jagafen
Wine drinker, family CEO/CFO, uber planner
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2007
So, we just got back (at home, 2:30 am Monday morning). Our flight back to PHL was delayed due to storms at MCO, and our plane couldn't land until the cell passed. The gate agent kept the kids (and some adults) busy playing gate games. DS was too cool for gate games, but it was fun to watch. All in all, we had a really good trip. I managed to get sick for about 1/2 a day, and the next day, DS spiked a fever with no other symptoms other than "his belly hurt". It made me glad that I had planned on the VIP tour, and that we were there for an entire week...losing a day and a half of "park time' due to illness didn't really impact us that much.
We arrived Sunday the 18th, Landed at 7:30, waited at least a half hour for our luggage (maybe longer...we were the third flight of three that landed at approximately the same time, and then they switched luggage belts on us.) Tony picked us up, and everyone is right, he's a really friendly guy. In lieu of a grocery stop, we asked if he could stop so we could get coffee...we are not Starbucks people, so he took us to a DD on the way to the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Wawa has made it's way down to FL!! If we had known that, we could have just stopped there for coffee! I don't know if Floridians have fallen in love with Wawa yet, but in PA, it's pretty much a given that that's where you go for your morning coffee. To be honest, I'm not crazy about DD coffee either, but I like their dark roast, so it's all good. We were at HRH by 9am, and of course our room wasn't ready (I wasn't expecting it to be, but was hoping we'd get lucky!). We rearranged our backpacks a bit and dropped them off with the luggage at bell services. We stayed club level, and in general, we enjoyed it. We hit up the lounge for a quick breakfast. Breakfasts and snacks among the club level hotels all seem to be mostly the same, but I think the evening selections weren't at the same level as they were at RPR the last time we went. I think the offerings at RPR are a little nicer in the evening than they were at HRH. The food wasn't bad at HR, it was just more appetizers than anything else: cheese and crackers, tomato and mozz salad with a pesto dressing, chips and salasa, fried mac and cheese balls, chicken skewers, empanadas, wings...definitely more of a finger food selection. We didn't go for the evening offerings every night, but hit it up, usually for a drink and a few nibbles before dinner, so it worked for us. Huge props to Nan, the bartender in the evenings. DS can be a bit "teenagery" at times, and is a picky eater to boot. So if there isn't anything he wants to eat, he wants to bail...which is ok, he's old enough to go back to the room. The first night, he was being especially obstinate, and I think was trying to make us feel bad by sulking in the club lobby, near the bar. Nan struck up a conversation with him (she has family that lives 10 minutes from us), and they were fast friends, and she worked him out of his little stubborn funk.
The room itself was nice (7135), 2 Queens, with an enclosed tub, toilet, and small sink behind the bathroom door, and then a larger 1 sink vanity on the outside of the bathroom. Storage space was VERY LIMITED. We usually travel with an over the door shoe holder, which didn't fit on a door, but fit nicely over the full length mirror. We keep a bunch of odds and ends in there to put a stop to the clutter on counters. We also brought 2 wire shelves from the $$ store to help with vanity storage...between our 3 toiletry cases, and my hair stuff/makeup bag , we needed to be able to "stack" things in order to still be able to get read in the morning. I should have taken a picture of the setup...it made the area workable and accessible. We did leave the $store wire shelves on the top shelf of the closet...in case they're needed (we already have a bunch at home in our linen closet, so didn't need to bring back $2 worth of shelves!). There were only 4 drawers for storing clothes (I like to unpack when I'm on vacation). The guys let me have 2 of the drawers, and kept some of their stuff under the dresser..it was on stilty legs, so it worked out fine. I will say this about the room...at first, I thought it was really far away from the lounge, but the walk wasn't that bad (comparing it to some of the walks we've had at AKL!!) The hallways are relatively short, and we were right by the fire exit, which I found comforting. Quick aside: our neighbor had an apt. fire when DS was 10 months old, and we had to evacuate through pitch black smoke...I've been a little PTSD about fires, and fire exits, ever since. I'm the type that travels with a flashlight, and scopes out/counts out steps to fire escape routes. An extra bonus in our room...there was a nest of crows right outside our window in a palm tree. Daddy did most of the feeding duty for his 2 babes (they were not itty bitty...kid bird sized) while momma kept watch. There were 2 other competing crows (not sure what they were after), but between feeding the babes, and fighting off the competition, momma and poppa had some busy days!
