Highway 1 runs by my house in Monterey and becomes the Big Sur coast road just about five miles south once past Carmel. Highway 1 Big Sur driving can be 100 miles of highway bliss or hell, mostly depending on the weather.

California rainy season is generally October through April. 90% of the annual rainfall occurs in these months. You do not want to drive Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast during a Pacific winter storm. When we get one to two inches of rain in Monterey, the Santa Lucia Mountains of Big Sur generally get four to ten inches of rain. The cliff-hanging Highway 1 pavement has a tendency to wash into the sea when heavy downpours mix with the roadside sandstone. There were several weeks in 2011 when the road between Carmel and Big Sur 37 miles south was closed for repairs.

The best thing about the central coast California rainy season is the beautiful weather when it is not raining. Days usually reach a high near 60 degrees. Summer months are about ten degrees warmer along the coast and it is entirely possible to drive the Big Sur coast and not see anything but gray fog when you visit in August.

Highway 1 Big Sur

Ninety miles south of Monterey-Carmel is Hearst Castle. The Hearst Ranch is 82,000 acres of forest and cattle range land in operation since 1865. Hearst Castle is a 165-room estate designed by architect Julia Morgan from 1919 to 1947 for all around wealthy guy and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The estate is now part of Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument. This place tends to be crowded and guided tours at $25 per adult are required to see the estate grounds.

Hearst Castle on the hill seen from Highway 1.

I actually drove up to the visitor center only to learn the next available tour was a two hour wait on a weekday in November. Highway 1 turns inland from the coast about thirty miles south of Hearst Castle at Morro Bay and only skirts the coast briefly one more time at Pismo Beach for the next 80 miles. Vandenberg Air Force Base is a major Pacific region missile base that controls and restricts public access to a huge section of coastline in northern Santa Barbara County.

Google maps - Highway 1 goes mostly inland from Morro Bay to Gaviota State Beach

I continued south to Santa Barbara and my reservation at the Hotel Mar Monte.

Hyatt Mar Monte, Santa Barbara

Hyatt Santa Barbara

Hotel Mar Monte was acquired by Hyatt in 2010 and there was remodeling going on while I was there. I haven’t been back in 2011. Pictures of the guest rooms on the hotel website indicated the room furnishings may have changed, but my photos look quite similar to the photos The Points Guy showed in his post from a stay last month.

The roof was being retiled during my stay in November 2010. The lobby in the Hyatt Santa Barbara website photos looks upgraded.

The Room Dilemma – Should I Stay or Should I Go (and ask for a different room)

This was one of the few times where I went back to the front desk twice to ask for a better room. The first room given to me overlooked the construction waste dumpsite. The room actually had a decent view of the ocean, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the parking lot garbage patch.

The front desk then told me they had a room with a balcony and since I was a diamond member I could take that room upgrade. Great I thought. Turned out though the balcony room did not face the ocean and provided a nice view of the parking lot and Motel 6 across the street.

Hyatt Mar Monte balcony rooms.

Mountain view room and Motel 6 across street from Hotel Mar Monte.

Back to the desk for the third time and I received a room that was to my liking. I generally don’t complain too much about the rooms I am given, but I felt I needed an ocean view room when staying as a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member at an uncrowded hotel across the street from the beach. Although, I still received the only room in the wing without a balcony.

Hyatt Santa Barbara sunrise.

The room itself was a standard room with a comfortable bed and all modern conveniences.

Hyatt Santa Barbara

Hyatt Santa Barbara - TV, microwave and refrigerator in cabinet.

Hyatt Santa Barbara is a historic beachfront hotel built in 1931 in a Spanish Colonial style.

Hyatt Santa Barbara exhibits many Spanish Colonial architectural elements.

Hallway to Bistro 1111 at Hyatt Santa Barbara.

Hyatt Santa Barbara Bistro 1111.

The pool is a nice feature of the hotel. The roadside location can mean a bit of street noise at times.

Hyatt Santa Barbara pool.

Hyatt Santa Barbara is across the street from the beach.

The bad thing about waiting a year to write up a hotel stay is remembering details. I had two gorgeous photos of the pool and lobby, but then remembered that these were actually photos I took at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort which is just north of Hyatt Santa Barbara. I didn’t even realize I had walked over to the Doubletree Resort until I jogged my memory writing this post and realizing the pool and lobby photos were a different hotel.

Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort pool at night.

Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort Santa Barbara lobby.

Hyatt Santa Barbara Fitness Room

Hyatt Santa Barbara Fitness Room.

There actually wasn’t that much to the grounds of the Hyatt Santa Barbara with most of the landscaping gardens located alongside the beach road. The interior area was mostly parking lot when I stayed at the hotel.

Hyatt Santa Barbara ocean view balcony rooms.

Hyatt Santa Barbara garden bench across from beach.

Parking

Brian Kelly mentioned a $20 valet/$15 self-parking fee to park at the hotel in Nov 2011. This is another hotel where I scored free parking on the street next to the hotel during my Nov 2010 stay. I don’t know if the parking regulations have changed since 2010. The rules during my stay were unrestricted parking except for 1-3pm Mondays when street sweeper comes through the road.

Unmetered parking on block with Hyatt Santa Barbara entrance if you are lucky.

Passports with Purpose: There are still two days left to enter the Passports with Purpose raffle for a chance to win 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points with a $10 donation to Passports with Purpose by Friday, December 16. We are trying to raise $80,000 within the Travel Blog community to build libraries in Zambia with the organization Room to Read.

I didn’t see these celebrities in person. Their signatures and artistic inspiration on surfboards are displayed this month in the lobby hallways of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel as part of the surfboards in the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel Fourth Annual Holiday Surfboard Auction through December 31, 2011.  Surfboard auction proceeds benefit Surfers Healing, a charity to  support children with autism through surfing.

NCIS cast signed surfboard for Surfers Healing auction.

