Hotel: Montage Spa, Laguna Beach, CA

City: Laguna Beach, California
Chain: Not a Chain
Property: http://www.montagelagunabeach.com
Address: 30801 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA‎
Phone Number: (949) 715-6000

Check Out: April 2010

A crazy over-the-top nice resort sitting on top of a cliff on the specific ocean in southern California.

I was there for business reasons, and we got there very late at night, so really couldn't tell what it looked like on check-in. But, the next morning my room was sitting on top of a cliff looking out over the ocean. Perfectly manicured lawns, tropical plantings, a million people to help out with service, luxurious well appointed rooms, etc. etc. Of course, also accompanied with 25 dollar breakfasts and other :you get what you pay for" types of things. Not a criticism - in my experience it was worth it - but these types of surroundings don't come cheap.

And, I was there on business so not a lot of time to enjoy it. When not in a meeting, most likely using the laptop to try and stay on top of things. Fortunately, I was there on east coast time so I had a few hours in the morning to be outside with few people around.

There was an exercise room that was very nice, with a lot of treadmills and machines, Precor resistance machines, a full set of dumbbells. Didn't open until 6 AM, but there is a nice path along the cliff and down to the beach, so no need for the treadmills.

Very tropical plans, and types of birds I'm not familiar with that made very interesting noises. The birds were aggressive (not overly) on outside dining. Kind of funny, actually.

Rating:

• Safety: 1
  
• Dining: 1 (but pricey)
  
• Bar: 1 (ditto)
  
• Internet: 0 (wi-fi available, but $15 a day.)
  
• Wireless in Common Areas: .5 (you have to pay)
  
• Work Space, Power: 1
  
• Shower: 1 (unbelievably nice, actually)
  
• Air Conditioning, Bed: 1 (Ditto)
  
• Common Areas: 2 (Ditto)
  

Total: 8.5

(note, my scoring system gives a severe penalty for paid for Internet. If you don't care about this, the place is a 10).

Last Visit: April 2010 ($350?)


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Restaurant: Bella Bacino's, Chicago

Restaurant: Bella Bacino's
Web Site: http://www.bacinos.com
Address: 75 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.263.2350

An Italian restaurant on Wacker Drive across the street from the river in downtown Chicago.

We ate there twice. One night with a colleague, the next night with a larger group. It seemed weird to eat in the same place twice in downtown Chicago where there are so many great places to eat. But, the larger group was looking for a suggestion, and we knew there were other things on the menu we wanted to try, so why not? It was a nice 6 block or so walk from our hotel, on a nice November evening.

They make little pizzas that were great, had a number of nice wines, and everyone liked all the dishes that filled the tables over two nights. Really nice service, also.


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Just a little test of posting from my phone...


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Restaurant: Charlie Palmers Costa Mesa

Restaurant: Charlie Palmers at Bloomingdale's South Coast Plaza
Web Site: http://www.charliepalmer.com
Address: 3333 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa CA 92626
Phone: 714.352.2525

Neo-American Steak House attacked to a shopping mall in Orange County. Very high ceilings, very stylish staff and service. This is not a Ruth's Chris Steak House, this is a steak house in southern California that paid a lot of money for decorating.

Food was very good, and there was a real wine steward to navigate the list (with a very positive outcome). I like the giant wall of wine bottles arranged in a way that is more like a decoration than a convenient way to house a lot of wine.

Excellent joint!




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Hotel: Marriott Norwalk (CA)

City: Norwalk, California
Chain: Marriott
Property: Marriott Norwalk
Address: 13111 Sycamore Drive, Norwalk, California 90650
Phone Number: 562-863-5555

Check Out: Febrary 2010

A full service Marriott conveniently off I-605 south of LA in the town of Norwalk. Full bar and restaurant, outdoor pool, business center, etc. Mostly a business travelers' hotel, not really near any of the attractions you might associate with the LA area. But, the hotel was clean, seemed recently remodeled so not beat up, and the staff was uniformly courteous and attentive in all my interaction.

Had an exercise room, although pretty small with two treadmills and two universal type weight machines. You can run outside, the parking lot has a "road" around it where you can stay on the property. Outside pool in a little courtyard. Food and bar were good, though. Would stay again, but not on vacation.

Rating:

• Safety: 1 (not the best neighborhood, but an isolated property)
  
• Dining: 1
  
• Bar: 1
  
• Internet: 1
  
• Wireless in Common Areas: .5 (you have to pay)
  
• Work Space, Power: 1
  
• Shower: 1
  
• Air Conditioning, Bed: .5 (good bed, weak AC)
  
• Common Areas: 1
  

Total: 8

Last Visit: February 2010 ($149)


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Restaurant: Sonoma Grill, Norwalk, CA

Restaurant: Sonoma Grill
Web Site: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/laxnk-norwalk-marriott/
Address: 13111 Sycamore Drive, Norwalk, CA‎
Phone: (562) 863-5555

Had three meals or so while I stayed in the Norwalk Marriott for a few days.

A typical restaurant for a Marriott, in a vaguely corporate branded way. Kind of like a wine bar place, but not a lot of display of wine except for a few cases near the outside door.

The food was a mix; some burgers, some pizza, some salads, some fish and pasta dishes. Between some colleagues and multiple meals there was a small pizza, salads, tortilla soup, grilled vegtables with bow tie pasta and pesto sauce, filet mignon, seared tuna steak, grilled salmon with asparagus. All were good.

Breakfast was typical hotel buffet. Staff was very good, although cooking was a little slow for how few people were there.




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IND Round 2

Back out to Indianapolis, meeting different people in the same city. I’ve been there enough that its all familiar except for the new football stadium that sits downtown like an aircraft carrier. The town is filled with excitement about the upcoming NFC championship game, evident in both the signs displayed as well as conversation with the locals.

