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Summerfield Suites is a really nice extended stay hotel where my husband and I reserve a room for my in-laws whenever they come to town. It's very reasonably priced for what you get, so we like it,...
Summerfield Suites is a really nice extended stay hotel where my husband and I reserve a room for my in-laws whenever they come to town. It's very reasonably priced for what you get, so we like it, too. My in-laws have recommended it to all their friends who come to visit Seattle, too. The suites are great, neutrally but tastefully decorated, and fairly spacious. The location is ideal, just West of Capitol Hill, just North of First Hill, and on the Eastern edge of downtown by the convention center. It's super easy to walk to and from downtown and almost just as easy to walk to the Pike/Pine corridor, although it's uphill getting there. Although the hotel is located directly over I-5 where it passes through downtown, it's very well insulated from the freeway noise. Rooms with a view can see the Space Needle and the fireworks display on 4th of July.
They offer several different room configurations, the more expensive options being the ones where the living/dining area is separate from the bedroom(s). Those suites feel just like corporate housing, if you've ever been there. All have a small "vanity" area/room that is separate from the bathroom so that the bathroom mirror isn't the only mirror in the suite. Each suite has a desk with one of those fancy Aeron desk chairs, which are really as comfortable as everyone claims.
The kitchen in every suite comes with decent counterspace, a microwave, sink, dishwasher, and fridge. Everything's always very clean and well-maintained. Every morning, they serve a continental breakfast buffet complete with make-your-own waffles. There's even a small convenience store area in the lobby where you can buy foods to cook in your room. If you don't feel like cooking in your room, there are a number of good restaurants within a block or two, several of which offer delivery service to the hotel.
There is a small, heated rooftop pool where kids like to play as well as a small adjoining gym.
The staff are very nice, especially the guys in the parking garage. We are always in and out picking up the parents and dropping them off and the valets are always okay with us parking in one of the short-term spots for free. Overnight parking incurs $20-something (or whatever is the usual for hotels).
As an added bonus, you might run into celebrities if you stay here. The Paramount is nearby, after all. My husband recently met LL Cool J and his entourage in the lobby as they were checking out!
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Maya's Restaurant has a huge variety of very tasty Mexican options, including a hefty mariscos (seafood) section. They also offer a number of combination plates (large and small) and the usual a la...
Maya's Restaurant has a huge variety of very tasty Mexican options, including a hefty mariscos (seafood) section. They also offer a number of combination plates (large and small) and the usual a la carte items. For the less-adventurous, they offer hamburgers, although I have no idea if they're any good. I prefer the chicken mole. Friends and family like to order the enchiladas, flautas, tacos, and vegetarian options. While you won't wait long for your meal, you will still eat more chips than are good for you because their tortilla chips are irrestistible. The waiters are great about refilling the baskets right away and bringing you more warm bean dip and homemade salsa when you're running low. There's a bar attached to the restaurant, so you can listen to the music that filters in and sip Mexican beers and margaritas while you wait.
Despite the fact that the place appears to be half nightclub/bar, there are always many families with small children in the restaurant. They offer kids crayons and a kids' menu to color and order from. They have booths as well as an area to host slightly larger parties, although that area is a few steps up, on a raised section of the restaurant, if that's a concern for older or disabled family members. The decor is very vivid, all bright colors and multidimensional. We have a lot of fun entertaining ourselves with the wall art and painted (also, sometimes, carved) tables. This is probably my favorite Mexican restaurant in town even though it's a bit of a hike to get there.
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I've been to all the other architectural salvage places in Seattle multiple times the past month and I've got to say that Second Use has the best prices. The selection is also pretty good, but they...
I've been to all the other architectural salvage places in Seattle multiple times the past month and I've got to say that Second Use has the best prices. The selection is also pretty good, but they are not as selective about what they'll put on their shelves so you'll see a lot of stuff lacking in vintage or antique appeal. Meaning, there are 80s-style cabinets or cheap electric ranges. This is a good thing for some people, though, because the other architectural salvage places don't seem to carry anything but the really old stuff.
I've been especially impressed with their selection of brand new windows and tiles. The tiles are also displayed in a way that makes them easier to browse than at other places. They also have a bigger selection of sinks and scrap wood (including fun stuff like bleacher seats and wood from bowling alley lanes) than I noticed elsewhere. They didn't have a lot in the way of materials claimed from old schools or institutions, but I have seen a number of very large entryways in the warehouse. Now that I've got my cast iron clawfoot tub, I can also tell you that their prices on these tubs are about half what you'll find at Earthwise or RE-store. The doors aren't as well-marked as they are at RE-store so browsing through them requires more work on your part.
The store is pretty well-organized, although they seem to keep all the real antiques up at the front of the store, including items that you might expect to find in another department. As with shopping at any other second use place, you won't always find what you need, but you should check back often. Also bring with you a healthy dose of patience. Final note: a larger percentage of their inventory is outdoors than at Earthwise or RE-store, so that's something to consider if you're stopping by on an especially rainy, sunny, or cold day.
