Headed to Gate A16

Entrance to the Etihad Business/First Lounge

As soon as the sliding doors closed behind us, it didn’t feel like we were at the airport anymore. We immediately found it much fancier than most other airport lounges and, honestly, it already felt like we’d left the States. We found the service from start to finish to be friendly, personable and much better than most. We asked the front desk to check that our “limo” was reserved in Abu Dhabi, and she was able to look it up and confirm it for us– quite reassuring as we’d be landing in Abu Dhabi around 7:15 pm their time after a 13 hour flight, then need transportation to Dubai immediately (a little over one hour’s drive).

The lounge is two levels, but the top level was closed when we arrived at ~6:25 pm. The second level never opened up while we were there – I guess they typically don’t open it? I mean, max premium class pax they might have is 8 first + 28 business = 36 total. So, if they sold less than 36, they might have between 20-30 people total at a time, which the ground level can easily accommodate. Either way, it was still very comfortable with just the one level open. There is a bar area, a dining area with tables and then a typical seating area with the news playing and comfortable arm chairs.

Hanging out in the lounging area of the lounge

As I mentioned, we’d checked into our flight the very second the check-in desk opened, so we weren’t shocked to find that we were the first people in the lounge. Once we were seated, two very friendly attendants came to greet us with a tray full of dried dates and Arabic coffee. Although I haven’t had many dried dates in my life, I found these to be an especially delicious, sweet treat and the snack paired perfectly with the strong coffee. It was a nice touch to welcome us with our first glimpse into Arabic culture.

Dates + Arabic Coffee

Once we’d sampled the dates, we were eager to see the rest of the lounge, so we moved over to the dining tables. Of course, like every other place where we find ourselves with an abundance of free food, we ordered off the a la carte menu at our seats and, then (while waiting on our food), couldn’t help but sample everything from the buffet, too — a bit like it was our last meal on Earth… when, in fact, we knew there was another fancy, multi-course meal waiting on us on the airplane.

Buffet options

Dining area of the lounge

We each ordered a glass of red wine. Their choices included merlot, pinot noir, and a Bordeaux. The server did seem a bit confused about the wine choices, but we think she was brand new on the job, so obviously deserved some slack.

Appetizers

Ready for our first meal of many for the next few hours…

The buffet’s mezze included eggplants, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbuli, olives, a selection of cheeses, etc. Soon after trying all the appetizers, our actual appetizers we’d ordered arrived– part of the a la carte menu, the appetizer tasted like a fried dough ball, so there’s not much that can go wrong there.

Jeffrey ordered the cod as his main dish, which was served over sautéed spinach with a tomato sauce and a side of basmati rice. I ordered the sirloin, which was a bit overcooked but otherwise delicious.

Main course: Cod

Main course: Sirloin

For dessert, we split the cream puff with chocolate syrup, served with lemon sorbet. It was a nice end to the meal because the lemon sorbet was light and refreshing. We ordered cappuccinos (no decaf espresso available).

Dessert

Once we finished our meal, we rolled back to our original seats to finish charging our devices and get ready to board, so we were only in the lounge long enough to enjoy a long dinner despite arriving so early.

Business area

Restroom

Boarding was quietly announced and we proceeded to the lounge’s very own boarding gate:

We’re comin’ for ya, UAE!

BOTTOM LINE: We found the lounge to be nice and well-appointed with a clean, fresh space and hope to visit again one day soon. For us, it was the perfect intro for our upcoming trip to the UAE and made us really excited to arrive in the UAE just a few hours later!

The post Etihad First and Business Class Lounge Washington, DC-IAD first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

First in this series was Charlotte, North Carolina-CLT, then Philadelphia-PHL and now we’ll look at Washington, D.C. It turns out that the Washington-Reagan hub has the fewest international destinations–most of the flights end up being commuter flights to/from the Eastern half of the U.S.

I have compiled this map to help assist in visualizing and then planning just how far a British Airways Avios will take you on US Airways:

Some great values are Washington-DCA to:

• As with all of these Avios redemptions, just about any Zone 1 city in green is probably a great value at just 9k Avios roundtrip.
• Bermuda-BDA or Nassau-NAS can be booked for only 15k miles round trip in economy.
• Southern Florida destinations are another pretty good deal for 15k miles round trip: Ft. Lauderdale-FLL, Miami-MIA and Key West-EYW

When you’re ready to book, follow this guide: How-to: Book US Airways Flights With British Airways Avios. And, don’t forget that you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards Points to British Airways to book flights with Avios.

