It’s time for a reader photo. Thanks to David for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Atom Bomb Dome, Hiroshima, Japan
Winner: Austex

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

Amazingly enough some of you people actually seem to like airline food (and even more of you seem to roll your eyes at my obsession with hot nuts, cookies, and getting my first meal choice). So I posted all the delightfully healthy food I was served on my flights last weekend, so I might as well do the same for this past weekend.

Yes, I’m working on finding my way to the gym as we speak, and yes, my Diet Coke with lime sponsorship is obviously back on.

The only two things worth mentioning are the awful breakfast presentation and that I didn’t get my first choice meal for the first time. The joys of an Airbus 319 with only eight first class seats, catering for exactly the right number of people, and a flight attendant that prefers simplicity (front to back) over procedure (taking meal orders by status).

The only thing that makes me feel worse than looking at those pictures is realizing that I’ll be flying the same exact routing next weekend, plus four more flights. Bleh, I think I just won’t eat anymore….

Back in November I made a post mentioning that I was considering staying at a non-chain hotel for the first time in forever. I was specifically referring to Seattle. I’m very loyal to InterContinental, but they don’t have a hotel in Seattle. The other Priority Club options were a Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn. The Holiday Inn didn’t look very good and the Crowne Plaza seemed overpriced to me. So I mentioned a few hotels I was considering, such as Hotel 1000 and the Pan Pacific based on reviews I had read and the rates they offered.

While the trip to Seattle as such never materialized, I did have a mileage run planned there for last weekend, and instead of staying near the airport I decided to venture into the city. I had a morning to do some sightseeing and I figured with the new light rail system that costs just $2.50 from SeaTac to the city there was nothing to lose (as opposed to the public transportation in San Francisco, which costs you more than lunch at Starbucks).

Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure I had made a reservation through Hotel 1000′s Social Media and Promotions Manager and received a special rate of $139. It’s worth noting that this wasn’t that much less than the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts rate of $179 (which I qualify for since I have an American Express Platinum card), which would have included breakfast, a welcome gift, 4PM check-out, and a room upgrade. Anyway, let’s fast forward to the actual stay.

I arrived at the hotel at around 10PM and was promptly checked in by the friendly agent. I realized beforehand the hotel was on the small side, but the lobby really made it feel like a boutique hotel. It was modern and dimly lit, basically a smaller version of a “W” hotel minus the bad attitude.

Lobby

Lobby

Seating area to the side of the lobby

Hotel exterior

Hotel entrance

My room was on the fifth floor, and as soon as I got into the elevator I realized that was the lowest floor with rooms. That was a bit disappointing since I was looking forward to the great views the hotel boasts given its location, although the suite I received made up for it.

Hallway

I was assigned suite 507, which was located behind a separate entrance door which housed two suites; the suite was huge. Upon entering was a hallway with the bathroom located right by the entrance. To the left was the bedroom while the living room was to the right.

Entrance

Floor layout (to show the size of the suite compared to standard rooms)

The bedroom was spacious and modern, with a king sized bed, large flat screen TV mounted on the wall, vanity mirror, and big closet.

Bedroom

TV, closet, and vanity mirror

There’s only a glass “window” separating the bedroom and bathroom, although there is a privacy screen which can be put down if desired. The bathroom featured a huge bathtub, nice sink area, huge shower with two shower heads, and separate toilet area. The bathroom amenities were all Molton Brown, and the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash was all in large dispensers in the shower.

Looking into the bathroom from the bedroom

Looking into the bedroom from the bathroom

Sink and shower

Shower to the left and toilet to the right

Molton Brown bath products

Toilet

The living room featured a large dining room table with six chairs, large sofa with two more chairs, and flat screen TV. Both TVs had “Moodz” channels, whereby you can listen to natural environments in 30 minute intervals. Other than the waterfall, which sounded more like static, it was surprisingly relaxing! I wish more hotels would offer something similar.

Unfortunately the views from the room were non-existent. Actually, the room faced another building which was maybe 20 feet away, so it was near impossible to see anything. That was a bit disappointing, and I would have probably preferred a normal room with a view over a suite with no view. My only other gripe would be that lighting was somewhat limited and there weren’t any windows other than the ones on the far end of the living room, meaning the suite stayed pretty dark.

