Crystal Suites actually ended up disappointing me, but here goes the review.
Lobby-9/10 Lacking warm drinks for the weather or any perks, but modern, warm feeling to the lounge. Wonderful design, making one feel warm and energetic. Connected to Old Spaghetti Factory indoors, a huge plus. Connected to the main Village Squares of Whistler, another big plus.
Staff-7/10 All had good intentions...when one initiated the question or conversation. Otherwise, the staff seem to mind their own business, but if asked upon are great. Would like them to take the initiative to be friendly first though.
Room-7/10 Average bathroom, small beds, small, cramped room, older tv. Great for couples, or parties of 3 or less. But for a family it really doesn't cut it, because of the small beds. Room has an older feel to it, unlike the sparkling lobby.
Instead of going to the other Nordic area up at Lost Lake, we decided to go back to the Olympic Nordic Center again, Callaghan County. Numerous trails are closed in preparation for the Olympics, but this time we ventured up and down a 2 km hill. Going down was amazing. Going up was...work. The course, once again, is a little bit more advanced, but there are several green trails, but some of them require going on blues to access them.
After a grueling drive, we finally reached Richmond's Aberdeen Center. The road from Vancouver to Whistler interchanges between one lane and two lane each way, and has seen major improvements. However, I wish it could just be two lanes all the way, but environmental and cost concerns probably prevent that. Traffic from West and North Vancouver into downtown is terrible with it being funneled through the Lions Gate Bridge and Highway 1 Bridge. It took one hour to travel 2 miles to get to the bridge. The bridges between Vancouver and Richmond are less crowded though.
We had dinner at Tropika, a Thai and Malaysian Cuisine Restaurant. Overall, the food was delicious, and the service quite good too.
Environment-7/10 Maybe a bit too dark, but pretty classy. Great location just inside mall. Underneath the tables was a little bit dirty. I would prefer eating here for lunch perhaps.
Food-10/10 Delicious. Every item touts quality, presentation, and tastefulness. No flaws whatsoever. That's an amazing accomplishment-getting a 10/10.
Service-7/10 The waiter didn't come around to refill drinks, or take orders for awhile. He is saved by the fact that when he did come, from his sweaty endeavours of running around the bustling restaurant, he had a smile on his face and did his job well. He would be great if he came around more often.
Price-Expensive. As you can expect from looking at the classy environment.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Whistler, BC Day 2-12/27
After battling an hour of tough traffic in downtown Vancouver and Richmond, we finally reached highway 99 bound for Whistler. Turning off on Callaghan Valley Rd and driving for a couple miles, you reach the Olympic Nordic Center going to be used in the upcoming Olympics.
Mountains lunge in every direction, as the sun tosses its receding, withering hand into the distance. Although icy, the snow was fantastic and fast. This is simply the best skiing workout wise and beauty wise that I have experienced. The terrain was a little bit more advanced as green runs could be considered blues, etc. However, atop "Top of the World" run, the panaromic view is simply stunning. Mountains, green, white, and snow everywhere. Beautiful.
A short sprint up 99 brings you to Whistler village. Subsequent to checking into Crystal Lodge, we walked over (all indoors, its connected) to Old Spaghetti Factory.
Environment- 9/10 Classical, yet elegant. Spotless, except the waiting area.
Food- 9.5/10 Definitely worth the money, with included drinks, soup or salad, and ice cream. Lost half a point on minor details accumulating such as soft apples in salad, and slightly overcooked pasta. But I had to think HARD to manage to knock down half a point.
Service- 10/10 Attentive. Water always full. Smiling. Although he misheard an order, he instantly recovered and also gave a free ice cream. I rarely give out 10s but this deserves it.
Price- Cheap considering all we got.
Tomorrow entails another hard day of skiing!
