[goodgrief]

There's a fried Korean flat fish that's really good. Also there's an Asian duck with a lot of bones in it, I think Chinese, that's really tasty. I agree that California fruit is often surprisingly commercial and bad, and they have all those huge watery tasteless fresh fruits in abundance at Commerce. (Sorry to those who like it, whose numbers are apparently legion.)

Yes, you have to file as a pro to deduct food/hotel expenses. However, if you rented an apartment or bought a house, you couldn't deduct the expenses at all, except for a dedicated home office area, pro or no pro. So that's another good argument for just staying at Commerce rather than buying or renting a condo. Taxes.

If you are a Priority Club member and stay there so many days in a year, then you are supposed to get suite upgrades at the Crowne Plazas and Intercontinentals that have them, but I haven't yet tried this at Commerce. I bet someone else has though. Keep it bumped and maybe they'll tell us what the suites are like. You don't have to get all your Priority Club points at Commerce of course. The poker rate defiitely qualifies for accumulating points, but boy it takes awhile to get enough for a free night compared to some programs. I am leaving the country soon and won't be able to get in enough points this year to find out for myself.