The flight out had the same cloud cover as last Friday which struck me as odd. Did that weather last all week or is this new weather exactly like the old weather?

The flight home was on another little EMB 135. Maybe the same one, it was the same 4:10 flight on a different day. I had an exit row seat with no one next to me, which is a good as first class, frankly. The only down side is the seats on those little planes don’t have much padding, which gets a little hard after 60 minutes.

I don’t mind the small planes, their seats are usually as spacious as larger planes, which is not exactly an endorsement I realize. They fly smooth enough as well. The only part I hate is getting on and off them because of how far I have to stoop over to walk down the isle.

IND in One Day

A quick little trip to Indianapolis yesterday. I've been there a number of times, last time commenting on the new airport (which I like a lot). I used to do more one-day trips, but with how much of a hassle air travel has become and the cost of missing a meeting its more overnights now. So, yesterday's one day trip was more unusual than in the past. It makes for a long day, catching am 8:30 flight now means getting to the airport by 7 which means leaving the house by 6.

The January weather yesterday was quite nice, it was in the 40s when I was walking into the airport and the sun was hitting the Washington buildings from the low morning angle which brings out all the texture. I had a window seat on the small Embraer 175 on takeoff on the side of the plane looking over the river, and we stayed straight off the runway long enough to watch the sliding show from low over the water and monuments to high above Wisconsin avenue over Bethesda. Just as Rockville was coming into view the plane banked to the west and we were up through the clouds and the ground then becomes that far away picture with no detail.

Indianapolis was cloudy and rainy the whole day, but it was a nice day and we discovered a new place to eat. A good meeting, then back to the airport.

The flight back was on the tiny Embraer 135, and there was solid cloud cover the whole time. The closing sunlight of the day created fantastic light against the cloud layer, and the whole flight back was a very sureal view of another planet. As we landed my seat was now on the wrong side of the plane facing Virginia, but we headed south of the airport to turn around a head up the river. The fading sunlight and the time of day when all the artificial lighting is turning on below created another beautiful visual experience as all the cars clogged the roads for rush hour and the cities were lighting up with their own nightlife. As the plane backed to the left to head up the river I could see where the Potomac dumps into the Cheasapeake Bay and could see much of the bay off in the horizon stretching up to the north.

As we came up to the runway the pilot had to make a last minute dip to the left to stay aligned which created that unnerving experience of watching the wing lean down to touch the water. This is more typical of the smaller planes, the larger ones have too much inertia for a manuvure like that. We touched down and the airport terminal whizzed by as it only can at DCA where the airport is so small.

The small plane stopped and we had to climb down the stairs to the little bus to take us into the terminal. The little plane was too small to be given a jetway, so there's a parking lot for them away from the terminal. I like getting off the planes like this as you get to stretch your legs on the tarmac and enjoy the smells and sounds of the airport in operation.

Not a bad day, with a good meeting with nice people and two nice little plane rides.

Airports

Airports by FAA Sign

• AEY - Akureyri Airport (Akureyri, Iceland)
• BWI - Baltimore Washington International (Baltimore, MD)
• CLT - Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (Charlotte, NC)
• DAY - Dayton International Airport (Dayton, OH)
• DCA - Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (Washington, DC)
• DFW - Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (Grapevine, TX)
• IAD - Washington Dulles International Airport (Herndon, VA)
• IND - Indianapolis International Airport (Indianapolis, Indiana)
• KEF - Keflavik Airport (Iceland, International Travel outside Reykjavik)
• LAX - Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
• LGB - Long Beach Airport (Long Beach, CA)
• MSP - Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (Bloomington, MN)
• PDX - Portland International Airport (Portland, Oregon)
• PWM - Portland International Jetport (Portland, Maine)
• RKV - Reykjavik Airport (Reykjavik, Iceland)
• SNA - Orange County/John Wayne Airport (Santa Ana, CA)
• TPA - Tampa International Airport (Tampa, Florida)

Restaurant: Tersiguel's French Country Restaurant

Restaurant: Tersiguel's French Country Restaurant
Web Site: http://www.tersiguels.com
Address: 8293 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD 21043
Phone: 410-465-4004

Very French, very nice restaurant in the historic Ellicott City downtown in an old building. Part of their charm is their use of produce grown on their own farm, and maintaining high quality traditional French service and cooking.




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Restaurant: Tako Grill

Restaurant: Tako Grill
Web Site: www.takogrill.com (Urbanspoon Link)
Address: 7756 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: 301-652-7030

December 28, 2009 - Likes it - I wish sushi was cheaper, because I could sit here and eat all day. Very good service and food right on Wisconsin avenue a few blocks north of Metro. Full variety, and I haven't had anything bad here yet. Bento boxes seem popular at lunch time from looking around the room, but I haven't tried them yet.

(I posted this on Urbanspoon, which is a great application, by the way).


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Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn, Indianapolis South

City: Indianapolis, Indiana (Greenwood)
Chain: Hilton
Property: Hilton Garden Inn, Indianapolis South/Greenwood
Address: 5255 Noggle Way, Indianapolis, IN 46237
Phone Number: 317.888.4812

Check Out: November 2009



South of the city off the beltway.

Place was so new you could still smell paint and carpet. Lobby is nice and spacious, staff were courteousNo mini-bar, nice bathroom. Lobby had a breakfast dining option.

Rating:

• Safety: 1 (in the middle of nowhere)
  
• Dining: 1
  
• Bar: 1
  
• Internet: 1
  
• Wireless in Common Areas: 1
  
• Work Space, Power: 1 (enough outlets)
  
• Shower: 1
  
• Air Conditioning, Bed: 1
  
• Common Areas: 1
  

Total: 9

Last Visit: November 2009 ($129)



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