tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80747037363566833492024-03-14T02:36:24.904-04:00hotel hallwaysBefore you get to the room, you have to walk down the hallwaymisterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-69648820202229528332009-02-13T13:31:00.007-05:002009-02-13T14:04:36.746-05:00The ClaremontThe Claremont continues its streak of failing to recognize me. I imagine this must sound like I'm an egomaniac, but it just mystifies me that after 5 years of regular stays (at least 10 a year, I'd guess) they'd welcome me back as a loyal customer. But no.<br /><br />The Christmas decorations have been replaced by a piano that no appears to have been hired to play<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW-_q3kOUI/AAAAAAAABLo/RczdSs5GuqY/s1600-h/IMG_0213.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW-_q3kOUI/AAAAAAAABLo/RczdSs5GuqY/s400/IMG_0213.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302354137347012930" /></a><br /><br />Otherwise, all is as usual. (Read: a little weird).<br /><br />1) Someone or thing had a battle with with my curtains.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW_ks-7oPI/AAAAAAAABMA/dlcMYgM4J0w/s1600-h/IMG_0222.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW_ks-7oPI/AAAAAAAABMA/dlcMYgM4J0w/s400/IMG_0222.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302354773569937650" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW_knRiduI/AAAAAAAABL4/J-BvTBboIOg/s1600-h/IMG_0221.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW_knRiduI/AAAAAAAABL4/J-BvTBboIOg/s400/IMG_0221.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302354772037367522" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW_kaFywmI/AAAAAAAABLw/MsPcH3Ka_zA/s1600-h/IMG_0220.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZW_kaFywmI/AAAAAAAABLw/MsPcH3Ka_zA/s400/IMG_0220.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302354768498442850" /></a><br /><br /><br />2) There were a couple of misfitting grates placed on the bathroom window/skylights<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZXBCeDtRgI/AAAAAAAABMI/xy19w-RXOHE/s1600-h/IMG_0224.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZXBCeDtRgI/AAAAAAAABMI/xy19w-RXOHE/s400/IMG_0224.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302356384471139842" /></a><br /><br /><br />I was curious as to why they were there (when I checked in, it was dark), but daylight revealed their true purpose: The local pigeons have selected this particular portion of the roof to be their home at the hotel. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZXCKVpfhzI/AAAAAAAABMQ/vXtpstrvT6k/s1600-h/IMG_0223.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZXCKVpfhzI/AAAAAAAABMQ/vXtpstrvT6k/s400/IMG_0223.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302357619164284722" /></a><br /><br />I think the grates keep you from seeing too much pigeon effluvium on your sky light.<br /><br />One other peculiarity. The Claremont Hotel's background music was lifted from a CD assembled by Stephane Pompougnac for a tres groovy hotel in Paris. The disc is called "Etage 3" Hotel Costes. It's quite nice background music. (A little out of whack with the Claremont's decor, but what the heck.) Here's the disc<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZXDb6fC_QI/AAAAAAAABMY/_edaB2N0MJM/s1600-h/610A%2BRBLw1L._SL500_AA240_.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SZXDb6fC_QI/AAAAAAAABMY/_edaB2N0MJM/s400/610A%2BRBLw1L._SL500_AA240_.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302359020621987074" /></a><br /><br /><br />(The track that was playing was "A Reminiscent Drive" by Ambrosia.)misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-17901370685899005222009-01-15T10:40:00.009-05:002009-01-15T11:46:03.770-05:00Waterfront Hotel, OaklandThe Waterfront Hotel is located at (in?) Oakland, California's Jack London Square, which may cause you to immediately think of <span style="font-style: italic;">White Fang</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">The Call Of The Wild</span>, but which is actually an urban-mall-ish attempt to make the Oakland waterfront a hip 'n' trendy place to hang and shop.<br /><br />Being on the waterfront, the "recently renovated" Waterfront Hotel throws down a heavy nautical theme, beginning with the front facade.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9akkIusiI/AAAAAAAABJg/seFsybdnFD8/s1600-h/front.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9akkIusiI/AAAAAAAABJg/seFsybdnFD8/s400/front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291547671405703714" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The "Ahoy, Matey" motif continues with your key card holder:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9bBGD_0yI/AAAAAAAABJo/Ly8cVC8itwM/s1600-h/boardingpass.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9bBGD_0yI/AAAAAAAABJo/Ly8cVC8itwM/s400/boardingpass.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291548161548997410" /></a><br /><br />Carries into the wallpaper behind your bed,<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9bUQcJyFI/AAAAAAAABJw/crYu7BSnsH8/s1600-h/oars.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9bUQcJyFI/AAAAAAAABJw/crYu7BSnsH8/s400/oars.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291548490752182354" /></a><br /><br />Right through one of the lamps in the room.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9bsha-beI/AAAAAAAABJ4/jf0328vvvQg/s1600-h/lamp.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9bsha-beI/AAAAAAAABJ4/jf0328vvvQg/s400/lamp.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291548907627507170" /></a><br /><br />All that effort, however, is interrupted by the decidedly non-nautical hallways. They're pretty much generic looking wallpaper and dark green carpeting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9cMXEJX3I/AAAAAAAABKA/SzD0XWcEHqs/s1600-h/hallway.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9cMXEJX3I/AAAAAAAABKA/SzD0XWcEHqs/s400/hallway.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291549454603214706" /></a><br /><br />The room was nice and fresh, so the "newly renovated" claim appears to hold water. The wireless internet is free, everyone was super nice, and there's a pool which, this being January and all, I didn't use. One of my cranky-by-nature co-workers was disappointed by the gym, but he's cranky about lots of things, so take that with a grain of salt water. (Hah! see how I managed to get in a nautical joke there?)<br /><br />Here's another plus. The Waterfront Hotel is two blocks away from <a href="http://www.yoshis.com/">Yoshi's Jazz Club</a>, one of America's premier jazz venues. In fact, I was lucky enough to run into one of the world's greatest jazz guitarists, <a href="http://www.johnabercrombie.com/">John Abercrombie</a>, who was staying at the hotel.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9fM03QxPI/AAAAAAAABKI/XRkhGDTijVc/s1600-h/jahome0172wtext2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SW9fM03QxPI/AAAAAAAABKI/XRkhGDTijVc/s400/jahome0172wtext2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291552761137120498" /></a><br /><br />(I stole that image from John's website, but since it's an ad for him, I assume he won't get mad and send his lawyers after me.)<br /><br />So, if you're a jazz fan, you might run into one of your heroes here. (I did). If you're a fan of mini-bars, you're out of luck, as I couldn't find one anywhere in my room. There was coffee, though, so I was happy.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-64456622215248242182009-01-08T09:48:00.003-05:002009-01-08T10:04:05.250-05:00Golden Hallway Winner for 2008<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYUI_LLxUI/AAAAAAAABI8/Rbj8JKO9ZW8/s1600-h/trophies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 133px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYUI_LLxUI/AAAAAAAABI8/Rbj8JKO9ZW8/s400/trophies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288936957023077698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I'm not quite as excited about my Golden Hallway Award winner this year. (Last year's winner, the <a href="http://www.hotelgault.com/">Hotel Gault</a> in Montreal really knocked my socks off). This year, I had a little more trouble deciding on the champ. I wanted to give it to the <a href="http://www.claremontresort.com/">Claremont</a> for consistently not recognizing me as a repeat customer. (After all, I've been staying there pretty regularly for 4 years). I thought I'd give the <a href="http://www.ashtoninnsuites.com/">Ashton Inn</a> an award for its unspeakably filthy stair carpeting, but thought that might take the luster off this prestigious award. <br /><br />Ultimately, I give this year's award to the<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYVk3WK1DI/AAAAAAAABJE/Oz4C0O7u83A/s1600-h/monaco.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 251px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYVk3WK1DI/AAAAAAAABJE/Oz4C0O7u83A/s400/monaco.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288938535469634610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.monaco-dc.com/">Hotel Monaco</a><br /></div><br />in Washington, DC. It's a very nice hotel, with the added bonus of leopard-print loungewear available for purchase, and free internet. So three cheers for the Monaco.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-32247381895223452762009-01-08T09:04:00.010-05:002009-01-08T10:20:52.697-05:00Blancaneaux LodgeThis is yet another hotel with no hallways, so technically, it really doesn't qualify for inclusion in this blog, but too bad.<br /><br />The Blancaneaux Lodge (owned & operated by Francis Ford Coppola) is located near San Ignacio, Belize. (About a 3 hour drive from Belize City). In its favor: A gorgeous setting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYPRfOx_7I/AAAAAAAABIU/Iil5kwBtgxk/s1600-h/lodge+entry.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYPRfOx_7I/AAAAAAAABIU/Iil5kwBtgxk/s400/lodge+entry.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288931605508915122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It has beautiful villa/cabanas deposited picturesquely around the grounds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYPcfJ1YLI/AAAAAAAABIc/B6AgNK8MFOM/s1600-h/villa.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYPcfJ1YLI/AAAAAAAABIc/B6AgNK8MFOM/s400/villa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288931794466726066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />They have real, honest, thatched roofs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYPp24JpdI/AAAAAAAABIk/diJwVDL-bD4/s1600-h/thatch.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYPp24JpdI/AAAAAAAABIk/diJwVDL-bD4/s400/thatch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288932024173307346" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />There's a hot tub. (And an unheated pool)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYQDb4q72I/AAAAAAAABIs/YlpSRaBgtAs/s1600-h/hottub.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYQDb4q72I/AAAAAAAABIs/YlpSRaBgtAs/s400/hottub.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288932463604330338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />In short, Blancaneaux Lodge would seem to be a perfect place to relax.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYQS0UIN3I/AAAAAAAABI0/1W2E7-elIoo/s1600-h/relax.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWYQS0UIN3I/AAAAAAAABI0/1W2E7-elIoo/s400/relax.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288932727859984242" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I was all set to give it the 2008 Golden Hallway award.<br /><br />The people who work at Blancaneaux Lodge are uniformly pleasant, helpful, friendly, outgoing, and eager to please. As you can plainly see, it's beautiful.