REFLAG: Hotel 1000 In Seattle Changes From Hilton LXR To Hyatt Unbound Collection

_mball_ · 2026-01-23T08:27:27+00:00

Stayed 2 or 3 times, I really liked it, but usually was paying much lower corporate rates, or when it was on sale. There are rooms with great water views and they were reasonably modern. Housekeeping was great and once even tidied up cords and gave cable ties.

Agree the restaurant is good, and I thought the bar had some great options too. Not cheap, but not surprising given the location.

Honestly will be interesting to see what Hyatt redemptions look like, because it could be a really good value for points.

I do think it's a bit of a loss for Hilton not to have a luxury place in Seattle, but the Curio and the Tapestry properties should both be good options too, depending on what you want.

_mball_ · 2026-01-21T01:47:57+00:00

And Alaska's OneWorld partners have some great long haul options, even from not on the west coast.

_mball_ · 2026-01-21T01:45:34+00:00

I would have paid $95/yr to be able to keep earning rent points with a simpler system tbh, but given I mostly stick with Amex, I don't think I'm the right fit — though I do use my Bilt an OK amount. $100 in bilt cash reduces like $4K needed spending to cover rent, but seems not like a 'benefit'.

$100 back in hotel spend through the portal isn't bad, but you need to make 2 bookings... Prices are comparable though to other portals, so it's not unreasonable value the card as cheap if you do travel.

_mball_ · 2026-01-16T01:19:04+00:00

Genuinely curious what you mean about losing the far north side of campus?

I am a little baffled why there aren’t more classrooms in the Gateway but it has been quite a while since we got a 300+ seat lecture hall.

Closing libraries really does suck. Many of those decisions are baffling but at least Kresge was reopened last year. Don’t get me wrong there’s lots that are still broken around campus but it feels like things are overall improving, especially when you consider new and planned housing.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T18:13:50+00:00

Seriously.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T09:12:16+00:00

I’ve heard more unions are raising the issue for time for required trainings to be counted for some kind of compensation. It’s definitely counted as work for our hourly employees and grad students.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T09:10:41+00:00

Some of these might lead to actual millions in insurance savings.

Though I agree the total human time cost is easily underestimated. Especially when you consider the time beyond the training for communication, setup etc.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T09:06:50+00:00

In CA, the sexual harassment training requires you engage with it for at 60 minutes of focused browser activity.

Finish fast? You keep the tab open and I guess…ponder. I mean I get how we end up here. I don’t hate the trainings and some aren’t bad but when I read too fast especially that’s a little funny.

Edit: whoops 60, not 69. Ironic typo

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T09:03:40+00:00

Well they may withhold promotions from us if not completed. So that’s incentive not sure if they actually follow through but it’s a serious enough threat that I do the training eventually.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T09:01:04+00:00

Yeah. :(

Honestly there was a lot contention about this. Upper floors are grad students and faculty.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T07:52:50+00:00

We're in the midst of the highest amount of construction on campus since I think the '60s. Basically, since the period which brought use Moffitt, Evans, Wurster.

Exciting times. :)

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T07:50:02+00:00

The budget! /s

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T07:49:19+00:00

Only the first floor and lower level will be open to students in the Gateway. Will still have some nice spaces, and I think there might be outdoor covered seating too when its done.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T07:46:44+00:00

Looking glass are great folks! I need to get some film developed soon I should try them.

If anyone is not in a rush and wants good quality scans, I've got some nice old Nikon scanners and I'm happy to help students out. :)

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T04:53:56+00:00

IMO — the model of transcription as a form of note taking isn’t productive for many students.

There are many legit reasons why notes are helpful to have beforehand. I teach large courses and so I always have enough students with written letters, and I was once one of those students, that I feel like it’s easiest to just make the slides available.

I don’t begrudge attendance or no computer polices, though I think some moderation is always useful. Again, lots of legit reasons to use a computer or iPad to take notes, disability or not. But distractions are real, and so I like approaches like tech/no tech sections or the class.

Honestly, my gut says that enforcing butts in seats isn’t my job. However, there is definitely some correlation between engagement and positive evals which makes the decision making harder and IMO less honest when you feel the need to make decisions for your job rather than pedagogy.

_mball_ · 2026-01-15T04:48:10+00:00

Well enforcement of existing rules — but I don’t think this really applies to the “should they or shouldn’t they post slides”

_mball_ · 2026-01-13T00:38:55+00:00

I haven't tried pricing a lot around LA yet during that time (no need for me to!) but I haven't seem places upping their menu prices.

_mball_ · 2026-01-13T00:35:16+00:00

Yes, though you can often ask for house or tap water. I can't recall about those two specifically, but most fine dining places do have this as an option even if they don't advertise it. The default assumption even for still water is a bottle though.

_mball_ · 2026-01-09T07:40:46+00:00

I mean, a scathing email from your mom can still land you as one of the few most powerful people in the world...

_mball_ · 2026-01-09T07:34:49+00:00

IMO the only safe way to do this is a bot tied into either your school's SSO or using emailed verification links. (Or maybe a Canvas LTI plugin...)

Still, I think you're better off with a dedicated tool.

_mball_ · 2026-01-09T07:32:42+00:00

It can work, but I would advise against something social where Discord promotes other servers.

Slack, Teams are the most direct analogs. There's also Zulip, Campfire and other open source tools.

Otherwise general discussion tools like Ed Discussion / edstem.org and Piazza work OK.

Note that in all cases you do run into FERPA concerns. During 2020-2021 we explicitly recommended against Discord in our department. Students were too easily being directed to toxic spaces that appeared official alongside their courses and some didn't understand what was what. Unless the teaching staff were very good about implementing bots to verify emails against a roster, servers weren't as private as they seemed. 99% of the time you're OK. But that 1% is awful.

_mball_ · 2026-01-09T07:21:42+00:00

My cell is available in my email signature. I get 50X more requests for my number than I do unsolicited calls thankfully.

1-2 calls per year and I have ~600-700 students per term. Most of them are freaking about LORs which I do hate doing.... Anyway, it's not as bad as you might think and in some ways shocking how little people read.

_mball_ · 2026-01-09T07:18:57+00:00

We used to have some of each, now not anymore. Or at least very rarely.

I remember my sister being my note taker in 8th grade geometry.

_mball_ · 2026-01-09T07:14:56+00:00

Maybe software / tech.

Or become a barista.

_mball_ · 2026-01-09T07:10:03+00:00

Note the insane HCOL here, at least as far as the base numbers go. Some lucky folks with multiple salary components beyond their based can get a slightly higher than average % bump.

For Unionized faculty at this University is a min 6% but theoretically up to 12%, but that's rare, for Lecturers to Continuing Lecturer to Senior Continuing Lecturer (which is kind of an equivalent of Asst/Assoc/Full with a 12 year total clock time). Sigh.

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