Pony Player

Watch episodes of "Burn Notice". Take some fashion tips from Sam Axe (the Bruce Campbell character).

Just back from my 10 nighter on the Grandeur and here is a review of the Sleep Inn:

Executive summary:

Would I stay there again, if I was cruising? Absolutely

Would I stay there again, if I drove to Baltimore for an Orioles vs Sox weekend? Probably

Now the details:

Hotel

The hotel itself is nice, it seems to be recently refurbished, there was a lot of new carpeting in evidence. The room was your basic budget chain hotel room, nothing spectacular, but fine for a "one night stand". Breakfast was continental-- juice, fruit, cereal, toast and the like, they did have a DIY waffle machine, tho.

Parking

Parking was in an open lot next to the hotel, it wasn't that big, maybe 30-40 spaces, so I wonder if the hotel limits the number of park & cruisers. Interestingly the lot on the other side of the hotel belongs to the Baltimore PD, so I'm guessing the hotel lot is pretty safe. We had no problem with our car, although I did take basic precautions (took the faceplate off of he stereo, and took down the GPS (and cleaned up the mark on the windshield left by the suction cup attachment).

Location

I can see why some might have some concerns with the location, it isn't very scenic and it is definitely a "City" location, the Baltimore Juvenile Justice center is around the corner, and an I-83 onramp is the other side of the street, but we had no problems. Power Plant Live http://www.powerplantlive.com/ is about a 10 minute walk (and we walked it). That looks like it might be a fun place on a weekend or before/after an Orioles game, but on a cold Monday night there wasn't much happening.

Shuttle

The hotel doesn't have its own shuttle bus, they contract with a local livery service. They have one shuttle per hour, and you sign up for it when you check in. The livery service gives you a number to call when you get off the ship and they will pick you up. We were driven to and from in a full sized van (Ford "E series") with plenty of room for luggage (going over we were a party of 8, and 2 of the bags ended up riding "shotgun", coming back we were a party of 6 and all the bags fit behind the rearmost seat).

Conclusion:

See executive summary

You "DO NOT" need to use a color printer.

Royal says "Print, preferably on a color Printer" -- just sayin'

Free tool to make 4 at a time and even add your name. http://www3.zansstuff.com/luggage-tags

Pretty much what I did for myself.

Does age really matter? Even "old" people like to have fun. :rolleyes:

Agreed!!! "You are as young as you feel" (Alternatively "you are as young as the person you feel up";) )

I took the luggage tag graphic and copied it into a photoshop document, then set it up so that there are 5 tags on one sheet, added my name and then printed it on Photoprint paper. No "lamination" needed, just staple it around a handle.

But being anal, with a forgetful tendancy...I put them on everything that goes on the ship:D I figure if I leave my tote bag behind in the WJ it has a better chance of making it back to me if it has a tag on it...

Me too, only I trim off the part below the "staple here" line, and above the "guest name" line -- that is about the size of a business card, and will fit into any number of luggage tags.

I am looking for something for a night in April... any idea what parking would be?

I can't seem to find that answer...

Call the hotel directly, many Manhattan hotels have a deal with a local parking garage, and will know the details, as the deal changes from time to time, sometimes it isn't on the hotel's website

The Courtyard Copley Square actually came into existence closer to 10 years ago. I worked on Exeter street until 2008 and my company used it for visitors for at least 3 years prior to my leaving. It is nice, but it is a Courtyard, and as opposed to some the other properties listed, it isn't attached to the Copley Place mall, but it is close by.

Really? I thought I saw (but I can't find it now) on the hotel's data sheet that it had been converted in 2011. Maybe it was renovated then, when we stayed there in 2012, all the furnishings seemed pretty new.

If you don't want to play the Hotwire game, I'll make some specific recommendations:

The Courtyard Boston Copley Square, it's a Courtyard, which means it isn't as fancy as some, but the property was converted into a hotel a year or 2 ago, so it is relatively "fresh".

The Lenox, older building, but beautiful and well maintained. Right in the middle of things.

