Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

A Peek Inside New York City’s Hilton Times Square Hotel

by Janis on May 21, 2013

We spent three nights in New York City last weekend, staying in the Hilton Times Square. Here’s a quick photo tour of our stay.

Our room, # 4411, was on the hotel’s top floor. The hotel lobby is on the 21st floor, requiring an elevator ride from the lobby. After registration, you take another bank of elevators to access the hotel’s guest rooms. The six elevators to the guest rooms were speedy.

This hotel recently completed renovations of its guest rooms during the spring of 2013.

Room 4411 is spacious, dominated by a king bed with a massive headboard and a huge window picture window running the length of the room.

Looking out the window down over 42nd street, one can see the golden hand over Madame Tussauds. Taxis and pedestrians appear to be miniscule.

The view to the left includes the East River.

The view to the right, looking towards Times Square.

Artwork in Room 4411 has a media and entertainment theme.

This hotel room as a plethora of plugs near the desk and each side of the bed.

The bathroom features a shower tub.

Amenities include our favorite Peter Thomas Roth mouthwash.

If you want to be in the heart of Broadway and Times Square, this hotel is in an ideal location.

Our bottom line:

We found this hotel room generously spacious by New York City standards, and ideally appointed for business but located better for a leisure stay.
Hilton Diamond members’ breakfast benefit included a generous complimentary buffet in the 21st floor restaurant. There is no Executive Lounge.
The location is in the heart of tourist attractions, making getting in and out of the hotel a little crazed.
We’d stay here again, but prefer the quieter location of the New York Fashion District Hilton.

What’s your favorite New York City Hotel?

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Weekend Wanderings in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas

by Janis on May 21, 2013

This post is by Danielle Smith, a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas.

Downtown Dallas Photo by Dallasboy

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about 5 Weekend Getaway Spots on this blog. The Dallas-Fort Worth area was on my weekend bucket list.

During the first weekend of May, my fiancée Will and I had the opportunity to spend a few days in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and were able to check this weekend getaway off of my list.

Here is a look at our exciting weekend in the Dallas Fort Worth area and some of my suggestions on what to do if you visit.

We started our trip in Downtown Dallas by visiting The Ann & Gabriel Barbier Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection.

The museum offers an introduction to the fascinating world of the samurai while presenting an intimate viewing experience of their spectacular armor and accoutrements. One section within the exhibition highlights helmets from around the world. Admission is free.

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Source: The Ann Gabriel Barbier Mueller Museum Facebook Page.

The traveling exhibitions of The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection has showcased a variety of works from the family’s collection, which has been built over a span of twenty five years.

This quaint museum is nestled above one of Downtown Dallas’ finest restaurants so head downtown, grab some lunch, and spend a little time exploring the rich culture of this exquisite collection. They even have Samurai armor that is available to try on and take photos with! Learn more at Samurai Collection.

Next Will and I continued on our museum tour by visiting The Sixth Floor Museum. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza features the story and legacy of John F. Kennedy and explains the complex mystery of Kennedy’s assassination.

This Downtown Museum is a must see and is open everyday from 10:00-6:00 and 12:00pm- 6:00pm on Mondays.

After spending a few more hours in Downtown Dallas shopping at the outlets and having lunch, we made our way to the Fort Worth area.

When we arrived in the Fort Worth area we of course decided we needed some authentic Tex-Mex food. We headed to one of our friends favorite restaurants — the Baja Grill in Southlake — and enjoyed some of the most fabulous margaritas and made-fresh-at-the-table guacamole. Yummy!

The next day we spend some time in the historic Fort Worth Stock Yards visiting the shops and enjoying the beautiful day.

After visiting the Stock Yards we walked down the street to eat at the famous Joe T. Garcia’s restaurant.

Customers come from all over to experience the food and atmosphere of this restaurant that seats over 1000 people on one huge patio filled with gardens.

You won’t find a time when the line isn’t down the street to get into this restaurant, but everyone who experiences it says it is well worth the wait, including myself! Joe T’s has quite a unique history.

We finished our weekend trip by attending a Texas Rangers baseball game at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Whether you are a Ranger’s fan or not this ballpark is one to visit. The atmosphere and crowd make it fun for everyone and the beautiful park is worth visiting.

We had a blast on our weekend getaway to Dallas-Fort Worth and I recommend everything that we did to anyone who visits! But, there is still so much more to see so I think we will have to make a trip back soon.

A native of Stilwell, Kansas, Danielle just returned to the Kansas City area upon recent graduation. Danielle just completed a social media internship with VentureTime Travel. When she isn’t working or in classes, Danielle enjoys traveling the world with her fiancé Will. Learn more about Danielle here.

Have you ever visited the DFW area? What was your favorite thing to do there?

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Outrageously Delicious Italian Food in San Juan, Puerto Rico

by Janis on April 22, 2013

While in San Juan, Puerto Rico last week for a quick visit, we hoped to find great food.

