Joe and Jamie's Blog

The Fontainebleau resort in Miami Beach is absolutely fabulous. It truly lived up to its four and half stars rating. Everything is very luxurious and the service is exceptional. I highly recommend this place to anyone going to Miami.

Between he beach, pools, historic bars, famous night clubs, high class restaurants, and many shops, there really isn’t much need to leave the resort! We spent most of our vacation on the beach and in the pools and it was just great, enjoyed every minute of it. When we weren’t in the water or down in the main part of Miami Beach, we went to the restaurants in the hotel. We tried most of them, there were just too many.

Gotham Steak is a great steakhouse. We got a seat right next to the kitchen, which happens to have glass walls so you can watch them prepare and cook the meals. There is also Vida which cooks more of normal home-style dishes which was nice. One restaurant we didn’t try was Scarpetta, which is supposed to be the best Italian food restaurant down there, but we just simply ran out of days to eat food. There was an outside raw bar called La Cote which we also didn’t get to try, a sandwich shop called Fresh, a Japanese food place called Blade, a Chinese restaurant called Hakkasan.

A few nights we went down the the Bleau Bar, that famous bar in the famous hotel. Now drink prices in Miami are outrageous, but hey, at least you can say you had a drink there. Most nights we left the hotel to either get dinner or walk down Ocean Drive where everyone else in Miami Beach was. We never went to the club Liv, there was always some large party going on and long lines outside with waiting people, so we went off and did other things.

We were upgraded to a room with a balcony which was cool because we spent most early mornings out there watching the massive lightening storms over the ocean. There are four towers to the hotel, the all new suite towers Trésor and Sorrento, and the original but renovated Château and Versailles. We were in the Versailles tower, tenth floor, so the balcony view was really nice. Maybe one day we can go back and afford one of those suites :). There are also a ton of conference rooms and halls. I really don’t even know how many there are but there are two floors of them, and they were packed with massive company get-aways and conferences all week. All the rooms are equipped with iMac computers which connect you to their front desk for anything you need. No more dialing the front desk, just fill out a form online of what you need and twenty minutes later its at your door, I love technology.

If I had to rate this hotel I would give it a 5 all around. It was a great experience and I would definitely stay there again if we go back to Miami. If you wish to read more on the hotel, you can visit their website at www.fontainebleau.com. They also have a hotel in Las Vegas, which we are seriously considering for vacation next year. Enjoy the photos from the hotel and the surrounding resort property.

When we purchased our BlackBerry Storms earlier in the month we were both worried about scratching the screens. I was used to the Treo screen which wasn’t as sensitive as these full touch screens. I hate those peel away plastic pieces that you can replace, they just never look good and get dirty and messy quickly. Plus they cost about $10 just for three of them, what a rip off.

Invisible Shield by Zagg Inc for BlackBerry Storm

I ordered the Invisible Shield by Zagg Inc. to protect our screens. The Invisible Shield is a military grade film that is pre-cut to fit the device. Once applied and dried, it is 100% scratch proof for life. Don’t believe me? Check out the video. I have had this on for a week now and it is 100% invisible. The only reason I know its there is because I put it on. Truly a quality product.

Now I would never try that on my phone, but I believe it. So far any mark I thought I had on the phone I was able to just wipe off the Invisible Shield. It was really tough to get fingerprints off the screen before the shield, but now I just gently rub it with a towel or cloth and it comes off.

If you have a Storm and are interested in this product, it can be viewed/purchased here. Don’t have a Storm but want to protect your phone/iPod/laptop/etc? They have thousands of applications to fit almost everything. Check it out at Zagg’s website. This is not just a screen protector, it can also come with full body pieces to protect the entire phone/device. I chose just to get the screen protector because I can live with the back of the phone having a scratch.

I wrote a review on Hotels.com which you can start off by reading. I left out a few things just because it was a quick blurb for other people to read. You can read that review here or below.

Hotels.com Reivew: All around great hotel
“This hotel is literally across the street from Easton’s Beach. If you are looking to go to Newport and hit the beach, well you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. If you were just looking to visit downtown Newport save a few bucks and stay here. It is literally 5 minutes away down one road. The room is kept neat and clean. Everything looks great with the recent renovation they just did. I can’t wait to come back and see what the new hotel is like that they just built next to it. Only downfall I could see is room size. There was only two of us in the room and one bed, but the room was small and the bed almost touched the TV stand. Also, the bathroom door just missed the bed as well. I believe we had a small room because there was only two of us. I saw many other rooms and they were a lot bigger when they had 2 beds in the room. Comfort was still excellent even with room size.”

We loved that the beach was across the street, it was so convenient.  The bed was the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. I have lower back issues and my back did not hurt all week long because of that bed. The room was very neat and cleaned very well by the staff. The size of the room was the big issue, but it didn’t bother Jamie and I, we live together in a small room as it is with all our stuff. I can see it being a major issue for some people since there wasn’t any room between the bed and TV stand, and the door to the beautiful bathroom almost hitting the bed as well.

The staff was very helpful. I can see why some people complained about their accents since they were thick, but we had no issue understanding them. The continental breakfast wasn’t the greatest. It was all just bread, muffins, bagels, and some fruit. But hey, what do you want for free. We both recommend this hotel to anyone that wants to stay in the area. I feel the hotel is better suited for business or couples, but like I said I did see rooms much bigger and most of the rooms are actually suites with 2 bedrooms, a living room and kitchen. There are more suites than rooms, so I guess it would be great for a family if you get a whole suite. They really are only about $50-$80 more than a room.

Here are some pictures I took of the room for you to see. Jamie and I are going back in three weeks and will have an ocean view room this time, so I will have more pictures and review that room as well.

Standing in the doorway

Standing on a chair in the corner of the room

Jamie’s car needed new tires two weeks ago to pass inspection. You can read more on that in the previous post. I decided to get four of Firestone’s Firehawk GT’s. This is an all-season tire with a 460 treadwear, so we’ll get about 50-60,000 miles out of it, which is about 3 years for us on that car. Its rating is A for both traction and temperature. For the northeast I don’t recommend anything less than A/A.

The tire looks really good on her car. Since its an RSX and a bit sporty, the tire fits in well. The tire has the look and feel of a sports tire because its a bit wider and sleeker, but has the dependability of an all-season tire and less rapid treadwear of a sports tire (like mine). It also is pretty decently priced, only about $100 a tire.

You can check out more at the manufacturer’s website here.
The Firehawk GT’s asymmetrical design provides optimal balance and evacuation of water. It’s advanced technology called Veri-Pitch Noise Reduction helps reduce road noise. It has a high-silica compound and wider tread profile for improved cornering coefficient for superb handling.