My evening of July 9 was filled with the kind of mundane frustration that can come only from delayed travel. My husband and I were set to fly from New York City to Chicago and Chicago to Marquette, Michigan. Our flight out of New York kept getting pushed back and, despite receiving a seat on a plane leaving earlier than our original flight to Chicago, we still missed our connection in Chicago – the last flight to Marquette for the day. Since the delays were weather-related, we received a coupon for a hotel rather than a voucher. We found the shuttle and lugged our bags toward the long line at the Comfort Inn O’Hare. Once we had our key, we went to our room and opened the door only to find that we’d been placed in the hotel conference room.Just beyond the gigantic oval table and whiteboard was a normal hotel bed. My husband called the front desk to make sure there hadn’t been a mistake. They said we got the last room in the hotel because many passengers had been stranded in Chicago that evening and received airline coupons for the hotel. I wasn’t at all perturbed. Having to wait around all day for delayed and missed flights only to be put up in an airport hotel is boring. This, on the other hand, was new.
A follow-up call with the hotel manager revealed that this “Conference Room Suite” is always available for guests to rent and that under normal circumstances, it costs more, too. Although I didn’t see the room as a booking option on their website, business travelers occasionally choose this room over others. Distressed passengers typically stay in the room only if the hotel has been hit hard with delayed and canceled flights and has nowhere else to put guests.
Aside from the leaking ceiling and distance between the bed and television, I was happy to stay in the conference room. Not only did it give me a roof over my head for the night, but it gave me a good story, too. Have you ever been placed in an unusual hotel room?
I can probably be kicked out of Colorado for admitting this, but I’m just not that into bikes. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve been lugging my vintage, fixed-gear cruiser around for over 21 years. Even though I rarely ride it these days because I live in hilly Boulder, I’m devoted to it. But mountain biking and road cycling plain freak me out, and in this state, that’s like saying you hate snow.
So, when my friend S. urged me to join her on an 18-mile bike ride down Aspen’s Rio Grande Trail to the former mining town of Basalt, I was dubious. I didn’t learn to ride a bike until I was 7. I have terrible balance. What about getting back up valley? Still, there was the allure of flying down a riverside path in the high Rockies on a summer’s day. I caved.
The Rio Grande Trail is a part of the former Denver-Rio Grande Railroad bed. It starts at Aspen’s Herron Park, just off Main Street on the east end of town, and runs the length of the Roaring Fork Valley, all the way down to Glenwood Springs, 41 miles away. The trail, especially the Aspen-to-Basalt leg, is enormously popular with cyclists, walkers, and runners and, in winter, cross-country skiers.
Last week, I met up with S. in Aspen. It was a bluebird day, one that begged for a picnic or al fresco lunch. Our plan of action, after picking up two titanium, single-gear cruisers, was to ride down to the nearby community of Woody Creek (home of the late Hunter S. Thompson), and hit the Woody Creek Tavern (bar of the late Hunter S. Thompson) for lunch. Their famous hamburgers and a margarita on the patio are an Aspen summer staple. Alternatively, if you want some truly excellent breakfast pastries or picnic bread, take a slight detour over to Louis’ Swiss Bakery in the Aspen Business Center.
The first mile of the Rio Grande Trail runs alongside the Roaring Fork River. This time of year, the vegetation is lush: wildflowers are in full bloom, and the aspens and pines provide ample shade. You’ll cross a wooden bridge or two, and after about five minutes, the pedestrians disperse, and can really start moving (do watch out for other bikers, stay in your lane and always wear a helmet).
After about 15 minutes, we arrived at the Tavern, which is essentially a roadhouse/bar/tribute to all that’s weird (there’s a reason Thompson was a regular). The burgers really are all that, if nothing fancy, and the Mexican dishes also win raves.
Post-lunch, we hopped back on our bikes and rode to Basalt, which has become an alluring little hamlet in its own right. Don’t expect much in the way of excitement, but it’s a cute, quiet place to kick back for a few days, and enjoy the many outdoor activities the Roaring Fork Valley has to offer.
The ride from Woody Creek to Basalt changes from sub-alpine terrain to open valley and ranchland. Horses and cattle graze ipeacefully, and the rust-red hematite cliffs so indicative of this region loom to the right. Below us, on our left, was the river. The path remained smooth and the light was so bright it almost hurt. I started to remember why I’d been hauling my old cruiser around with me all these years. Being on a bike was exhilarating, especially in a place so geographically blessed. I certainly didn’t care that I wasn’t hammering it on half-track.
When we reached Basalt, S. and I pulled into a nondescript business park. We’d decided to cap off our ride with a visit to the the four-month old Woody Creek Distillers (they’re killing it with their whiskeys and vodka made with Colorado-grown ingredients, including Polish Stobrawa potatoes farmed up-valley on co-owner Pat Scanlan’s family farm.
