Room walk through: Holiday Inn Express in Chippewa Falls, WI

What I can say:
They have a helpful staff, but are somewhat overpriced for the area in my opinion.
The rooms are clean, and updated.

Room Walk through: Best Western in Escanaba, MI

What I can say:
Paper thin walls, Decent TV, Decent Internet, Front counter staff is a bit short with you at check in. No explanation of breakfast, etc...

Last weeks trip: Denver, CO

Last week saw me in Denver, CO


I flew on Southwest from MKE to DEN

The early morning flight was uneventful with decent customer service.

Initially I did not rent a car.


I stayed at the LaQuinta in the Denver Tech area:

$65▼La Quinta Inn & Suites Denver TechCentermore info‎

7077 South Clinton St Greenwood Village, CO 80112 (303) 649-9969 lq.com‎  3 reviews

What I can say:
The rooms aren't bad, the staff is however a little lack luster overall. Not much personal attention to the guests, if any at all. You can tell the hotel is in need of a re-fresh as far as overall upkeep. The internet is painfully slow everywhere but the lobby. The in room TV's are great, with a good TV Guide on board, and even some calming screen savers on them.
All in all three of five stars if you ask me.


Later on, I picked up a dodge Charger rental from this enterprise location in a nearby hotel:

Enterprise Rent-A-Carmore info‎

7801 East Orchard Road Greenwood Village, CO 80111 (303) 221-0750 enterprise.com‎ Write a review

I already have a review of this car located here.


Some places I went for grub:
First off my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE STEAK HOUSE IN THE WORLD:

Ted's Montana Grillmore info‎

5370 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard Greenwood Village, CO 80111 (303) 771-3038 tedsmontanagrill.com‎ 19 ZAGAT ·  7 reviews

Street view

We also sampled some down home BBQ:

Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Incmore info‎

10230 East Arapahoe Road Centennial, CO 80112 (303) 792-2444 dickeys.com‎  9 reviews

Street view

I also took a quick run before a storm blew in from the mountains and cut it short ( I was going for three miles)

My return flight was early squirly Friday also on Southwest, however this time around we were about 10min late. Our flight attendant was quite a joker, really making the safety briefing fun, and a lot less mundane.

Encountered some turbulence over MN due to some storms, but we arrived about 10min late in MKE and all was well.

St Louis Arch Looking West

Quite a view is offered by the St Louis Archway.

Room walk through: Prince Conti Near Bourbon St.

What I can say:
Surprisingly quiet, kind staff, costly breakfast with runny eggs.

Car Review: Fiat 500

I had the opportunity to drive a Fiat 500 Sport.
I had the car for a week, and traveled about 190 miles during the week.
Here is a rough map:

The weather ranged from sunny and 68 to snow, wind and about 28 giving a good all around idea of the handling of the car.

I have to tell you, I was skeptical from the word GO. I thought I was about to drive around in a small, expensive, piece of jewelry. Was I surprised? We'll see.

The Fiat can be found here: http://www.fiatusa.com/en/500/models/

They actually have a pretty attractive offer going on right now as well.

So let's start off on looks, WINNING. I first thought it would be a little too "girly" but was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't feel this way after getting into it, and heading out on my trip.

I did notice right away, that I'm used to a four-door. The door swing seemed crazy long, and I felt like I had to squeeze into the wedge to get to the drivers seat. (I'm sure this was not the car, as later in the week I didn't notice this at all) I had to laugh... must be getting old!

So something about the wheels, and the front end conspire to take what could be a girls car only, and turn it into a nice quick looking little runabout. Likewise, the rear being raked as far as it is, adds to the sporty manly look.

Lets talk space for a while... we know it's a small car so no beating it up on sheer size. This means we need to look at it's practical use of the space that is available. So how did the Italians do?

Up front, they have done well, the seats are long ride comfortable. the wheel is fun to hang on to, and the overall layout makes the car feel bigger than it is. I think some of this can be attributed to the gauge cluster. It has all the info you could want, and yet takes up VERY LITTLE precious dash space. I really enjoyed the solid feel of the switches and toggles. There was enough quality to give the impression things would go on working for a good long while.