In the case of Kelly Slater, who gained his 11th and latest world title last month in San Francisco and is the oldest person at 39 years of age to win the surfing world title, a piece of his broken surfboard recovered from this year’s September 2011 Quiksilver Pro New York competition.

Kelly Slater surfboard tail from Quiksilver Pro New York Sep 2011.

The views are good from this top of the bluffs location of the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel sitting about 150 feet above the Pacific Ocean beach in the oceanside community of Dana Point, Orange County, California.

Raya Restaurant window view at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

There are luxurious aspects of this hotel including the beachfront setting, fitness room and lobby. There are also some over-the-top features like gold painted fire hydrants in the entry drive.

Perhaps enriched water flows from gold fire hydrants.

The beauty of hotels for me is their design in places where you might not otherwise be able to locate yourself in a comfortable style. I have hiked to Monarch Beach with a six-pack of beer and sat in the sand drinking beer and watching the sunset. That is a great way to spend an evening. I even saw dolphins from my vantage point a few feet away from the Pacific Ocean surf.

I don’t have friends in California with beachfront mansions. So some hotels in coastal California are like my own public space beach mansions.  I can come as an individual, or with my wife or family and hang out for much of the day in a nice hotel without staying overnight. Some drinks and a meal in a lovely setting beats heading to Chili’s or a crowded brewery for socializing.

180 Blu Lounge on patio of Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel 180 Blu patio

The fitness room sits below the 180 Blu Lounge patio with large picture windows for workout dreamy views.

Workout with an ocean view.

Ritz-Carlton spa has lovely sights and sounds.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel spa.

The pool area was not being used most of the day even though the temperature was in the low 60s and the water was warm.

Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel main pool.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel main pool and tennis courts in background.

The main pool area is located by the south wing of the hotel. The north wing of the hotel has its own smaller pool.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel smaller pool by north wing of hotel.

The north side of the hotel looks out over Monarch Beach and the golf course. Through the golf course is the public beach access path from St. Regis Monarch Beach to the beach. The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel has a beach access path along the south side of the hotel. Public access to California beaches through private lands since the 1970s requires beachfront hotels to maintain a public access walkway to the beach under the Coastal Access Program.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel north wing view.

Clifftop gazebo seating at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

The views are good from the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel sitting above Monarch Beach and gazing out over the Pacific Ocean beach with views of the islands off the coastline of California.

Edible Paradise

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel has a beach community take on the edible holiday art in the lobby.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel "The Pilgrim Tall Ship in Dana Point"

This is one of three edible art pieces at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. The ship’s sails are made of 100 pounds of white chocolate. The sea is 625 pounds of candy.

The Pilgrim tall ship edible art structure.

35 boxes of cereal, 254 pounds of gingerbread, 350 pounds of icing

This landscape required 1,600 hours of construction led by Executive Pastry Chef Brian Sundeen and Assistant Pastry Chef Daniel Dominguez. Jonathan Limebrook handcrafted the ship structure.

LOVE is one of two Anthony Kiedis surfboards in Surfers Healing auction.

There are beautiful spaces and objects all around to see.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel lobby surfboard display.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel private dining room.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel lobby glass art.

Surfers Healing auction items in Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel hallway.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel standard guest rooms are 400 square feet in size which is smaller than the average size room for a luxury hotel. Typical winter rates for standard rooms are in the $375 to $425 range for the lowest priced rooms with a $25 per day resort fee additional. Ocean view standard rooms run $100 to $150 per night more. $545 to $675 for Club level standard room depending on view type. Executive Suites are 784 square feet which is a good size room and come with views of the gardens or ocean and run from about $675 to $1,000 for a one bedroom coastline view.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, California

Monarch Beach view from Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel is a Marriott Rewards Tier 3 hotel at 50,000 points per night.

The upper right tab “Reviews” takes you to the message:

Write a Review

If you’ve stayed with us in the past 18 months and would like to write a review for this hotel, please sign in below or enter your reservation confirmation number and last name.

I checked more than a dozen hotels in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and London, but I was unable to locate any hotel reviews published since this new feature launched two days ago.

Here is your chance to be the first and make an impression – good, bad or mixed about a Starwood Hotel where you stayed and have something to say.

Message at bottom right "Write the first review".

I gave the “Write a Review” page a try while writing this piece. I kind of like the idea of writing the first hotel review for a Starwood Hotel on the hotel property’s webpage.

You must log into your SPG account to start the review process.

Step 1 – Your Hotel Rating asks you to rate the hotel in several categories:

Starwood asks guest to rate the hotel in these categories.

Step 2 Your Review

Guests are asked not to state room rate paid or give personally identifiable information. Guests are also reminded to keep the review focused on the hotel.

Steps 3 asks the month of your hotel stay and one aspect of the hotel guests should know.

Step 4 – Personal Information

I blacked out my nickname since the Starwood site remembered me from my first review when I made a screenshot of this step. My nickname is not LoyaltyTraveler or LT. The site asks if you traveled for business, leisure, your elite level, location, age and frequency of travel.

You can also check a box for an email notice when your review is posted on the Starwood hotel site.

Step 5 – Submit additional SPG feedback to customer service.

This page asks you to rate your likelihood of recommending SPG to another. Finding brand advocates is all the hotel industry rage in loyalty programs these days.

I submitted my review and received a “Thank You for your review” confirmation.

Followed by the notice that reviews for a specific hotel will not be posted on the site until there are at least five reviews submitted for the hotel.

So get writing SPG members.

I’ll follow up with a date when my review is finally posted. I am curious to see if it gets posted in 2011.

My visit to the InterContinental Chicago in October 2010 impressed me with the hotel staff courteousness, old-style hotel elegance and important looking guests dressed with more accessories than I could buy with last year’s writing revenue.

Nice thing is the InterContinental Chicago was available during my trip at 40,000 points a night as one option or Points & Cash at 30,000 points + $60 or plop down $300+ for a room.