The gorgeous, state-of-the-art distillery houses a gleaming, copper-and-stainless steel German still, which can be viewed from the tasting room. Distillery manager David Matthews walked us through a whiskey tasting, which made me long for an accompanying wedge of bandage-wrapped farmstead goat cheddar from Basalt’s own Avalanche Cheese Company (pick some up at Whole Foods just north of Basalt, off of Highway 82, along with some famous Palisade peaches, grown just over the mountains on the Western Slope).
Back in Boulder, I paid a visit to my dusty cruiser, which has been languishing in the basement for nearly a year now. I’m going back up to Aspen in September to see the fall foliage; my newly-tuned up bike will be making the trip with me. Thanks, S.
The details
If you’re not bringing your own bike, the best place for rentals in the Aspen/Snowmass area is Four Mountain Sports (various locations). Note that many Aspen hotels, like the The Little Nell (which will comp rentals September through the first snow), have bike rentals for guests. The easiest way to return to Aspen is to catch the Roaring Fork Transit Authority (RFTA) bus from Basalt.
Happy Friday, everyone. We’re reporting live from East Hampton, where the beach town is currently under the same oppressive heat wave as much of the East Coast. In that spirit, we’re attempting to cool things down with some chill hotel news of the week.
If you’re new to “Hotel News We Noted,” this weekly column tracks our favorite interesting, wacky, weird and wonderful news of each week in the hospitality space.
Cool Opening: Hotel Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach
Accor’s upscale brand, Pullman, has launched their latest property and fifth in Thailand, Hotel Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach. Nestled on Naithon Beach, one of the prettiest parts of the West Coast of Thailand, the property offers some spectacular vistas – waterfalls and vantage points over the Andaman Sea, plus amenities like gratis Wi-Fi, Nespresso machines, a spa, two restaurants and four bars. Plus, there’s plenty of room. The hotel offers 277 rooms, including seven spacious suites.
Big Booking News: Stayful, A Cool Approach To Boutique Hotels
Love boutique hotels? Try Stayful, a new online travel site focused exclusively on booking stays at independent boutique hotels. Through a proprietary bidding system, Stayful offers last-minute discounts on boutique properties and is backed by former executives from Expedia, Hotels.com and Joie de Vivre. Properties included in the initial beta include some of our favorites – New York’s Standard High Line, Hotel on Rivington and Gansevoort Park Avenue, as well as San Francisco’s Hotel Diva and Hotel Fusion. The site just launched on July 17, but we’re excited to see how it continues to develop.
What Summer Travelers Want In A Hotel: Pools, AC
A new study by Kayak shows the top amenities that summer travelers want in a hotel. Not shockingly, pools and air-conditioning top the list – and the order is flip-flopped for those traveling internationally. Not all European hotels are air conditioned, so it’s well worth checking on that tidbit of information. Other top amenities include an airport shuttle, parking and Internet.
Would you be willing to shack up with a complete stranger to save a few bucks on accommodation? If you’re the adventurous sort, you can do just that on a new website called Easynest, which matches up single travelers who don’t mind sharing a hotel room. Users set up a profile or use their Facebook profile and can post a hotel room they have booked and want to share or browse to see what other users are offering.
For example, a young Greek woman named Antigone wants to share a $200 room at the Milford Plaza Hotel in New York in December, someone named JC James wants to share a $60 room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Overland Park, Kansas, and a child who appears to be approximately 18 months old would like to share a $400 hotel room in Jakarta in July.
I’m a risk taker and I’ve spent plenty of nights at hostels around the world, but I don’t think I’d try my luck on a site like this one. Anyone can set up an innocuous looking profile online and then turn into a bloodthirsty Jeffrey Dahmer-esque cannibal once you turn the lights out. Would you be willing to give this site a try?
A man staying with his girlfriend at the Woodlands Resort in Houston may have forgotten about the silly request he made when booking, but the hotel didn’t. In the “Comments or Special Request” field, Dustin Wray asked for three single M&Ms (“One for me, one for my girlfriend, and one to split if we get hungry late at night”) and a picture of bacon set on the bed.
He added: “I love pictures of bacon.”
A month went by. The couple forgot about the request.
“I was quite confused when I walked in and saw three single red M&Ms,” wrote Wray, whose girlfriend started laughing at a framed picture of bacon on the bed. Things clicked, and Wray soon found himself posting to Imgur.com (below) and Reddit.
More people have stepped forward on Reddit to share tales of hotels going above and beyond, including one person who asked for (and received) a picture of a dinosaur on a pizza box. Last year, we posted about the Fairmont Winnipeg fulfilling a request for “a pre-made pillow fort and Vanilla Coke.”
According to Wray’s Facebook page, Woodlands Resort contacted him to thank him for the post and offer him a free stay at the hotel for all the positive publicity.
More proof that bacon and chocolate make everything better.
See the full slideshow of the bacon and the M&Ms below.