Deadwood's HOTTEST Hotel: Gold Dust Casino Views & Suites Await!
Alright, buckle up buttercups, because we're diving headfirst into a deep dive, warts and all, review of [Hotel Name]. Forget the perfectly manicured brochure shots – we're talking real feels, the good, the bad, and the "wait, did that just happen?" moments. I'm your brutally honest guide, so prepare for a rollercoaster.
First Impressions & Getting Around – The Hustle and Bustle (Kinda)
Okay, so the whole "getting there" experience? Let's be real, that's the first test. They offer an airport transfer, which, phew, because after a long flight, the last thing you want is to navigate the local taxi gauntlet. (Getting around: Airport transfer, Taxi service, Car park [free of charge], Car park [on-site], Car power charging station, Valet parking, Bicycle parking). Their car park is apparently free, which is a win for my budget, and they have a car charging station, which, you know, is good for the future. But is it a good shuttle? Is it on time? Are the drivers friendly or do they smell of stale cigarettes and existential dread? These are the questions I need answered, and, sadly, this review won’t tell me!
Accessibility: Not Just a Checkbox, a VIBE (Accessibility, Facilities for disabled guests, Elevator)
This is huge. True, essential accessibility doesn't always get the priority it deserves. [Hotel Name] seems to have the essentials covered – elevator, facilities for disabled guests. But… does it feel accessible? Is the ramp smooth, or a battle against gravity? Are the doorways genuinely wide enough? Does the website cater to screen readers? The devil, as they say, is in the details. More investigation is needed, but hats off to those who consider those things.
Internet – The Lifeblood of the Modern Traveler (Wi-Fi [free], Internet access, Internet [LAN], Internet services, Free Wi-Fi in all rooms!, Wi-Fi in public areas)
Listen, if the Wi-Fi is garbage, my whole trip is ruined. I need to be connected. [Hotel Name] promises free Wi-Fi in all rooms AND public areas. Bonus points for LAN access too! Thank god, because that just means I can get back to work, post photos and check my bank account, maybe even watch a movie without that annoying buffering wheel of death!
Cleanliness & Safety – The Pandemic Era Reality Check (Cleanliness and safety, Anti-viral cleaning products, Cashless payment service, Daily disinfection in common areas, Doctor/nurse on call, First aid kit, Hand sanitizer, Hot water linen and laundry washing, Hygiene certification, Individually-wrapped food options, Physical distancing of at least 1 meter, Professional-grade sanitizing services, Room sanitization opt-out available, Rooms sanitized between stays, Safe dining setup, Sanitized kitchen and tableware items, Shared stationery removed, Staff trained in safety protocol, Sterilizing equipment)
Okay, so, the world has changed. Safety is paramount! [Hotel Name] seems to be taking this seriously. I need to see evidence of all these "anti-viral cleaning products" and the "professional-grade sanitizing services." Daily disinfection in common areas? Good. Individually wrapped food? Sensible. Staff trained in safety protocols? Absolutely mandatory. I'm not asking for a sterile environment, but I want to feel like they're at least trying.
The Rooms – My Personal Oasis (Available in all rooms: Additional toilet, Air conditioning, Alarm clock, Bathrobes, Bathroom phone, Bathtub, Blackout curtains, Carpeting, Closet, Coffee/tea maker, Complimentary tea, Daily housekeeping, Desk, Extra long bed, Free bottled water, Hair dryer, High floor, In-room safe box, Interconnecting room(s) available, Internet access – LAN, Internet access – wireless, Ironing facilities, Laptop workspace, Linens, Mini bar, Mirror, Non-smoking, On-demand movies, Private bathroom, Reading light, Refrigerator, Safety/security feature, Satellite/cable channels, Scale, Seating area, Separate shower/bathtub, Shower, Slippers, Smoke detector, Socket near the bed, Sofa, Soundproofing, Telephone, Toiletries, Towels, Umbrella, Visual alarm, Wake-up service, Wi-Fi [free], Window that opens)
Wow. Okay, that is a comprehensive list. Air conditioning? Check. Internet? Check. Free Wi-Fi? Double-check! I'm especially pleased with the blackout curtains – crucial for fighting jet lag and my incessant need for sleep. The little things matter: a coffee/tea maker, a mini-bar, and bathrobes? Yes, please! Let's hope the "extra-long bed" actually IS extra-long, because otherwise, it’s a recipe for a restless night. I hate those beds that are too short!
