I HEART Define: Bellaire!!

After only one visit, I knew this was where I wanted to advance my physical fitness! I have been 5 times now, and I have tried the Bounce, Barre and Rev classes. They are all so challenging but in an awesome way. Every time I leave a class, I am drenched in sweat and I have that "runner's high." The instructors are all so good, and they each have their own style so you are challenged in that way too.

Everything in the studio is so beautiful, and thought-out. They leave fresh fruit out for you to take before or after your workout, as well as a variety of teas to try. The bathroom has showers, with all of the amenities you would need to get ready, including hair dryers! There are lockers to put all your belongings, and you can refill your water bottle at their filling station.

The staff is beyond impressive here. Everyone says hello, asks how you are, and they are completely open to helping you with anything you might need. I had not taken a cycling class 15 years prior to coming to DEFINE, and things have changed a lot! The owner, Debra, personally helped me figure out all the elements I needed to have a good cycling experience.

I feel like I've found a gem with this studio...beautiful space, awesome community, and I feel so welcome and valued.

We had an overall very good experience with ABC Movers. Victor was our lead and later DJ came to relieve him because Victor had made evening plans. We were a bit surprised when they showed up with the moving truck...it was actually a U-Haul and not an ABC Movers truck. It seemed a bit small, even though that is the largest U-Haul truck you can rent. We expected to see a much larger truck outside but we were reassured the ABC trucks weren't any larger. There wasn't a really good explanation as to why we were using a U-Haul instead. Because of the size of the truck and the amount of things we had to move, they actually had to make two trips back and forth, which obviously adds on time and effort. Our move took a total of 12 hours (when the estimate was 5-7 hours), and we were surprised by that too. Everyone worked their butts off and were as efficient as possible. We also had 4 movers so maybe it was just a matter of us having too much stuff, but we figured it would take a lot less time than 12 hours. A few other negatives were that one of our mezzuzahs hanging on our bedroom doorway (a wedding keepsake that can't be replaced) was broken; we found a few nicks in some of our bedroom furniture (wood); there were dirty handprints on our white upholstered headboard of our bed; and lots of mud and dirt was tracked through our new house (including our carpet). Granted, it was a rainy evening but they could have been more careful.

On the positive end, the crew really worked hard, protected our furniture wrapping every piece and tried to be as careful as possible with anything fragile. They hardly took any breaks if any at all and worked together really well. They seemed to be very respectful and professional. It was a tough job to move our house with many large, heavy objects and they took things apart and put them back together with confidence and ease. I think we would use them again because overall, we were very impressed with the service and their professionalism. The leads, Victor and DJ, were really great in their roles and we appreciated their leadership and communication.

We have used the services of this company twice now; first for our honeymoon to Tahiti, and just recently for our "baby moon" to Hawaii. Rosie Goldberger is the owner and is just as sweet and knowledgeable as can be. My only criticism is that she's not always easy to get a hold of. However, she has other great employees such as Kym who can help you in the meantime.

As far as the trips, my husband and I have saved thousands of dollars by utilizing the "ins" and "hook-ups" travel agents such as Rosie has with certain hotels and airlines. We know that if we had tried to book Tahiti on our own, we would not have been able to afford that trip. Rosie guided us with hotels and resorts within our budget she knew we would be satisfied with, while at the same time saving money and taking advantage of the limited time specials only travel agencies tend to be savvy about. She was also able to get us rooms with great ocean views in each destination. If we had booked on our own, the views were never guaranteed, or the prices were exorbitant.

Rosie had a great feel for what we were looking for on each trip and catered to our needs easily. She made sure it was luxurious enough to feel like we were truly vacationing but she was also honest about what to avoid and what aspects were unnecessary and "money traps." She made a point to call several times to make sure we received our documents as well a friendly follow-up call once the trip was over to hear about our experience. I also receive emails that wish us a "bon voyage" as well as birthday greetings each year. Seavents really knows how to take care of its clients, which is refreshing in this day and age when so many things are taken care of through computers and machines.

It seems the agency can help you with any destination you have in mind, or if you don't have one definite one, they can help you decide on one you are bound to be happy with. We will definitely be using them again in the future.

The only redeeming quality to this place was the free breakfast included at the Union Diner a few blocks down. Everything else was horrendous.

The room was more like a "box" with hardly any light. At first, the one light in the room would not turn on, but with just the right finess, the switch would decide to work for you. The sink in the bathroom was coming off of the wall and wobbled every time we put any pressure on it. The one glass shelf in the shower was broken, which is not only a safety hazard given the tiny shower space, but all the things you put on top of it fell off multiple times. After complaining about the broken things, nothing was done to repair them.

The first morning after waking up, we had no hot water so I couldn't take a shower. It took them all day to get that working again. Also, the maids just decided to skip our room that day on their cleaning route...after specifically requesting that they DO clean it. Seriously?

Also, I know the owners are European, but no facial tissue?? I mean, it's freaking freezing outside and your nose is going to run. The toilet paper is so rough that I would never use that crap on my nose. Thankfully, I brought some extra packs of tissues. But seriously...where are the hotel's priorities? They would rather put a fancy light fixture in the bathroom that most people probably don't even notice rather than provide a $2 box of tissues in the room. Talk about stupidity.

The interior design is trying to go for modern, simplistic but really it's just dark and scary with absolutely no warmth or much light for that matter.

We won't be staying here again.