Michael Jordan’s Steak House

The reviews are mixed. The TimeOut Chicago review “An ambitious steakhouse. But not exactly a slam dunk.” by David Tamarkin is a fun entertaining read for a little MJ mystique even for someone like me who rarely eats in restaurants and cares less for restaurant reviews. The Chicago Tribune has kinder dining words.

InterContinental Chicago on the Magnificent Mile

There is an historic building and a modern building in the InterContinental Chicago. The hotel property was a $250 million restoration project over 12 years from 1988 to 2,000. The historic building was originally the Medinah Athletic Club from 1929. The swimming pool is one of the finest hotel pools in the city. There is a detailed history of the hotel on the IC Chicago website. And even more details on Wikipedia.

Historic building of InterContinental Chicago.

The north building of the hotel is modern.

InterContinental Chicago north tower.

Michael Jordan’s Steak House is located on the second floor of the open lobby. The restaurant is new so I don’t have a picture of it from my hotel visit one year ago. The restaurant there at the time was totally packed with noise carrying across the four-story high ceiling lobby.

InterContinental Chicago Main Entrance

There is a lion theme to the historic tower.

Palindrome lion room 1661 - InterContinental Chicago

The room felt comfortable, although the bathroom was a bit small. Most bathrooms have a separate shower.

Sitting room in suite - InterContinental Chicago.

Heavy drapes help damper the noise of North Michigan Avenue.

Bedroom drapes and chairs in bedroom of suite - InterContinental Chicago.

King bed InterContinental Chicago

InterContinental Chicago bathroom.

Sitting room in InterContinental Chicago suite.

The fitness center on the 11th floor provides access to the historic 25-meter indoor swimming pool. This room is the only remaining piece of the Medinah Athletic Club facilities. The highlight of the InterContinental Chicago for me was the extended time I was the only person relaxing in this space one afternoon.

InterContinental Chicago pool.

InterContinental Chicago historic 25-meter swimming pool.

Mood lighting at mid-day.

North wall of pool.

Balcony seating around pool entrance.

Pool room wall mosaic.

South wall of pool room.

The fitness center offers workout space in addition to the pool room.

InterContinental Chicago Fitness Center equipment.

InterContinental Chicago fitness room.

Key Accessed Fitness Center InterContinental Chicago.

The InterContinental Chicago is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

InterContinental Chicago Elevators.

The InterContinental Chicago is convenient for touring Chicago as it is located just north of the river at the beginning of the Magnificent Mile. As you travel north you’ll encounter the Marriott, The Peninsula, Park Hyatt, Westin Michigan Avenue, the Ritz Carlton that is actually a Four Seasons Hotel, the other Four Seasons Chicago and Hilton Drake Hotel.

InterContinental Chicago North Michigan Avenue entrance.

InterContinental Hotels logo.

InterContinental Chicago

There are currently 41 W Hotels open around the world in the Starwood Hotels luxury boutique brand. W Hotels opened in the past year in London, St. Petersburg, Russia; Bali, Taipei and Santiago, Chile. There are several more W Hotels scheduled to open in the next year in Paris, Milan, Singapore and Bangkok.

W Washington D.C. lobby bar

Think lights and darkness, music and playful whimsy, style and attitude. Guests seem to either really love the W concept or find it pretentious. My wife is a lover of W style. I generally have a great time in W Hotels, but the rooms tend to be too small and the price too high for my comfort. Think $250 to $350 as average rates for this luxury boutique brand.

W Silicon Valley, Newark, California

Starwood’s W Silicon Valley is probably the hotel where I have booked more paid nights than any other hotel over the past decade. W Silicon Valley is undoubtedly the lowest priced of any of the W Hotels. By far the lowest priced during weekends and holidays. The published AAA rate for this Memorial Day weekend at the W Silicon Valley was $81. Even lower was my Starwood Best Rate Guarantee matched rate to Hotels.com price for $64 per night + 2,000 bonus Starpoints. And the hotel even upgraded me to a Cool Corner Suite for only the second time in 8 years.

W Silicon Valley in sunset glow

On top of the low price is the standard large room at W Suites Silicon Valley measuring 447 square feet. Most W Hotels will require a significant upgrade to land a room that size. The standard room at Silicon Valley is larger than any upgraded room I received at W San Francisco, W Washington D.C., W Chicago Lakeshore or W Chicago – City Center.

W Silicon Valley - all rooms have a couch.

All standard rooms at W Silicon Valley are basically junior suites with the TV table dividing the sitting room from the bed. The Cool Corner Suite has the same furnishings as lower category rooms, but larger space between the furniture and in the bathroom. Flat screen TVs arrived in the past two years to bring the hotel into the 21st century. The TVs swivel for viewing from couch or bed.

W Silicon Valley - Cool Corner Suite

All the rooms at W Silicon Valley come with a mini-bar refrigerator, microwave and sink.

W Silicon Valley - kitchenette in Cool Corner Suite

The refrigerator is spacious enough to put your own food and drink inside around the mini-bar items and no electronic sensors to inhibit moving the mini-bar items around to make space.

The bathrooms have both shower and tub.

W Silicon Valley shower and tub.

The rooms used to have large and beautiful blue drinking glasses. Now they are small and clear.

W Silicon Valley Bathroom.

Frankly, I am surprised W Silicon Valley hotel has survived as a W Hotel in the small southeastern San Francisco Bay city of Newark, California. There is no big city life in the vicinity of the hotel. There is actually not much of anything around the hotel. W Silicon Valley hotel is located between a business park, housing tracts and the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge on the shore of San Francisco Bay, at the eastern edge of the Dumbarton Bridge. The hotel is 8 miles from Palo Alto, home of Stanford University and 30 miles from San Francisco.

W Silicon Valley Newark wetlands

W Silicon Valley lobby is generally uncrowded unless a special party is happening. The bar, restaurant and lobby are a compact space.