My Anecdote: The Great Towel Debacle
Okay, picture this: I once stayed in a hotel that listed “fluffy towels.” Turns out the “fluffy towels” were more like sandpaper. It was a towel-related tragedy. I need the towels to be soft, absorbing, and not like coarse sheets that are used in a construction site
Dining, Drinking, and Snacking – Fueling the Adventure (A la carte in restaurant, Alternative meal arrangement, Asian breakfast, Asian cuisine in restaurant, Bar, Bottle of water, Breakfast [buffet], Breakfast service, Buffet in restaurant, Coffee/tea in restaurant, Coffee shop, Desserts in restaurant, Happy hour, International cuisine in restaurant, Poolside bar, Restaurants, Room service [24-hour], Salad in restaurant, Snack bar, Soup in restaurant, Vegetarian restaurant, Western breakfast, Western cuisine in restaurant)
This is where things get exciting, or, potentially, disastrous. [Hotel Name] is throwing down the gauntlet with options! Multiple restaurants, a bar, a poolside bar. Asian cuisine, international cuisine, and even a vegetarian option? Blessedly, the 24-hour room service – that's a godsend for those late-night cravings. However, the buffet? A double-edged sword. On the one hand, endless food! On the other hand, all-too-often, lukewarm, sad-looking food languishing under heat lamps. I'm hoping for the best, but you know what they say - temper your expectations! I am glad they have "Bottle of water" as an option. I am especially excited for the "Happy Hour".
Things to Do & Ways to Relax – Spa Day, Anyone? (Things to do, ways to relax, Body scrub, Body wrap, Fitness center, Foot bath, Gym/fitness, Massage, Pool with view, Sauna, Spa, Spa/sauna, Steamroom, Swimming pool, Swimming pool [outdoor])
Alright, we've got a pool with a view? Now we're talking. A sauna, a steamroom, a spa, and a fitness center? (Fitness center and gym, I'm assuming are the same thing). This is looking promising. Let's just say I'm particularly intrigued by the prospect of a body scrub, which I've never tried. However, the pool with a view really gets my attention – is it a breathtaking vista, or just a view of the parking lot? We'll find out.
Quirky Observation: The Poolside Bar Dilemma
Okay, here's a truth: The poolside bar is a minefield. You either get top-shelf cocktails crafted by a mixologist, or a sugary, watery concoction served by someone clearly not enjoying their life. I am hopeful.
Services and Conveniences – The Little Extras (Air conditioning in public area, Audio-visual equipment for special events, Business facilities, Cash withdrawal, Concierge, Contactless check-in/out, Convenience store, Currency exchange, Daily housekeeping, Doorman, Dry cleaning, Elevator, Essential condiments, Facilities for disabled guests, Food delivery, Gift/souvenir shop, Indoor venue for special events, Invoice provided, Ironing service, Laundry service, Luggage storage, Meeting/banquet facilities, Meetings, Meeting stationery, On-site event hosting, Outdoor venue for special events, Projector/LED display, Safety deposit boxes, Seminars, Shrine, Smoking area, Terrace, Wi-Fi for special events, Xerox/fax in business center)
Contactless check-in/out? Good. Convenience store? Useful. Concierge? Hopefully, they can actually get me a decent restaurant reservation. Dry cleaning and laundry service? Essential. I hate packing a heavy bag. The essentials are present here. I have to say, I appreciate the inclusion of a gift shop.
