Jennifer "Jenn-Ex" M.'s Profile

I had a great experience here and will definitely be back. I have had some lackluster experiences lately and decided to try something new. The atmosphere is nothing special, the only reason they got 4 stars instead of 5- it is your run of the mill nail salon, but my nail tools were taken out of an autoclave in plain view- big points for that. The service was friendly and the prices are very fair- I was excited to try shellac on my nails for the first time and was very pleased with both the polish job on my toesies and the shellac on my fingers. Twan did an incredible job- I can't remember a time in the past when my mani/pedi was treated like anything other than a rush job to get me out the door and the next person in my chair. Twan took the time to do a quality job and it shows. I definitely recommend Paradise and will be back soon.

So. Very. Lame. I've been to Narcisse once before, an afternoon business meeting, and it was a passable experience. On Saturday night hubby and I went out with another couple and after this visit I was totally embarrassed to have suggested it.

Now, I want to completely acknowledge that this place is a shi-shi, higher priced, champagne bar in Scottsdale- we wanted to go someplace "on the nicer side" and knew that's what we were getting. But the pretentiousness and bullshit punched me in the face from the moment we walked in and didn't stop wailing on me until we finally asked for a check and left.

First, we asked the hostess for a table. We were informed over and over on the walk out to the patio how "LUCKY" we were to even be able to get a table because they get SO busy when they transition from restaurant to club on the weekends (there were "reserved" cards on many tables, but um yeah, the place was empty, this is not a "hot spot" so let's drop the "I'm doing you a huge favor by letting you sit next to the group of "Scottsdale-We're-Player-Bros-Wearing-Sunglasses-A t-Night-Because-It-Makes-Me-Feel-Like-Vince-From-E ntourage" guys on the patio while they blow smoke in our faces" act, ok?).

Here's where it got ridiculous- our server had a very high voice, very tight dress and was totally devoid of personality. My girlfriend ordered a $12 specialty drink from the menu and the server told her they didn't have that. My gf pointed it out and the server said "oh, ok, I'll ask the bartender". In the meantime, she left and came back with our three drinks, but nothing for my gf. I also asked for some waters. When she came back to take our food order, I pointed out that we didn't get our waters and my gf asked about her drink. She took the food order and came back with my gf's drink (which by the way, lucky for her, they do indeed offer as stated on the menu). After the food came, the guys ordered another round... we waited... waited... waited... Finally when she returned to "check on us" I cancelled the drinks and asked for the check because our friend decided to walk over to the bar and just order another round, which lucky for us, was faster than ordering from the server. No water, lucky for me I didn't get overhydrated. Really, we were so lucky that night. She should have tipped us 15% for sitting through it all.

The rest was comical- if you're idea of a trendy club is overpaying for everything only to be ignored by bimbos, leered at by bros, watching sad, drunk cougars lose the last of their dignity by embarrassing themselves in unflattering dresses and older couples making out on the patio, well, you're going to get really lucky.

DISGUSTING- This is hands down the worst hotel stay we have ever had. The hotel is older and I think remodeled, so it seems ok when you first get there. The desk staff was friendly, but we were shocked by what we found in our room the next morning.

The room was in decent shape but was in obvious need of maintenance- the bathroom faucet wasn't working properly, and the exhaust vent was broken so there was mildew on the ceiling.

The worst part was the next morning- our 4 year old and 7 month old baby were playing on the bed and pulled the sheets off the corner of the bed to reveal a HUGE RED stain- we can only assume that it was a blood stain (I will upload a photo when done with this review). That means that a "housekeeper" ignored the obvious stain and made the bed right over it!!!! It was horrifying, and they should be ashamed.

They gave us a full refund, but I really dont care about the money, I just keep thinking about how my husband and I slept all night on this dirty matress and that our children played on it.

DISGRACEFUL.

Mannn. This was a disappointment.

