Just a quick note regarding my recent contest and your comments about travel related items of interest you’d like to read more about here on the blog.  I’ve printed them all out, and am researching as appropriate.  Some, I could blather on about at end right now, and others I need to do a little thinking about.  I’m working on all of them, and will be blogging about those and anything else in short order.

Started last week with a status fast-track offer, and today I get another offer, double points for the rest of 2010.  Did I bite?  Heck yeah, I did.  The offer is targeted, so don’t be disappointed if you can’t register.  You can review the discussion about the double points offer in this Flyertalk thread and attempt to register using a link provided there as well..

You may have noticed that I’m somewhat into cruising. Honestly, I often wonder if my career aspirations would’ve turned out differently had I been taken to the seaport instead of the airport for a tour at age 6! As great as sailing on today’s floating hotels is, I can only imagine what it was like back in the day of great oceanliners like the SS United States. It’s a shame to watch something so great turn into a pile of rust.

I recently completed a stay at the Embassy Suites Denver International Airport during a busy 6-day business trip to Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming.  This was my first stay at this particular property, and I wanted to share the details with you.  In the interest of full disclosure, I actually had 2 separate 2-night stays at the hotel last week, which were separated by one night in Cheyenne.  Two stays, but only one review. 

Getting There

Simple, take a cab, catch the hotel’s shuttle, or rent a car.  The hotel is just a mile or two from the terminal and hard to miss as you’re driving down Pena Blvd.  Take the Tower Road exit.  Parking was free and plentiful at this hotel.

Checking In

Lucky me for arriving just as 2 busloads of teenagers pulled in for the evening.  “Great” I thought.  But the hotel was dealing with things pretty well by having someone process the large group separately.  Within a minute or two, I was welcomed to the front desk, and from there on, things went smoothly.  Soon enough, I was on my way to my 3rd floor room.

The Room

Somehow, I wound up with a room directly across from the elevator, but things turned out fine.  The only issue was those 2 busloads of teenagers making the area in front of the elevator their personal cell phone zone, but that didn’t seem to last terribly long for whatever reason.  The room itself was basic Embassy Suites with a couch, chair, TV, desk, fridge and microwave in the living area and separate bedroom.  I’m somewhat fond of the Embassy Suites concept, especially for trips of at least a week.  Sometimes it’s nice to just hole up in your room and veg in front of the TV.  Waiting on the desk was a welcome letter from the property manager, which included the internet access code, and a coupon good for a free appetizer in the restaurant or 2 bottles of water.  The coupon appeared specific to Hilton HHonors Gold members.  I’d speculate that Diamonds get a different deal.

The work area was equipped with a large desk and comfortable chair.  I found the living/work area to be poorly lit, but that’s a frequent complaint of mine at a whole host of hotels.  Wireless internet is provided throughout the hotel for a pricey $14.95 per day.  Thankfully, I get free internet by virtue of my HHonors VIP benefits.  In contrast to the work area, the bathroom was very well lit and otherwise typical for a hotel like this.

Around the Hotel

The hotel has a reasonably well-equipped fitness center that was never crowded during my stay.  The fitness center is located next to the indoor pool on the ground level.  A business center is also on the same level with a couple of computers, a printer and a copier.  The area outside the hotel has experienced a bit of development since my last visit several years ago.  There are a couple of restaurants and a plethora of other chain hotels.  Just a few miles down Tower Road, you’ll find a Wal Mart, Chili’s, Walgreens, and mercifully, a Starbucks.  This is much improved from a few years ago when there was literally nothing out by the airport.

Other dining options included Ted’s Montana Grill down the road in the Gateway Park section of Aurora.  The project team and I gave Ted’s a try one evening in search of bison steaks, something I’d never tried.  The bison ribeye was very nicely done, and tasted great…but certainly different than more traditional beef.  Good stuff though!

I should also tell you about a real gem of a restaurant in the old Stapleton Airport redevelopment.  Phenomenal just doesn’t do The Berkshire justice.  You’ll have to visit to believe it.  An uncomplicated but inspired menu, great service, great atmosphere, and just all around superb dining experience.  I had the pork chop followed by the best cheesecake I’ve ever tasted.  If you are in Denver, and looking for a great place to eat, please visit The Berkshire.

No post about an Embassy Suites can be complete without mentioning the evening Manager’s Reception.  This hotel’s reception is held in the lobby bar, and features fairly decent wines, house liquors, and domestic beers.  Each evening also featured a different hot appetizer as well as traditional snack mix to munch on.  The food was actually pretty good considering it was free!

The Bottom Line

I liked the hotel and will certainly return again if I have a business need to be in the area.  While the area surrounding the hotel has come up a bit in recent years, I’d still recommend staying a little closer to town unless you’re working at or near the airport as I was.

Philosophically speaking, I suppose the past week has been one of the more interesting in a long time.  I don’t know about you, but it never crossed my mind that a volcanic eruption in Iceland would shut down air travel to/from/within a large chunk of Europe.  I certainly understand the “mechanics” of why it happened, but who woulda thunk?