<br /><br />And yet: (Everyone was so nice, I feel bad having to relay this information) <br /><br />There are a couple of problems. It is very isolated. (Which is good, if that's what you're looking for). But that means everything you eat comes from the Blancaneaux kitchens, which were, to be honest, disappointing. It is claimed that Mrs. Coppola oversees every detail about the Lodge, so the fact that her "lemon chicken" has no lemon in it must be somewhat of a surprise to her.<br /><br />And then there were the <span style="font-style: italic;">cimex lectularius</span>. I know it's a tropical environment and all, but geez, Mr. Coppola, I didn't expect to end my vacation splattered with bed bug bites. (I had 18 on my right arm alone).<br /><br />So, no Golden Hallway award for Blancaneaux. Though it is the first hotel I've ever stayed in with bedbugs, so it's got that award going for it.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-23752161814453983352009-01-07T15:58:00.010-05:002009-01-08T10:15:11.499-05:00The Marriott Hotel at George Bush Intercontinental AirportThe family had a lovely vacation plan that was thrown into temporary disarray due to our inability to connect to the flight we needed to be on to get to our destination. Net result, we had to spend an unplanned night in Houston. More precisely, at the Houston Airport.<br /><br />The Marriott at IAH (George Bush Intercontinental Airport) was clearly designed during that phase of American life when space-age design ruled. It is a hub, spoke, and ring design. The hub houses the elevators and a rotating top floor restaurant. The spokes are the walkways to the rings, which house the rooms. The design inspiration is pretty obvious to me:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/adc/10073759A.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 450px;" src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/adc/10073759A.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Unfortunately, two of the four spokes on our floor were blocked for maintenance, and so we were required to navigate 270 degrees of the ring to get to our room. It was actually kind of dizzying.<br /><br />The hotel tried to make the trek more manageable by breaking up the circle with a pattern woven into the carpet that looked (as my wife put it) like throw rugs.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWVlRk22vFI/AAAAAAAABIM/q_qfJzTMwE4/s1600-h/IMG_0174.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWVlRk22vFI/AAAAAAAABIM/q_qfJzTMwE4/s400/IMG_0174.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288744690042453074" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWVlRc4tRUI/AAAAAAAABIE/5PLe5u1-5Q0/s1600-h/IMG_0173.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SWVlRc4tRUI/AAAAAAAABIE/5PLe5u1-5Q0/s400/IMG_0173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288744687902737730" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Eating choices at the hotel were slim. By the time we checked in, the only open restaurant was a way way overpriced rotating fancy place on the top floor, giving you a full and unobstructed view of the airport. No choices for restaurants at the airport, either. IAH has plenty of places to nosh, but only after you've passed through TAS security, which we couldn't do, because we didn't get boarding passes for the flight the next day. We ultimately spent $30 on cab fare to go to a Chilis.<br /><br />One other thing. To get to our floor, we had to insert our key card. No matter how fast you stuck the card in the slot you heard a female voice repeatedly say:<br /><br />"Please insert your key card to access levels one, two or three".<br /><br />My son delighted in forcing the voice to say that phrase over and over and over again.<br /><br /><br />The Marriott at IAH skimps big time on the coffee, too. Basically one cup of regular, one cup of decaf. The end. There is a train stop in the basement that'll take you to the terminal of your choice. I think everyone who chooses the hotel is either stranded or works for an airline.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-59401076202877196482008-12-23T16:30:00.004-05:002008-12-23T16:34:23.650-05:00Golden Hallway AwardThe coveted Golden Hallway Award has not been given out yet, because I'm going to be staying in one more hotel before the end of the year. The current leaders in the clubhouse are: Old Skool: The Grand Hotel Tremezzo, and Moderne: The Hotel Monaco, Washington, DC. The Ashton Inn and Suites in Pensacola is not a contender.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-36885908870002762072008-12-23T16:10:00.006-05:002008-12-23T16:29:41.108-05:00The Claremont, Berkeley, CaliforniaThe Claremont continues to astonish. As steady readers of the blog know, I've stayed at the Claremont many times. Yet they continue to confuse me with someone who's never stayed there before. Ah well.<br /><br />I don't think I've ever shown off one of the most peculiar hallways in hoteldom, the 4th floor of the Claremont. Here it is. One side for basketball players, the other for their small children.<br /><br />Voila:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFVOtwZG5I/AAAAAAAABHk/i7Eabu7o4dg/s1600-h/fourthclaremont.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFVOtwZG5I/AAAAAAAABHk/i7Eabu7o4dg/s400/fourthclaremont.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283097549171399570" /></a><br /><br /><br />Next, a room with a view. (Well, half of one, anyway. Part of my window was blocked by a dormer.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFVqyMlAfI/AAAAAAAABHs/bVrKIXh9fDs/s1600-h/oddview.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFVqyMlAfI/AAAAAAAABHs/bVrKIXh9fDs/s400/oddview.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283098031399698930" /></a><br /><br />The hotel did have a nice Christmas display - a giant gingerbread house. In typical California style, there was a little sign that warned guests that the house had been treated with chemicals to preserve it. (In case you were thinking of gnawing on a chunk.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFV9CnrKMI/AAAAAAAABH0/mm_OqBUP93o/s1600-h/giantgingerbread.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFV9CnrKMI/AAAAAAAABH0/mm_OqBUP93o/s400/giantgingerbread.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283098345045960898" /></a><br /><br />Here's the strangest thing. My room had an ethernet cable. (A good thing) It also had a three-prong outlet I could use for my computer power adapter. (Also a good thing) However, they weren't in the same room. Hence, the only way I could simultaneously power my computer and go online was to lie on the floor. See?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFXIMiOdxI/AAAAAAAABH8/4nkxGKzuEPk/s1600-h/computer+claremont.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SVFXIMiOdxI/AAAAAAAABH8/4nkxGKzuEPk/s400/computer+claremont.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283099636197652242" /></a>misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-58095717455016881132008-08-01T20:43:00.019-04:002008-08-03T18:37:50.254-04:00Ashton Inn and Suites, Pensacola, FloridaThe last hotel I stayed in (see below - the Hotel Monaco in DC) is the current front runner for Golden Hallway 2008. Ashton Inn and Suites is (are?) the leading candidate for the Lead Hallway of 08<br /><br />When I checked in, I asked the (actually very nice woman) at the front desk if the hotel had wireless. "No," she replied, "but there's internet in the room." That was true, to a certain extent. There was an ethernet jack, but no cable. No cables at the front desk, either. (I asked). So if you do plan on staying at Ashton Inn and Suites, bring your own cable.<br /><br />Connectivity issues aside, I would advise against selecting Ashton Inn and Suites. (This is really awkward. I keep wanting to write <span style="font-style:italic;">The Ashton Inn</span>, but the official name is Ashton Inn and Suites, so I'm screwed.)<br /><br />Ashton Inn and Suites has unbelievably filthy carpets. Maybe it's a form of industrial sabotage by the cleaning staff. It's like they decided the grim green walls weren't depressing enough, and felt compelled to underscore the general squalor of the place.<br /><br />One of my colleagues refused to walk around in his room in his bare feet. The bedspread was made of some 'miracle' fabric that looked oily, and the "pillows" looked like pannini versions of the ones you normally expect in a hotel.<br /><br />Here are some photos of the stains.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOuD-i0i6I/AAAAAAAAA1E/O7tddi2tD3s/s1600-h/Photo_072808_003%231.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOuD-i0i6I/AAAAAAAAA1E/O7tddi2tD3s/s400/Photo_072808_003%231.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229714975659166626" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOwv1NwjkI/AAAAAAAAA1M/_g2GwT0Gj2Y/s1600-h/Photo_072808_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOwv1NwjkI/AAAAAAAAA1M/_g2GwT0Gj2Y/s400/Photo_072808_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229717928092405314" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOwwMk_bAI/AAAAAAAAA1U/AXix9ooVjwk/s1600-h/Photo_072808_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOwwMk_bAI/AAAAAAAAA1U/AXix9ooVjwk/s400/Photo_072808_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229717934363864066" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOwwUdze2I/AAAAAAAAA1c/5QROsvga36w/s1600-h/Photo_072808_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOwwUdze2I/AAAAAAAAA1c/5QROsvga36w/s400/Photo_072808_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229717936481205090" /></a><br /><br />The 'clean, parts of the carpet on the stairs in the photo above are the stair risers. The filthy parts are the treads. Blech. The tile floor on the ground floor was 'nicer'. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOxTRetlMI/AAAAAAAAA1k/MhyMF9bgaKk/s1600-h/Photo_072808_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOxTRetlMI/AAAAAAAAA1k/MhyMF9bgaKk/s400/Photo_072808_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229718536975127746" /></a><br /><br />To give you an idea of the Kwality of the place, the key cards are sponsored by Domino's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOyRqDLTdI/AAAAAAAAA1s/uXYPKLr8DXs/s1600-h/Photo_072808_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOyRqDLTdI/AAAAAAAAA1s/uXYPKLr8DXs/s400/Photo_072808_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229719608722410962" /></a><br /><br />The "kitchenette" area of my room had some utensils and kitchenware, but there was also a prominent sign alerting guests that while they had been cleaned in a dishwasher, they did not pass state or local sanitizing standards. Yum!<br /><br />I also liked the in-room coffee. It's a brand I've never heard of. (Perhaps one of those regional specialty things foodies are always salivating over.) Plus, it's got the best slogan ever. I present: Leroy Hill Coffee. "It'll Get Cha (sic) Goin!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOzk4PfpaI/AAAAAAAAA10/2uYyqnI0orE/s1600-h/Photo_072808_014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SJOzk4PfpaI/AAAAAAAAA10/2uYyqnI0orE/s400/Photo_072808_014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229721038461314466" /></a><br /><br />One other thing. Ashton Inns are now available for weekly rentals. Just in case you've been very, very bad.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-28667027613901640532008-07-20T17:50:00.012-04:002008-07-20T22:41:56.056-04:00Hotel Monaco, Washington, DCThe short version of the post is this: The Hotel Monaco, DC, is in the lead for this year's prestigious <a href="http://hotelhallways.blogspot.com/2007/12/annual-golden-hallway-award.html">Golden Hallway Award</a>. <br /><br />This is a very groovy hotel. The hallways are nearly hallucination-generating in their stripey efflorescence. (The photo doesn't do the effect justice, I'm afraid to say).