For the Kids – Family Friendly or Faux Friendly? (Babysitting service, Family/child friendly, Kids facilities, Kids meal)
This is where the hotel really has to prove itself. Family friendly is a vague concept. Do they have a play area? Kid-friendly menus? Are the staff actually patient with kids? I want to see commitment, not just a cursory "family friendly" label on the website.
Alright, Time for the Offer!
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Alright, buckle up, buttercups, because this isn't your slick, corporate-crafted itinerary. This is me in Deadwood, at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, trying to wrangle a vacation out of pure chaos. And you're along for the ride.
Itinerary: Deadwood Delirium (Or, How I Lost My Mind & Found a Gold Nugget of Fun)
Day 1: Arrival & The Great Parking Lot Panic
- 1:00 PM - Arrive in Deadwood, South Dakota & (Attempt to) Check In. Seriously, after eight hours in the car with a bladder the size of a walnut and a caffeine deficiency, I was already ready to gnaw on a tire. The front desk lady was sweet, bless her heart, but I swear she was wearing a smile surgically attached. "Yes, room 312 is ready…" she chirped. "But the parking lot… well, it's a bit compact." (Understatement of the century. It was gridlocked with SUVs the size of small planets.)
- 1:30 PM - The Parking Lot Gauntlet. Finding a spot felt like winning the lottery. I’m not kidding. We circled the lot a dozen times. I felt like a vulture. Finally, after some questionable driving maneuvers, I squeezed my poor sedan into a space that was technically a suggestion, not a reality. Victory! (Followed by a near-miss with a rogue pickup truck. "Easy, there, cowboy!" I yelled. He just grunted. Welcome to Deadwood.)
- 2:00 PM - Room Reconnaissance & Mild Panic. Okay, room 312: clean, surprisingly spacious, and – HALLELUJAH – a working air conditioner. But… only one tiny trash can. I mentally added "acquire more trash receptacles" to my to-do list, right after "conquer the buffet."
- 2:30 PM - The Gold Dust Casino Temptation (and the Buffet Battle). First off, the casino downstairs is glitzy. Rows of blinking lights, the smell of cheap perfume and desperation (mostly on me!), and the promise of instant riches. But first… THE BUFFET. This is where things get messy, people. I'd heard whispers. Legends. Of unlimited crab legs and prime rib that could cure any ailment. I was ready. I strategized. I mentally rehearsed my plate composition. The prime rib was good; The crab legs? Slightly over salted. But, hey, it's a buffet. You win some, you lose some. (Mostly you win calories.)
- 4:00 PM - Casino Mayhem (and the realization that I am NOT a gambler). I plunked down a measly $20 at a slot machine that looked like a clown threw up on it. Spun the reels. Lost. Repeated. Lost. Twice. Then I tried a different game, the odds tilted against me. I felt so stupid. I left defeated, with a lighter wallet and the sinking feeling that I wouldn't be trading places with James Bond anytime soon. Good thing I had an emergency chocolate bar stash from the car – I seriously needed it.
- 6:00 PM - Stroll through Historic Deadwood. Okay, so the casino didn't work out. Time for some culture, right? Wandered through the main street, gawking at the old buildings, the saloons with swinging doors, and hoping a ghostly gunslinger wouldn't leap out and demand my wallet. It's cute, but it felt a bit… staged. Like Disney World for Wild West enthusiasts. Still, the vibe was fun, so I bought a cheesy souvenir t-shirt.
- 8:00 PM - Dinner at Saloon No. 10 (Where I almost became a barfly). This place is legendary. They have a re-enactment of a Wild Bill Hickok shooting (which I found kind of morbid, but also… fascinating?). The food was unexpectedly decent (burger and fries, my comfort food). The live music was loud, and the beer was flowing. Let's just say, the evening ended with a few too many local brews. The next morning I was paying heavily for it.
Day 2: History, Hangovers, and the Search for Authenticity
- 9:00 AM - The Hangover from Hell & Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express (Because my stomach was begging for mercy). Seriously. I think I need an IV drip of coffee and sympathy. The continental breakfast was a godsend. Waffles, some bland sausage, and enough coffee to restart the Large Hadron Collider.
