Hotel Monaco belongs to chain of boutique hotels operated by Kimpton hotel group. The hotels are distinctive in their look and feel. The theme for Hotel Monaco is good old days, when people travelled on ships and horses.

The room was compact, but not too small. The bed itself was quite a sight, looking like a bed of dreams of all small princesses, with curtains and everything. The washroom was stocked with all relevant amenities, and the hotel promises to provide more, if required.

The location on Geary street is quite central, a few blocks from Union Square. There are a selection of good and inexpensive restaurants nearby. However, the street deteriorates fast when you walk away from the square towards Tenderloin area.

www.monaco-sf.com, 501 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA, USA, +1 415 292 0100

I just added the hundreth review for the United States of America — and there is more to come during the following weeks, as I’m still emptying my backlog of heavy travelling on the last summer.

After the USA, Finland will be the next country that will hit the one hundred marker, and that should happen quite soon after I’ve finished updating all US reviews. There is still twenty or so to go from San Francisco, so Finnish backlog will be emptied during October.

The huge pile of reviews have been also a good thing, as I haven’t been travelling at all in September — or I visited Oulu and Turku briefly, but those trips were not worth of many reviews, as I didn’t have time to visit any interesting place except the hotel in Oulu.

I should spend one week in Grenoble in October, and hopefully I’ll have some time to tour the city.

Hotel Palomar is a largish Kimpton boutique hotel located at the corner of Market Street and 4th Street — in other words, just in the middle of everything in San Francisco.

The rooms are decorated with good quality materials and the colour scheme is subdued and relaxed. The big bed is really comfortable, and the bedclothes are excellent — not the usual crap of US hotels. The hotel is also very quiet, but I had a room facing the inner yard; the rooms facing Market Street might be noisier.

Service at the front desk is swift, but not very thorough. They managed not to join two consecutive reservations to one — I told about it only twice… Well, the situation was corrected pretty fast.

www.hotelpalomar.com, 12 4th Street (at the corner of Market Street and 4th Street), San Francisco, CA, USA, +1 415 348 1111

If you are searching for bags, head towards Bree shop on Kurfürstendamm and chances are quite good that you would find something.

The selection is mostly feminine, as usual with bags and other accessories. Bree has also a small travel series that is unisex.

You can find both cheery, juvenile bags as well as very business oriented briefcases on the shelves. The materials vary from the normal leather to ballistic nylon, depending on the intended usage of the bag.

www.bree.com, Kurfürstendamm 44, (U-Bahn: Kurfürstendamm), Berlin, Germany, +49 30 883 7462

Swiss and fashion usually do not belong to the same sentence, but Bally is an exception to the rule. The sleek and minimal designs are typical for this brand that does not make too much noise of itself. It is enough, when the wearer knows what he or she is wearing.

Bally’s flagship store is located, among other fashion boutiques, on the busy shopping street Kurfürstendamm. The store follows Bally’s new concept for the flagship stores, a lot of streamlined space with light materials with some brown to add warmth.

The store stocks both gentlemen’s and ladies’ fashions, including shoes, bags and other accessories. The price may be steep, but the quality and the design are excellent, too.

www.bally.com, Kurfürstendamm 219 (U-Bahn: Kurfürstendamm), Berlin, Germany, +49 30 8870 7688

Aapo’s first cousin was born on Thursday this week in Turku, and we went to see him on Saturday evening. The hospital is located — conveniently for us — just next to the highway from Helsinki. The huge monolith of a building seems to take care of all the health related tasks in the Turku region.

But getting to the point; the exhausted but happy family of three was waiting for us on the seventh floor, accompanied by a couple other visitors.

The birthday boy was securely curled in his mother’s nest and he slept soundly throughout the whole hour that we were allowed to be in the hospital. Towards the end he showed some other aspects to his character by screaming a little — and most probably the hell was out loose when the visitors left the building… These babies know how to look so innocent when somebody stranger is watching and then when they are alone with their mother, they’ll show their real emotions.

The newcomer looked so much smaller than Aapo, who is a tubby boy — weighting almost nine kilos. They are only a bit less than five months apart, so probably Aapo will be caught up in a year or two. And then they will be equals in the art of fighting… Fortunately, it will take a few years for them to get there.

Görtz is a huge shoeshop located in the busy shopping district near KaDeWe. There are three floors, all filled full with shoes and boots. The store has also accessories.

First floor, as usual, is devoted for ladies and accessories. Children shoes are located at the basement and the men shoes at the upstairs. The variety of shoes is ashtounding. The brands include, among others, DKNY, Boss, Timberland, Geox, and Lloyd. All price categories, except luxury shoes, are covered well. Especially the sheer amount of children shoes makes this places worth a visit for families.

www.goertz-shop.de, Kurfürstendamm 13/14, Berlin, Germany, +49 30 8868 3752

The Italian fashion brand Diesel has established outlets to all major cities, and Berlin is not an exception. Located in the prime shopping area on Kurfürstendamm and near KaDeWe, the Berlin Diesel store is a good resource for people hunting for trendy, yet inexpensive clothes.

As most readers know what kind of stuff is sold under the brand, I do not dwelve into details. The store itself is medium sized and has a good variety of garments, shoes and accessories for both sexes. The ladies section is slightly bigger, as usual. You just cannot have too much of variety within shirts, slacks and jackets…

www.diesel.com, Kurfürstendamm 17, Berlin, Germany, +49 30 8855 1453