We had a dinner reservation at one of San Juan’s highest-rated restaurants. But when our waiter at another restaurant, and our food tour guides both independently recommended that we try a new Italian restaurant in the away-from-the-tourists Santurce District of San Juan, we took notice.

We canceled our reservation, and instead dined at the new Nonna Cucina Italiana. It was a great reminder to listen to the locals.

Nonna, Italian for grandmother, is a warm, inviting place to relax and enjoy fresh, filling Italian food.

“Eat, that makes you well!” is its slogan.

We selected an unfamiliar bottle of wine from a well-priced list with the help of our waiter who said, “if you do not like it, I will drink it!” We were confident that he meant it.

The wine was a malbec blend from Argentina — 2007 Las Perdices Reserva Don Juan — and after the first taste we knew it would be a great meal.

While we were getting our wine, a waitress brought out a small plate with fresh herbs and garlic, and poured olive oil followed by a splash of balsamic vinegar to accompany the bread.

We had a difficult time narrowing down our selections from the menu, resulting in us ordering too much food. The portions are large but sharing is encouraged at Nonna.

We started with two appetizers. The vegetables included 4 dishes of antipasti: Caponata Siciliana (Sweet and Sour Eggplant) and Funghi trifolati (mushrooms) Peperonata (stewed peppers) and Cannellini beans (garbanzos). The polpette — pork and veal meatballs — with mozzarella in Marsala sauce over mashed potatoes (or was it polenta?) Regardless, they were delicious.

Trying to control ourselves, we did not order the fresh mozzarella “fior di latte” with tomato marmalade, hazelnuts and fried rosemary, which we hear is delicious.

The risotto con champagne contains peas, capers, fresh herbs and champagne with a significant amount of lobster. Despite the fact that Mr. Jones hates peas, he ate every bite (except those that I stole) of this creamy deliciousness stuffed with large chunks of lobster.

I ordered the rucola pizza with prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula and shaved parmesan. It contained bit of a sweet, nutty flavor, which we later learned was walnut pesto.

Outrageously good. One slice is quite filling.

If you are visiting San Juan Puerto Rico, head to Nonna at Calle San Jorge #103, 00911 San Juan, Puerto Rico. (It was about a $10-$12 taxi ride from the San Juan Marriott).

Our waiter didn’t have to drink our wine.

What’s your favorite restaurant in San Juan? Please share in comments below.

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A Peek Inside the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino

by Janis on April 19, 2013

We made a quick trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico earlier this week, staying three nights at the San Juan Marriott Resort using Marriott Reward points. Here’s a quick photo tour of our oceanfront room.

Take a quick peek into Room 1810 of the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, located along Condado Beach. This room is considered a King, Oceanfront, with Balcony. There’s a floor plan of this type of room on the Marriott website.

The comfortable, king-sized bed fills up much of the room space.

There’s a desk, and credenza with a refrigerator holding the flat screen television. Note the sliding glass door next to the chair. It leads to the balcony.

Although it was dark when we arrived, the night-time view of the ocean from our balcony was spectacular.

We found the bathroom to be compact.

While you can’t see it in this photo, the shower/tub features a soothing rain-like shower-head.

The best feature of room 1810 is the daylight view of the ocean.

The view from the balcony, looking straight down on the well-groomed beachfront.

The balcony features two chairs, the perfect place to relax and enjoy the view.

The daylight view — looking to the right — from the balcony

An evening view of the pools at the San Juan Marriott Resort.

Our bottom line impressions of the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino:

The property is well-maintained, despite being a bit dated like most hotels in this area of San Juan.
We enjoyed breakfast in the top-floor executive lounge, which features a wrap-around outdoor deck for a great view of San Juan.
The newly renovated lobby bar — the Red Coral Lounge — provides the perfect spot for cocktails, appetizers and people-watching. It has fantastic bartenders, and seems as popular with the locals as with the tourists.
The attached Stellaris Casino is welcoming, and smoke-free, at least in the part we visited.
The pools are well-maintained, with a water slide, swim-up bar and organized activities, although a little crowded for sun chaise space.
The hotel is in a good location in the heart of Condado Beach. From a public bus stop near the front door, it is a $.75 cent bus ride to Old San Juan. Be sure you have quarters for the bus.
The front desk and concierge deck are both busy, but staffed with helpful, efficient professionals. The hotel offers a helpful package of information on tours, sites, restaurants and getting around San Juan at check-in.
The hotel’s oceanfront rooms like 1810 are compact but comfortable, with terrific views from the balcony.
As a Category 6 hotel in the Marriott Rewards program, one night costs 30,000 points. We’d stay again.

What’s your favorite hotel in San Juan? Please share in comments below.

You may also want to take a quick look inside these other hotels”;

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