- 10:00 AM - Mount Moriah Cemetery - (Where I contemplated my own mortality and the irony of a tourist attraction). Okay, this was actually really cool. The final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane? It felt more real than the tourist traps below. The view was spectacular and I actually felt a pang of… well, something. Maybe a little respect for the people who lived and died here. The headstones were a mess, some weathered, some broken. It was a really good place.
- 12:00 PM - The Days of '76 Museum (and my quest for the “real” Deadwood). This place was a treasure trove of the past. Artifacts, photos, and exhibits detailing the town's wild past, from its gold rush days to the personalities of Hickok and Jane.
- 2:00 PM - The Black Hills National Forest. (Where my search for the "real Deadwood" got a little more literal.) I rented a car and decided to get out of town. Drove into the Black Hills. The landscape was breathtaking, filled with towering pines, crystal-clear streams, and that smell of pine needles and wet earth you just can't beat. My emotions? A mix of awe, wonder, and slight panic that my cell service was nonexistent. Worth it.
- 4:00 PM - The Search for a Gold Panning Experience (And the Discovery of a Real Gem). I wanted to find a gold panning operation, the real deal. It took me a long time to find one that didn’t feel like a cash grab. Most were very over the top. But near a little creek somewhere I stumbled upon the real thing. A guy with a beard and a patient demeanor. And, yes, this is where it happened. After what felt like hours of sifting through creek bed gravel, I found her!!! A REAL GOLD NUGGET! Oh, the feeling! The thrill! The sheer, ridiculous joy of holding a tiny piece of history in my hand! And it turns out, it was a very small nugget. But still, A NUGGET!
- 6:00 PM - Back to the Holiday Inn Express and contemplation. (And the realization that every vacation is a little bit messy, and that might just be the best part). I went back to the hotel, had a nice shower, and started thinking about my trip. I loved the hotel, it's pretty solid and with a great price tag. I found that Deadwood does what it promises, and that it's not Disneyland. It's Deadwood. Yes, it’s a little quirky and a bit touristy, and that the real deal wasn't in a cheesy museum, but in the forest, in the ground. And in your own messy, imperfect hunt for it.
Day 3: Departure & the (Lingering) Smell of Adventure.
- 9:00 AM - Final breakfast, packing, and checking out (with a slightly brighter outlook and a very happy heart).
- 10:00 AM - One last look at Deadwood. A final, lingering, slightly bittersweet farewell.
- 11:00 AM - Drive home, with a gold nugget, a cheesy t-shirt, and a head full of memories. And the promise to come back again, because Deadwood is weird, and wonderful, and utterly unforgettable.
So, there you have it. My Deadwood disaster (and delight). I hope you enjoyed the ride. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a nap.
Cincy's BEST Kept Secret? This Holiday Inn Express Will SHOCK You!
So, uh, why sourdough? Isn't regular bread good enough? My grocery store is *right there*!
Oh, honey. You got me started. Regular bread? Yeah, it’s…fine. Like a polite smile at a dinner party. Sourdough, my friend? Sourdough is the boisterous laughter, the accidental spilling of red wine, the *real* life. It's a quest. A hobby. A borderline obsession. Look, I started because I thought, "Ooh, fancy! I could impress people!" (Spoiler: I mostly impress my dog with crumbs). But *then* I tasted *real* sourdough. Crusty, tangy, the kind that makes you moan a little with each bite. You can’t go back. It’s like… falling in love with a sourdough starter. It’s weird. It's wonderful. It's utterly exhausting and sometimes makes me consider running away to a cabin, just me, my starter, and a bag of flour.
Okay, okay, I'm intrigued. But this "starter" thing… what *is* it, and do I need a PhD in microbiology to make one?
The starter, my friend, is your sourdough baby. It's a living thing, a little ecosystem of wild yeasts and bacteria, bubbling and burping happily in a jar (usually, happily... sometimes it's a rebellious teenager). No PhD needed. I swear. I followed a recipe online, thought I was completely butchering it for the first WEEK, and now I have a thriving starter named...Frank. (Don't ask. I don't know.) It's mostly just flour and water, left to its own devices. It's like having a pet that intermittently needs feeding and hates it when you go away on vacation. It's surprisingly low maintenance. Just some patience and remembering to feed it. The first week, though? Mine smelled like… well, let's just say it wasn't roses. Definitely a "what have I gotten myself into?" moment.
So, like, feeding Frank. How *often* does this hungry little yeast beast need to eat? And, like, what kind of flour? Is it picky?
Frank, bless his sour little heart, requires feeding. Generally, I feed him every day or so, or every other day. It depends on a lot of things. The temperature in your home is a big one. The warmer it is, the faster he eats. I kinda slacked off over the winter because it was cold, and Frank went into a bit of a hibernation. He's fine now though. He is always very forgiving, unlike myself. The flour... well, initially, I used all-purpose, because I'm a novice and didn't want to complicate things. He seemed fine with it. But then I read about using whole wheat. Oh. My. Goodness. The taste improved. And I never going back. It just depends on a couple of thing: what are you willing to sacrifice for getting it right.
Alright, I'm getting there. But the bread itself… how do I *actually* make it? Is there a secret handshake? A blood oath?
There's no secret handshake, although there *should* be. The blood oath? Nah, but you might swear a few times. Okay, the basic steps involve mixing, proofing, shaping, proofing again (yes, it's a slow dance), baking, and then… the holy grail… the moment you slice into that golden, crusty loaf. But it’s not always easy. My first few loaves looked like, well, flattened hockey pucks. Solid. Dense. My family politely ate them, bless their hearts. The best advice I could give you is to follow a recipe (at least to start), and *don't* get discouraged. It's a learning curve. And learn from all the "mistakes".
Proofing? What in the world is "proofing"? I'm so confused.
Proofing is where the magic happens. It's the time your dough is resting, rising, and developing those lovely air pockets that make sourdough… sourdough. There are two main "proofs": the bulk ferment (the first rise, usually in a bowl), and the final proof (shaped in a banneton or a bowl). The length of time depends on a bunch of things, like the temperature of your kitchen, the strength of your starter, and even the humidity. Honestly? It's all a guessing game. You learn to be like a dough whisperer, observing the dough, poking it gently, and trying to understand when it's "ready". I messed up mine. A *lot*. I've under-proofed (dense loaves) and over-proofed (flat loaves). It's a constant learning process, and you gotta learn about watching it... not touching.
Baking! That’s the easy part, right? Stick it in the oven, and boom, bread?
Ha! Oh, you sweet summer child. Baking *is* the part where you get the glorious crust and that gorgeous interior. But it's more complicated than just sticking it in. You need a good Dutch oven (or a similar setup to trap steam), a hot oven, and a bit of timing. And, if you're like me, a prayer or two that it actually works. One time, I forgot to preheat the Dutch oven. Total disaster. The bread was flat, gummy, and basically inedible. I may or may not have shed a tear. But I’m better now. I think. Maybe? The Dutch oven thing is key. It traps steam, which helps the crust develop and the bread to rise properly. It's worth investing in a good one. Trust me. After all, you don't want to waste all that flour and effort!
Help! My bread is flat! Or it's dense! What did I do wrong? (Probably everything, right?)
Okay, breathe. It's okay. We've all been there. Flat bread? Usually means under-proofed or over-proofed. Dense bread? Under-proofed, maybe your starter wasn't strong enough, or maybe you didn't develop enough gluten. (Gluten is your friend in bread-making!). There are SO many variables. Sometimes it's the flour, sometimes it's the humidity, sometimes it's the phases of the moon. The point is, it's a learning process. Keep trying, don't give up, and embrace the "failures." Each one is a lesson. And hey, even if it's not perfect, you can still (usually) eat it!
