As a follow up to yesterday’s post with photos from Las Vegas, here is a video that I shot of the fountains outside the Bellagio with the same camera, the Canon 5D Mark II using the Canon 15mm Fisheye lens.

I’ve never seen anyone else shoot the fountains with a fisheye, but it works out well as long as you keep the lens parallel to the horizon as I’ve more or less managed here.

By the way, I recommend you watch this in full screen view. You can do that by clicking on the little arrows in the bottom right corner of the video window.
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I’ve been in Las Vegas for the Parallel’s convention over the last few days. Since I’ve been lugging my huge camera around taking pictures quite a few folks asked me to share them so they could take them home as well! So here you all go!

These photos were captured on a Canon 5D Mark II using either a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens, a Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens, or a Lensbaby loaned to me by Cali Lewis.
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I stayed at the Embassy Suites Convention Center Las Vegas located at 3600 Paradise Road while in town for the BlogWorld convention. There were a lot of good things about this hotel, and really only a couple of negatives. And to cut to the chase, I would stay here again… although with a couple of caveats.

The people were very friendly and helpful, and the rooms were quite clean, and very roomy. The furniture and room features were reasonably up to date, and everything was fairly comfortable.
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While on Maui for three days I stayed at the Maui Coast Hotel in Kihei. I did all the standard research, starting with their Web site, I also checked TripAdvisor and it got a 4.0.

They had a special for a one room suite for $175 / night, which is a great rate on Maui. The hotel is only 3 miles from the Four Seasons, Hilton and Marriott so I reasoned that it would be worth saving 50% and just driving around. Plus there are beaches right near the Maui Coast Hotel as well.

Unfortunately all the logic in the world won’t turn the Maui Coast into a good deal.
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During my recent trip to Lanai, Hawaii we stayed at the Five Star Four Seasons Resort Lana’i at Manele Bay (View in Google Earth. What is Google Earth?) where each of the 249 suites average 700 square feet and feature private balconies, original artwork, and marble baths.

This hotel is expensive. The kind where if you have to ask how much, you probably don’t want to know. In fact, Maui Revealed says:

You’ll be forgiven if you start to wonder if Lana’i is the Hawaiian word for, “It costs how much”

So the question is, is it worth it?
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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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After staying at a number of hotels in Springfield, Virginia I can safely state that the Springfield Courtyard Marriott is the nicest hotel I’ve stayed at in the city. As a result, it is the one I’ve chosen to spend at least the next 8 weeks in as my home away from home.

It is unfortunately the most expensive of the Springfield hotels, at $199/night, but the service and room quality made it worth the price. Also, since I’ll be staying here for several weeks I spoke with their sales manager and she made me an attractive offer which is much more palatable.
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My wife and I were planning on accompanying my brother and soon to be sister-in-law to the Big Island of Hawaii in June, and as a result I did quite a bit of planning for the trip. Being cost efficient is important to all of us, but making sure we end up with decent accommodations at a good value is possibly even more important.

I thought I would document my search methodology in case it helped others to find and book their travel online. Please note that I am very meticulous when it comes to travel planning. I’m picky about where I stay, how I get there, and want to know what I’m going to do while I’m there. I even make printouts and carry a small binder with me. Anal, I know… but it works for me.
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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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I stayed at the Springfield, Virginia Hampton Inn on May 7, 2007 and the two best things about the hotel are:

1. It is relatively inexpensive.
2. It is located right beside the mall and restaurants.

All in all, I will stay here again, though there were a few details that could use improvement.
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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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