Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Cove Atlantis Update
It is official, we will NEVER go back to The Cove. After numerous phone calls and promises that my glasses were on the way...I just went ahead and had LASIK! I'm very happy about the LASIK (I've been wearing glasses for 30 years), but bitterly disappointed by their lack of service or concern. Time to plan the next family vacation!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Kanye's Meltdown!
Since summer vacation and now the start of real school, I haven't had much time to review any restrooms. I did; however, waste an entire 2 hours of my life watching the MTV awards(I'm not proud). I will not talk about the obvious because enough people have given it too much time, but the Kanye' West outburst reminded my of some very special people in my life. Check out our first movie:
I'm sure he'll never see this...but it was just too funny to pass up.
I'm sure he'll never see this...but it was just too funny to pass up.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Cove Atlantis, Nassau Bahamas
The Lavatory Lady finally went on vacation with the family and boy do I have a helpful review for you.
Summer is finally over, the kids are in school and I now understand why summertime is considered a busy time for people with school age children. We took our annual family vacation during the week between camp and the beginning of school. This was a first for us as our oldest is just now starting regular school. We chose The Cove; which is billed as the newest and most exclusive portion of the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. Let me say; the place is absolutely beautiful! There are ponds with beautiful fish and lounging areas with soft blue backlighting from the drop off area to the registration desk. There are butter soft leather couches for your group to wait for you while you get checked in. I had no qualms about the looks of the place. You know what's next right? The bathrooms! I loved each and every one of them. Even the bathrooms around the pools were beautifully maintained and nicely decorated. I will spare you the details of each and every bathroom I went into for the sake of time, but I'll just say the bathrooms were not a disappointment, but the service in comparison to the price was less than stellar.
The first chink in the armor was the lack of towels upon our arrival. I figured it was just a housekeeping oversight until we got to the pool and snagged the last two towels. I heard the couple behind us say, after we were given the last two, "Still no towels, huh"? Hmmm....
We returned to our room and still NO TOWELS, even though we called to tell the staff our room was devoid of towels upon our arrival. During my shower, my husband spotted a cart in the hallway and procured some towels for our use. The towel issue seemed to suddenly resolve itself by day 3.
Aside from the towel issue, we were nickled and dimed to death!! The fitness center was $10/day per person. We were charged for being "late" for breakfast. The meal plan did not include lunch and so they attempted to charge us even though we had breakfast and not lunch. Fortunately, we were able to have $300 in "lunch" charges removed. During one breakfast I opted for a cappuccino instead of regular coffee and was charged $5. I've been on enough vacations to know that things at resorts are overpriced, but I'm sorry, there is no reason for a lunch of ham sandwiches to cost darn near $100.00. The only complimentary items were the very nice toiletries in the bathrooms and 2 tiny bottles of water provided with the turn down service.
The other thing I hated was the "exclusive" beach area of The Cove. It was incredibly rocky; so much so we took our children out and went to the pool instead of risking a twisted ankle. Upon talking to my mother-in-law, who stayed at Atlantis 4 years ago, she explained that the beach on the other side was equally as rocky.
A lot of the staff was borderline rude and have a lot to learn about how to treat patrons who are expecting upscale service. Neither the concierge nor the restaurant reservationist were particularly helpful and seemed to be "bothered" by our questions. The dinner crew at Mosaic is in pretty bad shape and are not concerned about keeping tables clear; our pile of dinner dishes sat on the table through most of dessert. The food at Water's Edge was practically inedible, with the exception of dessert.
The stay was certainly not all bad as there were many bright spots. The staff during the breakfast period at Mosaic was very sweet to us. The bellmen were great. Our babysitter, Katrina, was very nice and punctual. The lifeguards on the Lazy River Ride were cool. The lifeguards at the Splashers pool were good with the children. The best restaurants were Mosaic for breakfast, Mesa Grill for child-free dining and the BEST service was at the Bahamian Club. The rest of the staff could take a lesson from the wait staff at the Bahamian Club as we felt very well cared for while we dined.
Overall, we had a fabulous vacation and at one point I thought we might give it another chance in the future, but once back at home I realized I'd left my glasses and called the hotel. The housekeeping staff informed me that they would send them to me as soon as I gave them a Federal Express Account number. That, for me, was the last straw...while we had a good time and it is a very family friendly place, we will gladly spend our money elsewhere.
