Years ago, I wrote, TPOL’s Way Out of Poverty Is Not Vlogging. Then last year I started a YouTube channel called MasterOfWon. Unfortunately, putting together full episodes has been as efficient as catching up on my Trip Reports (see the still-incompleteQatar World Cup 2022). To get content out faster and to supplement previous blog posts that did not have video, I started producing shorts on my original YouTube channel, ThePointsOfLife.
And let me tell you something, it has been really fun. In addition to my monthly Simply The Best post, which recap all that was exceptionally written on the blog, I am going to add a Simply The Best weekly recap of my most fantastic YouTube shorts.
The preview is below. I suggest playing it with the audio on to hear how DJ TPOL mixes video with audio. And be sure to set the quality to 4k.
In 2016, I wrote: Naughty Or Nice: Hyatt Knows About Your Complaints. The post reveals that Hyatt Gold Passport, now World of Hyatt, keeps tabs on all complaints lodged to Hyatt corporate. A chronic complainer (see Have You Ever Not Complained?), I figured hotels would know I was coming and do their very best to make sure that TPOL has no opportunity to say anything negative. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Service has yet to rebound post Covid.
A good example of this lack of attention to detail comes from my stay at the Grand Hyatt Athens (see It’s Time to Drop the ‘Grand’). After an arduous journey from Lisbon,(see Athens Airport Transport: Valiant Effort to Save Money), all I wanted when I arrived was a nice shower. Imagine my surprise when I stepped into the shower to find that the soap dispenser was empty. Since I was upgraded to a suite, there were reserves on the vanity, sparing me the headache of calling the front desk at three in the morning. The more pressing concern I had after stepping back into the shower was whether the bathroom had been cleaned at all. Is that a stray hair I’m seeing on the tile or am I being paranoid?
The next day I kindly informed the front desk of my concern. The employee apologized for the issue and said that a manager would get back to me. Of course, no one did during my stay.
Many would say that I am looking for something to complain about. I respond with two points: 1) For $300 a night to stay at a hotel plus a scam fee (see What a Scam! Greek Climate Resilience Tax), what level of service should a hotel provide? 2) Why aren’t hotels aware that TPOL is coming and challenge themselves to do everything they can to ensure that I have no complaints?
If hotels could address these questions, it would make for a better experience for everyone, not just me.
The fun never stops with Barclays. I applied for the Hawaiian Business card and was told to provide more information. I did so in June. (see Barclays Hawaiian Business App: Send in Your DL, SS Card by Mail). It’s now September and I had not heard anything back. I called Barclays which told me that I was conditionally approved for 5k but I would need to speak to the fraud department first. I spoke to the fraud department who had to verify that I was who I said I was (see JetBlue Business Approved! Yes, Alexander Bachuwa Owns Bachuwa Law). The agent had to call me on the same phone number. I switched over and she introduced herself as if we had not spoken before. I gave her the answer to security questions and then she said she would meet me back on the other side. She informed me that I was approved by the fraud department but I would have to speak to the KYC department. I was transferred and asked the same questions. I gave the same answers. I was then told that I was conditionally approved but that an offline group would have to review my application one more time.
I did not go to Athens for fine dining. All I wanted was typical Athenian food without the tourist markup (see Iliad & Odyssey: Quest for the Best Athenian Gyros). Walking the streets, it seemed impossible to find. Each restaurant I passed looked like a variation of the Dancing Zorba’s. I will never understand the strategy behind putting someone out on the street to solicit people to come inside. How many times have you walked by after just having a meal only to hear, “Come inside for great food!”
The innkeeper at my friend’s hotel recommended En Iordani. While we were lucky enough to find the place, we found no luck in securing a table. Instead of being hounded to come in, we were ignored. We thought we were clever when we took the table of two women who had finished their meal. Instead of service, we were told, “You will wait for a long time.” I’m not sure if we were being reprimanded for this bold move or if he was setting our expectations based on how busy the restaurant was.
True to his word, we waited. And waited. Finally, the waiter told us to move to a different table. We waited there a bit longer. Ironically, another waiter came and said that we had to hurry up and order because the kitchen was about to close.
While I would have been happy with a simple gyros sandwich, I can’t complain about the quality and quantity of the food. The price was also reasonable at around 30 euros per person.
Documenting the restaurant for my blog, I could not help but wonder which attorney drafted the tagline for the restaurant.
Did they add another adjective to make the sign factually correct? Even if it is just the oldest, does being so in a small neighborhood in Athens make it impressive? Does anyone see where I’m going with this?
TPOL’s Tip: The Oldest Unoriginal Traditional Tavern was located next door. The address of the original is Ag. Anargiron Str. 3, Athens 10554 Greece.
TPOL is back home. I didn’t post plenty when I was living in Lisbon, but do not worry, the automation proclamation is about to come into effect (see TPOL’s Out of the Office…). Here’s the best from August.
Motivated by new appreciation of the dollar (see Tap to Pay? Sorry, Cash Only for Me) and depreciation of it to the euro, I refused to pay 60 euros to go from Athens airport to the Grand Hyatt Athens (see It’s Time to Drop the ‘Grand’). Instead, I paid to take the X95 bus to Syntagma, the famous square where the buses from the marathon picked me up (see Athens Marathon Course Review). From there, I paid 5.5 euros for a taxi.
Since I arrived at 2AM, there was no reason to get to the hotel quickly. In my spending days, I would have rationalized that I deserved the most efficient way to get to the hotel, as it had been such a long day. What a difference a change of mindset makes.
TPOL’s Tip: There is tap to pay on the bus, a reasonable exception to the cash only lifestyle.
Perhaps the hard product from Lisbon to Geneva was not that great because this is not a popular route. Surely, the Swiss Lounge would have to be better. Like I did in Lisbon, I assumed that the flagship carrier’s lounge would be better than the Priority Pass option (see Tap Lounge Lisbon: Is Priority Pass Better?). Here’s what I found:
Entrance Sign
This is a cool throwback sign.
Clock
Along with chocolate, the Swiss are known for their watches.
Seats
There were plenty of places to sit.
I have no idea what this is for and who would use it. But no eating inside!
Trying to find a direct flight on points from Lisbon to Athens proved impossible. Trying to find an affordable direct flight that fit my schedule was also impossible. Ultimately, I had to be creative. I used 25k Aeroplan points to fly from Lisbon to Geneva to Athens. The good news was that it cost $88. The bad news is that I left the house at 11:30AM and did not reach the underwhelming Grand Hyatt (see It’s Time to Drop the ‘Grand’) until 3AM.
I hoped that the mystique of anything Swiss, e.g., watches, chocolate, would also be found aboard Swiss Airlines.
I was wrong: this was an old A220 with no WiFi and no IFE.
As a starter, I was offered Rosemary sticks. What’s Swiss German for disgusting? I believe it’s rosemary sticks.
