Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort in Santa Barbara, CA

Summer is the best time to leave Phoenix--the weather is beautiful just about everywhere else in North America, but well over 100 in the Valley of the Sun. This year I decided to follow the lead of others and escape to a beach in California. I'd never been to Santa Barbara, so I decided to check out the city. A little research led to the discovery that I could redeem Hilton points for a property right across from the water. The hotel was called The Fess Parker when I booked my trip, but the name changed to Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort by the time I stayed. With the change having taken place only a few months prior to my visit, there were still some temporary signs and the gift shop had discounted Fess Parker merchandise. I'm not sure what renovations went along with the name change, but the place was stunning. Even the elevator was ornate. And despite no longer being branded The Fess Parker, there are still pictures honoring the actor throughout the main level.

Before my arrival I called the hotel to get details on the free airport shuttle (the shuttle also goes to the Amtrak station) that runs 5am-9pm. The person who answered the phone took my flight information and assured me the shuttle would be there. It was! I was greeted by name with a bottle of water. The driver told me a bit about the area as we made the quick drive to the hotel. Everyone at the hotel also greeted me by name and made me feel incredibly welcome. The lobby was absolutely gorgeous with plenty of plush chairs and sofas.

Off one of the corridors were a couple of computers for guest use as well as an ATM.

I expected to leave my bag at the desk as I'd arrived well before check-in time, but was instead told that my King Bed Mountain View was upgraded to a Partial Ocean View and was ready for me. My stay was booked with points, so that eliminated the resort fee; it also apparently eliminated my receiving a glass of house wine that's a part of the resort fee though I was given two bottles of water at check-in.

My room on the second floor of the main building (which is where the adjoining rooms are) was quite large, but fairly standard hotel fare. The bed, sofa (which pulled out for an additional bed), and armchair were all comfortable.

Two bottles of wine and an opener were on the table next to the armchair; there was a charge, of course, if the bottles were opened.

There were also two bottles of water that could be purchased for an outrageous $7/bottle plus a coffee maker (fortunately, the coffee and tea were free).

Additionally there was a desk/chair combo and a dresser with a TV on top. The TV was set to be viewed from the sofa. It wasn't on a swivel stand, so I had to angle it myself to see it from the bed. The dresser contained a small safe and a mini-fridge. It would've been nice to have a microwave to heat up my leftover food, but I was glad for the mini-fridge.

While I found the view to be more pool than ocean, the sizeable balcony was great to sit on.

I had two chairs and a small table on the relatively private balcony. I could hear guests at the pool if I left the sliding glass door open, but it was pretty quiet with the door closed.

What I really appreciated was the number of easily accessible outlets--both bathroom sinks (there was one sink outside the shower/toilet area) had outlets and the four lamps (two of which were on the bedside tables) had them as well plus the alarm clock had two USB ports. And speaking of the bathroom, I loved that the mirror in the shower section had light all around. Otherwise the bathroom, which had a shower (no tub), had the standard Hilton shampoo/conditioner/lotion/soap along with a hair dryer. In the bathroom area there was a closet with hangers, an iron and ironing board, and an extra pillow and blanket.

One complaint (other than the lack of a swivel TV stand) was the touchscreen control for the air conditioning. It took me a moment to figure out that it was the control for air, especially since it was partially hidden by a lamp. After I was settled, I walked around the property to see where the Mountain View rooms were. The mountains were pretty, but the rooms primarily look at the parking lot and other buildings so I was more than pleased with my upgrade.

With my gold status at Hilton, I was entitled to a continental breakfast each morning at The Roundhouse. Each morning I gave my last name and room number to the hostess who gave me a cardboard ticket to "pay" for my breakfast.

The continental breakfast buffet consisted of the standards: fruit, yogurt, pastries, cereal, and oatmeal (plus warm, watery cottage cheese that I only took a bite of). The menu indicated the price was $21 which would've been quite overpriced. The Roundhouse offers the opportunity to upgrade the standard buffet to one that includes eggs and meats or one can order breakfast foods like omelets, but I stuck with my free meal.

The Roundhouse, which had seating both indoors and out, was the only one of the resort's restaurants that disappointed me. The food just wasn't that great, especially for the price. I'm glad I didn't pay anything extra for it.

I had an excellent cheese plate at Rodney's Grill and a variety of great food (and drinks!) at The Set. The service at all three was excellent.

Another great part of this resort is the wine tasting room (which is closed on Mondays). The tasting room features 16 different Santa Barbara wines (the wines rotate, so check the menu). Some were low-end and some were high-end, but all were wonderful. My favorite was The Big Easy. By doing the wine tasting you can get a discount on a bottle or a meal at Rodney's Grill.

Not being much of an athletic person, I didn't use the tennis courts or the bicycles available to rent.

The pool got some use--it was never too crowded. One nice feature of the pool was a private shower that can only be accessed by hotel key card.

Another amenity I never make use of is the gym. To my surprise though, plenty of other hotel guests were using it when I peeked in. It's much larger than the hotel gyms I usually see--this one had multiple machines. I did consider having a spa service, but in the end, ran out of time. The pedicure area looked really nice though.

For parking, the hotel offers self and valet with charges on both. If someone is traveling via an electric vehicle, they're in luck because there's a number of charging stations. And if you're renting a car, there is a car rental desk in the lobby.

The Club at PHX at Sky Harbor Airport

Update: The Club at PHX closed in 2019.

Although I usually fly out of Sky Harbor’s Terminal 4, I only recently had the chance to use the Priority Pass lounge there because the hours were previously limited. Until earlier this year, The Club at PHX was only open for Priority Pass users from 8am-3:30pm which didn’t work for me as I typically fly very early or very late. Last month I finally got to check out the lounge now that the hours are 5am-11:30pm.

