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My birthday weekend was nice, and this was one time we had to make it nice because the town had changed.
We had planned to use the pool, but my lower GI problems nixed that. Even though we were nearly the only people in the big motel. We had been loyal to this place for a few years, and it was a nice place - and appearances appear so. But it takes more than appearance to keep customers.
I was frustrated with the WiFi, although it appeared to be constantly connected, I couldn't get on the Net when I wanted to.
The day we didn't go to the cinema we stayed in and watched a NCIS marathon; saw lots of shows I'd missed! But it was the ONLY clear channel. We could get only 4 more, full of static or just plain unclear. Next day, same thing, so E called the desk about it and sent a maintenance guy. He had no idea what it was, because there was no problem with any other TV in the hotel. They did offer to put is in another room, but we had just one day left and it would be more work than it was worth. We spent the day exploring the rest of the town.
The free breakfast, same menu every day. Biscuits and Gravy (not on my diet), greasy sausage patties (yuck), and rubbery disks of cooked egg - they call it an omelet - with a tasteless and gooey processed cheese in it (also not on my diet). The standard cereals in dispensers, the cheap-o version that tastes off. Fresh (kinda) bananas and apples; hot cinnamon rolls (sugary carbs!), the juicy was really watered down. Coffee & tea with only paper cups...I HATE tea in paper cups! We dumped it in the trash.
So we go to Denny's. We had to ask for clean flatware...E had a fork with something stuck in the tines. Their menu didn't have the lighter fare we generally order. We made do. Then halfway through his coffee, he found something in his mug. He went and asked for the manager to look at it, and told the guy about the necessity of cleanliness from the kitchen. The manager was shocked to look into the cup, said it should never have come out of the kitchen, and apologized. You'd think he'd take off a percentage of the meal, but no, so we didn't go back.
The next day we tried another restaurant were usually familiar with, but service wasn't so great there, nor the food.
Our usual favorite restaurant there was also a big disappointment. Service wasn't so great. I asked for a saucer for the tea bag, because there was literally no place to put it except on the tablecloth. I was totally ignored. I'd made my cup of tea (semi-weak strength) and dropped the bag into the hot water pitcher....it was really tepid, not hot. We got our meals. E said the spaghetti had plain tomato sauce in it - yuck! I ordered fish, it came without the sauce mentioned in the menu. I ate maybe half. But the carrots were good. The waiter didn't come back til he brought the bill and asked if we wanted dessert.... No way! He had an embarrassingly low tip.
So we drove around the town and discovered they've really built up the other end of the city.
We found another motel with a golf/pub atmosphere in a real dining room! Food was great there, and prices reasonable on the menu. Very promising should we ever decide to return there.
Nearby there was an upscale-looking Italian restaurant, which we had to try out. We love Italian. We agreed that their Minestrone soup was the best we've ever had. (Actually, it was closer to being a clear tomato base broth with veggies, no beans or pasta in it. But, oh, so good!). They had such selections on the menu I was surprised the prices were so reasonable... duck, among other things you see in very ritzy places! Yet it was the main dishes that were disappointing. I got a shrimp/asparagus/linguini plate, and I had to ask for no cheese in my dish. Sound good? It looked good but.. well, I couldn't identify a taste to the yellow broth it was all set into. Didn't expect broth. It did nothing for the dish. The shrimp was big and fat, but there was no flavor. E got the lobster ravioli, said the pink tomato sauce tasted like Campbell's tomato soup, and the ravioli was tasteless and nothing like what we had in another restaurant. Portions were more reasonable (smaller) than many restaurants, but we both left at least half and said we were done. Desserts....everything except the tiramadu cake was dairy based, and we don't care for that type of cake. I can't have cow dairy. So we went to Safeway bought fruits, a small cake, and bottles of lemonade to finish our evening.
That's another thing...the lemonade.... There is none offered in any restaurant or the cinema.
So, although we did enjoy our time together, relaxing, reading, or exploring the town.....
but have to admit, the town let us down. They've become careless, or care-less, for the most part.