W Silicon Valley lobby.

W Silicon Valley lobby.

There is a small fitness room and an outdoor pool surrounded by sand at W Silicon Valley. There is also an outdoor firepit. The wind tends to blow briskly at this southern end of San Francisco Bay which makes the hot tub a more popular ‘wet’ experience in my observations over the years.

W Silicon Valley WET.

W Silicon Valley spa tub.

W Silicon Valley near poolside seating adjacent to restaurant.

There are probably not too many people who would list the W Silicon Valley as their favorite Starwood Hotel, but for a loyalty traveler, Newark has been a home away from home since 2003 for this frequent guest seeking to maintain SPG Platinum elite and needing a high quality, low priced hotel within driving distance of Monterey. And the W Silicon Valley, Newark really is 90 miles from Monterey (W Silicon Valley website states 50 miles), so don’t take the W Silicon Valley Acura SUV for a 3-hour complimentary drive and expect to reach Cannery Row and back in the allotted time.

W Silicon Valley complimentary Acura SUV for guest drive.

Related Loyalty Traveler posts:

W Silicon Valley Fly-by in HD (July 28, 2009) – This piece touches on the adjacent wildlife refuge and history of sea salt production in San Francisco Bay.

W San Francisco in HD (Sep 4, 2009) – Loads of photos

W Chicago Lakeshore Hotel (Oct. 26, 2010)

W Chicago City Center in Blue Ray (October 27, 2010)

I look up the St. Regis San Francisco on Oyster.com and I find 337 high-quality photos of the hotel, urban surroundings, restaurants, lobby, room types and the kind of visual information lacking from most hotel property websites. I go to the St. Regis San Francisco hotel website and I find only 32 photos.

Oyster.com even has a section called photo-fakeouts to reveal the hotel website image discrepancy from an image taken by an Oyster.com reviewer.

Here is my example of a photo-fakeout from St. Regis San Francisco.

One of the photos is not even a real photo of Yerba Buena Terrace.

St. Regis SF website terrace photo

The Westin San Francisco Market Street Hotel white skyscraper would be towering in the San Francisco background if it were a true photograph from Yerba Buena Terrace.  

Actual Loyalty Traveler photo from Yerba Buena Terrace

St. Regis San Francisco website has three photos of a standard superior guest room. Oyster.com has 86 photos of the superior room.

St. Regis San Francisco website has one photo of an Astor Suite. Oyster.com has 39 photos of an Astor Suite.

St. Regis San Francisco website has one photo of a Metropolitan Suite. Oyster.com has 31 photos of a Metropolitan Suite.

I am baffled that the St. Regis San Francisco does not have more images of the Astor Suite selling at $900 for the night of June 15, 2011 or the $1,200 Metropolitan Suites. Here is my HD review Part One of the St. Regis San Francisco detailing a corner room upgrade from a June 2009 hotel stay. Part Two details the aspects of the St. Regis hotel that I did not like.

Oyster.com rates St. Regis San Francisco as the best luxury property in the city. I loved the beds and bedding.

I realize now I should do another Loyalty Traveler post on the St. Regis San Francisco to show more of my 400 or so images I photographed during three stays at the hotel in 2009 including two nights in a Metropolitan Suite. The hotel rooms and facilities are luxury living and I enjoyed the rooms, particularly the wide marble sills around the room allowing me to peer down and across the city from a large window seat.

Wide window ledge in St. Regis San Francisco Metropolitan Suite

The St. Regis San Francisco hotel Metropolitan Suite hovering over the corner of Mission and Third Street had a lovely urban architectural view.

St Regis San Francisco room view of other major hotels

This is a pretty picture, however, this image is unlikely to be seen on the St. Regis San Francisco hotel’s website since the photo shows three skyscrapers that from left to right are the massive Marriott Marquis hotel, Four Seasons hotel and the Westin San Francisco Market Street Hotel.

Traveler Tip for San Francisco:

Marriott Marquis San Francisco has The View Lounge, a bar-lounge on the 39^th floor offering some of the best 360-degree views in San Francisco. Here are two short YouTube videos I posted in July 2009 showing the views from the View Lounge looking south-east and west to north. This is a nice place to blow $20 or $30. Grand Hyatt San Francisco Grandviews Bar-Restaurant (36^th floor) is another good location for drinks or fine dining with a view.

Oyster.com Suffers from Limited Hotel Coverage

Oyster.com has the limitation of only providing hotel reviews for eight major cities in the U.S. and seven resort destinations in the Caribbean islands and Hawaii. Areas covered include hotels around Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington DC. Beach locales include Aruba, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The company has tackled destinations in a sensible way by building on the largest domestic travel markets. The site does a good job at covering a large number of hotels for each of the different cities listed. Hotels are categorized  to capture the ambience of experiential objectives travelers seek in hotel stays like Best Happy Hour or Most Romantic Hotels. Hotel review subjective ratings on quality and amenities are backed with written and photographic evidence.

Oyster.com sample of New York City website categories for hotel types

My Loyalty Traveler take on Oyster.com is if you want to “see” the hotel before you book, then Oyster.com provides a valuable resource for checking out hotels and different types of hotel rooms. Oyster.com fills the gap hotels leave open in their overall poor job of displaying their own images for the public to see.

I imagine Travel Channel financial backing will improve the Oyster.com hotel reviews photo library with video imagery. I am glad to see Oyster.com shows potential for continued growth in the hotel review sector of the travel marketplace. Whenever I check out a hotel review on Oyster.com I feel the urge to upgrade my camera!

Getting There

Walt Disney World "Where Dreams Come True"

If you have never been to the Orlando Disney complex, the place is vast.