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIOzwThX9lI/AAAAAAAAAyg/XekpOwB1lH4/s1600-h/Photo_071808_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIOzwThX9lI/AAAAAAAAAyg/XekpOwB1lH4/s400/Photo_071808_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225217635135256146" /></a><br /><br />Adding to the optical glory, along the way to your room, you'll pass some ersatz Ellsworth Kelly paintings. (Though if I remember correctly, he tended to favor brighter colors).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO0TYtKPjI/AAAAAAAAAyo/2unRvjtIefA/s1600-h/Photo_071808_011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO0TYtKPjI/AAAAAAAAAyo/2unRvjtIefA/s400/Photo_071808_011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225218237822287410" /></a><br /><br />My room suffered from a few, uh, irregularities. Once again, I find that rational hotel floor numbering is disappearing art. I was on floor one, which isn't really the ground floor. It's below street level. How did I know? My room's windows were usable as viewing devices only by NBA starting centers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO1IQCvZ7I/AAAAAAAAAyw/KMxGYXi0n8Y/s1600-h/Photo_071708_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO1IQCvZ7I/AAAAAAAAAyw/KMxGYXi0n8Y/s400/Photo_071708_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225219146029950898" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO1Ide4MRI/AAAAAAAAAy4/YiMv8Oefh7s/s1600-h/Photo_071708_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO1Ide4MRI/AAAAAAAAAy4/YiMv8Oefh7s/s400/Photo_071708_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225219149637628178" /></a><br /><br />(That last photo is taken at standing height, with the camera pointed straight up toward the ceiling). The light, such as it is, which through yonder windows break, is at sidewalk level.<br /><br />The Monaco DC is a Kimpton hotel (like the 72 Park Avenue I stayed in last year) and as such, offers the guest the opportunity to purchase lounge wear to maximize the pleasure of his or her sojourn.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO2Be4EuFI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/-XVvAFOTwMc/s1600-h/Photo_071708_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO2Be4EuFI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/-XVvAFOTwMc/s400/Photo_071708_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225220129264285778" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO16F_ikCI/AAAAAAAAAzI/LsAsbxgev5k/s1600-h/Photo_071708_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO16F_ikCI/AAAAAAAAAzI/LsAsbxgev5k/s400/Photo_071708_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225220002325631010" /></a><br /><br />I wasn't interested in the top, and the bottoms were size XXL. The thought of me sashaying around my room, alone, in a giant pair of artificial-fiber leopard-print boxers makes even me feel a little woozy, so I put them both back into the closet, along with the giraffe-print bathrobe, which I think was woven of lead, as it weighed 80 or 90 pounds.<br /><br />The Monaco has a couple of peculiarities, none of which detracted from my stay.<br /><br />One, there is no room 114. (Maybe it's like platform 12 3/4 in the Harry Potter books). I couldn't take a picture of it, for what I hope to be obvious reasons.<br /><br />Across the hall from the missing room is pecularity number two, a non-enterable or leaveable door. See?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO4BU8zetI/AAAAAAAAAzY/OVqZhKpn2W8/s1600-h/Photo_071808_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SIO4BU8zetI/AAAAAAAAAzY/OVqZhKpn2W8/s400/Photo_071808_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225222325623028434" /></a><br /><br />Ah well, minor points. The hotel has a great location (across the street from the National Portrait Gallery), convivial hosts, nice toiletries, and a dang good restaurant with at least one very charming waitress. (The one who waited on my colleague and me.)<br /><br />Best of all, for professional pickers-of-nits like me, the hotel actually has (hold your breath here) FREE internet access in your room, and free wireless in the lobby.<br /><br />Go. Stay.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-5822991822849991362008-06-29T21:17:00.010-04:002008-06-29T22:15:19.966-04:00Courtyard Los Angeles Century City/Beverly HillsFor a hotel cheek by jowl with Botox usage world headquarters, the CLACC/BH is very unpretentious. It's laid out a bit oddly, although that could be my misperception because I arrived at 2:30 am my time, after having flown in from Washington, DC following a meeting earlier that day.<br /><br />The people at the front desk couldn't have been nicer. They practically threw themselves at my feet in shame when they had to tell me that instead of a king-sized bed, I would have to settle for doubles. As I'm far from king-sized, and traveling alone, I didn't really care.<br /><br />After staggering down a couple (?) three (?) four (?) hallways I found a couple of complimentary cookies and a pint of milk on ice awaiting me in my room. Awwww. isn't that nice? My room had a pair of faux windows. Here's one. It was over my bed.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg2VGD4bEI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/rLixW6hW24A/s1600-h/Photo_062608_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg2VGD4bEI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/rLixW6hW24A/s400/Photo_062608_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217479904340765762" /></a><br /><br />I thought the light-proof curtains might just be decorative - but they opened onto a communal patio. Not the quietest, as it is right on top of Olympic avenue. On the plus side, the noise proof sliding door was, indeed, noise proof.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg4gtLijAI/AAAAAAAAAxg/SYBK-ukJNqs/s1600-h/Photo_062608_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg4gtLijAI/AAAAAAAAAxg/SYBK-ukJNqs/s400/Photo_062608_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217482302843685890" /></a><br /><br />After a sum total of seven hours, I left my room,<br /><br />Turned left,<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg4KaFOD3I/AAAAAAAAAxY/XPqQHTVnIiM/s1600-h/Photo_062608_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg4KaFOD3I/AAAAAAAAAxY/XPqQHTVnIiM/s400/Photo_062608_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217481919759781746" /></a><br /><br />Turned left again,<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg42hii6LI/AAAAAAAAAxo/EGQ_zrusCkc/s1600-h/Photo_062608_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg42hii6LI/AAAAAAAAAxo/EGQ_zrusCkc/s400/Photo_062608_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217482677676075186" /></a><br /><br />Turned right,<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg5K2TRhoI/AAAAAAAAAxw/_wCkF-WFR9U/s1600-h/Photo_062608_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg5K2TRhoI/AAAAAAAAAxw/_wCkF-WFR9U/s400/Photo_062608_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217483026846549634" /></a><br /><br />Passed some art work that reminded me I was in California,<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg5W_nTv-I/AAAAAAAAAx4/MXbUQvClG6Y/s1600-h/Photo_062608_008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg5W_nTv-I/AAAAAAAAAx4/MXbUQvClG6Y/s400/Photo_062608_008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217483235504930786" /></a><br /><br />Walked down a flight of stairs by a wall of windows,<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg5g_8J0pI/AAAAAAAAAyA/uVt5Mws4jjc/s1600-h/Photo_062608_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGg5g_8J0pI/AAAAAAAAAyA/uVt5Mws4jjc/s400/Photo_062608_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217483407391052434" /></a><br /><br />and left for a meeting. Frankly, I was so discombobulated by travel that this whole stay could've been an hallucination.<br /><br />Very romantic and luxe and jet-setty, no?<br /><br />Please note. Free internet. Had to plug in an ethernet cord, but so what.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-45273268994308346072008-06-29T20:27:00.021-04:002008-07-01T09:07:18.901-04:00Hilton Alexandria Mark CenterI think I wandered, unknowingly, into Bizarro World when I got to the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. <br /><br />For starters, it's not in Alexandria, per se. It's in the Mark Center. The Mark Center is a development with office buildings and this hotel distributed around a park like area. It's quite nice, as long as you don't feel like walking somewhere. There are no sidewalks, nor are there any nearby retail establishments. <br /><br />The entrance and the place you park are separated by the hotel itself. You have to drive all the way around and enter in the back. <br /><br />Check in was interminable. There were two people working the front desk, but in addition to checking you in - which required that the check-in person manually enter your driver's license number (?) into their computer - they had to answer the phones, too. It took a long time.<br /><br />I was assigned an "accessible" room on the 6th floor. (That's what the checking in people called it).<br /><br />I have now officially given up trying to figure out hotel floor numbering systems. (See National Conference Center, below). The sixth floor, where my room was located, is actually only one flight above the lobby.<br /><br />The hallway makes you feel very presidential - which makes sense, given the proximity of the hotel to the Whi...well, nothing really.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGguFZjHjOI/AAAAAAAAAwI/7rZZzukqQeQ/s1600-h/Photo_062408_008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGguFZjHjOI/AAAAAAAAAwI/7rZZzukqQeQ/s400/Photo_062408_008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217470838601125090" /></a> <br /><br />I don't know why they messed up the nice little table arrangement by the elevators with a cheap chair, but so be it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGguYeEXr0I/AAAAAAAAAwQ/BWsY34gRa1Y/s1600-h/Photo_062408_011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGguYeEXr0I/AAAAAAAAAwQ/BWsY34gRa1Y/s400/Photo_062408_011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217471166231850818" /></a><br /> <br />The room itself was directly across from the elevators. Which would've been fine, except for the 10 or 20 thousand teen-aged girls who checked in around 10:30 and decided to use the elevator area as a communal "Oh my god ... did you see Emily with Biff" gossip central, since they couldn't possibly fit into each others' rooms.<br /><br />Back to my room. For "Accessible", read: for people in wheelchairs. You know this because the shower area and the bathroom area are unseparated by a lip, step, or moat. <br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwCLnd3HI/AAAAAAAAAwY/2tfJxbrv4pI/s1600-h/Photo_062408_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwCLnd3HI/AAAAAAAAAwY/2tfJxbrv4pI/s400/Photo_062408_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217472982344916082" /></a><br /><br />That's fine with me. What wasn't, though, was the mold everywhere.<br /><br />On the wall<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwUV_m-PI/AAAAAAAAAwg/0k5-EeWbAH8/s1600-h/Photo_062408_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwUV_m-PI/AAAAAAAAAwg/0k5-EeWbAH8/s400/Photo_062408_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217473294368176370" /></a><br /><br />On the floor<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwhtwY8hI/AAAAAAAAAwo/Qz6SVDbC-ZE/s1600-h/Photo_062408_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwhtwY8hI/AAAAAAAAAwo/Qz6SVDbC-ZE/s400/Photo_062408_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217473524085092882" /></a><br /><br />On the wall again<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwuI0e_qI/AAAAAAAAAww/X0am6MHHXIc/s1600-h/Photo_062408_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgwuI0e_qI/AAAAAAAAAww/X0am6MHHXIc/s400/Photo_062408_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217473737508454050" /></a><br /><br />Under the fold-down seat.