2 weeks, 3 cities, 4 hotels…

I’ve had a busy couple of weeks, beginning with a few days in northern San Diego County for a meeting at the Four Seasons Aviara. This is a serene property overlooking a protected estuary. Indoor and outdoor spaces blend seemlessly. The Four Seasons is the master of understated elegance and comfort.

In stark contrast, I spent a few cold nights this past week in Seattle and then Philadelphia…both beautiful cities…but a bit on the overcast side during this trip. In Seattle, I stayed at the plain-and-simple Hilton.

In Philly, my coworkers and I got to our hotel–the downtown Westin–around 1am to find that our “confirmed” rooms had been given away. So, for the night, the hotel arranged a room at the nearby Four Season…what a stroke of luck. A beautiful room overlooking the historic Logan Square and its Swann Fountain. Still…it was no Aviara!

I returned to the Westin for my second and final evening. The room was fine, but I do have a bit of an axe to grind. When my displaced coworkers, Sarah and Tina, arrived at THEIR new rooms…they walked into a suite with an apology note AND a bottle of wine. What did I get? Zilch. Oh yeah, I could have complained…but I was too tired to bother. Shame on you, Westin!

My trip to Philly did have a bit of light, unexpected snow. Mostly heavy flurries…but pretty nonetheless. (Hello to Sarah, below, who requested a blog cameo.)

And of course, you can’t have your yin without a good dose of yang. My pretty snow caused a two-hour de-icing delay…which caused me to miss my connection in Denver…and planted me in a middle seat between two hefty guys. At least I am home 🙂