Benoit: Nice brunch, but don't trust the online menu!

MerMom and I had a very nice Mother's Day brunch at Benoit, the new Alain Ducasse bistrot in New York. The highlight was definitely the chocolate souffle for dessert, which we had along with celebratory glasses of champagne. 

The menu, however, was a bit of a surprise. When they called to confirm our OpenTable reservation, I asked specifically whether they'd have a special menu for Mother's day. No, they replied, they'd serve their regular menu. Online, they have a 2-course brunch for $32 (choose one appetizer and main course). Under main courses, they have grilled salmon, Le Steak with two eggs (and choice of frites), as well as the usual breakfast items. That was great, because I know that MerMom always chooses lunch items for brunch. Well, when we got there, the prix fixe was $42, and  "Main courses" were nowhere to be found on the menu. The only lunch-like main course option was elbow pasta. Brunch menu was all they had -- no ordering off the lunch menu either. Under normal circumstances, deviations from the online menus are forgivable (as restaurants don't update their web sites very frequently) but this one opened just a few short weeks ago, so they really should have had their act together.

Despite this, the souffle made up for it. Wow. I can't really complain about chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream and champagne. Mmmm. And it was a charming setting.

Bottom line: three seashells for the food (they redeemed themselves with the souffle, but I'm still a bit miffed about the menu. I really wanted frites); three octopi for the online menu deception.

Is this view worth paying extra for?

For our Mother's Day trip to New York, MerMom and I booked a room at Le Parker Meridien in New York. Since it was a special occasion, MerMom called a few days later and asked whether we could upgrade to a park view room -- and was told, sure, for an extra $50. That sounds great, she said, and confirmed and paid for the upgrade.

We checked in late Friday night, tired after being stuck in traffic the entire length of Connecticut on the BoltBus. At the desk, the (somewhat rude) clerk said that no, we certainly did not have a park view room, saying that the (now $50 more expensive) rate was for a standard room, and it was too low a rate for him to give us a park view. Well, MerMom of course had an email confirmation of the booking history (including the name of the manager she spoke with, and the original and revised rates). After checking with someone in the back, the clerk reluctantly gave us the keys to a room on the park side, but made sure to tell us that we were most certainly paying too little, as "everyone else" was paying at least $150 more for that room! (We'd booked directly from their own web site, by the way, and took advantage of a AAA rate, which took about 10% off). 

Well, we were exhausted at that point, and we went right to the room and fell asleep. When we woke up the next morning, we opened the curtains and saw the above view (which I think falls into the category of what HotelChatter would call an "anti-view"). Talk about a $50 upgrade -- we paid extra for this? We called down to the front desk, and were lucky to reach Omar, who was a thousand times more helpful than his counterparts the night before. Omar appreciated the problem with the construction site view, and told us that we basically had two options. Rooms with 2 double beds that actually had a park view were hard to come by. So we could have a king bed with a (real) park view, above the construction, or we could compromise and have a suite with a city view. We chose the suite, and it was certainly a better night. Our suite had a king bed and a sitting room (with pull-out couch -- though not a very comfortable one), a large marble walk-in shower, and a strange rotating TV in the middle that swiveled so that it could be watched either in the bedroom or the sitting room. (A large swivel unit was needed, since the TV was an old-school tube model, not a flat-panel.) Rooms featured a large safe (not quite the Dick Cheney "man-sized" safe, but it would easily fit, say, a medium-sized dog). 

Hotel amenities were good, but not quite up to their billing. The fitness center, which they claim had won awards for the best NYC hotel fitness center, was admittedly quite large, but the cardio machines and free weights were showing their age. The indoor rooftop pool, however, with views of the city and the park, was great. The on-site restaurant Seppi's was a perfect and relaxing spot for a late dinner when we arrived. Cartoons in the elevator were a nice touch, and the amusing signs (such as "Fughettaboutit" instead of "do not disturb") managed to pull off being irreverent yet not too annoying. 

Overall, especially in the suite, it was a nice stay. However, it's not quite the luxury hotel it seems to think it is (and the attitude of some of the front desk people certainly needs an adjustment -- but Omar was great). Overall: three seashells. 

Bolt from Boston to NYC!

As promised, here's a review of my trip on BoltBus from Boston to New York (and back) with MerMom this past weekend. The bottom line is that it's definitely worth the $30 round-trip each that we paid for the tickets. 

We bought tickets online a few weeks ago, not early enough to get the promised $1 fares, but still a low $15 each way per person. That's compared with about $225 round trip for the plane, $200 each for Amtrak, and $180 each for the LimoLiner (which MerMom took during her last trip to New York). It's competitive with the other bus lines. 

First, the pros: the buses were nice and clean, even the bathroom (which was airplane-quality). The drivers both ways were quite pleasant. The boarding process was very orderly (they board by letter, A-C, depending on when you bought your ticket: we had "B" and had no problem getting seats together). There was free Wifi on the bus. The stop at 34th Street and 8th Avenue in New York was convenient, and avoiding the Port Authority Bus Terminal was a big plus. (There was no problem getting a taxi at a nearby hotel upon arrival). One tip from a fellow traveler (which I haven't yet verified) is that if you join the BoltBus rewards program, you might get a higher boarding zone.

The cons: well, it's still a bus, and gets stuck in traffic. It took nearly 6 hours to get to New York on Friday evening in the rain, including a rest stop in Connecticut (the driver told us that the trip back took 7!) With no rest stop on the way back, it took 4 hours and 45 minutes. Also, the wifi went out on the way back, and the driver wasn't able to reset it. 

I'd say that the guaranteed seating, and avoiding the Port Authority Bus Terminal, beats the regular Greyhound bus hands down. However, I couldn't quite shake the realization that in my six hours on the bus, I could have flown across the entire country. On the plus side, we did save $360 -- enough for a very nice hotel in New York City. More on that later!