Living room

The hotel has a nice 24 hour gym. The treadmills all have mini-TV screens and were the same machines they have at the InterContinental London. There was also bottled water for free, surprisingly enough the same stuff they charge an arm and a leg for in the in-room minibar.

Gym

Gym

No doubt my stay was far too short. Would I return? If the rate were right, absolutely, even without hotel status perks. It’s worth noting that Hotel 1000 does offer guests 500 Alaska miles, for those of you addicted to miles/points like me.

I loved the interior of the hotel. It was modern without being bare, “hip” without being stuffy or attitude-filled (hello “W” hotels!), and the suite was very well appointed. If I stayed again I’d hope for a room with a view, even if it means a standard room vs. the very nice suite I received.

Either way I’d recommend this hotel if the price is right. They have their stuff together and I wouldn’t hesitate to return.

You can bet some flight attendants take pride in meal presentation (and others clearly don’t)! And yeah, that was before I touched it….

You can earn 100 Continental OnePass miles just for registering and learning about continental.com cruises by February 28.

(Tip of the hat to Gary)

I often say I won’t provide any commentary and then end up ranting just a bit. In this case I don’t need to say anything. This story speaks for itself:

A TSA worker pulled a small plastic baggie full of white powder out of Rebecca Solomon’s carry-on bag. After 20 seconds of the young woman’s panic, sweating, and disbelief, the security guard said: Just kidding!

The practical joke on the 22-year-old Wynnewood native by a Transportation Security Administration screener occurred in the Philadelphia International Airport Jan. 5 on her way back to school, reports Inquirer columnist Daniel Rubin.

Solomon didn’t think it was funny.

InterContinental has donated over 30 two night stays in their presidential suites to charity. You can bid on these two night stays here, and I bet you’ll get one heck of a deal compared to the rack rate. While this is a bit (ok, totally) out of my budget, it is a great cause and could be a deal. I guess the real question is whether they’ll honor Royal Ambassador benefits on these stays?

It’s time for a reader photo. Thanks to David for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Winner: FortFun

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

I’m always amazed by the scheduling departments at airlines. It’s such a ridiculously complex art not only to time flights so that they all match up, but also to make sure you have the specific aircraft type you need available, planning turnaround times, etc. And 99% of the time they do a darn good job.

And then there’s Tampa to Washington Dulles, which fits into the 1%. Back when I first started mileage running eons ago, I remember the 5:50AM flight from Tampa to Washington Dulles. Nothing sucks more than getting up at 3:30AM, but it was always a fun flight. There were never more than 30 passengers aboard on Saturday mornings, which might explain why it was eventually cancelled. I always fly out in the morning, so now I’m used to the 9AM flight, which is still great, because it allows me to sleep in and thanks to the arrival time in Washington of 11AM, it connects to basically any flight.

But as of mid-February United is switching the schedule of this flight. It’ll now depart shortly after 7AM and arrive in Washington shortly after 9AM. Sounds dandy in theory, but it doesn’t connect to ANY flights!!! The next flight to virtually anywhere is shortly after 12PM, a connection I could have made with the old schedule.

It would have made sense for them to have this flight at 6AM so that it could connect to the 9AM bank of flights, but there’s not a single flight to anywhere international, anywhere on the west coast, or hell, anywhere past Denver, within two hours of the arrival time.

So I guess I better get used to twiddling my thumbs at Dulles for a few hours every Saturday morning….

In stark contrast to the article I posted a couple of days ago about how much air traffic controllers in Spain make, check out this Irish Times article about some labor issues with the air traffic controllers there. The highlight has to be the quotes by Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO:

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said that his airline was four-square behind the Irish Aviation Authority in the dispute and said that Mr Dempsey should should tell the air traffic controllers to “to go back to bloody work or sack them”.

“It is one of the few cases where a public sector employer has stood up to blackmail by a bunch of overpaid and underworked public servants,” he said.

The budget airline boss said “it’s blackmail by a bunch of people who want a 10,000 euro pay increase this year, when inflation is minus 5 and when they’re handling 25% fewer flights.”

“I would welcome more strikes, more airport closures now, because we’re better off to lance this boil in the third week of January,” he added.

Well, he’s certainly no politician.

(Tip of the hat to Alan)