I was very fortunate last week to jump on a deal for free/comped premium hotel rooms surrounding the grand opening of the new Horseshoe Casino in downtown Cleveland. First up, I had a reservation at the Ritz Carlton Cleveland. My wife had plans for the evening, so I planned on taking the boys down to the hotel to at least enjoy the pool. Unfortunately, I had a problem with my Total Rewards card (my last name was completely wrong on my account), so I had concerns that my hotel reservations might not go through when I showed up under a different name. Even though I consider myself famous, I am not quite pass it off as a pseudo name.

So the game plan was to let my parents use the room, and after swimming, the boys and I would head home. My work around for getting checked into the room was to invite my parents down to stay in the room and temporarily watch my boys for a couple of moments until I could go next door and get the casino to fix the name on my account. Fortunately, after half a dozen phone calls prior to arrival, I got Total Rewards to change the name on my reservations, and I could deal with the name change on my account when I visit the casino at a later time.

After checking into the hotel, I knew I was in another world of accommodations that I was typically not used frequenting. The lobby was exquisite and elegant with beautiful wood trim, elaborate art and antiquities. The hotel staff had no problems checking the boys and I into the hotel, and my room was confirmed as being covered by Total Rewards. The only problem we had was our hotel cards were not working in the elevators, but it was quickly resolved and we were on the way up to our room.

The lobby/elevator attendant, prior to heading up, took my sister aside and gave her some toys to give to the boys. What an incredible, amazing touch for a hotel to do something so thoughtful. The boys were thankful for their new toys, as well as excited to spend time with my parents and sister. The surprises and hospitality towards families at the Ritz Carlton Cleveland did not stop there.

After getting into my room, there was already a crib waiting for us. I can not tell you how convenient that is as almost every time we check into a hotel, we have to wait for the staff to bring one to the room. Having it ready and waiting, just in case Lan-Shark (1) was sleeping was a well thought out and appreciated convenience provided by the Ritz Carlton.

Also provided with the room was a Protect Our Little Ones (P.O.L.O.) bag that included plug covers and thermal forehead strips for fevers. Wow! Is this what the rich have come to expect? Whomever put forth the thought to carry out the P.O.L.O. bags and the front desk toys was a genius in my opinion, and every hotel chain should strive for the same treatment to families. Just hopefully our boys do not come to expect toys at every hotel we go to check in at over the summer.

Every part of the hotel felt like luxury, which is what I expected when associating a hotel with the Ritz Carlton brand. Our elegantly appointed rooms included granite counter tops, marble bathrooms, a flat screen television complete with a hook-up panel for all of your electronics, and Ritz Carlton signature bottles of water, robes, and towels. Our room was selected with two (2) queen beds because originally we had planned on using the room. Instead, my parents would have the room to themselves, or so I thought.

In my opinion what set the Ritz Carlton apart from other hotels was not necessarily the high end accompaniments, but rather the impeccable attention to detail and friendliness of the staff. They were all absolutely amazing, and made our stay at the Ritz Carlton Cleveland absolutely one of my favorite hotel nights ever.

The Cleveland Indians were playing the Miami Marlins at home that night, so flying overhead was the Goodyear Blimp, although I am thinking the great staff called in a favor to impress my boys. Our room overlooked downtown on one side, but more importantly towards the riverfront on the other.

The Goodyear Blimp was flying overhead for the Indians game.

As you can tell from the picture, there is so much potential along our riverfront, yet nothing has been accomplished to draw people towards it. Someday we may have a magnificent waterfront district to draw in the crowds. No longer will our city be called the Mistake on the Lake and maybe the scenes of the river catching on fire will be pushed from people’s minds once Cleveland develops the riverfront.

Our family made our way down to the pool on the 7th floor of the Ritz Carlton. I am still honestly kind of baffled how a hotel manages to get a swimming pool on a middle floor of a building. The whole time I wondered what might be going on below us, or what if the pool sprung a leak.

Once inside the fitness center, I was immediately impressed by the fruit infused water available for guests, as well as the pool facilities. There were separate areas for the fitness room (24 hours), the pool, massage rooms, and changing rooms.

We were mostly the only ones using the fitness center facilities (i.e. pool, hot tub, etc.) on a Friday night, which was nice that my boys could be boys with their grandparents, and I did not have to worry about bothering other guests of the Ritz Carlton.