And the "Grande Dame of the Back Bay", the Fairmont Copley Plaza, our "favorite hotel we can't afford to stay at" -- we've stayed there when we were attending a charity event (and got rooms on the cheap), wonderful hotel, but pricey -- although if you can afford 15 Beacon, the Fairmont isn't that much more expensive.

I'm not 138East (I don't even play her on TV), but I do live in Boston.

Medford/Somerville is underserved by the T, it has mostly bus service, which is a PITA, as you will likely have to transfer to/from the rapid lines if you want to go downtown. I'd look elsewhere.

In American English "back to back" means " to do a thing and then do it again, as soon as possible", as in the sentence "the last back to back winners of the Super Bowl are the New England Patriots, who accomplished the feat in 2004-05"

In American English "back to back" means " to do a thing and then do it again, as soon as possible", as in the sentence "the last back to back winners of the Super Bowl are the New England Patriots, who accomplished the feat in 2004-05"

I start a box of "Things I won't need until the trip, but don't want to forget" Passport, cufflink and stud set, lanyard, stuff like that. That way when I think of something, I can drop it in the box at that time.

When are you cruising? I have a reservation there before my 3/3 cruise, and will report back. I chose it because of the P&C package, nearness to the inner harbour, and that it got 4.5* on Trip Adviser

We always stay at ramada downtown hollywood. Rooftop pool walk to restaurants and we are actually here right now. They do have have a shuttle. It is not free but we have never paid over 150 per night. This trip was $112 per night plus tax.

I'll second the recommendation of the Ramada Downtown Hollywood. We stayed there a couple of times when we were going to the races at Gulfstream Park. The hotel is "a little scruffy around the edges", but a great location -- lots of restaurants a short walk away and the neighborhood has really cool, boho vibe.

Great job! Thanks a lot. We're doing that exact same itinerary in March, and that gives something more to look forward to.

Gotcha!

 

Since the ship sails on Pi, Fibonacci would be perfect! 60% of the cabins have Math Majors.

OK, if there is a high geek quotient in your group the challenge should be:

Take a picture of as many different Fibonacci numbers as you can. Bonus points for completeness, extra bonus points for using different "sources", ie using the elevator for 1,2,3,5 &8 doesn't count as much as the elevator,a deck sign, a clock and a lifeboat.

Besides elevators, where would we find numbers?

That's part of the fun, numbers are everywhere: Menus, Cabin numbers, ID numbers for things like lifeboats.

It also depends on the sequence of numbers, you could use multiples of 3 (3,6,9,12,15,18,21 . . .) or powers of 2 (2,4,8,16,32,64,128 . . .), or something really esoteric like Fibonacci numbers (1,1,2,3,5,8,13. . .).

Create a sequence of numbers from photographs taken on the ship, ie take photos of a 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 etc (1-10 would be too easy, you could use the elevator). Bonus points for completeness.

Go to the duty-free liquor store. Buy a bottle of Appleton 21. Send it back to the ship. You'll thank me when you get home. In a word --smooooooth!

What do you mean "too far to drive"? If you don't want to drive or fly, your options are commercial bus (Megabus or Greyhound) or Amtrak, and both of those are going to take a lot longer, and involve a change in NYC.

If you don't want to make the drive in one day, I'd suggest that you get close, and spend the night somewhere in greater Philadelphia, which would leave you an hour or so drive to Baltimore.

Hacksaw?!?! That's ridiculous.

 

You need a plasma cutter.

A plasma cutter is overkill, a Sawzall will work just fine, just remember to bring a heavy duty extension cord.

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

--Sirius Black

I keep getting a message when I try to book Sleep Inn for one night that the minimum number of nights hasn't been met. Has anyone else experienced this?

Nope, I just ran a test booking for tonight, and it was OK. What date are you trying to book? Maybe there is some big event in Baltimore (May 16, Preakness weekend?) around then and the hotel has a 2-night minimum during that time. I see this around Saratoga all the time.

MyVegas has a limit of "1 award per booking", were I in your place I'd just get as much OBC as you can and use that.

Pen on string to hang around neck, very useful when at the racetrack (you don't lose your pen when you go to make a bet). Small notepad very useful at the racetrack (good for working out exotic bets), Pen and notepad on string, less useful.