I was on a bus taking guests to Downtown Disney from the Gaylord Palms Hotel where I had been staying about five miles away. The Disney Typhoon Lagoon Water Park is across the street from the Downtown Disney complex. I am not sure how much was happening at the water park since Orlando broke a cold temperature record last weekend hitting a low of 37 degrees in the morning.

Then, we drove for miles more and passed by a couple of other Disney Hotel resorts before stopping at the Disney World parking lot. I couldn’t see any of the park rides from the bus parking lot.  Then, we drove for miles more and I saw the Dolphin Hotel above the swamp brush and the bus let all of us remaining passengers off at Epcot. I had seen the iconic A-frame roof of the Dolphin Hotel from a close distance and the bus had driven farther away from it again as it circled around to Epcot.

The hotel told me it was an easy walk from the Dolphin to Epcot. But I could not see the hotel from the parking lot of Epcot. Well, it turned out I was on the wrong side of the park to get to the Dolphin hotel and to enter Epcot is around $85 after tax for a one day pass. After an hour of driving, I had seen mostly swamp brush, swamp lakes, cars on the road, and golf courses, and I wondered if $25 for a taxi would have been a better exchange for my time.

The buses are free within the resort to hop around between the various Disney parks. I took another bus to the Disney Hollywood Studios Park where I was told I could catch a five minute boat ride to the Starwood Dolphin and Swan Resorts.

Wheeling my luggage to the boat dock at Hollywood Studios, I arrived just as the boat tossed off the mooring ropes and putted away across the lake. I kicked back to catch some sun rays as the temperature was up to the 60s in what had been an unusually cold week so far. My luggage and I were first in line for the 20 minute wait before the next boat departure to the hotel.

I now know there is a path I could have walked between Hollywood Studios and the Swan and Dolphin Hotels. All I could see from the dock was more swampland. I didn’t even consider venturing out on my own.

Actually seagulls and ducks were the pesky critters around the resorts

The boat arrives as scheduled and I am ferried over the waters to the hotel. A child behind me repeatedly states for the whole ride, “Dad! It looks like we’re moving!” Seriously, like twenty times.

Welcome to Disney!

The boat passes by Disney Boardwalk villas and the Swan Hotel first. The boat dock is midway between the Swan and Dolphin Hotels. The ferry continues on from there to Epcot.

The façades of the Dolphin and Swan have a Disney type whimsical quality. The grand fountain of the Dolphin and the nearly 30-story high A-frame center building design are eye enchanting.

Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel

Just inside the ground floor revolving doors are restaurants. One is evening fine dining at Todd English’s BlueZoo restaurant featuring seafood. All-day dining is available at the Fountain with a burgers and ice cream type-menu.

Fresh Mediterranean Market down the hall past the Fountain has a breakfast buffet and a lunch menu, but closes for the day in the afternoon. The breakfast buffet at Fresh was about $22 after tax and tip. A decent value considering you can spend half that price for a mediocre and unsatisfying meal along the Boardwalk or at the hotel lobby bar which serves up fruit and bagels in the morning. Fresh restaurant offered some unique natural vitamin food drinks among all the usual stuff of pastries, eggs, bacon, sausage, and omelettes. I wish I’d written down the drink names. Sawgrass juice sticks in my mind. Colorful, tasty, blended with fruit juices to a palatable taste.

Up the escalator from the ground floor is the lobby. The lobby is open with a central fountain and lots of seating.

Both the Dolphin and Swan Hotels have convention halls attached to the hotels. A convention came into the Dolphin on my last night, but aside from the pools closing early for a private party there were no noticeable crowds. The Swan on the other hand was packed at one point when I walked through the hotel making it difficult to move through all the convention guests in the hallways.

At check-in the receptionist did an excellent job explaining the $10 hotel resort fee benefits (internet and two bottles of water daily), telling me I had an upgrade (always wonderful to hear), and sharing information about the resort and how I could use facilities and dining at the Swan if I desired and credit it to my Dolphin room. She did a really thorough job of greeting me as a guest. I rate this as a high quality aspect of the Dolphin resort for my experience. The front desk staff seemed on the ball every time I spoke with someone.

Ground Floor Entrance to Dolphin Hotel

There are three sets of elevators for the hotel. East, West, and Central. I was in the central tower which is the A-frame portion of the hotel. There are 20 guest floors in Central. The other wings are 9 to 11 floors I think.  My room was on floor 17 and I had that little heart patter as I realized my room was at the end of the hall. That is often a good sign.

Walt Disney World Swan Hotel at sunset

Premier Studio room at Dolphin Hotel

I opened the door to see a couch and two chairs. That is a really good sign. Basically the room was a sizeable junior suite. The floor map showed the 17th floor has two junior suites on the ends with the preferred view looking across to the Swan Hotel and over Crescent Lake to the Disney Vacation Resort area of the Boardwalk. The website lists these Dolphin Hotel room types as Premium Studios.

Looking down from room to the Dolphin hotel fountains

The end rooms on the other side of the hall are full suites. These rooms look over a vast area of swamp brush and DisneyWorld to the west in the distance.

View from other side of Dolphin hotel looking over Convention Center wing

A decent serene view, but not the side of the hotel to see the nearby Epcot fireworks show at 9pm and people watch around the lake walkways.

Fireworks at Epcot (the fireworks were more impressive than my photo)

The eastern side of the east wing has rooms with balconies with great views of Crescent Lake and the Disney Resort hotels and Epcot for the fireworks show at night. The central section of the Dolphin does not have balconies, except I think the 20^th top guest room floor has balconies with Presidential Suites.

My Premium Studio room had three sinks and a massive walk-in closet. A nice remodel feature would be a closet half the size and a bathroom double the current size.

Swan Hotel view at night from my room

The room was furnished quite comfortably, only the lack of decent air conditioning was uncomfortable. I attributed it to the window sunlight heating up the room, but it turned out to be a weak AC. I didn’t report it until check-out because I was too busy to be distracted by an engineer in the room.

