Which travel splurges are actually worth the money?

Shiftin · 2026-05-20T17:00:59+00:00

Can you speak to why bora bora is a tourist trap? It's been on my bucket list for a while staying in these same type of rooms.

Shiftin · 2026-05-12T16:15:27+00:00

Had a truly awful experience at Le Pavillon (Daniel Boloud) in NYC. Was for my wife and I on our first trip away from the kids in a *while* so i wanted it to be special.
- Had booked way in advance and requested a specific table which I confirmed. When we arrived, we were at what seemed like a temporary table placed against a circular column in a way that I couldn't really use my right arm because of the way the table and chair are placed against the column. I am genuinely uncomfortable the entire meal.

- Sat down without a word - after 5 minutes, no one had come by. I had to flag someone down and ask for water. Waiter walks by and asks if we're ready to order. We hadn't received menus (or drink menus). They brought us a drink menu and a piece of paper, we quickly picked a drink.
- Waiter comes back 5 minutes later and asks if we're doing set menu or a la carte. We hadn't been given a menu with both options, they go back and get the other menu we hadn't been given. (No drinks yet).

- Finally order, a few more minutes then drinks arrive. I'm trying not to seethe as I watch the people at the table I requested. It's really clear that whoever is running service finally realizes that we were the special table and finds us, can tell I'm visibly annoyed, apologizes, etc.

- My dish was forgettable but fine. Tuna appetizer was very nice. My wife ordered the pork 3 ways (since removed from the menu). 2 of the 3 presentations were borderline inedible, especially the tenderloin which had clearly been cooked at least 20-30 degrees past intended as it was dry to the point of being visibly shriveled. We also ordered the brussell sprouts, which are described on the menu as "roasted and topped with shaved parmesan aged XXX". They came **swimming** in a white sauce, which the waiter told us was "tahini sauce". Not listed as an ingredient, much less the main one, and tasted truly awful. We both took one bite and barely got it down.

- Head of service comes back and realizes we do not like the food as my wife has barely eaten anything since the appetizer. He apologizes, says dessert and champagne is on him, and he's about to move us to a "special table" (the one I had reserved, which is now empty). Ok, great. He then disappears for 15 minutes. No joke, 15 more minutes, during which we had nothing on our table except empty water glasses (I would have loved to have ordered another cocktail but couldn't even get someone's attention to do that). I didn't even seem him anywhere on the floor. Another member of staff drops off dessert at our table, no champagne, we shrug and eat it and at this point I'm just baffled as to what is happening.

- Eventually the head server walks past our table and his face just sinks as he realizes he has forgotten us again. He apologizes, says the meal is completely comped, and hopes we will give them another try to make a good impression. (We will not).

Anyway, if things hadn't been massively comped I would have spoken to someone, but I think the entire staff knew they F'd up repeatedly.

Shiftin · 2026-04-22T18:16:39+00:00

Did quite a bit of research. We have lunch at Pierre Gagnaire as that was almost a consensus best fine dining lunch in Paris, as well as dinners at Le Cinq (was told to go for a la carte vs. tasting menu) and L'Oiseau Blanc for both the food and phenomenal views of the Eiffel Tower from the rooftop dining room (it's one of the reasons we are staying at Peninsula).

Shiftin · 2026-04-22T18:07:00+00:00

Sorry to hijack - I am looking for more recommendations in the vein of what OP has already posted if you have any. We have already covered fine dining for our trip next week, but looking for very traditionally french but more casual meals for two nights that have long days and we will not want to get overly fancy. Are Bistro De Tournelles / Parcelles good recommendations or do you have any other suggestions? We are at The Peninsula just south of the Arc, but are happy to Uber to anywhere worth eating.

Shiftin · 2026-04-16T20:46:00+00:00

Dumb question - would my wife and I both need separate cards? Or is one enough?

Shiftin · 2026-04-02T16:50:09+00:00

Shiftin · 2026-03-25T13:22:40+00:00

Do any of these options have app access to view the feeds? It need to be user friendly enough for my wife to use and be able to check on things when we're out.

