Fostery City Again
Mar. 8th, 2013 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisI escaped the snowy doom of DC this week for a quick trip to visit my corporate overlords in California.
When I booked my tickets back in February, it was going to be a normal trip to visit with the team, work on some joint projects and help out in the Santa Clara data center. Since then, my original manager left the team, the new manager's father died so he's gone to Hawaii to settle the estate and another guy left the firm. Our team of six is now a team of three and I'm filling in as interim manager. This is definitely not a normal trip.
Among other little challenges, the powers-that-be have declared that my official hotel will be the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, about a four mile drive from the office. I used to stay at the Marriott Courtyard, immediately adjacent to the office so I'm not really keen on the longer commute. Fortunately, it's not turn out to be as bad as it could be.
When I made the hotel reservation, my firm hadn't issued me the group code for our corporate rates so the Hyatt had no clue I was there on business and was therefore going to charge me for both Internet and parking. The kind desk clerk, however, waived both for me, noting that I was a Hyatt Honours member. That I looked like an unkept, sleep-deprived drowned rat at the time might have elicited a small sympathy response too.
My room is on the 6th floor but it faces outwards instead of into the beautiful interior atrium. Not a big deal, but my external view is directly onto 101 and the noise levels are a bother. And the room has feather pillows --I'm allergic to feathers. Still, the pillows were swapped out and the room itself, while not as large as the Courtyard, has a better arrangement of furniture and is definitely a better working space and a more comfortable bathroom & shower.
Yesterday, completely out of the blue, their sales director emailed me to apologize for not realizing I was there on a corporate group account, sent a bottle of wine & sparkling water with glasses to my room with a personalized greeting card, and offered to move me to a room away from the 101 today, as there would be additional rooms available shortly. OK, I can deal with this.
The Hyatt itself is near, well, nothing but more hotels: a Crowne Plaza, a Holiday Inn, a few non-chain places. There's not much available in the way of restaurants or shopping so the food I have in my room I bought at the Safeway near my office during lunch.
It's the commute to & from work which is annoying. There's no escaping some driving on the 101, butpklexton pointed me to Third Street which I can use to minimize the highway congestion. The on/off ramps for my hotel is a nightmare but I figured that out after a few panic attacks. Still, walking 100 feet the Courtyard Marriott to work will always be a tough act to top.
BTW, my car this trip is a Kia Soul, a cube-like car which has actually been pretty nice. It handles well, has a quiet & smooth ride, has great surrounding visibility and appears to be light on fuel although I can't say I've driven it enough to really have a good handle on that quiet yet.
Heading out to lunch now... more to come later.
When I booked my tickets back in February, it was going to be a normal trip to visit with the team, work on some joint projects and help out in the Santa Clara data center. Since then, my original manager left the team, the new manager's father died so he's gone to Hawaii to settle the estate and another guy left the firm. Our team of six is now a team of three and I'm filling in as interim manager. This is definitely not a normal trip.
Among other little challenges, the powers-that-be have declared that my official hotel will be the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, about a four mile drive from the office. I used to stay at the Marriott Courtyard, immediately adjacent to the office so I'm not really keen on the longer commute. Fortunately, it's not turn out to be as bad as it could be.
When I made the hotel reservation, my firm hadn't issued me the group code for our corporate rates so the Hyatt had no clue I was there on business and was therefore going to charge me for both Internet and parking. The kind desk clerk, however, waived both for me, noting that I was a Hyatt Honours member. That I looked like an unkept, sleep-deprived drowned rat at the time might have elicited a small sympathy response too.
My room is on the 6th floor but it faces outwards instead of into the beautiful interior atrium. Not a big deal, but my external view is directly onto 101 and the noise levels are a bother. And the room has feather pillows --I'm allergic to feathers. Still, the pillows were swapped out and the room itself, while not as large as the Courtyard, has a better arrangement of furniture and is definitely a better working space and a more comfortable bathroom & shower.
Yesterday, completely out of the blue, their sales director emailed me to apologize for not realizing I was there on a corporate group account, sent a bottle of wine & sparkling water with glasses to my room with a personalized greeting card, and offered to move me to a room away from the 101 today, as there would be additional rooms available shortly. OK, I can deal with this.
The Hyatt itself is near, well, nothing but more hotels: a Crowne Plaza, a Holiday Inn, a few non-chain places. There's not much available in the way of restaurants or shopping so the food I have in my room I bought at the Safeway near my office during lunch.
It's the commute to & from work which is annoying. There's no escaping some driving on the 101, but
pklexton pointed me to Third Street which I can use to minimize the highway congestion. The on/off ramps for my hotel is a nightmare but I figured that out after a few panic attacks. Still, walking 100 feet the Courtyard Marriott to work will always be a tough act to top.BTW, my car this trip is a Kia Soul, a cube-like car which has actually been pretty nice. It handles well, has a quiet & smooth ride, has great surrounding visibility and appears to be light on fuel although I can't say I've driven it enough to really have a good handle on that quiet yet.
Heading out to lunch now... more to come later.
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no subject
Date: 2013-03-08 09:19 pm (UTC)A Kia Soul is the vehicle that Mr Avis decided last Thanksgiving corresponded to the specification "compact or subcompact" that has been on my profile for over a decade now. I was not favourably impressed - had I wanted a soccermommobile, I would have booked one. it was not easy to park in underground carparks with frequent concrete pillars. Let me know how you did.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-09 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-09 10:10 pm (UTC)I've been driving Kent's minivans for years so I find navigating with the Soul to be a breeze. It even handles better than my Honda Civic.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-10 02:56 am (UTC)When I pointed out that this was not a compact, as ordered and contracted, the clerk got quite petulant, as if their inventory control issues were of MY generation: "this happens all the time, you KNOW we get very few compacts shipped in..." [eyeroll. This has actually got to the point I think I need to complain further up the ladder]
So... I'm driving a Kia Soul myself right now. It's not the nicest thing to park (though it *does* have a reverse-movement camera), and it's NOT a compact, and I continue to be unfavourably impressed. Especially after I gassed up this evening, prior to returning it, and the gas gauge didn't return to F.
[mutter mutter downfall of western civilisation grumble...]
no subject
Date: 2013-03-09 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-09 05:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-09 07:26 am (UTC)