The Ritz Carlton: A Once in a Lifetime Experience

This past year has been eventful, to say the least and the last two weeks were especially special. My husband’s colleague won a one-night stay at the Ritz Carlton at their company holiday party and offered it to us since they would not be able to use the gift certificate. We gave in after trying to refuse multiple times; and were truly touched by their sweet gesture.

The certificate had to be used by the 31^st of this month; we had travel plans for New Year’s and had friends visiting for the Christmas weekend. Our only option was Christmas Eve and we were lucky to find a room. The person making the reservation asked, “Will you be flying in, Sir?” and all I could do was laugh!

Was I excited? Maybe…was I amused? YES! 

The Ritz Carlton is just about 4.4 miles from our house; yes, that’s how near it is! We booked a room at a hotel that is practically in our backyard. Anyway, we got the house ready for our guests and left with a little suitcase. At the entrance, we were welcomed by a host of cars, valet parking services, women in gorgeous dresses, and men in classy suits. I was wearing a pair of jeans, a blouse, and luckily a sweater (not my favorite shabby hoodie). Mr. P was also in jeans, t-shirt, and a sweater. We got out of the car feeling extremely underdressed and slowly made our way to the reception; the check in was smooth and the guy there asked us, “Have you had a long day of travel?” and we said, “Not really!” unless you consider 4.4 miles very far… so far that we had actually walked past the hotel to the beach.

The walk to the room was even more embarrassing, there was a huge holiday party going on and every person there was exceptionally dressed; we let out a sigh of relief only after seeing another family (probably tourists), walking around in casual clothes.

Our room had been upgraded from a Garden/Pool view to Ocean View, not that it mattered at 8 in the night. But anyway, I opened the door expecting opulence to hit me in the face but I was not that impressed. The room, unfortunately, looked like any other good quality hotel room.

The only difference was that this one came with a big price tag, an ocean view room costs anywhere between $650 and $800…rubbing your eyes? Believe it or not, that’s what these rooms go for. Please don’t get me wrong, I am truly grateful to our friends who gave us this opportunity; I was simply underwhelmed by the whole set up.

We settled in and to decided to order room service. The lady who brought our food asked, “Are you here on vacation?” I said, “Not really.” “So is it business and vacation?” “No, we are just relaxing”. “Oh, that’s nice, are you from LA?” “No, we are from right here…” She must have thought we were filthy rich folks who had decided to spend the night at The Ritz just for fun! If only she knew the truth.

The Dinner

The food was warm, tasty, beautifully presented, and delivered on time.

Room Service

Pita and Hummus Platter

Pizza

Ritz Carlton Chocolate Cake

The best features of the room in our opinion: The gorgeous view and the marble bathtub, the rest of the amenities are available in rooms that cost a fraction of this.