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If you're in the market for Kohler fixtures, you can see what seems like their entire catalog by going to Keller Supply in Redmond. While the Keller Supply website indicates that they (their...
If you're in the market for Kohler fixtures, you can see what seems like their entire catalog by going to Keller Supply in Redmond. While the Keller Supply website indicates that they (their warehouse) carry dozens of brands, the showroom is almost entirely dominated by Kohler tubs, sinks, faucets, showers, and toilets. There are a few other designer brands that you don't see at the big box places like Lowe's and Home Depot, too, but they comprise maybe 10-20% of the showroom floor.
The store is laid out pretty well, with sinks mostly in one area and faucets and showerheads in another. Their bathroom faucets are actually hooked up to the plumbing so you can judge them based on function as well as form. I also really liked the pull-out drawers that allow them to maximize display space for sinks, but I didn't like the fact that there were no price tags, not even price tags with MSRPs. They had finish samples on kiosks here and there, but for the most part, display items were in standard white.
My husband and I would have liked to talk to someone, but customer service in the showroom is available only by appointment. We didn't know this ahead of time. It's a good thing they have a sign in the showroom telling you as much because I would have been really offended that they acknowledged us with nary a glance or a nod. This seemed like an unnecessarily snooty way of conducting business and definitely turned me off.
After browsing the showroom, we stopped in the warehouse to see if they had a sample product in the back that they didn't have in the showroom. While the guy at the desk was reluctant to go check, he ultimately did. This helped to sort of redeem the place in my mind. That said, they still carry lots of brands and contractors and builders apparently like to use them, so if you see something you want on their website, you can order it online or through your contractor instead of wasting a trip to the showroom.
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Young Park of Fineline Auto Design fixed my power door lock on short notice, in a matter of hours, for a low, low price, and without any upsell. He answered my questions about the work in a way that...
Young Park of Fineline Auto Design fixed my power door lock on short notice, in a matter of hours, for a low, low price, and without any upsell. He answered my questions about the work in a way that made me feel very confident about the results and then followed through by turning my car over to me later the same afternoon with the power door lock working beautifully. (It had been broken in some way or another for about a year and I was sure the situation was dire, maybe even unfixable at this point, but I was wrong!) The shop's hours are a little unusual for an auto-related business (10am-6:30pm), but worked for me because I was able to pick my car up at the end of the work day!
When we first spoke on the phone, it took a little time to explain the problem, but he asked me lots of clarifying questions, which made me feel confident about bringing my car in in the first place. On the phone, he said he could do the work the next day if I could bring the car in at 1pm or 3pm. These hours weren't ideal, but I managed to work from home in order to make the appointment. He was working on another car when I dropped mine off, but he took a quick break for the intake process. He confirmed with me what was broken and then took the time to explain to me what he anticipated the repair would entail. He showed me the replacement motor, told me its cost as well as the cost of labor. He explained the parts warranty and told me I had gotten a good deal of use out of my broken lock (10+ years off an item that's only covered under warranty for 1!). He also cogently answered my questions about additional work, including a verbal estimate.
In the end, I decided to just get the one power door lock repaired instead of getting a whole new system installed. I was pleasantly surprised at how cheap the bill ended up being: $76!
The shop does window tinting, glass repair, car alarm installation and repair, and stereo installations. I didn't check out the breadth of their products, but they have a selection of stereo systems on site. After bemoaning the fact that Car Toys (bad!) seems to be the only place to get a stereo or alarm installed in your car, I couldn't have been happier to frequent a small business that completely reminded me of the ones I used to see and use in Southern California.
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I got together with some good friends and former housemates a few years ago. We chose Seaside as our destination because it was on the coast and seemed like a very cute little town with lots of...
I got together with some good friends and former housemates a few years ago. We chose Seaside as our destination because it was on the coast and seemed like a very cute little town with lots of rental homes. It's a small town and therefore very walkable. We liked the cute main street with its restaurants, shops, ice cream parlors, and arcade. The Pig N' Pancake provided a hearty breakfast, but I highly recommend the Cajun restaurant slightly on the periphery. You can rent paddle boats for the river or scooters to zip around town in. We did both and LOVED the scooters, but you'd be limited to the boats if you travel there with kids.
All in all, we had a great time and liked the cottage we all rented together. The rooms were not equal, but we knew that going into it. We used and had a good experience with Beach House Vacation Rentals: http://www.beachhouse1.com/default.asp. Seaside is full of vacation homes and it seems that BHVR is a property management office for many of them. BHVR also serves Gearhart and the vicinity. Cannon Beach was an easy day trip from Seaside. We hiked there on our second trip to Seaside. Cannon Beach is supposedly a bigger town and seemed a little bit more adult a destination (something to keep in mind if you're traveling with kids).