How about in back?

You can see that the seats are designed with the rear passengers knees in mind, however even with this the seats remind me of coach airline seats. Not much room, but then we knew that didn't we?

As far as driving enjoyment goes, I have to say I was impressed. I found that even with "sport" mode turned off, it was fun to drive. Once the sport mode was turned on, it was even more peppy. The only time it felt a little slow was on the run to 70. I must point out that this run was still acceptably short for this type of car, and that once up to highway speeds, it still felt capable of getting out of it's own way.

The little engine that can... most of the time.

You can see that my well traveled Samsonite large suitcase fits in the cargo area, JUST. However, the seats can be pushed down for more room, and actually leaves you with quite a bit of space.

 And finally a peek into the glove box showcasing a USB / line in spot that only a passenger could love. Due to the center console arrangement, the drive could never reach these plugs.


So overall what do I think? I think they managed to make a small car do well in america, not an easy task, and for that I give them a 4 out of 5.
Great fun to drive, peppy enough for me to have fun, small enough for ANY parking spot, and still big enough for most of my errands. Prices are nothing to laugh at either in the 20's when loaded.
Is it a small expensive piece of jewelry? Not 100%, it's actually a good little car, that can look like jewelry.
Would I buy one? You bet, although I may wait for the Abarth version to come before making an order, something tells me the added pizzazz may make me want one even more.

Car Review: Nissan Versa Hatchback

The Nissan Versa Found here: http://www.nissanusa.com/versa-hatchback/?next=Versa_Sedan.VLP.Versa_Hatchback.VLP

I took this car on a rather long trip:
It was about 600 miles. The weather was cold, with some rain and some snow.
I had the car for a week.

Ok, so first off I have a confession to make. I wanted to hate this car. You see I want american cars to be better than the little cheap foreign jobs, so that's what I wanted to happen.
It didn't. A few weeks ago I had a Chevy Aveo, and well you saw how that went. UGH...
This time around I was given it's competitor from Nissan, and well....

First off it's small right? Not so fast... it actually had ample room front and back, as well as plenty of space for my luggage, ect...

It also didn't feel cramped... I'm not sure if this is the headroom talking or not, I'm a little short for that to matter most of the time, but I have to say I didn't feel like it was a tinny tiny car.

The right rear seat does fold down, I was just being lazy, and the front seat was all the way back, so the headrests were arguing.

It is a bit of a downer that the seats don't fold truly "flat".









You can see the extra headroom I'm talking about here on the right -->
Now, on the down side... the lines of this car are or at least seem to me, to be a little feminine. At least at first glance, I think it's the front and rear styling that does it, while the sharp angle on the rear doors may offset it some, you have to be looking for that to notice it.

 The hatch has an electronic "button" rather than a handle, which adds a nice upscale feel, and is self assist... most of the time, however in the cold, it did need some pushing, this is obviously due to excessive use from being a rental car.

 Nothing special from the front, but nothing bad either.


The Versa is rated as 28-34 MPG. My drive was mostly highway, with two days of in town buzzing around, and I got 30 on the money.
I wanted it to do better, which tells me I had started to like it. This is one reason I wouldn't buy this car, for now... 30MPG just doesn't qualify as a reason to buy a "little" car anymore.
You can get a Chrysler 300 with that!

 The power plant is a little one, however it is geared well for buzzing around town, with no scary lag between mashing the pedal and getting out of the way. At highway speeds it did feel a little exhausted, however nothing that was "out of the ordinary". What I found odd, was the nagging feeling that it was missing one more gear... I was usually sitting around 3000 RPM at highway speeds. While this added to a sporty feel with better throttle response, I couldn't help but wonder about wear and tear, and the over all MPG that was lost in the end.

 One other issue that would give me pause on this little car is the driving position... it's... just wrong.

