Flip Flops….check

Bathing Suits…check

Beach Towels…check

Sunscreen….hmmmm. Need to get that.

No sooner had I made that list before my trip to Hawaii this summer, the good folks at Nature’s Basin, purveyors of organic beauty products, contacted me and asked if I’d like to try something from their inventory.

Boy, that request couldn’t have come at a better time.

After perusing their natural beauty products site, I picked the Soleo Organics All Natural Sunscreen:

Soleo Organics All Natural Sunscreen from Nature's Basin

I’d never tried an organic sunscreen before. I was interested to see if the organic product would perform any differently than the non-organic sunscreens I’ve always used.

Here’s the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly breakdown…

The Good:

It came within day thanks to the great shipping and handling folks at Nature’s Basin.

I loved the handy dandy caribeaner I could use to attach to my backpack.

We hauled the sunscreen all over Oahu and the package never leaked, even when I accidentally left it in a hot car.

The Bad:

The sunscreen had a gritty texture that was unpleasant to smear on my skin. It also took a long time to work into the skin. I racked those issues up to the zinc oxide and cupuacu seed.

The sunscreen’s 30+SPF didn’t do much to protect me. Granted, my skin is so far that it’s nearly transparent and I could have applied it more often, but, in the end, I didn’t get any better protection on one shoulder (where I used the organic sunscreen) than I did from the Banana Boat sunscreen I had on the other shoulder. After a day driving up the coast in a convertible, I looked like this:

The hotel lighting didn't do it justice.

The Ugly:

Here’s what I looked like after I gave it a second try on our day of surfing and parasailing:

Note my shoulders. Yes. It hurt.

To be fair, I wouldn’t judge all of the organic products offered at Nature’s Basin by the performance of this one item. They do have a huge selection of items. So, if you’re looking for natural beauty products, they’re definitely worth a look.

Disclosure: I received a sample from Nature’s Basin to try out and review. I received no other compensation for this post.

I have the great fortune and pain of traveling rather frequently on business. I see my share of Marriotts, Hiltons, and Holiday Inns. My skin has been inadvertently exfoliated by overbleached towels. The sound of blackout drapes scraping across curtain rods is all too familiar. I can find ice machines in my sleep.

Every once in awhile, though, I get to stay in cool places. It used to be that my September trip to Anaheim was the tops on my list. Oh, you need me to stay in a Disney resort where I get discounted tickets to see “The Mouse”? Darn. Twist my rubber arm.

Sorry Mickey, after last year’s rather lackluster performance, you’ve been bumped from the top of my list…by a president, no less. Well, actually, the son of a president who built a hotel and named it after his dad, who happens to share the same name.

Image courtesy of hotel website.

I’m talking about the US Grant Hotel adjacent San Diego’s Gaslamp District. In short, fan-freaking-tastic. The property was recently renovated and restored to all of its original glory. The smell of wallpaper paste is still fresh in the hallways. Each lobby, foyer, and corridor is adorned with amazing paintings and sculptures. Hell, even my padded headboard was art. My room walls were covered with picture frame mouldings and the floors were covered with amazing carpets. Even the shower floor was festooned with a basketweave tile. Aesthetically speaking, this has to be one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in.

Image courtesy of hotel website

The service was as amazing as the decor. Short of the great housekeeping incident of Tuesday night, the staff took amazing care to ensure my every desire was met. Their valets, front desk staff and bellhops were courteous and attentive. The bellhop even took a subtle second to check my name on my luggage tag and thank me by name for my tip (and trust me, my last name is no walk in the park).

When I was having issues with my TV remote, guest services sent engineering up within 10 minutes. It tuned out I was attempting to use the Bose sound system remote for the TV, so they brought up the correct remote (which was missing). I asked the engineer for the location of the ice machine, which was unfortunately three floors down. He graciously offered to retrieve ice for me. Five minutes later, guest services called to make sure the TV was working and informed me that room service was on their way with the ice.

Knock Knock. Here comes my ice. Holy heck. I’ve seen smaller buckets overturned on football coaches’ heads. I had noticed a note on the weight-sensitive minibar fridge (it’s one of those that charged you $20 if you looked at the microscopic vodka bottle for more than 30 seconds) that said they had regular mini-fridges upon request. So, when guest services called to ensure that the iceman cameth, I asked about the legend of the minifridge so I could safely stow my healthy snacks for the duration of my stay. Not only did they say “yes,” but there was no charge. Apparently they’re free on a first-come, first served basis. I was happy. My yogurt was thrilled. My carrots were ecstatic. I think I heard my grapes singing with glee. (Well, maybe that last part was a stretch. The last time I heard grapes sing was a Fruit of the Loom commercial, and I don’t think that situation ended well for anyone involved.)

