Full confession: I completely blew my budget for this Davis Cup trip. Since Hotwire was so great for a cheap flight ($225 round trip from LA), I decided to be greedy and do one of those bookings of a cheap hotel which gets revealed only after you have purchased it. I tried to narrow down the area as best I could and focused on getting a 3 stars property, but once I made the purchase, the hotel was clearly 2 stars.
Of course I started freaking out and began to imagine myself in a hotel on some lonely stretch of road in Alabama. I tried to stop panicking and put it out of my mind, but I couldn’t. Everyday, I’d check reviews of the hotel only to discover some fresh new nightmare review. Finally, I sucked it up and went on Orbitz and booked a new reservation at another hotel. This time one that was guaranteed 4 stars. They booked me into the Wynfrey Hotel for 4 nights at a steal but way above my budget, considering I’d already paid for the hidden hotel. Nevertheless, I was able to sleep better for the next month until my trip.
I booked the hotel on February 12th and Federer announced he wasn’t playing Davis Cup 5 days later! I thought about canceling but decided to head out on my first tennis tournament adventure.
After 2 1/2 months of waiting, I’m finally in Birmingham, AL to see the Swiss vs USA. Things got off to a great start as I saw Stan’s coach, Dimitri Zavialoff, waiting for his hotel shuttle at the airport. Seriously, the organizers couldn’t spring for a drive for him?
The Wynfrey Hotel turned to be fantastic and best of all? There is shuttle service to the Birmingham convention center for the tennis. It’s not free but it’s convenient and easy. The hotel is adjacent to the mall which means that I can do some shopping when I’m not at the tennis. I’d love to say that I’m going to do major exploring of the area but this part of Birmingham is like any other strip mall and I don’t see that happening.