This is pretty neat.

I checked in at just a little after 5pm. The receptionist was friendly, but provided me with little information in the way of the facilities available, and just directed me to my room. I found it easily enough, and the room was presented okay, if somewhat dated 90s decor. Some of the furniture looked a little worn, but it was reasonably spacious for a studio, and clean. Which is always good in a motel.

Finding little in the way of information as to how to hook up the broadband, I walked back to reception to ask, and was informed of the phenomenal price… $33 for 24  hours, max usage: 100MB! Outrageous considering most motels/hotels offer the service for free, or at least, for under $10. Because I wanted to get relax, watch a few shows online and get some time on the mud, I reluctantly agreed.. only to find that as I was using it, my usage amount was going up at a rate beyond what I usually use.. so I’m not entirely convinced they were even counting accurately.

So, that was my first issue: Expensive broadband

Next, in order to plug in my laptop to the broadband I had to use a short lead next to the bed. Unfortunately the power socket was quite some distance away and my lead barely reached. Not smart.

Anyways, I relaxed for a bit then at 6.30pm, decided to go down for dinner (the restaurant was advertised as opening at 6pm), only to find it completely dark, and the staff ignoring me whilst they gossiped. I waited. Left and went to my room, deciding perhaps room service would be a better option. Thankfully it wasn’t any more expensive, with most of the same items on the menu.. And the menu really was just weird. Fish brushed with licorice, lamb with carrot marmalade, pork and feijoa,  cheesecake with rice bubbles… so, I decided to go with something safe, kiwi burger with gourmet tomato relish, a platter of breads and dipping oils, and lastly, finding little else in the way of viable options on the menu, I did go for the orange cheesecake on a rice bubbles base.

The staff were really polite and lovely to deal with, however the food (for the most part) was.. pretty crap. The breads were two bread rolls, one of which was so hard I could barely eat it. And one dipping oil. The gourmet tomato relish was a packet of heinz tomato sauce! The burger was yummy.. and the cheese cake.. would of been better without the ricebubbles and instead a normal cheesecake base.

After watching a little TV I had a shower, and here the next major problem… the water barely got to warm (even at the hottest setting) and the faucet sprayed water everywhere from the joins! It wasn’t fun, and  it was such a pity because I was looking forward to it so much – relaxing in a nice hot shower.

There was a min-bar full of food, and the book saying a price list for them would be provided. It wasn’t. So I didn’t touch it. The room was supposed to come with a full bottle of wine and box of chocolates. There was a mini-bottle and two bags of chips/peanuts. Wasn’t sure if they were free, or if I would get charged for eating them.

So, with so many things wrong, what did they get right? Beds were comfortable. Air conditioning was good, once I worked out how to use it. Most of the buttons had the images worn off, and there was no manual/instructions provided. Staff were nice and polite (except for the issues with seating at the restaurant).

And of course, despite all of this it was still nice to get get a quiet night away. More so from my Mum than Ewan.

EDWARD: OH NOEZ! I CANT BE WIF U.
BELLA: *ANGST*EMO*ANGST*EMO*ANGST*EMO* (90% of movie)
JACOB: OH NOEZ! I CANT BE WIF U.
BELLA: *ANGST*EMO*CLIFFDIV*
EDWARD: OH NOEZ! BELLA IZ DED *SUICIDE ATTEMPT*FAILZ*
BELLA: *SAVEZ*
EDWARD: MARRY ME!

Why I like it:

• It is pretty
• No adverts whilst it is running
• Very customisable and skinable
• Allows http proxy
• Merges a contact from different mediums onto one
• Connects to MSN, Aim, Yahoo, ICQ, Gtalk, etc
• Connects to email addresses
• Connects to Facebook, Myspace, Twitter
• Tabbed conversation windows