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgw6QZz7zI/AAAAAAAAAw4/rV9YopaSnh0/s1600-h/Photo_062408_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgw6QZz7zI/AAAAAAAAAw4/rV9YopaSnh0/s400/Photo_062408_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217473945702494002" /></a><br /><br />The hotel restaurant is quite good. Make that very good. I had dinner there, as well as breakfast the next morning, where I found these hieroglyphics on the back of my menu.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgxIcCQCdI/AAAAAAAAAxA/9tsqfazLC_o/s1600-h/Photo_062508_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgxIcCQCdI/AAAAAAAAAxA/9tsqfazLC_o/s400/Photo_062508_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217474189343066578" /></a><br /><br />Oddest of all was the shirt a Japanese fellow was wearing. I should mention that the hotel is heavily populated by tourists and the military. While most of his shirt was standard <a href="http://engrish.com/">Engrish</a> it featured a very unfortunate turn of phrase, namely, over his left breast was written: "All Japanese 7 December". <br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgxUjusreI/AAAAAAAAAxI/kpAK4i4b8L0/s1600-h/Photo_062508_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SGgxUjusreI/AAAAAAAAAxI/kpAK4i4b8L0/s400/Photo_062508_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217474397566971362" /></a><br /><br /> Hmm. I think the guy wearing it had no idea that he was advertising Pearl Harbor Day in a completely inappropriate manner. I hope he wasn't one of those ultra-nationalist Japanese types who wanted to poke his finger in our barbarian American eyes.<br /><br />And, of course, the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center charges for internet.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-84844983525284908522008-06-23T15:25:00.012-04:002008-06-23T16:16:35.703-04:00The National Conference Center at Lansdowne.This is one weird hotel. For starters, you enter on what you think is the ground floor (it being on the same level as the parking lot and driveway) but soon discover is called the third floor by the owner/operator of this place. <br /><br />Once you check in, you're handed a gaily colored map and, with various verbal and written directions, are pointed in the vicinity of your room. Map in hand, you discover that the conference center is a linked series of buildings. <br /><br />Linked, I should point out, by underground hallways. In the vernacular: tunnels. Long tunnels.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_6KpDRgdI/AAAAAAAAAu4/VdkAVVXDONw/s1600-h/Photo_061008_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_6KpDRgdI/AAAAAAAAAu4/VdkAVVXDONw/s400/Photo_061008_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215161954243543506" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_6dWesrlI/AAAAAAAAAvA/KQhOyBQcDs4/s1600-h/Photo_061108_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_6dWesrlI/AAAAAAAAAvA/KQhOyBQcDs4/s400/Photo_061108_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215162275675811410" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_68NWGRsI/AAAAAAAAAvI/pBSbqg8Br4Q/s1600-h/Photo_061108_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_68NWGRsI/AAAAAAAAAvI/pBSbqg8Br4Q/s400/Photo_061108_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215162805799765698" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_68HeNDDI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/Uhkl6PGwyCQ/s1600-h/Photo_061108_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_68HeNDDI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/Uhkl6PGwyCQ/s400/Photo_061108_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215162804223151154" /></a><br /><br />After I passed these hallways (tunnels), and skirted the dining area (about which more later), I had to go down a more regular hallway,<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_8Ow9HgUI/AAAAAAAAAvY/Okk7cDk-unQ/s1600-h/Photo_061008_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_8Ow9HgUI/AAAAAAAAAvY/Okk7cDk-unQ/s400/Photo_061008_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215164224107938114" /></a><br /><br />Past this attractive seating area,<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_8YSwLVBI/AAAAAAAAAvg/FINW6bsNSog/s1600-h/Photo_061008_010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_8YSwLVBI/AAAAAAAAAvg/FINW6bsNSog/s400/Photo_061008_010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215164387799290898" /></a><br /><br />Past a bench with a hole inexplicably drilled in it,<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_82TJj9wI/AAAAAAAAAvw/WOxewDpkqzY/s1600-h/Photo_061008_013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_82TJj9wI/AAAAAAAAAvw/WOxewDpkqzY/s400/Photo_061008_013.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215164903301838594" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_82eL0rLI/AAAAAAAAAvo/uehsJS3jsF0/s1600-h/Photo_061008_014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_82eL0rLI/AAAAAAAAAvo/uehsJS3jsF0/s400/Photo_061008_014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215164906264112306" /></a><br /><br />Down another short hallway, and you've reached the door to my room. (And the penultimate hallway)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_9SOGTpoI/AAAAAAAAAv4/mGb4bZttH_A/s1600-h/Photo_061008_015.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_9SOGTpoI/AAAAAAAAAv4/mGb4bZttH_A/s400/Photo_061008_015.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215165382982346370" /></a><br /><br />For before I could throw myself, exhausted, onto my bed, I had to go down yet another hall and make a left turn.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_91vRflqI/AAAAAAAAAwA/yAT2kVOsRWw/s1600-h/Photo_061008_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SF_91vRflqI/AAAAAAAAAwA/yAT2kVOsRWw/s400/Photo_061008_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215165993183057570" /></a><br /><br />The air conditioning was broken in my room, but was fixed by a couple of cheerful maintenance guys within three or four hours.<br /><br />The National Conference Center is like a beached cruise ship. Once you're aboard, you're aboard. All meals are included - all you can eat buffet-style food.<br /><br />The overall design is very strange. One of my co-trapees said that the National Conference Center felt like minimum-security, white collar Federal Penitentiary. (Not that he'd been in one) Another said his room reminded him of a Navy berth, only without the rocking motion.<br /><br />It was all so peculiar that I was only half-surprised to find out that no one claimed ownership of the place. Usually, a hotel is owned, proudly, by some other brand name. Not the National Conference Center. It was mysterious enough to lead me to believe the NCC was a US Government property. After all, they did have the audacity to claim National status.<br /><br />But no. Once I got back to the office, I Googled(r) the place, only to find it's owned by Aramark - which explains the cafeteria style eating, I guess. But not the tunnels. Sorry, underground hallways.<br /><br />By the way, if you do stay there, do not, under any circumstances, forget something in your room. Getting from anywhere else (like the front desk, or one of the meeting rooms) back to your room and back to your destination will take most of the morning. Or afternoon.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-89574329555898657232008-06-17T21:22:00.012-04:002008-06-17T21:56:52.173-04:00Springhill Suites Memphis East/GalleriaSpringhill Suites Memphis East/Galleria sets you up with a near-impossible-to-meet set of expectations. I quote from the official web copy: "Turn your next trip into an inspired and rewarding experience. Spacious suites to work, sleep or play. Irresistible beds with fresh, crisp, white linens. Stylish décor. Free in-room high speed internet access." Wow. That's a big promise for a bed/living area, isn't it?<br /><br />The hallway gives little indication of the pleasures which are, no doubt, just ahead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhmytn8pqI/AAAAAAAAAtg/1yfQuS2guP0/s1600-h/Photo_060608_023.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhmytn8pqI/AAAAAAAAAtg/1yfQuS2guP0/s400/Photo_060608_023.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213029590107989666" /></a><br /><br />I'll give the Springhill Suites Memphis East/Galleria this much: It's clean and roomy. And the internet is free. I do have an issue with their definition of "stylish décor". To me, the room looked more as if the person in charge of outfitting the rooms opened a furniture catalog and started picking things out at random, to wit:<br /><br />The lamps. No matter which style of lamp you like, you're sure to find one in your room.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhnN99zF2I/AAAAAAAAAto/3s44-hgpudA/s1600-h/Photo_060608_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhnN99zF2I/AAAAAAAAAto/3s44-hgpudA/s400/Photo_060608_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213030058351073122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhnOBsXvxI/AAAAAAAAAtw/btdSqxBrR9Q/s1600-h/Photo_060608_017.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhnOBsXvxI/AAAAAAAAAtw/btdSqxBrR9Q/s400/Photo_060608_017.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213030059351719698" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhnOb-WwTI/AAAAAAAAAt4/QccihFG6ceo/s1600-h/Photo_060608_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhnOb-WwTI/AAAAAAAAAt4/QccihFG6ceo/s400/Photo_060608_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213030066406474034" /></a><br /><br />Or the mirrors. Round with silver frame or Square with faux window frame? Just spin around in your desk chair, and face your favorite.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhoFcAcMtI/AAAAAAAAAuA/UrF5c86zcMs/s1600-h/Photo_060608_010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhoFcAcMtI/AAAAAAAAAuA/UrF5c86zcMs/s400/Photo_060608_010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213031011308024530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhoFexvCUI/AAAAAAAAAuI/f-oW8Qfu1DU/s1600-h/Photo_060608_011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhoFexvCUI/AAAAAAAAAuI/f-oW8Qfu1DU/s400/Photo_060608_011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213031012051650882" /></a><br /><br />Upholstery? Who cares if nothing matches? Variety is the spice of life, isn't it?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhopWagtAI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/HvqvQo6s48I/s1600-h/Photo_060608_012.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhopWagtAI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/HvqvQo6s48I/s400/Photo_060608_012.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213031628282049538" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhopnM_P5I/AAAAAAAAAuY/s_n11sxXpLw/s1600-h/Photo_060608_014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhopnM_P5I/AAAAAAAAAuY/s_n11sxXpLw/s400/Photo_060608_014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213031632788733842" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhopu1LlBI/AAAAAAAAAug/q796KaXoqQI/s1600-h/Photo_060608_015.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhopu1LlBI/AAAAAAAAAug/q796KaXoqQI/s400/Photo_060608_015.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213031634836362258" /></a><br /><br />If only that devil-may-care interior design philosophy carried over to the toiletries. To wash my hair, I had my choice of conditioner or conditioner.