Originally we were looking at the prospect of spending up to 3 weeks in a 400-sq foot hotel room and were not happy about it. Thankfully, the nice folks at the relocation service were able to negotiate something more suitable for a family of 4 -- a "penthouse" suite, which looks very much like this:
Clearly a far more comfortable arrangement, the main advantage is that the girls have their own room downstairs, with a door that closes and allows their parents to watch TV or whatever. When all is said and done, however, it IS a hotel room, and Ellie in particular feels the loss of space and privacy -- Maggie, being Maggie, just rolls with it.
Truthfully, this place has worked out far better than expected due to some very special touches. We were told that we would get daily maid service (Kim's been loving that), but during the first few days, they went so far as to turn our dishwasher on for us, regardless of how many dishes were in it. We knew we would be getting free breakfast in the lounge each morning, but one staff member in particular has been extremely attentive to the girls, bringing out small toys and offering to make special items beyond what was available that day. The pool, which opened on Sunday (day before Memorial Day), has been a life saver (no pun intended), especially for Ellie, and the on-site shuttle has taken me to work each morning, meaning that Kim and the girls didn't have to go through the hassle of driving me to work.
The lone low points are those to be expected in a hotel environment -- limited television options and inconsistent wireless connectivity. While there's nothing to be done about the former, the lobby does have a communal computer that has allowed Kim and I to check email and do other computer tasks at least a few times a day.
All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better arrangement -- but we'll be very glad to be in our own place next week.
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