This week on the Forum, Howellsey put out the call for people who have stayed in iconic hotels. He's staying in the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego in September and I think he's looking for tips on how one should use the trouser press in such establishments. Judging from the comments, Liz Cleere is best placed to help him out. In a previous life she seems to have virtually lived in these kinds of places.
I've only stayed in an iconic hotel once – the Algonquin Hotel in New York. The Algonquin is famous for the Algonquin Round Table, where Dorothy Parker and her chums would exchange bon mots. Indeed that's why my girlfriend at the time booked a room there.
I guess I should point out that I didn't get to spend the night there. My girlfriend and I broke up over a supper of Maine lobster in a restaurant up in the Village. She dramatically threw $40 on the table and stormed off before the meal was over. I stayed and finished my lobster and had the waiter wrap up hers so I could take it back to the hotel. He fashioned the aluminum foil it was wrapped in into the shape of the swan, which I thought was sweet but my ex-girlfriend didn't even notice when she threw it back at my head. My bags quickly followed and I was out on the street at 3am.
A taxi driver dropped me off at a hotel he knew, next to the Chelsea, but sadly not the Chelsea. It was iconic in it's own way. It was dark and dingy and smelled of stale Chinese food. And a gun was fired somewhere in the building just before dawn. It was just like a hotel you see in the movies, right down to the unshaven desk clerk wearing a grubby vest. Good times.
I'd like to say that this story had a happy ending, but it didn't. We'd checked into the Algonquin using my credit card and my ex-girlfriend promptly ran up a $3,500 bill. I only found out about it when I tried to get a cash advance on the same card at a bank in Morocco. Let me tell you, my parents weren't too happy about getting a pre-dawn call from their 32-year-old son asking them for a loan. But I digress. Tell us about your experiences with iconic hotels here.
Pchilds is just back from Krakow, raving about the place he stayed in just off Rynek Glówny Square and the lively festival he happened upon. Hmoat01 has been trekking in monsoon rains in the hill country of Thailand and absolutely loved it. And Fintown Trekker has been topping up his Irish tan in Monte Gordo, Portugal. He was most taken by the colour of the sky. Blue. Trishd, on the other hand, is back from busting some moves at an impromptu beach party in Trapani in Sicily. It's good to see keithruffles back too. He's been hiking in Swedish Lapland and reckons you should too.
Over in Experiences, hmoat01 recounts a ride on the sleeper train from Bangkok to Chang Mai with 17 Dutch dentists who turned her carriage into an all-night rave. Scott Allen goes looking for tigers in Ranthambhore and delights in finding them. And Julia69 sings the praises of the bus drivers of the South Island of New Zealand, handsome and polite to the very last one.
Julia69 has also posted a set of images from her New Zealand adventures. Plenty of glaciers, but sadly no bus drivers. Unless they've trained Keas to drive buses, of course. She's also posted some images of pyrotechnics and penis gourds from her visit to Tana in Vanuatu, if you're interested.
Still over at the Photography section, Pliers has uploaded some spectacular images from the Spanish Pyrenees. And chandaala has posted some interesting images from the waiting lounge at Mombasa airport, as flights are delayed because of the fire at Nairobi. More long faces than the check-in line for a Ryanair flight at Stansted.
On that cheery note, I'm off to France. No iconic hotels for me. Just a gite by the sea. I learn my lessons. Eventually.
