With the guests happy and enjoying a beautiful day, I decided I could venture South to the first ever Miami Beach Gay Pride http://www.miamibeachgaypride.com/ event. There had been a lot of local press and the organizers hoped for 5,000 or so. Boy were they surprised! The police estimated an attendance of 20,000+! Quite an impressive turnout!
I left the resort a little after 10am and hopped on the I-95. Deven was with me, along with a few boxes of material. He was actually working, representing the IGLTA at a booth set up to promote the organization and it's members. If you're curious about IGLTA, take a look at the website, http://iglta.org/. He's been working for them for a little over a month and loves his job!
We were about half way there when I noticed the message boards lit up above the freeway. The message was that the entire road was closed at 63rd Street! Within minutes, the traffic came to a complete stop. Another sign said the 3 left lanes were closed at 79th Street. We couldn't believe that they would schedule massive road construction on a busy Saturday. Shouldn't they do that at night?
What would have been a 35 minute drive, ended up a frustrating 2-hour trip. We arrived at the event area on Ocean Drive at 12:15pm. Of course Deven was very frustrated and upset that he was late. To save time, I dropped him off with the boxes of material. I would park the car and walk back later.
By the time I arrived, I had missed the Parade, but not the festival. The mood was very upbeat and everyone seemed to be having a nice time. There was a great mix of people. Gay, straight, young and old, all having an enjoyable time.
The Grand Marshall was singing icon, Patty LaBelle http://www.pattilabelle.com/ and Richie Rich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Rich_(designer). The event took a lot of planning and cooperation with government, business and dedicated citizens, sponsors and donors. The Mayor of Miami Beach, Matti Bower and Babak Movahedi, owner of Halo Lounge (Miami Beach and Washington, D.C. http://www.haloloungemiami.com/, along with many others all deserve a big thank you!
While wandering around, I ran into Ant http://www.antcomic.com/, the comedian. He was there to help a friend promote a new film festival in Miami. No, I don't remember the name of the festival. I think it was something to do with Latino Films though. Anyway, Ant stayed at Marys Resort almost 2 years ago. Teasing him, I wondered why he didn't stay with us on this visit. My answer was that the Hilton provided him a room. He'll assured me he would be back and really enjoyed his stay, back in 2007.
I hope you all have a nice week and think about visiting us soon!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Return to Mary's
Greetings!
This past week has been a whirlwind! Last Tuesday, April 7th my brother-in-law passed away. He had been suffering and fighting cancer for nearly 7 years. The week before, hospice care was ordered and it was said that he would live another 3 or 4 weeks. Instead, the cancer took him in less than a week.
I found myself on a plane to Washington, DC early Wednesday. I left the resort in the hands of Phillip (who has been here since we opened) and my partner, Deven. I remained in constant contact with cell phone and emails.
Of course when I left, there were several issues going on. First, one of my very expensive Mitsubishi air conditioning units was out of service. A week earlier, the condenser suddenly stopped condensing. And of course, a new one had to be ordered. This process took a lot of phone calls and follow-up. On Friday, it was repaired! Oh, and the cost wasn't cheap! The part was under warranty, but the labor was not.
Later that night, another (identical) AC unit decided not to produce cool air! Phillip called me that news, making me wonder what I did to cause this bad AC Karma. Luckily, we were able to move a guest until it was repaired today. This time, it was a cracked freon line. Cross your fingers that no more AC's stop working. $600 in repairs is enough for a while.
It's after midnight and Mary and I are here in the office, waiting on a late guest arrival. They were supposed to be here by 10pm. Due to storms somewhere up North, they had to switch to another flight and they are now arriving at Miami International.
They plan to use taxi's while staying at Mary's Resort. I strongly suggested they rent a car. Everything is close, but you still need a car. The taxi from Fort Lauderdale Airport is about $18 and it's $60 or $80 from Miami. With all of the things to do and see here, a rental car is your best bet.
It's time to check emails and process payroll. I'm also working on some Spring to Summer specials. Please check back here and on the website for details.
Have a great week!
This past week has been a whirlwind! Last Tuesday, April 7th my brother-in-law passed away. He had been suffering and fighting cancer for nearly 7 years. The week before, hospice care was ordered and it was said that he would live another 3 or 4 weeks. Instead, the cancer took him in less than a week.
I found myself on a plane to Washington, DC early Wednesday. I left the resort in the hands of Phillip (who has been here since we opened) and my partner, Deven. I remained in constant contact with cell phone and emails.