I returned Friday night from a week of business travel.  Leaving last Sunday made the week seem long.  Other than that, it was a great and productive trip.  I flew in and out of Denver, but did project work in both Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming.  The drive up to Cheyenne was not bad at all, but there isn’t much to look at once you pass Fort Collins.  This was my first visit to Cheyenne, and the state of Wyoming and there wasn’t much time to do anything but work.  That said, I’ve never seen a nighttime sky that color of blue.  I’d like to go back sometime.  The lodging choice for Cheyenne was the local SpringHill Suites.  Pretty basic, but the people were nice and the folks at the front desk offered a restaurant recommendation that I want to share with you.

We were on the hunt for beef, and we found certainly the best steak in Cheyenne at Poor Richards.  For about half the price I would’ve paid here in DC, I dined on one of the better ribeye steaks I’ve had.  Cooked perfectly, and full of flavor, this steak was the main attraction of the best meal of the trip.  Better yet, Tuesday night was half-price wine night.  A bottle of La Crema for 17 bucks.  Not bad for a restaurant!  So if you ever find yourself in Cheyenne at dinner hour, do yourself a favor and dine at Poor Richards.  (Note: Thanks to Dan Webb for refreshing my memory of history and Ben Franklin’s Poor Richards Almanac.)

Poor Richards - Not Sure What Ben Franklin Had to Do With It, Well There Was the Almanac.

After one night in Cheyenne, it was back to Denver and the Embassy Suites Denver International.  Had 2 great stays in the same hotel last week, and I should have a full review posted today.

As much as I love to travel, I love being home after a long week even more.  Well, I love being home as long as MrsMJonTravel doesn’t make me garden.  How’s that?  I’m in the office this week, and back out again the week after that in Seattle.  I’ve got a little blogging and gardening to do.  More to come.

Just a quick word from Denver.  I’ve spent this week on the road, with little time for blogging, which always bothers me.  I’m at the Embassy Suites Denver International Airport right now, and will be flying home tomorrow.  There has been some development by DEN lately, and this hotel is one of several near the airport.  My stay here this week has been pretty much flawless.  I intend to write a full review of the hotel, hopefully over the weekend.  The week also included a one night stay in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  I’ve never seen a nighttime sky that color of blue.  Just beautiful!

More soon.

Just paid a visit to mobile.delta.com to check on my flight home from Denver this Friday. Low and behold, a “Trip Details” link has appeared on all my upcoming itineraries. I clicked on it and could see the full details of each segment of my itinerary! Sweet! The seat map for my flights was available, so I decided to change my seat to test the website. Worked like a charm!

I salute Delta for the progress made in improving it’s mobile website. Keep it up!

Two hat tips this morning to Gary.  Delta has eliminated close in award booking fees.  All I can say is woo hoo!  I’ve posted numerous times how these fees for booking award travel less than 21 days before departure (with a higher fee sometimes imposed under the 7 day mark) are among the most egregious money grabs I’m aware of by airlines.  Frankly, in my humble opinion they’re far worse than Spirit’s proposed carry on bag fee and certainly checked luggage fees too.  It’s a fee that’s charged for well…nothing.

Back in the day when the airlines had to mail you an award certificate which you then took to the airport to redeem for a ticket, airlines frequently charged an expedite fee to express ship the certificates to you if you were traveling on short notice.  Made some sense then even if the fee was likely a good bit higher than the airline was paying to ship the certificates.  When award certificates went electronic, there was no longer a need for the fee, but that didn’t stop some airlines from continuing to charge it even though they face no greater cost in issuing an electronic award ticket 2 days before departure than 2 months.

American, I’m speaking to you here.  United has done away with this practice, and now Delta has joined them.  You’re better than this.  It’s time for you to let this money grab go.

Edited 4/14/10 @ 23:54 eastern time.

It appears that the news of Delta’s elimination of reward redemption fees was premature.  While those that carry the Delta Platinum and Reserve cards from American Express have experienced some relief from close in award fees, all members have not.  Delta’s fee description chart has evolved since this morning.  Click here for details.  I carry the Platinum Delta card, so yay for me.  But not cool for others.  Still, there’s room for American to catch up here.  And Delta too, for that matter.  It’s time to offload these egregious money grabs!

So much happens when I fall asleep early.  I’m late to the party about this and it’s been widely blogged about elsewhere already.  (Gary gets the hat tip since I read it there first.) But I can’t NOT comment on this.  US Airways has announced a double miles promotion for travel between April 13 and June 15, 2010.  Click here for details on registering as well as terms and conditions of the promotion.

This makes it at least somewhat possible that other airlines will match.  I don’t think it’s a done deal that they will, but if you’ve got some travel coming up, and can hold off on booking for a few days, I would.  Terms of the US Airways promotion require travel to be booked and ticketed during the promotion period, and I would expect similar terms from other airlines if they do match.

Stay two nights and get a third for free from participating W Hotels when paying with your American Express Card through December 31, 2010.  Visit this page for booking details and the usual terms and conditions.  I didn’t check the pricing, but certainly worth considering if a stay at any of the W Hotels is in your future.