Category: hotel

When I was in college, Panama City Beach was *the* place to go. We didn’t act crazy, but we were poor college students and would stick six or seven or eight of us girls in a hotel room on weekends so we could afford to just go and soak up the sun and splash around and act silly and neverrrr tell boys the truth about what hotel we were staying at, because weirdos. Remember when MTV would go to PCB and Daytona and the islands to do Spring Break shows in the 90s and it was all Hawaiian Tropic and Body Glove and crunch socks with white Reeboks and Colin Quinn completely out of his mind (and off-script)? Yeah. What I remember is that no one could afford PCB on SB because someone at least 24 had to sign for the room with a credit card and the rooms were — I don’t know — 5x what they were the rest of the summer, and none of our parents were going to do that. So my SB were always less beach and more catching rays via plastic-lounger-in-the-backyard so it at least *looked* like my vacay game was strong.

Aaaaahhhh college.

Now that we have kids, we’re thinking about where we can go that it’s all family and fun. Usually we like to stay right on the beach, but I noticed that the Sheraton Bay Point Resort was crazy inexpensive (and had just had a $30M renovation as it was rebranded to a SPG property) so we decided to give it a go. It also has a spa, a Nicklaus Design golf course (golfboards?), and tennis courts.

The hotel is right on St. Andrew’s Bay, so while we weren’t watching the Gulf’s waves roll in, we flipflopped over a long boardwalk past the hotel’s waterfront bar/grill and further to another little private island where we played for a long time in shallow water that went out for a long distance. We also saw more hermit crabs than ever. It was super fun (sorry I didn’t take my phone out there for pics!). And there were a couple of pools closer to the hotel that we really enjoyed as well. Just a great experience.

Our room:

This is the view from one of the bridges driving out. Fab:

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For supper, we tried Firefly, which is in a rather boring-looking shopping center. Don’t let that keep you from making a reservation. We waited here for a couple of minutes while our OpenTable res opened up:

and then were seated in the main dining room which has this large faux light-bedecked tree in the middle, which was actually more charming than it looks here:

Every single thing was delicious. The boys were happy with their kids menu, and we all shared bites of this stuffed filet, and the fish below too:

Just delicious, delicious, delicious. We will come here again next time as well.

They’re like, “mom, can we look all whatever next to this tree and you take our picture?” — yes, lovebugs!

Usually when we’re in Pensacola, it’s for business plus family beach time, but this trip was purely business — and short — so we decided to stay in the city and finally try the Grand Hotel which is built into the old train station. It’s not especially grand, but was interesting to see the tilework and fixtures from the older part of the property.

If you’re thinking that’s it’s vaguely Crowne Plaza-ish at the top strip, it’s because until a few years ago, it was a CG. I’m not sure if the franchisee didn’t want to keep up with IHG standards of upkeep, but the rooms still have familiar emerald green carpeting and dark furnishings.

It’s not particularly easy to get a good picture of the exterior as it’s so close to the highway. It’s a popular place to stay when there’s a concert or game going on at the arena across the street.

The train station was built in 1912 to replace the 1882 L&N Union Station. It eventually went vacant in 1971 and developers added a 15-story hotel tower to give the site new life.

It’s like 1984 met the Haunted Mansion with that sofa in the lobby.

The room was okay — nothing great but not terrible, the bed was alright but the bathroom was small. The trains still do run right by the hotel at all hours. If you’re a light sleeper, you might want to plan for whistles/horns/whatev and make it a Benadryl/diphenhydramine kinda night.

And the view was…

 

 

While Savannah’s Kimpton Brice was fun, we were looking forward to trying the Mansion on Forsyth Park too. It’s a Marriott Kessler Collection, so one can expect art *everywhere*, an in-hotel gallery, trendy furnishings, and a very boutique feel.

This hotel can get expensive in the high season, into the $400s. Thankfully we were able to jump on a Marriott package on an off-week and were able to save tons. We avoided valet fees since there was a ton of on-street, non-metered parking right beside the hotel.

There’s art everywhere. Everywhere-everywhere. This is the hallway to our room

Our room

The bed was soooo comfortable. It can be purchased from the Kessler Living site, and Av and I are a few years past due for a new mattress. I’m thinking, though, that we might give the Casper mattress a try (Consumer Reports liked it too). If you have experience with it, I’d love to hear.

This is where our problem was. I took the boys swimming one morning. See how the pool surround is marble? Know how marble is really, really slippery? So maybe having marble all around a pool isn’t the greatest idea. When Shug got out of the pool, he actually slipped and fell on his side getting out. He was hurt but was able to walk it off. Shugie got out right behind him and did the whole slide-but-catch-yourself thing. Also, you can’t see in this pic, but around the lounge chairs by the pool steps — and I didn’t see them until we were toweling off and Shugie stepped on one — there were little shards of marble. His foot was cut but it wasn’t too bad and we were able to stop the bleeding with some pressure. Sooooo….

…we did what anyone would. We got up, went to the lobby and told the front desk person that an area of the marble decking may have some kind of cleaner residue that makes it really super slippery, and that there are some shards of marble that need to be swept up.