Large TV but oddly low placement made the couch a viewing impediment from bed

The fantastic thing about the Dolphin and Swan is the resort feel of being in Disney, but with far fewer kids. I don’t think I ever passed by the wonderful looking buffet at Cape May in the Disney Beach Club without hearing a child having a crying fit. And I passed by that buffet several times over three days.

The Disney Boardwalk

My adrenaline gets going when I am in a new place and I desired a walk around the resort area. Across the bridge connecting the hotels to the Disney Boardwalk I soon came to Big River brewpub. This brewpub was slightly lower priced than the hotel ($10 brewpub burger vs. $12 hotel burger) and offered a variety of microbrew beer. The brewpub and the ESPN Zone were the most happening places daily in the afternoon on the Boardwalk.

The walkway along the Boardwalk has outside entertainers, nighttime dance clubs open at 7pm or 9pm until 2am (21 and older only), an Italian restaurant with outside pizza slices, a bakery, loads of candy options, games, and the ESPN Zone. Inside the Boardwalk Resort are additional bar lounge and dining options.

Disney Boardwalk

The walk around Crescent Lake from the Dolphin or Swan and back again can be done in 20 minutes without stopping or take an hour or more just walking and stopping to see people and admire the views. There are not really too many shops.

Walking to the entrance of Epcot from the Dolphin or Swan hotel takes about ten minutes.

Disney Yacht Club and Beach Club

The Disney Yacht Club and Disney Beach Club share large pool facilities. There seemed to be no identifiers for hotel guests so pretty much anyone with a bathing suit could wonder in and use the pools. I am not saying the Clampett’s drive in to use the pool for the day mainly due to the relative isolation of the place, but there appeared to be no impediment to a Starwood Hotel guest walking over and using the Disney Resort pools and vice versa. Whether it actually is allowed or not I do not know.

Disney Yacht Club pools

The entire walking path area between the five resorts makes it seem like the two Starwood Hotels are part of the Disney complex with access to much of what the Disney guests have and from what I could tell when checking hotel rates, a much lower price for the Dolphin or Swan.

Disney Beach Club viewed from the Boardwalk

The Disney Resort lakefront pools were expansive and great for kids, but the pools at the Dolphin were also substantial in size and much less crowded.

Dolphin Hotel Pools

Being on the white sand outside the Dolphin felt like a resort getaway. Kicking back in a hammock and having the Cabana bar and restaurant staff attend to your drink and food needs is certainly a lounge- away-the-day option at the hotel. I put in a good three hours during my stay at the Cabana poolside seating to drink some Stella and eat outside. The temperature was in the high 60s and low 70s most of the day.

Resort lounging at the Dolphin beach

The resident ducks at the Cabana Bar made me chuckle. This trio of ducks came around each day and they seem to live a life of luxury walking around between tables eating what is on the ground or what hotel guests feed them and then doing laps in the lap pool. Perhaps bar scraps are not a truly healthy diet, but what a place to exist. Donald Duck would be proud.

Resident ducks swimming in Dolphin Hotel lap pool

Dolphin and Swan Resort Facilities

The hotel has the lobby level Mandara Spa and a ground floor fitness center with an attendant.

Mandara Spa at WDW Dolphin Hotel

There are large video game rooms at both the Dolphin and the Swan. At least during my stay there seemed to be more children resident at the Swan.

Walt Disney World Swan Hotel

All in all, these hotels feel and look like resorts. This is the kind of place you can hang out for days and feel like you have drifted away into a Disney dream. And truly you have. Disney is all around you when you stay at the Walt Disney World Dolphin or Swan Starwood Hotels.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse line dancing at Disney Beach Club

The Walt Disney World Dolphin and Swan are both SPG category 4 hotel awards at 10,000 points per night. The hotel gives guests a credit of 500 points per night if maid service is refused, excluding the last night of your stay. I paid for my stay with SPG points. Getting 1,000 points back made the Premium Studio upgrade room a high value SPG award for my stay.

A guest leaves a hotel only with memories and impressions.

My memories of the Dolphin stay are fond memories and my impressions were good. I highly recommend these Starwood Hotels for the guest seeking the total Disney experience while staying in a Starwood upper-upscale environment just a little bit removed from the Disney entourage.

Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel Resort

I commented to a hotelier once that when I write about hotels I want bias in my review. There is the AAA Tour Guide for a sterile, just the facts hotel description. A reader benefits from finding a reviewer with similar travel style and interests. Most Oyster Hotel Reviews have personality.

The interesting aspect of the Oyster Hotel Reviews is the different take I have on many of the hotels and neighborhoods described by the reviewers in San Francisco. I think travel reviewers are like music DJs.

My experience may not have been the typical experience for a hotel guest, but it was my experience. I try to reflect my stays accurately, good and bad, when I choose to review a hotel. I try to separate what may be one time circumstantial inadequacies from what appear to be systemic issues with the hotel experience. As always, hotel loyalty elite membership usually makes a significant impact on the hotel stay experience.

A common statement I see repeatedly in the Oyster hotel reviews for San Francisco are locals don’t hang out in the SOMA arts district, Union Square shopping and theatre district, or the Financial District. That doesn’t help me as a hotel guest with the hotel location. You don’t tell me where locals hang out. Besides, do I really want to be where the locals hang out? I’m a tourist.

Together with Fisherman’s Wharf, another area where locals don’t hang out much, these four areas contain 90% of the hotel rooms in San Francisco. There are 10,000 to 20,000+ tourists in these neighborhoods on any given day and plenty of businesses to cater to them. Restaurants, bars, and cafes are all around the downtown area. The central Financial District around the Mandarin Oriental and Le Meridien is a location a little more closed up at night and weekends, but there are great pubs and restaurants scattered throughout even the financial district.

The entire central business district of San Francisco is the hotel area for 95% of the city’s rooms. Of the city’s 750,000 locals, 95% live in other parts of San Francisco. San Francisco seems like a small city until you try moving from one end to the other in a bus or taxi.

