Four Points San Diego

I took the Super Shuttle from the Airport to the Four Points Hotel. The driver had not heard of the Four Points hotel (not a good sign), but knew the intersection section. (I learned from Heels First Travel, who stayed the night before me, that the hotel was formerly a Holiday Inn).

The hotel is located directly off I-5 South and about a 15 minute downhill walk to the center of San Diego Downtown. One thing I always forgot, if its a 15 minute downhill walk, its a 20 minute uphill walk on the return.

I arrived at Noon. The front desk was easy to find, as it was less than three steps from the front door. The staff was pleasant and acknowledged that I was using points for my stay. The cost was 3,500, which I earned from that Atlanta's bathroom experience. I was given a room on the 4th floor. As you can see the above, the hotel is an octangle - so the rooms are angled weird.

The room was a good size for one person. It had a king bed, a sitting chair, and a dresser with a TV on top.

What the room did not have was outlets. What is it about hotels and the lack of outlets in rooms.

The room came with free internet and a bottle of water:

One of things I did like was the packaging of the Four Points brand. The soap and shampoo had sleek packaging:

Similarly, there was a tasteful level of humor throughout the hotel, like the door hanger:

As stated previously, I wanted to work-out, so I set off for the gym. The hotel directory in the room stated the gym was on P1. I took the elevator to P1 and followed the signs to the gym, which took me across the parking lot. I arrived at a locked gate that was unlocked by my room key. The gate led to some stairs that brought me to the pool:

The gym is off to the left of the pool. The gym has a treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical, free weights, towels and headphones.

I was lucky to have the gym to myself, so I turned on the main TV to college football without having to use headphones. The gym lack ventilation, so I could only imagine what the gym would feel like with multiple people working out at the same time. The other weird thing about the gym are the windows to the right. The windows lead out to the parking garage. People would walk by on their way to their cars watching me sweat like a hog.

After my workout and swim, I learned that there is another gate that leads to the front entrance of the hotel. A lot easier than my walk to the gym.

The lobby of the hotel is small. To the left is an area to sit and one computer guest could use:

To the right is a cafe that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was open close to midnight on that particular Saturday night.

My only complaint was the staff. They seemed indifferent and did not know the city very well. I asked the front desk attendant if she knew where the closest Best Buy may be found and she did not know. Ok, fair! But she did not take the time to look either. Then I asked her and the other attendant where the closest tram stop was. They kindly pulled out a map and highlight the nearest tram stop. The problem was that the particular tram stop has been closed since early August, almost 6 weeks early.

Overall, the hotel was good. But I won't stay here again if I visit San Diego. The location is bad for a person without a car, the staff is indifferent and the hotel is aging.

The Ultimate Upgrade

Earlier this year, I decided 2012 was the year of the “upgrade.” Not just my travel, but my entire life. I was going to upgrade my wardrobe (I still had clothing I purchased freshman year of college circa 2003), my job, my electronics etc. All aspects of life were going to be upgrade.

One part that I was neglecting was my health and body.  I never really paid much attention to what I ate or my lack of regular physical exercise. That needed to change! If I was going to upgrade the physical objects in my life, I should spend equal focus and money upgrading the most important asset, my health.

Around July, I made the decision to work-out at the gym or run outside a minimum of 5 times a week. Yes, a big jump from zero days a week, but I needed to go all-in or I would fall off the horse. Since July, I am averaging about 4.5 days a week and loving every moment of it.

Back to the purpose of this post, this weekend’s trip to San Diego caused me to have a small problem: When was I going to work out? I was going to be gone 3 days, Saturday through Monday. If I skipped working out all three days, I would have had to work out five days straight this week, which my body can’t handle.

Since I just got serious about exercising two months ago, I never paid much attention to if a hotel had a gym before booking. Luckily, the Four Points had a small gym with a stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical and free weights. However, the Holiday Inn Express did not have a gym. What would have happen if neither had a gym?

Yes, I could have run outside, but I was nervous not knowing the neighborhood. In addition, I get lost very easy. Twice on this trip, I had to take a cab to my hotel as I got lost walking back to my hotel. Once I found myself by the city jail at 11pm. Not the best place to be around that time of night.

In the end, I worked out Saturday afternoon, after arriving, and Sunday morning before switching hotels. In both instances, I killed about 90 minutes between stretching, working out and showering afterwards. Luckily, on this trip, I had no agenda, but what if I did. Could I justify spending 90 minutes a day on vacation to work out?

Is there a balance? Can I explore a new destination, eat what I want and exercise all while on vacation? It’s a question I am going to need to think about before planning my trips.

In the future, I am going to have to pay more attention to if a hotel has a gym in choosing my travel. If a gym is not an option, then I am going to have to use Mapmyrun.com to pick a route before my trip begins. If I am going to succeed in upgrading my health, its going to take dedication and persistence especially when away from Washington, DC.

Do you work out when on vacation? What do you do if a hotel does not have a gym/?