Aloft

Last week, while traveling, I had the opportunity to stay at Starwood's new brand hotel, Aloft. I have 2 disclosures to make: I am an ex-employee of Starwood and I am a hotel snob (as a result of having been an employee at Starwood.) Being a hotel snob is easy when you work for a hotel company. You are staying at the best hotels for very little money. Being a hotel snob when you are not an employee of a hotel company is miserable. But it's not so bad in an economy like this. So, I found myself at Aloft, a vision of W hotels (as the tagline goes.) The hotel is brand new so you can't go wrong there. The decor is Ikea-esque. The bed is on a platform (no box spring) which I thought would be a problem but proved to be quite comfortable. There was no closet and everything was stored in cubbies - coffee machine, magazines, fancy teas, etc. The bathroom consisted of a large glass shower and toilet with a pocket door covered in mirror on one side. There was a flatscreen in the bedroom area and long bench to throw all your stuff (I actually liked this since I tend to have a lot of stuff.) The icing on the cake? Bliss products . The cherry on top? Dispensers in the shower carrying both shampoo/conditioner (which I can't use due to the snarl of hair I have but I appreciated the effort) and body wash. Next time I stay there, which will be again, I am absolutely bringing empty containers to load up on body wash. I'm a hotel snob with a weakness for free product.

Sign of the Times

I know we're in the worst housing crisis in history, a recession and our economy sucks. I work in finance, I get it. I can see it everywhere. Stores are less busy at peak times, foreclosure signs are popping up (even on beach front property) and everyone is offering "buy one, get one free." But it was never more apparent to me when I started leafing through the magazines that arrive at my door everyday and noticed the change in paper stock. I do have a bit of a magazine problem and as such, have become a bit of an aficionado. So, of course, the dullness of the paper shocked me right away. I felt betrayed, as though I had been handed a second-hand newspaper. (This is another issue I have. I don't like anyone to read the Sunday Times before me. It is worth every penny for me to have mine own brand new copy. A used copy makes me feel dirty.) The colors didn't pop, the words looked blurry and made me want to give up magazine reading altogether. Is this what we've been driven been to? In addition to all the money we've been swindled out of, we've also been robbed of the ability to picture ourselves in this season's fashions or to actually feel as though I am seated at the table between Diane & Barry? It was enough to make me take to my bed. But then, Vanity Fair showed up. I knew Graydon and team wouldn't let me down. And, sure enough, they didn't. I've recovered. I'm back. The economy, however, is not.