Best Bites Mediterranean Pizzeria - Martinez, GA

The falafel here is very good. The appetizer is 4 pieces and they are nice and large, unlike several other places I have been to. The chicken kebabs are juicy with the perfect amount of spice. Grilled vegetables were good but could have a little more char on it but that's a personal preference. The tzatziki was good as was the humus but I would have preferred the olives to be on the side. The only issue is that it can be a little pricey depending on what you are ordering. Since finding this nice little spot, I have been back several times and I will continue to do so. The owner is a wonderful, friendly person and really makes you feel welcome.

Colosseum - Rome

This is a must. I thought my son would be bored but he really did enjoy the tour. We took the tour that included the Dungeons and upper Tiers which let us set some great pictures and different perspectives. We went early morning and it wasn't too crowded which was very nice. They also have a great book in the bookstore that shows you how the Colosseum is now and how it would have been and includes a video (although we haven't watched that). It was about 12Euro or so.

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Hotel Giuliana - Rome, Italy

This is a wonderful little hotel. We really enjoyed our stay. All the employees were super friendly and made you feel very welcome. We arrived there early and they let us get one of our rooms so we could relax. As soon as the other room was ready, they came and let us know. It was a little bit hard to find. If you are coming from the train station it is a short walk. If you go out the middle front entrance, you need to walk straight by where all the buses are until you see the road Via Cavour on your left. Walk down Via Cavour until you reach Via Agostino Depretis on your right. Walk down the road on the right hand side and you will see the hotel within a few blocks. We were in room 14 and when we opened the windows, the early morning market was right below us. It was a little bit noisy listening to them set up but it really didn’t bother us at all. The hotel is very clean and the beds were comfortable. The only issue we had with the room was that the cold water in the bathroom had a really low pressure. I liked having the mini-fridge in the room as well.
The breakfast was simple but nice and I love that they make your cappuccinos and hot chocolate fresh for you. There were some fruits, toast, yogurt and some cereal.
This is also very convenient to a lot of the major tourist attractions. We walked to quite a few of them but the baths were pretty far although you can still walk it.
We would definitely stay here again.

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Le musee gourmand du chocolat - Choco-Story - Paris

Interesting little museum with lots of history on Chocolate”

Reviewed December 25, 2012

OK, yes this museum is not big but it holds a lot of information on the history of chocolate. My son enjoyed looking for the Playmobile areas to complete his quest that he received when we purchased our tickets. It is a bite expensive for what you are getting, I would have felt better if it was between 4-6 Euro. We had just gone to the science museum for kids and that had many more activities for approximately the same price as the museum 9 Euro.
The demonstration was very nice and done in both English and French. It was nice to get chocolate samples at the beginning of the demo as well as when we first came in. We then were able to taste a sample of the chocolate made during the presentation. All of the posted information was both in French and English which was nice as we weren't sure what to expect when we saw such a small museum.
The hot chocolate was a bit over-priced and a little disappointing. They heated the milk and added a chocolate stir, I expected a little more. We have visited Paris often and it was nice to get away from the regular sites and visit this quaint museum. We all learned a lot about one of our favorite things and the souvenirs were definitely well priced and a good selection.

The website for the museum is http://www.museeduchocolat.fr/en/

La Cite des Sciences et de L'lndustrie - Paris

The first thing you have to do is to find out when each session starts. We were unaware that there were time restrictions and just bought tickets to find out we only had an hour and a half left. We went to the 5-12 kids section and immediately my son ran to the closest thing at hand. Everything is in French and English and hands-on. It was very busy and some activities we could not do. They even have a greenhouse with beautiful butterflies everywhere, you just have to be careful when leaving as one may be perched on your shoulder. Luckily we were able to return to the greenhouse and put it back before it flew away. Some of the kids were very pushy and no adult was around them so it is best if you keep an eye on your child so they get their turn. There was one machine that let you create a cutout to make a box by folding it in certain ways but some of the adults there seemed to be making several designs, making it impossible to get your design printed. It may be best to go there first if you want to do this activity. The area was also very popular and my son's favorite. They even have live ant colonies and a section dedicated to how a TV studio works including a green screen, weather backdrops, cameras, and specialty cameras and a switcher.
The closest metro station is the Porte de la Villette on the Metro 7, someone advised us to take a different metro (I think the 5) and it was quiet a walk just to get to the entrance (at least in the rain). When we went the hours were Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 6pm and Sundays 10am to 7pm.
This was a perfect activity to do in the winter time when it was raining outside.
There were several other things that could be done there but we did not have a chance.

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Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake

We arrived very late but the people behind the desk were very friendly. Our room was right by the elevator which I didn't like too much. It was room 624. We also didn't have a very nice view but that's ok we didn't spend a lot of time in the room anyway. It was nice that there was a fridge but without a microwave it is almost pointless since if we brought food back to the hotel we would not have been able to reheat it. Another is with this room was that the bathroom is very small. Not much moving around space. I did like the beds and they were comfortable. We had an issue with the TV remote but again we barely used it so not a big bother. The hotel is very close to the space center although we did not visit it. There are a few places to eat not too far away, most importantly there is a Starbucks close by across from the McDonalds. We were there for a conference so didn't have much time to explore the area or use other amenities in the hotel. The food provided by the hotel was pretty good, lots of fresh fruit. Over all it was a nice hotel and if we come for vacation here, I would definitely stay here.