BOTTOM LINE: The U.S. Air hub in Washington, D.C. has the least interesting routes of all of their other hubs, but there’s plenty of value to be found booking Avios awards in the U.S. Even if you’re not able to take an exotic vacation from DCA as easily, it makes great sense for booking otherwise expensive flights to the eastern half of the US.

The post US Airways Flights: Using British Airways Avios out of Washington, D.C.-DCA first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

I needed to get from Washington-WAS to New York-NYP and had already decided I was taking the train. But, instead of a Northeast Regional train (which has appx 1 departure every hour), I wanted to try America’s one and only “high speed” train.

Value and Booking

The Acela Express train isn’t cheap, especially when considering that it’s not so much of a “high-speed train” than an “Express Train”. The Acela will typically save you about 35 minutes when compared to the slower Northeast Regional train, but tickets can cost as much as 80% more (cheapest rates on the Acela are $152 vs $84 for the Northeast Regional–not sure that’s worth 35 minutes on the surface). Now, to be fair, that’s comparing apples to oranges because the cheapest seat on the Northeast Regional is coach and the cheapest on Acela is Business Class. But, if you’re sold on Business Class, Acela might only be $19 more ($186 vs $205)–a 10% premium for the faster service and enhanced train. First Class on Acela becomes downright expensive at around $268 – $375 for a one-way sample trip booked about 1 week out.

Typical fares: Northeast Regional vs Acela Express

To save money, I purchased a Business Class seat on the Acela and used Amtrak points to upgrade to First Class. I’ll have more details on how this works in a future post, but you’re essentially able to upgrade for 2,000 Amtrak points each way (or you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points)–a fantastic use of points.

About the Acela Train

The Acela has 16 departures a day, every hour on the hour from 5am to 8pm. The scheduled trip of the 16 trains ranges from 2 hr 45 mins and 2 hr 50 mins to go from Washington, D.C. to New York.

The cheaper and (slightly) slower route is the Northeast Regional train. A typical weekday sees appx 20 departures with travel time ranging from 3 hr 14 mins to 3 hr 40 mins. Generally, the trains depart once per hour at 2 mins past the hour, right behind the Acela. Prices for a coach seat booked about 1 week out are $84 – $145, depending on the time of day.

Acela route map

So how is it faster, really? A northbound Acela Express only serves 6 stops between Washington and New York: Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, Metropark, Newark and New York. A typical Northeast Regional train has 9-10 stops. This is essentially how they shave the 24 – 55 minutes that separate the 2 trains.

Boarding

I made it to the station about 1.5 hours before the scheduled departure and had a few minutes to check out the ClubAcela Lounge at Union Station Washington, D.C. (link to review).

Washington D.C.’s Union Station

Washington D.C.’s Union Station

Promptly at 1:40pm, boarding for the 2pm train was announced. One of the (few) perks of the ClubAclea lounge is that there are doors that go directly to the tracks which, in theory, should allow you to beat the other passengers in the general waiting area to the best seats.

It was a decent little trek down the platform to the First Class Car which is at very end, near the locomotive. An attendant is standing at the door to make sure you’re at the right car.

“Speed Limit 3″…let’s hope this isn’t a trend for Amtrak

Most Amtrak trains in the Northeast Corridor offer a “Quiet Car”

First Class Car

Finally made it to the First Class car at the end of the station

The good: The configuration of the First Class car was 2×1. A typical Amtrak train is 2×2 so the Acela had more space in the car per person.

The bad: Half of the seats are facing the other way, so you’ve got a good chance of having to sit opposite the direction of travel. For some that’s preferred though, I suppose.

First Class car on Amtrak’s Acela Express

My initial thought was that the car seemed wider than traditional Amtrak cars. Not sure if that’s actually true…probably just my imagination?

In a first for me to see on an Amtrak train, there were large, airplane style overhead bins, enclosed with plenty of room for bags.

View from my seat, nothing but space on this train

It didn’t take me long to locate the most important feature of my ~3 hrs trip: the 2x power plugs at every seat.

