I was watching The Spoony Experiment guy's Ultima 2 video And someone named SpleetlePhil mentioned in the comments section that if you offer the clerk at the Hotel California 0 gold (by hitting 0 when it asks how much) he boosts all your stats to 99. So, that will cut down on a lot of the grinding.

I just checked this against the Apple II version I have and it didn't work. I can't test it with the one here on GOG without creating a new character, since my current savegame seems to have developed a glitch where the Time Doors refuse to appear no matter how long I wait, and I'm stranded in 1423 BC without them.

EDIT: I just started a new game and was able to get to the clerk. It does work as advertised, but he only raises one stat at a time to 99. You have to make the offer to him a total of six times, pressing space to pass one turn after each successful raise (if he just says "Thank you very much" it doesn't count and you can try again until you hear "Alakazam"), in order to raise all six stats to 99. And once you do, never offer money to this clerk again or the stats will roll over.

Thanks, Action Carl. There is indeed a "bug" in the PC version that allows you to do this. Talk to the clerk and offer him ) and he either says "thanks" or says "Alakazam". When he says "Alakazam" one of your stats goes up to 99. You will become a demigod. The only fear there is is if the stats roll over back to 0, but if you patch the game, this will not happen.