We wandered around Citywalk to re-familiarize ourselves with the layout. I was actually surprised DS didn't want to hit the parks, but it was his idea to walk around and get the lay of the land instead. We got the text that our room was ready about 2:30, so we headed back to unpack before dinner. We quickly got ourselves unpacked (it's great when the man child can follow directions and I don't have to do it for him). We realized we were starving, and wouldn't make it until dinner without something to nosh on besides chips and soda, so DH and I headed to The Kitchen for some appetizers and a drink. DS wasn't hungry, so he stayed in the room. We had the chicken empanadas (edible, but nothing to write home about) and the short rib flat bread...OMG...delicious!! DH actually ordered it a second time on "sick day" it was that good!
Dinner that night was at The Palm (for Father's Day), and we were really looking forward to it. I had the coconut crusted scallops for an app, and they were really tasty. He had oysters, which were gone quickly, so I guess that means they were good. I'm not an oyster eater...no need to share. We had a GREAT bottle of wine (Orin Swift, Pappilion), and the service was up to snuff. Unfortunately, we were not impressed with the steaks. For dinner, I had the filet, and DH got the waygu rib eye. My filet was a little over MR (almost a M), and DH's steak was MW-W instead of MR. His steak was really thin too, which I found surprising, and that only complicates the cooking to temperature issue. We found our steaks to be really salty/overseasoned. The sides we got were really good too (asparagus with garlic in EVOO, and garlic whipped potatoes), but they were really salty as well. If one or the other (meat vs. sides) were not as salty, I think it would have been better. I don't usually cook with a lot of salt, but we do use montreal steak seasoning and chicken salt on our meats, what we were tasting was just SALT. I'm not sure if that may have had something to do with our perception that it was "too" salty or not. Granted, we ate it...mostly because we hardly ever send food back (being ex servers ourselves), and I was watching the table across from us and next to us sending back dishes multiple times (4x, between the 8 people being served at those 2 tables). It wasn't inedible, so we made do. Not a big deal. I was just really looking forward to fully enjoying this meal! For dessert we got the creme brulee, and fresh berries to put on top. I have to admit, I like a really thick sugar crust on my creme brulee, and only one place makes it the way I like it. It was still good, but the bruleed crust was a little thin...it's the little things, I tell you! So all in all, it was not the life changing steakhouse experience I was hoping for (comparing it to Morton's which is still #1 in my book!)
We arrived Sunday the 18th, Landed at 7:30, waited at least a half hour for our luggage (maybe longer...we were the third flight of three that landed at approximately the same time, and then they switched luggage belts on us.) Tony picked us up, and everyone is right, he's a really friendly guy. In lieu of a grocery stop, we asked if he could stop so we could get coffee...we are not Starbucks people, so he took us to a DD on the way to the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Wawa has made it's way down to FL!! If we had known that, we could have just stopped there for coffee! I don't know if Floridians have fallen in love with Wawa yet, but in PA, it's pretty much a given that that's where you go for your morning coffee. To be honest, I'm not crazy about DD coffee either, but I like their dark roast, so it's all good. We were at HRH by 9am, and of course our room wasn't ready (I wasn't expecting it to be, but was hoping we'd get lucky!). We rearranged our backpacks a bit and dropped them off with the luggage at bell services. We stayed club level, and in general, we enjoyed it. We hit up the lounge for a quick breakfast. Breakfasts and snacks among the club level hotels all seem to be mostly the same, but I think the evening selections weren't at the same level as they were at RPR the last time we went. I think the offerings at RPR are a little nicer in the evening than they were at HRH. The food wasn't bad at HR, it was just more appetizers than anything else: cheese and crackers, tomato and mozz salad with a pesto dressing, chips and salasa, fried mac and cheese balls, chicken skewers, empanadas, wings...definitely more of a finger food selection. We didn't go for the evening offerings every night, but hit it up, usually for a drink and a few nibbles before dinner, so it worked for us. Huge props to Nan, the bartender in the evenings. DS can be a bit "teenagery" at times, and is a picky eater to boot. So if there isn't anything he wants to eat, he wants to bail...which is ok, he's old enough to go back to the room. The first night, he was being especially obstinate, and I think was trying to make us feel bad by sulking in the club lobby, near the bar. Nan struck up a conversation with him (she has family that lives 10 minutes from us), and they were fast friends, and she worked him out of his little stubborn funk.
