Home(wood) Away from Home

Posted byrandy@letters-to-rachel.memorialPosted inConventional Behavior, Know Your PlaceTags:, , ,

Dearest Rachel –

I think that, at one point, we may have considered booking a room at the Homewood Suites a short walk away from the convention center, but balked at the price; at the time, we weren’t in the financial position we – well, I guess, I – are (am?) now. Besides, given that it was a walk from where the action was (and walking through the convention center itself, while as nothing in comparison to the hotel complex Rosemont boasts, was more than enough to get one’s steps in, as I hardly need to remind you), we considered it as an option of last resort, when we couldn’t get a room at the Coralville Marriott (which changed over to a Hyatt while we spent your last two conventions in Des Moines). Given your determination to constantly call back to check on cancellations, it was never an issue that we had to deal with.

But we may have missed out, in doing so. Since this year the room block opened up while Daniel and I were over in Japan itself (and while I tried to access the block from over there, the time zone issue – and our own schedule – rather interfered with my ability to do so), I couldn’t manage to get myself a room there – I kept getting a “try again later” screen on the website, until such time as I finally got an “all rooms are booked” screen. Without other options such as this, I would have gotten pretty frustrated.

But other options – like this one – did exist, and I was actually rather looking forward to trying it out, and seeing what it was like. In fact, I’m pretty sure that when I booked my room last year at the Drury Inn and Suites, I thought I was getting a room at the Homewood for whatever reason – imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be so much further away than this place. On the other hand, I was still trying to work on getting in some sort of regular exercise, so it was probably for the best, especially since they offered breakfast and dinner there. By contrast, the Homewood only offers breakfast. Again, probably for the best – I think I’ve got the exercise portion of my life sorted, so now I need to keep my food intake to a relative minimum. And they always say to eat like a king at breakfast and a pauper at dinner, so… if that’s enforced by what’s available, all the better.

Anyway, fewer words, more pictures (as they each supposedly equal a thousand words, and it’s not as if I haven’t already written you plenty today).

The place is actually quite unassuming from the street; just a single door next to the other various shops and restaurants along the road. In a way, it rather reminds me of that rental condominium place we stayed in with the family off of Trafalgar Square a dozen years ago or so.
But I couldn’t park in the street for more than a couple of hours; that area is meant for shoppers and restaurant guests. Behind the façade is the parking lot for the guests, and it’s here that you can actually see the hotel in its entirety. Granted, this side is also visible from the interstate off-ramp, so it’s not as if the place is completely invisible or anything.
See that door at the end of the hallway? That’s my room, as seen from where you get off of the elevator. Rather dismaying, I won’t lie.
But the room proved to be amazingly capacious. Well, it is a suite, after all. To be sure, it isn’t like at the Embassy, where there’s a separate parlor to receive guests in, but a spacious area for entertaining all the same. The first shot didn’t get a good view of the television; you can see they include a personalized greeting. My only regret, obviously, is that it only includes my name. Not that I have anyone feasible in mind, of course.
And their kitchen area! Complete with a small stove, a full-sized refrigerator, and a dishwasher. Who ever expects a dishwasher in their hotel room? It’s a full studio apartment, here – albeit a rather pricy one.
And then there’s the view from the window, looking out, not on the parking lot, thankfully, but on some more of the Riverwalk’s shops and restaurants. I might very well check out the Marquee directly across the street from my room at some point this weekend. Or not; it still feels weird going out alone.

Really, apart from the obvious fact that it isn’t right atop the convention proper like the Hyatt, I think you would have really liked this place; to be sure, you would probably have made a point of inviting as many people as you could to come over and hang out, drinking soda and having pizza delivered in as we watched this or that off of our anime collection or on YouTube – assuming we could make it work. The television has an HDMI hookup, and I did bring a cable, but I’m in no hurry to confirm that it works. The computer screen is good enough for me for now, and in any event, I’m still busy writing you, after all.

You’d probably be getting on my case to go over and check out the convention by now (actually, you’d have probably dragged me over there long ago), so I’m going to let you go for now. Maybe I’ll have something more to report; maybe it will wait until morning. For now, though, keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

Published by randy@letters-to-rachel.memorial

I am Rachel's husband. Was. I'm still trying to deal with it. I probably always will be.

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