Hello all!
So, as you all know I posted a review of the clubhouse inn and suites. So for this blog I am just going to give you my review of the site www.kayake.com! I personally did not know about this site before my friends used it. Just goes to show the number of websites that are popping up that can be used to find a hotel or website. Here is an option on kayake that I have not noticed with other sites. I have not seen so blatant a thing saying hey look compare us to all these sites. As you see all the "popular" sites are there for you to compare their listings too.
What an interesting feature, If your looking to be a friendly site, then this would be the feature to use. So I guess we should test out the comparison feature they have here then eh?
So lets see here is the input selection area. I realize you might be able to type in there. But really all I did is copy and paste so you see what i'm going to comment on.
I put Albuquerque, NM march 31, to April 1st 1 room 1 guest. The first options that hotwire gave me is
Ok if you use kayake.com for anything I would say use it to do a broad spectrum search for your travel plans. I'm sure once you use the broad spectrum search you could even come up with some more in depth search on those Sites. The only thing that Kayake doesn't do is give you pictures of the hotel. That's kind of odd considering many Americans are driven by how the hotel looks, and the aesthetics of the place.
Security is another issue that can come up in this realm of websites. How safe is it to use these websites to book your hotel? People use them every single day, so it appears that this would be generally safe. Kayake has a page tells you what they offer security wise for their clients. This is the disclaimer they provide about security. Seems to a my limited IT knowledge that their process for protecting information they have stored is decent at least.
Kayak has a sophisticated security program intended to keep the information stored in our systems protected from unauthorized access. We store your information in secure data centers located in the United States. Our systems are configured with data encryption, or scrambling technologies and firewalls constructed to the highest industry standards. We also use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology that protects the data you send over the Internet. Third party security firms review our internal security policies and documentation regularly. The bottom line is, when it comes to information security, we mean business.
Overall I would say that Kayake is a good site. Out of all the sites, I would say this one is not the flashiest, but by far is the most informative.* In all of the recent research I have completed lately I have found that security should be at the top of everyone's minds when they using sites such as these to find hotels. The fact that Kayake has a legitimate programs that they use to encrypt and store your information is rather comforting to a consumer such as me
Hot off the presses Ladies and Gentlemen here is the review of the Clubhouse Inn and Suites.
My friends used the search engine www.kayake.com
For one night and 3 girls.. and 2 king sized beds. We got the room online for 80 bucks using kayake. Pretty Sweet deal if you ask me!
I forgot to take the picture of the hotel the night I went, but I promise you I took plenty of pictures of the rest of it, without the hotel figuring out what I did. Because of this I did not get a picture of the lobby and because I'm trying to be as reputable in these posts as possible I will make sure I add the picture's I actually took..
So first off we went and checked in. We were told our room is number 164 on the second floor of the apt. So, here it is, we go down this hall here to get to our room. Or what we assumed was our room!
When my friend was checking in, they "told" us our room was 154. What they really meant was room 164. But they keyed the cards for 154, and told us 154. Needless to say we were rather surprised to open the door and find someone else in our hotel room. Guest service- The ladies at the counter actually asked my friend Kimberly why she tried to open the wrong door. We were rather confused by this. Kimberly tried to nicely remind them they GAVE her the wrong room number. She then politely asked them if the keys open more then one door. They didn't like this question and responded " they shouldn't". Not the nicest ladies I have met at a hotel, but eh what can you do? This would be a case where i'm sure their database system is in fine working condition, but human error cause the mistake in the check in process. Even though I'm thinking this hotel could probably do with a more updated database system to keep track of which guest is where and which room is empty or filled.
Well my first impression walking into the hotel was that it smelled really nice! I know thats odd, but its kind of important, and probably means they actually clean it on a regular basis. So in case you cant see the rug here is what it looks like. I think its pretty much your regular albuquerque styles decor for a rug.
Obviously this hotel did their market research finding a pattern and type of carpet that will stand its wear and tear of the years a little bit easier then others. I find the design kinda nice. Then again this is the first time I have actually taken the time to look at the carpet and see if its really clean in a hotel that I am staying at. What do you all think? does the carpet look nice?
So the next step obviously is walking into the hotel room. My friends got into the room before I did. Se please excuse the stuff on the beds. Notice the copious amounts of pillows on the beds. I'm thinking somewhere down the line they did a focus group on what someone is looking for in a hotel bed, and they got the idea to put tons of pillows! Well I personally approve!