Acela has you covered, power plugs galore

And, if pictures of train bathrooms are your thing, I’ve got you covered:

Within a few minutes of pulling out of the station, an announcement came across the PA that a few services would be offered: for those in Business Class, cafe service or cart service with light snacks coming through aisles and a full at-seat meal service for First Class.

Acela First Class Meal Service

One of the perks of riding in First Class is the at-seat meal service. In this day and age, this is rare for a relatively short trip. Most airline First Class cabins only serve a meal on flights greater than 3.5 hours long. And Amtrak takes their dining on Acela very seriously:

“At-Seat Meal: Exclusive to First Class Passengers. Our rotating at-seat menu service enables Acela Express First Class passengers to enjoy greater dining selections while traveling. A number of the entrees offered on the menu will be prepared using the sous vide method, which seals in taste and maintains the nutritional value of the food. Amtrak has been using this method very successfully since 1995 in the dining cars of its long distance trains.” Amtrak.com

Shortly after takeoff, err… departure, menus were distributed and the car attendant took orders. This was my first taste (pun intended) of the quality of the service that Amtrak offers and I was impressed. All of the spirits are top shelf: Knob Creek, Ketel One, Bombay Sapphire etc… And, any airline/train/airport that offers a quality beer like Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA is pretty much perfect in my book:

I ended up settling on one of the drinks in the cocktails section and discovered a drink that is very old but brand new to me and I love: Rob Roy. For those that are uninitiated, it’s basically a man’s version of a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned (sans the sugar). It is said to be created in 1894 by a bartender at the Waldorf Astoria New York:

• 45ml Scotch whisky
• 25ml Sweet vermouth
• Dash Angostura bitters

The actual food menu sounded quite good too:

Within a few minutes of my order, I had my first course, a drink and the snack: “Tom Douglas Rub with Love Train Snacks.” It was basically a snack mix with sesame crackers, nuts, pretzels and some seasoned crackers, too. A rather small, appetizer-sized portion.

For the main course, I ordered the THAI CHICKEN: “Grilled breast of chicken and edamame beans in a coconut curry sauce with shiitake mushrooms, served over soba noodles.” It was quite good when compared to a traditional restaurant. In fact, it also knocks economy class airplane food out of the water. But, domestic airline First Class vs Amtrak Acela First Class? Again, Amtrak is the clear winner. The food was much better. The chicken was moist and the sauce was amply flavorful with a good coconut curry taste (although no spice).

For dessert, they were serving a SUMMERBERRY PARFAIT: a good layered ice cream with raspberry. I might have downed every bite, so what?

The meal service was expeditious, which is just what you want when you’ve got a rather short trip. We departed Union Station right at  2pm, I ordered and had food by 2:20pm and was totally done by 2:45pm.

After the meal service, I gave myself a quick tour of the rest of the train:

Unlike some Amtrak trains, the Acela has passenger friendly ways to pass between cars

The cafe car/bar car, I caught it at an unusually empty time: this place was packed most of the trip

After a comfortable and relaxing trip, we arrived New York’s Penn Station appx 5 mins late–not bad at all!

BOTTOM LINE: The Acela Express was a fun and worthwhile trip to experience. Is it worth it for frequent travel? Probably not:  you’re not saving that much time. But, I would consider buying a Business Class ticket and then upgrading to First Class for 2k points a great value and worth doing again. The Acela Express at-seat dining was delicious and was genuinely a far superior service than the airlines.

The post Amtrak Acela Express First Class: Washington, D.C.-WAS to New York-NYP first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

…it must be a sign

We made it to Dulles from our connecting flight with about 3 hrs to kill before takeoff. I had a few United Club passes that I wanted to use before they expired, but we wanted to stay in Terminal B. Unfortunately, you’re out of luck when it comes to United Clubs in Terminal B.

Image source: airchive.com

The next best bet is using Priority Pass to gain entry to the “BRITISH AIRWAYS GALLERIES LOUNGE,” located in Terminal B. This would have been perfect if it weren’t for this caveat, listed on the PriorityPass website:

Opening Hours: 07:00 – 14:00 daily. Cardholders will not be admitted to the Lounge outside these hours.

So, again, no club. Guess we’ll have to slum it with common folk. We posted up at one of the restaurants to kill the time:

From: McCown
To: Family/Friends

Hello from our first leg of the trip! We are having dinner/we’re not really sure which meal to get on our new time schedule. We board the plane in about an hour. Here’s the bad news: we booked our seats with a seat in between us hoping to get the whole row to ourselves. We’ve just found out that the plane is completely booked. Looks like I’m facing another 10+ hour plane trip stuck in the middle.