Beach House Vacation Rentals has an office on the main road just as you're getting into Seaside. (The building is across from the plaza with the grocery store). We came into town late, but had been left a lockbox with keys and instructions (the code had been emailed to us, I think). There was the usual paperwork beforehand. They communicated with us by phone and answered all our questions promptly. The contract was very detailed and outlined most everything about the rental that we wanted to know (deposits, cleaning fees, etc). The only somewhat unusual thing was that they don't take credit cards, so we had to pay our security deposit, pet deposit, and the balance using checks. One person in our group was the point person (collected money, talked on the phone with the people at BHVR, etc).
The house we rented was cute if a little bit musty, but was spacious enough for the 8 of us. The house was very reasonably priced and a short half-block walk to the beach. It had an outdoor shower to rinse off beach sand. In addition, the house came with cooking implements and basic spices in the cupboards, a grill, and a ping-pong table in the garage (which, unfortunately, smelled like tons of animals had been locked in there while vacationers were out and about). For entertainment, there was a radio, TV, and a cupboard full of board games. We may have had to pay more to use it (I don't remember now), but there was even a nice washer and dryer that we could use.
The only thing that was a bit of a detraction from Seaside was that there were a number of dead birds and fish on the beach. I'm not sure what was going on there. It seemed worse the first time we were there and somewhat less noticeable the second time we visited a few months later. The beach is a bit cold for sunning, but we gave it a good go, built bonfires, and flew our kites.
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Because of its South Indian bent, the lunch buffet at Udupi Palace presents seasoned Indian buffet-ers with a new experience. This isn't just because of the baffling way they've set up the buffet....
Because of its South Indian bent, the lunch buffet at Udupi Palace presents seasoned Indian buffet-ers with a new experience. This isn't just because of the baffling way they've set up the buffet. (I had a hard time figuring out at which end to begin.) The food at Udupi Palace is all vegetarian and tends not to be as spicy as the North Indian dishes you find at other Indian buffets.
As with any buffet, you won't get a lot of help from the servers in discerning the contents of one dish from another. They seem to rely much more on daal (lentils) and on coconut and nut bases in their recipes, which is great for me because I like those flavors. Not so good if you have allergies. The only way to figure out what's what is to fill your little metal cups with this and that and taste lots of different dishes. Luckily, you'll mostly find hits instead of misses.
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Kabab Palace is just average as far as Indian buffets go, but I do like that they are less crowded than some of the others in the Redmond area and that they include some non-standard fare. Their...
Kabab Palace is just average as far as Indian buffets go, but I do like that they are less crowded than some of the others in the Redmond area and that they include some non-standard fare. Their kababs, interestingly enough, are not their strength. I've found them to be kind of dry and overcooked. However, their mango pudding, if that is what it is, is silky and delicious.
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If you don't arrive at Mayuri at 11 on the dot, be prepared to stand in a long line while you wait to snatch up goodies at the buffet. It's enough to make you want to get back in line while still...
If you don't arrive at Mayuri at 11 on the dot, be prepared to stand in a long line while you wait to snatch up goodies at the buffet. It's enough to make you want to get back in line while still spooning up lunch just so you don't ever have to face a clean plate while you're still hungry.
Mayuri has standard Indian buffet fare: tandoori chicken (chicken cooked in a clay oven, has a distinctive red color), vegetable pakoras (battered and fried vegetable goodness), several veggie and chicken curries and kormas (stew-type dishes), daal (lentil stew), channa masala (chickpea stew), saag paneer (spinach with indian cheese) naan, basmati rice, raita (yogurt-cucumber dip), and the standard kheer dessert (rice pudding). The dishes change up a little bit, but you'll always have plenty to eat. I always leave this place full to bursting.
At dinner, you can cobble together your own "buffet" of sorts by ordering the thali dinner. I like having the samosa and pappadams (fried crisps) with their deliciously tart and sweet chutneys at dinner. Their mango lassis aren't always cold, but their tea is always hot and steamy.
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Sur La Table is full of specialty cooking items with price tags that often aren't warranted. I like to browse here. I only pick up items that I can't find elsewhere, but the one word that comes to...
Sur La Table is full of specialty cooking items with price tags that often aren't warranted. I like to browse here. I only pick up items that I can't find elsewhere, but the one word that comes to mind when I think of Sur La Table is: gimmicky.
If you're interested in a cooking class at Sur La Table, make sure you read the description carefully as not all classes are hands-on. Even the ones that are described as hands-on may not be as interesting as you might like. In my opinion and limited experience, most of the classes are designed to showcase tools and convenience products carried by Sur La Table. (Chefs will also come in for guest spots to hawk their new cookbooks.)
Take, for example, my takeaways from a class on "how to make tamales": 1) they are a pain to make from scratch, so don't...just use Melissa's-brand tamale kits instead; 2) Sur La Table not only carries the kits, they also carry these adorable little pots that are perfect for making tamales...you can buy them during the break; 3) you "make tamales" by cutting open some plastic packages, adding water, stirring the contents of the packages together, unfolding the pre-moistened corn husks, spooning the mix on the husks, folding up the husks, and then boiling them for the pre-determined amount of time. Handy and not half-bad, but the rep flat-out told us at the beginning that this is not how you make real tamales.
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