Joe and Jamie’s Blog

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

We’re going to Newport, Rhode Island.

We decided on this because it’s a lot closer for us to get to since we didn’t want to blow most of the vacation money on gas. I booked our 8 day stay at the Newport Beach Hotel & Suites just 2 miles from downtown Newport. It looks lovely and has received great reviews. It’s a historic old hotel, which I will have to do some more research on; I typically just wing hotels and see how it turns out. The hotel just finished renovations in May for many upgrades to all the rooms, which should be nice. The hotel’s front yard is a park with a beach in front of that. I can’t wait to wake up with an ocean view.

Here’s some pictures I took off their website.

All photos show above are copyright Newport Beach Hotel & Suites, the Newport Hotel Group, and the photographer.

This next photo I took off Microsoft’s Virtual Earth, Google Earth’s competitor. I love Google Earth and all Google’s products, but Microsoft Virtual Earth has the Birdseye View feature which renders the photo so much clearer and lifelike, and also it gives it the feel of flying around the place in a helicopter, not the straight down look of a satellite. Google does have street view though, which is just amazing.

I didn’t zoom in all the way because I wanted you to see the surroundings. Go to MSN.com and on the top search bar click on Maps and then do your search and play around with the Birdseye View.

Back to the topic now.

I will take thousands of pictures like I do every vacation. I promise I won’t post them all, but a bunch of really good ones scattered throughout many posts.

Jamie and I are having a tough time deciding where to go for our summer vacation. We want to go someplace new this year. We narrowed it down to Rhode Island or Virginia. Last year we took a trip to Boston after making a stop in Cambridge, Mass. The Delaware shores and Baltimore where among the list this year, but we for some reason are settling more towards the shores of Rhode Island or Virginia Beach, the more touristy areas since they tend to have more to do.

My friend Jay just recently posted some pictures of his Memorial Day tip to Point Judith, RI. He has been to Block Island before and recommends it. You can see some pictures he took and if you take a gander at the comments he has more from older posts.

Basically we need your help. I want to book the hotel this weekend before prices go way up and nothing is available. Right now Hotels.com is running a special on a free $50 gas card if you book more than three nights between now and Labor Day. We’re planning to go July 17th though the 28th if that helps with the decision making.