Summer is finally over, the kids are in school and I now understand why summertime is considered a busy time for people with school age children. We took our annual family vacation during the week between camp and the beginning of school. This was a first for us as our oldest is just now starting regular school. We chose The Cove; which is billed as the newest and most exclusive portion of the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. Let me say; the place is absolutely beautiful! There are ponds with beautiful fish and lounging areas with soft blue backlighting from the drop off area to the registration desk. There are butter soft leather couches for your group to wait for you while you get checked in. I had no qualms about the looks of the place. You know what's next right? The bathrooms! I loved each and every one of them. Even the bathrooms around the pools were beautifully maintained and nicely decorated. I will spare you the details of each and every bathroom I went into for the sake of time, but I'll just say the bathrooms were not a disappointment, but the service in comparison to the price was less than stellar.
The first chink in the armor was the lack of towels upon our arrival. I figured it was just a housekeeping oversight until we got to the pool and snagged the last two towels. I heard the couple behind us say, after we were given the last two, "Still no towels, huh"? Hmmm....
We returned to our room and still NO TOWELS, even though we called to tell the staff our room was devoid of towels upon our arrival. During my shower, my husband spotted a cart in the hallway and procured some towels for our use. The towel issue seemed to suddenly resolve itself by day 3.
Aside from the towel issue, we were nickled and dimed to death!! The fitness center was $10/day per person. We were charged for being "late" for breakfast. The meal plan did not include lunch and so they attempted to charge us even though we had breakfast and not lunch. Fortunately, we were able to have $300 in "lunch" charges removed. During one breakfast I opted for a cappuccino instead of regular coffee and was charged $5. I've been on enough vacations to know that things at resorts are overpriced, but I'm sorry, there is no reason for a lunch of ham sandwiches to cost darn near $100.00. The only complimentary items were the very nice toiletries in the bathrooms and 2 tiny bottles of water provided with the turn down service.
The other thing I hated was the "exclusive" beach area of The Cove. It was incredibly rocky; so much so we took our children out and went to the pool instead of risking a twisted ankle. Upon talking to my mother-in-law, who stayed at Atlantis 4 years ago, she explained that the beach on the other side was equally as rocky.
A lot of the staff was borderline rude and have a lot to learn about how to treat patrons who are expecting upscale service. Neither the concierge nor the restaurant reservationist were particularly helpful and seemed to be "bothered" by our questions. The dinner crew at Mosaic is in pretty bad shape and are not concerned about keeping tables clear; our pile of dinner dishes sat on the table through most of dessert. The food at Water's Edge was practically inedible, with the exception of dessert.
The stay was certainly not all bad as there were many bright spots. The staff during the breakfast period at Mosaic was very sweet to us. The bellmen were great. Our babysitter, Katrina, was very nice and punctual. The lifeguards on the Lazy River Ride were cool. The lifeguards at the Splashers pool were good with the children. The best restaurants were Mosaic for breakfast, Mesa Grill for child-free dining and the BEST service was at the Bahamian Club. The rest of the staff could take a lesson from the wait staff at the Bahamian Club as we felt very well cared for while we dined.
Overall, we had a fabulous vacation and at one point I thought we might give it another chance in the future, but once back at home I realized I'd left my glasses and called the hotel. The housekeeping staff informed me that they would send them to me as soon as I gave them a Federal Express Account number. That, for me, was the last straw...while we had a good time and it is a very family friendly place, we will gladly spend our money elsewhere.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Bonefish, Kingstowne, VA
I have been waiting to try Bonefish for about 3 years. It got such rave reviews from several people that when I heard one was opening near us, I jumped at the chance to go. We had a bit of wait so we took the children outside for about 15 minutes until our table was ready. We ordered the chicken eggroll appetizer which wasn't bad, but was a bit on the juicy side. To our great surprise our two year old loved it! My husband and I ordered drinks; a pomegranate martini for me and a raspberry mojito for him. Tsk, tsk....we strayed from our usual drink order and got burned. My pomegranate martini was more like cold syrup in a martini glass. I sent it back and went with my usual Grey Goose Martini with olives (dirty, this time). Oy! I think they got the vermouth and the vodka measures backwards! It was like I ordered a vermouth martini....not good. The raspberry mojito while very pretty was quite weak as well. OK, enough about the drinks.