Here’s a pic of us eating dinner.

I think my next few emails will be more entertaining and (hopefully) more visually stimulating.

Turkish Airlines Flight 8 – IAD to IST – Airbus A340-300 -11:25pm to 4:40pm (+1 day)

With takeoff scheduled at 11:25pm, we moseyed back down to the gate around 10:30pm and boarding was already well underway! We had planned to be the first on the plane in an effort to trade around seats, if possible, but this flight was 100% full!

Example of a Turkish Air A340-300. Source: Wikipedia

The economy cabin is configured as “2 – 4 – 2”. Typically, we would just bite the bullet and take a window and an aisle so as to not have to have any additional passengers right next to us, but, when I booked the seats (just a few weeks prior to departure), the plane appeared to be wide open! So, I used the strategy of booking an aisle and middle seat on one of the sections with 4 seats across in the hopes that we could spread out across the empty seats. Well, no dice on this trip. When I checked the seat map on the day of departure, the cabin was showing 100% capacity! Guess that plan backfired on us.

Turkish Airlines A340-300. Economy cabin: 2 – 4 – 2 configuration

Despite being full, boarding was pretty smooth and painless and we made it back to our seats:

The Seat

The seat was fine. Nothing special, but no complaints either. The interior was nice and relatively new looking. Those bright blue seats are pretty unmistakable for Turkish Airways.

I was just pleased to have personal in-flight entertainment with a decent-sized screen:

The TV/Movies selection, however, left a bit to be desired:

Turkish Airlines New Releases section: “The Man With One Red Shoe” starring Tom Hanks…released in 1985. Let’s hope this isn’t a theme, Turkey

The Food

Immediately after reaching 10,000 feet, the flight attendants came through the cabin distributing menus for the meal services: Dinner then Breakfast:

Dinner and breakfast menu

Dinner consisted of:

• Smoked salmon with horseradish sauce
• “Shepherd salad” with white cheese
• Choice of
  • Grilled kofta with sautéed vegetables and rice
  • Grilled chicken breast with fried eggplants in tomato sauce and polenta
• Apricot cake

The meal service started around 12:10am ~ 45 minutes after takeoff and lasted until appx 1am. I went with the kofta option and found it to be pretty good:

Grilled kofta with sautéed vegetables and rice

Kofta is essentially a grilled lamb meatball of sorts. Turkish Air’s variety had a good flavor, was spiced well and all around delicious. The rice was pretty bland but that’s standard practice for plane food:  serve it bland and you can salt and season yourself. We washed it all down with a mini bottle of Ancyra, a nice red wine from Turkey. Overall, this was a pretty quality meal.

By around 1am EST, the meal service was over and we were able to get about 6.5 hours of (restless) sleep in the economy seats. By 7:15am EST / 2:15pm Istanbul time, the breakfast service was starting. On the menu this time:

• Fresh fruit salad
• Cheese tray: white cheese, cheddar cheese, black olive, tomato and cucumber
• Cheese omelette with grilled tomato and panfried potatoes

Breakfast service: Cheese omelette with potatoes

While ok for economy, the breakfast wasn’t nearly as good as dinner–guess it doesn’t help that it had been sitting in the warmer for the past 8+ hours.

Service

The service was fine. Not too rushed but our flight in Thai Airways economy from Phuket-HKT to Hong Kong-HKG was much better. The Thai Airways staff delivered much more detailed, personal service than Turkish Air. That being said, the Turkish Air service was leaps and bounds better than any US airline’s transatlantic service in economy. But, then again, it could have just been the fact that TK still serves free alcohol on international flights.

The amenity kits were distributed the same time as the menus, right after takeoff:

Decent enough amenity kit

Ear plugs and eye mask–my only hope at any sleep….

We landed at the Istanbul Atatürk Airport on time and were soon on our way through customs. A 90-day visa for Americans cost us $20, payable with USD at the airport. Immigration was a huge cluster and the Eastern European/Turkish line forming has begun with lots of push, shoving and cutting in line. But hey, if you can’t beat em’….

