MGM Grand Tower Deluxe King Suite

Recently, I went to Las Vegas for a very short get-away and I stayed at the MGM Grand Resort right on the Strip. It’s closer to the South end, but it was a nice location regardless!

The immaculate detailing of the hotel room itself, let alone the rest of the resort was great! The suite was tastefully decorated and the use of their signature Lion Head symbol throughout the hotel was great!

One of my favourite features of the room, that is slightly useless – but wonderful would be the light on top of the TV Armoire! When you open up the doors it would expose the TV, and there is a little push button that says “LIGHT” and it illuminates the top of the armoire. I chose to use this light while I was out of the hotel room, so when I return, it wouldn’t be pitch black. It was a great alternative as I didn’t need to turn on all the lights.

MGM Grand Tower Deluxe King Bathroom

The bathroom was really large, and the shower was a low tub walk in bath with a shower faucet. The low tub really makes it accessible for those guests with limited mobility – even though I did bang my arm on the handrail that was on the shower walls a few times, it is a necessary feature for hotel & resort bathrooms. The tub area was tiled with large tiles and enhanced with smaller and darker tiles that really gave a modern feel to the bathroom. The sink area offered a lot of counter top space and room for you to sprawl out if you wanted to. Or, if you were rooming for other people, it made it easy for everyone to have their belongings out and still have room to work with.

MGM Grand Tower Deluxe King Bathroom Amenities

The bathroom amenities is one of my favourite memories of this resort. They are all Jasmine scented and when you wash your hands or anything like that, you immediately get a subtle scent of Jasmine – which reminds me of the Jasmine Tea that I drink at home. It was really heavenly scent that wasn’t over powering in any way. The soap that they use in the shower was a lovely Jasmine scented body massage bar, so it actually had the beads built into the soap. It was a nice touch and much appreciated after long walk up and down the strip to increase circulation.

The room is quite spacious and it has a wonderful lounging area with a large canape but a lot like a chaise longue. It was really nice and it added dimension and visual interest to what could be your “standard” hotel room. The room also had a large desk and the working surface was huge! I was able to have my laptop out and some of my work – and I didn’t feel cluttered at all! This is a great hotel room and even though it’s already not my first time there, I would be back again! The bed was large and luxurious and very comfortable. I’d fall asleep in no time with a king bed complete with 4 king sized pillows! The comforter was the right size and thickness and everything was really clean!

I booked myself my stay online with Las Vegas Hotel Casino Deals, and it was wonderful! My last stay in Vegas, I stayed at the Aria Resort & Casino, and it was another wonderful experience!

The room in MGM Grand doesn’t have as many in room amenities as some other resorts. This room did have an in-suite safe which was large enough to fit my laptop, and all the belongings I needed locked up. The room didn’t have a mini fridge which would have come handy as I did want to bring some left over dinners with me this one evening. The high speed internet that you pay for with the room classified under “Resort Fee” was super slow. I would understand if it was free and slow, but it was a slow and choppy internet which I wasn’t really happy about. But, I guess when you’re in Vegas, you’re not in your room a lot. I was wanting to update my blog throughout the trip so I could stay on top of things but I had to revert to making a list and doing it when I got home because of the internet problem. The hotel wasn’t super busy until Wednesday (Right before American Thanksgiving & Black Friday), so it wasn’t like there were a lot of guests connected onto the internet.

The housekeeping staff was excellent as well. They kept my room clean, and fulfilled all my requests! The towers were big and fluffy, and it was just a great stay overall!

Holiday Inn Kenilworth

We went to England for my sisters wedding in September 2011, and it was lovely. It was held at the Kenilworth Castle which was a beautiful location. The entire city of Kenilworth in Warwichshire was really lovely. It seemed like an up-scale small town.

We flew into Birmingham Airport as it was the closet airport from Kenilworth and my sister picked us up. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Kenilworth which was a beautiful hotel with lots of amenities in and around the hotel.

Holiday Inn Kenilworth

Eating options was plenty in Kenilworth, and the location of this hotel was ideal for ones who like to eat – such as myself. The hotel is located right in the middle of of a great traffic circle (roundabouts) with major streets for dining. We ate at the Starbucks inside the hotel a few times for lunches and snack, and The Almanack. We also had a fantastic dinner at Indian Edge which is just down the street of The Square and it’s a fantastic East Indian cuisine restaurant which I highly recommend.

Besides all the dining and shopping in boutiques, the hotel was beautiful. It feels really new, or newly renovated. It was large, the staff was quite friendly – after they warmed up to us being familiar faces, and the rooms were large and clean.

We stayed in the Executive Suite as we needed a room with more space to get ready, and of course a king bed was worth it! It seems that England usually has either 2 twin beds or 1 queen – sometimes a double as standard sizes. So, with the upgrade, we got more space to get ready for the wedding, and visiting of other family/friend members.

The location of the room was fantastic as I love rooms that are far from the elevator. This was the perfect room for me as it was at the very end of a hallway. It had an extra window in the room which was something I loved during the day, and in the evening, the shades darkened the room really well!

