Car Rental Agency From Hell

Above, the car rental agency office from hell. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If one should ever visit Houston, Texas and are in need of a rental car, one place they should never use is York Car Rental.

They are not included in the regular car rental companies that have bus service at the George Bush International Airport. They have their own shuttle van that is black.

After waiting a considerable amount of time for the van, we were taken to their business that is several miles from the airport. Upon arrival, customers have to wait in line as they have only three booths for arranging for a rental. One does not talk to a live person, but to someone in a television monitor. Frankly, I think their whole business model is a scam to force people to take their insurance.

Here's what I posted at Yelp (be sure to read all of the posted reviews):

Horrible business. They try to gouge people to take their insurance if you don't have your car insurance declaration page. Who keep their policy declaration pages with them? Their cars in shoddy condition. One tire had a cut in the sidewall an another tire had a bubble/blister forming. 

We ended up canceling and headed to a name-brand car rental agency at the airport with Uber. 

Besides the above, the representatives are unprofessional and are televised from some unknown location. Also, they are so bad that most from our van group ended up going ballistic on them and walking out. The average time people are in the booths were around an hour. 

Posted by Brian D. at Yelp:

This is an absolutely terrible business model for an airport rental car company. The amount of time it takes for someone to get a rental car at this location exceeds an hour. It is worth it to pay the extra price for an Avis or Hertz or some kind of a reputable car company rather than deal with the object incompetence of this system. The people may be very nice, but when it takes this long to rent a car the weight is not worth the decrease in price. They lure you in with a cheap price and then double the price of the car rental insisting you take their insurance. This is a bait and switch scam that the FBI and local law-enforcement should look into.

Customers are made to jump through so many hoops that it is a wonder that they didn't ask for a pint of blood to get a car. Maybe I shouldn't give them any ideas.  

Indian Ruins Indian Store

Above, the Indian Ruins Indian store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While en route from Arizona yesterday, I stopped at the Indian Ruins gift store in Sanders, New Mexico off Interstate 40.

I was wondering if there were any Indian ruins to see, but I saw none (maybe they have them hidden somewhere). In any case, I did some browsing around the store. 

I saw some things made in Indonesia. If I were a smart-ass, I would have asked, "What tribe is in Indonesia?" But since discretion is the better part of valor, I didn't,

There were many items on display such as pottery, jewelry, Navajo rugs, moccasins, handmade items from Native American artisans and many other things. 

I have passed by the store many times but this was the first time I stopped in. The pandemic of the last two years was the primary reason. I purchased a couple of things while there. 

To access the Yelp reviews page, go here.

Best Mexican Restaurants In Every State

Above, a plate of enchiladas at Genaro's, my favorite restaurant in Gallup, New Mexico. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Here's one for you foodies!

Just before the most recent lockdown was ordered by New Mexico's governor, Russell Azbill (one of the Jamestown, New Mexico gang) and I headed over to the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup to get some Mexican food.

Going out to eat is something everyone enjoys doing and it is a crime for politicians to single out restaurants of any cuisine for some of the most stringent lockdowns. Many have gone out of business as a result.

New Mexico is the "Chile Capital of the World" and there's plenty of Mexican restaurants in the state. The chile rellenos are fabulous here, as are the enchiladas. So far, my favorite Mexican eateries in Gallup, New Mexico are Genaro's, Don Diego's Restaurant & Lounge, Virgie's, The Restaurant at the El Rancho Hotel, Earl's Family Restaurant and Cocina De Dominguez. 

So, while we're waiting to be able to go out and dine again, I thought I would provide some information on the best Mexican restaurants in every state. These are based on Yelp scores.  

These are provided by the fine folks at 24/7 Wall St.

Some pertinent snippets:

The food Americans have missed the most during long months of not dining out — and most look forward to eating again when restaurant-going gets back to normal — is Mexican, according to figures compiled by DoorDash, the nation’s largest food delivery service.

In addition, says the company, three Mexican-style dishes were among the 10 most often ordered items for home delivery in the first six months of this year — breakfast burritos, spicy shrimp tacos, and chicken fajitas.

If any further proof is needed that we love Mexican food in this country, Mexico came in second only to Italy as the country with the best food overall, according to Ranker readers responding to a survey the site conducted last year. And Mexican is the second most popular “ethnic” cuisine in the United States after Chinese — and the number-one favorite in some 27 states — according to an analysis of Google searches for various cuisines conducted by the website Chef’s Pencil.

Of course “Mexican” can mean different things to different people: sea urchin tostadas with bone marrow salsa at Cosme in Manhattan; black mole enchiladas with chorizo at Guelaguetza in Los Angeles; a five-item combination plate at the nationwide Chevy’s Fresh Mex chain; even a keto salad bowl with adobo chicken at the ubiquitous Chipotle or a never-in-Mexico creation like a Quesarito or a Crunchwrap Supreme at the local Taco Bell. (These are the top 15 Mexican chains in America.)

In this listing of the best Mexican restaurant in every state based on Yelp scores, 24/7 Tempo has included establishments of every type — elegant contemporary restaurants, family-style neighborhood places, bare-bones counter-service establishments. Some specialize in the cuisines of specific regions of Mexico. Some offer the standard fare we’ve come to expect, but done particularly well. Some take the Mexican flavor palate as an inspiration and invent dishes of their own. 

These restaurants range from the casual to the sophisticated, the Americanized to the authentic, but every one is a place you’ll want to try.

To see what are the best Mexican restaurants in every state, go here. 

20% of Hotel Reviews At Trip Advisor Are "Suspicious"

Above, one of my reviews at TripAdvisor is of The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Have you ever wondered about whether those online "reviews" posted at such places as Yelp and others are real or posted by shills for those places?

I have seen some reviews of restaurants and other places and found that a number of "reviews" are indeed fake or very misleading.

Japan Today has posted an article on a study of hotel reviews posted at TripAdvisor and found quite a number of them to be suspicious.

They wrote:

HONG KONG —Around 20% of online hotel customer reviews may be unreliable or fake, according to Dr Markus Schuckert and Professor Rob Law of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a co-researcher. 

After examining more than 40,000 TripAdvisor reviews of all star-rated hotels in Hong Kong in a recently published study, they warn that the high proportion of suspicious reviews should ring an “alarm bell” for customers. 

Although these reviews are not necessarily fake, they can be misleading and waste customers’ decision-making time. Given that many customers depend on online hotel reviews to make their purchasing decisions, the problem has serious implications for the hotel sector. 

E-commerce platforms have become so popular that online sales of travel products, particularly by hotels and airlines, have become the “biggest part of their business”, write the researchers. 

One reason for this rising popularity is the availability of online reviews and feedback posted by customers, which help potential customers to make informed decisions. From the service provider’s perspective, online reviews provide “fast, instant and easily accessible customer feedback”, and good reviews can increase their revenue.

I have posted reviews at TripAdvisor (The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan is listed at TripAdvisor) on restaurants, attractions and hotels and I try to be as accurate and fair as possible. I have also posted reviews of RV parks and campgrounds at RV Park Reviews.

To read more, go here.