The lounge is upstairs from the Concourse B boarding area. Although there are no bathrooms in the lounge, small ones are located just outside the door. As I approached the entry, a woman greeted me and asked to see my ID, Priority Pass card, and boarding pass. With it being just after the opening time of 5am, I ended up being the only person there for about 30 minutes. Though it was nice to have the space to myself, it also meant the bartender was no where to be found. He eventually showed up as others filtered in.

The selection of breakfast food was pretty good—fresh fruit, yogurt, and pastries plus shelf-stable foods like granola bars and oatmeal. Of course, there was also a sign indicating that the food should only be consumed while in the lounge. Non-alcoholic beverages like coffee, tea, and water were also available.

There were plenty of comfortable chairs, but no outlets located at these chairs. The computers and a few hi-tops had outlets, but these were not anywhere near as comfortable or convenient. If it had been a high traffic time, it’s likely that people would’ve been waiting to use outlets. In addition to the lack of outlets, there's no monitor to check flight information although there was a TV tuned to a cable news channel. The Club at PHX is a decent enough airport lounge, but I would've been disappointed had my entry fee not been a perk of one of my credit cards.

Old Town Trolley Tour in Nashville, TN

One of the things I’d enjoyed on my trip to San Diego in 2017 was the trolley tour, so I decided to do it again in Nashville. The same company runs the tour in both cities, but the Nashville trolleys were much larger (and quite crowded—sometimes a backup had to be sent) and more like buses with the seats being progressively elevated the further back one sits. Unlike San Diego, where the stops are quite spread out, many of the stops in Nashville were only a few blocks from each other. This came in handy when the stop in front of the Goo Goo Shop and Johnny Cash Museum ended up being skipped because of road construction. Unfortunately there were no signs indicating the stop wouldn’t be utilized. When I made the full tour run, the driver did announce the closure at the stop with the main ticket booth but with this being hop-on/off, I started in the middle. The man who redeemed my all-access pass at the ticket booth near the Ryman didn’t mention it.

Because many of the stops were so close, this tour isn’t as good of a deal for someone who wants to use it as transportation around the city. The focus really is on downtown, but I appreciated the information shared on the tour. I had no idea how severe the damage had been with the 2010 flooding. The drivers did a great job conveying how incredible the restoration has been.

One of the few non-walking distance stops is for the Belmont mansion. The mansion was undergoing renovation which closed off the upper level, but the docent related an amazing history that shouldn’t be missed by anyone wanting to learn the story of one Civil War-era family that was very much headed by a woman. Many of the pieces in the mansion including the artwork are original. The work the museum staff has done to track down those original works is remarkable.

Some of the other tour highlights are: Country Music Hall of Fame, Musicians Hall of Fame, Parthenon, and numerous bars with local musicians playing.

The stops were well-marked and the directions given on the website made it easy to find each one. Note though that there’s more than one tour company running in downtown Nashville and the stops are sometimes in the same place or very close to each other.

Hampton Inn & Suites Nashville @ Opryland in Nashville, TN

When I found out the cast of Nashville was performing a farewell show at the Grand Ole Opry, I figured it was an excellent way to knock two things off my bucket list at once (I wanted to see a show there and Tennessee was a state I hadn't yet been to). With my vacation request approved and my ticket ordered, I needed a hotel. I first considered Gaylord Opryland, where I did end up spending a lot of time (the free fountain show is amazing), but decided to instead stay at the nearby Hampton. The Hampton at Opryland had a few advantages over the Marriott property. I have gold status there (and could use points to pay) plus the Hampton offers free breakfast and a free shuttle that goes on request to both the airport (7am-9pm) and Opryland (7:30am-9:30pm). There's also shuttle service to downtown through a third party which I believe was $10/roundtrip. I didn't use the pay shuttle, but it would've been a good price considering what I would've paid for the ride share service I used had I not had a discount code.

I took the red-eye into Nashville in order to maximize my time in the city which meant I arrived at the hotel well before the normal check-in time of 4pm. The staff was very accommodating though. It took no time for the shuttle driver to arrive at the airport and I was able to check my bag at the front desk while I headed to The Hermitage. I was able to get into a room when I returned about 2pm.

The lobby was cute with a music theme that continued throughout the hotel.

My room--a standard king--was very spacious and included a microwave and mini-fridge. I don't always use those amenities, but this time it was great to have because one of the shuttle drivers made an excellent restaurant recommendation. Caney Fork was a short walk from the hotel (on the way to Opryland), but the portion size was a little large and I was glad to have the microwave and fridge for the leftovers. (If you're looking for something a bit quicker than a sit-down restaurant, there's a McDonald's across the hotel parking lot.)

Additionally, the room had a desk with office chair plus one more chair (without arms) and a bench at the end of the bed. There were two nightstands with lamps--one nightstand had an alarm clock while the other had a phone and chargepoint with two outlets, one standard USB, and one tablet USB connection.

In the bathroom there was a large shower and a vanity with adequate counter space for two people. In addition to the standard shampoo/conditioner/lotion/soap, there was a makeup remover wipe and hair dryer. Across from the vanity was the coffeemaker with packets of coffee and tea (more variety was available in the breakfast area).

The morning breakfast features the make-your-own waffles setup and other hot options like eggs and oatmeal plus single-serve boxes of cereal, fruit, and yogurt. For those who want something as they head out, Hampton properties have On the Run breakfast bags. I love these because there's a bottle of water, fruit (usually an apple), muffin, and a snack bar.

Parking is free and there's ample room. The hotel has a small fitness center, a small business center, and a pool (which was closed for the winter). I very much enjoyed my stay and the hospitality of the staff.