March 28th, 2014

The lemon tree in Maria and Justin's  yard

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       Greetings from Los Angeles, where Tom and I with  son Tommy have been since last Saturday  visiting daughter Maria, son-in-law Justin, and grand babies.

       I haven't been running my usual traveling  travelogue because I got caught up in my grandmother's story - in truth, I was only planning on that one running for a single post, but once I'd started it the story continued to write itself,  as stories sometimes will, until it stretched out for the whole week.
     So now here we are on our last day of vacation, as tomorrow we leave balmy, sunny, 65-degree Manhattan Beach for Columbus, Ohio, where I hear, alas, that  the weather is still dipping below freezing. 
       But here it's been it's been a warm week of joyful chaos.

Uncle Tommy .

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      Compounding the joy has been a simultaneous three-day visit from Maria's sweet, sunny, college friend Jen. 

Tommy, Maria and Jen, sightseeing in  in Culver City

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     We knew that by the time  Jen arrived on Monday we'd be about out of couch space at Maria's house, so during the days of her visit Tom, Tommy and I opted to seek out our preferred traveling accommodations:  a cheap hotel.
      Tom and I always stay at cheap hotels and over the years we've stayed at many; but as of   this moment I'm willing to put it out there that our new favorite cheap hotel on the planet is the place we stayed for the past three nights:  The Wave Hotel in Manhattan Beach, California.

        We found the place on Booking.com and liked the location (not too far from Maria's house and a 15-minute walk to the beach) and, of course, the price: $101per night, probably  a little in the cheap-hotel high-end range, but this is Manhattan Beach, so...
        Anyway,it was a really nice place.  Nice bright lobby:

We had a big comfortable room on the second floor with a refrigerator and a window that looked out over the heated pool and hot tub:

(If only I'd thought to take a photo of the room with the bed made!)
A clean, well-stocked continental breakfast bar with a variety of fresh bagels and pastries:

        And there was a fast public computer in the lobby.
        But what really made the Wave Hotel was the staff:  sooo friendly and accomodating.
        We'd made our reservations for two rooms, one for Tom and I and a second for Tommy, but at the last minute Tommy opted for a spot on the couch amidst the joyful chaos over bed in a quiet hotel room.  And though we arrived at The Wave in the early evening, past check-in time, they agreeably cancelled  the room I'd reserved for Tommy and didn't even charge me for the first night, for which I give them great snaps.
        One thing you must accept about about cheap hotels is that they do tend to have their foibles.  In fact first thing upon entering any hotel room I do a bed-bug check (sorry, it had to be said!) while Tom checks the toilet for functionality and leaking.  I'm glad to say The Wave passed both tests with flying colors.
        However we noticed that there was mold on the bathroom ceiling and the bathtub drain was 'way too slow. So the following morning we stopped at the front desk before leaving to report the drain.  By the time we returned later that afternoon not only was the drain fixed but the bathroom ceiling had been re-painted!  (Tom suggested that maybe the staff had noticed me snapping photos around the place and thought that I must be a travel writer, or something - which, in fact I am, right? -and decided they'd better give us good treatment.  Whatever the reason, we did receive good treatment!)
       Our second morning there I was sitting in the lobby using the computer when I overheard a guest complaining to the desk clerk that he had no hot water,  The desk clerk made a maintenance call then he came over to me and asked if my hot water was working.  I told him it was, and he told me to be sure and let him know if it wasn't - that's first-class treatment in my book.
       Really, there was just something about the place, a nice feel, a nice feng-shui, I guess, and the friendliness of the staff just gave me a sense that they enjoyed their job, which made me enjoy staying there,
      So if you ever have the good fortune to come for a vacation to beautiful Manhattan Beach, I recommend that you not  stay at the Marriott or the Hilton; stay at the friendly, happy Wave Hotel! 8)