The fam was here ...

and now they're gone.

Here's one photo to prove they are not made up. I'm looking for more to put on Flickr. Apparently all the "good" photos are on Brad's camera and have yet to be downloaded. Stay tuned.

The economy is to blame
The family's Christmas present was supposed to be 2 nights in an oceanfront room at the condo resort that they stayed at during their first island visit. When we tried to check in, it went terribly wrong. We were given a room looking out over the street. How was the family supposed to sit on the lanai and watch whales? I complained. The resort guy refused to bend, claiming that the resort was 100 percent full (which I found interesting, considering islandwide occupancy is around 70 percent). I got a refund. We left. Can't see whales from our place either (nor do we have a lanai and the coffee is hidden in the freezer) but at least it is already paid for.
At the family's urging, I sent a complaint to the resort's parent company's customer service. Today, I got a response:

"I can tell you that in the case of your reservation it was not a matter of giving your room away or anything of that nature. The hotel has indeed been completely full now from the middle of January thru the beginning of March.

One reason for that is we've lost some units recently, after your reservations were made, due to the economy. They have been foreclosed on and we can no longer rent them. Obviously, these issues are not a concern of yours as it relates to us honoring your reservation but I just wanted you to know that this is why we were short ocean front units."

Am I reading that right? Are they saying that many of the oceanfront units aren't available ever? Then they shouldn't be offered as an option.
And of course the hotel is completely full — one-fourth of the resort can't be rented out.

The e-mail continued, saying that my nightly rate had been dropped $17. But a complete deposit had been paid 4 months earlier. And they didn't tell me at check-in that it had been lowered, so what was the point?

Oh well. The family got no Christmas present this year. Sorry, fam. Nobody except me seemed too upset about the whole ordeal. They still got to spend a week with me and Brad ... who could ask for a better present?