On day 3 we woke up at about the same time as the previous day and headed to the club lounge for breakfast. Afterwards we split up again for the morning to do work/school work. We were quickly getting into a routine.
In the afternoon the boys enjoyed the pool until around dinner time. We visited the club lounge again and found enough options for my wife and Tomatico for dinner. There was a pasta dish of some sort he really liked! My youngest and I decided to go to Corkscrews to get our dinner.
Changes Begin
On day 4, things started to change. The hotel had notified us that the club lounge was being closed due to COVID concerns We weren’t all that surprised because in the news we had hearing about things starting to shut down. Things back home around Boston were even worse. The restrictions were tightening and restaurants were mostly closed. Many items in grocery stores were still hard to find including basics like meat and pasta.
The restaurant in the hotel was still open so they gave us a voucher to get breakfast there instead of in the lounge. That was fine for us and we continued our routine with the kid doing school in the morning and the pool in the afternoon.
Trying Delivery
For dinner that night, most restaurants in the area closed their dining rooms so rather than taking a Lyft having the destination be closed, we explored using DoorDash for delivery.
Some people use delivery all the time but it was a new experience for us. One of the new benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve cards my wife and I both have is a free DoorDash+ subscription. This eliminates some of the delivery fees for some restaurants.
We found two different places to order from since Tomatico wanted Mexican and my youngest and I didn’t. Ordering through the app was easy, though we ordered a lunch special at dinner time at the Mexican place. They called and updated the order for us.
Once ordered, we waited outside the hotel playing frisbee and passing the football near the hammocks while watching the status of the food deliveries in the app. They both ended up arriving about the same time and we ate on the hotel patio overlooking the fountains and sunset. It was peaceful and relaxing. We still have fond memories of our meals there. It didn’t hurt that the food from both places was excellent!
More Closures
By the 5th day the restaurant where we had eaten breakfast the previous day had closed. The hotel was apologetic about having to close it and did a great job pivoting to try to provide the best service they could during trying times. The alternative was getting breakfast at Cool Beans, which is a small cafe/market in the lobby that is quite popular with the kids because of all the candy they sell. They also sell sandwiches, muffins, croissants, and similar items. Fortunately it was able to stay open.
We also noticed there were a LOT fewer people in the hotel. It meant we got great service from the staff but it wasn’t a good thing for the hotel. It made it easy to stay distanced from other people, though!
We were having a great time at the hotel in our bubble and we were thankful for that, but certainly aware of what was happening in the “real world”.
Tomatico Travels 
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