Man, I’ve been so busy lately that I completely forgot to write this blog. I had posted on another post that I would have this done like ages ago, but I never got to it. But on another note, I think this is one of the only blog posts that I’ve written that don’t begin with “hey bloggers”, or something along the lines of that nature. Anyway, I’m really excited to write this post. I’ve always wanted to do a blog on somewhere I’ve travelled to, and write certain aspects that I liked and didn’t like. I have a bit of a critic in me—I could write reviews all day long if I wanted to. Without further adieu, I present to you all the first part of my first travel blog: travel and hotels.  

The Train

Yeah, this is the boring part. *yawn. . . thank you coffee* Sorry. The train is, well . . . it’s the train. You’re going faster than what you feel like, there’s $7 small sandwiches (which are really yummy though, I had the assorted meat with Swiss cheese one.) My train didn’t leave until 1:45 PM, so I didn’t have to get up early like I normally do for travel. So after saying goodbye to my family and Hammie, I boarded the train with my boyfriend Jacob. It was rainy that day but that didn’t get my mood down, I was so excited. 

And then our train left nine days later at 8 AM. The good part of that though was McDonald’s breakfast. There’s nothing as tasty as a sausage and egg McMuffin with a hash-brown and apple juice. To me, anyway. Some people are healthy. The train ride back we mostly just slept. There’s not much more to it than that. To order tickets to go on the train to anywhere in Canada, click here.

Hotels

Yay, hotels! I don’t know why, maybe it’s the hospitality person in me but ever since I can remember I’ve loved hotels. And I really don’t know why. It’s kinda weird, when you think about it. I just love how comfy everything is, and (most) hotels just smell so nice and free breakfasts and the bathrooms are so nice too! Okay, maybe I’m just talking about the fancy hotels. Probably. Still, I love them for some strange reason that even I cannot explain. 

So, we divided up the 9 days, 8 nights into 3 places:

1.) Apartment 

We stayed at my boyfriend’s dad’s house for a few nights. Sorry people, there’s no link to get reservations for this place. The apartment building was decent, it had a really nice pool that I forgot to take a picture of. It was pretty deep and there was rarely anyone in it. Except for one day there was a lady and her son that was probably ten. My boyfriend and I just kissed each other (like, a peck) on the lips once and she freaked out at us because apparently her son is “just a kid” and “doesn’t need to see that”. Ah, the people of big city life. I love windows so I took that picture. (Wow I really am starting to sound like a weirdo. Liking hotels, windows, what’s next?)

2.) The Admiral Inn

© Admiral Inn

YAY ADMIRAL! There’s a few other locations around that area, but let me tell you, they’re really crappy. It’s weird because it’s the exact same company, yet some look more like trailer parks. We actually had an inside joke that if anyone found out they were all connected, the people working at the fancy one would deny it. Even on their website, they only have the nice ones listed.

This hotel has only three floors. But it also has a hot tub, pool, sauna, fitness room, a hot breakfast for free, flat screen HDTVs with HDMI hookups, a fancy bathroom, comfy king sized beds, and more. It was awesome to say the least. Most hotels give you cereal and if you’re lucky a bagel for breakfast. But this place gave you everything. From sausages, to bacon, to waffles, pancakes, bagels, fresh fruit and vegetables, cereal, pastries, eggs, and more. Let’s just say that we were in heaven. Breakfast went from 7 AM to 10 AM. The first day Jacob and I actually missed it because we pulled an all-nighter the night before. But can you really blame us? We were playing Banjo-Kazooie on the flat screen TV all night long. Although that was fun, I do wish we caught that one breakfast. We still had many more, though. 

The lobby, fitness room, bedroom with king sized bed, and pool/hot tub/sauna area.

Likes:

• Beds were very comfy and cozy.
• It was in a safe area.
• The facilities they had available were very convenient and provided fun.
• Their breakfast was absolutely amazing and delicious.
• They treat you good there.
• The rooms were up-to-date, as well as the bathrooms with HDTVs.
• The hotel smelled clean and crisp.
• It was classy.
• Relatively cheap. Less than $200/night.
• They give you a later (by an hour) check-out time if you need it.

Dislikes:

• Some staff were a little rude. And that’s honestly my only complaint. And the only ones who were a little rude was the night shift staff.

OVERALL RATING? : 8/10

Click here for prices, packages, and to book your stay at the Admiral Inn in Mississauga/Toronto area. 

2.) Crowne Plaza Hotel 

© Crowne Plaza Hotel

Now I don’t even know how this is possible, but I think I liked this one even more than Admiral Inn. As you can see, it’s pretty fancy. It was in Niagara Falls, which is an incredible, beautiful, gorgeous town that is all touristy. They have the most amazing stores, restaurants, and attractions you can imagine. There’s several hotels, and we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. They have everything and more. Except they actually didn’t have a free breakfast, you had to pay for that separately. They had: an indoor water park, a pool/hot tub/sauna area, a fitness room, a Starbucks inside the hotel (aka my dream), comfy beds, right next to the main part of Niagara Falls, a view of the falls from every room, a gorgeous lobby, great service, two extremely fancy restaurants, amusement park rides, an arcade room, a mini movie-theatre, and more. In this hotel. Yeah, you can say that maybe I was a little overwhelmed. It was like an awesome dream.

FUN FACT:  This was the hotel that Marilyn  Monroe stayed at in June of 1952 when filming her movie, “Niagara.” She stayed in room 801. I stayed on the 8th floor too, in room 822 . . . it would have been cool if I got that room instead.

Also, apparently, Marilyn used to just randomly walk around the hotel in the nude. I wasn’t even born yet though so I can’t say if it’s true or not, sorry. 

The pool/hot tub area, the view from the outside (ground level), the indoor water park, and the super fancy restaurant. I touch the topic more on the water park/restaurant in my other blogs.

So while I want to talk about them now, I’ll have to wait to discuss the awesome restaurant and water park. But again, this hotel was off-the-charts fantastic.

Likes:

• It’s in a fancy area.
• It’s a fancy/classy hotel.
• There’s so much to do, and it’s close to so many shops and attractions.
• Marilyn Monroe stayed here. That’s kinda cool.
• Good service.
• Comfy.
• Again, nice smelling. Don’t judge me I’m weird, I know.
• The food? GIVE ME MORE. NOW. PLEASE.
• In walking distance from literally everything and anything in Niagara Falls.

Dislikes:

• Check-out time is 11 AM. Pretty early for someone who likes to sleep in like me.
• The rooms were pretty out-of-date.
• The TVs were nice and flat screen, but the only thing they had was pay-per-view. No cable, the HDMI hookup was unable to be used as the screen was locked for just pay-per-view. Kinda dumb. You know what that also means? NO. VIDEO. GAMES. 😥
• The bathrooms were really old.
• No complimentary breakfast.

OVERALL RATING? 8.5/10

Click here to book your stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. You’ll love it, I promise. There’s even this cool creepy piano that plays itself in the lobby. Also, the water park is on the roof. It just keeps on getting better and better, doesn’t it?

Wow, this blog took me a whole hour and a half to do. I was estimating an hour. I guess good things take some time, right? (Oh my God, I just wrote “write” instead of “right” then fixed it. I really am a writing addict . . .) I hope you all liked this rather long blog. At least I didn’t do all three parts like originally planned. So if you liked this blog and want to know more about these beautiful cities/towns and what to do in them, keep a lookout for the other two parts (sights and attractions & food and miscellaneous) over the next few days. Thanks for reading! 

As for always, love,