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Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa

We arrived very early around 7am so it was no surprise that our room would not be ready but it would have been nice. The reception we received was very friendly and we enjoyed the complimentary drink. We were able to get into our room around 1pm. The room was supposed to be an ocean view but it was hard to see through the trees and all the other things. It was not close to the ocean. We had room 263 and it faced the entrance to the water slide. The room itself is a little small considering this is a five-star resort. The bathroom is very small, just space for the toilet and the walk-in shower. The maid Rina ways exceptionally friendly and made our stay amazing. She did her best to make sure we had everything we needed but sometimes as others have stated towels were not available. The breakfast was pretty good, a nice variety. Champagne and coffee to order was a nice added benefit. You could also order eggs anyway you liked and had a variety of breads ad juice to choose from. The rest of the breakfast was pretty much the same every day except for a few alternating items i.e. hash browns on Thursday then again on Saturday ect. The pool is not as large as the pictures make it out to be but it is very nice.
The staff is very friendly and made my son feel very good after an injury. If you have small kids you should be careful of the nightstand by the bed. My son scouted to far back and hit his head on the edge which required stitches. The doctor the hotel called cost $185 Fijian but she came to our room and was very nice. She treated my son in the room making him more comfortable but he didn't feel up to much after the accident. Good thing we were leaving the next day. The on-duty manager even sent him a fruit plate and small gifts to cheer him up. He was very pleased with that.
Be prepared that the 30 minutes of free internet rarely ends up being 30 minutes due to the fact that it also counts MBs. Whichever you use up first then time is up. The longest I managed to stay on was maybe 15 minutes with just checking basic email and a quick Facebook check. Even if you pay for the internet, once you have used a certain amount you can either continue at a slower speed or pay for an up-grade. It's about .60 per minute when you choose the 2-hr option.
We only ate dinner here once since it is pretty expensive approximately $86-91FJD per person. My son really enjoyed it though. It was their steak night. You have a few choices of steak and they then cook it for you the way you like plus many other items to select from the buffet. My son also really enjoyed the mini steak he could order for room service but did not enjoy the pasta from the turtle menu.
The Denarau port is within easy walking distance, maybe 15 minutes but you can also take a taxi for $5 FJD each way or the Bula Bus which is $8.50 per person for the whole day and goes all around the island.

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Great Wolf Lodge - Concord, NC

We stayed for two nights in a Wolf Den Suite. This is our second time here. My son loved the room this time since he had his own little area. One of the things I found disappointing was the TV being way too small in the kids area and there was no table in the area which could have made some things convenient. The room has a microwave and a mini fridge so I made sure to bring some food as I was not going to eat in the hotel. I avoided eating at the hotel as I have heard it was overpriced and not very good. Even the snacks were very pricey as was water. The beds certainly are not comfortable nor are the sheets or pillows. We had an issue with the toilet but they fixed it within a reasonable amount of time.

We had no issues with check-in and did not use the online option. I did not though that it seemed like the online line did not go as quickly as the regular check in.

He loves to play the Magiquest but did not play as much this time as our last trip. The water park area definitely takes some getting used to. It is very hot and the air is very bad. I could not take it for long, the chemicals got to me. For an inside waterpark, it is pretty nice but I found the slides a bit boring but perfect for younger children The wave pool was nice but too packed with kids that weren’t paying attention and kept crashing into people.

If going to this hotel you have to expect kids running everywhere doing all the activities whether it's the arcade, virtual bowling, Magiquest or rushing around to get to the other activities. If you can live with that, it will be fun, this is definitely not a place for couples. The people there are very friendly and going out of their way to make you feel welcome and I have to give them great credit for that.

Hyatt Place Charlotte City Park - North Carolina

The room was nice but they have a small fridge and no microwave which seems counter-productive. One of the beds is also too close to the a/c unit so it's hard to move around if two people are in the bed and you don't want to have to crawl over someone to get out. The breakfast had cereal, fruit, egg sandwich, french toast, bagel and a nice selection of juice and milk but make sure you come before 10 because they start putting everything away right at 10 and very quickly.
The sofa bed when pulled out makes it hard to get out of the room but if you're not using it, there is sufficient space. The TV is kind of in an odd place as it is trying to accommodate the people on the couch as well as the people in bed.

I don't think I would stay here again but if my favorites weren't available I would take it.

Homewood Suites Orlando-Nearest to Universal Studios

The check in was quick and efficient and it was a nice room. We had two-double beds which were comfortable for all of us. They also provided many towels which I was originally worried about since many hotels can be stingy. There was enough parking although the hotel seemed pretty full. We did not use the pool so can’t comment on that but we also saw a basketball court which was a first. We chose this hotel to be close to Universal and it certainly was. Easy walking distance even for a 9 year old. The only issue we had was that the shower wasn’t as clean as we would have liked. There was some black around the handle bar and some hair but other than that the rest of the room was very clean. They also did not empty the trash in the kitchen after the first day but we just made sure to keep the cupboard open the next day. It was nice to have the kitchenette to reheat food and store snacks and drinks to take with us to Universal. The front desk person was very nice and he recommended a pizza place which was really good. So much so that we ate there three times during out four day stay. The Pizza place was Flippers and not too far from the hotel. They also deliver. The free internet was nice to have and enough was on the TV for my son to be able to amuse himself the little bit of time we were in the room. The breakfast was what can only be expected from Homewood Suites, a nice spread. They had different choices each morning to include eggs, bacon, sausage, fruits, cereal, waffles, yogurt, coffee, tea, milk, juice and other items. The only real issue was finding a place to sit as it was very busy, a few days we just took it up to our room as it was easier. They had a shuttle service which we signed up for just in case but we didn’t take it as we preferred the freedom of coming and going as we wanted.
I would definitely stay here again.

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