The mens locker room was in the fitness center was also quite impressive with all the same bath amenities as in our room in addition to a sauna, separate showers, and those wonderful signature bath robes. After putting one on to impress my family with my new rich lifestyle, they were thereafter shortly replaced with new robes, despite never really seeing any employees. Quite impressive customer service.

While the hotel staff was most impressive and very down to earth and friendly, the occasional interaction we had with other guests of the Ritz Carlton were completely different. All of a sudden I felt like an outcast in the rich people’s snooty world. Maybe I am not cracked up for the rich life style, and am just as suitable in a Holiday Inn or Hampton. Somehow I think several of the cocky patrons must have been from the Miami Marlins, as on Sunday there were several of them that walked past me waiting in the valet area, and as soon as they walked into the open, fans approached them for autographs and photos. Not being a big sports guy, they seemed like any other business man to me, and I would not have known who they were if it were not for the fans outside.

Cleveland Horseshoe Casino

After a couple of hours at the pool, we all headed back to the room. My sister than graciously offered to watch the boys so my parents and I could go see the casino. Great decision, as the timing could not have been any better! First, we got right into the casino via the Tower City entrance. After seeing several hour waits all week long, I was worried there was no chance as getting in on a Friday night of opening week. When we left later on at night, the Indian’s game had let out and there were huge lines to get into the casino.

Once inside, all I can say is the Horseshoe Casino is beautiful! I have been in many casinos, both inside and outside of Las Vegas. The Horseshoe did an amazing job with gorgeous light fixtures and the surrounding environment. Keep in mind the Horseshoe is the first casino to open in Ohio, and is only temporary until they establish their new future location hopefully along the riverfront. So to say we were more than impressed with a temporary establishment is an understatement.

Since I had not anticipated going into the casino, I was only there for a short time to take a look around. I wish I could have taken pictures to capture the environment, but we all know how well cameras go over in a casino.

The only thing I thought that was rather disappointing was the food areas of the casino.

1) The area reserved for dining with several quick serve restaurants was rather small. Although I do see the point of feed people and get them back to gambling.
2) I realize kids are not allowed in casinos, but all of the food for guests is actually within the casino, and there is no way to even get to the buffet without entering the casino. It would have been nice to have an outside entrance to at least the buffet area so guests could feed their kids if chosen.

By the time my parents and I got done checking out the Horseshoe Casino and headed back to our room at the Ritz Carlton, the boys were out (and I think my sister was thankful). So at that point, I just opted to stay the night since there were two queen beds. My parents and sister ended up going out and back into the casino. By the time my parents got back to the room around 4:00 AM, they just went home, so the boys and I did end up having the room to ourselves.

Where is Polka Dot?

Fast forward to the next morning, and Bug’s (3) blanket, Polka Dot, went missing. After searching high and low, under every piece of furniture, and inside every drawer, Polka Dot was nowhere to be found. After calls to lost and found, visiting the front desk and searching the lobby, and going back through the car, I could not find Polka Dot anywhere. My elegant night at the Ritz Carlton will be marred with visions of Polka Dot getting lost. This is disastrous.

Once home and after tearing apart the house, we still had no luck finding Polka Dot. Surprisingly Bug took it much better than expected, but it might have been because the implications might not have set in yet.

While laying in bed that night, my wife encouraged me to call down the Ritz Carlton again to check if they found it. The truth is, Polka Dot figured he wanted another free night at the Ritz Carlton Cleveland, and opted to stay again. I come to find out he had been chumming it up at the Ritz Carlton lobby with the staff. The reason…those darn toys. Apparently as soon as my son saw the cars, Polka Dot got tossed like the sticky blanket he is. Somehow, with a 5:2 ratio of adults to kids, no one noticed Polka Dot lying in the Ritz Carlton lobby.

We fortunately were back downtown on Sunday to watch my sister in the Cleveland Marathon, so stopping in to escort Polka Dot home was easily accomplished.

The Ritz Carlton Cleveland blew our family away from the excellent accommodations and hospitality of the staff. Up next, we will be staying tonight at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel, again comped on behalf of Total Rewards and the Horseshoe Casino. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend everyone!

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