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhpTqlSZfI/AAAAAAAAAuo/sSx_9Eygd24/s1600-h/Photo_060608_021.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhpTqlSZfI/AAAAAAAAAuo/sSx_9Eygd24/s400/Photo_060608_021.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213032355250464242" /></a><br /><br />One other thing. I think the interior designer ran out of steam when it came time to furnish the bathroom. Instead of placing the toilet paper near the toilet, they chose to put it just out of reach across the room from your seated position. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhqF3xSW1I/AAAAAAAAAuw/YqPpj4WahhY/s1600-h/Photo_060608_018.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFhqF3xSW1I/AAAAAAAAAuw/YqPpj4WahhY/s400/Photo_060608_018.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213033217783913298" /></a><br /><br />In case you were wondering, there was room next to the toilet. But that wouldn't make for a rewarding or inspiring experience, now would it?misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-40002318328247917912008-06-17T10:17:00.011-04:002008-08-01T21:44:06.522-04:00The Norfolk Airport HiltonThe Norfolk "Airport" Hilton is not actually at the airport, it's <span style="font-style: italic;">close</span> to the airport. There is no Hilton in Norfolk that is closer to the airport in Norfolk, so I guess it merits its name. The halls are nothing to write home about, but that doesn't mean I can't write about them here. See?<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfVbv3IZdI/AAAAAAAAAso/HPqzCAyI8cI/s1600-h/Photo_052808_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfVbv3IZdI/AAAAAAAAAso/HPqzCAyI8cI/s320/Photo_052808_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212869766385526226" /></a><br /><br />The hotel is popular, based on my completely unscientific "how many USA Todays are there by the doors in the morning" method. <br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfVioYkD7I/AAAAAAAAAsw/epbG78vQXSM/s1600-h/Photo_052908_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfVioYkD7I/AAAAAAAAAsw/epbG78vQXSM/s320/Photo_052908_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212869884637351858" /></a><br /><br />The NAH has a number of, shall we say, interesting features. 1) Two atria (atriums?). <br />The first is over the lobby.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfXiQ2YGkI/AAAAAAAAAs4/Lr3ddw2xNAo/s1600-h/Photo_052808_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfXiQ2YGkI/AAAAAAAAAs4/Lr3ddw2xNAo/s320/Photo_052808_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212872077343201858" /></a><br /><br />The second illuminates this Max & Erma's table behind the elevator shaft.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfXtrK5JfI/AAAAAAAAAtA/phve0UpTnvI/s1600-h/Photo_052708_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfXtrK5JfI/AAAAAAAAAtA/phve0UpTnvI/s320/Photo_052708_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212872273387136498" /></a><br /><br />2) A welcoming curtain on your floor, instead of some indication of where your room might be.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfX-zESn6I/AAAAAAAAAtI/CjY1-jFmy0I/s1600-h/Photo_052808_008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfX-zESn6I/AAAAAAAAAtI/CjY1-jFmy0I/s320/Photo_052808_008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212872567564705698" /></a><br /><br />The curtain is always closed. Good thing, too, as it hides a spotlight module and some other junk.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfYMsLpARI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/FwO0Gn5ePfg/s1600-h/Photo_052908_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfYMsLpARI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/FwO0Gn5ePfg/s320/Photo_052908_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212872806234652946" /></a><br /><br />One other thing. They must take brass polishing very seriously, as they've managed to scrub off the plating on the elevator door.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfYZupC0MI/AAAAAAAAAtY/J7Apb-A_dE8/s1600-h/Photo_052808_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SFfYZupC0MI/AAAAAAAAAtY/J7Apb-A_dE8/s320/Photo_052808_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212873030233149634" /></a>misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-68036977336348461322008-05-11T12:42:00.016-04:002008-05-11T14:08:45.170-04:00Sheraton Annapolis III had a return visit to the Sheraton Annapolis. When I checked in, the people welcoming me were very kind & solicitous. I actually felt a little guilty about dissing the place during an earlier stay.<br /><br />Part of my unusually forgiving frame of mind was that I'd just finished reading a really wonderful travel book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Silk-Road-Colin-Thubron/dp/0099437228/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210524285&sr=8-1">Shadow of the Silk Road</a>, by the eminent British travel writer, Colin Thubron. Like all the books I've read of his, they're perspicacious, illuminating and instructive, as well as being beautifully written. En route from Xian, in western China, through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Northern Iran, and Turkey to the Mediterranean, Mr. Thubron had to lodge in some dodgy places - without running water, with clogged lavatories, etc. etc. So how could I have complained about the Sheraton Annapolis' missing soda machines, dirt on the floor and creepy Nutcracker statues? (See earlier post, <a href="http://hotelhallways.blogspot.com/2007/12/sheraton-annapolis-hotel.html">here</a>.)<br /><br />The lobby looked nice.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2MsEQiI/AAAAAAAAAcs/QWb5Dca-FWg/s1600-h/Photo_050808_001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2MsEQiI/AAAAAAAAAcs/QWb5Dca-FWg/s320/Photo_050808_001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199164808360116770" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And the halls still featured my beloved enormous hound's tooth pattern.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2csEQjI/AAAAAAAAAc0/2MFAYr7mJ68/s1600-h/Photo_050808_011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2csEQjI/AAAAAAAAAc0/2MFAYr7mJ68/s320/Photo_050808_011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199164812655084082" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So far, it seemed as if my cranky review from before may have been inaccurate.<br /><br />With this unusually cheerful and open frame of mind, I entered my room. The first thing I noticed was that the sink stopper was broken.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2csEQkI/AAAAAAAAAc8/EpoZUlrg6GY/s1600-h/Photo_050808_006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2csEQkI/AAAAAAAAAc8/EpoZUlrg6GY/s320/Photo_050808_006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199164812655084098" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The paint by the door handle was missing in places.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2ssEQlI/AAAAAAAAAdE/yT06hij37WM/s1600-h/Photo_050808_007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2ssEQlI/AAAAAAAAAdE/yT06hij37WM/s320/Photo_050808_007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199164816950051410" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The ceiling sprinkler flange was misplaced somewhere.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2ssEQmI/AAAAAAAAAdM/875XKVRCmV8/s1600-h/Photo_050808_005%231.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCck2ssEQmI/AAAAAAAAAdM/875XKVRCmV8/s320/Photo_050808_005%231.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199164816950051426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Kind of picayune whining, I know. But then I saw that the floor molding by the closet had been wrenched off.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcmScsEQnI/AAAAAAAAAdU/nICoxfhrycI/s1600-h/Photo_050808_008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcmScsEQnI/AAAAAAAAAdU/nICoxfhrycI/s320/Photo_050808_008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199166393203049074" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And for the piece de resistance, someone or thing (termites? beavers?) had removed a large chunk from the dresser drawer. How could no one have noticed this? I actually took two photos, to show off the missing piece to full advantage.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcmSssEQoI/AAAAAAAAAdc/EF8uyOUlklc/s1600-h/Photo_050808_010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcmSssEQoI/AAAAAAAAAdc/EF8uyOUlklc/s320/Photo_050808_010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199166397498016386" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcmSssEQpI/AAAAAAAAAdk/2Cw7tE5nW2c/s1600-h/Photo_050808_004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcmSssEQpI/AAAAAAAAAdk/2Cw7tE5nW2c/s320/Photo_050808_004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199166397498016402" border="0" /></a><br /><br />That was one of the weirdest hotel items I've observed yet.<br /><br />Aside from my room being tormented by the unceasing sound of the elevator motors, two more peculiarities struck me before I returned home.<br /><br />One was the odd letter spacing in one of the two elevators, which, in part, reminds me of Chico Marx's "Italian" accent. (I'm sure you'll spot the words to which I'm referring; notto and subjectto).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcobMsEQqI/AAAAAAAAAds/70jYxnxp4Q0/s1600-h/Photo_050808_009%231.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcobMsEQqI/AAAAAAAAAds/70jYxnxp4Q0/s320/Photo_050808_009%231.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199168742550160034" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The final incongruity appears not at the Sheraton, but at BWI, immediately following the TSA examination area in Concourse C.<br /><br />What appears to be a typical airport seating bench,<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcobcsEQrI/AAAAAAAAAd0/jznnPbbFE2w/s1600-h/Photo_050908_002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcobcsEQrI/AAAAAAAAAd0/jznnPbbFE2w/s320/Photo_050908_002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199168746845127346" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Turns out to be (and I'll admit, I've never seen one before) a TSA (read: official) "recomposure" area.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcp0csEQtI/AAAAAAAAAeE/4JW4UkCMIjA/s1600-h/Photo_050908_001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SCcp0csEQtI/AAAAAAAAAeE/4JW4UkCMIjA/s320/Photo_050908_001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199170275853484754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Interestingly, if you google(r) the definition of recomposure, you receive the following query:<br /><br />"<span style="font-weight: bold;">Did you mean:</span> define decompose"?<br /><br />No, I didn't actually. I had a plane to catch, after all.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-79833797813619915652008-05-05T15:55:00.020-04:002008-05-05T18:47:04.987-04:00The Doubletree, Virginia BeachI usually go on short business trips (only an overnight stay), so I was looking forward to three nights in a hotel, even if this third night was really only a half-night, since I had to get up at 4:00 am to make my flight home. I was so excited to be able to use the clothing storage facilities, instead of leaving things in my suitcase as I usually do.<br /><br />The Doubletree has seen better days. The hallway was kind of dim. Not in a romantic, trysting, The Royalton way, but more in a "the carpets used to look better" way.