The steering wheel is tilt, but from too low, your choices are uncomfortable or more uncomfortable... and don't get me started on what that means in an airbag deployment...

Also, it really would benefit from a right side arm rest... you just have no where for that right arm to go....

As a plus, the "elbow pad" on the door is AMAZING, it's soft and feels great... but with the wheel at such a crazy angle, you can't really use it for your elbow...

So over all I wanted to hate it, wound up liking it, and would consider one if I was looking for a cheap, little buzzer car. It's well appointed, well thought out, sans the driving position, and that pesky missing gear...

I'm going with 3.5 out of 5 on this one. As I would have one if I was collecting cars.

Car Review: Chevy Aveo

The Chevy Aveo Found here: http://www.chevrolet.com/aveo/

I took this car on a rather long trip:
It was about 300 miles one way. The weather was cold, windy, but clear.

So first off, it's small right? RIGHT. My Suitcase and tool box weren't able to share the trunk. Not for lack of space in the trunk, but due to the restrictive opening on both the back, and from the slide through when the rear seats are down.

Next, it's slow right? RIGHT. Terrible pick up, peppy only in first gear, so when your in the middle of the intersection trying to get out of the way, and it shifts into second... you all but STOP before getting out of the way. Also, be prepared to have any fissures in the pavement dictate your direction. I was regularly pushed around by cracks in the pavement. Don't even get me started on the wind. This car was exhausting to drive. I was constantly forced to course correct.

It's got some options right? WRONG. Terribly appointed as well, the interior puts me in mind of really cheap Fischer-Price type plastics, which are ok for TOYS. Also most of the items you actually use feel like you will break them eventually. It did have cruse, which was a HUGE plus on this trip. However in heavy wind the car felt so unstable that I didn't use it most of the time.

OK, one "neat" feature is this, when you either pull up or push down the drivers lock tab, all four doors lock or unlock.
My biggest complaint however is this:
I would prefer that Chevy pulled out the front seats and bolted in an old crappy wooden park bench... it would have been more comfortable. I'm only in my 30's... so I should not be shifting in my seat from pain and annoyance in only a matter of an hour or so.

It gets great gas mileage right? WRONG. In this day and age a car that asks you to put up with this kind of crap ought to really help you out in the gas dept... not so here. I was able to get around 30MPG... NOT amazing for a car this small. Especially when you realize that cars the size of the Chrysler 300 are now able to get 30MPG.

The doors do manage to sound solid when closed, but sounds can be deceiving.

As far as looks go, well it looks like your getting suckered into buying a crappy car because your broke. I'd buy used before I bought this new.

The rear seat is small by hobbit standards, adequate for small children but not much more.

The instrument panel is done well, however the clock above the center stack really brings things into a bargain basement feel.

 So over all I would have to say it's one out of five. It only gets the one because it didn't breakdown.

Country Inn & Suites Monona, WI 25-29Apr11

Last weeks Room was here:
http://www.countryinns.com/madison-hotel-wi-53716/wimonona


Here's a walk through of the room:



Only a few -'s

• TV's could use updating
• There was a concerning stain on one of the chairs... ugh...

Now for the +'s

• Great internet speeds! Thanks to Charter Communications as the provider.
• Good breakfast, plenty of variety.
• Quiet rooms.
• Decent pool area.
• OK Gym area, could use dumbbells though.

Stoney Creek Inn Onalaska, WI 21-24 March 11

This weeks Hotel:

http://www.stoneycreekinn.com/locations/index.cfm?LocationID=9

Room Pluses:

• Fridge
• Extra space VS "usual"
• Makeup remover, and decent soap.
• Phone in room has speed dial to local restaurants and bars.
• $20.00 off coupon from front desk for local restaurants. (FREE)
• Great workout room, equipment is well kept and it also has a sauna.
• The pool is interesting, as you can swim under a wall and come out outside.
• Woodzey decor is always a nice change from the norm.
• Great web speeds:
  

Room Minus: