A room...

I won two free nights at the snazzy looking Wequasset Resort on Cape Cod. Yes, free, no sales seminar to sit through, from American Express. I entered the raffle when I went to the reopening of their store in Harvard Square. Originally the coupon said good for rooms only between October 15 and November 30 and April 1 - May 15. So I whined a little and they let me have my prize on September 18 and 19; increasing the odds of us getting in some tanning hours.

Cathedral ceiling - makes me long for the day when my bloody extra room is done so I can start on the next project...knocking out the ceilings? building a porch? redoing the bathroom? All on the list. But I'm here to relax so no bad thoughts.

The bedding is lovely: nice fluffy comforters, huge pillows and lots of them. Vanity is separate from tub and toilet. There is coffee maker with a good variety of coffees, cocoa and tea. Mini bar prices with the exception of the wines seem reasonable - can of coke for 75 cents. Yup, we are still in 2009 not some weird time warp.

And here is what we saw when we walked up the three steps. A lovely private patio with a table and four chairs and two chaise lounges.

A few minutes after we start to settle in, there's a knock on the door and we receive a lovely cheese tray and a bottle of wine. We enjoy the cheese, fruit and crackers but not the weird orange spread. We were not able to figure out what is was but it left a seriously icky aftertaste. We hold off on the wine and head down to explore the town of Chatham.

We got a room which would go for $345 to 835/night depending on season. I would not be able to afford this under the best of economic circumstances but if I could, I would expect absolute perfection. There were some strange things going on at this place. The arm lamps above the beds were so loose we joked that we could have the room all summer long for the rest of our lives if one of them fell on our heads. The door jam was loose (and a huge chunk of weather sealant flapped) creating the perfect tripping opportunity. We had to call and ask for hand towels and face clothes even though they replaced towels, etc. at turn down and again with daily cleaning (what modern luxury hotel does not offer you the option of not replacing bedding and towels daily in order to save the environment by not wasting water on laundry when it is not needed - apparently this one). On Sunday morning, our tray and dishes from our arrival amenity on Friday were still on the patio table even though we called to have them removed. We had to ask for a mini-bar key. Mini-bar was open when we arrived but locked that night when we returned to the room (we were not asked at check in if we wanted key).

A room with a view? You bet. Did it make up for the flaws? ... to be continued.