Austin, TX: Downtown Grocery Selection And Prices Left Me A Little Blue

Royal Blue Grocery - Congress Avenue

609 Congress Avenue

Austin, TX 78701

Phone number: (512) 469-5888

Website: royalbluegrocery.com

Prices: $$$$

If you are downtown and need a market, this is your only choice. The staff are friendly and helpful, but the inventory is severely lacking. 

You can buy a sandwich, a cookie, or other prepared meals, but the "grocery" sections are ridiculously understocked. The prices are a tad high, but considering the prime real estate this store occupies, they could be worse.

My wife needed something for breakfast, so we bought two cookies at $1.75 each. The cookies were big and tasty enough, but there was little else to choose from.

Trying to find a supermarket in central Austin is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, In 2+ days in Austin, we saw only one, a H-E-B on the northern outskirts as we drove into town, so choices are limited, especially downtown.

CombatCritic Gives Royal Blue Grocery 4 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Four Bombs Equates To:

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Read Chris S.'s review of Royal Blue Grocery - Congress Ave on Yelp

Title: Austin, TX: Downtown Grocery Selection And Prices Left Me A Little Blue

Key Words: Royal Blue Grocery, royal, blue, grocery, Austin, Texas, downtown, sandwiches, convenient, sandwich, expensive, convenience, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, business, review, Yelp

Translation for Civilians: BOHICA = "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again"

Tulsa, OK: Nicer Than Expected, But Not The Value Hotwire Led Us To Believe

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tulsa Downtown
616 W 7th Street
Tulsa, OK 74127
Phone: (918) 587-8000
Website: DoubleTreeDowntownTulsa
Prices: $$$$

For the price we paid on Hotwire, $55 per night, this hotel seemed to be a good value and likely would have received 4 Stars (8 Bombs). Figure in the taxes and fees ($37), as well as Hotwire's additional unadvertised parking charge ($10/night), bringing the total to $232 ($77.33/night) for three nights, it was not such quite as good a bargain after all, hence my rating.

The reviews I read were not great with many people talking about how dated the hotel is, but we found the exterior, lobby, and public areas very nice, but only the room was a bit dated with popcorn ceilings and ugly carpeting. Otherwise, the room was large and pleasant with complimentary coffee, but no mini fridge.

As in most Hilton's I have stayed in, there always seems to be something wrong. In our room it was the disgusting air intake vent in the bathroom. There was something growing inside and I did not want to find out exactly what it was.

Once you reserve, they nickel ($5) and dime ($10) you, making what looked like a bargain on Hotwire just another expensive endeavor. Unlike smaller chains and independent operators, the big boys like Hyatt and Hilton do not include breakfast, parking, and wi-fi. Slow wi-fi was included at this property, but you had to pay if you wanted to stream video on Skype, Netflix, etc., so my wife could not Skype with her family in Italy unless we paid the additional fees.

The pool and jacuzzi were nice. The pool is reasonably big with a 25-yard swimming lane on one side and the temperature a pleasant 76 degrees. The jacuzzi is a bit small with only one place to submerse yourself to the shoulders, the steps, and the temperature nice and hot at around 104-105 degrees. The only problem being that you have to traverse the lobby in your bathing suit to reach the pool area which is located next to the front desk, a poor design and an embarrassing hike past guests and employees, dry or wet.

Unfortunately, the weather was horrible the entire weekend, raining the entire 5 days with temperatures in the low-mid 30s, so we were stuck in the room much of the time. 

For $80 a night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, parking and breakfast should be included in the price at a nice, but not spectacular hotel. Had it been, they would have received one of my top ratings. However, it was a fairly nice hotel, even at an inflated price over what Hotwire had advertised to lure me into the purchase.

CombatCritic Gives DoubleTree by Hilton - Tulsa Downtown 5 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "Elite '14/'15"

TripAdvisor - "Top Contributor" 

Tabelog - "Official Judge (Bronze)

Zomato - "Super Foodie"

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Title: Nicer Than Expected, But Not The Value Hotwire Led Us To Believe

Key Words: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tulsa Oklahoma, OK, DoubleTree, Hilton, Tulsa, downtown, hotel, parking, fee, expensive, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, Hotwire, Hotwire.com, review, Yelp, TripAdvisor

Translation: "Charlie-Mike" - Continue Mission (A-OK)

Wichita, KS: Nickeled And Dimed Until The Value Was Gone

Hyatt Regency Wichita

400 West Waterman

Wichita, KS 67202

Get Directions

Phone: (316) 293-1234

Website: wichita.hyatt.com

Prices: $$$$

For the price we paid on Hotwire, $68 per night, the hotel seemed to be a good value and likely would have received 3-4 Stars (6-8 Bombs). Figure in the taxes and fees ($33), as well as the additional parking charge ($10/night), bringing the total to $189 ($94.50/night) for two nights, it is not such a great bargain after all, hence my rating.

The hotel exterior, lobby, and public areas are nice, but the room was nothing special. As in most Hyatt's I have stayed in, there always seems to be something in disrepair. In our room it was the ceiling peeling away from apparent water damage. When we returned to the room at 8pm the first night, our room had not been made-up and was exa

The breakfast buffet at $15.50 a pop seemed a bit high and $3 for a small bottle of water in the room is ridiculous, They nickel ($5) and dime ($10) you after you pay for your room, making what looked like a bargain on Hotwire just another expensive endeavor. Unlike smaller chains and independent operators, the big boys like Hyatt and Hilton do not include breakfast, parking, wi-fi (although wi-fi was free at this property), and other things that should be.

For $100 a night in Wichita, Kansas, parking, breakfast, and bottled water in the room should be included in the price at a nice, but not spectacular $100/night hotel. Had it been, they would have received my top rating, but alas ...

CombatCritic Gives Hyatt Regency Wichita 4 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "Elite '14/'15"

TripAdvisor - "Top Contributor" 

Tabelog - "Official Judge (Bronze)

Zomato - "Super Foodie"

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Title: Wichita, KS: Nickeled And Dimed Until The Value Was Gone

Key Words: Hyatt Regency Wichita, Hyatt, regency, Wichita, Kansas, hotel, parking, fee, expensive, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, review, Yelp, TripAdvisor