Scottsdale Courtyard by Marriott

So I recently stayed in the Courtyard by Marriott in Scottsdale, AZ on North Scottsdale Blvd. Typical Courtyard, however there was a twist. You could order room service from a local restaraunt "The Tilted Kilt", and have the order charged to your room. It was pretty good food, I had the William Wallace Beef Salad with Bleu Cheese. They came in about 45 minutes, and the beef on top was still hot, and not too expensive.

For some reason, I got a handicapped accessible room again. I know I am a big man, but this is getting ridiculous:)

If you are going to be in North Scottsdale, you can't go wrong with this Courtyard.

Next Book

Roadside Crosses by Jeffrey Deaver.

I just picked this one up today, and I only have 2 short flights left in the week, so don't be suprised if it takes me until next week to get through it.

"Long Lost", Harlan Coben

So I finished Long Lost last night,and all in all a good book. I have always enjoyed Mr. Coben's Myron Bolitar series, and I was not let down by this story. If you are looking for his regular cast of characters, they are there, but not as much as I had seen in previous books. Win is scattered throughout, Big Cindy and Little Pocahantas don't really come in until the end, and his parents are almost non-existent.

It has been a long time since I had read one of Myron's adventures (I think it has been at least 3 years since the last one came out, and I have read them all). However nothing was lost in the great way Mr. Coben tells the story, with humor and the ever-present plot twists. I recommend the book for a long plane flight, or ashort vacation, as it only took me about 4 hours total to get through the book.

Happy Reading

Coming Soon

Harlan Coben's "Long Lost"

Back Cover:
It begins with an early-morning phone call.

An old flame wakes Myron Bolitar from sleep. Terese Collins is in Paris, and she needs his help- no questions answered. In her debt, Myron makes the trip and learns of a decadelong secret: Terese once had a daughter, who died in a car accident. Now it seems as though that daughter may be alive-and tied to a sinister plot with shocking global implications.

Percy Jackson Series

I have been reading my son's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series books. I was pleasantly surprised to find them incredibly interesting, and difficult to put down. Just so I a clear, they are definitely targeted at teens and pre-teens as far as content and story go, but they are also a good read. Book 1, The Lightning Thief (also a major motion picture) is the best of the four I have read so far. The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, and The Labarynth are the next three in order also good, but begin to get a little predictable and repetitive, but still good reads. I am waiting for my son to finish the last one, so I can sink my teeth into it.

First Post

My name is Craig, I am a road/air warrior for a virtualization company on the west coast. I have been covering the west 13 states as a sales director for the last 10 years, for several large companies. I thought I would start a blog to share reviews from the road on hotels, books, airports, etc. If you like it, subscribe, if you don't know worries.

My latest trip took me from Portland to Los Angeles (LAX, quite possibly the worst airport on the west coast, and I am sure it contends with the worst in the world). I had the pleasure of staying in one of downtown LA's newest Hotels. The JW Marriott at 900 W. Olympic Blvd. In a word, stunning, I saw it from the freeway as the newest addition to downtown's fledgline skyline. In a word it has a stunning appeal, it looks like a wave rising out of the Western end of downtown. Getting to it exactly confused my verizon GPS unit, but I eventually made it to the front door. As beautiful indoors as out. There are 2 restaurants on the main floor, however we could only find one. A limited menu, but the chop salad was fantastic, and my lunch companion enjoyed the turkey club sandwich. The fries that came with the sandwich were delicious and additictive. The rooms were well appointed and large, with very comfortable beds. The rooms had very spacious bathrooms, with a large tiled shower, and a high mounted shower head that rained down quite pleasantly. The hotel overall was a nice change to the endless number of non-descipt rooms that I usually stay in. There were really only a few things I didn't like: 1) the alarm clock was not illuminated, this could have been fixable, but I didn't realize it until the middle of the night, and I wasn't about to try and do any troubleshooting at that time, 2) there was no gift shop in the lobby. I like to be able to buy a soda, or breath mints without leaving a property, especially in downtown LA. It was a little pricey $249 + tax and tourism fees, and valet was $38 + the ubiquitous tip.

Now I am boarding my afternoon flight for Phoenix out of John Wayne, a much nicer airport than LAX, but still no food worth a darn.

Talk to you later!