Oyster Hotel Review – Starwood Hotels Luxury Collection – The Palace 

In the service section the reviewer states there was no doorman at arrival to help with bags and follows with the statement, “That wouldn’t happen at the St. Regis.”  Well, that did happen to me at the St. Regis last June when I was ignored by the doormen. Car valets were standing within 15 feet of me and didn’t bother to assist me at a time when no other guests were arriving.

One issue I have noticed with the Oyster reviews is the tendency to label hotel rooms as suites when there is not a separate sitting area room.

My helpful suggestion to make the photo sets more user-friendly is please use the same labels as the hotel’s own website uses for room types so a reader can match the Oyster photos to the correct room rate when searching hotel rates.

I find it interesting that the bed at the Palace Hotel was described as “sumptuous”.  Perhaps I like an abnormally firm bed since in my opinion I found the soft, bouncy bed the most serious flaw of the property after staying in three different rooms at the Palace Hotel this year.  The reviewer may have never had a back injury to know the value of a firm mattress.

Loyalty Traveler Palace Hotel review April 20, 2009 

History of the San Francisco Palace Hotel and California Earthquakes – Loyalty Traveler April 23, 2009

Maxfield Parrish painting in The Pied Piper bar at the Palace Hotel

St. Regis San Francisco

Oyster Hotel reviews rates the St. Regis San Francisco as the best luxury hotel in the city. I won’t argue with that since I haven’t stayed in all the other luxury hotels. The St. Regis beds are the best I have slept on in 2009. The Oyster reviewer states a large staff prevented front desk pile-ups and the hotel has some of the best service in town.

A hotel may have only one opportunity to make a great impression. My three stays at the St. Regis San Francisco this year had me convinced the hotel had cut back too much on service. I didn’t feel the front desk was adequately staffed on several occasions. I saw inconsistencies in service between stays. The butler service is a standout feature of the hotel and that aspect of the service worked fine during all my stays.

Loyalty traveler St. Regis San Francisco hotel review part 1 – June 15, 2009

Loyalty traveler St. Regis San Francisco hotel review part 2 – June 16, 2009

Loyalty Traveler Best Bed Award goes to St. Regis San Francisco

Westin St. Francis

The Oyster.com reviewer suggests to readers to pick the Palace Hotel over the St. Francis. The rooms in the historic building are described as “small – 200 square feet or so.”

Sure, there are small rooms in the historic tower. I saw a woman once working her way around the bed in a tiny interior room and I wondered if she regretted booking the St. Francis. I have not stayed in one of those 200 square feet rooms.

I absolutely love the historic building rooms facing Union Square with windows that open and the sound of cable cars clanging below on Powell Street and musicians playing in the Square. My wife and I find the historic building of St. Francis to be some of the most romantic hotel rooms in the city. 

I am a Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum member. I book those 200 square feet room rates all the time when staying at the St. Francis. SPG elite-level membership means I have never actually had to stay in one of those small rooms. The Tower rooms are good for views, but lack the ambience of the historic section.

Loyalty Traveler Westin St. Francis Hotel review – June 7, 2009

Union Square late night view from historic St. Francis Hotel

Hyatt San Francisco

“Spitting distance from the Embarcadero and Union Square.”

The Embarcadero? True. The hotel is actually called the Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero on building nameplates.

Spitting distance from Union Square? False

I recall being rather late for a meeting after a 15 minute walk to meet my sister last year.  I left the Hyatt Regency Club to meet her at the Starlight Room at the top of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel at Union Square. Even Tiger Woods would require a few long club drives to get his ball the 0.75 mile distance from the Hyatt Embarcadero to Union Square.

There is little mention of the top floor Regency lounge in the Oyster review. As a Hyatt Diamond elite-level member of Gold Passport I get complimentary access to the Regency lounge. This is a great lounge for relaxing, viewing the waterfront, eating snacks and breakfast, using computers, or relaxing in a full body massage chair. The lounge makes this hotel my favorite in San Francisco when the rates are low.

The reviewer also lists this hotel as a dull part of town at night. I love the food places at the Ferry building and there is a bit of life here after dark. Take a night ferry on San Francisco Bay. The hotel is physically connected to the Embarcadero Complex offering a few blocks of shopping, a variety of restaurants, a movie theater, and overground pedestrian bridges linking the complex from the Hyatt hotel  to Le Meridien Hotel (formerly Park Hyatt) on the opposite end of the complex. There isn’t going to be a 4am rave happening in the Embarcadero Complex, but if you want to eat and drink, go to a comedy club (The Punchline), or see a movie, you can find it all in this neighborhood.

Loyalty Traveler Hyatt Regency photos and website useability issue – August 25, 2009

Loyalty Traveler Hyatt Regency San Francisco review – August 5, 2008

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Bay view

Bottom line on hotel reviews: There are all types of travelers and all types of reviewers. One person’s experience and expectations may not mirror another’s.

I am glad to see Starwood Hotels St. Regis (Best Luxury Hotel), Westin St. Francis (Best Hotel Restaurant) and Le Meridien (Best Business Hotel) rate highly with Oyster Hotel Reviews for their best in class picks.

Oyster Hotel Reviews San Francisco Best Hotels link.

View of Union Square from 10th floor St. Francis historic building junior suite

Daniel Edward Craig, 007 hotelier in Vancouver and mystery writer, examines the personality types inhabiting online hotel review domains like TripAdvisor.com. He provides an entertaining profile with his blog post of nine personality types to look for when reading online hotel reviews.

Craig’s advice when reading amateur reviewers is to watch out for the cracks. They come in many guises like:

1. The Self-appointed Expert

2. The Patron Saint of Hotels

3. The Up-trader

4. The Down-trader

5. The Uncle Bob

6. The Extortionist

7. The Shill

8. The Forensic Examiner

9. The Corporate Saboteur

And remember our documentary-critical reviews of the hotel establishments we lay our heads are the same places other people call the office.

