STAFF HOTEL REVIEWS

By Dave Grossman, Hotel Magician
August 2007

This weekend, we took a drive down to Atlantic City to check out some of the city’s latest offerings. For sure, in the last few years Atlantic City has been on a major upswing, cleaning up  a sizable swath of land between the convention center and the boardwalk (called the Walk, it’s an almost Disney-like set of stores, restaurants and outlet mall outposts). More recently, the boardwalk has been getting the attention, with the opening of the Steel Pier amusement area by the Trump Taj Mahal and the gorgeous Ocean One Mall near Wild West.

So what of the nightlife? The Borgata hotel remains our reigning favorite with its Mixx and MurMur nightclubs, Borgata babes serving drinks in the casino, and its overall upscale vibe.

A recent entrant to the mix is The Pool at Harrah’s Atlantic City. A gorgeous, glass dome pool for hotel guests by day, it is a nightclub at night. Since Harrah’s won’t make it clear what the dress code is, and we don’t want you to arrive inappropriately dressed and get turned away, the deal is this: dress like you are going to Mixx at Borgata (or any trendy nightspot). Bring a bag with a change of clothes if you’ll want to go swimming. For whatever reason, you have to “dress to impress” at the door, but then once inside you can change into swimming attire. It appears there will be a cover charge as well, but it hadn’t been implemented yet on our recent visit.

The Pool area is quite stunning – an oasis really – that would be a lot of fun if you are staying in AC for a couple of days and want a really nice pool to enjoy.  As for the nightclub side of things – it may be too early to call. The staff was, in general, disorganized. Perhaps they still just need to work the kinks out. The waitresses serving drinks were beautiful and the Borgata Babes had nothing on them.

One thing The Pool does to step up the game is offer private cabanas – at $200 a night as of this writing (pictured at left).  With your own private lounge area, a flat screen TV and extra attention from the waitresses, it definitely steps the game up a bit.

Back on the boardwalk, Bally’s Atlantic City has opened their Bikini Beach Bar. We really loved the setup here – right on the beach serving both food and drinks, again with some nice looking staff. No blackjack on the beach, though. You could really spend hours hanging out there on a sunny day and you can literally walk right onto the public beach before or after as it is connected. We also noticed the beach is looking nicer than we ever remember it – perhaps also part of the ongoing clean up of the city.

Without question, if you are visiting Atlantic City at a peak time like a Saturday night in summer, rooms will be expensive. Expect to pay from $350 and up at any casino in town. One way to save a few bucks and still get a nice room is the Sheraton Atlantic City, where we ourselves stayed on this trip.  While the rack rates get as high as anywhere else, they have AAA rates as low as $229 + tax that may be available if you are a member. The downside is there is no casino but it’s at most an $11 cab ride anywhere in town including the Borgata and you can walk from the Sheraton to the boardwalk at Bally’s via the Walk we mentioned earlier. It’s about a mile.

-DG

Other Atlantic City hotels:

Econo Lodge Boardwalk
Boardwalk Area

Tropicana Casino and Resort
Boardwalk Area


Harrah’s Atlantic City
Marina

Showboat Atlantic City
Boardwalk Area

Holiday Inn Boardwalk
Boardwalk Area

Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort
Boardwalk Area

Trump Plaza
Boardwalk Area

Caesar’s Atlantic City
Boardwalk Area

Sheraton Atlantic City Hotel
Convention Center

W Seattle, 1112 4th Avenue 
Seattle, WA 98101

Dave Grossman, Hotel Magician 
July 2007

The W Seattle strikes us as a very typical W. That is to say, if you generally enjoy the W experience, this hotel should be no exception.

It’s not quite as modern-funky as, say, the W Montreal where the bedrooms have windows leading into the bathrooms (which may or may not be your thing). But it has the full “W vibe”.

Room types start at “Wonderful”, then “Spectacular” (which we were told is just a Wonderful room on a higher floor or with a better view), then “Cozy Corner” which is much like a “Wonderful” except with a long entrance area and, of course, corner windows which does give the room a more spacious feel. We did not see the suites.