BOTTOM LINE: Turkish Airlines has a pretty good long-haul product. The food, seats and service were all above average and definitely worth flying again. I’d pick TK over Delta or United for transatlantic flights any day.

The post Turkish Air Flight TK 8 – Washington-IAD to Istanbul-IST first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

As I’ve said before (The Club at ATL – Atlanta’s Newest (and best?) Lounge and JFK Terminal 4 Lounges/The Oasis Lounge), which lounge I go to is often a function of which one will let me in. However, at BWI, the Airspace Lounge is the only (domestic) lounge, so that adage is a little less relevant. Here are your entry options:

1. Complimentary Access for American Express Platinum Card–up to 2 guests
2. Pay to enter — typically $20

Airspace Lounge has a few unique offerings, uniformed military can save about 30% and they also offer an “Arrivals Pass” for those arriving on red-eye flights. They’ll give you an amenity kit and clothes pressing, but, be warned, the facility doesn’t offer any showers:

Entry for all guests includes:

• $7 credit for anything from the menu (yes, most items require payment)
• Free soft drinks, coffee, small snacks, WiFi, use of business center

Reception desk and business center

One plus of this lounge is that 1 AMEX Platinum card holder can get 3 people in–a $60 value that will yield $21 in vouchers–I’ve even had an employee suggest that I always grab an extra person or 2 from the terminal when traveling solo, because, “Why not? It’s free.”

I would rarely consider this lounge good value if paying out of pocket; in fact, even when free with AMEX, I’ve skipped it a few times just because it’s sometimes easier to kill an hour at the gate and not deal with the hassle going into the lounge.

The area is far from huge, or even big. The seating is quite limited and I could imagine frequent capacity issues. All the more reason to check first and opt to skip if you’re on the a la carte $20 entry plan.

The only free items: real Chex-mix, self serve soft drinks, coffee and tea. Everything else requires payment and ranges from $3 – $6 for food and drinks from $4.50 – $16.50.

I’m 99% sure this is brand new Chex-Mix (and I know my Chex-Mix). Well done, Airspace!

Looking for a light snack, I tried the ANTIPASTO PLATTER ($6): Great kidney beans in rich, wonderful marinade. Salami and another Italian cured meat with a very good blue cheese. And…Dogfish Head 90 Min at an airport lounge? Yes, please!

After the food and beverage, the concept was really starting to grow on me–charge less to enter (just $20) but have nicer, à la carte items that are relatively affordable for an airport. Compare this to a Delta SkyClub that charges $50 and provides free cheap snacks and well spirits but tries to up-sell you $10-15 for top shelf and you can see how an Airspace Lounge model is appealing.

Not too many exciting plane spotting opportunities at BWI

BOTTOM LINE: Pretty good, yet small airport lounge–not necessarily worth the $20 unless you have a long layover. But, for AMEX Platinum cardholders, it’s a no-brainer to go in and grab a free coffee and snack. Prior to sampling the food and drinks, I thought this lounge was a waste of time– but, by the end, I was made into a fan and would definitely return.

The post Airspace Lounge BWI – Baltimore-Washington International Airport first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

1110 Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
American
$$$

Jeffrey and I were in DC recently and happened to stay just around the corner from Lincoln. After doing some quick research on Urban Spoon, we decided on the Lincoln because of its close proximity to our hotel and its good reviews (92%!).

When we walked in, true to its name, there were penny’s inside the floor. Pretty cool touch for a restaurant that takes its name from the President whose face is on the penny. The restaurant had a laid-back atmosphere with plenty of people, but it didn’t seem crowded at all. And, it’s not too nice — it wasn’t quiet and you don’t have to dress up — but it’s not your typical cheap eats. In fact, it’s not cheap. If you’re looking for a good, casual place to eat on a Saturday night, this is your spot.

The signature drinks aren’t bad either, with plenty of choices. Jeff tried the LINCOLN SOUR ($11), not too sweet but far from strong on bourbon. It was rather lemon-y. He’d get it again.

We started with a few small plates, including a cheese plate called THE PANTRY ($12 for 2 choices, $18 for 4 choices). We chose the black and blue cheese, which didn’t have a very strong flavor but was fresh and good. We paired the black and blue with prosciutto and duck breast. The duck breast was surprisingly delicious, even though it didn’t look too much like the duck I’m used to.  Finally, the bread, jelly, mustard and pickles that were included on the side were typical, but who can mess up pickles?

