The Sheraton Annapolis Hotel

And so 2007 comes to a close, not with a bang but with a whimper. (I don't believe T.S. Eliot could've imagined a line of his poetry winding up in a blog about hotel hallways, do you?) The Sheraton Annapolis is a completely generic hotel, in a generic outskirt, next to a generic mall, with generic chain restaurants. That can be good, I know, (the best surprise is no surprise, blah blah blah) but it some way it's kind of depressing. No charm, no wit, no individuality. I actually prefer a little weirdness, like the Claremont's landing strip-width halls, or the 70 Park Avenue's out-of-nowhere stairs. This is pure blah...except for the following: One: The Hound's Tooth of the Baskervilles-sized carpet "design".



Don't believe me? Check out the close-up view.



That's not hound's tooth. It's hound's fang.

Two: The odd dust heap on the floor of the elevator...which wouldn't have been worth noting, except for its repeat performance on the landing of the second floor:




Three: The oxymoronic sign on the fire exit door.



Four: Some life-sized Nutcracker guys enlivening the lobby. They were pretty creepy, actually. Here's a legit question: Does anyone really like the Nutcracker? Or is just something you're supposed to like? Do you go see it because it's the thing you have to take your kids to see, or they'll be uncultured? My own belief is that it's very difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when confronted by a set of malformed choppers like these.



Five: False promises. The sign in the hall promises Vending and Ice, so I got all excited.



Closer inspection revealed, however, the reality was actually Plumbing and Ice.



Oh, by the way, just so you know that you're near the Chesapeake Bay, instead of say, Omaha, there are nautical photos in the rooms and the hotel's restaurant is called the Annapolis Grill.