Amenities are typical of a W: Bliss Spa products in the bathroom, nice flat panel plasma TVs, overpriced Voss water waiting for your consumption on the nightstand. They are modern, chic, and comfortable. Both rooms we tried (a Wonderful and a Cozy Corner, had either a lounger or a couch-like area by the window on which to relax. The beds, in Starwood style, was extrememly comfy.

The Staff: Very typical of a W, we found some to be extrememly helpful while others struck us as quite conescending in that “this is the W and you are lucky to be our guest” kind of way. But again, this is how W’s tend to be so a regular W guest would not be taken by surprise.

The “Living Room”, as they call the main lobby area, was cozy with many chairs and couches as well as free Wifi – a nice touch. At night, it becomes a bar for the ultra-hip.

There is also a crictially acclaimed restuarant in the W Seattle, called Earth and Ocean (http://www.earthocean.net/) – well known for the house-made charcuterie.

The location: The W Seattle hotel is very central within Seattle, on 4th Ave and Seneca St. It’s only a 10-15 minute walk to the Pike Place Market, the main shopping areas, Pioneer Square, or the shopping center that houses the monorail entrance (to get to the Space Needle). There are also approximately 25 Starbucks within walking distance. As an aside, do try the local “Top Pot” doughnuts, sold by area Starbucks stores. They really are that good.

Other recommended Seattle hotels:

Courtyard by Marriott Lake Union
Downtown Seattle

Warwick Seattle Hotel
Downtown Seattle

Sheraton Seattle Hotel
Downtown Seattle

The Paramount Seattle, a Coast Hotel
Downtown Seattle

SpringHill Suites by Marriott Seattle Downtown
Downtown Seattle

Mayflower Park Hotel
Downtown Seattle

Hotel Andra
Downtown Seattle

Hotel Deca
North Seattle

Westin Seattle
Downtown Seattle

The Edgewater
Downtown Seattle

W Seattle
Downtown Seattle

Hotel deals beyond Seattle

A Selection of Things to Do in Seattle:

- The Pike Place Market. Start from Union and 1st Ave and walk from there. There’s a lot of ground to cover! Be sure to watch the guys selling fish and tossing them to each other (and sometimes into the crowd!). It’s just in side what is called the “Economy” area of the market. But you can’t really miss it.

- The Space Needle. Just take the monorail from Pacific Place Mall (600 Pine St.). $2 each wasy as of July 2007. The monorail was built for access to the Space Needle due to its distance from downtown. The 605-foot tall Space Needle was completed in December 1961 and officially opened a mere four months later on the first day of the World’s Fair, April 21, 1962.

- Have a lunch at Armandino’s Salumi (309 3rd Ave S). It’s only open Tue-Fri 11am-4pm and you will probably wait 30-60 minutes online (your best chance of getting a spot at the communal table or few other two seaters is before noon or after 2pm). Get some cured meat sampler plates or perhaps try the Porchette sandwich – slow roasted pork with fennel and carrots, in a sandwich, optionally with their fresh mozzerella or provolone cheese.
They put a garlic spread on the bread first and will top with peppers and onions on request. Really well known spot but possibly off the beat of some standard guidebooks.

- The original Starbucks. Located in the Pike Place market and with no tables or chairs, experience where it all began for the now-global coffee chain.

- More espresso. Duck into any of the espresso bars around town for a cup of real joe. Seattle knows coffee.

- The Underground Seatle tour (www.undergroundtour.com/ ). Leaves from Pioneer Square daily. Learn about the orgins of Seattle. Did you know that in the early 1900′s, the sidewalks were up to 30 feet below the streets? Why? Nobody wanted to pay to put the sidewalks at street level after the city was rebuilt after a fire burned the whole town down. Streets were raised one story to allow for better sewage but the city didn’t want to pay to redo the sidewalks. People had to navigate ladders to cross the street and many were killed either falling off drunk or being crushed by objects falling from the street. Learn more about the Underground Seattle at this fun tour.

-DG