THE PANTRY

As far as food, there’s plenty of tasty American options here, too. We split the SLOW BRAISED SHORT RIBS ($14), which were served in a cool mini pan. The generous hunk of beef was served over potatoes and mushrooms in a semi-bland sauce. The horseradish topping brings it all together and adds plenty of flavor.

SLOW BRAISED SHORT RIBS ($14)

The real star of the evening, however, was the SEASONAL RISOTTO ($12). It’s all you could ever want in a risotto:  creamy and rich. It was complimented perfectly with charred, sweet grapes – a bit strange but delicious – and candied shallots.

SEASONAL RISOTTO ($12)

BOTTOM LINE: If you’re headed to DC and don’t want to spend all your money on Saturday night’s dinner, head to Lincoln. You’ll find a taste of DC without the mega-expensive bill at the end. And, don’t forget to try to risotto!

The post Lincoln Restaurant Review – Washington, D.C. first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

The Deal

The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center is undercharging for One-Bedroom Suites…rates as low as $299/night for a 902 sq ft suite where Traditional Rooms are $329-$399/night.. I’m finding good availability in June, July, September, October, etc 2014–other months seem to be pricing correctly.

Sample of pricing mistake June 18-19 booking

Normal rates are closer to the $500 mark for the suite:

The normal price: Sample booking for Apr 14-17 comes to $479/night for a suite and $299 for the Traditional Room

Sample booking for Oct 8-10, 2014 shows an even bigger savings for booking a bigger room! $100 cheaper for a suite

How to Get It

1. Head to the hotels website: THE WESTIN WASHINGTON, D.C. CITY CENTER
   
2. Start searching dates, you should find  at least a few where the one-bedroom suite prices out at $299/night but the other rooms are higher. I found plenty of dates in June, July, Sept and Oct 2014.
3. Book before this disappears!

Don’t forget: 

• Since this is for the Flexible Rate, you can always book and cancel if your travel plans aren’t firm.

BOTTOM LINE: Pretty good value for DC one-bedroom suites, jump on it soon just in case it’s a mistake that Starwood could fix soon…

The post Blitz Deal: Underpriced 1-Bedroom Suites ($299/night) at Westin City Center D.C. first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

You’ll need to present some credentials to make it past the doors to the luxury that lies beyond. Here are the ways to get into the Lounge:

• Access included with First Class tickets on the “high-speed” Acela train or those traveling in sleeper cars
• Those with Select Plus/Executive status (top level Amtrak Guest Rewards status)
• Members of United Club
• Use a ClubAcela single day pass (you can redeem 5k points to get a 5-pack of passes)

You’ll notice that ClubAcela passes cannot be purchased. If you don’t have any of the credentials listed above, your best bet at getting in is to find a way to redeem points for the 5 pack of passes (ex: transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Amtrak).

Front desk and entrance area

My first impression was that the lounge is very dated feeling. Apart from the 2-3 flat panel TVs that were slapped on the wall, it looks like nothing has changed in this place in the past 2 decades. In fact, I felt as if I were transported the set of a taping of Boy Meets World in the 1990s.

Looking for the sensation of time travel? Amtrak will take you there!

Just like most airline lounges, no outside food or  drinks are allowed in because “light snacks” are provided. Those “light snacks,” you ask? It’ll be your choice of either mini-packs of Goldfish or mini-packs of pretzels.

Amtrak seems to have a Costco membership, too

If you’re looking for the bar with complimentary drinks, you’ll be looking for a while. On par with the awesome food spread is a beverage corner that couldn’t even compete with the worst of office building break rooms. There’s a choice  of serve-yourself fountain drinks, water or coffee. The one plus is that the coffee machine made espresso drinks and wasn’t half bad. So far, that’s one point for Amtrak.

What do you guys have on draft…?

OK, enough ranting about the horrible Amtrak lounge. The good: it’s a quiet place to sit and relax while waiting for your train. The outside terminal really is loud and full of hustle and bustle (moreso than an airport), so it’s nice to be able to retreat to a semi-private area.

But really, how can this compete with the airlines’ lounges? Amtrak makes most of its money in the Northeast corridor and specifically on the Acela routes (Washington-New York-Boston) by catering to high-margin business travelers. The competing form of travel is air travel. While there are a range of pros and cons to each form of travel (train claims to be quicker door-to-door, no pesky TSA to deal with etc…), how can Amtrak think it’s competing if its lounge, which all of its best customers have access to on every trip, is so much worse than a Delta SkyClub or United Club? I would think they could make just a few changes to the overall travel experience and have people choosing train travel over air more and more.