A couple weeks ago we used a Groupon- had a fantastic time. It wasn't very busy and we had attentive service. We sat at the bar, and the servers told us all about the wines we were selecting. We had the strawberries stuffed with mascarpone and balsamic reduction, the antipasto plate (cheese, meets, artichokes, pesto), and the caprese platter- the tomatoes were super fresh and the mozarella very tasty, it was all good.

So, a couple weeks later we made plans to meet friends there. The minute I walked in the door, I was greeted by a woman who curtly informed me that there was a 45 minute wait. That was it, it was like she told me to f*uck off and die. Not, "would you like to stand at the bar" or "sit in our empty patio and have a glass of wine while you wait"? If you tell me there is an almost hour long wait, please tell me nicely, and have an alternative if you expect me to stay or consider coming back.

After the fact I saw a notice on their site that they expected to be busy that night because the Groupon was expiring. Bummer that you were serving a bunch of half price customers and I was repeat business prepared to pay full price. I'm so disappointed, I was ready to put Su Vino on my regular rotation.

I'm officially a Drybar whore. I can't stay out of the place. I recently became the mayor on foursquare and was slightly horrified to realize it was the 3rd time I'd been there in a week lol Sure, sometimes they run a bit late or whatever, but overall I've had a consistently great experience.

I love the atmosphere, the drinks (mimosas if you like. me likey), the girly movies, its ALWAYS clean which is important to me and I have a favorite girl to go to (can't tell you who it is and have her get all booked up :)

I thoroughly enjoy popping in first thing in the morning and having fabulous salon-looking hair all day, its a treat and I love it! The women who work there are very friendly, I'm always in and out in an hour and they have my card on file- I just tell them to charge it, they email a receipt and I'm out the door. They are even super sweet and attentive when I occasionally have to bring my baby boy- that gets them extra bonus points.

love it! Drybar, I want to work there, I want to own one, I want to whisper sweet nothings in your ear. I feel like I'm cheating on my husband, good thing there is no receipt to bring home or he'd probably kill me lol

I'm surprised that I had a 3 star experience with so many raves w/ 5 stars on Yelp. Maybe they were having an off day- I see the potential, but had a mixed experience, so will try it again.

I needed to get some work done so I was seated on the patio next to an outlet (sidenote- probably not a suitable place if you want to work, the outlets didn't work and for me, was a wireless dead spot).

I got the huevos rancheros and sweet potato tots. The huevos rancheros were served with fried corn chips (narrow strips) instead of a tortilla (not described on the menu), that weren't really suitable for scooping or dipping the eggs and beans, and tasted so so. There was a cream sauce (the Anaheim Chili sauce? not sure) on the plate, and after cutting the eggs it turned into a somewhat unappetizing soupy mess. The weird thing is I hate black beans but their black beans were really really good- there's the potential :) The tots were ok- I want to mention that I could be totally wrong, but I'm guessing they get them frozen and fry them up. They tasted artificially sweet and were nothing special. They do have blackberry jasmine tea, a favorite though, so they score some points there.

My server was nice but seemed distracted. They had a lot of help there, but all around me servers were forgetting things, running around and generally seemed frazzled for some reason.

All in all, it didn't feel like a $16 breakfast experience. I think if they concentrated on the ingredients and more simple presentation it would be amazing. Again, maybe an off day, will try it again and see.

yay! my 100th review :) So glad its a 5 star.

Hubby surprised me with a night out- He heard from a little birdy (gf Heather) that I wanted to try Orange Sky. This experience is probably slightly biased in that I was completely smitten from being surprised with a nice dinner at a beautiful place... but here goes :)

The valet area at Talking Stick is nicely lit and busy, good energy there. When you go to the elevator lobby for the OS, there is a receptionist that checks your reservation before you go up to the 15th floor in a glass elevator- oh, the view. Just amazing. Its the kind of elevator that makes you want to hit the emergency button and make out, except that now I'm old enough to think 1) elevators are probably really germy places 2) there's probably a camera in that elevator (not my thing so much, but I'm not judging), and 3) what if there was a real emergency? what kind of jerk would I be? ok, I digress.