Mountains lunge in every direction, as the sun tosses its receding, withering hand into the distance. Although icy, the snow was fantastic and fast. This is simply the best skiing workout wise and beauty wise that I have experienced. The terrain was a little bit more advanced as green runs could be considered blues, etc. However, atop "Top of the World" run, the panaromic view is simply stunning. Mountains, green, white, and snow everywhere. Beautiful.
A short sprint up 99 brings you to Whistler village. Subsequent to checking into Crystal Lodge, we walked over (all indoors, its connected) to Old Spaghetti Factory.
Environment- 9/10 Classical, yet elegant. Spotless, except the waiting area.
Food- 9.5/10 Definitely worth the money, with included drinks, soup or salad, and ice cream. Lost half a point on minor details accumulating such as soft apples in salad, and slightly overcooked pasta. But I had to think HARD to manage to knock down half a point.
Service- 10/10 Attentive. Water always full. Smiling. Although he misheard an order, he instantly recovered and also gave a free ice cream. I rarely give out 10s but this deserves it.
Price- Cheap considering all we got.
Tomorrow entails another hard day of skiing!
Richmond, BC Day 1-12/26
Departing for Richmond from Seattle at a late 3 pm, we hit the border between Canada and USA at 5 pm. After a short 30 minute drive up highway 99 from the border, my family arrived at Richmond. Looking for restaurants on Westminster Highway and No. 3 Road, we finally decided on Shanghai River on Westminster Highway. Parking can be tough, but there are numerous spots across the street.
Walking in, one is instantly greeted with a chorus of chatter and clashing silverware. The interior is spotless, while the main area contains the kitchen with glass windows where you can see the chefs chop and cook. Service is pretty good, but the glasses of water were left empty and the service from the people did not match the warmth from the inviting environment. Su long bao is a must have, with the juice from the Su long bao being delicious. Su long bao is a dome shaped wrap with meat on the inside. It is more like a circular steamed potsticker with a soup in the middle. The fish was excellent, but the portion was small. Eggplant and chow mein were both big and bursting with flavor, almost too much flavor, but it was still great. Noodle soup was bland to me, not inspiring, and definitely not up to the standards of the other food. For desert we had red bean cake which is red pean paste inside a crispy wrap. Unfortunately, the dish was burnt and small, and not very good.
Environment- 9/10 Bright, warm environment. High ceilings. Glass kitchen. Lost point on sticky bathroom.
Food- 8/10 Mostly excellent, but points lost on red bean cake and noodle soup. Great presentation.
Service- 6/10 Efficient, but lacking genuine warmth. All servers didn't adapt to additional requests or questions about food.
Price- Expensive. But justified expensiveness, as the environment was clean and the food was great.
Full from a satisfying dinner, we hopped to the Radisson hotel. The next day would have me sweating even in the cool weather.
Walking in, one is instantly greeted with a chorus of chatter and clashing silverware. The interior is spotless, while the main area contains the kitchen with glass windows where you can see the chefs chop and cook. Service is pretty good, but the glasses of water were left empty and the service from the people did not match the warmth from the inviting environment. Su long bao is a must have, with the juice from the Su long bao being delicious. Su long bao is a dome shaped wrap with meat on the inside. It is more like a circular steamed potsticker with a soup in the middle. The fish was excellent, but the portion was small. Eggplant and chow mein were both big and bursting with flavor, almost too much flavor, but it was still great. Noodle soup was bland to me, not inspiring, and definitely not up to the standards of the other food. For desert we had red bean cake which is red pean paste inside a crispy wrap. Unfortunately, the dish was burnt and small, and not very good.
Environment- 9/10 Bright, warm environment. High ceilings. Glass kitchen. Lost point on sticky bathroom.
Food- 8/10 Mostly excellent, but points lost on red bean cake and noodle soup. Great presentation.
Service- 6/10 Efficient, but lacking genuine warmth. All servers didn't adapt to additional requests or questions about food.
Price- Expensive. But justified expensiveness, as the environment was clean and the food was great.
Full from a satisfying dinner, we hopped to the Radisson hotel. The next day would have me sweating even in the cool weather.
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