BOTTOM LINE: ClubAcela is kind of depressing and rather pathetic. The food and beverage options are extremely limited. While it’s a decent place to wait for your train in peace and quiet, there’s a reason it’s empty–it’s not a place you’d want to hang out for too long.

The post Amtrak Acela First Class: ClubAcela Lounge at Union Station Washington, D.C. first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

This hotel is in a good, not excellent location. When you enter the lobby, you’ll immediately be struck by the design–a 1982 building that gives you the feeling that you’re in a fishbowl or an indoor shopping mall, which is pretty cool. At check-in, I wasn’t offered an upgrade but was told that I had already booked a preferred room–c’mon make a Platinum feel special here! I chose the breakfast for all 4 nights instead of the 500 Starpoints.

The lobby, restaurant and bar–all multi-tiered

My room was on the 10th floor of the 14 floor building. While they didn’t give me an upgrade, this [highlight color=”grey/color”]Traditional Accessible, non-smoking: King Bed[/highlight] was a slightly preferred corner room–but while the room was bigger, the interior view was much smaller.

Traditional Accessible, non-smoking: King Bed

Large, accessible bathroom

The room had its fair share of wear and tear with a normal-for-the-age amount of scuff marks on the walls. The “window” opens up to the lobby, providing a decent feeling of being trapped in a fish bowl. And, it’s just a strange feeling looking out of your hotel window and not seeing the outdoors.

View from 10th floor room

The property, as I’ve mentioned, is unique to say the least. The bar, restaurants and lobby are all designed to leave you feeling like you’re suspended on a separate lily pad. I found the the bar to be too small for the size of the hotel– it looked very cramped when I walked through.

Hotel restaurant

This is a rather run down, far from impressive property. I didn’t hate it, but I will be going out of my way in the future to try either the Westin Georgetown, W D.C. or the St. Regis.

BOTTOM LINE: Decent property, at best. I’ll be going out of my way to stay at other D.C. area Starwoods or Hyatts in the future.

The post The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center Review first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Booking/Check-in

I booked a 2-night stay in a “Premier Park Deluxe” about 3 days before check-in at a great rate.

As I approached the entrance, 2 bellmen sprinted towards me to help with my luggage and escorted me to the check-in desk. The counter was spread out and quite spacious. They thanked me for my Diamond status, explained that breakfast was included for Diamond members and that it could be taken in the restaurant or ordered in-room. Because I’m still new to Hyatt, I was thinking that the breakfast was in lieu of the amenity, but the next question was what Diamond amenity I wanted. It’s a habit now to just say, “I’ll take the points” (1,000 points in this case), but I’m now regretting not hearing them out on food and beverage options. The agent then confirmed that they had me in a “Premier Park Deluxe King” and reached to imprint the keys– as she did it, I subtly asked if there might be any upgrade opportunities? She checked for a few minutes (I mean, what are they really doing on that computer? making it look like they’re pulling strings?), consulted with her co-worker and, about 3 minutes later, confirmed that they could move me up to a “Park Parlor Suite”….a move up of about 2 tiers (sample pricing based on a 2-night, midweek stay July 30-Aug 1, 2013):

– $469 Park Deluxe King/Twin
– $519 Premier Park Deluxe (618 sq ft) **BOOKED**
– $544 View Premier Park Deluxe
– $569 Park Parlor Suite (626 sq ft) **UPGRADED TO**
– $769 Park Suite
– $1,219 Park Executive Suite
– $2,469 Ambassador Suite
– $6,874 Presidential Suite

The bellman quickly approached with my luggage and gave me the nickel tour of all of the lobby dining options on the way to the elevator.

The Room

The first thing you’ll notice about the rooms and the property is that The Park Hyatt Washington (and other Park Hyatts, for that matter) does an excellent job of having very winding hallways, which prevents you from looking down the hall at a row of room doors. It almost makes you feel as if you’re the only guest.

