Saturday, February 17, 2007

Hey Paris!

I'm in Virginia Beach for my sister's Naval Retirement & staying at a Hilton. Normally Hilton's are good hotels, in a dependable though slightly frumpy sort of way.

This hotel has a an excellent location and it's clean enough and the staff is uniformly pleasant. But all sorts of little things keep going wrong. Nothing major, just little pin pricks of annoyance that scream "management isn't on top of things".

The breakfast buffet (which is not complimentary and on the pricey side) features pasteurized eggs out a carton and sweet breads that are not fresh baked, or even frozen baked. They all taste slightly stale and slightly Sam's Club. The coffee is downright nasty. The fresh fruit is heavy on the melon, which is cheap and given the uniform sizes of each cube is pre-cut and comes from a bag and not a fresh from the market melon.

Rooms aren't cleaned till after 4pm. Bathroom doors lock unexpectedly (and stay locked) and heater doesn't always work. The hot wate is in short supply. The key card keeps de-progaming itself. We've had to troop downstairs so often that we now check at the desk to be sure it's working before getting on the elevator.

Please Paris, stop partying long enough to chat with your Dad and the other powers that be. If you don't folks will stop staying in your family's hotels.
And if that happens there won't be as much
money in your trust fund as there once was and your new best friend Brittany will drop you like a hot potato.

2 comments:

VWB said...

You never cease to amaze me!

Anonymous said...

When in Virginia Beach you should stay at Barclay Cottage Bed and Breakfast. Beds are comfortable, linens crisp, breakfast is included (the 2nd "B") and not some prepackaged buffet but home cooked gourmet, fruit is freshest baked goods are baked by the innkeeper - not Sam. Free: parking; WIFI; fresh beach towels daily; beach chairs; beach umbrellas; boogie boards; bikes; snacks 24/7; hot and cold beverages 24/7; extensive libraries of fiction and non-fiction reading material and DVDs; guest computer with printer and copier; and lots of little touches never found elsewhere. Catering to guests since 1916, this award winning B&B is the romantic alternative to high-rise hotels.

Innkeeper of Barclay Cottage ;)