The Sheraton Annapolis Hotel

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



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



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

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




Three: The oxymoronic sign on the fire exit door.



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



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



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



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

The Annual Golden Hallway Award

As prestigious an award as exists in the hospitality industry, I'm pleased to announce the winner of the 2007 Golden Hallway Award.

Hotel Gault, Montreal, QC

Drum roll, please. The winner of the first Hotel Hallways Golden Hallway Award is the Hotel Gault in Montreal, Canada. Thank God I stayed here before the end of the year, or the award would probably have gone unawarded. Here's why it won. Exhibit A, the lovely, naturally-lit fifth floor hall. Simultaneously modern, yet warm.



Exhibit B. The thankfully non-vomit-stain pattern carpet. It's really refreshing to find a hotel that believes its guests will behave like adults and not park the tiger outside their rooms. (See virtually every post below if you don't know what I mean). Look! Unbelievable!



The Hotel Gault's goodness doesn't end with the Hotel Hallways award-winning hallway. The lobby is super cool, too.



Even the front door is tasty



My room's terrace would've been nice, but Montreal Weather didn't cooperate, dumping 30 cm (measure like the Canadians do!) of snow overnight.



A special shout out to the staff, too, who were uniformly pleasant, helpful, and charming.

All the extra groovy people love it, including the paparazzi-shy blogger extraordinaire, the fabulous style guru Jennifer "Design Hole" Mitchell.