checking in

Posted: March 27, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Archives | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Normally when I spend the weekend in Buffalo, I stay at one of those cost-effective motels – which I did do last night on account of pulling into town late. Not the motels you see on the news where the reporter says “well Tom, they found the hooker in the bathtub after the bullets starting flying…” but rather one the “economy” motels where you don’t have to spend too much.

The reason for that is because it doesn’t make sense to do Stateside shopping and then blow all the money you save on a hotel. But this time, I decided to splurge a little.

But it’s been a good month financially for me so I figured I would treat myself. On PR Marissa’s glowing recommendation, I booked a room at the Indigo Hotel in Amherst. Turns out the Indigo properties are owned by the folks at IHG who also own Holiday Inn, Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza and are something of a new age/spa concept hotel chain.

outside

The lack of a bathtub was a little upsetting — I like to soak in a tub each night — but the indoor pool, on-site cafe, business center and fitness center more than made up for it.

tub

Not to mention the room.

bed1

Ohhh… the room is wonderful. The pillows are a little too soft for my liking (I’m a “extra firm” type of girl) so I may have to take a stroll down to the front desk afterward and inquire about getting something. But everything else is bang-on amazing.

I’m off to explore more of the hotel — and of course to do some shopping.

in early

Posted: March 26, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Archives | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

I strongly considered it and finally followed through. I left this evening and arrived in Buffalo – or rather the greater Buffalo area – a day earlier than I had planned. Yes folks, my long weekend just got longer!

Because of that, the hotel I had made reservations at didn’t have any rooms for tonight, so I’m hanging my hat in a surprisingly decent Motel 6. I remember staying here once or twice when it was a Marriott Fairfield Inn in a former life. It’s still a nice place.

The friend’s I’m traveling with – (they decided to come down for a weekend and I decided to tag along, but in my own car and room) – managed to get the room they wanted at “the other hotel” where I’ll be tomorrow night. (Except a blog post about that as I seem to be in the social media mood these days.)

My first thought, which turned out to be more of a pipe dream, was to hit up the Anchor Bar for some Buffalo wings. But sadly, by the time I would have driven all the way downtown they would be closing. (They’re only open late on weekends it turns out.)

The other downside to getting in late is that most large stores (such as Target and BestBuy) close at either 10pm or 11pm. So those places, like the mountain of Buffalo wings I’ve been craving, will have to wait until tomorrow. But the Walmart Supercenter on Transit Road is open 24 hours. And as luck would have it, that’s right down the road from here.