<br /><br />Here's the hall:<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9n3ow37bI/AAAAAAAAAbk/_nD4juWdGwE/s1600-h/Photo_043008_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9n3ow37bI/AAAAAAAAAbk/_nD4juWdGwE/s320/Photo_043008_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196986700541717938" /></a><br /><br />Here are the reasons I think they keep the lights dim. The carpet in the elevator looked a little dodgy. You may be able to see the clean/dirty area in this photo. (Notice the corner)<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9ozow37dI/AAAAAAAAAb0/MHr98Ahzf9k/s1600-h/Photo_042908_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9ozow37dI/AAAAAAAAAb0/MHr98Ahzf9k/s320/Photo_042908_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196987731333869010" /></a><br /><br />If you can't see the difference, you'll probably spot the red stain in this photo.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9ozYw37cI/AAAAAAAAAbs/1mbVvBkWJX0/s1600-h/Photo_043008_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9ozYw37cI/AAAAAAAAAbs/1mbVvBkWJX0/s320/Photo_043008_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196987727038901698" /></a><br /><br />I was worried that the stain was from a guest bleeding out on the way to the lobby. The elevator floor numbering lights weren't functioning. You wouldn't know it from this picture, but I was somewhere between 7 and L when I snapped this. (The dark bar should have some red lights in it.)<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9rX4w37gI/AAAAAAAAAcM/56lWMJLDiJ8/s1600-h/Photo_043008_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9rX4w37gI/AAAAAAAAAcM/56lWMJLDiJ8/s320/Photo_043008_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196990553127382530" /></a><br /><br />Once I got to my room, I noticed the clothes-hanging rod was, well, to be charitable, a little "loose" on one end. That's my diplomatic way of saying it was down considerably at the stern, which caused my clothes hangers to slide down and herd together at one end. I didn't get a photo of the rod, unfortunately, but noticed a similarly not-leveled feature of the room: The tissue box:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9rM4w37fI/AAAAAAAAAcE/K4I78e0ocsM/s1600-h/Photo_043008_001%231.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9rM4w37fI/AAAAAAAAAcE/K4I78e0ocsM/s320/Photo_043008_001%231.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196990364148821490" /></a><br /><br />I'm no fire-fighting expert, but it seems to me that this hose connection is probably supposed to have a hose on it.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9r5ow37hI/AAAAAAAAAcU/FT7OXHGTPes/s1600-h/Photo_042908_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9r5ow37hI/AAAAAAAAAcU/FT7OXHGTPes/s320/Photo_042908_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196991132947967506" /></a><br /><br />At least the door to the non-hose equipped hose connection was easy to open.<br /><br />As was one of the two elevator phone doors. <br /><br />The calling device behind the easy-to-open door was white:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9skYw37iI/AAAAAAAAAcc/3y6gQ5GHCkQ/s1600-h/Photo_043008_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9skYw37iI/AAAAAAAAAcc/3y6gQ5GHCkQ/s320/Photo_043008_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196991867387375138" /></a><br /><br />I don't know the color of the other phone, because the door was clearly only accessible to professional elevator phone callers.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9skYw37jI/AAAAAAAAAck/JSKlwWkEHT4/s1600-h/Photo_043008_003%231.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SB9skYw37jI/AAAAAAAAAck/JSKlwWkEHT4/s320/Photo_043008_003%231.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196991867387375154" /></a><br /><br />Here's one incredibly not nice feature of the hotel. The Doubletree Virginia Beach charges $9.95 for wired internet access in your room. That's pretty standard. What isn't, is that your payment expires at 4:00 pm. That means if you need to sign up for internet access, and it's 3:58 pm, you get 2 minutes of internet for $9.95. If you sign up at 4:01 pm, you get 23 hours and 59 minutes for $9.95. I have went to college, and this seems awfully peculiar to me.<br /><br />A little card in the room lists all the Hilton Hotel variants (the Doubletree being one of them), and refers to them as "The Hilton Family of Hotels". Oh, come on. Do the powers-that-be at Hilton honestly think anyone believes the executives of these variants are a happy family that spends Thanksgiving and Christmas together, looking at old photos and remembering old times? Come to think of it, any company that believes the internet pricing schedule mentioned above is logical, smart, or likely to create happy customers probably thinks we'd believe they're a happy family, too.<br /><br /><br />A thoroughly blah hotel. Oh, the people were nice - especially the guys at the front desk at 4:15 am, but I can't really recommend staying there for that reason. If towels are a reason for you to select a hotel, you should consider it. It has nice, fluffy towels. In fact, they're much nicer and thicker than the ones at the Hyatt San Francisco.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-87982492013151099352008-04-23T21:37:00.016-04:002008-04-24T11:47:09.413-04:00Hyatt Regency San FranciscoFrom the gilded age splendor of the Grand Hotel Tremezzo we now travel to the Gigantor-age style of the Hyatt San Francisco Embarcadero Center. <br /><br />The Hyatt's sleek, one-sided hallways run rings around the vaguely trapezoidal form of the biggest dang "lobby" you're likely to see in your lifetime.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_qdow37UI/AAAAAAAAAas/eTsiAetCHgc/s1600-h/Photo_042208_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_qdow37UI/AAAAAAAAAas/eTsiAetCHgc/s320/Photo_042208_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192626690260987202" /></a><br /><br />You immediately feel like an ant. Or an electron circling the giant sculpted ball that fills 1/1000th of the interior space.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_qd4w37VI/AAAAAAAAAa0/PUGIIyIXHXs/s1600-h/Photo_042208_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_qd4w37VI/AAAAAAAAAa0/PUGIIyIXHXs/s320/Photo_042208_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192626694555954514" /></a><br /><br /><br />That's not all bad, of course. If I were the owner, I'd feel like some 80's master of the universe. But as I'm not, I focused on some smaller items of interest.<br /><br />1) The feeling-a-little-dated tile floors in the elevators - which from the outside look a lot like they belong to the interior of the Tyrell building in <span style="font-style:italic;">Blade Runner.</span> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_q-4w37WI/AAAAAAAAAa8/bFUafg8pcYU/s1600-h/Photo_042208_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_q-4w37WI/AAAAAAAAAa8/bFUafg8pcYU/s320/Photo_042208_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192627261491637602" /></a><br /><br />2) The not matching the floors of the elevators elevator landing carpet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_rVIw37XI/AAAAAAAAAbE/b4OvORyurSI/s1600-h/Photo_042208_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_rVIw37XI/AAAAAAAAAbE/b4OvORyurSI/s320/Photo_042208_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192627643743726962" /></a><br /><br />3) The button which in most hotels would waft you to the penthouse, but which here promises only a trip to the EQ.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_rlIw37YI/AAAAAAAAAbM/wXAsnga4Ut4/s1600-h/Photo_042308_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_rlIw37YI/AAAAAAAAAbM/wXAsnga4Ut4/s320/Photo_042308_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192627918621633922" /></a><br /><br />4) The abandoned chat area on the fourth floor. All that was left of what must've been conceived as a little nook for intimate tetes-a-tete was an end table with a phone on it. (Sorry, didn't get a good photo of it.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_r6ow37ZI/AAAAAAAAAbU/7berIqQ9qAA/s1600-h/Photo_042208_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_r6ow37ZI/AAAAAAAAAbU/7berIqQ9qAA/s320/Photo_042208_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192628287988821394" /></a><br /><br />5) The sign for the exercise room, which I mistakenly took for a Swastika pointing to a meeting room for the American Nazi Party.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_r64w37aI/AAAAAAAAAbc/H-AWKSxRD40/s1600-h/Photo_042308_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SA_r64w37aI/AAAAAAAAAbc/H-AWKSxRD40/s320/Photo_042308_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192628292283788706" /></a><br /><br />It's a nice hotel. At least my room was nice. A colleague with whom I was traveling claimed her bathtub was ringed with "black mold".<br /><br />Mine had an exceedingly slow to flush toilet. I don't know if this was an issue with the pipes, or if my unit was an early, inefficient version of a low water usage commode. Either way, one had to be careful or the chamber maid would have an unfortunate surprise.<br /><br />The Hyatt, being a luxury hotel, charges for wireless internet. (The inverse relationship between room price and internet charge continues!) What made this even more annoying than usual was the glacial pace of the connection. You could enter a url, try to fix the toilet, come back, and it would still be loading. What's worse, when I checked out, I mentioned to the nice lady that the internet was very very slow, and she said, with complete aplomb, "we know, we're trying to fix it". Gee, thanks. How about a warning card in your room before you cough up the dough to "log on"? Something like "Go ahead and pay, sucker, but don't expect anything faster than a 28k dial up modem".<br /><br />One other thing. The chrome was coming off the drain stopper in the sink. I know the old saying, "the bloom is off the rose". I have a modern replacement: The chrome's off the brass. Doesn't have the same ring, does it?misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-5479297290211941592008-04-19T04:02:00.014-04:002008-05-07T14:32:04.605-04:00Grand Hotel TremezzoThe Grand Hotel Tremezzo would be worth staying in if only for its location on Lake Como. But since this blog isn't about geography, per se, I'm going to stick to covering what the blog name promises. Halls.<br /><br />Now this is a hallway:<br /><br />Ground floor:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmnYFfa99I/AAAAAAAAAZk/khcZH410gZI/s1600-h/Photo_041908_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmnYFfa99I/AAAAAAAAAZk/khcZH410gZI/s320/Photo_041908_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190864077753874386" /></a><br /><br />Our floor:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAynj1fa-FI/AAAAAAAAAak/jXKvehwp4gA/s1600-h/Photo_041808_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAynj1fa-FI/AAAAAAAAAak/jXKvehwp4gA/s320/Photo_041808_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191708704547469394" /></a><br /><br />I don't think you'd find a carpet like this in a Courtyard by Marriott.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmpdFfa-AI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/9DqRk_OyH6g/s1600-h/Photo_041808_008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmpdFfa-AI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/9DqRk_OyH6g/s320/Photo_041808_008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190866362676475906" /></a><br /><br />Lovely, n'est-ce pas? The Grand Tremezzo is indeed a grand hotel in the old European tradition. The ceilings are as tall as an airport hanger, and the floors would probably cost more to install today than an entire modular "business center" that seems to be too many modern hotels' main attraction.<br /><br />Here's the tromp d'oeil section.