Detroit Marriott: In Need of Another RenaissanceTwo towers of the Ren Cen are being demolished. While they are doing that, they should also fix up this place. Like General Motors, it’s well past its prime. #yourefired
Priority Pass Koh Samui: Coconut KingdomOne of the most unique airports in the world is Koh Samui Airport. It an open-air terminal with shops, restaurants, and, most importantly, a Priority Pass Lounge.
By now, you should know that my favorite hobby is bargaining. I have written extensively on how to procure tickets to the most obscure events (see Ticket Scalping Guide). Here are some examples:
With online prices for the game out of control (see Super Bowl Preview: Bills vs. Lions, Me vs. Myself), I decided that the best way to get tickets was at the stadium. Braving the elements, I walked around Ford Field with two fingers in the air, the international sign language for, “I need tickets.” I became a little concerned when I saw the scalpers asking if anyone was selling tickets instead of the contra, “Does anyone need tickets?”
As time went on, I began to accept the possibility that I would not be going to the game.
The chaos.TPOL’s Tip: For those who refuse to be exploited for event tickets, you must go in with the mindset that you may have flown all the way from Puerto Rico to Detroit only to watch the game in a bar. If you don’t have the ‘Detroit Grit’ to accept that reality, this game may not be for you.
TPOL’s Tip: NFL games do not have paper tickets. Attempts to obtain those would be a great souvenir of your naivety.
Persistent and patient, I finally encountered a gentleman who said he had ‘standing room only’ tickets. I told him I would rather pay for a seat. He was adamant that there were no tickets. His colleague had one electronic ticket for sale for $500. I needed two.
I asked how much the standing room tickets were. He told me $200 each. My goal was to spend $400 total but for actual seats. I tried to bargain but he said that was the final price. I went online to see if the ticket prices had dropped from the resellers. I was surprised to find that there were next to no tickets available. My theory that those who had tickets who were not going would dump them at the last minute proved incorrect.
TPOL’s Tip: Online, prices go up, not down, as the game approaches. The cheapest I found tickets were 3 days before the game.
TPOL’s Tip: I withdrew $600 from the ATM. It is best to put a cap on how much you would spend before hysteria sets in when you arrive at the venue.
Out of options, I told my new friend that I was in for standing room only. He told me to follow his colleague through security and into the stadium. But first, he required the money. I thought to myself, “Worst case, the tickets were not real, and I would be out $400.” Given my string of luck in the past, I rationalized that I could accept this defeat.
To my joy and surprise, the tickets worked and we were let in! To my amusement, other people in standing room had paid $400 per ticket.
Stay within the taped areas.Can’t beat this view.Overall
With e-tickets, the job of a scalper has almost been eliminated. Some may say that this is for the best as some scalpers sell fake tickets. I disagree. The new crooks are the third-party brokers who charge extortionate ‘transaction’ fees for the privilege of electronically sending your tickets to your inbox.
With this changing landscape, I cannot say how useful my scalping guide will be in the future. There are some events like the Super Bowl (see Who Can Afford Super Bowl Tickets?) where it certainly will not work. For those events, I wouldn’t go at all. The sad reality is that major sports events are for the rich. Corporations own too many of the seats, leaving the rest of us at the mercy of online resellers. As a points traveler, I am glad that points have allowed me to attend major sporting events without being gouged for airlines and hotels. As a sports enthusiast, I am glad that I have been able to attend so many great games. Adopting a sports analogy, I am not willing to throw in the towel on either hobby. But it sure has become more challenging.
If you know the greatest running back of all time, you may be able to get cheaper tickets.
Read about how I went from standing room only to the 4th row in the follow-up post.
Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center is part of the TPOL Won’t Visit All 50 States And That’s OK Trip Report.
I was in Michigan for three reasons: 1) To requalify for Hyatt Globalist (see Qualifying for Hyatt Globalist: Did You Know?) 2. To watch the Bills vs. Lions game (see Super Bowl Preview: Me vs. Myself). 3. To visit family.
Unfortunately for my primary objective, there is no Hyatt in the D. Ever frugal, I wanted to use my Marriott stay 35k cert for Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Unfortunately, the Westin goes for 52,000 points per night, 2,000 more than can be used when combining a cert with points. Clearly, this was done on purpose.
The next choice was to stay at the antiquated Detroit Marriot at the Renaissance Center. The options were: 1) $700 a night, 2) 50,000 points, 3) 25,000 points, and $125. It should come as no surprise that I went with option 3. By doing so, I was able to keep my stay cert and only spend 10k more than I would have had I combined the stay cert with 15,000 points.
From a points perspective, this was a win. From a hotel enthusiast’s perspective, I came away unimpressed.
I like the old school elevator.I like the old school buttons.Location
The hotel is located at GM World Headquarters. Frequent readers will recall that I was fired from GM after four months on the job. New readers can buy my book and read all about it.
Getting There
From the airport, rent a car. DTW is not near downtown Detroit.
Parking
I am still confused by the cost of parking. Here’s what the website says:
Somehow, I was charged $56 for self-parking in the garage for one night.
Room
The room was dated but the bed was exceptionally comfortable.View
While it’s not the Park Hyatt Shanghai, the view was top-notch. I have been told that I can see Canada on a clear day.
Detroit?Shanghai?
Bathroom
The bathroom needed an upgrade. The worst part was the Rolls-Royce engine noise coming from the shower. After a raucous football game, the last thing I wanted to hear was a piercingly loud noise.
