Waikoloa Village is basically a subdivision on the Big Island of Hawaii that has a wide variety of housing units ranging from single family homes, to condos, to high end hotels. Among the hotels is the Hilton Waikoloa Village, and this is where I spent the week on my recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. (View in Google Earth. What is Google Earth?)

The hotel is ideally located for branching out to explore all the various parts of the island, and the facilities are enormous. 64 acres of highly manicured grounds complete with a private bay, swimming pools, and even a dolphin habitat. With over 1,200 rooms, this is a large hotel by any measure. A local man told me that the property was originally developed by a Japanese company for $360 Million, but later sold at a huge loss for $90 Million to Hilton.

Although the hotel is basically a Disneyland for adults, there are some critical flaws which greatly detract from it as a serious vacation destination. At the same time, there is some great stuff to see and do… like swim with the dolphins!
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The following hidden camera investigation demonstrates how room service actually cleans your room’s drinking glasses. Er, I should say doesn’t clean your room’s drinking glasses!

This is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen when it comes to hotel cleanliness, especially because I always use the glasses in my room. Correction, I used to use the in room glasses, but I never will again.
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I quite enjoyed the stay at the Marriott Residence Inn in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia on May 14, 2007 even though I was only there for one night, mainly because it was very much like having a home away from home.

This hotel is actually more of an apartment. In fact, if they ever wanted to they could shut it down and sell the property as condos. My room was essentially a one bedroom loft apartment with the bed upstairs and a bonus hide-away bed downstairs.
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I only have one thing to say about Laurel Maryland’s hotel situation. You don’t want to stay here if you have any other options. Go up the road to Columbia or over towards Baltimore, but avoid Laurel.

Why is that? Because the Days Inn & Suites is among the “nicest” places to stay in this little town, and frankly it ain’t that great.
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This is the first in a series of several Washington D.C. area hotel reviews. I’m doing a few weeks worth of consulting in the area at the request of a friend, and finding a place to stay has been a challenge, so I’ve had to stay at a different hotel almost every night so far. The good news is that I’ll be able to give lots of feedback on a wide variety of hotels. So, here we go…

I stayed at the Marriott TownPlace Suites in Springfield, Virginia on May 9, 2007. The experience was fine, and I will stay here again, but there is no way this is a 4.5 star rating hotel as TripAdvisor reports. Sure, it’s cheap, and its OK, but it’s just a solid 3 - perhaps 3.5 in the hotel universe.

Unfortunately my photos make it look nicer than it actually seemed when I was in the room. When I was there the furnishings seemed like Wal-Mart quality and this does not translate well in the photos. There were also a number of other little annoyances.
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There seems to be so much confusion out there with regards to the common ritual of tipping that I decided to take the initiative and help clarify the rules when it comes to this long standing practice.

But unlike some other tipping guides I’m not just going to tell you how much to tip, instead we’re going to focus on why people earn the tips you give them, and therefore gain a better understanding as to how much to give.
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This post is a short part 2 of my Weekend in Denver, albeit a bit late…

A few things visitors should know about visiting Denver:

• Due to the high altitude (the city is located a mile above sea level) there is 25% less protection from the sun’s rays so make sure and use plenty of sunscreen. I got burned twice as fast as usual.
• Also, since your heart works a little faster at high altitude, and the air is both thinner and dryer, it’s important to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. This took me a bit of getting used to. Just drink about 50% more than normal and you’ll be great.
• Alcohol is also going to have a greater affect at this altitude because it enters the bloodstream quicker. So take it easy on the beer factory tours. Sorry, but I didn’t drink enough to report on how well this actually works…

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Today turned out to be double the journey I had originally planned as I ended up cramming two day’s worth of driving into one. This will have the effect of shortening the overall trip home by one day, but also make for two very long hard back to back days.

But I’m not complaining! I’m driving an NSX across the country and seeing totally cool stuff!
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Today began the second leg of my journey from San Francisco back to Dallas. I started in Bakersfield, CA with a destination of Las Vegas. The trip was roughly a five hour journey, not including stops. Incidentally, I’m averaging 24.5 MPG with cruise control mainly set around 77-80 MPH. Not bad for a 170 mile-per-hour supercar.
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Today was a long day, but well worth it. I flew from Big “D” to San Francisco to meet the newest member of the family for the first time, my new NSX. Brandee was kind enough to actually pick me up at the San Jose airport and we had a nice ride back to San Francisco together.

After taking care of business, Brandee said her farewells to her baby, and I took possession. Today was the first time I had ever sat, ridden in, or driven an NSX, so read on for my first impressions…
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So, you’ve had a night on the town in Vegas and beyond all luck managed to hit the $Million slot! What’s a boy to do?

The only logical thing would be to wander over to the Palms Casino Resort and check into the Hugh Hefner Fantasy Room of course.

This 9,000 sq. ft. 2-story suite can accommodate up to 250 of your closest mooches, er… friends, and was modeled after the Playboy Mansion.
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Colorado’s first capital, Golden, is surrounded by mountains and high rock buttes. Main street is lined with shops and restaurants, and the world’s largest single brewing site, Coors Brewery, was founded here in 1873. It is a beautiful little town, surrounded by some of the most stunningly rugged scenery I’ve ever visited.
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