We thought that was it. We just wanted someone to know. We weren’t upset, we didn’t ask for a Bandaid, neither of the boys were in tears, this was for informational purposes so they could do something about it. The front desk person asked us to wait just a minute. Here, I’ll paste the text of an email I sent to management:

The woman at the desk immediately went to get the manager on staff. (name retracted here) came out, and rather than doing what any person in any similar position would do — express that they were sorry about these things happening and thanking them for letting the hotel know so it could be fixed — she treated the three of us as potential lawsuits.

She scribbled notes on a series of post-it notes, then told us to show her the shards. Rather than walking with us back to the building, she got on the phone and started laughing.

At no point did she ever say “I’m sorry that happened” or “thanks for letting us know” so no one else would similarly be injured. Several minutes later, there was a knock on our door with her telling me to fill out a multi-page incident report.

How did this go so wrong? 

Even my kids realized this wasn’t handled correctly. She never said she was going to get the shards swept up (though a maintenance man did come over to look at the shards too), or look into getting the slick spot on the pool deck taken care of. Never acted as though she cared. 

I was going to let this go, but just today, one of my boys asked me again if I thought she took care of things so no one else was going to get hurt on their vacation. The other one asked me why she didn’t say “sorry” like they are taught to do at school. The fact that they are still thinking about it is enough for me to reach out to you.

I have no idea why we were treated as though our next stop might be a lawyer. And I have no idea why this was handled as though my children were exhibits rather than little people who were hurt and had genuine concern for others. 

BTW, when the maintenance man came to look at the shards, he reminded me that the pool deck of course gets slick — it’s smooth stone. I just didn’t say anything. Maybe if they’re so accustomed to people falling getting out they should consider putting down something other than a smooth stone. You know, like just about every other pool that has a textured decking.

Your pool can be so hot it breaks Instagram but if the fact that people get hurt around it elicits a you-shoulda-known, maybe something’s not right.

Actually, I realize that their fear of lawsuits is real, but we presented as nonchalant people who just wanted someone to look into something for the next guest and we were on our way up to our room to get ready for another fun day in Savannah. And if filling out an incident report is policy, okay too. Anyway. This could have turned out so much better. And I was especially proud of our boys for even several days later hoping that they got things fixed so no one else would get hurt.

Let’s talk about fun stuff again! The hotel, true to its name, is right at Forsyth Park, the one with the famous fountain. We spent lots of time there around the fountain and the park — Shugie brought his football so he and Shug were kicking and passing the ball…running everywhere, having a great time.

One morning, we had the breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant, 700 Drayton, which was included with our stay. It was all really good, from the pancakes to the omelette, benedict, and shrimp and grits.

And the setting there was really pretty as well.

I think we’ll pass on staying at the Mansion on Forsyth again. The TripAdvisor reviews are giving me pause too. Maybe the Bohemian Riverfront next time?

It seems as though there’s a plethora of great hotels in Savannah. I even made a little list of ones that looked interesting: the Mansion on Forsyth Park, the Bohemian, the Kimpton Brice, and four B&Bs — The Kehoe House, the Hamilton-Turner Inn, Eliza Thompson House, and The Gastonian.

Those B&Bs have their place, but although our boys are very well-behaved, I perceive them as places best suited for couples. Also, lately I just haven’t been in the mood to stay in that kind of setting.

We wanted fun.

So we chose the Kimpton Brice to be the first hotel we stayed with there. It’s right on E Bay Street, so we walked to everything. For whatever reason, the night we checked in, there was a ton of really close on-street parking available, so we did that rather than valet, even.

The lobby isn’t especially large but it’s interesting and cozy. Design is by Anna Busta.

I saw this print below and thought to myself: I know this. It’s by Methane Studios in Sharpsburg, Georgia.

And yessss to this Angel Olsen print screenprint they made.

Below is Pacci, the hotel’s restaurant with these magnificent floor tiles. We didn’t even eat here because we had resys elsewhere, but in *love* with these tiles. Walker Zanger maybe? Ann Sacks?

Courtyard

According to the hotel’s PR, the building was “originally built in the 1860s as a livery stable, cotton warehouse, foundry and machine shop, wholesale grocer and Coca-Cola bottling plant prior to becoming The Mulberry Inn in 1982.”

The room itself was fine. They carried the same mod look into the guestrooms

Bath amenities are from Atelier Bloem, with the mandarin & citrus body wash, oolong tea shampoo, and geranium conditioner. Atelier Bloem is exclusive to Kimpton hotels, but it’s made by Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz, so if you know Malin + Goetz from the 21c hotels or elsewhere, that’s the idea. And yes it all smells amazing.

The armoire opens to reveal umbrella, yoga mat, and ::ohyessss:: seersucker bathrobes ($95).

A tray of goodies. The Patron = $32, JD = $20, San Pelligrino = $4. Snacks include gummy pandas, jerky, nuts, bars, and the like. If you join the Kimpton Karma loyalty program (free), you get $10 credit for the mini bar. I chose the $5 Savannah Bee Company mint julep lip balm and without checking the label, a $5 Kate’s Grizzly Bar which has 360 cals and…wait for it…51g of carbs. Whut.

The Kimpton Karma membership also means you can get a weekly email of their last-minute deals. We managed to get a great price on this room, but the weekly email shows what’s going on where as far as specials.

Happy with this stay and looking forward to checking out other Kimptons.

Wrapping myself in seersucker. Ta-ta, friends.

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From the screenprint by Methane mentioned above, Angel Olsen’s ‘Shut Up Kiss Me’

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NYT review of the Brice.  Telegraph review.