Hogalbee here exploring the historic Williamsburg/Jamestown area. After an educational tour of the Jamestown settlement, Branilicio and I were craving a quick bite and began browsing through the Sunny Day Colonial Guide. We are familiar with Sunny Day from their money saving coupon guide to Ocean City, Maryland. A little random page flipping brought us to Stephanos of South Henry Street along the edge of William and Mary College on one side and Colonial Williamsburg on the other.
Stephanos occupies a beautiful space in a retail complex with dark wainscoting and dark wooden cabinets setting off muted beige walls. The tables and seating looks like it would be at home in a corporate cafeteria. At the booths, the décor begins to break down with the upholstery splitting open liberally.
Ordering is done at a walk up counter. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I find it a little presumptuous to be handed a bill in which I am expected to calculate my tip before the service has been rendered. I usually like to see what kind of service I get before I reward it.
We skipped the pizzas and pastas and stuck to the sandwich menu. I opted for the Chicken Philly while Branilicio settled on the Turkey Grinder. The sandwiches arrived on toasted soft rolls. There was no option on bread. When the sandwiches were brought to the table they were tasty but certainly nothing special. What they mainly were was small. While many sandwich shops brag on the abundant size of their product, Stephanos never will with their current offering. Brandilicio, who can never finish a meal, found the size just right, but they are four to four and a half times costlier than a Quiznos Sammy, not much larger and not as tasty.
Branilicio gives Stephanos three smiles out of five.
§§§
I gave them two.
§§
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
HOTEL Hampton Inn of Downtown Albany
Hoagalbee is here today Readers, but very tired. I should have slept soundly in my king sized bed in the downtown Albany Hampton Inn after free vodka at the Stoli event I was brought into town for. How the designers of this hotel created the acoustical feats available is simply amazing. I put my head down on my pillow and found I could suddenly follow the conversation of three people smoking on the sidewalk one hundred feet below me through closed windows on a cold winter night. Being tired, I dozed off in short order only to be awakened an hour later by what sounded disturbingly like a cartoon duck with comically oversized web feet pacing on the bathroom tiles. I checked it out and found the sound seemed to come from the ceiling of the next door room’s bathroom. The noise went on and on for another twenty minutes before suddenly stopping. Before I could get back to sleep, the garbage trucks began. For some reason, my vantage point allowed me to hear them all the way from State Street as they made each stop north of Capitol Hill. In between garbage trucks, a street sweeper slowly made its way toward the hotel slowing growing louder with each passing block sounding ominously like an electric car driven by a murderous Ed Bagley Junior out to cut my throat. I got an hour of sleep disturbed by dreams of actors and ducks working against me.
For a hotel which makes efforts to give a high end appearance, the lack of any sound buffering is curious. The hotel maintained an immaculate lobby and took care to use color schemes in the rooms that appear upscale. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Wyndham resorts and their affiliates but I found the room to be on the small side. Oddly, for the care given to the hotel, bumpers were not installed in the hallways and the housekeeping carts had dug long scratches into the wall coverings on most corridors.
The reason for my stay at this particular hotel was that the owner, Vista Host Hotels was curious about the location's customer service level and comp’ed my room in exchange for my looking into the situation without the staff's knowledge and providing my feedback. The staff was all pleasant and polite but this hotel scored very poorly on the standards I was asked to examine.
I was asked to call the front desk and present a problem which they could easily remedy. It was hoped that I would be referred to by name, apologized to for the problem and thanked for bringing it to the desk clerk’s attention. None of these things happened. Although the room contained a warning not to open the door for anyone claiming to be hotel staff unless they wore a uniform and a nametag, a young Hispanic man dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and not wearing a nametag was sent to my room to resolve my problem. While he resolved the issue, he did not provide the pleasantries the owner was looking for.
When I went to check out the fitness center, I passed the laundry facilities where two employees were have a very loud and very heated conversation regarding someone pretending to be pregnant. The language was saltier than when I accidentally step on Branilicio’s feet.
Also, for some unknown reason, my car moved from spot 42 to spot 40 in the rear parking lot during the night.
The Hampton Inn had so much potential but it never rose up to meet it. Wonderful décor, but nothing to protect it from the staff dragging a cart along the wall. Careful maintenance, but nothing to buffer noise. Pleasant staff but a lack of pleasantries. A comfortable bed that I could not sleep in.
I was too tired to ask Branilicio what she rated the hotel but I could only give it two smiles out of five. One of the stars was strictly for the breakfast.
☻☻☺☺☺
For a hotel which makes efforts to give a high end appearance, the lack of any sound buffering is curious. The hotel maintained an immaculate lobby and took care to use color schemes in the rooms that appear upscale. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Wyndham resorts and their affiliates but I found the room to be on the small side. Oddly, for the care given to the hotel, bumpers were not installed in the hallways and the housekeeping carts had dug long scratches into the wall coverings on most corridors.
The reason for my stay at this particular hotel was that the owner, Vista Host Hotels was curious about the location's customer service level and comp’ed my room in exchange for my looking into the situation without the staff's knowledge and providing my feedback. The staff was all pleasant and polite but this hotel scored very poorly on the standards I was asked to examine.
I was asked to call the front desk and present a problem which they could easily remedy. It was hoped that I would be referred to by name, apologized to for the problem and thanked for bringing it to the desk clerk’s attention. None of these things happened. Although the room contained a warning not to open the door for anyone claiming to be hotel staff unless they wore a uniform and a nametag, a young Hispanic man dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and not wearing a nametag was sent to my room to resolve my problem. While he resolved the issue, he did not provide the pleasantries the owner was looking for.
When I went to check out the fitness center, I passed the laundry facilities where two employees were have a very loud and very heated conversation regarding someone pretending to be pregnant. The language was saltier than when I accidentally step on Branilicio’s feet.
Also, for some unknown reason, my car moved from spot 42 to spot 40 in the rear parking lot during the night.
The Hampton Inn had so much potential but it never rose up to meet it. Wonderful décor, but nothing to protect it from the staff dragging a cart along the wall. Careful maintenance, but nothing to buffer noise. Pleasant staff but a lack of pleasantries. A comfortable bed that I could not sleep in.
I was too tired to ask Branilicio what she rated the hotel but I could only give it two smiles out of five. One of the stars was strictly for the breakfast.
☻☻☺☺☺
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