Breakfast
The buffet was what you would expect from a Hyatt Place, incidentally where I stayed the first three nights to requalify (see Finally, a Review of the Hyatt Place Livonia). While there was an a la carte, I made the mistake of ordering the egg white wrap. The tomatoes dominated the wrap ruining what was otherwise a nice-looking breakfast. To untop it off, there was no espresso, only black coffee served from a coffee pot.
Cadillac Coffee?Photo>FlavorTPOL’s Tirade: Is there anything more gross than topping off old coffee with more old coffee?
Overall
Two towers of the Ren Cen are being demolished. While they are doing that, they should also fix up this place. Like General Motors, it’s well past its prime. #yourefired
I abandoned the March Madness Bracket for my blog fans (see No TPOL March Madness Bracket. And No One Cares). Next year I may have one for the College Football Playoffs. Here are my predictions for the first weekend:
Friday, Dec. 20: No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame: Indiana with the upset.
Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State: SMU with the upset.
People are sick. People are weird. People are angry. That’s why we have Festivus!
Here are the previous Festivus posts. You’ll notice that the same people have stayed with me through the years, especially the ‘nasty woman’ linmoron. Maybe I should be thankful for their support.
Gringo: Ouch. Made a mistake in coming here. The author (contributor?) of this blog gives off a very unique and unattractive vibe. Nothing in the writing suggests self-deprecation or a wink and a nod.
Thomas: You sound so pompous and insufferable. First and last time reading your shitty blog
Mr Wellwisher: Insufferable and “self deprecating humor” as a form of being pompous. Thomas is 100% right.
Dan: exactly the type of person who’d use a fake rimowa… not even remotely surprised.
MilkeL: You solicit your reader for input and respond with such derision as “the person who doesn’t travel that comments and hides in the basement.” Insulting, to say the least. Do better.
F. Flintstone.: This blog is just a massive moan-fest. Having to walk a mile uphill, big deal. All of 5-10 mins. You complain about Kavos, one of the worst areas on the island for tourists, but you failed to go anywhere else to enjoy the island. Seems a lack of data to make a compelling argument about how shit Corfu is nowadays. I came here expecting a little bit more.
Sam: Posts picture of his face instead of something travel-related. Tell us you’re a narcissist without telling us you’re a narcissist. Why does Boarding Area keep this blogger on their platform? NEVER anything of value posted.
Sam: PLEASE stay away until 2025. Maybe even longer? Keep this garbage out of my boarding area feed!
Bumsi Kiddle: Literally no one will miss you. Your content adds very little to boarding area there’s next to no insight offered, your blog is the definition of an also ran.
TPOL: Then why you commenting?
Bumsi Kiddle: Actually you make a good point there. I won’t bother further. But notice that im the solitary commenter, does rather prove my point.
waylon mcgill: read it .. it wasnt fucking interesting… my shits are more interesting than your posts.
Ralph: So many people seem to be completely uninformed about the nature of TPOL posts. TPOL is the anti-blog. The “stream of consciousness” trumps production value blog. If TPOL was in the MCU it would be Deadpool. Many of the trips involve the same recurring flaws … notably a pathological resistance to researching much less following advice on visa requirements. Many (most?) of TPOL posts are lessons in what not to do. Yet thru it all TPOl is true to himself. He doesn’t pretend to be anyone other than who he is and does. He doesn’t push inappropriate credit cards on his readers.I wouldn’t live my life the way he does. But I respect the way he blogs that life.
Growing up, I had the misfortune of being a Lions and Bills fan. While I have been to Ford Field (see A Lions Thanksgiving), I have not been to Orchard Park. The only time I have seen the Bills in person was in Miami (see Bills Mafia v Fins: Hard Rock Stadium Review).
This weekend the Lions are hosting the Bills in what may be a preview of the Super Bowl. If either advance to the Super Bowl, this may be the last time I see them in action due to the prohibitive cost of tickets (see Bills Lose, But Who Can Afford Super Bowl Tickets?).
Two questions remain: 1)Does anyone have tickets for TPOL? 2) Who do I want to win?
My issue with both teams is the sheer stupidity of both coaches. Let me cite two examples: Last week, the Lions were up by 3 when Mr. ‘Bight Your Knee Caps’ decided to go for it on 4th down on his own 25. It didn’t work out and Green Bay ended up scoring a touchdown and going ahead. It took another ill-advised 4th down conversion for the Lions to win the game.
In the Buffalo-Rams game, the Bills fought their way back from a double-digit deficit. Then Sean ‘Clueless’ McDermott, decided to run the ball on 1st and goal instead of throwing it. The Bills didn’t make it, were forced to burn a timeout, and ended up not recovering the onside kick. The Bills lost. Dan Campbell was commended for being courageous while the media was more fixated with Josh Allen’s stat line than the mismanagement of the clock.
As a fan, I have tried not to become emotionally invested in either team. Whether it be the Music City Miracle or idiotically not kicking a FG to go up in the NFC Championship game, both teams find a way to break my heart. This weekend that will be different. I should walk out a winner. Then again, I wouldn’t be shocked if the game ended in a tie.
Simply The Best: April 2024
Simply The Best: May 2024
Simply The Best: June 2024
Simply The Best: July 2024
Simply The Best: August 2024
Simply The Best: September 2024
Simply The Best: October 2024
Simply The Best: November 2024
What was the best about November? This photo:
Simply The Best: December 2024
View
While it’s not the Park Hyatt Shanghai, the view was top-notch. I have been told that I can see Canada on a clear day.
TPOL’s Tirade: Is there anything more gross than topping off old coffee with more old coffee?
Overall
Two towers of the Ren Cen are being demolished. While they are doing that, they should also fix up this place. Like General Motors, it’s well past its prime. #yourefired
