and then sprint down the jetway as fast as you could. The numbered process is much, much better and a good compromise between reserved seats and the chaos of the old method.

Southwest has a different business model than most of the others. Since they only fly 737’s, you always know what the plane will be like and no surprises like small storage (its all small storage) or a seat behind the bulkhead. And, they do seem to be on time more than most. Perhaps this is because they can swap equipment around more easily with the common aircraft throughout the fleet?

Restaurant: Big Greek Cafe, Rockville

Restaurant: Big Greek Cafe, Rockville
Web Site: http://www.biggreekcafe.com/
Address: 4007 Norbeck Rd, Rockville, MD 20853
Phone: (301) 929-9760

They call it Rockville, I list it with Olney, but it’s really Norbeck. The great crossroad of MD Route 28 (Norbeck Road) and MD Route 97 (Georgia Ave) is a small strip mall with the Big Greek Cafe. It’s been a couple of things over the years, but generally a mediterranean take out place, now greek. Always our go-to for kabobs, now our go-to for gyros. From the same people that run the Golden Flame in downtown Silver Spring, a small take out place focused on Greek dishes and comfort food.

Interior is not much, just some tables for people not really thinking about taking-out, but there’s also not much space to park here (parking is actually a challenge with this small, poorly organized strip mall), but it is worth the hassle. The salads are all big and fresh with good ingredients, and gyro meat is real meat and not pressed ground processed meat. Everything we’ve tried has been very good and good proportions, a good value place.


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Restaurant: Umami Moto

Restaurant: Umami Moto
Web Site: http://www.umamimoto.com/
Address: 718 N Milwaukee St, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: (414) 455-6856

High end Sushi joint in downtown Milwaukee.

Here on business with colleagues. Some interesting takes on Japanese dishes, but I stuck with mostly basics but had a Salmon special which was very good (crisp on top with a barbeque like glaze). Sushi and edamame were top notch. We were in a booth in the back, and the noise level was quite high as the interior was all tile and glass. A typical design mistake where style doesn’t consider the sound reflectivity of surfaces in a public space.

I’d go again, very good food and service. I’d ask for a different place to sit, however.


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Restaurant: Pizzeria Da Marco

Restaurant: Pizzeria Da Marco
Web Site: http://www.pizzeriadamarco.net/Pizzeria_Da_Marco/Home.html
Address: 8008 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: (301) 654-6083

A new (May 2011) pizza joint in Bethesda, right on Woodmont between St. Elmo and Cordell. Promises authentic Neapolitan pizza from a wood fired oven.

Having never been to Italy I can’t judge the authentic part. But, the wood fired oven part is pretty common around here and in general they promise thinner crust that is both chewy and crispy. Da Marco delivers on this. The crust was a little bit thicker than I expected, but very tasty and easy to eat with your hand (the way pizza is supposed to be be eaten) without grease.

The space was large and open, with a large bar stretching the length of the wall that eventually becomes the kitchen. Was there for lunch with some colleagues, so can’t really gauge the noise level for dinner. Also, has only been open a few weeks, so some weaknesses with the waiters but I would expect this to get better over time. Most of the pizzas were 11 to 13 dollars and are of the “personal” size, but plenty big as a serving. Salads were good also.

Not much of a pizza eater at this point, and there weren’t a lot of alternatives (unless you think a calzone is an alternative), but a good choice if this is what you’re looking for and you’ve grown up past the home delivery vendors.


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Restaurant: Seasons 52 North Bethesda

Restaurant: Seasons 52, North Bethesda
Web Site: http://www.seasons52.com/locations/north_bethesda.asp
Address: 11414 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, MD 20852
Phone: (301) 984-5252

Seasons 52 is a brand new restaurant (as of May 2011) across from White Flint Mall on Rockville Pike (the area known as “Kensington”, “Rockville”, or “North Bethesda” depending on which you think sounds more impressive). The circle of life on Rockville Pike states that when one new restaurant opens, another has to close. We’ll see how long this one will last.

First impressions are that it should be around a while. The restaurant is a chain, owned by the same group that owns Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse, and a number of others. However, Seasons 52 seems to be a good couple of notches above the others. Their gimmick (and the name) refer to a constantly changing menu to reflect seasonal changes in the food. They also had a nicer than normal wine list for a chain, live entertainment with a piano bar, and a very slick contemporary decor. The menu tricks are flatbread appetizers with a variety of unusual toppings, all the items on the menu are less than 500 calories, and for dessert they have small little portions of various cakes and pies all in identical little squarish glasses.

The flatbreads were very good, but they cool off quickly. Once cooled they are more like stale crackers so don’t let the conversation delay eating them. Crab was one of the toppings and very good. The edamame appetizer was also interesting in that some kind of green salt was served on the side and not sprinkled on top.

Most of us had a variety of grilled seafood, all very good. Everyone was very happy with their meals. We all tried different desserts - they way they are presented encourages the party to all pick different things. But, its difficult to share - they are very small. One is very satisfying for someone that normally doesn’t order dessert, and you can order more than one if you’re used to eating a whole pie.