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmoR1fa9-I/AAAAAAAAAZs/gp48kMnyVFg/s1600-h/Photo_041908_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmoR1fa9-I/AAAAAAAAAZs/gp48kMnyVFg/s320/Photo_041908_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190865069891319778" /></a><br /><br />This is just the plain part.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmoR1fa9_I/AAAAAAAAAZ0/zNwWRcza81w/s1600-h/Photo_041908_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAmoR1fa9_I/AAAAAAAAAZ0/zNwWRcza81w/s320/Photo_041908_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190865069891319794" /></a><br /><br />As befitting its grandness and tradition, it has a number of intriguing features (probably due to its having been erected in 1910).<br /><br />1) The mystery switch in the bathroom (I don't know what happens when you pull it - maybe it signals your servants to come to your assistance).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAynMVfa-EI/AAAAAAAAAac/G0uhBCp4vwA/s1600-h/switch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAynMVfa-EI/AAAAAAAAAac/G0uhBCp4vwA/s320/switch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191708300820543554" /></a><br /><br /><br />2) These faucets weren't connected to anything specific, as far as I could tell.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAyk41fa-CI/AAAAAAAAAaM/yDCkLFmifpk/s1600-h/Photo_041808_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/SAyk41fa-CI/AAAAAAAAAaM/yDCkLFmifpk/s320/Photo_041808_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191705766789838882" /></a><br /><br />It's really a wonderful hotel, in the "grand" European tradition. And a spectacular "breakfast buffet". I don't know what else to call it, but under no circumstances should you think of waffles or cereal. It's more like breakfast heaven.<br /><br />As is the hotel. Go. Vai! Vai! Book a room now!misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-40450695754169574572008-04-03T13:54:00.006-04:002008-04-03T15:02:14.270-04:00Four Points by Sheraton Miami BeachI had a couple nights' stay at the Four Points Miami Beach. It's about 2 miles north of the happening part of town where the Delano is.<br /><br />The hotel is part of a historical preservation area called MiMo - for Miami Modern. That means whatever renovations the hotel performs must fit with the era. I think this explains why the elevator service was so wanky - there are two elevators plus a service elevator. They're all tiny, and half the non-service elevators weren't functioning, which made the wait excruciatingly long. You could see the broken elevator sulking one floor below the lobby if you looked closely at the elevator doors. And I think they can't build bigger elevators for fear of incurring the wrath of the local do-gooders. As long as you're comfortable smelling burned tourists, you'll be fine.<br /><br />Anyway, they've attempted to rejuvenate the hotel along its original lines. (By the way, I don't think the lobby conforms to MiMo aesthetics). The halls are pretty ordinary, though they've painted them a kind of frisky green color. <br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Ueprc_jXI/AAAAAAAAAX0/G4_GxBJOcjc/s1600-h/Photo_040208_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Ueprc_jXI/AAAAAAAAAX0/G4_GxBJOcjc/s320/Photo_040208_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185084247374794098" /></a><br /><br />There's a design era tug-of-war with the hall lighting. In this corner, representing the fifties and sixties, this bubble ceiling fixture.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uep7c_jZI/AAAAAAAAAYE/ql_E4lFufGs/s1600-h/Photo_040208_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uep7c_jZI/AAAAAAAAAYE/ql_E4lFufGs/s320/Photo_040208_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185084251669761426" /></a><br /><br />And in the other, the defending champ from some unspecified point in time: the wall fixture.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_UeqLc_jaI/AAAAAAAAAYM/de6CKUh_cSw/s1600-h/Photo_040208_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_UeqLc_jaI/AAAAAAAAAYM/de6CKUh_cSw/s320/Photo_040208_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185084255964728738" /></a><br /><br />Since the two style don't seem to agree, I'm not sure which direction the hotel plans to have be its ultimate design statement. <br /><br />The hallways will not prepare you for the room, which was nice and clean. AND BLUE. One of the walls was like the little photos that accompany dictionary entries - you know, like the one for "snood". It defined blue. (The photo doesn't do it justice, I'm sad to say.)<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uep7c_jYI/AAAAAAAAAX8/bqzzMsiTSw4/s1600-h/Photo_040108_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uep7c_jYI/AAAAAAAAAX8/bqzzMsiTSw4/s320/Photo_040108_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185084251669761410" /></a><br /><br />I must say, this is the first room I've had with a view of a ship container parking lot.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uhtbc_jcI/AAAAAAAAAYc/06OJrXRIaWc/s1600-h/Photo_040108_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uhtbc_jcI/AAAAAAAAAYc/06OJrXRIaWc/s320/Photo_040108_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185087610334186946" /></a><br /><br />The Four Points has some kind of advertising tie in with Charmin Bathroom tissue. One element is a vinyl sticker near the sink - <br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uhtrc_jeI/AAAAAAAAAYs/nSXODcdMOcI/s1600-h/Photo_040208_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_Uhtrc_jeI/AAAAAAAAAYs/nSXODcdMOcI/s320/Photo_040208_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185087614629154274" /></a><br /><br />The other is a sticker on the toilet paper roll itself.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_UlwLc_jgI/AAAAAAAAAY8/6vCICKcIOAM/s1600-h/Photo_040208_010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R_UlwLc_jgI/AAAAAAAAAY8/6vCICKcIOAM/s320/Photo_040208_010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185092055625338370" /></a><br /><br />Maybe the next big ad idea will be to have Lysol sponsor the toilet seat itself.<br /><br />I do have a question for Mr. & Mrs. Four Points by Sheraton. If your name is Four Points, why does the inlaid compass rose in the lobby have 8 points? Just asking.<br /><br />Also, how can the 4th floor of the hotel be one floor above the lobby, which is at street level?misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-3537774272864409562008-03-06T19:49:00.017-05:002008-08-01T21:32:06.977-04:00Hilton AnaheimI don't get Hilton Hotels. I can't characterize them in any meaningful way. Nice? Luxurious? Modern? Old fashioned? Good value? Nicer than a Marriott? Not as nice as a Marriott? They're all over the place. Hilton's new slogan doesn't help much. Here it is:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CYrF3hMLI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/ymmyDd0rPV0/s1600-h/logo.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CYrF3hMLI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/ymmyDd0rPV0/s320/logo.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174803837925535922" /></a><br /><br />Nothing like a vapid phrase to help focus that brand, Mr. Hilton. "Travel should take you places" is as meaningless as "walking should take you forward or backward", or "a shower should make you wet". Or "furnaces should heat your house". Or "rakes should gather leaves". Maybe I should start my own ad agency.<br /><br />To give you an idea how flimsy the Hilton brand is, the sign outside the hotel had two logos of equal size. One, of course, was Hilton. The other, Starbucks. I guess that's a pretty good way to tell how weak the Hilton brand is, and how powerful the Starbucks brand continues to be.<br /><br />The Hilton Anaheim is big. Big big. That makes sense, because it's right next to Disneyland. (The original, not that parvenu Disney "world" in Florida.) The parking structure is monstrous, and almost impossible to navigate. I tried following the arrows pointing to the elevators, but wound up going the wrong way and nearly t-boning an elderly driver. Once I found a space, the path to the elevators themselves was blocked by a neatly stacked block of about 3,000 chairs. Once you get to the lobby, stand back and look at 70's architecture in all its glory.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CShl3hMEI/AAAAAAAAAWY/cF4uCFYyRkU/s1600-h/Photo_030108_012.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CShl3hMEI/AAAAAAAAAWY/cF4uCFYyRkU/s320/Photo_030108_012.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174797077647011906" /></a><br /><br />The halls are big, too. Or, rather, long. No surprise here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CTDV3hMFI/AAAAAAAAAWg/DjT33IMUg_g/s1600-h/Photo_030108_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CTDV3hMFI/AAAAAAAAAWg/DjT33IMUg_g/s320/Photo_030108_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174797657467596882" /></a><br /><br />But in the spirit of the maze-like parking lot, the signage to your room is quite perplexing. What the heck happened to room 5.528? Is it haunted?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CTpV3hMGI/AAAAAAAAAWo/BAMKFppT74A/s1600-h/Photo_030108_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CTpV3hMGI/AAAAAAAAAWo/BAMKFppT74A/s320/Photo_030108_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174798310302625890" /></a><br /><br />You'll have plenty of time to admire the flowing movement of the hallway carpet. At least it's a new twist on the puke resisitant patterns to which I've grown so accustomed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CUBF3hMHI/AAAAAAAAAWw/W_DooEnvTJw/s1600-h/Photo_030108_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CUBF3hMHI/AAAAAAAAAWw/W_DooEnvTJw/s320/Photo_030108_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174798718324519026" /></a><br /><br />I was assigned a newly-redecorated room. Hilton paid an advertising agency to come up with a snazzy way of saying this, and they responded with this little embarrassment. "New'd". That way, they could put a sign up in the elevators telling you that you can "sleep in the New'd". HAHAHAHA. What a bunch of cards!<br /><br />The room carpet seemed kind of old-skool to me. I haven't seen sculpted gray/green carpet in a long time. Truth be told, I hadn't missed it. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CVX13hMII/AAAAAAAAAW4/JO2hBhd8MmY/s1600-h/Photo_022908_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CVX13hMII/AAAAAAAAAW4/JO2hBhd8MmY/s320/Photo_022908_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174800208678170754" /></a><br /><br />I also didn't miss the mis-applied wallpaper, though I did neglect to take a good photo of it. The faulty part is over by the thermostat.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CV-13hMJI/AAAAAAAAAXA/R8k-0zYj-4Y/s1600-h/Photo_022908_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CV-13hMJI/AAAAAAAAAXA/R8k-0zYj-4Y/s320/Photo_022908_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174800878693068946" /></a><br /><br />All typical, I guess, of modern-giant-chain-hotel-by-a-big-tourist-attraction-lodging.<br /><br />The water, however, was not. I made a cup of coffee in the morning, and noticed it tasted kind of funky. So I filled the glass in the bathroom, and was horrified to see that it looked like milk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CWxl3hMKI/AAAAAAAAAXI/qAYM28ujQjA/s1600-h/Photo_030108_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R9CWxl3hMKI/AAAAAAAAAXI/qAYM28ujQjA/s320/Photo_030108_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174801750571430050" /></a><br /><br />Now you might say "hang on, Misterarthur, that's because of an aerator in the faucet." Sorry, sharp-eyed reader, it's not. I know this because there was no aerator on the faucet, because the water ran clear if you let it run long enough, and because no one at the meeting I was attending could drink the ice water they served at lunch.