The room itself was nice (7135), 2 Queens, with an enclosed tub, toilet, and small sink behind the bathroom door, and then a larger 1 sink vanity on the outside of the bathroom. Storage space was VERY LIMITED. We usually travel with an over the door shoe holder, which didn't fit on a door, but fit nicely over the full length mirror. We keep a bunch of odds and ends in there to put a stop to the clutter on counters. We also brought 2 wire shelves from the $$ store to help with vanity storage...between our 3 toiletry cases, and my hair stuff/makeup bag , we needed to be able to "stack" things in order to still be able to get read in the morning. I should have taken a picture of the setup...it made the area workable and accessible. We did leave the $store wire shelves on the top shelf of the closet...in case they're needed (we already have a bunch at home in our linen closet, so didn't need to bring back $2 worth of shelves!). There were only 4 drawers for storing clothes (I like to unpack when I'm on vacation). The guys let me have 2 of the drawers, and kept some of their stuff under the dresser..it was on stilty legs, so it worked out fine. I will say this about the room...at first, I thought it was really far away from the lounge, but the walk wasn't that bad (comparing it to some of the walks we've had at AKL!!) The hallways are relatively short, and we were right by the fire exit, which I found comforting. Quick aside: our neighbor had an apt. fire when DS was 10 months old, and we had to evacuate through pitch black smoke...I've been a little PTSD about fires, and fire exits, ever since. I'm the type that travels with a flashlight, and scopes out/counts out steps to fire escape routes. An extra bonus in our room...there was a nest of crows right outside our window in a palm tree. Daddy did most of the feeding duty for his 2 babes (they were not itty bitty...kid bird sized) while momma kept watch. There were 2 other competing crows (not sure what they were after), but between feeding the babes, and fighting off the competition, momma and poppa had some busy days!
We wandered around Citywalk to re-familiarize ourselves with the layout. I was actually surprised DS didn't want to hit the parks, but it was his idea to walk around and get the lay of the land instead. We got the text that our room was ready about 2:30, so we headed back to unpack before dinner. We quickly got ourselves unpacked (it's great when the man child can follow directions and I don't have to do it for him). We realized we were starving, and wouldn't make it until dinner without something to nosh on besides chips and soda, so DH and I headed to The Kitchen for some appetizers and a drink. DS wasn't hungry, so he stayed in the room. We had the chicken empanadas (edible, but nothing to write home about) and the short rib flat bread...OMG...delicious!! DH actually ordered it a second time on "sick day" it was that good!
Dinner that night was at The Palm (for Father's Day), and we were really looking forward to it. I had the coconut crusted scallops for an app, and they were really tasty. He had oysters, which were gone quickly, so I guess that means they were good. I'm not an oyster eater...no need to share. We had a GREAT bottle of wine (Orin Swift, Pappilion), and the service was up to snuff. Unfortunately, we were not impressed with the steaks. For dinner, I had the filet, and DH got the waygu rib eye. My filet was a little over MR (almost a M), and DH's steak was MW-W instead of MR. His steak was really thin too, which I found surprising, and that only complicates the cooking to temperature issue. We found our steaks to be really salty/overseasoned. The sides we got were really good too (asparagus with garlic in EVOO, and garlic whipped potatoes), but they were really salty as well. If one or the other (meat vs. sides) were not as salty, I think it would have been better. I don't usually cook with a lot of salt, but we do use montreal steak seasoning and chicken salt on our meats, what we were tasting was just SALT. I'm not sure if that may have had something to do with our perception that it was "too" salty or not. Granted, we ate it...mostly because we hardly ever send food back (being ex servers ourselves), and I was watching the table across from us and next to us sending back dishes multiple times (4x, between the 8 people being served at those 2 tables). It wasn't inedible, so we made do. Not a big deal. I was just really looking forward to fully enjoying this meal! For dessert we got the creme brulee, and fresh berries to put on top. I have to admit, I like a really thick sugar crust on my creme brulee, and only one place makes it the way I like it. It was still good, but the bruleed crust was a little thin...it's the little things, I tell you! So all in all, it was not the life changing steakhouse experience I was hoping for (comparing it to Morton's which is still #1 in my book!)
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