Hotel Galini – Santorini

August 23, 2010 in Island, tiny, unique by andrew | No comments

I’ve been to Santorini before, I keep missing the sunsets.  Maybe if I caught it once I’d see what the fuss is all about.  In any case, it’s a dream just to be there.  Starting the day with a frappe on the balcony of a cliff at the Hotel Galant is a blood pressure dropping pleasure.  And going to their bathroom is a surprising treat.

Design – 8 Due to the terrain, this bathroom is literally carved into the side of the cliff.  Colors are the traditional blue/white of Greece which at least to me doesn’t get old.  Maybe those who live there feel differently.  I always prefer the deeper blues like the one we see on the floor here.

Cleanliness – 8  Very clean.

Layout – 6 Its a tight tube, with one of those super shallow sinks.  Since its a one person bathroom, plenty of room to do your thing.  Not handicapped accessible but neither is much of the island.

Extra Credit – 7 Not only is there a little basket with maxi pads, there’s a custom ceramic sign instructing you not to throw them in the toilet.  Matching sign showing a romanticized view of the bathroom is on the outside door.

Firostefani Santorini, Greece

Servisair Lounge – Heathrow Airport

July 8, 2010 in Uncategorized by andrew | 3 comments


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Maybe if I lived in the UK I’d know that Servisair stands for crap.  Maybe its because all shared airline and US airline lounges tend to be giant wastes of money.  Maybe then  I wouldn’t be so disappointed with this bathroom.

Design – 2 No continuity between lounge and bathroom.  You go through a service door entrance to get here, useless and weird “dividers” between urinals, ubiquitous European vessel sink vanity can’t save this from looking drab and dumpy.

Cleanliness – 3 “Imperial Leather” discount soap bottles at the sinks remind you that you can be clean and frugal at the same time.  They can’t hide the fact that this bathroom smells like bad Chinese food.

Layout – 2 I appreciate some separation between lounge and bathroom but the execution isn’t pretty.

Extra Credit – 5 A strangely mounted flush lever for the toilets on the tile wall.  Free booze and stomachache inducing snacks in the other room.

Heathrow Airport

Derlicious – Athens

July 7, 2010 in Athens, souvlaki stand by andrew | No comments




If you’ve been to Greece you know that the best souvlaki you can have in the US tastes like cardboard compared to the average one in their motherland.  On my recent trip to Greece it’s all I wanted to eat, all the time.  The high point was a trip to Derlicious in Kolonaki, a fashionable district in Athens.  Tucked away in a pedestrian street lined with high end shops and the beautiful women who love them, this is the place to be.

Design – 3 Not living up to the standards of the neighborhood, in other words, “unassuming”.  They don’t assume you care because the food is good and the location is prime.

Cleanliness – 2 I would have hoped for a higher score here but as you can see from the photos, it ain’t that way.

Layout – 3 Climb up the metal stair at the back of the shop, pass the garbage bag and case of tomatoes, and make a left into the bathroom/mop storage.

Extra Credit – 9 Enjoying a dirt cheap and tasty meal outside next to Greek goddesses who are pigging out on the stuff as much as you are.

Tsakalof 14,  Athens, Greece

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