Overall, the room and the hotel was fantastic! I would return to this area and stay at the Holiday Inn Kenilworth again anytime. You can see the walk through of my room from the clip below!

Holiday Inn Kenilworth

Abbey End 212, Warwickshire,
CV8 1ED England

Cookie Occasion – Calgary, Alberta

During a visit to see Fiasco Souped Up Food Truck in Calgary Marda Loop, I went to a place for cookies called Cookie Occasion which easily drew me to here as I love cookies.

I got to go get myself another cookie as I promised myself! This time, I got the Triple Sin Cookie and it was sinfully delicious. These cookies are made of the three common Callebaut chocolate chunks – dark, milk and white and they are all mixed into a great cookie dough! There’s really nothing quite like it!

The other cookie we purchased was Amaretto Almond Cookie and within the first bite, my mouth was exploding with almond flavours. These cookies are mixed in with Callebaut milk chocolate chunks, almonds and a splash of amaretto! We’ve never had a more almond tasting cookie before and it was really wonderful!

As much as I like cookies from anywhere, I can not get over how wonderfully delicious these cookies are, and the texture of the cookie is unlike any other. These cookies are a must try if you haven’t done so yet! You’ll see the difference, and you’ll thank me later! 🙂 But, note their hours are Monday – Saturday 10AM to 5PM!

Cookie Occasion

2107 – 33rd Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 246-6700

Fiasco Souped Up Food Truck – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been meaning to try Soup’ed Up from Fiasco once I heard that the Gelato truck was transforming into a soup truck. I finally had the opportunity to try one one weekend while they were in Marda Loop which is somewhere I don’t normally go to – but for them, I do!

We ordered a Lentil Lime Chipotle Chili and it was a hot, hearty, healthy, delicious chili. The lentils was cooked to perfection, as it wasn’t over or under cooked, and the spice in the chili was just perfect. The jalapeno peppers were of course spicy, but it is a jalapeno pepper! 🙂 The wonderful thing about this chili was the fact there was large chunks of bacon in the soup! It not only added a nice smokey flavour – which had a lot of it from the smokey chipotle powder – but it added great texture in the chili with bites to eat. Normally the chili’s have ground meat, and it’s nice this chili wasn’t like all the other ones, it’s something different and special!

I know the chili isn’t a soup, so we did order a soup too! We tried the Thai Chicken Soup and this is a delightful soup! It’s creamy, and coco-nutty, with Thai curry notes. It’s topped with a swirl of organic peanut butter which really enhances the creaminess texture of soup! This soup has got large pieces of chicken, and it’s mixed in with a lot of Thai flavours. This soup has the perfect balance of flavour – sweet, spicy, savoury, and sour – which is typical for a lot of Asian foods. The predominate flavours of this soup would be the lemongrass and coconut milk and it sure makes it delicious!

Each of the order comes with a delicious roll, and a recycled spoon, which is great. The bun was really great to either eat alone or with the soup. It was warm, light and fluffy on the inside, and perfectly crispy on the outside. It is very appropriate for the colder season!

Fiasco Gelato – Food Truck in Calgary

I love Gelato, and I love our street food – Food Trucks in Calgary! This is one of the few food trucks I’ve made an effort to visit numerous times! 🙂 I think Fiasco Gelato maybe my favourite food truck right now – if I’m allowed to say that. I love the owners behinds the scenes, and I always remember us asking him “how’s it going?” and they replied “living the dream!”

I love it when people are out doing what they love most – and they definitely love what they’re doing! The first time I tried them was actually when Alley Burger started up, and Fiasco Gelato was so clever they came out into the line with their gelato bike to serve hungry and patient customers gelato! Now, that’s smart! 🙂

Fiasco Gelato

During this outing, we enjoyed their Strawberry Gelato which really hit the spot! It was a hot day and a cold cup of refreshing and cold gelato – in my favourite flavour was served, I suddenly was 100 notches LESS grumpy from standing almost 3 hours in line for a burger!

Fiasco Gelato - Strawberry Gelato

We’ve also visited Fiasco Gelato on another occasion (numerous) where we got to order from their truck – which is just as fun actually!

Fiasco Gelato

One of my favourite flavours over summer that I got to experience would definitely be the Mango Creme Brulee. Fiasco Gelato has been easy to get my hands on as they’re as ambitious to sever Calgarians Gelato as much as I want to eat it! I’ve had them when they were at East Side Village to GlobalFest and all other places in between. I really like following them, and it just cheers me up when I see them serving so happily!

Fiasco Gelato - Mango Creme Brulee Gelato

For the colder months when a lot of their customers aren’t thinking about gelato, they’ve Souped Up their food truck – where they now serve hot home made gluten free soups with a fresh and delicious roll. Their soups are just as wonderful as their gelatos, so be sure to try Fiasco Souped Up Food Truck!

Fiasco Gelato (Icecream Truck) on Urbanspoon

Fiasco Gelato

Food truck in Calgary
Alley Burger
Perogy Boys
The Noodle Bus
Los Compadres
Mighty Skillet
Fiasco Gelato
Fiasco Souped Up
Chef Mario Street Burgers
Fries & Dolls
JoJo’s BBQ
Pimentos Mobile Pizzeria