"Clean up request for Floor 16 please!"

In August, I was speaking with Barbara DeLollis of USA Today and discussing with her the current hotel loyalty program climate of 2009 as the best year in the past decade for hotel loyalty program promotions.

I’ve had the equivalent of $3,000+ in free hotel nights over the past six weeks with Starwood Preferred Guest staying at the St. Regis San Francisco, St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, W San Francisco, and Westin Napa Verasa. The hotel stays in May during Starwood’s Stay 2 times and earn a free weekend night only cost me $1,800 for the 16 hotel stays to earn 8 free nights.

And now Starwood is offering double elite credit for the remainder of 2009 for current SPG elite members. My SPG Platinum elite status provided added value, including full two-room suites at several hotels.

In August, I stayed in some low cost Holiday Inn hotels while traveling.  Priority Club’s Stay 2 nights and earn a free night allowed me to redeem a free hotel stay at the $300 per night InterContinental San Francisco. Too bad their promotion was limited to four free nights.

As a Hyatt Diamond elite member (25 stays or 50 nights) I recently received a free night credit for a Hyatt Place or Summerfield Suites to use by the end of 2009. As a SPG Platinum member (25 stays or 50 nights) I received a free night credit for any Starwood Hotel up to a Category 5 to use by the end of 2009. Ken Burns’ National Parks documentary has really stoked my interest in driving through Yosemite to stay at the Westin Monache in Mammoth Lakes this month before snow season begins.

I have stayed twice this past year for free at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn. That is truly my staycation destination. The Highlands Inn is just a short 8 miles south of my home in Monterey. Kelley and I think it is one of the most beautiful locations in the world. Of course we are biased locals.

My point is not to espouse on my great travel trips.

I am simply a loyalty traveler and you can be one too.

Seriously, this Hyatt Faster Free Nights offer with Stays Count Double elite credit is truly an offer not to be missed.

And now that Gold Passport has opened Faster Free Nights to members who choose miles rather than points for earning preference, this promotion is a no-brainer if you are a United 1K member (and perhaps even if you are just a 1P, 2P, or general UA member like myself).

Whether your travel plans take you to London, Paris, Tokyo, Aruba, New York, or to a Hyatt resort just over the hill, the opportunity to earn free nights while attaining elite status and building up your frequent flier miles is an unprecedented hotel loyalty opportunity.

Priority Club had an earning limit of 4 free nights during their spring/summer promotion and SPG only allowed free nights to be redeemed for Friday, Saturday or Sunday this summer. Hyatt will allow you to book your winter 2010 7-night free vacation in a resort if you earn the nights and find the availability.

Here are some Loyalty Traveler tips for Hyatt Hotels Faster Free Nights planning:

1.       Chart the rates for your regional Hyatt Hotels and plan discretionary trips to hotels when rates are low. For example, during Starwood’s Free Weekend nights promotion I was able to stay in every Starwood Hotel in San Francisco and only once did I pay over $125 for a hotel room. This coming weekend most of these hotels are in the $300 per night range.

I find creating a spreadsheet helpful in plotting my stays during low rate nights at the Hyatt Hotels in my region. If you don’t have computer spreadsheet skills, then just draw out a grid on paper and track hotel rates. You will see patterns and with a little effort and research you can save hundreds of dollars on hotel rates.

Compare rates on Hyatt.com to online travel agency (OTA) rates. I like to check Kayak.com to get a meta-search view of rates. Hyatt’s Best Rate Guarantee allows a member to make a claim over the phone without having to book a room first. If you see a rate discrepancy with a lower rate on another OTA site and Hyatt approves your claim, then Hyatt will match the lower rate and take an additional 20% off. Discrepancies are more common than you might think.

Look for Gold Passport G Bonuses when making reservations. A simple check for a G Bonus link to the hotel you are planning to stay can increase your points earning by 1,000 to 2,000 points.

Hyatt Hotels Room Rates Spreadsheet

2.       Vary your stays to make the acquisition of free nights more pleasurable. Hyatt Place Fremont is my local cheap night hotel at just $70 all-in on most weekends, but no upgrades, fewer Diamond amenity points, and no lounge.

$20 more can put me in the Hyatt Santa Clara where there is a lounge, a breakfast restaurant, and the opportunity for nice upgrades.

In 2008 I only stayed in half of the Hyatt brand hotels in the San Francisco Bay region during an elite fast-track Stays Count Double promotion. This fall I will try and make at least one stay in the hotels I missed last year and check in with more Hyatt Hotels in southern California. I hear San Diego calling me.

3.       Be persistent and be flexible when it comes time to redeem your free nights. Starwood Lurker reported St. Regis Monarch Beach was the most requested free night property during the SPG promotion. I found availability over half the weekends in summer during my regular periodic checks. Sometimes availability lasted less than an hour. Westin Napa was a difficult property to get. I got it.

Hyatt Carmel Highlands is one of the more difficult hotels to get with FFN. I stayed twice this past year using FFN credits there.

Related Boarding Area blogger posts for Hyatt’s fall 2009 promotion:

One Mile at a Time – http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2009/09/30/13500-united-miles-and-one-free-night-at-any-hyatt-for-every-second-stay-united-1ks-only/

View from the Wing – http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2009/10/01/the-best-hotel-promo-ive-ever-seen-13500-united-miles-and-a-free-night-for-every-two-cheap-one-night-hyatt-stays/

Loyalty Traveler – Analysis of Hyatt FFN and Stays Count Double (Sep 17, 2009)

Related Loyalty Traveler posts:

Loyalty Traveler – Carmel Highlands Inn review (Jan 5, 2009)

Loyalty Traveler – Hyatt Regency San Francisco Review and Stays Count Double Economic Rationale (March 22, 2008)