A little on the noisy side. Part of that was the entertainment in the bar which was piped out into the dining area. A lot of glass on the walls also makes it hard to deal with reflected sound. We were a part of 7, and it was hard to hear what the other end of the table was talking about. Service was good, wine was good, kitchen was open as well.

All in all, an enjoyable experience and well priced for the quality. Could use some adjustment to the noise level, and parking is a super hassle because of poor design of the garage area for this newly developed building.

An update October 4, 2011

In the Washington Post Sunday Magazine section from October 2, 2011 page 27 Tom Sietsema was asked about his September 4 review of Seasons 52, and how he didn't inform of the sodium level in the food. The calculation was that a meal at Seasons 52 could contain more then 4,000 mg Sodium - yikes! (Mayo Clinic recommends 2300 mg per day, 1500 a day once you reach your 50s). For anyone who has reduced their sodium intake, a 4 gram hit can actually make you feel bad. We'll be sure to keep this in mind as we make restaurant choices in the future.

There's a lot of focus on calories. Many places are way too liberal in their use of salt.

Another Update, December 2012

Close to a concert, went again out of convenience.  Had a seat in the bar which was good because of the piano player, a little noisy otherwise.  Service was very good, including a very exuberant bartender with a love of gin (he was in good company).  Seems like they got the salt content under control, perhaps they read the above mentioned Washington Post article from last year.  Good for them, they are paying attention, and working on making things better, which is somewhat rare when dining in Montgomery County where places can be crowded regardless of the job being done inside.

The "dessert shooters" are still a fun gimmick.

Another Update, May 2013

Seasons 52 gets better with each visit.  So many places have a rough start, then jump up to a mildly better level and stay there.  Seasons 52 in North Bethesda is clearly paying attention and working to improve.  The concerns about sodium levels is largely gone, the noise level concerns can be dealt with by controlling where you sit, the service gets better each time.  At this point I can't think of a better place to dine for nice food thats a little upscale on Rockville Pike.  The wine list is good also (which is a challenge in Montgomery County) with lots of nice choices by the glass.  Seasons 52 has become a real "go to" for us, especially when dining a little early before the crush of the evening hits or on a weekday.


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Restaurant: Clyde's of Columbia

Restaurant: Clyde's of Columbia
Web Site: http://www.clydes.com
Address: 10221 Wincopin Circle, Columbia, MD 21044
Phone: (410) 730-2828

Like all the Clyde's locations, it can't quite seem like it wants to be a fancy restaurant or an affordable restaurant. The location in Columbia seems to lean toward affordable, with much more of a casual, sports bar vibe than other locations. The long space has a a bar with a dozen beer taps as its main decoration, and a projector showing the hockey game on an 8 foot screen really shouts "sports bar". Yet, most of the patrons are there for dinner at tables along windows facing the lake, or in side rooms decorated like an old timey gentlemen club.

Service was good and attentive without being too much, the menu is varied across entrees down through burgers and sandwiches. The food is very affordable, the most expensive entry was under $30 and the special of the month was a lobster dinner for around $25. It's easy to get out of Clyde's at $30 a person including a drink or dessert which makes it a nice choice for larger groups. We were there with friends and outside of the noise level being a little high (not too high, mostly reflected noise from all the glass) it was a pleasant place to spend a few hours in conversation.

Everyone seemed happy with the food. Tuna steak was a little overcooked but I ordered medium so maybe my fault (lots of interpretation on what that means), but it was very good with wasabi sauce and greens. Other dishes were the paella, lobster, beef brisket, and grilled salmon. A liberal in the salt use, but this is common from most chefs these days.

I was surprised I liked it this much, as we've been disappointed at other Clyde's locations. This location has been here a long time and perhaps has a very long established staff and routines. For a casual place that isn't too expensive this was a good choice.



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Restaurant: Taro's by Mikuni

Restaurant: Taro's by Mikuni
Web Site: http://www.tarosbymikuni.com
Address: 1735 Arden Way, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95815
Phone: 916-564-2114

Better than average sushi joint, located in a shopping mall.



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Hotel: Doubletree Milwaukee Downtown

City: Milwaukee, WI
Chain: Doubletree (Hilton)
Property: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Milwaukee City Center
Address: 611 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53203
Phone Number: 414.273.2950

Check Out: March 2011 ($120)

Right downtown, easy walking to much of the downtown area.

Nice, not real high end but very clean, full service hotel that is at a reasonable price point for business travel. Gave me a hot cookie when I checked in. Hilton Honors gold status put me on the top floor.

Room was clean, comfortable, but surprisingly noisy for 10th floor. Seemed like constant police activity up and down the street. Good internet, Hilton hotel so Hilton Honors perks apply. Used the hotel dining room for breakfast ; buffet that was so so, but that's typical (big tray of eggs, potatoes, etc.).

Staff was nice, helpful.

Rating:

• Safety: 1
  
• Dining: 1
  
• Bar: 1
  
• Internet: 1 (free for Hilton Honor)
  
• Wireless in Common Areas: 1
  
• Work Space, Power: 1
  
• Shower: 1
  
• Air Conditioning, Bed: 1 (Ditto)
  
• Common Areas: 1 (Ditto)
  

Total: 9





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