Mini-Review: Westin, Portland OR

Note: this also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.



Spent only one night here, and a brief one at that, but enjoyed this place. Has a distinct boutique feel for a Westin, at least in the common areas. Rooms are more standard, but still nice enough. Good spot.

Mini-Review: Westin Times Square (New York)

Note: this also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.

Rooms just as nice as the W without the accompanying circus in the lobby.





Good work space with comfortable chair. Internet access is kind of a rip @ $14.95 on top of a $400 room, though.

Morning room service is friendly and on time.

Also, as some others on Yelp have noted, the ability to open the window at least a little bit is very nice.

Mini-Review: Intercontinental Miami

Note: this also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.

I stayed here for a conference that was being held at the hotel, so it was convenient. If I had to do it all over again I'd look for alternatives.

It has nice common areas, decent but dated rooms and the worst shower curtain/rod configuration possible.

The room decor felt like some odd blend of Golden Girls and Arsenio Hall.





The work space was poor, with a low set chair that would be better suited in the restaurant than under the desk.



And the shower curtain was ridiculous. Whoever conceived the idea of doing a curved, flat shower rod with the short shower curtain hooks is a genius. It took me like 45 seconds to get the thing in place because the friction of moving the curtain was pulling the hooks out of the curtain holes. Just a comedy of errors that is so needlessly stupid it's frustrating.

Room service was good and friendly. On a random note, they have little salt and pepper grinders that you get w/ your meal. Nice little touch.





And, if you're looking for some casual / quick eats in the area, I recommend checking the reviews of JD N on Yelp

Mini-Review: Arun's Thai Restaurant (Chicago)

Note: this also appears with my reviews over on Yelp.

For 2.5 hours (it takes awhile to get through 12 courses) this past Saturday night we felt like judges on Iron Chef.

The food had its highs and lows, which I attribute more to my unorthodox tastes than anything else. Highlights included a beef curry and rice that was exceptional. Every other beef curry I have ever had was canned Chef Boyardee by comparison. Phenomenal. Also, the coconut and ginger concoction served within a leaf (didn't catch what kind) was sublime.

Service was good, but not spectacular. Not sure if our primary server was new or if the place was understaffed for the night, but we had a couple of hiccups and prolonged absences along the way.

Definitely a unique experience, glad we went.

Ride in a Coco Taxi - Havana

I just uploaded the first clip from our trip to Cuba. This is footage from one of our rides in a Coco taxi, which is essentially a moped with a semi-enclosed seating area for passengers that resembles a hollowed out coconut (hence 'Coco taxi'). I highly recommend the Coco taxis as an alternative to the regular taxis. The open-air experience is brilliant.

A couple of caveats about the video:

- It's bouncy. Pretty difficult to keep the camera steady in the back of a Coco taxi.
- It isn't particularly interesting. There is no commentary - the audio is nothing more than revving moped engine and wind.
- It's raw. I haven't edited anything here - just uploaded the straight 4 minute shot.