My Travels

This week, I did not stay in Carson but went to the airport area. I checked into the Four Points Los Angeles Airport Hotel. With the holidays, it was a brief stay in the hotel. It's the first time I've stayed more than a night at this hotel. Previously, I am usually here for a night for the park and fly rates. I opted to dine at the hotel restaurant, Brewsters Beererie, because I'm a fan of the bourbon honey smash cocktail. I ordered the braised pork hash for dinner. It wasn't a cheap dinner but the food is surprisingly good for an airport hotel. I also dined at Fogo de Chao for an all you can eat meat extravaganza. I have never been to this Brazilian steakhouse chain and I found it good. Pricey, I stuck with only eating meat and cannot offer any opinion on the desserts.

I'm heading to Albuquerque for a work conference and my colleagues have convinced me to arrive earlier to check out the national parks in the area. I hopped onto my United flight and had to layover in Denver en route to Albuquerque. Once I arrived and met up with my colleagues, grabbed my rental from Dollar and drove off in my VW Passat. I was looking forward to the Passat as I have been thinking of getting one and thought it will be a good test if I really wanted one or not. Headed north to Cortez, Colorado for half a day and arrived at the vacation lodge found on Romantic Vacation Rentals . A very lovely home and not an unreasonable rate for the size. We had bought groceries before getting to the rental so our meals were mostly home made during the weekend. The next day, headed out to Mesa Verde Park to check out how the Indians lived in the area. I had done no research and completely relied on my colleague and the schedule that was planned out. I was pleasantly surprise

Haven't been overseas this year and went on United Airlines to Saigon. Visiting family in the north and south parts of the country. For this trip, started off by staying at the Westin Los Angeles Airport for a park and fly rate. I hit platinum status with a double SPG EQS promotion. I was curious what platinum status will get me with SPG. After checking in, I didn't see anything different than before but the front desk didn't know I was platinum. I'm not sure if that changes anything. Will have to see on the next stay. Appetizer, I dig the fish shaped soy sauce bottle Dinner My breakfast of chicken katsu was more appealing than an omelette I was on the upgrade list for a few months on United and they finally confirmed my upgrade a week before. I sat in a newly minted Boeing 787 in business/first  class on my way to Saigon. It is a fancier plane with the window tinting instead of shades, accessible size toilets with hands free fixtures, and mood

Came out on United Airlines and stopped over in Chicago. What was supposed to be a 50 minute layover became a four hour stop. It so happened that some crazed person decided to take out the FAA tower and allowed me the luxury of boarding my flight and taxi to the runway to then turn around and hang out in the United terminal. I had some time to kill since I was rescheduled to a flight in terminal 2. I have not flown many regional planes from O'Hare and discovered a new side to the airport and United terminals. I'm not sure how recent the airport has undergone renovations but it did seem fairly new. Restaurants and eateries appear to have been modernized or hipsterized depending on your viewpoint. I grabbed a pretzel dog from Auntie Anne's and a salted caramel hot chocolate from Starbucks instead of the fancier places I saw inside the terminal. After landing into Reagan National Airport , I took the subway and checked into the Washington Hilton . It has been many year

I've been slacking this year on travels and decided to head out to Boston for a long weekend. Checked into the Westin Los Angeles Airport the night before for a park and fly package. The lobby area was nice and the bar was packed. I was actually surprised how much activity there was at the Westin. The bar was nice and a Daily Grill restaurant is inside. The pork chop at Daily Grill is excellent and they give you 10% discount if you are a SPG member regardless if you are staying at the hotel. The hotel also offers a decent parking package for airport parking - $30 for three days. Flew on United Airlines to Boston with a brief layover in Denver. Even with the delayed takeoff, the flight arrived on time and I was able to grab some McDonalds in the food court. Although there were plenty of people ordering, I felt the food had been out for a bit and the staff seemed out of sorts. Jumped back on the same plane and landed into Logan International Airport.  Since it was such a l

Drove up to Palo Alto for a football game at Stanford. Stanford Stadium is a fairly new stadium and the facilities are fairly nice. The last time I was at the stadium, I had tickets on the upper level. This time, I tried to get tickets on the lower level to get away from the obnoxious speakers that ring on the outside. I didn't eat too much at the stadium but I did try having a sundae at Marianne's Ice Cream . I found the ice cream very good and will keep my eyes out next time I'm in NorCal. On the way to Four Points San Jose Silicon Valley , I stopped at Falafel Drive In to try the gyros. The eatery was featured in Diners Dives and Drive Ins  for their falafel. I'm usually not a fan of falafel, so I tried the gyro sandwich and banana shake. Both were good but nothing I would go out of my way for. The Four Points has the faux modern Euro look. The hotel met my expectations and I'm not sure why the reviews of the hotel was so bad. It is slightly dated with the ma

