A Constant Reminder

Last week I went on my first business trip ever: a quick two day trip to a sales conference in Richmond. We stayed at the Richmond Marriott, which I reviewed here. The stay was average to say the least.

What bothered me of this stay was what was written on my key card:

The hotel wrote my rate on my key card envelope. This isn't the first time a hotel has written my rate on the hotel key. However, this is the first time I have questioned why its there.

Why do hotels need to write down the rate? Do I get better service if I pay more? Worse service if I am staying on points? My guess is that neither is true. Then again why the need?

The reason why I bring it up is that my room was small, elevators ran slow and staff was slow. Not Southern slow. Just, I don't care slow. Every time I looked down at this envelope, I questioned if my stay was worth $159 a night. Especially after I learned that the Hilton Garden across the way street was only $119.

Anyone know the reason for the rate on the key card holder?

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Memorial Day Weekend Trip Day 1: Richmond

For this past Memorial Day Weekend, the boys and I took a mini road trip throughout Virginia stopping in Richmond and Charlottesville. I think mini road trips are a great way of escaping your home for a few days and recharging your batteries; all while not breaking the bank. Also, sometimes we are focused so much on traveling to other locations that we never stop to see what our own state has to offer. I am know I am guilty of this and why I choose to stay in Virginia over Memorial Day Weekend.

No road trip for us would be complete without a stop at Sonic. I love their slushes. Anytime there is a Sonic, people know that we need to stop. Here is a Buzzfeed article on why you need to visit Sonic.

After getting my Route 44 Watermelon Strawberry Slush (I mean go big or go home, right?), we drove the last leg to Richmond. As I detailed here, we stayed at the Richmond Marriott. The hotel was overrun by volleyball tweens, but that was not what ruin the stay. Overall, the hotel product is average, but that could be overlooked if the customer service was not below average. All this combined makes me want to stay at the Hilton Garden across the street, next time.

We then decided to grab lunch at The Village Cafe. The Village Cafe is located in the VCU area of Richmond.

The decor of the cafe is eclectic. It seems that they put everything and anything on the walls.

What won me over was the pitcher of ice tea they gave me:

Yes, that was all for me. I love ice tea! The food was college comfort food. I wish we had a place like this by where I went to school. Home cooked food at reasonable prices.

Pizza fries: Yummy in my tummy!

Meatloaf with mash potatoes and gravy. The meatloaf had green peppers in it, which ruin it for me. I hate cooked green pepers. Yuck! The gravy was spot on. Mash Potatoes were like how grandma made them. The hands down winner was the coleslaw. Everyone with me loved it and is still being talked about.

Peach cobbler with ice cream: The peaches were canned and you could taste it. However, the crust was really really good, but it was ruin by way way to much ice cream.

They also make milkshakes in many interesting flavors.

After lunch, we walked all the way down to the Virginia War Memorial.

The Memorial sits on top of a hill and gives you amazing views of the river.

The Memorial is a perfect combination of glass and stone. The names of all those Virginia residents, who sacrificed their lives to protect our country are etched into the glass.

From the War Memorial, we walked by the canal/river to take a boat ride (website here). For $6, the boat takes you on a 45 minute ride and explains the importance of the canal/locks to the birth of our nation. Rides are taken on replicas of the canal boats that traversed the locks in the past. Rides leave every hour, on the hour, but make sure you check the last ride of the day, as it changes monthly.

The ride is a great way to get know Richmond past and present. If you are luck, the turtles will be sitting on the trees.

 After our tour, we walked a few blocks to the State Capitol. The building is beautiful. The State of Virginia spent $100 million to renovate and prepare the Capitol for the Queen of England's visit in 2007.

Across the street is the Federal Court of Appeals, another beautiful building.

For dinner, we drove over to Buz and Ned's for some good old Barbecue.

Eat inside or outside at picnic table. Either way, one needs to order at the counter and pick up the food when ready. No table service. 

There motto is "This is NOT Fast Food, Good food takes time." The wait for food was not super long, but the wait was noticeable. However, the wait was worth it. The brisket was tender and flavorful  I wish they put a little more sauce on it though:

The bourbon apples are a most have. Order a side like I did. The corn on the cob, my friend got, was tasty as well. However, neither of us like the coleslaw. It had a major spicy after-tone to it. The coleslaw at the Village Cafe was much better.

Then we went out and I have no pictures to share, but good times were had.

End of Day One of the Memorial Day 2013 trip!!!

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Hotel Review: Richmond Marriott

For our Memorial Day Weekend Trip, we spent our first night at the Richmond Marriott. This hotel is across the street from the Richmond Convention Center.

When I was booking the room, we had the option to get valet and internet for $10 more. I jumped on that offer because valet parking for 1 night was $26.00. After driving up to the hotel, the valet crew of 8+ were ready to help us with our bags and the car. The valet crew was the best set of employees that we encountered during our quick say.

As soon as you enter the hotel, there was a glass pane of water. The feature was neat and gave the hotel a modern feel.

The hotel lobby has many places to sit:

The check-in desk was to the left of the lobby:

Check-in was quick. Very quick. 3 minutes in and out. The staff person was cold and spoke very fast. I had to stop her a few times and ask questions especially about the prepaying for the valet. She did not seem to care. We had the same women check us out. On my bill was a charge for the valet that should not have been there. She gave no apoligie. Actually she said nothing, only handing me a correct bill. This coldness was a common theme from the staff. One quick note, the hotel was overrun by high school volleyball players. There were kids running around all weekend. The hotel separated us from those staying for the tournament. We were grateful for this action.

The room was on the small side. The beds were tight for two dudes:



When we arrived in the room, the bathroom only had one towel. One towel for four people. Worse, on my reservation, I ask for extra towels. Someone else must have gotten my extra towels. A quick call to housekeeping resulted in towels being delivered within 5 minutes.

The hotel had this old color scheme: red and gold. It was not pleasant to my eye. Actually, it hurt my eyes.

The hotel had a Starbucks and T-Miller's Sports Bar in the lobby. Both of them were packed with tweens.

                                     

On the second floor was the gym and pool. No pictures of the pool because of little kids. However, the tweens running amock caused the hotel put a staff member in the gym to watch over the kids. 

Overall, if you are looking for an average hotel, then stay at the Richmond Arriott.

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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints!

Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com