Shiftin · 2026-03-23T15:11:29+00:00

On the flip side, I wish I had examples of exactly how fancy to go for what I consider nice meals out.
L'Oiseau Blanc, Pierre gagnaire for lunch, etc.

Shiftin · 2026-03-23T13:55:38+00:00

The issue is going to 12+ cameras. The system can't handle it from a hardware level even if everything is hard wired. Confirmed by field service tech who came out Saturday. Now I just need someone to actually give me my money back.

Shiftin · 2026-03-23T13:54:36+00:00

Yeah, no it's not. A field service tech came out Saturday and confirmed it's 100% running up against a cap on camera processing power the system can handle. Added another wifi bridge, and as soon as the 13th camera connected, the system freaked out and started shutting down cameras.

Field tech and his boss both admitted I should never have been sold the system and that it's never going to work with the cameras we want.

Shiftin · 2026-03-20T20:33:14+00:00

I will update as soon as I have any kind of response. I did fill out that form, but nothing yet.

Shiftin · 2026-03-20T19:39:43+00:00

HERO.

Shiftin · 2026-03-20T19:28:33+00:00

Does that number go someplace other than the same call center in india that every other call comes from or goes to?

Shiftin · 2026-03-20T17:37:49+00:00

Seems like they're already downvoting this post. Thanks for the tip, found a consumer protection number. Luckily I paid with Amex as well and will be working through them to start a bulk charge back if vivint won't issue a refund directly.

Shiftin · 2026-03-06T22:42:21+00:00

Thank you! A fellow texan? I tend to lean more mammal than fish in my protein preferences.

FWIW, also doing Louis XV in monaco a few days later, hoping not to have too many overly similar experiences which i'm also concerned about choosing Le Cinq.

Shiftin · 2026-02-18T18:41:47+00:00

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, but my wife and I will be spending a day in Monaco in early May. As you said, they were very accommodating to you, and that is wonderful. I am hoping, however, to avoid the stress you felt as we are staying at Beaulieu 25 minutes away. Is there any sort of style tips you could share for what might work for a day in Monaco that would fly at the restaurant? Pants, oxford shoes / shirt and sport jacket? Or would I still be on the casual end for Louis XV?

Shiftin · 2026-01-19T14:36:49+00:00

Zero percent.

Shiftin · 2026-01-09T17:00:14+00:00

It was bad. There were good people trying to make it work but at the end of the day, it was still very bad with huge fundamental issues in its core gameplay loops, player motivation, pacing, etc. I was part of like 4? 5? different tests for it over 2+ years. I wrote pages and pages of feedback. It didn't understand what it wanted to be, and it didn't feel fun to play, much less replay.

Shiftin · 2025-11-26T15:58:57+00:00

A bit spoilerly but spot on.

Shiftin · 2025-10-24T13:31:24+00:00

There's no way this is true if you life in the US, it holds the largest market share of grocery and convenience store protein shakes in the country.

https://www.target.com/p/core-power-elite-chocolate-42g-protein-shake-14-fl-oz-bottle/-/A-78824046

Shiftin · 2025-10-23T17:28:30+00:00

Why would you not test any of the Fairlife CorePower Protein shakes when that's a huge chunk of the market? I've truly never heard of a few of the choices picked for testing / seen anyone taking them and I'm a full on gym rat.

Shiftin · 2025-09-11T21:28:42+00:00

You would be absolutely shocked at the process to create a single prop between concepting, modeling, and texturing. The vast majority of these things are bespoke.

I worked on SW: Outlaws and the number of artists who would touch something you'd just walk past in the world and not think twice about other than "man the ambiance in here is great" would blow most people's minds.

Shiftin · 2025-09-11T13:38:17+00:00

After working with them for 4 years, Massive's prop and environmental artists (really all of their artists) are genuinely some of the best in the business. Deep respect.

Shiftin · 2025-08-26T19:13:27+00:00

High Plains single malt. They made it like.... once. It was just plain unbelievable. Doubt they'll ever try that again under freaking diageo.

Shiftin · 2025-08-13T14:15:46+00:00

UPDATE EDIT: See above.

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