Sheraton Gateway King Room Heading to Sin City on this trip for a wedding. I opted to stay at Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles hotel. I was pleasantly surprised how nice the Sheraton, some of the other hotels in the LAX area is a little dated. It looks as if the Sheraton had a recent facelift and the rooms are large and roomy. I had dinner at Paparazzi . I had the Garginelli pasta. I'm usually not a fan of lemony dishes but I really liked this particular dish even with the lemon infused cream sauce. The Italian sausage was excellent. Finished off dinner with a whiskey crème brulee and chocolate soufflé cake. The cake came with a large scoop of pistachio ice cream which I think is the highlight of the dessert. The whisky crème brulee was nice as I don't generally have liquor flavored crème brulee. Westin Las Vegas King Room  The Westin Duck United Airlines upgraded me on my flight to Las Vegas. On the way, I usually do not like the orange cranberry scones they

In the area for a friend's wedding and checked into the Hampton Inn & Suites San Luis Obispo . Appears to be a relatively new hotel for the area, the hotel is easily accessible from the freeway but still a five to ten minute drive to downtown SLO. On the weekends, this area must get really busy. After coming back from the wedding, the front desk staff was busy with people trying to find rooms and I overhead the staff telling someone that normal rates for a one night stay was 30% more than my reservation. Yikes! I already thought what I had booked was outrageous for a Hampton Inn. I spent more in the Hampton Inn on this trip than the Westin in Chicago on a one night comparison! Hampton Inn San Luis Obispo Went to Jack House and Garden for the wedding venue. It isn't a staffed venue so the wedding was more like a house party where everyone helped with the serving and cleaning. The next morning, had breakfast at the Madonna Inn Copper Café . I had stopped by this Ca

For this week, I'm staying at the Hampton Inn LAX Hawthorne . It is conveniently located off the freeway but it isn't necessarily close to LAX. With the shuttle service, it could take about 30 to 45 minutes to get to the hotel. If you have a car, it is a fairly convenient location that isn't AT the airport. A relatively new hotel, the rooms are fairly spacious and the bathrooms are roomy. I am not sure if it was more economical but the bathrooms in this hotel are shower only. No tubs. They also offer snacks (popcorn and cookies) and coffee in the afternoon in addition to the morning breakfast buffet. Since the rooms here come with microwave and fridge, I brought a roast to keep in the fridge and it was dinner for most of the week. After the third day of eating leftovers, I grabbed dinner at Al-Noor . Featured on the Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate for its garlic naan, I found the Indian food comparable to other Indian restaurants. For the price, the quanti

I stayed at the Four Points Sheraton LAX for a night before transitioning to the Sheraton Cerritos. At the Four Points, I ended up having to switch rooms when my initial room had too strong of a  marijuana smell. Leary of the smell attaching itself to my work clothes, I went back and switched my double room for a king room. Surprisingly, the rooms are not the same size. I'm never sure with hotels if the King rooms are smaller than the Doubles but it appears so with the Four Points. The airport shuttle is shared between the Westin and the Four Points. Even though they say that the shuttle runs every 20, it is more like every 30 given the two stopping points. Sheraton Cerritos Double Room The next day, checked into the Sheraton Cerritos Hotel. This is the first hotel that has asked for my government ID because of the rate I used. So there is someone that checks eventually! Either that or the hotel is looking to maximize revenue by routing out the imposters. I was pleasantly s

Went from Chicago straight to Sonoma and flew into San Francisco International Airport  via United Airlines . On this leg, my luggage was delayed by the baggage handlers in SFO. While waiting for the luggage at baggage claim, the carousel stopped and no more luggage came out. After talking to the representatives, the luggage was still in Chicago O'Hare since the luggage was not "scanned." Picked up my Kia Seoul from Thrifty and took off for the hotel. It was a nice change from the Yukon. Since it was really early in the morning or really late in the evening (depending on how you want to see this), checked into the Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco Airport North  for five hours to rest up before driving up to Sonoma. Once settled, started a load of laundry with all of the dirty clothes I had because the luggage that did arrive was the one with dirty clothes. I decided to check online on my luggage on www.united.com/baggagecheck and saw that the luggage was at the airp

Out in Chicago with family in this trip. The logistics involved in moving a large group of people for an event is a little mind blowing. People having different needs and timing can certainly lead to confusion. I flew on United Airlines but I also booked flights on American Airlines directly and indirectly with British Airways via points. Full planes throughout the trip but was able to get upgraded last minute to first on United Airlines to Chicago. Luckily, my companion did as well when someone declined the upgrade and it was given to the next person. Only one of my family members had issues with their flight itinerary which required a complete rebooking. That experience gave me an introduction to the policies of award travel redemption on British Airways and American Airlines. British Airways does not allow redeposit of miles on no show tickets and flights must be booked at least 4 hours in advance when using the travel on a partner airline. I assume partner since I have never

I'm staying in Carson at the Doubletree Carson  on and off for the next few months. This Doubletree is the exact opposite of the San Pedro location. The hotel is situated next to the civic center and not much in the immediate area for walking expeditions. The hotel has upgraded its facilities inside with carpet and furnishings. The hotel bar and restaurant is full service and appears fairly active in the evenings. There is a nice outdoor lounge attached to the restaurant/bar that would make you think you are not in Carson and the pool is fairly large. The breakfast here is also full American buffet with a cook to order omelet station. I was surprised to see the number of Indian clientele this hotel attracts. The restaurant carried a number of Indian specific foods in the morning. I don't know if TVs have changed recently but I am using the flat panel screens in hotels to view my laptop and watch Netflix and such. I am finding that the TVs are able to switch inputs easily and