Tag: Hotel Reviews

Blog Notes

Kootenay Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Good day! These are just a few notes that have been building up inside that need to be removed.

First off, returning to blogging and writing. My first impression is Holy Crap, the format here has changed radically. Going to take some time to relearn some things and become a proficient user once again. Similarly, the site’s look needs some updating, which is a second learning experience. I think I’m up for it.

Second is the format of the site itself. Lori and I have visited many places, but nothing recently other than Mexico. The travel side of things will consist mainly of recent reviews and photos in Mexico, mixed with some of our movements around our places in Alberta and British Columbia. I have a few items on Mazatlan that I am currently working on, which should drop over the next few weeks.

I will also review all the sites I have on all social media, delete some, and connect everything left to this brand. This is another goal that may take some time. It is amazing how these collect, almost like they self generate.

Another big part of our life is music. Posts will appear regularly and highlight new music, independent music, Canadian music and some top 10 list things. I did some interview work with a magazine I once affiliated with, mostly independent artists, and I will try to get back to that somehow. I have a couple of dormant X and Facebook sites with many artists that I follow and follow back, and I will work to revive them and renew some contacts.

A third set of topics will involve our journey to retirement. It is not so much an advice column but more of a journal of how we are moving to retirement and how our progress toward that goal is coming along.

Another feature that we will include is to share our favourite recipes and wines. Cooking is therapy, and wine augments the experience.

In closing, we look forward to touching base with everybody and will try to be a much more regular contributor, while learning to put forward a quality product. That will take some time.

Mazatlán- Getting There – The Calgary Part

User:Qyd:Qyd, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

This year’s adventure to Mazatlán began on December 29 with a stay at the former Wyndham Garden Hotel. Now a Hotel 11. As always, we chose to stay at an airport hotel because the flight departs in the morning. We have stayed at this hotel several times as it has a good restaurant and is in great shape. Since our last stay, Wyndham sold the property to Sonesta Hotels, who have branded it as Hotel 11. A great rate, excellent service and the same great food. Our rate for the night was $151.95, tax in. Had a few vino’s, so supper almost matched the room rate. Our bad. Check them out at the link; it’s recommended.

Hotel 11, MOD Sonesta – Calgary Hotel with Airport Shuttle | Sonesta

The next step is the flight.  As usual, we flew in on WestJet.  It is pretty much the only game in town from Calgary.  There is Sunwing as an alternative, but they are now owned by WestJet and have some limitations that are not good for us. It is cheaper, but one-way travel is not allowed, and changing flights is next to impossible.  As we are there for 3 months or so, this restriction is not a good thing.  We book as one way in each direction instead of round trips to give us the flexibility to head home earlier or later, especially for urgent personal reasons.

We caught our shuttle and arrived at the airport with a 3-hour window.  As we check in online, we ditch the lineups at the counters and proceed directly to the self-check-in kiosks.  We generated our bag tags, dumped our luggage at the baggage chute, and headed into security.  Security can cause a hiccup or 2, but we sailed through and headed for breakfast.  The Tim Hortons and Starbucks are always full, so we use the Vin Room in case we want a mimosa or a nice chardonnay at 8:00 in the morning (You have to love air travel).   The buzz in airports is unique.  People everywhere around are excited, nervous or bored.  Sitting in a restaurant eating breakfast and people-watching is a great way to kill time before boarding.  The Vin Room is a Calgary restaurant/wine bar with 3 locations; this (obviously) is the airport location.  Food is good and reasonably priced for an airport.  The service is excellent as well.  Breakfast was around $50.00, with tips and taxes and no wine.  Another recommendation to check out if you are flying out of Calgary. Check them out at the link below.

Vin Room

Photo by Timur Saglambilek: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wine-glass-bottle-87224/