Review: Hampton Inn Saint John

I spent a week on business in New Brunswick so I made sure to take in some local treats and enjoy my time there.

I stayed at the Hampton Inn Hotel as it was by far the closest option to my office but certainly should not have been a criteria now that I've stayed there....

Where do I begin about my stay... Well I'm pretty easy to satisfy I don't need much just working internet and a nice work space....

After checking in I attempted to connect to the wifi to decide where to stop for supper... It was unsuccessful. The staff at the front desk were able to connect me with a staff promo code but it was quite inconvenient.

My room you'd swear was next to the boiler room, it was unbearable (made me feel like I was on a tropical vacation at least). I tinkered with the fan and was able to get the room to a manageable temperature but man... That fan was not quiet. Every few hours it would make this sound like it was trying to take off. Not great for sleeping. I learned quickly to freeze the room (poor housekeepers) during the day so I could turn off the fan at night and still sleep comfortably.

There was obvious electrical issues in this place. Two of the outlets in my room shorted out during my stay. One was where the coffee maker was plugged in, that was fine but the other one was the one the tv, cable box and desk lamp were plugged into... And with the arrangement there was no possibility to move anything. I took the time to advise the front desk, I was told it would be looked into however I never heard from anyone and I just went without TV for the last 2 nights of my stay. I would have kept calling but just judging on how many times I had to call for someone to pick up it was obvious that the staff is over worked...

Since no one came out to check out my issues I left passive aggressive sticky notes on the outlets and the appliances that were affected.

Since the desk was .virtually useless after the outlet shorted out I moved my work station to a little table by the couch, turned on the ole' plex and made the best of it by taking blog notes on a post it note while I sat on the couch... The couch was incredibly uncomfortable so I eventually gave up and just sat up in the bed.

There is no restaurant in this hotel so they ship in their complimentary hot breakfast... It was interesting to say the least, eggs were sad looking yellow puddles. By the end of it I couldn't stand them anymore and switched to McDonalds for all my breakfast needs.

As I'm sure you've figured out by now the stay was less than pleasant, I would have changed hotels but it got to a point where I just wanted to see how much could possibly go south. Sad I didn't check out the pool (aunt flo decided to come with me on the trip) but my boss told me some great stories about the cleanliness of the pool in the past.

I will end off by saying that the staff interactions were always positive, everyone who worked there was very nice just sadly over worked I believe. I took advantage of the mail slot which was great not to wander around a city I didn't know well looking for a post office and the location was perfect. I didn't use my car once after I arrived, everything was a 10-20 minute walk away.

Will I be back to Saint John? Absolutely. Will I stay at the Hampton Inn again? Probably not...

Review: Dandruff Shampoo

The winter comes with many challenges from digging yourself out of your driveway and not over eating during the holidays. One thing that gets me every year is the itchy and annoying dandruff plaguing my scalp! Thankfully there are many products on the market available to combat this so I decided to try them all out (when my head was particularly bad) to see which one is the most effective.

Now considering that the combination will certainly eliminate the dandruff without directly knowing who was the successful bottle, we will assume that all 3 products will eliminate dandruff equally and instead focus on the other benefits of each. Such as:

Ease of lathering

Ease of brushing after the wash

Weight of hair from the product

Feel of hair from the product

The three contestants are Head and Shoulders, Selsun Blue, and a generic anti-dandruff shampoo.

They all vary is price and weight. (All prices in Canadian dollars) The most expensive being Selsun Blue 300ml for $13.99, next is Head and Shoulders 400ml for $8.99, and no surprise the generic brand was the most affordable 700ml for $8.99.

I decided to start with the most expensive bottle and move down. The Selsun blue has a lovely orange tone to it's shampoo. The lathering was a little rough at the beginning as my hair was in rough shape but once a rinse and repeat occurred it was much smoother. Unfortunately the ease didn't last, I found that my hair became very grainy and coarse from this wash, it was also very difficult to put  brush through it after the wash, I had to put another product in it to help smooth it out... After it dried my hair came back to life and is nice and soft. Took us on a journey to get here though so I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this one so far.

Within a day I realized Selsun Blue's angle is essentially just to dry out your scalp, it was stiff and dry for the day after washing my hair with this product. Not happy with this outcome at all.

Second up with your classic Head and Shoulders, I had ease of lather but sadly still some trouble brushing out my hair (although at this point I think it's me not the shampoos...) Head and shoulders made my hair feel soft and light which I really appreciated but surprisingly my dandruff managed to come back?? I suspect it was the contrast of shampoos on my head though. Going from one that dries out your scalp to one that moisturizes it.

Lastly I tried the generic brand and I have to say this one was my favorite. It lathers up nice, smooths out my hair and eliminated the pesky dandruff without completely drying out my scalp. It keeps my hair feeling light and fluffy! It also helps that it is the most economical of the choices.

The verdict: Scrap the expensive name brands and go for what works. Your generic brand dandruff shampoo will do the trick.

I wanted to share my experience here, I also submitted small reviews in Influenster.com this is a great place to share your experience with products (and every once in awhile they have campaigns for free products!!) Click Here if you'd like to have the inside look of new products and have the opportunity to get free samples.