I guess we will look for other places for future getaways.
We had planned to use the pool, but my lower GI problems nixed that. Even though we were nearly the only people in the big motel. We had been loyal to this place for a few years, and it was a nice place - and appearances appear so. But it takes more than appearance to keep customers.
I was frustrated with the WiFi, although it appeared to be constantly connected, I couldn't get on the Net when I wanted to.
The day we didn't go to the cinema we stayed in and watched a NCIS marathon; saw lots of shows I'd missed! But it was the ONLY clear channel. We could get only 4 more, full of static or just plain unclear. Next day, same thing, so E called the desk about it and sent a maintenance guy. He had no idea what it was, because there was no problem with any other TV in the hotel. They did offer to put is in another room, but we had just one day left and it would be more work than it was worth. We spent the day exploring the rest of the town.
The free breakfast, same menu every day. Biscuits and Gravy (not on my diet), greasy sausage patties (yuck), and rubbery disks of cooked egg - they call it an omelet - with a tasteless and gooey processed cheese in it (also not on my diet). The standard cereals in dispensers, the cheap-o version that tastes off. Fresh (kinda) bananas and apples; hot cinnamon rolls (sugary carbs!), the juicy was really watered down. Coffee & tea with only paper cups...I HATE tea in paper cups! We dumped it in the trash.
So we go to Denny's. We had to ask for clean flatware...E had a fork with something stuck in the tines. Their menu didn't have the lighter fare we generally order. We made do. Then halfway through his coffee, he found something in his mug. He went and asked for the manager to look at it, and told the guy about the necessity of cleanliness from the kitchen. The manager was shocked to look into the cup, said it should never have come out of the kitchen, and apologized. You'd think he'd take off a percentage of the meal, but no, so we didn't go back.
The next day we tried another restaurant were usually familiar with, but service wasn't so great there, nor the food.
Our usual favorite restaurant there was also a big disappointment. Service wasn't so great. I asked for a saucer for the tea bag, because there was literally no place to put it except on the tablecloth. I was totally ignored. I'd made my cup of tea (semi-weak strength) and dropped the bag into the hot water pitcher....it was really tepid, not hot. We got our meals. E said the spaghetti had plain tomato sauce in it - yuck! I ordered fish, it came without the sauce mentioned in the menu. I ate maybe half. But the carrots were good. The waiter didn't come back til he brought the bill and asked if we wanted dessert.... No way! He had an embarrassingly low tip.
So we drove around the town and discovered they've really built up the other end of the city.
We found another motel with a golf/pub atmosphere in a real dining room! Food was great there, and prices reasonable on the menu. Very promising should we ever decide to return there.
Nearby there was an upscale-looking Italian restaurant, which we had to try out. We love Italian. We agreed that their Minestrone soup was the best we've ever had. (Actually, it was closer to being a clear tomato base broth with veggies, no beans or pasta in it. But, oh, so good!). They had such selections on the menu I was surprised the prices were so reasonable... duck, among other things you see in very ritzy places! Yet it was the main dishes that were disappointing. I got a shrimp/asparagus/linguini plate, and I had to ask for no cheese in my dish. Sound good? It looked good but.. well, I couldn't identify a taste to the yellow broth it was all set into. Didn't expect broth. It did nothing for the dish. The shrimp was big and fat, but there was no flavor. E got the lobster ravioli, said the pink tomato sauce tasted like Campbell's tomato soup, and the ravioli was tasteless and nothing like what we had in another restaurant. Portions were more reasonable (smaller) than many restaurants, but we both left at least half and said we were done. Desserts....everything except the tiramadu cake was dairy based, and we don't care for that type of cake. I can't have cow dairy. So we went to Safeway bought fruits, a small cake, and bottles of lemonade to finish our evening.
That's another thing...the lemonade.... There is none offered in any restaurant or the cinema.
So, although we did enjoy our time together, relaxing, reading, or exploring the town.....
but have to admit, the town let us down. They've become careless, or care-less, for the most part.
I guess we will look for other places for future getaways.
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