Tag Archives: biz travel

Summer of Suck 2.0 – Part Five: The Giant Jug

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If you’re just tuning in, start here.

As news of my adrenal mass started to sink in, I realized it was time to start making plans. I drafted Mom to take care of me (obviously) for the period when I’ll be in the hospital for surgery and immediately after, and I thought about how to tell the people at work. Knowing that I will be out of commission post-op for four to six weeks, I made plans for some essential business travel.

So there I was in Los Angeles, one of my favorite places. It was a productive trip with lots of meetings and a little fun in the form of attending After Paradise again (thanks Millsy!). I met two charming ladies, Catherine Giudici Lowe and Katie Lowes of Scandal, and one handsome man, Samuel Lowe.

 

He’s so cute!

Samuel 20160823_191237 edit

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Since you’ve been gone (Part 3)

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First read Part 1 and Part 2.

This final installment is probably the most boring because I worked nearly non-stop.

Nearly. And then I went on vacation. More on that soon – honest.

Third stop: San Francisco

I packed for cool, rainy weather. Naturally neither condition materialized. But I’m not complaining.

While I was in SF, I met Tommy Lee. He was very nice and is, apparently, quite the foodie.*

Tommy Lee

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Since you’ve been gone

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This is Part 1 of a three- or four-part post. We’ll see how things go.

OK, it was actually ME who was gone.

Sorry for the silence and also the lack of warning. First, I was distracted by this.

Then I went on an epic thirteen-day, four-stop business trip that was preceded by an additional one-night business trip. All told, I stayed in six hotels and one apartment (his, twice) between January 27 and February 11. It was a LOT, even by my standards of biz travel.

Here are a few pics and stories from the first stop of the trip, Palm Springs, for the curious.

Palm Springs

 

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I went to London

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London is awesome.

Even sick. I sampled the United Kingdom’s very best over-the-counter drugs.

Sick tableau

It could have been worse. I was the kind of sick you work through, not sick in bed. When I wasn’t working, I snapped a few photos.

Poppies for Remembrance Day
Had a nice breakfast here
Memorial
Marylebone
Selfridge’s
Oxford Street
Harrod’s at night
Cruising under London Bridge

I stayed at the elegant Landmark in Marylebone, and enjoyed meals at Roka, The Grazing Goat, and Coco Momo. And for the most part, I paid a pretty penny–London is not cheap!

Next stop: London

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Later today, I’m heading to London.Cheerio

I had planned to hammer out several kick-ass blog posts (or, at the very least, play catch-up) on the long flight. Alas, my flight doesn’t have wifi.

Can you imagine? In this day and age?!

While I’m up in the air, please enjoy these posts you may have missed and some new reads too.

Five more things I’d do if I owned a hotel

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As you might already know, I travel a lot. These trips give me lots of opinions on how hotels should be set up to best accommodate guests.

Fort Lauderdale balcony

Here are a few more things I’d do if I owned a hotel. You can read the original list here.

1. Dump the rain style shower heads. Continue reading →

Business travel isn’t always glamorous 2.0

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Picture it: your heroine is on yet another business trip.

She exits the airport. It’s February and yet her hair frizzes instantly. Welcome to Texas is the message.

TX truck

Her dealings require that she stay at a Texas mega resort complex near the airport.

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The beauty in business travel

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“Don’t you get lonely?”

“No, Mom. Not at all,” I paused.

“Actually there was one solo trip that was awful but it was a four-day conference in Las Vegas and my hotel wasn’t very nice. Vegas is a terrible place to be alone.”

I quickly regretted telling the truth. My mother–who I adore–would surely remember the vulnerability I just exposed every time I boarded a plane in the future, peppering me with questions about loneliness.

Sigh. Mom was still the master. Would I ever learn?

*   *   *

The trip had been a long one. Two days started when the alarm sounded at 5:30 am. I am not a morning person.

On this trip, I spent one day in particular feeling out of sorts. I didn’t know what constituted appropriate attire for this work event and ultimately, I chose wrong. Worse, my clothes seemed too tight. I didn’t like what I saw each time I caught sight of my reflection.

I felt old. And I was in fact older than some of the colleagues in attendance. Some of them were of the smug married variety in spite of being younger than me.

Self doubt had me squirming for a good five hours straight. I couldn’t wait to be alone with no one looking at my dumb outfit or my bad hair day.

When the event ended, I was free to head back to my hotel. But soon after I got in my rental car, I took a detour.

SF 20130923_163052

I drove due west until I arrived at cliffs overlooking the Pacific coast.

SF

 

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Business travel isn’t always glamorous

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If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I enjoy my trips to Los Angeles. I have favorite hotels, restaurants and people to see.

Sometimes the trips don’t go quite as planned though. Case in point: this most recent trip.

The weather was mostly terrible. The exception was Saturday. I flew out a day early to see a college friend and her family.

MB

My favorite hotel, Andaz WeHo was priced above my daily limit for LA so I  stayed at a new-to-me hotel, a Kimpton property.

I checked into the Hotel Wilshire Sunday afternoon. Continue reading →

I fell in love (with a hotel)

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How hotels can make guests want to return over and over again.

  • When a guest checks in and implies that they’re having a bad day, upgrade their room.
  • Be popular with celebrities so other guests get a star sighting or two during their stay. But greet every guest – celebrity and civilian – with the same warmth and professionalism.
  • Don’t charge for wireless.
  • Offer good hair dryers.
  • Have a cute little cafe on a terrace near a sun-splashed pool.
  • …and a gym with a pool view offering beverages, headphones and working equipment.
  • When you hear that a guest [politely] logged a noise complaint in the middle of the night, comp the $45 room service breakfast when she checks out even though she didn’t bring it up. Tell her you picked the suite you gave her for its quiet and that you’re sorry for what happened.

The Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills did all of things and more. A front desk employee named Kris bowled me over with his kindness. Thanks, Kris!

After the awful experience I had at my original LA hotel this trip, the Four Seasons made my trip end on a happy note–all for only $30 per night more than the Ant Hotel.*

Enjoy a few pics I took during my too brief stay at the gorgeous Four Seasons.

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*I get a corporate rate through my company. 

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