Since I am on a campaign to shed the double chin off my ass, I trouped down to the hotel gym for a short workout to justify the dinner I was planning to consume later in the evening. I slid my room key into the door. The green light flashed and the lock clicked, but I couldn’t get the door to pull open. Hmmm. Let’s try that again. And again. And again. No dice.

At this point, I figured there was an idiot in the room. I admitted defeat and trouped up the steps to the front desk where a staffer practically skipped back down to assist me in my folly. He slid his master key in and pushed the door to let me in. Then he wished me a happy workout and went on his way, never even hinting at the “what a dumbass” kind of sarcasm that I so richly deserved.

Yep. This is a classy joint. AND that’s classy with a “C”, not with a “K”.

Such class comes with a pricetag, though. I was fortunate to stay on a special rate, so I didn’t have to pay the $369+taxes and fees the King room retailed for (at full price). In this case, though, if you’re a high-end traveler, or you’re looking to have a special getaway with historic grandeur in San Diego, I think you’ll be hard pressed to beat the US Grant. Keep an eye out for deals, though, especially for weeknight or off season travel. I found some surprising deals online.

One thing I know for sure. As long as I have breath in my body, my children will never so much as step foot in the lobby of this place. They’d break something within five minutes and college plans would be replaced with dishpan hands for life.

Staying at the top of the heap of the heap takes more effort than getting there in the first place.

Such seems to be the case of Disney’s Grand Californian Resort. I had the second opportunity to stay at the beautiful hotel this past week and I have to say I was a little disappointed this time around.

Granted, the hotel is still glorious in its pristine Frank Lloyd Wright design, amazing foyer complete with fireside storyteller, pint-sized rocking chair and a pianist tickling the ivories with famous Disney tunes, and impeccably kept grounds. The conference and catering services were reminiscent of Cinderella’s mouse friends – busily scurrying about to ensure that every detail was perfect and in its right place at the proper time.

Last year, I stayed in one of the original towers and had a lovely view of the pools where families scurried about in the sun and splashed away the day. In the background, I watched as crews constructed a new tower to house Disney’s expanding timeshare venture.

This year, I was assigned to a room in the first floor of that new tower. I was actually the first paying guest to rest my head on that bed. Given its newness, I assumed the space was ghost-free, but I should have checked their plans to see if Native American burial plans were beneath my feet. You see, things were not as they should have been, at least not by Disney’s impeccable standards.

First of all, the location of the room was a little too close for my comfort and all. I know that the Disney folks are trying to make the most out of every square foot of their valuable chunk of real estate and all, but I was so close to the Mulholland Madness roller coaster, I could nearly “high-five” the riders as they whizzed by.

I settled into the space and decided to make use of my in-room facilities only to discover the joys, uh, I mean challenges of peeing in the dark. After the hotel’s engineering crew showed up (almost 45 minutes after my call) and discovered the brand-new and energy-saving LED fixture was bad, they managed to procure the only replacement back at the shop. All was well, but I was surprised that the faulty fixture wasn’t discovered in their inspection process.

Later that evening, I opted to call room service for a late supper rather than brave Downtown Disney for a late-night, overpriced meal. After 15 minutes on hold, I finally was able to place my order for a bowl of their corn chowder soup and peach cobbler. Both arrived a half hour later lukewarm and bland. I suspect something else wasn’t right about the meal, as I spent the early hours of the morning thankful that I had discovered the faulty bathroom light upon my arrival and not then. Let’s just say that would have been insult to injury.

The following day, I headed back to my room at the noon hour to catch a quick catnap. The room had not yet been visited by the housekeeping fairies. Hmmmm. Well, they did just open this building and they’re probably working out some of the scheduling bugs for the cast members. I was willing to cut them a little slack. After all, I was sure it was an anomaly. Until I came back after 5 and the room was still unmade. When I called the housekeeping head elf desk, their quizzical response had me wondering if I was out of line for expecting daily maid service for my nearly $200/night stay. Eventually the room was made up, towels were replaced and a lovely chocolate was left on my pillow (one of my favorite Disney special touches, I might add.)

Overall, my stay at the Grand Californian was a pleasant one. I love the new pools and the customer service in general was outstanding. Unfortunately, when you set yourself to be the Prince Charming of the hospitality industry, every fingerprint on that shiny armor stands out.