El Sh*t-toe is the term I overheard another guess use to describe the Chateau Hotel. It fits. The hotel looks good at first glance when you arrive, but in fact it is not well maintained. The rooms are old, outdated and not maintained. The dresser had one handle missing. The bathrooms were extremely simple. The beds mattresses squeaked loudly. The pillows were worn out. The bedspreads looked as though they had been in the room since the hotel was first built, decades ago. The A/C unit was horribly inadequate, and again looked to be as old as the hotel, yet added on as an after thought years later. The hot tub was a mess and its jets did not work in any useful manner. The carpets are dirty and old. The hallways where not cooled. The vending machines where out of stock for three days straight on the weekend during a busy season. The T.V. was small, appeared to be decades old, and buzzed very loudly every time a bright light was in the background of the T.V. show. The T.V. only had local channels and HBO, with no movie selections. The hotel is farther from Napa’s downtown area than suggested in the hotel’s description. On the plus side, they had a working ice machine. Oh, the staff was courteous, but seemed fully aware of the hotels issues.
Even at my discounted rate, the hotel is way way over priced. However, you couldn’t lower the price far enough to convince me to stay there again. In Napa Valley, I’ve spent much less on a room and received better, newer rooms and more services.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Napa Valley
Man, it was beautiful there this weekend. The weather was hot and clear. The only downside was the hotel. More like a glorified motel. Anyways, it was a lot of fun. Went to V.Sottui, Berenger, Copola, etc. Don't ask me to spell them right. LOL They are all on highway 29. Also, had a great lunch on Saturday at Fumé. Came back with prolly more wine than needed for the year to come. LOL
Monday, September 22, 2003
"Continue on 29"
::Driving on the highway up to Napa Valley from the Bay Area::
Miriam is driving her hot red Mustang, and I'm navigating. After we get past the bridge over the delta waterway on highway 80, our Mapquest instructions tell us to take the highway 37 exit, but we know we need to be on highway 29. She's not trusting my navigating skills (based on experience and the Mapquest map) so decides to hit the earlier 29 exit. She cuts across the whole freeway and just manages to get on the exit by the graces of a fellow traveller who waved us in. Now, 29 goes thru a city called Vallejo. It's been said that Vallejo is the armpit of California. On the plus side, we are on highway 29, so the route is easy to follow. Umm, well, not quite. As anyone who knows 29 in Vallejo, there is one confusing 5-way intersection. She hits that intersection and instinctively goes the wrong way. I forgot about the intersection, so wasn't able to direct her in the correct direction in time. We are forced to make a mid-street u-turn. We get back to that intersection, only to find it does not allow us to turn in the direction we need to go. So, we go straight thru again, and make another u-turn. Finally, we can turn the right way. After all of this, she asks, "Which way now?" I innocently look at my map for reference (though we are not following the route laid out). I reply, "Just continue on 29".
Some time passes, and we finally get thru the city streets. The intersection with highway 37 is ahead. Hmmm, we really shoulda gone that way. Oh well. She asks, "Is this the right way?" Again, I innocently look at my map. We are now following the path on the map again. The directions read, Continue on 29 so, I say, "Continue on 29".
Some more time passes. We are driving down 29. Now she asks again, "Is this the right way?" At this point, it is starting to be a running gag to me. I slyly look at the map, smiling, and just read what it says, "Continue on 29".
No more than 15 minutes later, "Matt, what's the next road we take?" she asks. "Let me look at the map. Oh right, it says 'Continue on 29'!" LOL She finally gets it. So finally, we get to the hotel. It was just off of highway 29.
The next day, we head up 29 to hit up some of the wineries. "Continue on 29" as again uttered several times, but mostly in jest. All of the wineries we were interested in are on highway 29, of course.
Miriam is driving her hot red Mustang, and I'm navigating. After we get past the bridge over the delta waterway on highway 80, our Mapquest instructions tell us to take the highway 37 exit, but we know we need to be on highway 29. She's not trusting my navigating skills (based on experience and the Mapquest map) so decides to hit the earlier 29 exit. She cuts across the whole freeway and just manages to get on the exit by the graces of a fellow traveller who waved us in. Now, 29 goes thru a city called Vallejo. It's been said that Vallejo is the armpit of California. On the plus side, we are on highway 29, so the route is easy to follow. Umm, well, not quite. As anyone who knows 29 in Vallejo, there is one confusing 5-way intersection. She hits that intersection and instinctively goes the wrong way. I forgot about the intersection, so wasn't able to direct her in the correct direction in time. We are forced to make a mid-street u-turn. We get back to that intersection, only to find it does not allow us to turn in the direction we need to go. So, we go straight thru again, and make another u-turn. Finally, we can turn the right way. After all of this, she asks, "Which way now?" I innocently look at my map for reference (though we are not following the route laid out). I reply, "Just continue on 29".
Some time passes, and we finally get thru the city streets. The intersection with highway 37 is ahead. Hmmm, we really shoulda gone that way. Oh well. She asks, "Is this the right way?" Again, I innocently look at my map. We are now following the path on the map again. The directions read, Continue on 29 so, I say, "Continue on 29".
Some more time passes. We are driving down 29. Now she asks again, "Is this the right way?" At this point, it is starting to be a running gag to me. I slyly look at the map, smiling, and just read what it says, "Continue on 29".
No more than 15 minutes later, "Matt, what's the next road we take?" she asks. "Let me look at the map. Oh right, it says 'Continue on 29'!" LOL She finally gets it. So finally, we get to the hotel. It was just off of highway 29.
The next day, we head up 29 to hit up some of the wineries. "Continue on 29" as again uttered several times, but mostly in jest. All of the wineries we were interested in are on highway 29, of course.
New KFC Popcorn Chicken (fwd)
Mmmm The new KFC Popcorn chicken is great. Damn really improved. I was
so surprized I'm entering this blog in from the road. It's like a
little slice of heaven. Mmmm
--- end forwarded text
so surprized I'm entering this blog in from the road. It's like a
little slice of heaven. Mmmm
--- end forwarded text
Friday, September 19, 2003
Napa Valley Getaway II
September 19, 2003 to September 21, 2003
With Miriam Melo, visited Napa Valley and Old Faithful Geyser of California. Original post/backup link.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Napa Getaway
Miriam and I are going for the weekend to Napa Valley to just relax. Take the wine train, sit by the pool, and just all around do nufin...after hitting up a bunch of wineries along highway 29.
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