After checking in with the hostess we got drinks at the bar. Yes, I know, people complain about the drinks being too expensive, they're $10-$15. But the price is comparable to any other high end restaurant in the valley, and they're all alcohol. I'd rather pay top dollar for a stiff drink than have 3 watered down drinks. The Sunset Martini was soooo good.

We were shown to our table, a big booth facing the fireplace, perfect for a romantic dinner. The service was fantastic, really- its what Mastro's was back in the day. I had the artichoke bisque (a special for Restaurant Week but I didn't want the rest of the menu, so they accommodated me and let me get it anyway)- it was very tasty (the pancetta didn't hurt). Hubby had a beet salad that he enjoyed, and got the scallops which were cooked perfectly. I had the shrimp/scallop steaks wrapped in jalapeno bacon and they were as good as they sound. We also got the smoked cheddar whipped potatoes (this was the only so-so part of the meal, they were on the bland side) and the mushroom risotto which was really good. Risotto is one of those things thats either cooked right or not, and it was done really well.

I can't wait to go back, it was really enjoyable.

Found a great deal on a laptop online and had to pick it up at the store. Its called "pick up today"... except that there was a "delay", so I actually had to "pick it up in 2 days". Glad I saved that 1 day over it just being delivered to my door.

When I got the email that I could pick the laptop up, I was directed to the site to store department. I went back there and didn't see anyone. waited. no one. Then I noticed a little sign on the credit card key pad that said to touch the screen for assistance. I did. It beeped. Waited. no one.

I realized that I was near a back office and that a couple people were rushing back and forth through the door like I wasn't standing there wasting my time waiting for something I'd already paid for.

Finally a guy walked up and asked if I needed help and said he'd get someone. Waited. no one. I pressed the little screen 3 more times. Apparently pushing the screen many times doesn't send anyone any faster.

The guy came back and was about to help me (really, you could have just helped me and you walked off to find someone else?), and then another girl walked up and was cracking jokes with the guy. I wanted to tell her that I'd been waiting for 15 minutes by now, but what good would that do?

Gave her my ID and told her I needed to have some things rung up. She explained that she couldn't check me out but that photo next door could and that she'd bring me my stuff. So, I went and paid for my things. The girl wasn't there, so I walked back to the site to store area and there were 2 employees standing dead center in the way, talking, and didn't move. So, I pushed my cart, complete w/ baby around them and of course scraped the wall of the cart like a moron. The girl had left my ID out on the counter while she went in back to get my stuff, thanks for that.

When I was walking back to the entrance of the store, the same 2 employees were standing in the middle of the aisle still and weren't about to budge. As nicely as I could muster I said "excuse us!". argh.

As I left, the greeter guy said thanks and goodbye. As I walked out, the alarm at the doors went off, scaring the crap out of my baby. He said "I knew that would happen!". Really? And you didn't say anything to me? He asked to see my receipt for the laptop and I gave it to him. Then he asked for the receipt for the rest. He opened bags and went through each item. Yes, I stole that $3 frame, but paid for the $300 laptop.

I'd rather wait for something to be shipped than have to go back there.

#deskfail

Happy to find some desks for the office at a great price over last weekend. Asked if they had 4 more like the display, guy says yes, we pay and tell them we'll be back with a truck.

Went back to pick them up today and the guys says "oh, I told you they're different colors right?". Um, no, no you did not. And guess what, I don't care how great a deal it is, I don't want 4 desks that are different colors :p

I was in a rush one day and just wanted a manicure with a clear coat, so i stopped in. It did look clean. That's where the good stuff ends.

I sat with a nail tech that didn't speak to me at all during the time I was there, and the job she did was horrible. I was in a huge rush and didn't realize how bad it was until I got home. My cuticles were cut up all crazy like and the polish was crooked (partial coverage, no bueno). Won't be back, total waste of time and money.