The Polite Traveler

Palm Springs Activities Hello, my Polite Travelers, As an older couple, we often just want to relax and enjoy our favorite places at a leisurely pace. This was the case during our recent revisit to Palm Springs. For the most part, we explored downtown, stopping for coffee and chatting with the locals. Additionally, we embarked on a few other excellent adventures. Agua Caliente Cultural Museum As a Smithsonian Affiliate, I found this museum to be outstanding.  This museum is a mixture of immersive video, sound, and visuals (including lifelike exhibits) to tell the story of America’s rich—and many times heart-wrenching—indigenous story.  The permanent gallery begins with the 360-degree immersive video of the Agua Caliente “Creation & Migration” story.  The quality of their digital animation and sound is impressive—there’s even a screen on the floor.  I found their creation story to be fascinating. Don’t Miss! For the Love of Art! Don’t Miss The Palm Springs Art M...

Hyatt Place Delano, CA, and Room #303 Hello, my Polite Travelers. Well, we’ve had a fantastic, fun-filled week in Palm Springs, and are now traveling home to Davis, CA.  To break up the long drive, we’re staying one night in the Hyatt Place in Delano, CA.  So far, so excellent. The Spacious Accessible Room #303 This room appears brand new, as if no one has stayed here yet.  Everything is clean, neat, and warm.  We’ve been assigned a lovely corner room away from the nearby freeway.  Across the street is a huge shopping center with restaurants and shopping opportunities.  Since this is an accessible room, there’s plenty of room between furniture and grab bars a’plenty in the bathroom—near the toilet and in the shower.  The sink is outside the toilet/shower room--love it.  The walk-in shower features an adjustable shower wand and pull-down seat.  Perfect!  There is no microwave, but one can be requested.  Alternatively, th...

Hilton Palm Springs Hotel & Room #191 Review Hello, my Polite Travelers. Well, we finally made it to Palm Springs, CA.  It’s great weather, even in early December.  Palm Springs is a unique place: quirky with a side of cinema history.  And even though it’s a tourist favorite, it feels homey and welcoming .  There are numerous lodging options, but we chose the Hilton Palm Springs Resort.  We stayed here four years ago and found it to be a mixed bag: a great layout, but in need of some remodeling.  Now, it’s a tad better…with caveats.  Accessible Room #191 For the most part, this room is accessible : a walk-in shower, plenty of grab bars, a fold-down shower seat, and a low-mounted shampoo bar.  Still, the toilet is at regular height.  Those with mobility issues require taller toilets.  The bathroom sink is excellent, with counter space and no cabinets underneath.  Although I didn’t measure the sink height, it appears to be a...

Hyatt Place Bakersfield and Room #312 Hello, my Polite Travelers. Well, we’re on the road traveling from Davis, CA to Palm Desert.  Midway, we’re staying at the Hyatt Place Bakersfield.  It’s not far from CA 99 and very near highway #58, which is exactly the road we need to jump onto tomorrow morning.  It’s also directly across the street from a shopping center with restaurants and…drumroll… Trader Joe’s .  The room is spacious and accessible.  The bathroom features numerous grab bars, and the space between furniture is ample.   This room has a bathtub, so those requiring a walk-in shower should request a different room.  The tub also didn’t have a shower wand or pull-down seat.  Many with mobility issues require these.  The shampoo and conditioner were ‘fairly’ low enough, but could have been lower. Don’t Miss! Choose This Comfort Suites When in Astoria, OR Why We’ll Skip Embassy Suites Napa in the Winter Look Closer at the ...

Hampton Inn & Suites Palm Desert, CA—Hotel & Room #330 Review Hello, my Polite Travelers. We are now in sunny Palm Desert, and it is a grand place.  Everything looks clean and new.  Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the Hampton Inn.  It pains me to say it, but this hotel needs some love…and perhaps a good handyman.  Our room is an accessible room for hubby.  On first glance, it’s adequate, with space between furniture and grab bars in the bathroom.  That’s only the first glance.   Blink once more, and there are a few issues for both the mobile and mobility-challenged .  First, although the bathroom features plenty of grab bars, the toilet is too low, and accessible toilets require taller seats.   The shampoo bar is too high, and there’s no pull-down seat in the tub.  Those in wheelchairs would require a different room, and most mobility-challenged people can’t reach up to access the shampoo bar.   ...

Ah Hawaii, warm breezes, friendly people, and many lodging opportunities. Some are elegant, some are shabby, and some are just so-so. For the most part, my dear hubby and I have found our stays comfortable, but not always…perfect. What is perfect anyway? In Hawaii, perfect could simply mean looking out a clean window.  For this trip, we traveled and stayed in Waikiki. We know Waikiki well. It’s easy to maneuver through town, and it’s comfortable for my hubby, who is now living with mobility issues. Yep, a complete bummer. Still, we have found ways to help him enjoy—or sometimes simply tolerate—travel. (More on traveling by air in another post) As for our hotel stays, well, that requires a bit of finesse.  The Room Across from a Jet Engine--Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki  We’ve stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki multiple times but never in an accessible room. We chose this hotel based on its location and price. It’s not fancy or elegant. This Hilton is the typica...

My Dear Polite Travelers, Our first stay in a Hyatt was less than stellar.  In fact, it’s more of a mixed bag of frustration and comfort.  The hotel was beautiful, don’t get me wrong.  It was just … incomplete.  Really? Room #281 is considered accessible ? We booked an accessible room due to my hubby’s back issue—a typical old-person problem.  Typically, an accessible room would naturally have a shower with ease of entry.  In room #281?  Nope.  Getting into a tub requires some dexterity that a mobility-challenged person may not have.  This is a major problem that should be addressed.  I hope Hyatt is listening.  Other than that oversight, there were no towel bars in the bathroom — strange.  Plus, it would have been logical if there was at least one hook for clothing/robe in the bathroom as well.  And, speaking of robes, robes are an accessory in these rooms.  There were none.  In fact, I had to call down f...

My Dearest Polite Traveler, Our coastal journey to the lovely Albion River Inn begins on a warm July morning in Davis, CA.     It was an exceptionally pleasant 80 degrees and was warm for most of the day, not realizing we would end bundling up as if it were late autumn once we reached our destination.   Tip: When visiting north-coastal CA at any time of year, pack warm clothing.   We decided to travel from our home base—100 m east of San Francisco—west through the Napa Valley and then onto a more northerly procession through Sonoma and Mendocino Valleys.   Driving through these world-renowned wine countries, it was tempting to stop for a taste.     But, hey, a girl has got to eat—or indulge in a hot chocolate beverage.   I love Starbucks !   Okay, I’ve said it.   I just absolutely love it, with mochas as my absolute favorite.   Consequently, around lunchtime, and with the long freeway ahead of us, we pulled up the Starb...

Imagine a trip to a tropical island.   The air is fresh with smells of the ocean, sand, and something that can’t be put into mere words.   It is more of a feeling, rather than something that can be simply discussed or splashed down on a cold page.   Now, imagine Hawaii.   If you’ve never been, you are probably picturing swaying palms, sandy beaches, and tanned bodies lying everywhere.   Even if you’ve been to some of the Hawaiian Islands, you may be visualizing this right now—great vision to invoke mid-winter.   Keep this vision as we move on.      The big island, Hawaii, always held great interest for me since I was a young child because of the many romantic stories about the cowboys on the biggest cattle ranch in the US, the Parker Ranch.   Of course, in Hawaii, those cowboys are called Paniolos.   So here I am, a much older version of that little girl swooning over ranch life and horses and expecting to see cattle roaming ...