Hotel anatomization : Cocoon , Magarpatta City - Pune

Cocoon, the only suite hotel in the township of Magarpatta City. 

It is the first choice of business travelers who want to avoid commuting to the other parts of the city and enjoy a peaceful stay in the campus. It is located near the South Gate of the Magarpatta City in Hadapsar.

It is at a close proximity of the Destination Center – the hub of Magarpatta City.

The entrance has a replica of a cocoon to signify the name of the hotel. The hotel is beautifully enveloped in between the plentiful of plants and trees – especially that one plant with designer stems, the close I could get to describing it. :)

Cocoon is a tall, lean building with hanging balconies and it's architecture is quite modern and present day in style.

The lobby and reception is comparatively compact with the restaurants and the lounge right in front of it. 

The rooms and the reception are adorned with beautiful wall paintings.

The rooms are quite spacious with the bedroom segregated from the hall and kitchen.

The hall has the sofa set with dim lighted standing lamps facing the TV. The kitchen is facilitated with the crockeries, oven and mini fridge. It also has a small counter across the kitchen,serving as a table top with bar chars to enjoy your hot meal. The bedroom has a double bed with head lamps, a sturdy cupboard.
To do your office chores comfortably, they also have facilitated with study table too. 
And finally the balcony has chic tables and chairs placed to enjoy the beautiful view of Magarpatta, which overlooks the destination center and adjoining buildings.

The guests are facilitated with complimentary breakfast. For our company, they had some coupons worth a specific amount given,which could be used through the day for dining purposes.

Enjoyed the stay here.

Facilities of the hotel:

•          Equipped with banquet halls
•          In house dining options - @M, Butterfly Lounge
•          Parking lot
•          24 X 7 Room service

Facilities in the room:

•          Newspaper, Magazines
•     Stationary 
•          Safe deposit box
•          Kettle
•          Tea, coffee, whitener, sugar sachets
•          LCD TV
•          Bottled water
•          Iron board
•          Microwave oven
•          Crockery and cutlery
•          Mini fridge
•           Items from mini bar can be requested from the reception – they have a menu placed in the   room
•          Toiletries
•          Internet connectivity – it is a tedious process, they provide Tata Doco Mo cards which you need to activate per device. Each card has a validity, which needs to be activated once expired. Kind of old fashioned.

You can order in from the @M restaurant which is open Morning to Midnight.

The hotel is located at a distance of about 10-11 kms from both the airport and the Pune station.

The staff is courteous and quite welcoming.

Few pictures from the visit:

Cheers to life!!

~Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! :)

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me. :)

Hotel anatomization : Residence Inn Mariott, Alpharetta - Atlanta

The Residence Inn Mariott, Alpharetta is one of the most comfortable and closest to few of the exciting must visit places in Alpharetta. The best part 

I was in Alpharetta on a  business trip – and I chanced upon to stay at Residence Inn. I was here for almost a month, and I can vouch that the hospitality offered was top notch.

The hotels here are not high rise – about 2-3 storey-ed each. The buildings are brown stoned and colonial, with steep roofs having glass windows, having supporting pillars.

The hotel is pretty much spacious and spread out.

Right across the reception is the dining place where breakfast and evening snacks are served. The interiors are modern day like.

The pool is located at the center of the hotel with plentyful of sun bathing beds around.

The outdoor patio has a barbecue area near the pool, with comfortable sofa seating – quite cool actually. It serves as a nice gathering area. 

They also have a basketball court in the hotel.

I had the suite booked which was fully equipped kitchen, refrigerator, dish washer and crockeries – I would say much needed for the Indian, who can’t thrive on the American cuisine altogether.

The room had the living are, dining area and the bedroom separated with plenty of space for enjoying any of your chores. 

Facilities of the hotel:

•         free high-speed wireless Internet
•          free shuttle services approximately up to a distance of 5 kms
•          pool
•          business center
•          fitness center

Facilities in the room:

•          Sofa bed
•          Queen size bed
•          Table with seating for 2
•          Desk
•          Dishwasher with cleaning supplies
•          Coffee maker along with the coffee, tea, sugar, creamer sachets
•          Refrigerator
•          Gas top
•          Microwave
•        Crockeries

 They have a 24x7 coffee counter, where the coffee is always brewed and it is available in the lobby next to the reception. I loved the small flavored milk sachets placed there - it made the coffee all the more flavorsome.