Of course when I left, there were several issues going on. First, one of my very expensive Mitsubishi air conditioning units was out of service. A week earlier, the condenser suddenly stopped condensing. And of course, a new one had to be ordered. This process took a lot of phone calls and follow-up. On Friday, it was repaired! Oh, and the cost wasn't cheap! The part was under warranty, but the labor was not.
Later that night, another (identical) AC unit decided not to produce cool air! Phillip called me that news, making me wonder what I did to cause this bad AC Karma. Luckily, we were able to move a guest until it was repaired today. This time, it was a cracked freon line. Cross your fingers that no more AC's stop working. $600 in repairs is enough for a while.
It's after midnight and Mary and I are here in the office, waiting on a late guest arrival. They were supposed to be here by 10pm. Due to storms somewhere up North, they had to switch to another flight and they are now arriving at Miami International.
They plan to use taxi's while staying at Mary's Resort. I strongly suggested they rent a car. Everything is close, but you still need a car. The taxi from Fort Lauderdale Airport is about $18 and it's $60 or $80 from Miami. With all of the things to do and see here, a rental car is your best bet.
It's time to check emails and process payroll. I'm also working on some Spring to Summer specials. Please check back here and on the website for details.
Have a great week!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Busy Monday?
Monday's are usually my busiest day. It's recovering from the weekend and picking up loose ends from the previous week. The loose ends today involve tracking down the AC company to see if my new compressor has arrived, waiting on the electrician to check on a loose cable, planting flowers at the driveway gate entrance, getting two rooms ready for new guests and trying to reach my cleaning person in Miami.
In addition to the resort, I also rent a really nice South Beach condo by the week. I just had guests there from London. They left last night and now I need to get it cleaned for an arrival tomorrow. Miami Beach is a good 40 minutes from here (without rush-hour traffic OR delays), so it takes a little coordination. I always meet the guests and give them a short tour. Timing is important. With all these flight and Customs delays, you never know exactly when they will get there.
I think I'm going to close this for now. It's nearly 1:00pm and I feel like I need to make some more calls to track these people down!
Have a great day!
In addition to the resort, I also rent a really nice South Beach condo by the week. I just had guests there from London. They left last night and now I need to get it cleaned for an arrival tomorrow. Miami Beach is a good 40 minutes from here (without rush-hour traffic OR delays), so it takes a little coordination. I always meet the guests and give them a short tour. Timing is important. With all these flight and Customs delays, you never know exactly when they will get there.
I think I'm going to close this for now. It's nearly 1:00pm and I feel like I need to make some more calls to track these people down!
Have a great day!
First Blog Entry - Another Busy Weekend
I'm going to make this first Blog entry short.
Its after 1:00am and I should be sleeping now. Instead, I'm finishing up some promotion work. I updated my Travelocity and Orbitz availability through the rest of 2009. Now, you can book live there and on the Mary's Resort website, along with a bunch of other hotel websites. I even take reservations the old fashioned way -- over the phone!
It was a fairly uneventful weekend at Mary's. All of the guests are really nice, so it makes being here a pleasure. I have people from the U.K., Switzerland, New York and Tampa at the moment.
On Saturday night, I had an interesting guest come up from Miami. He came with his dog (I don't rememb
er her name, sorry!) to relax and get away. I've never seen the show, but our guest was Glenn Packard from the VH1 reality show, Brooke Knows Best. Filming for Season 2 will wrap next week, with plans for a 3rd season. Glenn was a really nice guy! I don't usually watch reality shows, but will give this one a look.
I really need to close for now. Mary needs a walk and I need sleep. We have 2 check-outs tomorrow and a busy week is ahead.
Its after 1:00am and I should be sleeping now. Instead, I'm finishing up some promotion work. I updated my Travelocity and Orbitz availability through the rest of 2009. Now, you can book live there and on the Mary's Resort website, along with a bunch of other hotel websites. I even take reservations the old fashioned way -- over the phone!
It was a fairly uneventful weekend at Mary's. All of the guests are really nice, so it makes being here a pleasure. I have people from the U.K., Switzerland, New York and Tampa at the moment.
On Saturday night, I had an interesting guest come up from Miami. He came with his dog (I don't rememb
er her name, sorry!) to relax and get away. I've never seen the show, but our guest was Glenn Packard from the VH1 reality show, Brooke Knows Best. Filming for Season 2 will wrap next week, with plans for a 3rd season. Glenn was a really nice guy! I don't usually watch reality shows, but will give this one a look.I really need to close for now. Mary needs a walk and I need sleep. We have 2 check-outs tomorrow and a busy week is ahead.
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