My first impressions of the room: not necessarily “luxurious” but extremely nice. To some, it might seem a little spartan, to others, tastefully modern and sleek. The Park Parlor Suite was one of the longer, narrower rooms of the property and the windows opened up to another building, so it was a terrible view. You entered into the living room area with a large desk, 2 chairs, TV and a half bathroom. A recessed, nearly hidden door separates the bedroom:  again, a very large space with modern decor–bookshelves, light wood colored furniture.

The bellman, either extremely customer-focused or extremely bored, insisted on giving me the full tour of my room. It lasted at least 5 minutes, all the way down to detailing the location of the complimentary toiletries, shoeshine kit, bottles of water, etc.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was enormous! Equipped with a shower and a tub, both finished with a very rustic, yet elegant tile. According to the website, it is a: “spa-inspired” limestone bathroom with a separate soaking bath and rain shower.

The Gym

While it was a little hard to find (you take the elevator to the 3rd floor, walk all the way down the hall, take the steps down a flight and then walk over), the gym was great. It was clean, bright and, best of all, had windows across the length of it overlooking 24th street. There were more than enough cardio machines and they had a good selection of weights.

Right next to the gym are a pool and sauna– somewhat a shame that it’s all indoors, but a nice feature.

Lobby/Bars/Restaurants/Room-service

The property has 216 guestrooms:

• 28 suites
• 84 Park Deluxe rooms
• 104 Premier Park Deluxe / View Premier Park Deluxe rooms

The Park Hyatt Washington hosts three dining choices on the property:

1. The famed [highlight color=”grey/color”]BLUE DUCK TAVERN[/highlight]–a crowd favorite
2. A bar simply called “LOUNGE”–open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A little more casual than the Blue Duck Tavern
3. And the TEA CELLAR–serving “vintages” tea (never found out what that means, does it imply old tea?). Free coffee is served in the tea cellar in the mornings, but they also have an espresso machine that is open all day.

The Blue Duck Tavern Review

While I didn’t have a chance to try the Blue Duck Tavern for dinner, I really enjoyed their breakfast. I was the first one there at 7:15am, but slowly more people trickled in and the service was super quick. I ordered the SLOWLY POACHED EGG ($15) with charred corn, spinach and wild mushrooms. I liked it a lot although it was barely what I would consider to be a breakfast dish–very light and earthy tasting. The poached egg was very softly poached so really designed to just crack over the dish and mix around.

While the prices were the same as room service, it looked like the restaurant had a few more choices on the menu. Just to be sure what the deal was for Hyatt Diamond members, the server confirmed that you can order anything from the menu free of charge.

I already mentioned that breakfast as a Diamond member can be taken in-room in addition to the Blue Duck Tavern, so how could I not give the room service breakfast a shot at least one morning? I called to confirm that the included breakfast is the AMERICAN BREAKFAST ($32) which includes the “Continental Breakfast” + “A La Carte Eggs & Omelets” + fresh juice + hot beverage–basically anything from the menu.

The night before, I had sent my shoes off for the complimentary shine, requesting an 8am return…so what does The Park Hyatt do? Promptly at 7:59am, there was a knock on the door to deliver my freshly shined shoes, presented neatly in a wicker basket and wrapped in Park Hyatt bags. Then, just a a minute later and without missing a beat…breakfast was knocking on my door right at 8am–just as requested. The attendant wheeled in a cart, removed a  “silver” tray and then set all the dishes upon it. I had the EGG WHITE OMELETTE with goat cheese, ham and mushrooms. It was very fluffy, not noticeably oily or buttery. Since gratuity and tax is automatically included, the total came out to $47.04! The full amount, however, was removed at checkout for being a Diamond member.

Service

Much of staff was foreign, many of the wait staff and front desk agents had European accents. Likely a practical move to better accommodate international guests but also a good move to make the property feel international for sophistication reasons as well.

A previous review that I read was very well stated:  “Service uncannily there when needed and absent when not.” This was spot on of my experience, it started to feel like a mansion where service staff just disappear into the bowels of the building, using their own elevators, hallways and stairs. This feeling is probably attributable to the huge property and the hallways snaking around, leaving very little chance to see another guest on the floor or service staff moving about.

All staff was extremely professional, even the bellman (who might have just earned the title from bell boy just days before) that was still on his first month of the job.

BOTTOM LINE:  Unparalleled service, the serene property and excellent recognition for Hyatt Gold Passport elites makes the Park Hyatt Washington a top choice for D.C.

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