They have in house market too for buying quick snack items. They facilitate with the free grocery service -  where they take the request for buying grocery items and it gets delivered by the evening.  

Recently they have started the facility to be able to order food from your room itself from the nearby local restaurants. Yeah, there are loads of options for dining nearby and there is the market place close by for your shopping needs.

They serve a full complimentary American breakfast with a wide range of dishes.Evenings are gathering days, where they arrange few snacks and people socialize(Monday to Thursday only).

You will definitely spend a relaxing and pleasant time during your stay here. It gets really beautiful during the winters - the snow all over, panaromic!

The staff is very courteous, welcoming and makes you feel home. 

Few pictures:

Cheers to life!!

~Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! :)

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me. :)

Food anatomization : Espresso Royale, Neil St - Champaign

This coffee house just opposite my hotel Homewood Suites is a bliss.

Digging into the history - the Espresso Royale has been drawn to include the main product with the name and from a cool restaurant in Berkeley called Cafe Royale that housed a toaster museum.
The first of it came out in 1987.

A classic coffee house with the vintage design will make you feel cozy and with the fireplace right at the center which is an added attraction. I loved the stone structured wall around the fireplace.This was my to be place with my mug of HOT CHOCOLATE and of course the good company of my friends and some hot sizzling gossip!:P The heat from the fire place and the sip of the hot chocolate made me relish the warmth....huhhhuhu...!!
The HOT CHOCOLATE was just about good as it had a differently distinctive taste.

They have a display of their coffee products by the fireplace.
Quite some snacks put up by the counter - like cookies, cupcakes and sandwiches. They had the interesting offers of the day chalked out on the black boards in colorful chalks - eye catchy.
They have lot of options to offer from the chai, latte , hot chocolates , mocha,cappucino and many more.

The place is spread out - with specially crafted wooden table chair seating and the sofa lounge seating by the fireplace.

The place was quite crowded during the evening - each one relishing their drink and spending a chilled time.

The staff is very friendly and serve you well.

Few pictures from the visit:

Hot chocolate

~Bon Appétit!!

P.S All the pictures have been taken by me. J

Food anatomization : Panda express, Market place - Champaign

One of the good places in Champaign to enjoy Chinese food.

It is located in the Market Place food court - you will find a range of joints here. Panda Express has typically been my go to place for grabbing quick Chinese food.

You can choose from your option of noodles or fried rice and 2 entrees along.
I chose for the CHOWMEIN - stir fried crispy noodles mixed with onions, celery and cabbage, which were a delight when added with a dose of ketchup.
From the entrees I opted for the the KUNG PAU CHICKEN and the ORANGE CHICKEN.
The orange chicken was a big mistake - not because it was not good, just that the chicken was based in sweet-spicy sauce - and obviously that did not go quite well with me. Can't imagine any kind of sweetness in chicken.
The kung pao chicken on the other hand was delicious - Szechwan inspired dish assorted with perfectly cooked chicken pieces and loads of avocado, green and red bell peppers, peanuts, chilies.Perfect! The dish had tad bit gravy.
Do make sure to combine the dish with a glass of coke.
To end your meal you get a fortune cookie, traditional Chinese way - it is fun to read the one liners inserted into the cookie plus the cookie chunks are not that bad at all, a different kind altogether. ❤😊

Few pictures from the visit:

~Bon Appétit!!

P.S All the pictures have been taken by me. J

Wanderlust Tales : Mattis Park, Champaign

Mattis Park - the beautiful park overlooking from the Amdocs Office. It spans over almost 24 acres and the land has been donated by Mrs.H.I.Cone and Mrs.Alan McDonald.

Coming to office is a delight with a view of the lush greenery and the divine fall colors to look around to.The park is spread across wide open spaces - it can be comfortably used for picnic or as a children's play area too.

The small pond in the center of the park is an added attraction, and apparently fishing is allowed in the pond.
The park is facilitated with a walking trail for the joggers, cycle-rs or walkers passing by.
There are plentiful of benches and shelters in the park for one to relax and sink in the view.
The lovely fall colors on the trees are the one that draw all the attention, it just wants you to just adorn them. There is something about these fall colors, just can't have enough of them.

And what better place to gasp some fresh air post the hectic work at office.

Few pictures from the visit:

Cheers to life!!

~Journey  of a thousand miles begins with a single step! :)

P.S All the photos have been taken by me. :)