ICONA Windrift — Hotel in Avalon

| |||With fingers crossed, I booked an accessible hotel room in the recently renovated hotel. I hoped that the price would ensure a careful design, but experience has taught me that an advertised “accessible room” is sometimes just that- words. ||| As we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find ample parking spaces designated disabled-only. The path from the van to the door was clear. The beachfront setting was spectacular but I learned soon that I was not wrong to cross my fingers. ||The lack of an automatic entry door into the lobby was the first minus. While staring into the glass door, I hoped a front desk clerk would spring into action, like most do, but the front desk faced away from the front door, so making eye contact with a clerk wasn’t possible. A busboy, whose shift had just ended and appeared to be waiting for a ride, helped open the door. ||Once inside, I rolled to the front desk . Most modern(ish) hotels have a lower-height surface so conversing and presenting credentials isn’t awkward but once again, no such luck. Minus#2||Getting onto the elevator to go up to the fourth floor room was tight for one wheelchair, let alone two. We had to take separate rides up, which is no big deal but things had not gotten off to a stellar start. -#3| |When at the room, I struggled to push open the heavy door. -#4 Thankfully, the carpet was an appropriate material but some furniture needed rearranging so the motorized wheelchair and scooter could maneuver obstruction-free. -#5 As I glanced towards the patio, disappointment strangled any joy I had. The two inch threshold to the patio presented an impassable obstacle.-#6 The bathroom was spacious with ample grab bars, however, the sink area lacked any shelves or hooks.-#7||Although the hotel had positive qualities, our experience left us wondering why certain details were overlooked. This unfortunate scenario could have been avoided if the developers/designers consulted with someone in a wheelchair BEFORE...

| |||With fingers crossed, I booked an accessible hotel room in the recently renovated hotel. I hoped that the price would ensure a careful design, but experience has taught me that an advertised “accessible room” is sometimes just that- words. ||| As we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find ample parking spaces designated disabled-only. The path from the van to the door was clear. The beachfront setting was spectacular but I learned soon that I was not wrong to cross my fingers. ||The lack of an automatic entry door into the lobby was the first minus. While staring into the glass door, I hoped a front desk clerk would spring into action, like most do, but the front desk faced away from the front door, so making eye contact with a clerk wasn’t possible. A busboy, whose shift had just ended and appeared to be waiting for a ride, helped open the door. ||Once inside, I rolled to the front desk . Most modern(ish) hotels have a lower-height surface so conversing and presenting credentials isn’t awkward but once again, no such luck. Minus#2||Getting onto the elevator to go up to the fourth floor room was tight for one wheelchair, let alone two. We had to take separate rides up, which is no big deal but things had not gotten off to a stellar start. -#3| |When at the room, I struggled to push open the heavy door. -#4 Thankfully, the carpet was an appropriate material but some furniture needed rearranging so the motorized wheelchair and scooter could maneuver obstruction-free. -#5 As I glanced towards the patio, disappointment strangled any joy I had. The two inch threshold to the patio presented an impassable obstacle.-#6 The bathroom was spacious with ample grab bars, however, the sink area lacked any shelves or hooks.-#7||Although the hotel had positive qualities, our experience left us wondering why certain details were overlooked. This unfortunate scenario could have been avoided if the developers/designers consulted with someone in a wheelchair BEFORE...

This restaurant has a great location and has been nicely refurbished with great ocean views. The problem is the food quality does not reflect well on the establishment. I was in a party of 4 adults and 1 child. Two of the adults ordered Tanqueray gin and tonic. When the bill came. we noticed there was a $2 upcharge for Seagram’s tonic. No one in the party specified that they wanted Seagram’s tonic. The waiter did not ask if anybody in the party wanted Seagram’s tonic. There is nothing special about Seagram’s tonic. We ordered the calamari appetizer which the waiter admitted was not homemade. The flour style breading was so flakey that at least 25% of the breading ended up in the serving dish, the tabletop, and the appetizer plate. The marinara sauce was heavily spiked with red peppers. This was not listed as such on the menu. When we requested plain marinara, they said they did not have a plain marinara sauce. The worst part of the meal was the hamburgers. They tasted like warmed over meatloaf with beautiful grill marks on either side, not juicy at all. When they arrived, there was a medium well done sticker in one of the burgers. The waiter did not ask how we wanted them cooked, which made me wonder if this was a trend in the restaurant business where operators are buying precooked hamburgers and warming them up. I asked for some fresh onion rings for my hamburger. I got 2 red onion rings, rings not slices, one was wilted. I did get a replacement. When the bill came, I was charged $1 for the 2 fresh onion rings even though I did not order a slice of cheese on the cheeseburger. The upcharge for the raw onion was not disclosed up front. We would not be disappointed with having paid over $200 for the meal had we gotten the quality one would expect at these prices. We go to this area regularly. Everybody agreed this restaurant is now written off for any future visits. Gets a 1 out of 5 or...