DC and Baltimore
For the holiday weekend, I'm heading to the capital. I have some flight vouchers and they needed to be used. After bouncing around ideas, found a decent rate to BWI even though it is a holiday weekend and all the unrest in oil-producing countries causing oil to skyrocket in price.
I was going to start my trip well when I was notified of being upgraded to first class. Unfortunately, United Airlines swapped planes which caused a seat shuffle and a loss of capacity when I arrived at the airport. I volunteered (for flight vouchers) to fly to an alternate airport since I already lost my first class seat in the plane swap. At the rate I'm going, I will be flying on subsidy due to airline snafus for awhile. I wonder if there is a record for this. :)
Checked into the Doubletree Crystal City for the night near Reagan National airport. The hotel offers shuttle service to either DCA airport or the Pentagon metro station. It isn't advertised on the website but it does exist. The hotel was buzzing with people surprisingly. I wasn't expecting such activity on this side of the river. The hotel must have alot of young adults as there was a sign announcing appropriate etiquette such as reminding people to walk in the hallways with shoes. I opted for room service for dinner. The menu options are typical but I was really impressed with the speed of their service especially at such a late hour. It doesn't seem much but when you want food it isn't normal for a hotel room service to get food to you in 20 minutes. The burger was good but I don't recommend the bread pudding. I have to add that the bathroom was super efficient. I say that because the shower didn't quite hit the showehead only mode but the pressure was still good despite water flowing from the tub faucet AND the water drained quickly. Seems silly to mention but never underestimate the need for good pressure and drainage in a hotel room. It also seems that Doubletree has switched toiletries to Crabtree&Evelyn or Nuetrogena isn't the preferred vendor. Overall, a very pleasant stay.
After tromping around in Rockville, MD escaping the biker madness in DC, I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn DC Capitol the next day. It is the newest property in the city and thought to check it out. It is also the closest to Union Station which will be convenient for my trip to Baltimore via Amtrak. I have to say that this is the most modern HGI I've been in with a full service branded restaurant. The room was very spacious with convenient amenities like microwave and mini fridge. It also sits next to the New York metro station stop off the red line. I was sad to have forgotten a charger after leaving the hotel but the folks there was able to find it and FedEx back to me.
The next day rambled over to Union Station to take Amtrak up to Baltimore. It has been a very long time since I've been inside the Union Station in DC. I've forgotten how it is a mini mall by itself. If I hadn't already grabbed breakfast at HGI, I would have gotten a croissant from Au Bon Pain. I enjoyed the desk in business class. It let me spread out my electonics for my hour long trip. I also discovered that I prefer Canada Dry versus Schweppes ginger ale. I had ginger ale on the train and found it too much like soda water than gingery.
Before heading to Baltimore, I was searching the transit options in the city. It isn't advertised well but there is a free bus that runs through much of the inner harbor area. Charm City Circulator is the free transit and I was able to get from Penn Station to the harbor. Do not rely on Google as it doesn't seem to incorporate the schedules in their database. The Circulator offers a mobile application for those who'd like to see the bus schedules in real time.
Checked into the Homewood Suites Baltimore. It is an interesting hotel as it shares with the Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor. Both hotels are in the same building and shares the same lobby and counter. This is the first time I've ever seen this setup. I wonder why they did it this way instead of just making the whole building is one hotel.
I have forgotten how much I like the Homewood brand. The suites were nice and the complimentary dinner is always nice even if I don't use the benefit.
Wandered through the city and failed on getting to a couple of places due to the holidays and business relocation. In roaming the city, I have mixed feelings about Baltimore as a vacation spot. It seems such a tough city and yet they throw this huge retail complex in the inner harbor area. Since I couldn't find the spots I was looking to do, I went back to the hotel and grabbed a bite at Bagby Pizza. They have really really thin crust pizza. I was able to eat a whole small pizza on my own, that's how thin the crust was.
I was too tired from the humidity tromping through Baltimore to do anything but watch TV. Keeping it quiet, I grabbed an early dinner at Roy's. The service here was spot on and I enjoyed watching the kitchen dynamics from the counter. Being in Baltimore, I tried the crabcake and didn't find it appealing. Maybe it was a bad day for me to eat since I wasn't feeling well. I did like my aloha roll so it can't be a seafood thing. In my sleepy stupor, I did check out of the the hotel forgetting my change purse. I never did like 7 am flights!