The piping bread was served with olive oil, parsley, garlic, kalamata olives and parmesan cheese blended at the table. It was delicious!! I only allowed myself a small piece but would have gladly had it as an entree. Yes, it was THAT good.
This place is known for its fresh fish and choice of 3 sauces to accompany it. I ordered the rainbow trout and my husband got the sea bass. We both chose the Mediterranean sauce with capers. They were both good, but I thought the sea bass was better.
The bathrooms were lovely with lots of wood, real plants and artwork on the walls. The hand towels were in pretty baskets and the soap and overall smell of the place was pleasant. The water was hot and there was an open trashcan near the door.
The piping bread was served with olive oil, parsley, garlic, kalamata olives and parmesan cheese blended at the table. It was delicious!! I only allowed myself a small piece but would have gladly had it as an entree. Yes, it was THAT good.
This place is known for its fresh fish and choice of 3 sauces to accompany it. I ordered the rainbow trout and my husband got the sea bass. We both chose the Mediterranean sauce with capers. They were both good, but I thought the sea bass was better.
The bathrooms were lovely with lots of wood, real plants and artwork on the walls. The hand towels were in pretty baskets and the soap and overall smell of the place was pleasant. The water was hot and there was an open trashcan near the door.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Uno's, Baltimore Harbour
OK, Ok, I know it's Uno's and I shouldn't expect fine dining, but our experience was worse than I'd expect at the worst McDonalds! We were seated immediately; I guess that's one positive thing. The view of the Harbor was cool and we were close to the Aquarium (our final destination). Where do I begin? We only received 1 children's menu and 1 set of crayons and we clearly have two children. The waitress was gracious enough to bring us a 2nd set before WW III erupted. Afterwards, as she did throughout our service, she inexplicably disappeared for an inordinate amount of time. She returned a bit later; perhaps after a shower and a cigarette, to take our order. The kids had the usual and I got the veggie burger with steamed veggies and my husband got some kind of pasta with red sauce. Just as we were about to send a search party for our disappearing waitress, she returned with our food. Really, she could have just stayed away! It was horrid. My husband's pasta had no taste what so ever. It was like someone cooked pasta and threw some cheap, tastless sauce on it and put it in a bowl. My side dish was inedible, but I did manage to eat the burger portion of the burger. The kids' chicken and fries was the best thing on our table. Our on again off again waitress returned and offered the kids ice cream; the absolute last thing they needed after that extremely unhealthy dinner, but hey it was the weekend and it's not an everyday occurrence.
I figured that just maybe a little wine might quell my annoyance with the place; so I ordered the Chateau St. Michelle Riesling as my "dessert". I mean, that's safe right? How can you screw up wine?? Well, I've had this particular Riesling before and enjoyed it, but it was always served CHILLED. The wine I was served was slightly below room temperature and to me it was undrinkable. Great, they managed to ruin my entire lunch! After the search and rescue team returned with our waitress we paid for our "meal" and took a potty break. Lord have mercy...the bathroom was atrocious. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I thought maybe our waitress was busy tidying up the restrooms during all the time she was missing in action. No so! There were three stalls and one was missing a door; the kiss of death in my ratings process. There was paper strewn about, hair in the sink and a general bad odor indicative of improper cleaning. I will never EVER go back there again!
One more thing: The music in the place is beyond loud! Be sure to turn down the volume on your hearing aids and bring some ear plugs if you decide not the heed my warnings about this place.
One more thing: The music in the place is beyond loud! Be sure to turn down the volume on your hearing aids and bring some ear plugs if you decide not the heed my warnings about this place.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Crazy Google Results
So my husband and I are thinking of adopting a little girl and I set about doing research by searching for an agency to help with the adoption of a toddler. Check out some very interesting results:
Black Toddlers
Find black toddlers at Great Prices.
www.Pronto.com
African American Toddler
Find, compare & buy. Compare & Buy from 1000's of stores.
www.Dealtime.com/toysandgames
HAHA...I'm sure the process will not be that easy; at least I certainly hope not.
Black Toddlers
Find black toddlers at Great Prices.
www.Pronto.com
African American Toddler
Find, compare & buy. Compare & Buy from 1000's of stores.
www.Dealtime.com/toysandgames
HAHA...I'm sure the process will not be that easy; at least I certainly hope not.
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