It’s a scary time of year. Halloween is coming. The days are getting darker sooner. Winds are blowing. And tonight is the third and final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Now matter how big and brave you are the rest of the year, no one is going to fault you for being a bit jumpy right now.
So if you happen to be in a hotel tonight, do yourself a favor: don’t watch the debate alone in your hotel room.
Go to the bar. Or the lounge restaurant at your hotel where they’ve got TVs set up so you’ll watch in the safety of numbers.
I did that for the first debate, when I was staying at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport hotel.
Located a short ride from SFO airport and on San Francisco Bay, this business-oriented hotel recently underwent a major update and has a new restaurant and bar, called 3SIXTY, that has a menu featuring local purveyors such as Cowgirl Creamery, Hog Island Anchor Steam, and a nice selection of healthy entrees, small and large.
To remind guests they are still near SFO, the cocktail menu has airport-inspired drinks with names such asDelayed Connecction, Aviation Martini and Turbulence.
I wanted to have dinner and watch the debate so went to the bar. TVs over the bar were tuned to both the debate AND a football game. Captioning was on, but there was no sound.
Luckily I learned that this Hyatt offers audio for the TVs via an app called “WAD.”
All I had to do was download the app, pick which audio signal I wanted to tune to on the Hyatt TV offerings and listen with the earbuds provided by the restaurant.
This app is used in sports bars and other places where some people may want to watch and listen to news, other to sports and still others -sigh – to presidential debates sure to cause indigestion.
Offering the app – and complimentary earbuds – in their restaurant/bar was one great touch I appreciated at the business-oriented Hyatt Regency San Francisco.
Another nice touch: when I first arrived, the check-in line was bogged down by a guest trying to work out a billing issue with the front desk. Management noticed, called out back-up desk clerks and then went down the line of people waiting to check in offering bottles of cold water and a some welcoming chit chat.
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