I was going to start my trip well when I was notified of being upgraded to first class. Unfortunately, United Airlines swapped planes which caused a seat shuffle and a loss of capacity when I arrived at the airport. I volunteered (for flight vouchers) to fly to an alternate airport since I already lost my first class seat in the plane swap. At the rate I'm going, I will be flying on subsidy due to airline snafus for awhile. I wonder if there is a record for this. :)
Checked into the Doubletree Crystal City for the night near Reagan National airport. The hotel offers shuttle service to either DCA airport or the Pentagon metro station. It isn't advertised on the website but it does exist. The hotel was buzzing with people surprisingly. I wasn't expecting such activity on this side of the river. The hotel must have alot of young adults as there was a sign announcing appropriate etiquette such as reminding people to walk in the hallways with shoes. I opted for room service for dinner. The menu options are typical but I was really impressed with the speed of their service especially at such a late hour. It doesn't seem much but when you want food it isn't normal for a hotel room service to get food to you in 20 minutes. The burger was good but I don't recommend the bread pudding. I have to add that the bathroom was super efficient. I say that because the shower didn't quite hit the showehead only mode but the pressure was still good despite water flowing from the tub faucet AND the water drained quickly. Seems silly to mention but never underestimate the need for good pressure and drainage in a hotel room. It also seems that Doubletree has switched toiletries to Crabtree&Evelyn or Nuetrogena isn't the preferred vendor. Overall, a very pleasant stay.
After tromping around in Rockville, MD escaping the biker madness in DC, I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn DC Capitol the next day. It is the newest property in the city and thought to check it out. It is also the closest to Union Station which will be convenient for my trip to Baltimore via Amtrak. I have to say that this is the most modern HGI I've been in with a full service branded restaurant. The room was very spacious with convenient amenities like microwave and mini fridge. It also sits next to the New York metro station stop off the red line. I was sad to have forgotten a charger after leaving the hotel but the folks there was able to find it and FedEx back to me.
The next day rambled over to Union Station to take Amtrak up to Baltimore. It has been a very long time since I've been inside the Union Station in DC. I've forgotten how it is a mini mall by itself. If I hadn't already grabbed breakfast at HGI, I would have gotten a croissant from Au Bon Pain. I enjoyed the desk in business class. It let me spread out my electonics for my hour long trip. I also discovered that I prefer Canada Dry versus Schweppes ginger ale. I had ginger ale on the train and found it too much like soda water than gingery.
Before heading to Baltimore, I was searching the transit options in the city. It isn't advertised well but there is a free bus that runs through much of the inner harbor area. Charm City Circulator is the free transit and I was able to get from Penn Station to the harbor. Do not rely on Google as it doesn't seem to incorporate the schedules in their database. The Circulator offers a mobile application for those who'd like to see the bus schedules in real time.
Checked into the Homewood Suites Baltimore. It is an interesting hotel as it shares with the Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor. Both hotels are in the same building and shares the same lobby and counter. This is the first time I've ever seen this setup. I wonder why they did it this way instead of just making the whole building is one hotel.
I have forgotten how much I like the Homewood brand. The suites were nice and the complimentary dinner is always nice even if I don't use the benefit.
Wandered through the city and failed on getting to a couple of places due to the holidays and business relocation. In roaming the city, I have mixed feelings about Baltimore as a vacation spot. It seems such a tough city and yet they throw this huge retail complex in the inner harbor area. Since I couldn't find the spots I was looking to do, I went back to the hotel and grabbed a bite at Bagby Pizza. They have really really thin crust pizza. I was able to eat a whole small pizza on my own, that's how thin the crust was.
I was too tired from the humidity tromping through Baltimore to do anything but watch TV. Keeping it quiet, I grabbed an early dinner at Roy's. The service here was spot on and I enjoyed watching the kitchen dynamics from the counter. Being in Baltimore, I tried the crabcake and didn't find it appealing. Maybe it was a bad day for me to eat since I wasn't feeling well. I did like my aloha roll so it can't be a seafood thing. In my sleepy stupor, I did check out of the the hotel forgetting my change purse. I never did like 7 am flights!
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