Ok so the only thing I would love to know is what the round pillow on there is for? and what is the point of the small skinny blanket at the end? Other then looks? If you going purely for looks here then the hotel is good!
So of course my next step is to check out the bathrooms! So here it goes!
Here is the shower down below. I would say that it was a very setup they they put in. the rod on the shower actually curved which mean more elbow room when you were taking showers. The shower also had a shelf that you could put your shampoo's and accessories onto. Take note how they have two soap holders there. One for when a person takes a bath, and one for when they take a shower. Very smart thinking indeed!
What's next Chelsey? you may ask? well I'll tell you. The next most important fixture is the desk. If you a student such as me you want something functional that you can cram a little bit of homework into before you spring break ends. so here is what the desk looks like.
Look here you have all the essentials, the folder with all the "necessary" important information, The essential table top lamp, the notepad and the phone. Seems to me its all in place. So of course I decided I should test out the wifi. So being a good sport I took a screen shot of my laptop and what the screen looked like when I tried to pull up the internet.
There you see over there the wifi on the screen, plus the terms of use that you have to click "I agree" to, in order to use the internet. So the question is. If your going to do something the hotel disagrees with. Are you really going to not click agree? Sure this connection is safe. But probably not as much as one would think.
Well lest you think I was at this hotel for nothing but taking pictures of random stuff in a hotel, we did get to have some fun! One of the deciding factors to choosing the hotel was the supposed Awesome jacuzzi they had. Yes it was indoors. Yes it was humongous. But was it all bubbly? Did all of the jets actually work in it? no! Some of them didn't. But alas, I cant tell you about the jacuzzi without proof I actually went to it. So here it is to end my post. It wasn't as hot as I am used to, felt more like lukewarm bath water, but after a while you were definitely jumping out trying to catch some cool air, so according to my friends. I should give this jacuzzi a thumbs up! Specially since there were actual towels down there for us to use. Although the bin for putting used blankets had roaches. Thats the online other thumbs down here.
Hello all! Yup! After a brief break in blogging I am back. This time I have some exciting news for all the albuquerque people. We have our water park back. Well, Kind of. Seeing as the theme of this blog is actually Hotel centric I thought I would share with you guys the post I just found on facebook about the Radisson hotel, and the very intriguing concept they have implemented into one of their hotels here in albuquerque!
Albuquerque The Radisson Hotel in Albuquerque opens New Mexico's only indoor water park today! Check out the link for special deals and packages for the water park.
Come celebrate in Albuquerque, where cheap family vacation packages are always available and inexpensive getaways are the rule, not the exception!
Is anybody else excited about this?? Years ago now Albuquerque used to have a waterpark, until slowly but surely it was closed due to lack of visitors/ income. I really find It interesting that the first mention I see of a waterpark in albuquerque, was found on this site.
So lets think about this reasonably. What can the hotel gain from having a Waterpark in their hotel? This means hiring more employee's and yes possibly lifeguards. At the mention of lifeguards, I would say that you need to look at the security in the hotel. Having a pool that is centric to having kids in them, means they should be posting disclaimers everywhere about how kids shouldn't run, or do cannonballs or something of that sort, and what they as the hotel are liable for if something SHOULD happen in case of an accident.
For most of my blogs I usually go through and give the readers the actual example of what I personally see when navigating the pages of the specific hotels, or websites that I am reviewing. For a Fresh little change, and perhaps my sanity I will only give you the one picture of the Hotel, and what the price looks like for the hotel after I put the inputs in. Is this ok with everyone?
Ok here is a cool shot of the water-park in the Radisson
I think that looks really inviting. they seem to have made a very atmosphere for the guests at their hotels. If I was a kid, this would become my favorite hotel. EVER. It might even top the hotel I stayed at with the small mini putt putt golf course!
So for this booking I pretended to be two adults with 3 kids. Here is the ratings i got for the 3 day stay. In a non smoking room with two beds.* Seems to me that this is kind of on the pricy side of things but I guess it could be normal for a family of 5.. which means ignoring the number of days there. This trips is costing about a hundred dollars per person.
The hotel is a rather decent one to stay at. I have personally been to a few wedding receptions that happened in their conference area’s and have never been let down by their ability to keep the area’s clean and serve us decent food. As for internet. I do feel their website is rather asthetically pleasing, plus bright and attractive to bring in future customers at their hotels.
I would recommend any family to go take a chance on the water slides and have a little fun for the night.
2 Star
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