<br /><br />Oh, and they charged for internet access, too.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-5138783663833010812008-01-30T15:59:00.000-05:002008-01-30T16:11:04.043-05:00The ClaremontOh, Claremont, why hast thou forsaken me? I was at the Claremont, again. I was hoping I'd get the promised 11th-stay upgrade, even though (of course), I'd lost my golden ticket. (See below). I arrived at the hotel very very late (3:30 AM my time), and was again greeted like the stranger I am not. My room did seem a little bigger than usual. The message light was blinking on my phone when I arrived in the room. It turned out there wasn't a voice message, but there was a note for me at the front desk. How exciting! I thought it would be a congratulatory message about my upgrade. Alas, it wasn't so. The next morning, when I retrieved the message (oddly, they couldn't turn off the blinking message light until they had printed it out), it turned out to be nothing but a hotel-wide notice that the hotel was now providing shuttle service to downtown Oakland. What a heart breaker.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-76602727511942822242008-01-30T15:33:00.000-05:002008-01-30T16:15:07.823-05:00Norfolk Marriott WatersideI had a short, but nice, stay at the Marriot in Norfolk. This Marriott has very upscale ambitions - perhaps it was going to be a Ritz Carlton (owned by Marriott, you know) but plans were scaled back at the last moment. Here's why I think so. Beyond the grand (and freezing) lobby, the carpet pattern in the elevator landings says Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey to me. (See much earlier posts). Check out the giant graphic!<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DhKKERbNI/AAAAAAAAAUg/FD9MQHRmAOQ/s1600-h/Photo_011508_008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DhKKERbNI/AAAAAAAAAUg/FD9MQHRmAOQ/s320/Photo_011508_008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161372737583803602" /></a><br /><br />The rooms are very nice, but they played it dim on the hallway lighting.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DhjaERbOI/AAAAAAAAAUo/F2UwHL8Cdqo/s1600-h/Photo_011508_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DhjaERbOI/AAAAAAAAAUo/F2UwHL8Cdqo/s320/Photo_011508_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161373171375500514" /></a><br /><br />Maybe they were hoping that you wouldn't notice the peeling wallpaper:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DiPqERbQI/AAAAAAAAAU4/_4uEvtl1Zq4/s1600-h/Photo_011508_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DiPqERbQI/AAAAAAAAAU4/_4uEvtl1Zq4/s320/Photo_011508_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161373931584711938" /></a><br /><br />There was a palimpsest of elevator landing devices of yore, too. I can't guess what it could've been. (And, yes, I do know that it's not really a palimpsest. But it is an impressive looking word, so I used it anyway. So there)<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DizaERbRI/AAAAAAAAAVA/6ZouUx126us/s1600-h/Photo_011508_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DizaERbRI/AAAAAAAAAVA/6ZouUx126us/s320/Photo_011508_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161374545765035282" /></a><br /><br />And they couldn't have spent more than a minute or two coming up with the imaginatively-named dining room:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DmiqERbSI/AAAAAAAAAVI/yCtGKCI4K88/s1600-h/Photo_011508_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R6DmiqERbSI/AAAAAAAAAVI/yCtGKCI4K88/s320/Photo_011508_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161378656048737570" /></a><br /><br />I had one very odd thing happen to me. I got in the elevator to go downstairs, the door shut, and the elevator started to descend. It changed its mind after it had gone about 4 inches and slammed to a halt, after which the doors opened. I got off quickly. Later, when I made it downstairs in a different elevator car, I mentioned it to the (very nice) front-desk-person. Walking away, I heard her on the phone saying something like "...the elevator's acting up again..". Yippeemisterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-13090392799885301802008-01-09T20:00:00.000-05:002008-01-09T20:39:17.698-05:00The Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta2008 begins with a chain. And a hotel that pretends to be in two places at once. It seems a little unfair to the weary traveler to cause him to question his place in the universe, but I'm here to tell you that the Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta is indeed in Alpharetta, and not in Atlanta, where there's another Marriott, called the Marriott Marquis. Got that? The Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta is pretty new, as is the exurb of Alpharetta itself. It has a sort of grandiose entrance hall. When we arrived, the OSU smackdown by LSU was in full play, with the SEC being loudly supported in the bar. <br />The hall was like most halls in chain hotels:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4Vvj3239MI/AAAAAAAAATY/dgDlDFlg3bs/s1600-h/Photo_010708_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4Vvj3239MI/AAAAAAAAATY/dgDlDFlg3bs/s320/Photo_010708_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153648010675614914" /></a><br /><br />that is to say, striped wallpaper and wall to wall carpet with a stain-hiding design down the middle. (In this case, sort of tangerine-ish). My room actually had a hall-ish feature, too. Here's the view from the 'bedroom' to the door:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VwG3239NI/AAAAAAAAATg/h5xnfn9C1eM/s1600-h/Photo_010708_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VwG3239NI/AAAAAAAAATg/h5xnfn9C1eM/s320/Photo_010708_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153648611971036370" /></a><br /><br />There wasn't much, honestly, to distinguish the Alpharetta version of the Atlanta Marriott from most other Marriotts, though there was one irritant and two things that struck me as a little out-of-the ordinary.<br /><br />The irritant: A sink that took forever to drain.<br /><br />Then, this is the first hotel I've stayed in for ages that has its own laundry area:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4Vw7X239OI/AAAAAAAAATo/3zQBoYULzcc/s1600-h/Photo_010708_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4Vw7X239OI/AAAAAAAAATo/3zQBoYULzcc/s320/Photo_010708_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153649513914168546" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VxL3239PI/AAAAAAAAATw/obpX-FZRAg4/s1600-h/Photo_010808_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VxL3239PI/AAAAAAAAATw/obpX-FZRAg4/s320/Photo_010808_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153649797382010098" /></a><br /><br />I can see this in an extended-stay sort of place, but it seemed rather out of place here. (This was a chi chi Marriott, after all).<br /><br />Finally, there was the permanent glass of beer by the elevators. The first photo was snapped when I checked in (around 9:30 pm), and the second when I left, at 8:30 am.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VyZX239QI/AAAAAAAAAT4/lKyiGJh9SOE/s1600-h/Photo_010708_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VyZX239QI/AAAAAAAAAT4/lKyiGJh9SOE/s320/Photo_010708_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153651128821871874" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VyZn239RI/AAAAAAAAAUA/I0nKEsqkp3w/s1600-h/Photo_010808_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R4VyZn239RI/AAAAAAAAAUA/I0nKEsqkp3w/s320/Photo_010808_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153651133116839186" /></a><br /><br />I do have a question for Mr. Marriott. There's a pecking order for Marriott hotels, and Courtyard by Marriott is lower caste than a "Marriott". So why why why is internet free at the Courtyard, and not free at the more expensive Marriott? Isn't the general rule that paying more actually gets you more? Maybe it's a Mormon thing.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-35872386233814652412007-12-17T20:47:00.000-05:002007-12-18T04:02:22.166-05:00The Sheraton Annapolis HotelAnd 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".<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2coRH239BI/AAAAAAAAASA/hB9ZRu5XwgE/s1600-h/Photo_121107_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2coRH239BI/AAAAAAAAASA/hB9ZRu5XwgE/s320/Photo_121107_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145125373926175762" /></a><br /><br />Don't believe me? Check out the close-up view.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2colH239CI/AAAAAAAAASI/DjGtXiE1Fh8/s1600-h/Photo_121107_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2colH239CI/AAAAAAAAASI/DjGtXiE1Fh8/s320/Photo_121107_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145125717523559458" /></a><br /><br />That's not hound's tooth. It's hound's fang.<br /><br />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:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2co_X239DI/AAAAAAAAASQ/yE7vqKS0M14/s1600-h/Photo_121107_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2co_X239DI/AAAAAAAAASQ/yE7vqKS0M14/s320/Photo_121107_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145126168495125554" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2co_X239EI/AAAAAAAAASY/9VyPXudyXGc/s1600-h/Photo_121107_007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2co_X239EI/AAAAAAAAASY/9VyPXudyXGc/s320/Photo_121107_007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145126168495125570" /></a><br /><br />Three: The oxymoronic sign on the fire exit door.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2cpn3239FI/AAAAAAAAASg/V17X7M_20sA/s1600-h/Photo_121107_013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2cpn3239FI/AAAAAAAAASg/V17X7M_20sA/s320/Photo_121107_013.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145126864279827538" /></a><br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2cren239GI/AAAAAAAAASo/sOdBKNYO7_c/s1600-h/Photo_121107_006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2cren239GI/AAAAAAAAASo/sOdBKNYO7_c/s320/Photo_121107_006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145128904389293154" /></a><br /><br />Five: False promises. The sign in the hall promises Vending<span style="font-weight:bold;"> and </span>Ice, so I got all excited.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2ctNn239HI/AAAAAAAAASw/OG4mo2OIEAU/s1600-h/Photo_121107_009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2ctNn239HI/AAAAAAAAASw/OG4mo2OIEAU/s320/Photo_121107_009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145130811354772594" /></a><br /><br />Closer inspection revealed, however, the reality was actually Plumbing and Ice.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2ct9n239II/AAAAAAAAAS4/-IGFUUtNjtM/s1600-h/Photo_121107_008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R2ct9n239II/AAAAAAAAAS4/-IGFUUtNjtM/s320/Photo_121107_008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145131635988493442" /></a><br /><br />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.misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074703736356683349.post-39710648818931225562007-12-06T15:01:00.000-05:002007-12-06T15:12:14.924-05:00The Annual Golden Hallway AwardAs prestigious an award as exists in the hospitality industry, I'm pleased to announce the winner of the 2007 Golden Hallway Award.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R1hVuvsl9DI/AAAAAAAAAR4/OzwIZxipM40/s1600-h/image002.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8yeE2OpRbTc/R1hVuvsl9DI/AAAAAAAAAR4/OzwIZxipM40/s320/image002.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140953236209267762" /></a>misterarthurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05697612334770463535noreply@blogger.com5