tiredFortunately for me, I made it through Reno before their heavy traffic started, and the Sacramento commute (and getaway) traffic was going the opposite direction to me. I got to the Crowne Plaza and checked in. I've stayed here often enough now that the front-desk people remember me, even when checking me in during a fairly busy time as there seems to be an event happening here with lots of family groups checking in. Heading up to my room, I found that I'd hit the upgrade jackpot.
Many hotels have taken to putting the word "suites" into their names by building a half-wall partition between the area where there is a chair or sofa and the area with a bed. This, however, was an actual one-bedroom suite, with a separate parlor, into which you enter through the room's door.
Down a short hallway there is a bathroom with a tub/shower combination (and unlike some hotels, you can put a stopper in the tub if you want an actual bath).
The bedroom was fairly typical, including the room's mini-fridge. (The microwave oven was in the parlor, sitting on the furniture that once had a television in it. The only TV in the room is in the bedroom, but I'm not using it because it didn't have anything I wanted to watch.) There are lamps with power outlets in them (so you don't have to go digging behind the bed for power for your stuff), but they've been used so much that they don't hold plugs very well.
I got unpacked, walked down to the Panda Express on the corner and bought dinner and brought it back to the room. (I'd purchased beverages on the way to the hotel, and they were in the 'fridge.) I had dinner, called Lisa (she decided to not come on this trip on account of we're about to head off for three weeks travel starting next weekend already), then put on my swim trunks and went down to the hot tub and soaked for a while. Such luxury. I won't have time for that kind of relaxation starting next weekend.
Stays at places like this Crowne Plaza have earned me enough IHG points that my stays in Dublin and Belfast are on points. I just wish IHG could crack the Iceland market.
